The Home Inspection Process: Understanding Who Calls the Shots

In a normal home sale, the buyer calls the shots. You pick the inspector, sign their agreement, pay their fee, and get the report. The inspector works for you, not for the seller, the agents, or the lender. Your agent can hand you names, but the choice is yours.

The one common exception is a pre-listing inspection, where the seller hires an inspector before the house goes on the market. That inspector works for the seller. If you’re buying, you still want your own.

01Who hires the home inspector

The buyer, almost every time. Your purchase contract gives you an inspection period, often 5 to 14 days after the offer is accepted, and it’s on you to get the inspection booked and done inside that window. Miss the deadline and you can lose the right to back out or renegotiate over what the inspector finds.

Good places to find inspectors:

• Friends or family who bought recently and would hire the same person again.
• The member directories at InterNACHI (International Association of Certified Home Inspectors) or ASHI (American Society of Home Inspectors). Both have find-an-inspector tools.
• Your agent’s list, used as a starting point.

About 34 states license home inspectors; the rest leave it up to the market. If your state licenses them, look up the license number on the state board’s website before you book. If it doesn’t, membership in ASHI or InterNACHI and a sample report are your best checks.

Before you book, ask to see a sample report. You want photos, plain-language findings, and a clear list of safety items, not 60 pages of boilerplate.

02Who orders the inspection, and where the agent fits

You do. Some agents will schedule it for you as a courtesy, but you’re still the client, and the inspector’s agreement should have your name on it.

Agents recommend inspectors all the time, and plenty of those recommendations are good. The worry is the listing agent, whose paycheck depends on the deal closing. Some states put limits on this. Massachusetts, for one, bars agents from directly recommending a specific inspector unless they represent the buyer. Rules differ, so check your state.

A simple test: ask any inspector you’re considering, “Do you get most of your work from agents?” Then ask, “Would you tell me to walk away from a house?” You want someone who answers the second question without hesitating.

Pre-listing inspections

Some sellers pay for an inspection before listing so they can fix things or price the house honestly. If the seller hands you that report, read it. It’s useful background and may show you problems that have since been “fixed.” But it was written for the seller, on the seller’s schedule, and you have no say in what the inspector was told or shown. Get your own.

03Who the inspector works for

Whoever signed the inspection agreement and paid the fee. In a purchase, that’s you.

The two big trade groups spell this out in their ethics codes. ASHI’s Code of Ethics, for example, says its inspectors:

• won’t take payment for an inspection from more than one party unless the client agrees,
• won’t pay agents for referrals or to get on a recommended list,
• won’t fix, replace, or upgrade anything they inspected, for pay, for one year after the inspection, and
• won’t share the report or your information without your approval.

That last point matters. The seller and the seller’s agent don’t automatically get your report. You decide what to share, usually just the pages that back up your repair request.

04What a home inspection costs

HomeAdvisor’s numbers (updated June 2026) put the national average at about $344, with most buyers paying $296 to $425. Size is the biggest factor:

• Under 1,000 sq. ft.: $200 to $250
• 1,000 to 1,500 sq. ft.: $225 to $325
• 1,500 to 2,000 sq. ft.: $250 to $375
• 2,000 to 2,500 sq. ft.: $275 to $400
• 2,500 to 3,000 sq. ft.: $300 to $500

Age, a crawl space, a detached garage, and your local market push it up. Prices and what’s included also change from region to region.

Add-ons are billed separately. HomeAdvisor’s averages: about $250 for radon, $340 for lead paint, $490 for asbestos, $660 for mold, and $450 for a chimney inspection. A termite report averages around $100. If you’re stacking several, ask the inspector for a bundle price.

Don’t shop on price alone. A $100 difference is small next to what one missed furnace or roof problem costs you after closing.

05Who pays for the inspection

The buyer, in nearly every sale. It’s your protection, so it’s your bill, and you pay it even if the inspection kills the deal.

There are two ways to get some of it back:

• Seller credit. You can ask for a credit toward closing costs in your offer or during repair negotiations. The inspector still gets paid by you up front; the credit shows up at closing. Whether your loan allows it, and how much, depends on the loan type, so ask your lender.
• Repairs instead of cash. If the inspection finds real problems, a repair credit usually dwarfs the inspection fee anyway.

When the seller orders a pre-listing inspection, the seller pays for that one.

06When and how you pay

Most inspectors want payment at the time of the inspection or before they release the report. Some take a deposit when you book. Card and check are standard, and many take payment online through their booking software.

Some inspectors offer a pay-at-close option through a third-party payment company. You give a card as backup, the fee is added to your closing statement, and you pay it with the rest of your closing costs. There’s a catch: if the deal falls apart, your card gets charged anyway, usually within days of the original closing date. Some programs also add a convenience fee, so ask if the price changes.

Your real estate agent and your lender don’t handle the inspector’s payment. You pay the inspector directly, or through that pay-at-close service if they use one.

07The short version, as a to-do list

1. Find out your inspection deadline the day your offer is accepted.
2. Pick an inspector yourself. Check their license if your state has one, and read a sample report.
3. Decide on add-ons (radon, sewer scope, termite, septic, chimney) before you book, so it all happens on one visit.
4. Sign the agreement in your name, and plan on paying about $300 to $500 on inspection day for an average house, more with add-ons.
5. Show up for the last hour so the inspector can walk you through what they found.
6. Share only the pages you need with the seller when you ask for repairs or a credit.

Related: How Does a Home Inspection Help Buyers? Unlocking the Mysteries of Home Inspections