Use it as research, call afterwards (or just drop in) and see how he did/does. Perhaps he will share.
Maybe he saved you come coin.
Give us better details.
Got a link to an invite?
Is the expo only for in house or is it some actual expo attracting buyers and sellers from the entire area.
Personally I think it is OK if run by an outside company(third party) but if it is run in house than you are doing them a favor by being there and adding to their show.
Big difference at least in my opinion as you are in a sense promoting them and appear to be endorsing them.I would not do it since you would then look like an in house lap dog.
I think there is a big difference between having a booth at an expo and a Realtor handing a list of “preferred” inspectors to a buyer.
So Nick’s answer is for the Government to step in??? Classic…
Baird & Warner charges $2000.00 to be on the list, they call it advertising, In IL we are not allowed to pay for referrals.
A booth an an expo is promotion, and should not be an issue.
Huge difference. An inspector at his booth at an expo is very different from a real estate agent who conveniently forgets her fiduciary duties and hands her client a list of “preferred” inspectors, never mentioning that the “preferred” status wasn’t based on merit, but instead… payment. An expo event planner doesn’t violate any contractual or fiduciary duties to anyone by selling you a booth. A real estate broker does when she sells you her recommendation.
I have been on several list or preferred vendors or inspectors. I have never paid to do so.
My inclusion was based on hard work, mentoring agents, edcating them on the realities of our business and our processes, and based on trust.
Texas forbids it in their law…but in practice, looks the other way. That is the story behind the story that this affiliate station was putting out. I think TREC looked bad in their response.
That they did but probably no worse than our favorite trade organization that promotes an equally egregious or maybe even more offensive offering.
Mike…in my own state there are high profile home inspectors who will condemn a relationship with real estate salesmen in one breath…and will complain as to how their objections to certain licensing bills have cost them in referrals.
I’m not exactly certain that our industry…as an industry…has yet to successfully define itself outside the shadow of the used house salesman.
Until we do, we will always simply be a commodity…competing against one another with the lowest fees. It sucks.
One of our very high profile home inspectors told me 2 years ago at one of ASHI’s seminars that he paid this same real estate company $10,000 p/year to be on that very list. We had the same scenario in Omaha 3-4 years ago and posted it on this site. Is it unethical OR just buying advertising. All kinds of inspectors claim … “In my state, we can’t do that - Its against the HI law, etc, et”.
I SEE it everywhere and anywhere there are commissioned sales people trying to get hungry vendors to help pay for the sales force referring them.
With real estate agents being independent sub-contractors, even if a home inspector paid to be on the list / The agents don’t have to use him - AND - MANY won’t use him … SO
I could claim I’m too ethical to do that sort of thing OR just say I’m too poor to do that.
Dan Bowers
Understood…My initial reaction was based on the fact that this is a private real estate firm giving the expo, not an association.
This is the simpler part of the debate that has already been answered by the COE.
If you pay a real estate salesman or his broker for a referral or for to appear on a list from which the agent selects his referrals…you have violated the NACHI COE. If the only way to get your name on the list is with money…and those who do not pay do not get referred…it’s a slam dunk violation.
Unsuspecting consumers are being misled by their agents who they are trusting to look after their interests. The agent has a duty to refer the best qualified people he or she knows…not simply the inspector desperate enough for business to pay a bribe to get it.
When the consumer is unhappy with the quality of the inspection…and discovers that the only reason that the inspector was referred was his willingness to pay a bribe…they go to the media and courts.
Nick/NACHI is making it clear…in advance…to the world that this shady practice is NOT industry wide and that it is NOT condoned by ethical and professional inspectors.
Not every inspector belongs to a national association, so used house salesmen will always have a market for their “preferred vendor lists”. This is just one more way professional members of national associations can stand out from the rest.
It is not advertising. It is fraud.
Jim -
Agreed, BUT every time I’ve seen it pursued it came back to …
Well in that case anybody that PAYS to be in the Yellow Pages is doing the same thing. If you don’t pay you’re not IN them so …
I don’t think its the same, maybe you don’t BUT others make the claim.
PS -
In this economy there is 1 other major factor. One’s desire to work and eat and pay bills to stay in your home versus NOT.
To those unfortunate inspectors who must resort to paying bribes to real estate salesmen in order to feed their families…my advice is to find a new career…something they are good at and do not have to rely upon bribery and sleaze to feed their families.
The only place they will find “sympathy”, here…is in the dictionary…somewhere between “s h it” and “syphilis”.
Jim,
Please explain to me how, when I pay $250 to have my name in an annual publication to Weichert Realtors, and that allows me to 1) leave my business cards in Weichert offices; 2) gives me access to their agents and 3) puts me on a short list of inspectors a Weichert office included in a sales packet is a violation of the INTENT of that particular provision of the COE ?
I say INTENT, because I believe that intent is the SOLE means for someone to be in violation of the COE.
Is it a violation for an inspector to drop off a dozen donuts once a month in a RE office with his card taped to the box?
There is a distinct difference between advertising and bribe.
In Weichert, there is nothing in writing that compells the agent to recommending only those inspectors on the list of preferred vendors
When I purchase a fruit basket at Christmas time as a thank you for the 10 or so agents who have continually referred me, and whose clients I have done my best for, and those baskets cost me $25 each, am I paying a bribe or is it a smart buainess practice?
We can extrapolate this to the "n"th degree. Or we can see it in legitimate circumstances, for legitimate purposes.
Legislators are allowed to take occasional small gifts from people such as lobbyist, but they are not allowed to take expensive gifts or monies from anybody. It should be the same for real estate.
I agree.
But we are not only putting realtor pay-offs in the mix. We are including paying to advertise in Realtr mags or being listed as preferred vendors on websites.
Untill laws are passed at the REALTOR-LEVEL, prohibiting listing inspectors as paid-for advertising, there is little that will EVER change the practice. Until the practice is ENFORCED at the State level, the inspector is in the clear.
So tell me… if it came down to dong what you need to do to feed your family, as opposed to belonging to an association… as a husband and father, what is the only MORAL and ETHICAL thing for you to do?
The only logical view…and harm…that comes from the practice of paying bribes to real estate salesmen…comes from the consumer.
When a real estate salesman chooses not to disclose, but to conceal from their client that they “prefer” the services of Jim Bushart for no other reason than the fact that he paid $2,500 to appear on their list…but the client is left to believe that they “prefer” his services and are recommending him based upon his abilities as a home inspector…the client has been misled.
“Preferred” infers more than just an advertising list.
The agent knows what’s really going on and makes $2500. The inspector knows what’s really going on, and makes his fee. Only the consumer remains in the dark…until there is a problem with the inspection.
Joe- you use the “starving family” argument in this case as if it weakens the logic or reasoning behind the prohibition, but there are men who are robbing churches and stealing purses to feed their starving families, as well. Crime is always easier to justify when more people than me are hungry…but it is still crime.
Businessmen…even poor businessmen who are unable to adequately feed their families in their chosen professions…are still obligated to adhere to the ethical requirements of their profession and the laws of their state. Their failure to be able to make an honest living is not a justifiable cause to seek a dishonest alternative.
I would answer your question: " if it came down to dong what you need to do to feed your family, as opposed to belonging to an association… as a husband and father, what is the only MORAL and ETHICAL thing for you to do" as follows —
I would find an honest way to feed my family.