Seller a Master Electrician

I inspected a two family yestarday and the buyer and seller were both present. I met my client (buyer) first and introduced myself to the sellr and current owner. First words out of his mouth were “do you want to see inside the electric panels?” I replied yes, he asked me if I’m a licenced electrician, I’m not, so he insisted on taking the dead fronts off for me and putting them back on as well. He immediately pulled them off for me they were both open before i got to the interior of the home.

OK, less work for me, but i’m thinking this guy may be a pain…I was completely surprised, the seller was helpfull, but out of the way, offered all kinds of info about repairs and renovations and dates etc…Any defects I found were met with either surprise or oh ok, but no arguments or upsetness.

His work was impecable and he kept up the property verry well. The place had defects bu nothing too big. I decided, i like inspecting homes owned by GOOD tradesman. I’ve had similar experiences with contractors too.

Yes, if they are professional in their work and attitude they are actually quite nice to work with. It’s the ones who feel they need to put you in your place who are a pain. Perhaps it’s because they have dealt with inspectors who think they have more knowledge than all tradesmen put together. We have some of those on this board at times. :wink:

That’s awesome. I had a seller who was the builder the other day. It was horrible. He kept asking if it was the best inspection I had ever done. He was repairing defects as I found them and asking me to look again. It was horrible.

Oh, those do suck. They are so worried about something negative being written on paper about their house. I just tell them that the State of Illinois does not allow me to discuss the inspection findings with them and I ask them politely to give us some privacy. If they don’t, I just stop pointing out things to my client and keep taking pictures. When they ask me to re-look at something they fixed, I refuse as I don’t verify repairs.

Several times I have driven to a local restaurant and reviewed the photos/issues after the inspection was finished.

Yep just happened today! The seller was there listening the whole time so I carried on as if he was not there. When I saw a defect I was silent and just pointed. I new he was going to be listening so I told my client before going into the home that I will not say anything negative in front of him.
He also was upset he did not leave.

In Fort Pierce, FL the Buyer is responsible for buying the beers:).

After the inspection. :):shock::slight_smile:

Hopefully he did not steer you away from a real problem.(8\)

Good point, and a good reason to politely tell them to leave you alone.

I’ve only done one Inspection where the seller followed me around disputing everything I pointed out and getting angrier as the Inspection progressed. I will never do that again! Next time I will politely call the Realtor and request a new time for the Inspection when the seller is not present.

Having had the shoe on the other foot… I had a softy-type inspect a home I was selling and had built portions of.

The words that really stuck with me were “amateur like”. The inspector had a canned comment for a roofing condition. He indicated that the roof valley’s were “amateur like” in their installation, as they used “w metal, which is prohibited by roofing manufacturer’s” or something silly like that.

Anyway… his issue was a non-issue… but those words kinda stuck with me and I’ve refrained from using them unless really warranted.

The other was a guy doing his phase inspections on a large addition I was doing, I watched him literally freak out on me as he felt the SSTB 28’s weren’t spaced properly for plate framing, and “You have no idea what you’re doing”

I giggled and mentioned those were for a bunch of strong-walls… but that he should write up whatever he felt like was a deficiency, but that somebody may realize his shortcomings. :shock:

I think having been on both sides of the fence has improved how I communicate defects as well.

This is exactly what I do most of the time. Way to many negative past experiences. Normally, I will do the inspection if the sellers are present and I trust they will let me do my job, stay out of the way, & are competent enough to understand why. I do ask them for complete privacy, though, when the clients arrive at the end to go over inspection. If the sellers don’t leave, I then politely say thank you, and like Cameron, will take the clients somewhere to go over findings/report & buy them a cup of coffee or something.

As Tim stated, I to have been on both sides of the fence many times.
I would say, “Pat yourself on the back”, as it is clear that you interact with people well.:wink:

Thanks, I feel like I’m generally a “people person”. My key is just dont sensationalise a defect, call it out, answer a question if its asked, move on.