So I’m doing freebies for family and friends. One friend just asked me to inspect a house. Thing is, this is a house she wants to buy. Everyone’s clear on the fact that I’ve not started my business yet and am not E&O covered and it’s free. There will be a realtor there and I’ve got one hour to look around (I told her it takes 3+ hours for a full inspect). Although I’ve got the skills something is telling me this is a bad idea. My friend is trying to find out if there are major concerns with the dwelling. I don’t want a realtor thinking some know-nothing wannabe inspector is going to kill the deal yet if the house is rotting away I’d like my friend to know. Am I crazy to do this or what?
If you lived anywhere else but California I would say do it for the practice. But you are going to find yourself in the middle of a major urination joust if you find anything serious and tell your friend. Seeing as how litigious the State in which you reside is I would probably take a pass. Others, I am sure will have a different opinion; with footnotes and long dissertations of why. Get your pen ready.
What Doug said.
Why would the realtor being there limit your visual of the property to an hour.
I would tell him/her this is for a friend and I’m going through it with a fine tooth comb, if you don’t like it have your broker sit here and wait till I’m done.
Screw them realtors, make um wait if it takes you six hours…
What Doug, Brian, and Dale said.