Ongoing rate for home inspections in Toronto

[Yuri Olhovsky]

Got a phone call today with a usual "How much do you charge?"
Me: My fee for full home inspection starts from $400.
Caller: But my agent said that ongoing rate in Toronto for home inspection is around $300.
Can someone enlighten me what is "ongoing rate for home inspection in Toronto" and who determined it to be "around $300"?
Out of interest I visited few home inspection websites with prices listed as low as $225. People, what are we doing really? BTW, most of these inspectors are NACHI members. So much for all the prayers about raising our fees. Do we all loose respect for this profession or do we all have day time jobs and don't care about the cost for our services?
Try to buy a decent house in Toronto for less than $0.5 Mln. Or try to have buyer's agent to work for less than 2.5%. Why do we charge all over the place to set this "ongoing rate" so low?

[Gilles Larin]

Hi Yuri,

The old saying "you get what you pay for" applies to Home Inspections. And the reverse applies: you put up a cheap price, you get cheap clients!

If you increase your pricing, it may take a while but you will attract a better client base.

G.

[Yuri Olhovsky]

Agree Gilles, but the point is not this. Recently I had to do some serious plumbing work in my house. I searched for licensed plumbers and their prices were more or less in the same range with the difference no more than 5%. But the home inspectors' prices for the same house of 2000 sq.ft will be anywhere from $200 to $400. And this is the difference of 200%. No wonder people get confused.

[KEVIN WOOD]

YURI:

I average $2000-$3000 loss in low ballers and new HI's it is part in parcel of being in the business especially in Ontario.

[Scott May]

There is an inspector my way that somebody posted and I verified $199.00 including thermo and is an inachi member!

[Yuri Olhovsky]

Originally Posted by smay

There is an inspector my way that somebody posted and I verified $199.00 including thermo and is an inachi member!

Unfortunately, there are too many of those. And they make an impression that when someone else is trying to charge a decent rate, this looks like an overcharge. They make a perception in public eyes that this profession is not worth more than $300. I don't know how else we can earn a respect for this profession other than raising our fees above this "imaginable ongoing rate" of $300. BTW, I charged this rate when I started in this business 10 years ago. The price for gas then was 58 cents per litre.

[Douglas Cossar]

Originally Posted by yolhovsky

Got a phone call today with a usual "How much do you charge?"
Me: My fee for full home inspection starts from $400.
Caller: But my agent said that ongoing rate in Toronto for home inspection is around $300.
Can someone enlighten me what is "ongoing rate for home inspection in Toronto" and who determined it to be "around $300"?
Out of interest I visited few home inspection websites with prices listed as low as $225. People, what are we doing really? BTW, most of these inspectors are NACHI members. So much for all the prayers about raising our fees. Do we all loose respect for this profession or do we all have day time jobs and don't care about the cost for our services?
Try to buy a decent house in Toronto for less than $0.5 Mln. Or try to have buyer's agent to work for less than 2.5%. Why do we charge all over the place to set this "ongoing rate" so low?

Hi Yurie:

Where you been hiding?

I have recently been told by an "agent" that I can only charge $300.00 for my services

He became quite anoyed when I suggested that he only charge the seller 1% commission seeing that he did nothing but show the client the house.

Needless to say he is now properly educated.

Unfortunately it might just be correct that many inspectors are part time just working for beer money.

Cheers

[Yuri Olhovsky]

Hi Doug:
I'm not hiding, just very busy with the energy audits and new homes. Try to utilize the possibility to make some money before the end of March. Of course agents need to be educated. Because we actually educate the public through them. They belong to the category "MY trusted Real Estate agent"))) My question is how to educate all those low ballers and part timers who have no respect to our profession and think that they make "big bucks" by charging "around $300" and setting this as ongoing rate? You may have all kind of certifications and designations behind your belt and explain to everyone why you are $80 more expensive than your competitor, but when the price range of the home inspection for the same house is all over the place, nothing will help. Like all other construction trades there should be some kind of uniformity in pricing. And of course the "ongoing rate" that was 10 years ago cannot be the same today.

[Kathleen Luuk]

Hi Yuri, it's sad to hear these RE putting pressure on you to lower your price when they know full well they wouldn't. I wouldn't trust an RE as far as I could throw it! LOL Why would anybody trust one.
Glad to hear you are busy!

[An HI]

Originally Posted by kluuk

Hi Yuri, it's sad to hear these RE putting pressure on you to lower your price when they know full well they wouldn't. I wouldn't trust an RE as far as I could throw it! LOL Why would anybody trust one.
Glad to hear you are busy!

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/britis...omedefect.html

Here are a few quotes from the 278 replies to the story (above) about the flooded basement in BC a couple of weeks ago:


"Politicians, used car sales people, Insurance brokers and real estate agents.

All cut from the same filthy cloth....

Always check that you have your wallet when they leave the room"



" Less shame on a family to have two daughters in whorehouses than one son in Real Estate. This story is a classic example. The agent looked after a sale, not his clients."

My opinion is about that for most realtors. The good ones are scarce.

[Yuri Olhovsky]

Originally Posted by An HI

The agent looked after a sale, not his clients."

Most of them do. But my post is not about the agents and their nature. It is more about disrespect to our profession from our very own - home inspectors, who look after getting the job by one and one mean only - undercutting prices to the point, where they don't make any money. Only to get it in their backyard.
If we will all understand what is involved in doing this job properly, then nobody will "look around" for $300. Oh, well...Wishfull thinking.

[An HI]

Originally Posted by yolhovsky

Most of them do. But my post is not about the agents and their nature. It is more about disrespect to our profession from our very own - home inspectors, who look after getting the job by one and one mean only - undercutting prices to the point, where they don't make any money. Only to get it in their backyard.
If we will all understand what is involved in doing this job properly, then nobody will "look around" for $300. Oh, well...Wishfull thinking.

That is a problem!

Being new here- another interesting point: that yourself and another member say that the lowballers are INACHI members. What's up with that?

Another now removed thread had another oddity- it was suggested that the same guy be nominated for an award while others were suggesting that he should tone down his posts or be thrown out. ???

[KEVIN WOOD]

I agree Yuri! Until everyone is licensed and regulated with the prices nothing will change.

[Scott May]

Kevin you said the L word!

[KEVIN WOOD]

I have talked to some top people about a license. For some reason people think a person that has a license is qualified to do what is minimum and that should not apply to Home Inspection because we have or own SOP. To force government regulation of the standards was wrong and now we have to deal with it. To force me to train being the only CMI here in SSM will also be wrong.
To force us to increase prices to offset tax hike was wrong but who cares. The Government will always stick their nose in where it do's not belong.