I wonder if they check the attic, crawl space or roof? And what do they actually check on the electrical? Sounds scary to me.
I was working with an agent a few months back and doing the Home Inspection and Pest Inspection at the same time.
I got to thinking about the issue that the new buyers were taking my reports given to them by the agent. Now the Pest is public. But the home inspection report is not. So we have agent handing out Pre-sale Home Inspection report that the buyer has no recourse if something was not address correctly.
But the buying and selling agent did not inform the buyer of this fact.
At some point a New home owner is going the have a problem and start with the ph. calls to the inspector.
Buyers-call to inspector.( You inspected my new home and ) Then the inspectors replies Mr. buyer your not my client. who gave you this inspection report:shock: Your agent did I see. Did your agent inform you that your not our client and that you should of had your own inspection report completed he did not I see. Buyer:shock:
So Do we as inspector inform the listing agent of this fact or not. I pointed this out to one agent I was working with doing pre-listing inspection for. He no longer call me for inspection…
Best
Ron
I don’t want to break up the Real Estate Agent Bashing, but even though he seems pissed over a lost deal, there are some valid points.
There are a lot of Bad RE Agents out there (so I’ve heard, I refuse to work with them) and the same can be said about HI’s.
If you look closely at the quotes, he has in fact come across some Rogue HI’s.
I have stood firm on the fact (based on years of HVAC diagnostic experience) that you can not tell when something will fail for good.
I answer almost every HVAC question here that has not been answered except the “how old is this thing” questions. I stated my point once, so I won’t waste time doing it again.
There is no definitive way to tell when anything will fail. It states in the SOP that you are not required to do this (because it is obviously impossible to determine) and doing so takes you outside the scope.
Yes we are all afraid that it will fail when we leave the driveway, but this is no reason to make stuff up (either to cover your *** or trying to be overzealous as the article points out).
You can make your point without being “overzealous”.
I see no reason to date every appliance. But when you come across one that is old and looks like it’s on it’s last leg, dating the equipment and advising budgeting for a new one is in order. Other than that, you are throwing things in that cloud (not clear up) the buyers facts to make a sound decision to buy the house.
Basing your opinion of equipment on it’s birth date is not accurate. Leave that crappy marketing strategy to those that “Sell” the equipment (they are in the same boat as the RE Agents). It’s not your job, so leave it alone. One less thing to get sued over.
I agree totally with David. I don’t waste my time dating equipment. Quite a few homes around here have equipment 30, 40, 50 and more years old just purring away costing only some basic yearly maintenance. Yes there is some energy waste over a new high efficiency equipment. but we are not performing and energy audit. We are HI’s.
Not one phone call after my radio show. I am assuming that the RE’s here in KC do not want to listen to home inspectors who try to help improve home sales. I guess we are below them. Too bad there are hundreds of agents here in KC getting out of that business, and finding other jobs. See link below. They should listen to us, learn from our knowlege, and serve their clients properly, and professionally.
http://www.kansascity.com/2010/04/05/1859030/technology-economic-shifts-shake.html
With the amount of time it is taking for buyer’s to actually get to the inspection point I can understand how a Realtor might be frustrated. I can even understand how the frustration might cloud the facts and prevent them from even wanting to acknowledge there even is an issue.
As home inspectors we come in at the tail end of the deal and our findings just might prevent the buyer from moving forward with the purchase. This will of course result in possibly months of searching and bidding and all the work that goes into that process.
It’s important for us to appreciate and respect the work and time that goes into the buying process. But in the end we are obligated to our clients in considering their best interest above all else. Whether or not the buyer moves forward with the purchase is none of our business and should in now way determine how we inspect and report.
If the Realtor is angry because a buyer did not move forward with the purchase, and the inspector isn’t an overzealous whack job, they need to understand the inspector is hired to do a job and accept the fact that sometimes the buyer will not purchase based on the findings.
[quote=“vsantos, post:26, topic:48448”]
As home inspectors we come in at the tail end of the deal and our findings just might prevent the buyer from moving forward with the purchase. This will of course result in possibly months of searching and bidding and all the work that goes into that process. quote]
Nope… At this point in the game they are looking for any reason to walk they may use the report for that but if they walk its not from what you found. Sometime we find a big deal but most of the time its just a bunch of small stuff.
Best
Ron
I listened to the show. Was hoping you were going to bring up the subject of RE Agents doing their group inspections. How often are you on that show?
Jeff
I used to maintain a chiller in a church downtown.
Date code; 1952
A tornado took out the church a couple years ago (after it passed by my house)!
The chiller still leaked oil, but was running when it was retired.
Also, I just finished an inspection today that was the third one I have done for this client!
Agent scheduled a pre-listing inspection on her house during that inspection.
Life can go on for Realtors after inspections make the deal a “no-go”!
I think this one may fly.
Not without several serious issues to contend with.
Do your job.
Do it right.
Do not become too “overzealous”.
Once a month. Without solid proof, I do not say anything about RE’s. They have more attorneys than me.
Absolutely. I write something up as functional or not, and move on.