The home buyer typically pays for the home inspection.

Traditionally, the home buyer pays for the home inspection during the purchasing process. The buyer will decide, along with recommendations from their Realtor who will perform the home inspection, as well as what type of inspection is best suited for the property type and lending requirements.

After the inspection is completed, the inspector will relay a list of defects to the buyer and her agent. Together they will decide what to request to be repaired, and even to what standard the repairs should be completed and whether the previously agreed upon sell price should be renegotiated. At this point, the seller will either comply with the list of repairs and negotiated prices or negotiate a different outcome altogether. Following agreements negotiated post-inspection, it is the seller who is responsible for the cost of the repairs.

Can the seller pay for the inspection?

Anything can be negotiated, even which party pays for the home inspection. Although, it isn’t typical for the seller to fork over cash for the buyer’s inspection. It all really depends on what the individual seller is willing to do, and what the buyer is willing to request in order to get the deal done.

What if the seller has completed a seller inspection?

Seller inspections are becoming more common. Especially when sellers are wanting to walk through the inspection process free of surprises. If the seller has already had an inspection completed on the property there are a few questions to ask:

1. Ask to see the inspection report. This report is technically the property of the seller, and the seller is not required to release the report, but it’s worth a shot to ask.

2. When was the inspection completed? The more recent, the better.

3. Who performed the inspection? Do some digging to find out if the inspector is licensed and insured, find out if the inspector has good reviews, and even interview the inspector to gauge whether he/she has provided an unbiased inspection report.

We recommend the buyer request to see the seller’s inspection report and gain a second opinion. Ultimately, it’s the buyer’s choice whether to move forward with the seller’s inspection, or not. We recommend using caution, every situation is different. This is one of those situations where we say listen to your team of professionals and listen to your gut. After all, it’s a big financial commitment.

Is Price-Shopping a Good Idea?

While there may be a time and a place for getting a good deal on a product or service, it’s probably unwise to let your wallet lead the way when it comes to hiring a home inspector. There is simply too much at stake. Purchasing a home is a huge investment that ought to be delicately navigated with caution and discretion. Paying a few extra bucks for a qualified home inspector on the front end of the home buying process can very well save you from nightmarish defects that go unreported by underqualified, and maybe even uninsured, home inspectors. A leading industry expert and experienced home inspector has this to say,

I am startled by the number of phone calls I get from people “price shopping,” for a home inspection. While paying more for a home inspection does not guarantee a quality inspection, hiring the least expensive home inspector you can find is a great way of ensuring a poor outcome.

Understand that every home inspection company has a different business model. Some inspectors will compete on price and charge less and typically deliver less. Some of these companies are busy. An inspector might do three or four jobs a day and write a quick report. An inspector running this type of business is more vulnerable to missing something important and being sued, but this is just a cost of doing business. Other inspectors might charge more and deliver carefully written reports; they do fewer inspections and try and be more careful and thoughtful about the inspections they choose to do. 

How Does Forever Home Inspection Do Home Inspections?

We are a small team of inspectors working on inspections as solo inspectors unless the property is exceptionally large and in that case, we will tag-team the project. But typically, we work individually and one-on-one with each client. We have a scheduling coordinator that handles the administrative work of inquiries and scheduling which allows our inspectors to be fully present during the inspection with every client - no distractions!

We deliver reports the following day so that clients receive our best work every time. Rushing to deliver a home inspection report can result in errors and lesser quality service and product, maybe not for every client, but who wants to be the one in a hundred when real estate is at stake? Nobody! This is why we deliver reports by 5 pm the following business day.

Finally, we build redundancy into every system and transaction so that every client experiences our absolute best! This includes remaining connected with every client by providing support throughout the first year of homeownership. We are all about empowering homeowners!