Cost of Inspections in Grand Forks, ND

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#1038. How much does a professional "home inspection" cost in the Grand Forks, ND area?

Typically  house inspections run from $250 to $400. However the devil is in the details  sometimes. Inspectors are what I call ‘generalists’ and don’t check  deeply into everything. 

So for instance, the  home inspector will check to see if the furnace and air conditioner are  working but they will not look for any less-than-apparent mechanical  concerns. 

Thus you may want to have the  furnace and air conditioner specifically checked out by a licensed  heating and air technician. As of July, 2018 a basic service call could  cost about $65- $75 per unit for a basic check-up.

 In particular I  suggest my buyer-clients have the heat chamber in an older gas furnace  examined to see if there are any cracks that could lead to carbon  monoxide poisoning the air. This actually happened to my mom’s furnace  that had been replaced after the floor of 1997 but, about fourteen years  later the heat chamber cracked and started to leak carbon monoxide.  Lucky that we had installed a carbon monoxide detector near the furnace!  We had to replace the furnace.

If no major  concerns are revealed the bonus for the furnace and air conditioner  checkups is the systems will get serviced or tuned-up and you will be  ready to go for the upcoming season of summer cooling or winter  heating. 

Sometimes it might be wise to call  in a plumber to have a sewer line checked, scoped, and even rotored. The  cost can vary depending how extensive the work to check and maybe clean  the sewer line is. I can think of a house on Reeves Dr, where I  subsequently learned after-the-fact, that would have been wise: Reeves  Dr has some big, old, and beautiful Elm trees but they also have lots of  roots. Shortly after the buyer moved in the line got worse with  blockage and backed sewer water into the basement. 

Also, as the situation may dictate, an electrician or even a structural engineer might be warranted to call. 

Sometimes  you may suspect there is mold in a house. An air quality test can be  done – the last one done by one of my buyer-clients in July, 2018 cost  $125.

You might also want to do a radon test.  In 2018 I have noticed a resurgence of concern on this issue. The test  can be free if you have the time to get a kit from the health department  and can wait about two weeks for the results all the way to about $150  for results that come back in a few days. (I will write more on radon in  a future blog.)

Overall, it might be wise to  develop a mindset that tries to anticipate what might be the critical  components of a house in which to delve further - which of course adds  to the cost beyond that of a basic “home inspection”. 

I have a list of all the local inspectors that I share with my clients and that is also available at my website www.grandforkshomes.net.