Is “selling your soul” making an honest living?? A lot of the report is in the presentation. You can give the facts in a way that you present the facts without being an alarmist. I’m new to home inspections but owned and ran a Servpro for 15 years prior. Is it OK to suggest purchasing a home warranty to cover appliance failure if you see the appliance is at the end of its life??
Welcome to our forum, Kelly!..Enjoy! 
Examples??
Couldn’t agree more. I’ve noticed the old “birds of a feather” adage holds true in this regard.
When I’m doing the post inspection walkthrough, I can usually tell within the first two minutes whether the agent and I “jive” and I’m ever going to see them again.
1 Like
I’ve never sold my soul, and never given a soft report.
There are approximately 2 million real estate agents in the United State (Per the National Association of Realtors). If an agent doesn’t like me, they don’t like me. I don’t lose sleep over it.
But it’s also mindset and making a self-fulling prophecy.
If you believe 90% of all agents are going to require you to be unethical, then guess what? 90% of all agents you meet are going to make you believe they want you to be unethical.
My mindset is all agents are individuals, and all have individual personalities.
Some have become friends, some I love doing business with but wouldn’t want to hang out with them, some I love to hang out with, but I don’t like doing business with them, some are nice, some are not, and a few I’d rather go out of business than ever deal with again.
But I don’t let any one agent experience influence how I view any other agent.
25% of all my business also comes from non-agent sources, so that helps.
2 Likes
Keep your price low enough so they won’t care? 
I completely agree. I regularly ran into a realtor who was always selling high end, nice properties, buyers always purchased. He always had great things to say about me, loved my reports and my work. Well, last deal with him buyers backed out. They used me on their last (2nd inspection with them) and they had a new realtor. Apparently, he was telling them I blew some pretty extensive foundation issues out of proportion. I’ve already gotten I think 3 referrals from them now? Haven’t heard from him since.
I always like to say: "If I killed it, it wasn’t a deal!
Develop your own process and don’t let REA’s dictate how you do anything.
The most important thing to explain to buyers is that anything can be fixed, it’s just about how much it will cost. Try to clearly explain the defects and the repairs. Be simple and straightforward, don’t go off on a lot of tangents. If something is simple, keep it simple. If something is a serious defect and needs attention, make sure the buyer understands that.
Also, no REA will admit this, but there are some small percentage of houses that need a bulldozer or a match after the inspection.
If you do a good job for your buyers, the good real estate agents will know and respect this. They will also tell other agents. The shady ones will not use you, but who cares?
The average REA only does 12 transactions per year. That’s buying and selling. Mostly selling, so on average, a REA will only need 3-6 buyer’s inspections per year. A single agent therefore, doesn’t have as much power as they like to think they do. Agents come and go. Remember, once your integrity goes, it doesn’t come back.
3 Likes
So very true. I’m lucky enough to regularly work with a few of those.
2 Likes
Zactly, Ryan!
1 Like
I got a call this morning from the owner of a Century 21 Real estate office with about 20-25 agents (that’s big for the county she is in). She said I’ve killed the deals on the past few inspections I did on their houses and she was wondering why that is.
I told her that I simply document what I observe or measure and put pictures and/or video of my findings and describe what I find and make recommendations for next steps. I don’t make up anything, the issues are documented. I then asked her if there was anything in my report that she disagreed with. She had nothing. (maybe she just has some crappy houses to sell, and she wants to blame the inspector).
If you are interested you can see my report here from the house I did Saturday that one of her agents is selling. I don’t feel like I need to soften the language on any of the 43 “maintenance or minor defects” or the 16 “Defects” or 5 “safety” items in my summary.
But I’m open to any advice or criticism (constructive or just plain mean). I can take it. don’t hold back 
I realize that I sometime say things more bluntly or aggressively than necessary, as that has been pointed out to me a couple times in the past week here on the message board. 
3 Likes
Nice, detailed professional report!
2 Likes
Junior,
Do you think my comments are too strict, or fair, or too soft? I think the internachi template (Kenton’s template) is much harsher than mine.
1 Like
OMG That was brutal… Just kidding 
. Looks very professional. I really like the drone photos. Excellent way to show the roof was in fact walked. Nice touch.
2 Likes
Very professional, fair observation, and well documented, I would have walked away from that house without a home inspection, the house is a money pit.
3 Likes
IMO… that “Radon Snapshot” is a huge mistake and loaded with potential liability!!
3 Likes
I do a short unofficial radon sample for free. If radon is high during the inspection it is easier to sell a multi-day test. Many customers don’t book a radon test when scheduling but my Radon Snapshot™ convinces them after the home inspection to buy a 48+ hour test. I have language in the PIA and the report saying that the Radon Snapshot™ is not an official radon test and that a 48+ hour test is needed to be official.
Do you have any specifics on ways this may still be a bad idea? I value your advice, Jeffrey.
1 Like
I’ve found some very high radon levels that otherwise would be unknown to the buyers (and sellers). Our area has the highest per-capita death rate from radon in the USA. Not because of the highest radon levels, but because very few houses have been tested and people simply don’t know about it. My Radon Snapshot™ brings it to their attention and I think it may save some lives. I know that sounds cheesy, but I think it is actually true.
1 Like
Is that what you would tell a judge?..“I just do that meaningless “Radon Snapshot” to try to get more business”. Yes, I understand that the real radon level was a lot higher and that the buyers didn’t do a longer radon test because I said “NO ACTION REQUIRED” and now they have lung cancer.
The above along with “NO ACTION REQUIRED” to a lay person often beens no action required.
I’m with Jeff, I would remove it totally or restate the “NO ACTION REQUIRED” part.
Otherwise, very nice report!
3 Likes
Absolutely… FALSE SENSE OF SECURITY!!
We all know that two hours is nowhere close to any meaningful real life situation. Hell, a real 48+ hour (minimum!) test REQUIRES a 12 hour timeframe before you can even begin testing!!
You can almost guarantee a lawsuit if anyone ever decides to test and gets a different ‘real life’ reading. Your ‘language’ won’t mean crap in a court of law. YOU are supposed to be the Professional. What you are doing is extremely UNprofessional, IMO.
2 Likes