PODCAST TRANSCRIPT:

Welcome back to Inspector Toolbelt Talk, everyone. Today I want to talk about a subject that I kind of talk about quite a bit, but I want to talk about it from a different angle. It’s entitled “Afford to Care.” This comes from a real-life example from a home inspector who contacted me, and he didn’t bring it up because of this. But he was on an inspection, and these people did not order a sewer scope. So he’s looking around, and he keeps stopping in the front yard. He’s like, “Something doesn’t look right.” And on the listing, and the agent and everybody said, “Oh yeah, the whole front lateral sewer line has been completely replaced, and everything’s hunky-dory.” And you could see where they dug it up. You could see the new PVC piping. There was no more junky old—I don’t know what it was, could have been Orangeburg or whatever. So everything led everyone to believe that everything was fine except for this inspector, and he’s like, “I know you didn’t order a sewer scope, but let me do one.” And they’re like, “How about the price?” He goes, “No, no, no, no. I don’t care about the price. I wouldn’t be able to sleep at night. I gotta run a sewer scope.” So they’re like, “All right, go do it.” Ran a sewer scope, and the first third of the pipe—beautiful, well done, new sewer lateral. About a third of the way through, they hit clay tile. Then another little bit farther down, it was completely blocked by roots and debris and junk. They had just walled off this section of drain line and basically just replaced the bits that you could see and made it look like they did a whole bunch of work that they didn’t. So this was $10,000-$15,000 worth of work that was left for these poor homebuyers.

But he was talking with them afterwards, and his fee was, you know, $900 for this inspection, and it was probably an extra 45 minutes for the sewer line because he got everything out, pushed it through, didn’t get very far, found all the problems. Move on. But he told me, he goes, “Ian, now I see why we increase our prices. I could afford to care.” And when he said that, it stuck with me. I’m like, “That’s podcast material.” He could afford to care. It changed his mentality.

Now imagine for a moment that he was doing inspections for $250 an inspection. Now I already know the flack that I’m going to get from this podcast. “I can charge $250, give people a great value, and still care.” Okay, I’m not saying you don’t care at all, but when you can afford to care a little bit more because you have, number one, the funds, and number two, the time, it does make a difference. I’m not saying that you don’t care at all if you’re a $250 inspector, but when you charge enough, you can afford to care.

Think about how it changes our mentality. If we are at, let’s say, McDonald’s versus Ruth’s Chris. So I actually like Ruth’s Chris for a chain. It’s good steak, right? Go there on special occasion. If you go to Ruth’s Chris, you’re gonna find that the cowboy ribeye—just the steak, no drink, no side, no nothing—is $89. When they bring that steak out to you, though, it’s usually cooked perfect, and if it’s not, and there’s something a little bit wrong with it, the waiter and cook never go, “Oh well, this is what you said,” or this or that. No, they don’t even bother. Matter of fact, one time I think they switched our steaks around, and they were going to just bring the steaks back and re-cook them and put us at the front of the line, so to speak. I’m like, “No, no, no, it’s okay. We’ll just switch them to the right person,” because they can afford to care. They’re like, “We just served you an $89 steak, so we’re gonna make sure that this is good. And if there’s a problem, we’re gonna find it.” They bend over backwards. The waitstaff talks and chats a little bit more. They do fewer tables, if you ever notice that in a nicer restaurant. They’re not doing 10-15 tables to try to make up for things. They’re maybe doing four or five. Our waitress last time was doing like four or five tables, and I took note of that. You go to an Applebee’s or something, which I like Applebee’s too, but, you know, they’re gonna have a whole bunch of tables and get more volume. Now compare that to McDonald’s, your $3 McChicken. If you open it and you notice that something’s wrong with it, the cashier is really not paid enough to care about the expression on your face. In fact, even if you come up to them and say, “Hey, I asked for no mayonnaise, and there’s no chicken on this, just mayonnaise,” they’re gonna just shrug and throw the sandwich in the garbage and probably not even make eye contact and may or may not respond to you if they’re gonna make you a new sandwich. It’s a completely different mentality. I think it’s better to compare it to Applebee’s. It’s kind of the same thing. Sometimes you can’t even get the waitress to come back.

But now, which restaurant are we? Are we the restaurant that can afford to care? We meticulously put together this inspection for you. We spent an hour the day before researching the property, looking up photos, checking the area, checking for previous inspections that we’ve done in the area. You know, were there wood-destroying insects, any trouble with flooding? We did a full inspection for you. We just prepared the best steak possible, is what we’re saying. Now when something comes up and people are like, “Oh, hey, I know we didn’t order drone.” Don’t worry about it. I just want to see what’s up there. There’s a big peak on the front of the house. This used to be an old church. I don’t know, and it has a big peak on the front. I’m getting my drone out anyways. When we can afford to care, we can afford to go the extra mile. So instead of doing three inspections that day, trying to make $750, we have one, maybe two inspections a day that we charge $750 for. Now we can take our time.

And I always loved that. My morning inspection was done. I didn’t do my afternoon inspection until about 1:30, and we still do that to this day. Start at 9:00 a.m., get there early, finish up, and you know what? Everything goes well. We’re out of there. You know, we started at 8:30 doing the outside. People get there at 9:00, give my speech, and, you know, we’re out at 11 a.m. or something on a 2,000-square-foot ranch. But you know what? If they need a little extra time—you know, an inspector recently said, “You know what? They came at the end of the inspection. I was all done, and they had a billion questions.” And he walked through that house and went over everything again after he was already done, spent an extra hour with them. But you know what? He was done at like quarter after 11. He was finished at quarter after 12. Had time to leisurely drive to his next inspection, eat his lunch, answer some emails, and start his next inspection. He spent an extra hour, almost half an inspection’s worth, with that person because, number one, he got paid enough to do the inspection, and number two, his schedule wasn’t so full trying to fill things with volume. And that’s where we get things wrong. We as business owners sometimes think volume is key, and it almost never is unless we’re running a high-volume business like McDonald’s, but that is a stressful business. And if you’re going to run at volume, we need to have a much larger business. So if we have 40 inspectors running at volume, okay, then we can make a little bit. It’s not going to be great, but we can make some money. But if we’re going to be a one- to five- to seven-man shop, then we need to make it on quality.

And personally, that’s where I stand. I like to afford to care. I like to not be so rushed, not to be so hurried, not be so pressured by a low fee. So, agree or disagree, but it does change our mentality. It does change the atmosphere of an inspection when we can afford to care. Thank you for listening in, and we’ll see you next time on Inspector Toolbelt Talk.

On behalf of myself, Ian, and the entire ITB team, thank you for listening to this episode. Don’t forget to hit that subscribe button so you can catch our future episodes as well. And if you have any feedback, please send us an email at [email protected]. Also, don’t forget to check out our app for home inspectors, scheduling and report writing all in one easy-to-use app. Check it out now at inspectortoolbelt.com.

The views and opinions of this podcast and its guests do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Inspector Toolbelt and its associates.

Outro: On behalf of myself, Ian, and the entire ITB team, thank you for listening to this episode of Inspector Toolbelt Talk. We also love hearing your feedback, so please drop us a line at [email protected].

If you’re enjoying the conversation, don’t forget to hit the subscribe button. Our podcast is available on all major podcast platforms. For more information on our services and our brand-new inspection app, please visit our website at Inspectortoolbelt.com.

*The views and opinions expressed in this podcast, and the guests on it, do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of Inspector Toolbelt and its associates.

PODCAST SUMMARY/BLOG

The phrase “afford to care” sounds simple, but it cuts straight to the economics of quality home inspections. When pricing is too low, even a skilled, well-meaning home inspector gets pushed into speed, shortcuts, and constant schedule pressure. When pricing is sustainable, the inspector can slow down, think, verify details, and take on the unglamorous work that protects buyers. This episode explores how inspection pricing, time on site, and the willingness to go the extra mile connect to real client outcomes, including the hidden costs that show up after closing. If you run a home inspection business, this is also a lesson in business model design: your fee structure quietly sets your service standard, your stress level, and the experience your clients receive.

A real-world sewer scope story shows why “looks good” is not the same as “is good.” A listing claimed the front sewer lateral had been fully replaced, and there were visible signs that supported the story: fresh digging, new PVC, and the appearance of a complete repair. But the inspector’s instincts didn’t match the surface evidence, so he pushed for a sewer scope even though the buyers hadn’t ordered one. The result: the first section was new and clean, then the camera hit older clay tile, and farther down the line it was blocked by roots and debris. The repair was partial, cosmetic, and misleading, leaving the buyer facing a potential $10,000 to $15,000 sewer repair. The key takeaway for buyers and inspectors is that underground systems, like sewer lines, are high-consequence and easy to misrepresent, so verification matters.

From there, the conversation turns to the uncomfortable but practical point: price affects behavior. If an inspector is charging $250, they may still care deeply, but their business is engineered for volume to survive. Volume squeezes time per inspection, reduces the margin for extra diagnostics, and limits follow-up education with clients. When an inspection fee is closer to $750 to $900, the inspector can “afford to care” by adding time, running additional checks, or absorbing an extra 45 minutes without wrecking the day. That extra time can mean a sewer scope, a drone look at a complex roofline, deeper research before arrival, or simply the patience to double-check an odd detail. In home inspection terms, higher pricing can translate into fewer missed defects, clearer reporting, and better client understanding.

A restaurant analogy makes the point memorable: fast food, casual dining, and a high-end steakhouse each operate under different constraints. At the premium end, staff can handle fewer tables, provide more attention, and fix mistakes quickly because the margin supports it. In a low-cost, high-volume setting, employees are not resourced for white-glove service, and the system is not designed for patience. Home inspection businesses behave similarly. If your calendar is stacked back-to-back, you cannot easily spend an extra hour answering a buyer’s questions, revisiting findings, or coaching them through priorities. But when the schedule has breathing room, you can deliver a higher quality inspection experience, reduce client anxiety, and raise the perceived value of professional home inspection services.

Finally, the episode challenges the idea that volume is always the path to success. High-volume models can work, but they often demand a larger operation, more staff, more management, and more stress. For small shops, the quality model usually wins: fewer inspections, higher fees, better service, and a calmer workflow that supports consistent performance. “Afford to care” is not just a slogan, it’s a strategy for building a sustainable inspection business where time, focus, and professionalism are priced in. If you want better outcomes for clients and a healthier company, the question is not only how much you charge, but what your pricing makes possible on every single job.