Dennis …
Just curious IF I understood you correctly.
NACHI bought a condo back for a few damaged or missing screen windows and a few cracked floor tiles that could not be seen till after the sellers moved.
That seems to be setting the stage for whiny babies galore AND sounds like its ignoring our SoP the way its been explained.
I am currently writing a report for a client who is on their 5th attempt to purchase (Talking about Multi $M homes).
Everyone is flustered!
Moral of the story; how flustered would you be if you purchased any of these mansions without me inspecting it first?
2nd Moral of the story; The owner of one of these houses hired me to inspect their new house because they were shocked about what was going on in their custom built house.
Love these “Warranty - Guarantee” programs. Puts us right up there with the Termite Inspectors…
But I think I will keep relying on “providing the best service gets you the best and most business”.
David writes:
5th inspection for the same client? Sounds like a client who has a high chance of wanting to get out once they do buy a home. What do you tell your client if after they buy the home, they decide they want out? It happens more often than you think either because of a real issue or just buyer’s remorse.
There ain’t no buying a house after I inspect it that requires them to move in to find what I missed.
It’s not my concern if they change their mind, after the fact. They have the facts.
BTW: My client I reinspected today, could not attend the first Inspection because he was busy dealing with Donal Trump. Everything was was taken care of by today, and I will bet my money that he won’t even want to look at your buy-back plan.
Met his “Expectations” beyond his wildest dream. You know, like taking care of Knob-and-tube and asbestos… Without all the fireworks and need for a buy-back…
Your a good salesman Nick, but…
I’ll just keep taking your Ceu’s as required and piss off Snowflakes for my NACHI Dues.
Well, not all InterNACHI members have clients who are buying multi-million dollar homes. Some of us have clients like this family: https://youtu.be/5pQpMt8_zx8
I relied on the buyback video and what I thought I read when I signed up. Here’s the cliff notes: Basically, the client says I’m pissed you missed some wood rot and leaky windows, the garage door didn’t close a few times etc… I say OK I am a member of the buy back, OK client says lets do that. The buyback process is all through email and not a defined process, very weird to realtor and client and me. End result is the client ends up paying 6% to sell the home to Nachi or Nick or whoever, but it took 3 days of emailing to figure that out. It’s a 469K home, so they are out almost 30K. Total sham in my opinion, but I was the one that didn’t pay attention to the “Fine print” that is on a website and not the flyer I gave to all my clients, realtors and so on. The Video is very, very deceiving also. There is of course all the other selling costs- why these people would ever do a buy back is beyond me! Live and learn! I am going back there now with a window guy to figure out exactly what the damages are. “If it sounds too good to be true… it is”
I do not treat one client any different than another.
If I’m willing to take their Inspection, they get the whole deal…
You only need a warranty if you can’t meet their expectations.
Your ****ting me right?!
Wood rot.
Windows were invented so you have leaks.
Garage door adjustment was off?!
And I bet it was a “Used House”?!
I hang up one these snowflakes when they call and ask “how much?”!
You offer these programs and it cultivates idiots that come out of the woodwork.
And again, I remind you that even NACHI Standards state that you do not warrant or guarantee anything…
The reason we use email for the program is to keep everyone on the same page so that we can all see the progress. It also provides a written record of communication. Read . www.nachi.org/email
Our last email exchange with the client’s agent was early this morning. It’s Tuesday today. So it only took one business day of email exchanges.
InterNACHI offers 6% when we go to sell it. Not an uncustomary listing percentage. Agents like this, naturally. That’s how agents and their real estate companies get paid for their work (everyone knows this).
The “fine print” is smack at the top of www.nachi.org/buy It is only 5 bullet points long and written in Plain English (not legalese). The 4th bullet point reads: “The home must be listed with a licensed real estate agent.” Agents like this requirement, naturally.
Yes, there are costs involved in selling a home (everyone knows this). Same costs InterNACHI has when it sells the home.
What would you suggest InterNACHI to do to make the program more forthright?
I’m happy its working for those using it and Dennis. I do not want to pee in your cornflakes but this program is not good for the industry. I don’t want it to be a standard or a prerequisite at all. Fingers crossed it doesn’t happen.
IMO we as inspectors need to stay in the SoP lane. I don’t want to push other 3rd party vendor products.
I’ve thrived for close to 12 of the 15 years in business (yes late 2007 to mid 2009 was tuff).
I’m so happy 50% or more of my business is doing commercial property assessments. No 3rd party vendors looking to sell their widgets. Just you and the client.
Anyways, no disrespect to those using or thinking of using this product. To each their own.
If you don’t seek more clients and more agents recommending you… you don’t need InterNACHI’s We’ll Buy Your Home Back Guarantee. It’s not for you.
But for the rest of us, we have to face facts: Agents have their pet inspectors. You can’t go to a real estate office sales meeting, stand up in front of a bunch of real estate agents who already have their favorite home inspectors who they’ve used for years, and tell them all that you are “thorough.” No agent in the audience is going to dump the home inspector they have been using for years and start recommending you because you delivered them a bowl of chocolates and told them you were a thorough home inspector.
To pry agents away from their pet inspectors that they’ve used for years, you’d better go into that sales meeting strong. And you better give them a damn good reason to start recommending you. And that reason not only better help their clients, it also better help those agents make more money. A bowl of chocolates and a wet business card ain’t gonna cut it folks.
To get their attention, you are going to need something with the “Wow!” factor. Consumers don’t make their decision to buy a home or not buy it based on the cleanliness of the furnace filter. They hire a home inspector to give them peace of mind and to assure them that they aren’t making a huge mistake. This program gives real estate agents a way to assure hesitant buyers by telling them about your guarantee. The Guarantee is a sales tool for agents and one that will make their buyers say “Wow!”
Read: https://www.nachi.org/buy-faq.htm to learn how to use the program to dominate entire real estate offices.
so the whole CMI thing is a dinosaur now? (To those who haven’t purchased it?)
I personally signed up and plan on using the Buy Back program. I think its an awesome tool, especially for new guys like myself just getting started.
I also see how the older, more established guys would not like it.
DA can be a little rough around the edges, but when he talks I tend to listen. That being said, I just dont see a down side for the inspector, realtor or client.
Everyone wins???
How does one sell experience and knowledge when pitching a buy back no matter what?
Thats a good point. I totally understand what your saying.
I would think everyone, no matter how experienced still makes mistakes?
Everyone runs into a client that can not be pleased, no matter what you do?
Buying a home is stressful, a little peace of mind is never a bad thing.
I don’t have a problem with email- the process you have laid out is vague to a novice buy back inspector, my client and realtor- they don’t know you from adam and you say put the house on the market with no further info. maybe in Colorado but not here man.
True, I reiterated that to the client, but then in the initial email just say here is the process, this is how it works, talk to you Monday when we can all focus.
When the agent has to go to an upset clients house and say- hey, we are going to go ahead and re-list your home because Nick said so with no documents or anything but a short email everyone is very concerned- wouldn’t you be?
True- just a cost to the client but who cares about them. The video and print you have out on the program say nothing about the client paying 6%. To be honest I thought it meant the original home sale had to be sold by a licensed realtor not the second sale- man when I understood that did I ever feel taken!
True- That was expected but it does reduce the likelihood a person would make the Buy back plunge- just an observation.
I think you should put on the brochure “buyback participant has to pay agents commission which typically is 6%” That is the “G” in the legal letter you have out there- which I stated above. Why try to sugar coat it?
What would stop someone from charging $400 and not getting out of the truck? ( just playing devils advocate)
Thats true.
Lets make a thread up above, I would love to get more input.
A ridiculous stunt like that would be career ending for any home inspector IMHO.
“We’ll Buy Your Home Back” Guarantee isn’t a warranty. It’s a sales and marketing tool for use by both inspector and agent. And it works. Agents can ease the worries of a typically first-time home buyer with the Buy Back Guarantee and get those buyers to pull the trigger and make an offer. It also works for home inspectors in a similar way. It’s cocky. "We’re so sure of our competence as home inspectors that… "
When asked if he would win the Super Bowl, quarterback Joe Namath didn’t reply… “Well, if we lose, we offer a 90-day limited warranty that provides you with free popcorn the next time you visit the stadium provided you bla bla bla” .
He replied: “I guarantee it!”
Consumers want a competent, confident home inspector. The “We’ll Buy Your Home Back” Guarantee exudes confidence in one’s competence.
Damn, I wish I had this, CMI, and custom “Now that you’ve had a home inspection” books back when I was a home inspector. Instead of stacking up nearly a million dollars in the bank in just 5.5 years of being an inspector, I’d have stacked 3 million.
But I could still sit in my truck vs actually doing an inspection ( just reading the fine print)