Inspection report repair estimates: paid vs free vs bids

Which repair estimate should you use after an inspection?

Use Kept if you're asking the seller for repairs or a credit and need line-by-line numbers the seller's agent can act on. Use a free estimate tool if you only want a ballpark. Get your own contractor bids if you're hiring the work now.

Kept costs $79 per memo, usually under 4 hours. Free estimate tools cost you nothing up front because the repair job pays for them: the company, or the contractors it sends you to, wants that work. That's a fair trade if you plan to hire through them. It's a different job from pricing a request you have to defend.

Kept publishes this page and is one of the options compared.

Key takeaways

• Kept: the math on every line, and no repair to sell you afterward.
• Free estimate tools: no charge and a quick number, built around booking the repair.
• Contractor bids: the only option where someone sees the problem in person, one visit at a time.

How do the three options compare?

All three give you a dollar figure tied to your area. The difference is who the number is for and what it leads to.

What does free cost you?

A free estimate is paid for by the repair it leads to. Some tools are run by a contractor that offers to do the work once the estimate is ready. Others let you book a pro or order from partner contractors right inside the estimate.

None of that makes the number wrong. It does mean the estimate is built around a job someone would like to do, which is useful when you're hiring. When you're asking the seller for money, you need a number built around your request instead, one you can explain line by line when the other side pushes back.

What does the $79 pay for?

Kept reads the whole report, including the inspector's photos, and prices the findings. Each line names the material and the size of the area, then prices the work a contractor would actually do:

• Trade labor at the local hourly rate from Bureau of Labor Statistics wage data for your metro.
• Materials at the prices a contractor pays locally.
• The costs a contractor adds on top: trip charges, mobilization, equipment, disposal, permits and markup.

Where a photo can't show how deep a problem goes, hidden rot being the common case, the line carries a range and the memo names the reason. Findings that need an engineer to define the repair, like foundation movement, are flagged instead of priced. Your report isn't sold to contractors, and $79 is the whole transaction. The methodology page walks through how a line is built.

Isn't a free tool faster?

Sometimes. Some free tools return a number in under 60 seconds, and a quick number is enough to decide whether a house deserves a closer look.

Speed stops helping once you're writing the request. The seller's agent will ask where each figure came from, and a quick total answers a different question: what a crew would charge to take the job. A line that shows its own labor, materials and adders gives the other side something to check against a bid. Other free tools take 1 to 3 business days, which can eat a short inspection window.

When is each option the right one?

• Kept: you're inside the inspection window, asking for repairs or a credit, and every line needs a number the seller's agent can check.
• A free estimate tool: you want a ballpark before deciding how hard to push, or you already plan to hire the repair through that company.
• Your own contractor bids: you're hiring the work now, or the finding is a roof, foundation, electrical panel or sewer line where the real price depends on what a contractor sees on site.

You can use two: a priced memo covers the full list, and bids cover the one to three biggest findings. The home repair estimate template shows how a priced list reads, and what to ask for after a home inspection covers which items are worth pushing on.

Should you get contractor bids too?

For big-ticket items, yes. A written bid comes from someone who has seen the problem, at a price that contractor is offering to work for. The Federal Trade Commission says to "get multiple estimates" and that "a written estimate should include a description of the work to be done, materials, completion date, and the price."

Bids take scheduling, so book them the day the report lands. With a foundation crack, the price depends on what a contractor sees on site. Getting repair estimates during the inspection period covers the timing. Your contract sets the deadline for the repair request, so confirm the date with your agent.

Does Kept replace a contractor walk-through?

No. It gives you a priced starting point before the contingency window closes. A walk-through is the next step if you have time, and findings that need an engineer are flagged on the memo, not priced.

Can a buyer's agent use Kept for a client?

Yes. An agent can upload the client's report, and the memo can be shared with whoever the client likes. Pricing inspection findings for buyer's agents covers how to walk a client through the numbers, and the repair request letter template shows where the figures go.

If your inspection window is open and you need every line priced before you send the request, upload your inspection report to Kept: $79 per memo, usually under 4 hours.

Sources

• Federal Trade Commission, how to avoid a home improvement scam
• Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (bls.gov/oes)