Multi-Unit & Duplex Inspection in Metro Detroit
Two to four units, every one of them inspected, plus the shared systems that make a small building different from a house. One visit, one report, organized by unit.
15% off for active and retired military, first responders, nurses, and teachers. Any inspection — just mention it when you book.
Home › Multi-Unit Inspection
What It Is
What a multi-unit inspection covers.
A duplex, an upper-and-lower flat, a converted two-family, or a small four-unit building is a house with multiplied systems and one added question: what happens between the units. I inspect every unit individually, kitchen, bath, electrical, plumbing, heating, windows, and egress, and I inspect the building as a whole: roof, exterior, structure, basement, attic, grading, and drainage.
Then the parts that do not exist in a single-family house. Multiple electrical services and panels, and whether each unit's panel actually controls that unit. Multiple furnaces and water heaters, or a single shared system, and who pays for it. Shared laundry, shared basement storage, common stairways and porches. Fire separation between units and between the units and the common areas, self-closing doors where they belong, and a second means of egress from every unit, including the upper flat and any basement apartment. Smoke and carbon monoxide alarms in every unit.
The report is organized by unit and then by building, so you can price repairs, read a lease against the actual condition of that apartment, and hand the seller a repair request that names the unit. Investors use it to build the capital plan; owner-occupants buying a duplex to house-hack use it to decide which unit they are living in.
Inspections start at $499 for a duplex and add $100 per additional unit up to four. Five or more units is a commercial property inspection, and I will tell you if what you are buying is one.
Scope
Every unit, plus the building
Local Notes
Small multi-family in Macomb, Oakland, and Wayne counties.
The two-to-four unit stock in this area is concentrated and old. Upper-and-lower flats from the 1910s through the 1940s line the streets of Grosse Pointe Park along the Detroit border, Hamtramck-style two-families and converted bungalows fill Warren, Roseville, Eastpointe, and Hazel Park, and Royal Oak, Ferndale, and Mount Clemens have a mix of purpose-built flats and single-family homes that were cut into apartments somewhere along the way. Newer duplexes and townhome-style rentals are appearing in Harper Woods and Macomb Township.
Age drives the findings. Knob-and-tube or cloth wiring still in service in one unit and not the other, panels that have been split and re-split so that an upstairs circuit is on a downstairs meter, a single water heater feeding two kitchens, galvanized supply lines with pressure that collapses when both showers run, clay sewer laterals under mature trees serving four bathrooms, and basements with an unpermitted third unit. The conversions are where the fire separation and egress questions get serious: a bedroom in a basement apartment with a window nobody could climb out of is a finding that outranks the roof.
Rental registration and inspection programs are common in these cities (Warren, Sterling Heights, Royal Oak, Utica, Mount Clemens, Rochester, and Auburn Hills all run one in some form), and several older cities require a certificate of occupancy or a city certification before a sale or a new tenant. My inspection is not a substitute for the city's; it is the one that tells you what the city's will find, before you own it.
Process & Pricing
How it works and what it costs.
1. Book with the unit count
Tell me how many units, whether they're occupied, and whether utilities are on in each. That sets the price and the access plan.
2. Tenant access
Occupied units need notice, usually 24 hours under the lease. Your agent coordinates it; I'll give you a time window that works for every unit in one visit.
3. Inspection day
Three to five hours for a duplex or triplex, longer for four units. Every unit, every system, then the building. Drone on the roof, camera in the attic.
4. Report in 24 hours
Photo-documented Spectora report organized unit by unit, then building-wide, with a priority summary you can turn into a repair request or a capital plan.
5. Add-ons that matter here
A sewer scope ($199) on the shared lateral and a radon test ($175) in the lowest unit are the two I recommend most on older flats.
Duplexes start at $499; three-unit buildings add $100 and four-unit buildings add $200. Very large units or buildings with separate outbuildings scale up modestly, and you get a firm price before anything is scheduled. Active and retired military, first responders, nurses, and teachers get a permanent 15% Heroes Discount.
One honest note: the InterNACHI® Buy-Back Guarantee and Inspection Warranty are written for owner-occupied one- and two-family homes and condominium units; a two-family you will live in may qualify, a four-unit investment property will not. Ask me before you count on either.
Questions
Multi-unit inspection questions.
How much does a duplex inspection cost?
Duplexes start at $499. Each additional unit adds $100, so a three-unit is $599 and a four-unit is $699 to start. Unusually large units, detached garages with apartments above them, and buildings where utilities are off in some units can change the price, and you get a firm number before anything is scheduled.
Do you inspect every unit or just a sample?
Every unit, every time. A sample tells you about the unit the seller wanted you to see. The unit with the tenant who never lets anyone in is the one with the problem, and it is usually the one the numbers depend on.
What if a tenant won't let us in?
Then the report says that unit was not inspected, and you and your agent decide whether to close without it. I do not recommend it. Most leases in Michigan give the landlord access with reasonable notice, usually 24 hours, and a seller who cannot produce access to a unit is telling you something about how the building has been managed.
Do you check for fire separation between units?
Yes. I look at the walls and ceilings between units and at the common areas, the doors between units and shared spaces and whether they self-close, penetrations that were never sealed, and whether every unit, including a basement or attic apartment, has a second way out. I am not the fire marshal and I do not certify code compliance, but a missing separation or a bedroom with no egress goes at the top of the report.
Can I use this report for the city rental inspection or certificate of occupancy?
It will tell you what the city inspector is going to find, which is the useful part. It does not replace the city's inspection, and the cities that require rental registration or a certificate of occupancy will still send their own inspector. Handle the items on my report first and the city visit goes quickly.
Do the InterNACHI guarantees apply to a multi-unit?
Sometimes. The InterNACHI Buy-Back Guarantee and Inspection Warranty are written for owner-occupied one- and two-family homes and condo units. A duplex you will live in one side of may qualify under the program terms; a three- or four-unit investment property will not. Ask me before you rely on either, and I will give you the straight answer.
Service Area
Available across Southeast Michigan
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