I am actually under contract now to purchase a home. This will be third home purchase. I did not hire an inspector for the first two homes. If you a family member or good friend who knows houses , you may be better off than hiring an inspector. Like it has been stated previously in this thread, the disclaimers on the inspector contracts are lengthy and pretty much relieve them of any real liability. I hired my first inspector on this third purchase (under contract and not closed yet) and was surprised how many things he found I would consider cosmetic, but he did find things "wrong" that I'm positive the current homeowner didn't even know about like loose fasteners on the metal roof, ants in the crawl space, rotten brick moulding on balcony door, etc....You know stuff that you just may not know about unless by chance...... Good luck and remember it is a "buyers market"