Should You Join a Multi-Inspector Company or Start Your Own Inspection Business?

I get a lot of questions about what it takes to get started in the home inspection profession, and I’ve come to realize the answers depend on the career path someone is looking for. I’ve written on this topic many times, and my assumption has always been that someone wants to be a solo home inspector. That’s the American Dream, right? Be your own boss, set your own schedule, yadda yadda. But what if you want to work for someone else? I have different advice for you… but I need to take a step back. Why would you want to work for someone else?

Today I’ll dig into the pros and cons of working for a home inspection company  (employee) vs working on your own (solo). I’ll break it down into freedom, compensation, work performed, stress, startup costs, and ease of entry. As the owner of a multi-inspector company, I’m inherently biased, but I’ll do my best to be fair.

Freedom

Solo home inspectors have unlimited freedom in every aspect. They can go where they wanna go, say what they wanna say, and do what they wanna do. They set their own schedule, and nobody can tell them nothin’. Huge advantage in this department.

Employees need to follow rules: what to wear, which software to use, how to write reports, how to conduct inspections, and so on. Depending on the employer, they might even be told when to work. Here at Structure Tech, my inspectors set their own schedules. They get unlimited time off, but they only get paid when they work. Just as it works when you’re a solo inspector.

Compensation

This is a tough one to compare. A big chunk of what a solo inspector earns has to be spent on stuff like taxes, insurance, vehicle costs, software, tools, marketing, credit card fees, and other business expenses. It’s a ton. I think I’m being conservative when I say 25% of revenue goes to business expenses. And a solo home inspector has to spend a big chunk of time doing stuff they don’t get directly compensated for, such as bookkeeping, networking, marketing, and advertising, to name a few. This severely reduces their hourly rate and leads to long hours… but I’m getting sidetracked.

With all things considered, the average take-home pay for a solo home inspector in Minnesota might be in the neighborhood of $80k. I’m basing this off a 2026 home inspection industry report compiled by the largest home inspection software vendor in the game, Spectora. The average price of a home inspection in the Midwest was $638 in 2025, and the average number of inspections conducted in Minnesota was 170. Multiply those out and subtract 25%, and you get your number.

A well-established home inspector who does two inspections per day, five days a week, would do far more than 170 inspections, but it takes a long time to get there. And even when you’re there, it’s not realistic to expect to do that year-round.

An employee home inspector could expect to make around $60k, but closer to $75k if you factor in a solid benefits package. But it depends on the company. Here at Structure Tech, home inspectors can expect to make significantly more than that in their first full year of employment.

Work Performed

A solo home inspector has to do everything. They need to answer the phone, respond to emails, schedule appointments, respond to all inquiries, handle bookkeeping and record-keeping, market and advertise, and a whole lot more. It’s a grind. Nobody simply calls you because you put up a website. You need to work hard to establish relationships and get referrals, and the grind never ends.

An employee does home inspections. That’s it. This is unquestionably the most rewarding part of this job, so I’m calling this a huge advantage for being an employee.

Stress

See above. It’s far less stressful to be an employee, because you only do the fun part, which is inspecting homes. Unless you enjoy that other stuff, and most home inspectors don’t.

Startup costs

A solo home inspector has far more startup costs than an employee. They need to pay for training, insurance, inspection tools, software, a website, and all of the initial marketing and advertising. And they should certainly join an inspection organization. An employee won’t have much of an initial investment. Here at Structure Tech, my inspectors probably need to spend about $500-$1,000 on tools. I provide the expensive, specialized stuff. They provide the other generic equipment. Here’s the Structure Tech Home Inspector Tool List.

Ease of Entry

It’s much easier to get started as an employee. The training process at my company typically takes three to four months for new inspectors, and then they’re out on their own with a team of inspectors to hold their hand along the way. When fresh inspectors on my team encounter new or unusual issues, they can get very quick answers from the rest of the team.

For solo inspectors, there is no great training path to learn this business. You have to do dozens of actual inspections with experienced home inspectors… At. A. Minimum. Before you’re remotely qualified to do home inspections on your own. And even after you know how to do inspections, you’re new. You’re inexperienced. You have to fake it until you make it, just to make it look like you’re not a total noob. You just pray that nobody asks how many inspections you’ve actually done on your own. It’s far easier to get started in this business as an employee.

Conclusion

So let’s get back to the main question: if you’re looking to get into home inspections, should you join another company or go it alone? Of course, there’s no single answer for everyone. If you have a strong entrepreneurial drive, you prefer to work independently, and you welcome the challenge of building something from the ground up, you’re better off solo.

If you prefer a clear learning path and more clearly defined outcomes, you’re better off joining an established company.

Oh, and by the way, we’re hiring.