A general inspection misses the two things that most often cost five figures: the sewer lateral and the roof. Answer six questions and get the exact inspection plan your property needs — priced, prioritized, and with the specific red flags to watch for.
A standard inspection is visual and broad. The failures that actually blow up budgets are the ones nobody looked at — because nobody told the buyer to order that specific inspection.
Invisible from inside the house. Root intrusion or a collapsed line routinely runs into five figures — and it's found with a camera scope that costs a couple hundred dollars.
A general inspector looks at a roof visually and from a distance. Roof age gates insurance, insurance gates the mortgage, and the mortgage gates your closing.
Certain panel types are effectively uninsurable. Buyers discover this when the policy quote comes back — usually days before closing, with no leverage left.
Six questions and you get a specific plan — which of our three inspections fits, what it costs, and honestly which specialists you should order separately.
Personalized to your property and timeline
Enter your details and we'll unlock the full breakdown and email you a copy.
BestHouse is a California-licensed civil engineering firm and our design, drafting, and inspection services are only available for California properties. We can't process a request outside California at this time.
Pick a time below and we'll walk through your result together. Takes 15 minutes.
We do these three properly rather than fifteen adequately. If your property needs a specialist — sewer scope, roof, structural — we tell you and refer you out. We don't pretend to do everything.
For buyersThe full buyer's inspection. A visual review of structure, roof, electrical, plumbing, HVAC, insulation, drainage, exterior, and major appliances — with findings triaged into safety, major, and maintenance so you know what actually matters.
For sellersRun before you list so you control the findings instead of reacting to a buyer's report. You fix what matters, disclose what doesn't, and remove the other side's leverage before they ever have it.
For ownersAn annual or periodic health check on a home you already own. Catches the small problems while they're still small — the roof flashing, the slow leak, the grading issue — before they become the five-figure ones.
If your inspection turns up something that needs a specialist, we say so in the report and point you to one. We don't perform sewer scopes, dedicated roof certifications, structural engineering assessments, termite/WDO reports, or pool inspections. Naming that up front is the point — you should know exactly what you're buying.
Multifamily or HOA property? California requires periodic inspection of exterior elevated elements under SB-721 and SB-326, and both deadlines have passed. Check your compliance status →
Every inspection includes the full visual review, triaged findings, annotated photos, repair cost ranges, and a report within 24 hours.
Report in 24 hours or your rush fee is free
Pricing scales with square footage and home age. Crawlspace, detached structures, and homes over 3,000 sq ft carry a surcharge — quoted before you book, never after.
Most inspection reports are a wall of photos with no priority. Ours separates what's urgent from what's cosmetic, estimates repair cost, and gives your agent something usable at the table.
The point isn't the inspection. It's what you do with what it finds.
Use the planner to see exactly which inspections your property needs — and which it doesn't.
We schedule the whole set together so you're not coordinating four vendors against a contingency clock.
Attend if you can. You'll learn more in two hours on site than from any report.
Triaged findings, repair cost ranges, and a negotiation summary for your agent.
We match you with licensed contractors by trade — or you use the report to ask for a credit.
Ours or anyone else's — we work from whatever you have.
Roofing, electrical, plumbing, structural, sewer — matched to licensed pros who do that specific work.
Everyone bids the same documented findings, so you compare on price, not interpretation.
Re-inspection confirms the repair was done right and documents it for your file.
An inspection report tells you what's wrong. The next question is always who fixes it, and at what price.
Because we don't do repair work ourselves, our findings stay independent — and our contractor matches aren't a referral kickback scheme dressed up as a recommendation.
Licensed contractor? Apply to join the network →
"The planner told me to add a sewer scope because of the trees out front. The scope found a collapsed section. That two-hundred-dollar call saved me about fourteen thousand dollars."
"I ran the pre-listing inspection first and fixed two things before we went live. Zero renegotiation, closed at asking. Best money I spent on the sale."
"Nobody had ever explained to me that a general inspection doesn't include the sewer or a real roof assessment. That alone changed how I bought my second property."
Not a list of features. The specific structural reasons the outcome is different.
| BestHouse | Most inspection companies | |
|---|---|---|
| What they sell you | The three we do, plus who to call for the rest | Every inspection they offer |
| The report | Triaged into safety, major, maintenance | Eighty pages, no priority |
| Repair numbers | Cost range on every finding | Not included |
| Negotiation help | A sheet your agent can submit as written | "Talk to your agent" |
| Who does the repairs | Not us — so findings stay honest | Often the same company |
Tell us about the property and we'll schedule the set your plan calls for, with reports back within 24 hours.
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