A five-minute phone call before booking can tell you almost everything you need to know about an inspector, often more than an hour of reading online reviews. Here are the questions worth asking, organized by topic, and what a good answer actually sounds like.
Most buyers only think to ask about price, and maybe availability, before booking — everything else gets assumed. Taking five extra minutes to run through this list before you commit can be the difference between a report you can actually use to negotiate and one that just checks a box on your closing timeline.
About their credentials and coverage
- Which certification do you hold — InterNACHI, ASHI, or another? Since Indiana doesn't license inspectors, this is your main quality signal and worth confirming is current, not expired.
- Do you carry E&O and general liability insurance? A confident "yes" with an offer to show proof unprompted is the right answer here.
- How many inspections have you completed? There's no magic number that guarantees quality, but hesitation to answer plainly is a bad sign either way.
About scope and pricing
- What's included in the base price, and what costs extra? Radon, sewer scope, and mold testing are almost always separate line items — get the full all-in quote up front, not piecemeal.
- Do you inspect crawl spaces and attics in person, or from the access hatch only? A physical entry catches meaningfully more than a flashlight glance from the opening.
- How long will the inspection take? A typical single-family home should take 2–4 hours on site. Anything under 90 minutes for a full-size home is a genuine red flag worth pushing back on.
About the report
- When will I receive the report, and in what format? Same-day, photo-rich digital reports are the local standard across most of the Indianapolis market.
- Can I see a sample report first? This single question tells you more about quality than any other one on this list.
- Will the report include repair cost estimates or just findings? Most inspectors document findings rather than pricing repairs themselves — good to know before you start planning your negotiation strategy around it.
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About the visit itself
- Can I attend the inspection? The answer should always be an enthusiastic yes, never a reluctant one.
- Will you walk me through findings on-site before I get the written report? Many good inspectors do a verbal walkthrough of major issues before you even leave the property that day.
- Are you available for follow-up questions after the report? You'll likely have questions once you sit down and actually read the full report line by line — make sure that follow-up access is included, not billed as a separate consultation.
Put it together
None of these twelve questions are designed to be a trap — a solid inspector will answer all of them without hesitation, usually before you even finish asking the full question. If you get vague or defensive answers on more than one or two, that's worth weighing heavily before you commit to a booking. See our related guide on red flags to avoid when vetting inspectors anywhere in the Indianapolis market.
Key takeaways
- Ask about certification, experience, and insurance before anything else — these matter more in Indiana since there's no state license.
- Get a full, all-in quote covering add-ons like radon and sewer scope, not just the base inspection price.
- A same-day, photo-rich digital report is standard practice locally, so anything less is worth questioning.
- Confirm you're welcome to attend and that follow-up questions after the report are included, not billed separately.