Major or Material

That is where I would get a little nervous. Is it defined in your report what is expensive or difficult? Over $50, $500, $5,000. Define difficult. Hard to find the skill set? Hard to reach? Hard to find the labor? Around here it is difficult to get your windows cleaned or a new vapor barrier put down.

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I see your point. “Expensive” is so subjective, and so is “difficult”. I’ll give this some more thought and try to come up with an explanation that is more objective and leaves less room for interpretation.

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What we’re talking about here is the grading of evidence–in this case the unambiguous evidence of overheating, which is a life-threatening electrical hazard. I agree with Bob that such suspiciously ambiguous terms should be condemned because such words may reasonably be assumed as negligence toward the client and attributed to an attempt to ingratiate oneself with the referring agent by handing the latter ambiguous language undermining the client’s objection.

Why go there unless your state law requires it?

Its a material defect to the property needing correction.

Let the agent and your client deal with it.

Report and move on.

It literally only took me 3 inspections to abandon the material vs. major vs. minor defect thought process. A minor defect can cause major problems, a material defect may not be a big deal to a client who is getting a great deal on the property. The importance of the defect is subject to personal opinion and experience. As a matter of fact, I don’t even refer to items as defects or deficiencies. They are just things that need to be addressed.

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So some seem to agree with “report and move on”. Let me ask - if you were not a home inspector and this was your house that was being reported on and your home burned down that night killing your dog and children…would you be happy that the home inspector just “reported and moved on”?

If you smell a gas leak…do you report and move on?? I’m not trying to insult anyone but I feel my top priority is life, health, and safety during a home inspection. It may be a 1 in a million chance that the house burns down that night but do you want to live with that? I’ve impressed many an agent by my caring, thoughtfulness, and insight.

PS - I left out “wife” above knowing that most of you would have some sly comments :wink:

The gas example is extreme. If I come across a gas leak I turn the gas off and notify the seller and listing agent immediately. Now say I found a deck to be unsafe and recommend repair as a safety issue, high lighted in red in my report. If they throw a party and the deck collapses, I’ll sleep just fine and caulk it up to natural selection.

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I report and move on.

Example. Deck ledger attachment to the side of the home was pulling away due to moisture damage and failure of materials. Catastrophic failure, personal injury or death may occur. Recommend repair.

There, I reported and moved on. The key word is “report” not “move on”. I just do not see the “lack of care” in the report and move on mentality. I do not need to sit and ponder. I hope you don’t take that as a “sly comment”

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The sly comments would only refer to the wives. LOL. You heard of the guy’s wife that said “it’s either me or the dog” and the guy says to himself, “gee honey I’m gonna miss you.”

If I write catastrophic failure is possible in my report…that deck has got my yellow tape across the stairs and exit door with pictures in my camera as such.

I’m from the “Sue Me” state - not the “Show Me” state

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Not a bad idea :slight_smile:

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