Home Inspections See Wild Ride the Past Several Years

Wednesday, March 6th, 2024 -- 1:01 PM

(Jeff Bollier, Green Bay Press-Gazette) Consider, for a moment, the home inspection.  

According to Jeff Bollier with the Green Bay Press-Gazette, it’s a longtime staple of the home-buying process. A couple of hundred dollars, easily overshadowed by what’s now on average a $300,000 purchase, to have a professional look over the property so you, and your lender, know you picked a dream home, not a money pit. Or at least so you know how much of a money pit you're buying.

“Almost everyone says they can’t imagine not getting one,” said Jeff Wippich, owner of Appleton-based Encompass Home Inspections. Then three years ago, the housing market became so competitive buyers began to waive them in the hopes of gaining a competitive edge.

Wisconsin home inspectors went from their busiest years in 2020 almost straight to their slowest years in recent memory in 2021 and 2022. The swift decline hit inspectors, who are often self-employed, hard.

Some inspectors sought other jobs outside the housing industry while others rode out the market changes. Wisconsin’s Department of Safety and Professional Standards saw home inspector license renewals, required every other year, drop from 841 in 2021 to 569 in 2022. Renewals increased to 715 in 2023, a license renewal year.

The ups and downs in renewals might not impact a region like Milwaukee or Brown counties, where there are 73 and 18 licensed inspectors, respectively, but it could be felt more in smaller communities like Marinette County, where there are three licensed inspectors, or Door County, where there are four licensed inspectors, per DSPS records.

“Without question, it has been a rollercoaster ride for the home inspection industry,” said Julie Arnstein, executive director of the Wisconsin Association of Home Inspectors. “To be the chosen one, buyers were overbidding and waiving contingencies. Needless to say, that heavily impacted the industry.”

Wippich said his annual workload peaked at about 590 inspections in 2021 before slowing to 306 in 2022 and then 124 in 2023. Inspectors said business remains steady in 2024 and they anticipate an uptick in inspection requests this year as buyers face a little less pressure to make an overly aggressive offer to compete for a home.

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