How much does a home inspector make? Questions About Home Inspectors’ Income
By Alyssa Cink
Last Updated July 16, 2024
Money is on the minds of people considering a new home inspection career. Whether they’re inspecting for someone else or going solo, new inspectors worry how their new adventure will affect their families’ livelihoods. Wondering what to expect, they often ask:
- What factors affect a home inspector’s income?
- What types of inspectors make the most money?
- How much does a home inspector make?
- How much do home inspectors make per house?
If questions about home inspectors’ income are holding you back, we’re here to help. We can’t predict future market or economic conditions or tell you how to run your business. We can, however, share insight about how much a home inspector makes on average and which conditions influence home inspectors’ income.
We share advice from other inspectors, along with our own risk management tips for your growing business.
What factors into a home inspector’s income?
We can’t predict how much every inspector can earn. That’s because there are tons of factors that influence how much you can make as a home inspector. These include:
- Housing market trends, inspection demand, competition, and living costs in your area.
- Time of year (busy summers vs slower winters).
- How much you charge for your services.
- How many inspections you perform annually.
- What types of homes you inspect.
- Ancillary services.
- Whether you’re inspecting solo, for someone else, or for a multi-inspector firm you own.
- Your skills and experience.
- Advertisement and networking strategies.
- Startup fees during your first year inspecting and beyond, like tools, reporting software, taxes, and health care.
Some of these factors, like inspection demand and market trends, are outside your control. But what types of inspectors make the most money have more in common than just luck.
What types of inspectors make the most money?
When new inspectors ask what types of inspectors make the most money, they can get a lot of different answers. But in our experience and research, the highest paid inspectors have the following three things in common:
1. They never stop learning.
When we consider what types of inspectors make the most money, we observe a shared commitment to learning. Whether it’s learning to use new tools, pursuing certifications, or developing new skills, learning early and often will take a new inspector far.
After all, training and experience can boost new inspectors’ credibility and impress real estate agents. It also allows you to diversify the kinds and amounts of services you may offer to meet demand—all of which have a positive impact on how much a home inspector makes.
“This is a tough field,” Lisa Alajajian Giroux of HomeQuest Consultants, Inc. in Massachusetts said in her 2021 InspectorPro spotlight. “Stand behind what you know, and if you don’t know, go on and learn it … Have a network of people and don’t be afraid to ask questions.”
2. They increase their prices strategically.
To boost their competitive value, new inspectors tend to offer lower prices than inspectors with more services and years of experience. Sometimes this pushes experienced inspectors to lower their own fees, too. Such a trend leads to overscheduling, which, in turn, causes inspectors to rush, increases your liability from possible errors, gives you less time for other tasks, and increases your likelihood of burnout.
As you might expect, the highest paid inspectors don’t adopt this pricing strategy.
Instead, to maximize how much a home inspector makes, be intentional about setting and increasing your inspection fees over time. Geremey Engle of Ellingwood Pro Home Inspections in Virginia offers an insightful example in a Facebook post. After starting his own business in 2020, Engle’s plan allowed him to double his inspection fee, double his total inspections, and offer additional services, as illustrated with graphs in his post.
Our pricing strategy article breaks down everything a new inspector should know about setting fair and competitive prices that protect your value, revenue, and reputation.
3. They have experience.
Experience and time are the greatest teachers. If you ask someone who’s been in the business for a while, they’ll warn that the highest paid inspectors aren’t in their first year. That’s because many new inspectors find it challenging to achieve 100 inspections in their first year. This begs the question: How much does a home inspector make in their first year compared to later?
After analyzing data from our applicants, we found that new inspectors earn just above $50,000 in average gross revenue. All other home inspectors’ incomes (including solo inspectors and multi-inspector firm owners) average at nearly $123,000 per year. Similarly, in his own analysis of the average home inspector’s salary, Preston Sandlin of Home Inspection Carolina estimated $60 to 70,000 for average full-time inspectors and around $110 to 120,000 for higher earners.
How much do home inspectors make per house? That data averaged at $390 for new inspectors and $405 for others. You can find a helpful visual in our pricing article.
As they gain experience and a stronger foothold in their local market, newer inspectors set bigger revenue goals. Our data suggests inspectors with more years of experience price their inspections higher, which nearly doubles their income. (Again, keep in mind our data includes single and multi-inspector firms.)
But don’t be discouraged. There’s plenty of groundwork you can do at the start of your business to set you up for success while earning that experience. We’ve compiled tips from our claims team and your fellow inspectors below.
Tips for Growing Home Inspectors’ Income While Managing Risk
Plan and set goals.
The most successful, highest paid inspectors know how much a home inspector makes down the road starts with the planning you do on day one.
Each year, every inspector should set measurable goals for their home inspectors’ income. They should decide how they’ll differentiate and challenge themselves and how they want to grow. Ready to start a multi-inspector team, for example? Before hiring, get ahead by strategizing how you’ll pay, train, and reinvest increased earning potential back into your company.
Set the groundwork before offering new services.
As inspectors add new services to explore what types of inspectors make the most money, they often overlook one crucial risk management step.
With every new service to build a home inspector’s income, stay on top of your prerequisites and scope. This includes having the right coverage endorsements, equipment, and licensing for each ancillary service. Also, before your client books a service, provide a full, detailed description of the scope of your services and any limitations you might face.
For example, let’s say you offer thermal imaging. Before you start the inspection, communicate which areas of the house you’re examining with the infrared camera, and what you can and can’t see with the technology. Otherwise, your client might assume you inspect every wall, floor, and ceiling with your infrared camera—then blame you for not finding a concealed defect months later.
Don’t undervalue your inspections to keep up with competitors.
Financial responsibility is one of the biggest things to consider when choosing a home inspector job. True, you have fewer caps on your earning potential as a business owner. But the sole responsibility of a home inspector’s income can be extra stressful during slower months.
Still, avoid the temptation to match underpriced competitors. Stand by the value of your time and services. Doing so speaks volumes to your quality. It also protects you from the liability of a high-volume inspection model, which may lead to exhaustion and mistakes. After all, when we consider what types of inspectors make the most money, it’s rarely the ones who lowball their pricing.
“When I first started, I knew I didn’t want to be the ‘cheap’ guy because my time is valuable to me,” said Michael John Hazlett of Clarity Property Inspections. “I did some price-shopping from other local inspectors and took a leap of faith and set my pricing higher than every other company in the area. I did not want to arbitrarily set my prices high; I wanted to add value, too. I spent my entire first year, almost daily, creating a report template that is filled with a plethora of useful information.”
“I tell clients, if they’re price shopping, ‘You get what you pay for,’” said Michael Ashburn of Ashburn Inspections in Pennsylvania in a past article. “When [clients] understand that a quality home inspection is not all about price, they respond to it.”
The customer’s experience matters.
If you aren’t in a position to hire, buy new equipment, or add more services, expanding a home inspector’s income can start somewhere easy: the customer’s experience.
Reflecting on what type of inspectors make the most money, many of the highest paid inspectors prioritize how they make real estate agents and inspection clients feel, Hazlett and Philip Dancer of Dancer & Company Inspections said.
“I have a lot of certifications, more equipment than many others, and offer the same number of services as the bigger companies. But I think my business has grown because I put the client first,” Hazlett said. “People are desperate to have someone in their corner helping them, and word spreads fast when you meet this criteria. While certifications and experience certainly are needed, you can definitely increase success by just treating people well.”
“You have to provide a level of service that is so overwhelming that people will make this comment, ‘I can’t believe that you don’t charge more for this,’” Dancer said in our marketing guide.
“We must remember this is a service industry,” Hazlett added. “Put your client first and you will get great reviews and grow.”
Be curious.
Still curious about what type of inspectors make the most money? Maintaining this curiosity will lead you in the right direction.
To this end, welcome opportunities to try new things and learn about your craft, Hazlett advised. Use slow periods and free time to learn by watching videos, reading articles, and stepping outside your comfort zone, perhaps by giving your first presentation, like Hazlett did in 2021. When you put yourself out there with a curiosity-first mindset, your commitment will speak wonders and, eventually, can increase home inspectors’ income.
“Be curious and passionate about what you do,” Hazlett said. “Never stop learning. [And] invite failure into your life. I fail at something every day, but I almost never fail at things I failed at when I first started. There’s a solution for everything, and it may take you days, weeks, months, or longer, but keep going and find the solution that works.”
Safeguard your growing business with InspectorPro.
As your services bandwidth and team continue to grow, so does your risk.
Don’t let potential claims stop you from reaching your full potential. Partner with a team who has all the resources you need to protect your inspection business at every stage of your journey.
Whether you’re researching what type of inspectors make the most money or you’re already one of the highest paid inspectors in your area, InspectorPro’s complete coverage program has everything you need to protect yourself, your equipment, your employees, your cybersecurity, and even your retirement from errors, injuries, and other accidents. From our state-specific pre-inspection agreements to our discounts for good risk management, with InspectorPro, InspectorPro’s resources put your budding inspection business in the best hands.
Click here to apply for a free, no-obligation quote and get in touch with a team member.
