Do you regularly take top-producing agents to lunch to promote programs such as MIC?

Remember I was offered a FREE MEMBERSHIP…apparently!! Linus must have a much better memory than myself as I don’t remember that.

Yepp!! Too broke to pay the $289 because a few months ago, I paid cash for a loaded 2.4 liter turbo Volvo V70 wagon. I can get a folded 23’ Jaws heavy duty ladder in it…saves having to have a gas guzzling truck with extra insurance costs for inspections.

I have Scottish genes, you know. Why pay as long as access to the boards is free?

I have a Realtor that takes me to lunch and pays when ever I am working in her town :wink: my wife:D

The REALTORs around here have been doing them too… but not just out of the blue. We had to SELL the idea to the REALTORs in Denver last year. Now, MIC inspections are very common here.

Nice to see you Marketing to Realtors in at least one market. :smiley:

No one does them around here. Realtors never heard of INACHI or MIC. I’ve done 2 pre-listing inspections this year. I’ve done over 250 INACHI sop home and commercial inspections. This program will never catch on around here. Especially in this market.

I just can’t see how this program is big in CO? Nick, I’d really love for you to visit my area sometime and show me/us how selling this program is done. What about Ben? Anytime, I’m game. Plenty of room at our house. I’d love to be proven wrong, really. I have about 20-30 solid Realtors that reffer my business. I’ll also get us full access to an entire office where my wife has been a Realtor for several years.

Through the past several years I’ve mentioned that INACHI should focus more on branding the INACHI inspector and why we’re better and could provide better services than any other inspector. I know you’ve said you do not care about branding, but you do :wink: Otherwise you’d not spend so much time trying to build these type programs you’re wanting to offer or wanting us to offer.

Milage may very but here no Mickey-Poos.

LOL! Of course no one knows about them where you are… that’s why MIC works here in Colorado, we offered it first. It’s new and hot and makes sense in this market. Jiminy Cricket, where is the market advantage in waiting till your competitors present the program to your agents? Do like Jimmy Michael did and be first: http://www.nachi.org/forum/f62/did-five-move-certified-inspections-last-week-here-get-them-38418/… before it becomes a brand that everyone’s heard of. Heck, the entire business community is out there looking for a new edge, and your idea is to wait around until it becomes commonplace? Did you wait for your competitors to all get websites before you would get one? Did you wait for the entire industry to include PICs in their inspection reports before you would buy a digital camera?

I hand you a complete program that you can walk into any real estate office sales meeting tomorrow and present as something exciting, a program to help their real estate business, help them generate foot traffic and help them close deals, something fresh that leads to many more inspections for you, a program that no broker could resist learning about… and you’d rather go in and waste their time with “Hi, I’m Ray. I’m a good inspector and very thorough. Hire me. Oh, and I brought some donuts, they are in on the table in the back of the room next to my little pile of business cards.” C’mon.

First punch wins.

First Punch may win if it is well placed and or of enough Power.

The MIC Program as offered could be 50 punches and still not be effective.

Realtors/Sellers do not like Pre Listing Inspections.

Try to think like a buyer. If I were a buyer looking to purchase a home and saw some sign that the home was move-in-certified, I’d be suspicious at best or real weary. Like a used car dealer telling me that its pre-owned certified…ok sure? Still gonna take it to a mechanic and check it out.

Other thing is liability wise if I’m a Realtor, I’m still gonna recommend to the buyer that they get it inspected.

What Realtor is going to recommend that the seller waste their money on an inspection marketing their home that it’s move-in-certified? It’ll make them look foolish.

Since inspectors findings around here are subject opinion, this would cause friction with each others findings.

Currently, they are too many reasons not to go in this direction.

Now every so often I see the benefit of a pre-listing inspection but other than that, not really sold and do not see how this is the cat’s meow in any State.

Why would I do that when I’m pitching to a room full of real estate agents. Try to think like a real estate agent when pitching to agents. Try to think like a sell when pitching to sellers.

Here is your agent pitch:

[ul]
[li]Agents can recommend certified InterNACHI inspectors to inspect the home properly before the buyer’s inspector arrives.[/li][li]Sellers can schedule the inspections at seller’s convenience with little effort on the part of agents.[/li][li]Sellers can assist inspectors during the inspections, something normally not done during buyer’s inspections.[/li][li]Sellers can have inspectors correct any misstatements in the reports before they are generated.[/li][li]Reports help sellers see their homes through the eyes of a critical, third-party, thus making sellers more realistic about asking price.[/li][li]Agents are alerted to any immediate safety issues found, before other agents and potential buyers tour the home.[/li][li]Repairs made ahead of time might make homes show better.[/li][li]Move In Certified yard signs attract potential buyers.[/li][li]The reports hosted on www.FetchReport.com entice potential buyers to tour MoveInCertified homes.[/li][li]The reports provide third-party, unbiased opinions to offer to potential buyers.[/li][li]MoveInCertified reports can be used as marketing tools to help sell the homes.[/li][li]Reports might relieve prospective buyer’s unfounded suspicions, before they walk away.[/li][li]Seller inspections eliminate buyer’s remorse that sometimes occurs just after an inspection.[/li][li]Seller inspections reduce the need for negotiations and 11th-hour renegotiations.[/li][li]Seller inspections relieve the agent of having to hurriedly procure repair estimates or schedule repairs.[/li][li]The reports might encourage buyers to waive their inspection contingencies.[/li][li]Deals are less likely to fall apart the way they often do when buyer’s inspections unexpectedly reveal problems, last minute.[/li][li]Reports provide full-disclosure protection from future legal claims.[/li][/ul]
Here is your seller pitch:

[ul]
[li]The seller can choose a certified InterNACHI inspector to inspect the home properly before the buyer’s inspector arrives.[/li][li]The seller can schedule the inspections at the seller’s convenience.[/li][li]It might alert the seller to any items of immediate personal concern, such as radon gas or active termite infestation.[/li][li]The seller can assist the inspector during the inspection, something normally not done during a buyer’s inspection.[/li][li]The seller can have the inspector correct any misstatements in the inspection report before it is generated.[/li][li]The report can help the seller realistically price the home if problems exist.[/li][li]The report can help the seller substantiate a higher asking price if problems don’t exist or have been corrected.[/li][li]A seller inspection reveals problems ahead of time which:[/li][LIST]
[li]might make the home show better.[/li][li]gives the seller time to make repairs and shop for competitive contractors.[/li][li]permits the seller to attach repair estimates or paid invoices to the inspection report.[/li][li]removes over-inflated buyer-procured estimates from the negotiation table.[/li][/ul]

[li]The report might alert the seller to any immediate safety issues found, before agents and visitors tour the home.[/li][li]The report provides a third-party, unbiased opinion to offer to potential buyers.[/li][li]A seller inspection permits a clean home inspection report hosted on www.FetchReport.com to be used as a marketing tool.[/li][li]Move In Certified yard signs attract potential buyers.[/li][li]A seller inspection is the ultimate gesture in forthrightness on the part of the seller.[/li][li]The report might relieve a prospective buyer’s unfounded suspicions, before they walk away.[/li][li]A seller inspection lightens negotiations and 11th-hour renegotiations.[/li][li]The report might encourage the buyer to waive the inspection contingency.[/li][li]The deal is less likely to fall apart the way they often do when a buyer’s inspection unexpectedly reveals a problem, last minute.[/li][li]The report provides full-disclosure protection from future legal claims.[/li][/LIST]
Where are you located? I’ll schedule a presentation with the real estate office closest to your home, fly out there, and land 10 MIC inspections for you in 25 minutes… just for laughs.

5-6 Years ago at one of Mike Crows ANNUAL “3 Days of Secrets” in Dallas, Mike brought in a speaker from Canadia (Allan Carson) to do a 2 hour pitch on PRE-LISTING Inspections / The new wave of the future.

I thought this was the greatest sounding thing since buttered popcorn.

I called Allan a few weeks later and talked to him about what he did, how he did, etc. One thing I found amazing was his pitch to BUYERS and SELLERS and REALTORS was exactly what Nick talked about here. Something for EVERYONE.

Allan ALSO had another feature that was great for the INSPECTOR. He charged MORE for this than for a buyers Pre-Purchase Inspection. I loved it and started offering them immediately.

Session #2:

Allan Carson from Canadia provided his 2 hour long Power Point Presentation to members of Mike Crows MIC group. I modified it to a 15 minute RE Office presentation for sales meetings and a 45 minute to 1 hr version for adult education at the local community college, homeowner associations, Realtor “Lunch & Learn” classes, etc.

I made up a Trifold Brochire SPECIFICALLY for PRE-LISTING Inspections; I had CERTIFIED “Pre-Inspected” yard signs made up; I was ready to kick butt.

My 1st year PUSHING this I did over 20 Real Estate Office Presentations alone in Kansas City. The RE Brokers seemed to LOVE the idea.

Even did 2-3 shows for the community college (adult ed) and 3 homeowner associations. No results from either one.

However, the RE Agents were another story. Their 1st Question to me ALL the time was: "Since you’re doing this for MY seller and there won’t be a buyer tagging along slowing you down, HOW LOW CAN YOU GO"?

I got the Same Question Over & Over / Time & Time again from the local KC Realtors. How Cheap Can You Be?

If that wasn’t bad enough we had several local inspectors OFFERING to do these for $99 - $149. That seemed to reinforce the Kansas City Realtors belief that if they DID recommend them, they should be dirt dog low.

I do maybe 7-8 of these a year.

I offered pre-sale inspections for $149 with a previous full paid home inspection. Not one taker.

Agents do not want to know the defects of any home before it is marketed. If so, they have to put the defects on the sales disclosure. They do not want anything killing any deal. Disclosures are never correct anyway.

Last Week I was at a RE Seminar and heard a Long Time Top Listing Agent complain about how some things a home inspector found on one of his listings had just stopped the sale in its tracks.

I suggested he start getting PRE-LISTING inspections and find out UP FRONT about problems. His comments to me were along the lines of:

" I NEVER get PRE-LISTING inspections. To start with about 50% of the time, the buyer still gets a home inspection of their own, which means I gotta deal with 2 different home inspection reports. The 2nd inspector will ALWAYS have things he talks about that the 1st inspector didn’t talk about AND vice-versa. So then I gotta deal with 2 different repair lists, etc."

He then went on to explain to about 6 other newer agents around him that IF they really got lucky and did NOT talk about home inspections SOMETIMES a buyer would not get an inspection at all. OR the buyer may choose a home inspector that was NEW or not real good SO might NOT talk about or find many DEFECTS. That way he and the seller don’t have to deal with much. He then stated it was obviously in the agent and selers **BEST **interest to not PROMOTE home inspections at all, AND especially NEVER ever PUSH a PRE-LISTING inspection.

An appraiser listening to this opened up before I could, and went through most of what I would have said about the ADVANTAGES for a seller AND the RE Agent to getting their own PRE-LISTING inspection.

He mentioned stuff like …

Homes with pre-listing inspections sold faster, sell for a higher price, and had fewer problems in escrow than other homes.


**Why do they sell faster? **Because it appears that the Realtor and seller have done everything they can to be forthright about the property. Wouldn’t you like to do business with someone like that?

**Why do they sell at a higher price? **Because a pre-listing inspection provides a better time frame for the seller to make repairs. When he has to make them in a short time frame, such as an escrow, prices from service personnel can be higher, sometimes much higher. By getting 3 quotes on work and then providing those 3 quotes to the buyers. when a buyer comes along and finds all the preliminary work done, he’s more likely to work with those kind of people. And since there is more disclosure, the time frame is shortened because the buyer will usually take one of those 3 quotes and move on with negotiations. Make sure the seller gets 3 quotes. Providing only 1 quote can indicate a soft, cheap, low-priced, low-quality professional OR repair in a buyers mind.

**Why are there fewer problems during escrow? **Because negotiations go more smoothly. In some cases, the seller can say, "Hey, I’ve done the legwork and gotten 3 quotes. As you can see from the MLS listing, I’ve already adjusted the price each time I got new information about repairs. Or he can say that he’ll provide escrow credits or a lower price for the middle quotes.

Just all sorts of ways to market a PRE-LISTING inspection.

The RE Agent listened to the Appraiser - Then said BS / Just more work. Most of the newer agents around him nodded and moved on.

Unfortunately this has been my experience as well. Some Realtors just want to show the house, coerce the buyers into making a quick decision, hurry them through the entire process so they don’t have time to think about it and get to closing so they can get their check with the least amount of work on their part. I have listened to so many of them when they are at the home during the inspection try to blow major smoke up the buyers exhaust orifice. It has been my experience that these Realtors are not the money makers but only sell a few houses a year, while the really good agents or Brokers who take the time to genuinely help their buyers, sell a lot more homes and make the real money with few hassles. I suppose it is the same in any profession. There are those who think their efforts has no affect on their success. These are the same agents who can barely condescend to show up to open the door or who never do due diligence to ensure the utilities are on and the home is ready for inspection. They usually do not last long but there is a steady crop of new ones graduating every class from Realtors schools. There is the other side of this coin…those who can’t be told anything because they have been in “the business” for 30 yrs and know absolutely everything and see inspections as just a necessary evil. Crappy HI do not help this attitude.

why would a home buyer trust any of the vendor’s quotes? If it involves $$$$, trust no one!!

Brian -

I can get 1 cheesy contractors quote from my buddy Earl; BUT its lot harder to get 3 contractor quotes DOWNPLAYING problems.

Thats why 3 quotes.

Three quotes: Uncle Bob, Cousin Luke, and neighbor Dave.

It is also amazing that here in Kansas, some agents are using “contractors” such as these to “help” a home buyer make a home purchase decision.

Pre-sale inspections can be used by agents to “wake-up” home owners so they can help out with light home repairs, clean-ups, and price homes accordingly so they will sell. Agents are not getting it. They will, when an attorney calls.

Never have taken a Realtor anywhere.

Open Houses
are to fish for Buyers…

:slight_smile: