Earning Potential of Home Inspectors: How Much Do Home Inspectors Make

The home inspection is an industry with a high-profit potential as it has low start-up costs and a lot of income opportunities. Of course, a home inspector’s pay depends on several factors including location, number of inspections per week, and additional services offered.

WIN Home Inspectors with WIN Branded Truck

Home inspection is an industry built on trust, transparency and credibility. Typically, new home inspectors conduct 1-100 inspections per year, and as a result, earn an average salary. However, as the inspector gains confidence and knowledge, builds relationships with clients and real estate agents, and gets trained and certified to offer additional services, more inspections are scheduled, and more revenue is generated.

In the U.S., the average salary of a home inspector is $60,000 – $65,000, but inspectors are known to earn anywhere from $40,000 – $80,000+ per year. Again, this number is greatly determined by multiple factors that will be discussed in the next section of this article. However, to help potential inspectors get a better idea, the average cost of a Full Home Inspection ranges from $300-$600, with the average WIN home inspection costing $528.

Factors That Affect Earning Potential of Home Inspectors Income

Location

Housing prices, the cost of living and cost of home inspection services all contribute to earning potential. Home inspector salary, Ohio would be different from an inspector’s income in California.

Experience

How much building inspectors make also depends on their experience. Inspectors that gain enough experience over the years are able to offer more services and in return receive more referrals from clients and real estate agents, which adds to their revenue.

Number of Inspections

Successful home inspectors average four or more inspections per week, and they earn at the higher end of the pay scale. The amount of money inspectors make in a year is directly correlated to the number of inspections they perform.

Additional Service Offering

While full home inspections may be the most popular inspection booked, there are other critical inspection services that homeowners, buyers and sellers need. Home inspectors who offer a variety of health and safety services as well as maintenance services, tend to gain repeat customers, referrals, and more business in their communities.

Independent Home Inspector vs. Home Inspection Franchise Owner

When becoming a home inspector, there are generally two main paths of entry – becoming an independent home inspector or joining a franchise system. While becoming an independent inspector may sound appealing, joining a franchise system is often a more suitable option because they are backed by a proven system and have lower start-up costs.

In both cases, entrepreneurs get to start their own business and be their own boss. However, by partnering with an established and trusted franchise system, entrepreneurs will gain instant credibility in the market, be backed by marketing and business support, and have access to tools and technologies that set them up for success. Having these resources available limits costs for new business owners and helps them launch and grow more efficiently.

While inspectors of all types typically earn the same in their first year, independent inspectors typically have more costs (HR and payroll systems, marketing, technology, etc.) that take away from their income.

How to Increase Your Earnings as a Home Inspector

$100 bills

We now know how much do building inspectors make. But there’s no limit to how far they can go. The home inspection industry is highly lucrative and with the right strategies, home inspectors can easily increase their income. Here are some of the steps they can take to multiply their earnings –

Add New Services
Home inspectors can increase their earnings by adding new services. Ancillary services like Radon Test, Mold Test, IR Scan, and more can help inspectors create an additional source of income. A routine home inspection to check for maintenance issues can also provide additional revenue throughout the year.
Invest In Marketing
Marketing can do wonders for a home inspection business as it can multiply reach in the local community and lead to increasing the number of inspections. For example, WIN offers the only end-to-end marketing support for franchise owners and provides them customized marketing collateral and content that is optimized for SEO.
Consider Continuing Education
Continuing education and certifications can add to the expertise of home inspectors, allowing them to provide better services to their clients, and potentially charge a premium. Staying updated with the latest trends and technologies in the industry also enables home inspectors to gain knowledge about what’s current and offer services in a better way.

Increase Your Revenue With WIN

Not all franchises are the same, especially home inspection franchises. WIN Home Inspection is uniquely positioned in the industry to offer homeowners, buyers and sellers high-quality home inspection and ancillary services. WIN has the largest support team and the most innovative technologies and systems to help entrepreneurs drive success. We also offer the most robust training programs for both primary and ancillary services, so inspectors can offer more and in return, earn more. Interested in learning more about your potential with WIN Home Inspection, give one of our Franchise Advocates a call at (800) 967-8127 or email us at franchising@wini.com.

FAQs

1. How much do independent home inspectors make annually?

A home inspector can make an average of $61,000 per year but the exact income depends on multiple factors like location, house market demands, home inspections are done, and others.