How to calculate your home inspection prices?

It is common in the industry to base the price on size, age and location of the home.  This has never made sense to me.  The majority of the time spent during the course of the inspection is on the major sytems with little time spent in the simple rooms i.e. living rooms, bedrooms, halls, etc.  Until you get to the 3500 sq/ft range, the systems in most houses are quite similar. When you take a car to the mechanic, you aren't charged by the size of the car, the common systems under the hood are the same! I have spent all day on a 800 sq/ft house where I have "waltzed" through a restored 100 year-old mansion that was inspected  in a few hours.  It is my belief that you never know what you gonna to inspect until you show-up to the property. After thousands of inspections and over forty years of mostly remodel construction, I still follow the following simple pricing;

I charge a flat fee of $400.00 (taxes included, so that's around $364.60 pre-tax) for basic houses less than 3500 sq/ft. Anything above  larger than that, the fee goes up  in $100 increments for every 1000 sf/ft.

For multi-unit buildings, the rate is the regular basic house fee ($400.00) for the first unit with $100.00 per/unit after that. A four-plex would be $700.00

Condo/Townhouse pricing varies upon the type of structure, attic and/or crawlspace access, call for pricing.