The inspection is the cheap part. What it finds is where the money is, and understanding that ordering saves far more than shopping around on the fee.
Ask three inspectors what a four-point costs and you will get three answers, because the fee depends on things that vary genuinely between properties: square footage, how many storeys, whether the attic is accessible, whether the panel is reachable, how far the property is, and how quickly you need the report.
Anyone quoting a single fixed number sight unseen is either averaging and will adjust later, or has not asked enough questions. We quote per property, which is less satisfying than a price list and more accurate.
Combining inspections. A four-point and a wind mitigation done on the same visit costs meaningfully less than two separate visits, because most of the cost is attending and accessing rather than the paperwork. On an older rental you usually want both, so ask for them together.
Access. An attic hatch blocked by stored belongings, a panel behind a wardrobe, a locked side gate. Anything that means a second visit costs more than getting it right the first time.
Property size and storeys. More roof, more openings and more circuits take longer.
Turnaround. A same-day or next-day report when a closing date is looming is a different job from one booked a fortnight out.
Portfolio work. Several properties in one community inspected in a single visit is the cheapest way to do it per property, by a wide margin. This is worth knowing if you own multiple units in the same development.
Landlords tend to shop hard on the inspection fee and then get surprised by the remediation. The proportions are worth understanding, because they are not close.
An electrical panel replacement, a repipe, a re-roof — each of these is an order of magnitude more than the inspection that found it. The inspection fee is a rounding error against a re-roof.
Which means the useful question is not “what does the inspection cost” but “what happens if it finds something”. An inspector who hands you a report and leaves has done half the job. Getting the remedial work quoted at the same time, from someone who can carry it out and re-inspect, is what determines whether a finding costs you three weeks or three days.
A four-point is a cost. A wind mitigation inspection is usually an investment, and on a lot of properties it pays for itself in the first year.
Florida law obliges insurers to discount premiums for wind-resistant construction features, and the discounts are often substantial. If the property has a hip roof, a re-nailed deck, hurricane clips or full opening protection, the credits can exceed the inspection fee many times over.
It will not always. If the house has a gable roof, a stapled deck and no shutters, there may be nothing to claim, and we will tell you that rather than sell you a report. But it is worth establishing rather than assuming, and the way to find out is cheap.
Will you inspect the attic? Deck attachment and roof-to-wall connection are the two highest-value items on the wind mitigation form and neither can be verified from the ground. An inspection that skips the hatch is worth considerably less.
Are you authorised to sign the mitigation form? The statute limits it to licensed home inspectors, general contractors, building code inspectors, registered architects and professional engineers. A report signed by anyone else gets rejected and you have paid for nothing.
How old a report will my carrier accept? Ask your insurer, not the inspector. Acceptance ranges from ninety days to five years and getting it wrong is the most common reason an inspection is redone.
Do you quote remedial work? If not, budget for the delay of finding someone who does, plus a second inspection to evidence the fix.
For a straightforward single-family rental, usually yes, once we know the size, the address and whether you want the wind mitigation done at the same time. For anything unusual we would rather see it than guess and revise.
Meaningfully, yes. Most of the cost is attending and getting access, so the second report on the same visit costs far less than a separate booking. On an older rental you generally need both.
A same-day or next-day report when a closing date is at stake costs more than a booking made a fortnight ahead, because it displaces other work. We will tell you the difference up front.
Batching is the cheapest way to do this. Several properties in the same community inspected in one visit costs considerably less per property, which matters if you own multiple units in the same development.
The re-inspection after remedial work is a separate visit, so there is a cost to it. Where we carry out the remediation we treat the re-inspection as part of that job rather than as a fresh inspection.
One call for the inspection, the repair, or just a straight answer about what applies to your property.