A home inspection works like this: after your offer is accepted, you hire a licensed inspector who spends two to three hours walking the property, visually examining every major system they can see and access, and then sends you a written report within about a day. You use that report during a short contingency window, usually 7 to 10 days, to ask the seller for repairs, request a price reduction, or back out of the deal. The buyer pays, the fee runs roughly $300 to $425, and the inspector’s job is to tell you what’s wrong with the house, not whether you should buy it.
The Sequence from Hire to Report
Once your purchase contract is signed with an inspection contingency in place, the clock starts. You book an inspector, confirm a time when utilities are on and the house is accessible, and show up for the walkthrough yourself if you can. The inspector moves systematically through the property, usually starting outside and working in. You get real-time narration, you get a written report with photographs within about 24 hours, and then you have a few days inside the contingency window to decide what to do with what you learned.
Attending matters. Reading that a furnace has a cracked heat exchanger is one thing; standing next to it while the inspector explains what replacement costs look like is another. You can ask where the main water shutoff is, how to reset a breaker, and what the inspector would personally do about a specific crack. Good inspectors answer freely, and the verbal context is often more useful than the report itself.
Plan on two to three hours for an average home. Properties over 2,500 square feet or older houses with more systems to evaluate can run four. An inspector who finishes a 2,000-square-foot house in 45 minutes is a warning sign, not a sign of efficiency.
What the Inspector Actually Looks At
Scope is set by the Standards of Practice published by the American Society of Home Inspectors (ASHI) or the International Association of Certified Home Inspectors (InterNACHI). Both require the inspector to evaluate every major system they can see and access without taking anything apart. The question being answered is how things function right now, not whether they meet current building codes or will last another decade.
In practical terms, that means visible structural components (foundation, framing, floors, walls, ceilings) checked for cracks, settlement, rot, and insect damage. Roofing, including shingles, flashing, skylights, chimneys, and gutters. The exterior, including siding, trim, windows, decks, railings, and the grading around the foundation. Poor grading that slopes toward the house is one of the most common findings because it channels water against the foundation and eventually causes basement seepage.
Inside, the inspector evaluates the main electrical panel, breakers, grounding, a representative sample of outlets and switches, and GFCI and AFCI protection. Plumbing covers supply lines, drains, the water heater, sump pumps, and visible fuel storage; the inspector runs fixtures to check pressure and drainage. Heating and cooling means installed furnaces, boilers, heat pumps, central AC, and the ductwork distributing conditioned air. Interiors cover walls, ceilings, floors, stairs, railings, cabinets, and built-in appliances like ovens, dishwashers, and disposals. Insulation and ventilation in attics and crawl spaces, plus kitchen, bath, and laundry exhaust systems. Any fireplaces, stoves, inserts, and their venting.
The inspector operates things using normal controls. They flip switches, run water, cycle the furnace, and open access panels that aren’t screwed shut. They don’t move furniture, cut into walls, or disassemble equipment.
What’s Not Covered, and What to Add
The boundaries matter. ASHI’s Standards of Practice explicitly exclude environmental hazards like mold, radon, asbestos, lead paint, and wood-destroying organisms. The inspector also won’t determine code compliance, calculate whether the heating system is sized correctly, or evaluate detached structures like a separate garage unless you arrange it in advance.
A few specialized add-ons fill those gaps, and whether you need them depends on the property. Radon testing matters because radon is an odorless radioactive gas that seeps up from soil and is the second leading cause of lung cancer; the EPA recommends testing all homes below the third floor and mitigating at levels of 4 pCi/L or higher. A real estate radon test typically runs $150 to $700. A sewer scope threads a camera down the main drain line to reveal root intrusion, collapsed sections, or buildup; the normal inspection’s practice of running clear water through drains doesn’t simulate real household use, so blockages that cause future backups go undetected. Mold testing can identify species and concentration when the inspector spots suspicious staining or odors, which matters because remediation costs vary dramatically. Wood-destroying organism inspections are separate from the general inspection and are required by some mortgage programs.
On older homes or properties with known water issues, these pay for themselves. A sewer line replacement can run $10,000 or more, and a radon mitigation system costs far less to install before you own the house than to discover you need one after closing.
Cost and Who Pays
The buyer pays, out of pocket, at the time of the inspection rather than through closing costs or the mortgage. This is nearly universal in residential sales because the inspection protects the buyer’s interests and direct payment keeps the inspector’s loyalty undivided.
For a standard inspection of a single-family home, expect $300 to $425, with the national average around $340. Larger homes, older homes, and high-cost markets push toward the top of that range. Add-ons stack on top: radon $150 to $700, sewer scope $100 to $300, mold test $300 to $600. If access problems force the inspector to come back for a second visit, reinspection fees typically run $100 to $200.
The Report and What to Do With It
The written report usually arrives digitally within 24 hours. It’s organized by system (roofing, electrical, plumbing, and so on) and categorizes each finding by severity. Most inspectors use a three-tier system: safety hazards needing immediate attention, major defects affecting the home’s function or value, and maintenance items to address over time. Every finding comes with high-resolution photographs so you, the seller, and both agents can see exactly what the inspector saw. A photo of standing water in a crawl space moves a negotiation in a way a sentence can’t.
The report is not a pass/fail grade. No home fails an inspection. Every house has findings, including new construction. The report gives you information to make a decision; it doesn’t make the decision.
From delivery, you’re inside a negotiation window set by your contingency, typically 7 to 10 days. You have four real options:
- Accept the property as-is and move forward.
- Submit a repair addendum asking the seller to fix specific items before closing. Sellers typically have about three days to accept, reject, or counter.
- Ask for a price reduction or seller credit applied at closing instead of repairs. Many buyers prefer this because it lets them choose their own contractors and control the quality of work.
- Walk away. If the findings are dealbreakers and the seller won’t negotiate, you can cancel the contract and get your earnest money back, provided the inspection contingency is still active.
Focus repair requests on genuine safety issues and major defects. Sellers negotiate on a failed water heater or knob-and-tube wiring; they resist a laundry list that includes every scratched countertop. Overplaying a weak hand gets you nothing.
If you waived the inspection contingency to make your offer more competitive, you can still get an inspection for information, but you can’t use the findings to renegotiate or back out. In hot markets some buyers accept that trade. The risk is real: you’re committing to buy regardless of what the inspector finds.
Inspection vs. Appraisal
Buyers often conflate these. They answer different questions. The inspection asks what’s wrong with the house. The appraisal asks what the house is worth.
Your lender requires the appraisal to confirm the property is worth enough to justify the loan; if you default, they need to be able to sell it and recover their money. An appraiser evaluates market value based on comparable sales, location, size, and condition. They are not crawling through the attic or testing outlets. The home inspection is optional from the lender’s perspective and exists for you. You pay for both, but they protect different interests. Skipping the appraisal isn’t your choice. Skipping the inspection usually is, and in most situations it’s a gamble that doesn’t pay off.
Choosing an Inspector
About 35 states regulate home inspectors through licensing or registration. Where licensing exists, inspectors typically complete 60 to 140 hours of pre-licensing education, pass an exam, perform supervised inspections, and carry insurance. The National Home Inspector Examination (NHIE) is the most widely accepted credentialing exam.
In states without licensing, professional membership in ASHI or InterNACHI is the next best quality signal. Both require members to follow published standards and ethics codes, complete continuing education, and pass exams.
Three questions screen most inspectors effectively. Are you licensed in this state, if applicable? Do you carry errors and omissions insurance? How many inspections have you done? Experience matters enormously. A seasoned inspector has seen thousands of homes and spots the subtle warning signs a newer one might miss, like a slightly bowed basement wall that signals lateral earth pressure, or a ceiling stain that reveals an ice dam rather than a plumbing leak.
The Fine Print on Liability
Before the inspection, you sign a pre-inspection agreement. Read it. It almost always contains a liability cap limiting the inspector’s financial exposure to the fee you paid. If the inspector misses a $30,000 foundation problem, your contractual remedy may be a refund of a few hundred dollars.
Most inspectors carry errors and omissions (E&O) insurance covering claims that they failed to identify or report a defect. Common claims involve missed water intrusion, roof leaks, foundation issues, and faulty plumbing. Whether coverage reaches beyond the contractual cap depends on the policy and on state law, and some states have found these caps unenforceable in cases of gross negligence.
The honest takeaway: an inspection dramatically reduces your risk, but it does not eliminate it. Inspectors evaluate what they can see and access on the day of the visit. A wall cavity full of mold behind intact drywall, a sewer line that works fine for two hours but collapses under sustained use, an intermittent electrical fault that happens to be dormant during the walkthrough: all of these can slip through a thorough evaluation. The inspection is the best risk-reduction tool available to buyers. It is not a guarantee that nothing will go wrong after you move in.