KeptGuides
Repair estimates during your inspection period
Six ways to get a real number before your window closes, from a contractor's visit to a report-pricing service. Pick the one that fits your deadline.
Updated · By 
Ben Sikes
How do you get real repair estimates before your window closes?
Six sources put a dollar figure on an inspection finding before your window closes: a contractor quote on site, a specialist inspection (sewer scope, structural engineer, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) tech), your inspector's own estimate add-on if they offer one, a report-pricing service that prices every line item on the report at once, a national cost guide, or your agent's read on comparable deals. You can run several at once. If you haven't sorted which findings need a number yet, start with what to ask for after a home inspection.
What are your options for repair estimates, and what does each cost?
Time and cost figures are labeled observed only where a named source states that exact figure for its own product. Where no independent source gives a national figure, the row lists what to ask when you call instead of a guess.
| Option | What you get | Time it takes | What it costs | What to ask when you call | Holds up with a seller | Best used for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Contractor quote on site | A written bid for the specific repair, from a licensed contractor who saw the house | Ask when you call | Ask when you call | Can you come this week? Do you charge for the estimate? Will you put the scope and price in writing? Is the quote good for 30 days? | Strong: a seller can call the contractor to check it | One big-ticket system: roof, foundation, HVAC, electrical panel |
| Specialist inspection (sewer scope, structural engineer, HVAC tech) | A licensed specialist's own diagnosis and price for one system | Ask when you call | Ask when you call | Can you come this week? Do you charge for the visit itself? Will you put the finding and price in writing? Is the quote good for 30 days? | Strong: it's the trade's own read on the trade's own system | A single flagged system the inspector could not fully test |
| Inspector's own estimate add-on, where offered | A cost report built from your own inspection, ordered from the company that wrote it | Within 24 hours, with a paid rush option in 6 hours in one observed example (observed, greenworksinspections.com) | $125 standalone add-on price, free with some of the company's own inspection packages, plus $39 for the rush option in that same example (observed, greenworksinspections.com) | Does your inspector's company offer this, and is the rush option available for your report? | Moderate: may weigh less with some sellers since it comes from the company that found the issue | Pricing the full list fast, when your inspector's company offers this |
| Report-pricing service | An itemized cost for every finding on the report, from a separate pricing service, not your inspector | Varies by service. One example, Kept Inspect (usekept.com): usually under 4 hours (observed) | Varies by service. One example, Kept: $79 per memo (observed) | Order online, no call needed; ask what happens to findings marked as needing a professional quote | Strong for line items with a shown method; weak for lines marked needing a professional quote | Pricing everything on the report in one pass before you write your request |
| National cost guide (Angi, HomeGuide, Fixr, HomeAdvisor) | A generic price range for a repair type, not tied to your specific house or metro | None: available anytime online | Free to read; the range is national or metro-generic, not tied to your house | No call: check the page's own date and whether the range is national or local before you use it | Weak alone: it is a range, not a number tied to your house | A quick gut check on a range before you request a real quote |
| Asking your agent | A rough range from someone who has seen comparable deals close nearby | May be same day, by text or call | Free, already part of their service | Have you closed a deal recently with a similar repair? What did it cost then? Would you put your estimate in writing? | Weakest: it is an opinion, not a documented estimate | Small items not worth paying for a quote, or a first gut check |
A separate page compares the report-pricing services by name, including price and turnaround for each: inspection report repair estimate services compared. If you're a buyer's agent pricing several deals at once, see pricing inspection findings as a buyer's agent.
Kept's public sample memo, viewed 2026-09-19 on usekept.com, shows what one line item looks like once priced: extending three downspouts to discharge at least 4 feet from the foundation prices at $293 (modeled, usekept.com), shown with the labor, materials, trip, and markup that built the number.
Which findings can't a report-pricing memo price for you?
A report-pricing memo, Kept's included, prices line items with a formula: labor hours, materials, and the trade's own adders. Some findings get no formula price and are marked as needing a professional quote instead: foundation structural movement, a whole-house repipe, and regrading or drainage correction, plus similar large, condition-dependent scopes. For those specific lines, skip straight to the specialist inspection or contractor quote rows above. A formula cannot substitute for someone standing in the crawlspace or watching where water moves at the foundation. That is why those lines are marked for a professional quote instead of a modeled number.
Do home inspectors give repair estimates?
No, not as part of a standard inspection. InterNACHI's Standards of Practice list "correction, replacement or repair cost estimates" under the items an inspector is not required to determine (nachi.org/sop.htm, Section 2.2.I). Some individual inspection companies sell a repair estimate as a separate, priced add-on, which is the "inspector's own estimate add-on" row in the table above, but that is outside the inspection itself, not part of it.
What should you do with the days you have left?
These are actions to take with the time you have, not a statement of what your contract requires; your contract sets the actual date, so check that separately.
7 or more days left
Order a contractor quote or a specialist inspection now for every big-ticket system on the report (roof, foundation, sewer, HVAC, electrical panel). Booking today leaves room for a contractor who is slow to call back. Get a report-pricing memo the same day so every other line item already has a number while you wait on the bigger quotes. Save the national cost guide for the smallest findings only, since you have time to get quotes instead.
3 to 6 days left
Order a report-pricing memo first: it is the fastest way to put a number on the whole list at once. Reserve a contractor visit or specialist inspection for findings marked as needing a professional quote, since a memo cannot price those. Ask your agent for a same-day read on anything you are still deciding whether to include.
Under 3 days left
Get a report-pricing memo now. Of the options above, Kept's example shows a turnaround of hours, not days. Book a same-day contractor or specialist visit only if a finding is marked as needing a professional quote and the number would change what you ask for. For everything else, use your inspector's estimate add-on if it was offered, or a national cost guide range, to finish your list before you send it.
If you have days left in your window and want every line item on the report priced at once, get a Kept repair-cost memo: usually under 4 hours.
Sources
- GreenWorks Inspections, repair estimate report add-on (as of 2026-09-19)
- InterNACHI Standards of Practice, Section 2.2.I (as of 2026-09-20)
Cost figures are modeled from public wage and materials data unless a line says observed. Kept is accountable for the numbers on this page, and corrections go to support@usekept.com. How we price.