WHY WE CHARGE MORE

Yes, we are more expensive. Here’s why.

The standards in the home inspection industry are lower than you think.  A Virginia license indicates that an inspector complies with state laws, but not that they are competent to inspect your home.  InterNACHI and ASHI have higher standards than Virginia, but are still easy to meet with a few hours in the field and completing basic online coursework.  At Property Doc, we have not found that these minimum industry standards meet the expectations of our clients.

Comparatively, we invest a ridiculous number of resources into education, tools, software, and time with our clients to ensure that we are delivering the best possible inspection service in our market.  As a result, our costs to serve our clients are higher, so we charge more.  However, the premium our clients pay us allows us to deliver value magnitudes higher than our competition.

We all make purchasing decisions every day, and finding prices that meet our budgets is a reality of life.  However, a home inspection is better treated as an investment than an expense.  You want to find the best home inspector that you can so that you get the highest quality report possible.  This report will be pivotal in the decisions you make next.

When we shopped reputable local competitors, we found that our inspection package was usually $75-150 more expensive than just a basic home inspection.  You won’t appreciate how much you saved on your home inspection when you have to pay $30,000 to fix an overlooked foundation problem.  Plus, when considering the value of our bundled offering, our prices are actually up to $150 less!

Many aspects of service quality are not quantifiable, but here’s a few that are:

• Virginia requires 25 “ride-along” inspections to get licensed.  Our inspector has completed more than 850 inspections.
• Virginia requires 70 classroom hours to get licensed, plus 16 continuing education hours each year.  Our inspector has completed more than 700 hours.
• $30 to buy a flashlight and a screwdriver is all you need to meet the state’s inspection requirements.  Our inspector uses a variety of specialized tools totaling more than $3,000 in cost.
• Wood destroying organisms, such as termites, are not part of a home inspection.  Competitors that offer this service typically upcharge $40-100.  We include it for $0.  No, the seller’s termite report is not always reliable.  Here’s a good example.
• Thermal imaging is not part of a home inspection.  Competitors that offer this service typically upcharge $100-150.  We include it for $0.  Here’s an example of what it can find.
• We are told by real estate agents that we spend around 30-45 minutes longer on site.  What’s our inspector doing?  He’s thoroughly inspecting the home and educating our clients.  We encourage our clients to attend the whole inspection with us.  See what our client Julian had to say about it.

Transcript provided by InterNACHI, the home inspector organization