When looking for a home inspector, it’s good to know what to look for. Every home inspector claims to be the best and offers the best service. But actually finding the right inspector is and can be the most challenging part of the home buying process. When choosing an inspector, the first thing you want to do is evaluate what the home inspectors offer, the price point they charge, and the reviews that they have.
When looking at the services a home inspector offers you want to make sure that they offer more than just a generic run-of-the-mill inspection. Instead, you want to make sure they offer a wide variety such as sewer/septic tank inspections, pest, mold, water, foundation, and radon testing inspections are some inspections you might want. It’s important that the inspector you have is qualified, and certified, and offers the ability to inspect what you need.
The next thing is to look at the price point. You want to make sure you are paying a market competitive price for the square footage you need to be inspected. This could be as simple as getting a quote from other inspectors, or just using an inspector that is highly reviewed and trusted in your area. Either way, anywhere from $400-$1,200 is what could be expected for a reasonable 1,500-square-foot home inspection.
The last and most credible part of choosing an inspector is looking at the reviews. You want a company that has a high number of reviews and a high star rating. Anything over 4 stars is ideal and if they have more than 200 reviews, then you’re off to a good start. You can find the highest-rated home inspectors HERE if you need a reference of one we love and trust. One last note is to not use the home inspector your realtor recommends. Oftentimes, realtors will pay or use inspectors that will help the house sell, rather than find all of the details wrong with the house.