Mike Holmes on Home Inspecting

Mike was on TV last night flogging his book at our expense. We need to turn this to our advantage.

Bill Mullen

http://www.cbc.ca/thehour/videos.html?id=759992083

What a great interview! I see nothing wrong with this . Mike says good HI’S need to be paid more. Say’s he’s looking for good inspectors to recommend. Sounds all positive to me.
Doug

Me too. He did say he hasn’t found any yet…Guess he doesn’t know to look here.

I have always liked Mike Holmes. I am glad he hasnt fallen into the association trap, as far as I know. Unfortunately, I dont think Mr Holmes truly understands all of the dynamics involved in our industry. I am willing to bet he can inspect a house but would he stay in business inspecting without his TV crew? For the most part he has a good point and he says it like he sees it. That I respect.

The man is a menace to people who live in the real world.

In Mikey’s world, all Home Inspectors carry Infrared Cameras and charge a minimum of $ 2,000. per inspection. They also use sledge hammers, pry bars and saws to get behind walls. I doubt very much if Mikey could inspect a house properly at all under the limitations forced on us.

He refuses to try to understand the realities of a Real Estate transaction.

If his theories were based on reality, they might be more credible. I spent several hours two years ago with the man, and believe me, there isn’t much substance behind all that self-promotion.

To each his own.

Bill Mullen

Couple of years ago, Mikey was going to have his own inspection network with licensed pros (elect, plumbing, HVAC, carpenters, etc) actually going to the house…cost was going to be $1,200 and up. Don’t think that idea flew at all!!!

The concept for the show was great…wrong man…way over the top!!!

"The man is a menace to people who live in the real world.

In Mikey’s world, all Home Inspectors carry Infrared Cameras and charge a minimum of $ 2,000. per inspection. They also use sledge hammers, pry bars and saws to get behind walls. I doubt very much if Mikey could inspect a house properly at all under the limitations forced on us.

He refuses to try to understand the realities of a Real Estate transaction.

If his theories were based on reality, they might be more credible. I spent several hours two years ago with the man, and believe me, there isn’t much substance behind all that self-promotion.

To each his own."

Thanks Bill for confirming what I thought. I get clients about twice a week who say “I always watch Mike Holmes.” and the fun begins. It usually takes the rest of the inspection to gently show them that “Mikey” is not The Son of God returned to this earth. He is a great self promoter but other than that he is mostly an empty suit.

EXACTLY!!!

Don’t you mean an empty pair of coveralls?

Bill Mullen

I don’t know if somebody put attention to his phrase, when he said he inspected a number of homes for his friends and only couple of them passed. At least he should know that we do not **pass or fail **houses. We merely point out what we think is wrong and explain to clients, why we think this is wrong. The rest of the decision making is not ours.

Right. He’s so far off base it’s ridiculous.

I’m mad at myself now because I’m tempted to buy the book to see what other stupid things he has said, but I hate to put any money in his pockets.

The man has to be ‘outed’ for his foolish rants. I am aware of two major endorsement contracts he has recently lost due to his ‘shooting from the lip’.

Bill Mullen

Me too Bill, I saw the interview on t.v. and ALMOST purchased the book off amazon.ca , but then I thought “what am I doing” .
I’ll just wait for him to self-destruct.:slight_smile:

I just love his “up to code” comments all the time.

He should remember code is the bare minimum.

I often get comments from clients about Mikey and his “Code”. My usual reply is that “up to code” is not bragging.

Should be “down” to code.

Cheers

One poster on the Fine Homebuilding MB has a tagline that goes like this:

“Bad builders build to code; good builders go beyond”

I would love to see Mike do a “non-invasive, visual inspection”, then have him go back and do what contractors do (i.e., break down walls, rip out stuff and have permission from the owner to do so) and then compare what he was able to find.

I don’t build or repair houses. I inspect the work of those who do.

They wear coveralls and I wear a button shirt.

Kind of a labor v.s. management thing, I would say :wink:

I think Mikey hit a nerve with some of you.

Doug

The first National Building Code of Canada was introduced in 1941 - and the first ever Ontario Building Code was finally issued in 1975. Until then - homes were simply built within accepted trade standards. “Building Code Standards” can therefore not be applied to any home built before 1975. So much for Mike Holmes’ theory that nothing is right unless it is “up to code…”

RUDOLF REUSSE - Toronto

I think that Mike doesn’t believe that anything is “right” unless he does it. :wink:

My observation of Mr Holmes on tv is he does not like to follow common safety procedures.

He also seems to fix a lot of bad contractor crap.

But besides that, for a knuclehead, he is fun to watch.

I found this video “entertaining” and was amused until he talked about a house “Passing” inspection.

The bottom line is that the Quality of this video gives me “High hopes” for NACHI TV!

I am sure that Nick, Valerie & Crew can come up with something better:p