Seems a touch arrogant, frankly. Clients often want to see the property again, not harass you. We (and all HI’s) are a small cog in their purchase wheel.
Most of my buyers attend the appointment, and they have plenty of things to keep them busy, from measuring this room or that room, checking out the yard, opening up cabinets or closets (things they were uncomfortable doing before getting an executed offer), etc. etc. Sometimes one spouse hasn’t even seen the property in person yet, so this is their opportunity to look at everything.
My clients do attend, only at the end. They get to do most all that, except for occupied homes. I need to be with clients of occupied homes to accept the liability.
That’s awesome Larry…getting good reviews and more business is all good! I can’t accept the liability of clients being at the home (especially occupied homes) while I am off inspecting. I can’t leave a panel box open and walk away for a moment, or leave a ladder up if a client is in the home. Most of all, I can’t lose my focus when if the client wants to ask me something elsewhere in the house. I prefer to approach the client with a completed inspection prior to going over the report and walking through the house. For me it seems like a safety hazard, a lability, and a potential distraction to have clients (with family, etc) attending during the time given to inspect the home.
I’ve been inspecting for almost three years now and do a lot of empty home inspections, which are good money makers because an empty house is always faster, but boring. I like having a crowd to perform in front of so to speak. A little small talk and some humor go a long way, especially with nervous first-time home buyers.
I Inspected a house recently for a young couple who was at a previous inspection and they said they called me because they thought I was funny but more importantly, very thorough.
Sure it’s best if they show up later in the inspection, but if they are there from the start I will walk around with them and point out any obvious things while feeding into my report what I can without being rude.
Most of the time they see that I know what I’m doing and they will leave me alone to finish the job.
I’ve had a few homeowners follow me around daring me to find something wrong with their hose, but after showing them multiple problems they will tend to leave me alone.
Kids have never been a problem, dogs can be a nuisance though. Was bitten once, after the lazy owner told me the dog in the yard was harmless. Asking the dog to be leashed or removed is usually not a problem.
I’ll sometimes give a buyer my older infrared camera, a quick lesson, and let them walk around with it, most find it fascinating, and it keeps them away for a while.
Remember, the two most important things in the inspection business are number one, your personality, and number two, the report.
Lasting impressions make for referrals.
I once had inspection with 20 people showed up it was aunts uncles parents kids and the client. I ask who is the client and who is going to be living in the home . I took a picture of all of them at the house. And then I told them the inspections going to be several hours Then all but 2people left , because they didn’t realize it was gonna be that long and they didn’t want to stay, or no food or drinks at the party…So 2 people stayed that the husband and I’m not sure it was his dad or his uncle… Every inspection is different
I am responsible for the home while I am there inspecting it. I also have to be safety minded for clients bringing children or other people into the home. If anything happens, the liability falls on my company.
I just had an incident recently in Columbiana County Ohio where are the clients/buyers were not permitted to be in the home at all because the buyers agent could not be present. Even though the listing agent was present, she was there only to represent the seller and for bid the clients from attending the end of the home inspection for a walk-through. In most of the other counties I service in Ohio, And also the northern panhandle of West Virginia, that is not enforced.
The agency was Hardcastle Realty… It is their policy… Also, the Ohio yesmls Requires an agent to be present during the home inspection… This is why Hardcastle Realty requires an agent to be present. I don’t agree with it, but I had to go along with it since it was their listing.
Many Purchase Agreements allow for the inspection to be performed by a Home Inspector only, and does not state that the Buyer is allowed access during the inspection.
This is all so crazy to me. I encourage my clients to be there and whomever they want to attend. The agents usually show up and it is a good three hours of time in the home really getting to know it. One time there was like 8-10 people between the buyers and agents and parents in a very large complex home so I ordered them a pizza while I was off working. If you can’t do an inspection, answer questions, be polite and friendly at the same time then maybe that should be a focus goal for next year. My customers love working with me… I know that from repeat business, referrals, reviews, and conversations with the agents that i see over and over and over. I go out of my way to accommodate them, make them feel comfortable, and even if the house sucks they get told so and immediately shown in a manner that I always get the next one. \
More than once I have had an inspection end about 20-30 minutes in because they were so blind to the issues walking in to the purchase. If they weren’t there I sure would have been wasting my time. If I was told that my clients couldn’t attend I would be banging on the agents doors pretty hard, especially THEIR AGENT as that is just shitty negotiating on their part.
For my Inspections I do not mind if the client shows up and walks with me, however, I do tell them that I can get distracted and may miss something if they do.
They tend to leave me alone after that.
Usually I tell them to walk around on there own, meet up when I’m done with the exterior and tell them in a nutshell what I’ve found. Then I go inside and do my thing inside with another stop at the end to confer.
It does help to have a standard inspection routine such as start with the exterior, then roof, then inside, then attic and crawlspaces last (you get insulation and dirt on you and don’t track it around).
Then 24-48 hours for the report.
I do my best to encourage my clients to attend the end of the inspection. This way I can show them their utility shut offs and go over any major deficiencies. With that being said though they are more than within their rights to attend the entire inspection. In this case I just explain to them that I would prefer to carry out the inspection with as few distractions as possible and that I’ll do a summary walk through with them at the end of the inspection. I give them a pad of paper and pen so they can write down any questions they may have and I’ll answer them at the end.
This one inspection I did I was not expecting the buyers to attend the inspection. During our initial contact they stated they had work conflicts and that they would not be attending. I get to the house and find a piece of paper taped to the front door. It read CATS IN THE HOUSE DO NOT LET OUT. I unlocked the door and began my inspection. After completing the exterior and roof inspection I went inside and started the interior. I saw one of the cats in the laundry room. It was a big fat yellow cat and it laid on the dryer the entire time. Halfway through the interior inspection I hear the front door bell ring and to my surprise it’s the buyers. Husband and wife and four children ages 4 to 10. I explain to them that they are welcome to look around but we need to be careful and not let the cats out. Next thing I know the mom and dad are upstairs measuring bedrooms and the kids are running all over the house. They’re running in and out the back door. I keep going back and forth shutting the door and trying to corral the little brats. In between doing this I keep looking in on the yellow cat on the dryer. Keep in mind I still have not seen the other cat. This is not unusual since cats often times like to hide especially if there are strangers in the house. I finally had to tell the parents that the children cannot be left unattended and the mom finally loaded them up in the car where they remained for the rest of the inspection. I finished up the inspection and did the summary walk through with the husband. He thanked me and they left. I went through the house and turned off all the lights, checked the thermostat and made sure the stove was turned off. When locking the back patio door I noticed a black and white cat in the back yard by the edge of the cornfield. I thought oh crap those damn brat kids let the cat out of the house. I go out in the back yard and start calling out here Kitty Kitty. The damn cat wouldn’t come to me. It would go into the cornfield a few rows and pop out at another spot. It was playing a game with me. It had rained the night before and the cornfield was a muddy mess. I had mud all over me from where I was kneeling down trying to coax the kitty to come to me. Finally after an hour and a half of this I see someone pulling in the driveway. I run up to the driveway and find out it’s the lady that lives here. I tell her about the kids running in and out and that I’m afraid her cat got out. I tell her it’s in the back yard but I can’t get it to come to me. She is frantic and runs to the back yard. Now the cat is gone altogether. It’s nowhere to be seen. We look for another half hour and finally the black and white cat appears over by the neighbors fence. I said there it is. She looks over at it and says oh that’s my neighbor’s cat Sylvester. She immediately ran into the house and called out the name Rambo and the yellow cat came a running. I told her that I never have saw her other cat. She looked at me and said Rambo is the only cat we have. I said the sign says CATS IN THE HOUSE. She looked at me like I was an idiot and said yeah what about it. I said never mind my mistake and I gathered my tools. Before leaving I took a black Sharpie (marker) and put an apostrophe between the T and the S in the word CAT’S. It’s all in the details.
You went through a heck of a lot more trouble than I would have. Cat doesn’t want to come back in, the cat doesn’t want to come back in. I’m on my way home.
This is where I tell them to go get something to eat. I’ll be done in an hour and we can walk through the summary together.
I have a client flying in for his inspection next week and he asked to attend. He’s never seen the house in person. I told him he is welcomed to attend if you are accompanied by you agent however you will be a distraction. I prefer you come by after I’ve had three hours in the house. I also told him that I’m a guest in somebody else’s home and will be liable for theft and damage. He agreed to my terms and understood.
Clients will try to use our time in a home inspection as a unaccompanied free for all if you let them. Put yourself in the sellers shoes and remember we are an interloper guest.
Are you sure about that?
There are PA’s that do not allow for anyone other than the Home Inspector to access the home for/during the inspection.
Never assume, just like you should never assume that there is a signed PA allowing for an inspection in the first place… especially in today’s real estate atmosphere!