Usually, the home inspection firms use a specific cost calculator to determine the average cost of their services. This cost may vary according to the type of services provided and the areas and aspects included in the inspection process. Therefore, a typical residential home inspection for a single family may be much lower than a full home inspection of a large dwelling. It is therefore, required to know first how much value in return the cost will provide to the home inspection firm. On the other hand, it is also necessary to know how much benefit the home owners will get at the same time. Cost of additional services The cost of a general home inspection will naturally be quite lower than the cost that includes additional inspection and testing services. The additional testing services for home inspections may include anything and everything from mold testing to water quality and intrusion testing, from radon testing to lead based paint testing, from indoor air quality testing to non-attached structure examinations. All of these additional services are provided by specialists who have undergone special training and education for several years. It is the price of such added training that you will have to pay for thereby increasing the cost on the whole. Purchase add-on services If you want to keep the cost of a comprehensive home inspection considerably low, the best way to go ahead is to purchase the additional services as add-ons. This will not only save you money, but will also save a lot of time. on the other hand, the cost of your home inspection will be much higher if you buy these services as standalone services. Typically, when you buy these added services as add-ons along with a residential inspection, the cost of that specific service will be one half to a quarter of the total cost if you bought them separately. Cost analysis breakdown Finally, you should consider the cost analysis breakdown for the home inspection. Since there is no specific format to determine the cost of home inspection, the best way is to ask the inspector himself upfront. This will help you to figure out how they are billing you. In most of the times, you will need to pay before the services, However, a few home inspection service providers may allow you to pay for their services shortly thereafter but before the home inspection report is given to you.