Are inspection fees part of closing costs when buying in Nepean?

The inspection fee is one of the upfront costs you pay when buying a home, and the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada lists it among the expenses to budget for before closing. Ontario.ca puts the published range for a home inspection at $350 to $600, and notes fees may be higher depending on the size and condition of the home.

Whether you think of it as a "closing cost" depends on how you are budgeting. The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada suggests setting aside 1.5% to 4% of the purchase price for closing costs as a whole, and the FCAC names home inspection fees as one example of those upfront costs. When the fee is due is something to confirm with the inspector in the written contract.

Published Ottawa-area inspector pages give a sense of fees by type of home: a condo apartment runs about $350 to $470 plus HST, a townhouse about $400 to $515, and a detached or semi-detached home up to about 2,000 square feet about $450 to $640. Larger homes are priced by size, so ask for a written quote. If you add services such as a sewer camera scope or thermal imaging, the inspector will price those separately, and too few published figures exist to give a reliable range for add-ons.

The federal Office of Consumer Affairs advises getting a written contract before the inspection starts. That contract should set out the items to be inspected, the deadline for receiving the report, and the total cost.

Before you book, ask the inspector to put the scope of the inspection, the report delivery deadline, and the all-in price into the written contract so you know exactly what you are paying for.