🎯 The business: a buyer is about to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on a house and has a few days to find out what is wrong with it. You walk the roof, attic, crawlspace, electrical panel, plumbing, heating and cooling, and deliver a clear report with photos, usually the same day. Most work comes from real estate agents, and agents send work to inspectors who are thorough and calm.
At a glance
| Money to start | ≈ $5,000 to $8,100 |
| Time to the first paid inspection | 2 to 6 months, mostly training and the state license |
| Hours | Weekdays on the buyer’s schedule; spring and summer are busiest |
| Skills that matter most | Knowing how houses fail, writing plainly, staying neutral under pressure |
| What a busy month can pay | About $10,825 before tax solo in peak season, near $4,250 in a slow month (worked below) |
Is this for you?
It suits a former builder, tradesperson, firefighter, insurance adjuster or anyone who likes knowing how buildings work and does not mind attics in August. You work alone most of the day and write for an hour or two after each inspection.
It is a poor fit if you dislike conflict. Agents want deals to close, sellers want a clean report, and buyers want certainty you cannot give. You also carry real liability: a missed roof leak can come back as a claim a year later.
Who pays, and what
The home buyer pays, usually at or before the inspection, even though the buyer’s agent usually picks or suggests the inspector. A standard inspection of a typical single-family house commonly runs about $350 to $550, more for large or older homes.
Add-ons raise the ticket: radon testing, a sewer line camera scope, mold sampling, pool and spa checks, and termite reports where you hold the license. Sellers buy pre-listing inspections, owners buy new-construction phase inspections and 11-month warranty inspections, and investors buy inspections in bulk.
What it takes to start
| Pre-license training and field hours | $500 to $1,500 |
| State exam and license application (the National Home Inspector Examination is $225 in most states that use it) | $400 to $600 |
| Errors and omissions plus general liability insurance, first year | $1,500 to $2,500 |
| Tools: ladder, moisture meter, outlet and GFCI tester, gas leak detector, flashlights, coveralls | $1,200 |
| Thermal camera | $400 to $800 |
| Report software, first year | $500 to $1,000 |
| Website, cards, inspection agreement reviewed by a lawyer | $500 |
| All-in | ≈ $5,000 to $8,100 |
Training costs vary most. Some states require 100 or more hours of approved coursework (Florida requires 120), and some states require supervised field inspections before you can work alone.
Start to finish: the steps
1. Read your state’s rules. Find your state’s licensing board and write down the required training hours, the exam, any supervised inspections, the insurance requirement and the standards of practice. If your state does not license inspectors, adopt a recognized standard of practice anyway; ASHI and InterNACHI both publish one.
2. Take the training. Choose a course your state approves. Pay attention to roofs, electrical panels, water intrusion and heating systems; those are where most costly misses happen.
3. Ride along before you go solo. Shadow working inspectors, then do ten or more practice inspections on friends’ houses. Write a full report for each one and have an experienced inspector mark it up.
4. Pass the exam and get licensed. Many licensing states use the National Home Inspector Examination; others run their own. Schedule it as soon as the course ends, while the material is fresh.
5. Insure and paper it. Form an LLC, buy errors and omissions and general liability insurance, and have a local lawyer review your pre-inspection agreement. Some states require E&O or a bond for the license. See Choosing a legal structure and Business insurance.
6. Pick report software and a sample report. A clear sample report, with photos and a short summary up front, is your main sales tool. Agents and buyers read the summary; you are judged on it.
7. Meet agents, one office at a time. Offer to speak for ten minutes at a brokerage sales meeting about the five things that most often kill a deal and how to read your report. Leave the sample report. Many agents keep a list of three inspectors to give buyers.
8. Add services that use the same visit. Radon tests, sewer scopes and thermal imaging add $100 to $250 to a visit. Get any license or certification your state requires for each one first.
9. Hire or partner when you turn work away. A second licensed inspector, or a sewer and radon specialist who rides along, keeps the agent from going to someone else in April.
Pricing
| House under 2,000 sq ft | $350 to $450 |
| House 2,000 to 3,000 sq ft | $425 to $550 |
| Each extra 1,000 sq ft, or a crawlspace | Add $50 to $100 |
| Radon test (where you hold any required credential) | $125 to $200 |
| Sewer line camera scope | $150 to $250 |
| Condo, or 11-month warranty inspection | $250 to $400 |
These are example prices. Price by square footage and age, and charge more for houses built before 1960 or with crawlspaces. Look at what three local inspectors post on their websites and sit near the middle while you build reviews; the cheapest inspector gets the worst agents.
The math
A busy spring month: 25 inspections at an average of $425 is $10,625. Ten of those buyers add a radon test or sewer scope at about $175, which is $1,750. Revenue: $12,375.
Monthly costs: vehicle and fuel $500, agent marketing and events $400, an equipment fund for the radon monitors and sewer camera $300, insurance $200, report software $100, and association dues and continuing education $50. That is $1,550, leaving $10,825 before tax.
In a slow winter month, 12 inspections at $425 ($5,100) and 4 add-ons at $175 ($700) bring in $5,800. The same $1,550 of costs leaves $4,250. Plan your year on the average, not on April.
Set aside a quarter to a third of what you clear for income and self-employment tax. See Small business taxes.
Getting customers
Agents first: sales meetings, a sample report, and showing up early and calm. Then a Google Business Profile with reviews from buyers, because some buyers pick their own inspector. A clear website with prices and online booking wins those buyers. Mortgage lenders, relocation companies and investors are steady secondary sources.
Stay neutral. Your duty is to your client, the buyer. An inspector known for "deal-friendly" reports gets sued; one known for clear, fair reports gets referrals from the agents who matter.
Running it week to week
Confirm utilities are on and the attic and panel are accessible the day before. Get the signed agreement and payment before you start. Inspect in the same order every time so nothing gets skipped. Invite the buyer for the last half hour to walk through the main findings. Deliver the report the same evening. Once a week: follow up with agents, check your calendar for the next ten days, and log continuing education hours.
Rules to check
Licensing. About two-thirds of states license, certify or register home inspectors. Each sets its own training hours, exam, field work and insurance; Florida, for example, requires 120 hours of approved pre-license education and an exam. A handful of states, California and Colorado among them, have no state license, though California law still sets a standard of care and bars inspectors from repairing homes they inspect. States change these laws, and the lists published online often disagree. Check your state board.
Associations are private. ASHI and InterNACHI are membership organizations with their own standards of practice, training and codes of ethics. Membership can help with training and credibility, but it is not a state license.
Conflicts of interest. Many states bar inspectors from doing repairs on a home they inspected and from paying agents for referrals. Read your state’s rule before you add any repair or contractor work.
Add-on licenses. Some states license radon measurement; others accept a national credential from NRPP or NRSB. Termite (wood-destroying organism) reports usually require a pest control license. Flying a drone to look at a roof for pay requires an FAA Part 107 remote pilot certificate.
What goes wrong
A missed defect: a roof leak hidden by dry weather, a failing sewer line, a panel brand with a known problem. Use a standard of practice, write down what you could not see and why, and recommend a specialist when something is beyond a visual inspection.
Claims after closing are the biggest cost. A clear agreement, photos of everything, E&O insurance and a polite, fast response to complaints keep most of them small. The other risk is seasonality: a slow winter with no savings. Put money aside every spring.
Questions people ask
How much does it cost to start a home inspection business?
About $5,000 to $8,100: state-approved training, the exam and license, E&O and liability insurance, tools including a thermal camera, report software and a website.
Do I need a license to be a home inspector?
In about two-thirds of states, yes, by license, certification or registration. Requirements range from a short course and exam to 100 or more hours plus field work. A few states, such as California and Colorado, do not license inspectors. Check your state board.
How long does it take to become a home inspector?
Often two to six months, depending on your state’s training hours, any required field inspections, and how fast you schedule the exam and license application.
Is InterNACHI or ASHI certification a license?
No. They are private associations with their own standards and training. Your state, if it licenses inspectors, issues the license.
How much do home inspectors make?
A solo inspector doing 25 inspections a month at $425 with some add-ons can clear about $10,800 before tax in a busy month, and about $4,250 in a slow month, as worked above.
Free help
Your state home inspector board publishes the training, exam and insurance rules. SCORE mentors and your local Small Business Development Center help with a plan and pricing. EPA’s radon pages explain testing protocols and point to state radon offices. ASHI and InterNACHI publish their standards of practice for anyone to read. More in Pricing and margins.
Licensing laws change; check your state board before you pay for training and once a year after. Prices are examples. Facts checked November 2026.