Do you have a link for us to read? Thanks.
Keep doing what you’re doing. It will pay off…
I am wondering just how thorough most customers want the inspection. Its like getting married, you hope to find the major defects before.If you knew all the dumb little stuff, you would have never married her.
Andrew Timmerman
Cedar Rapids Home Inspection, LLC
Certified Home Inspector in Cedar Rapids
Ask them.
They will tell you they want the most through inspection they can get, with every defect & every detail in the report.
Being in this business for over 10 years, I can tell you that from a home buyers perspective, there is no such thing as an inspection that is “too thorough”.
I hope that really does not surprise you with the experience you have.
Come on…
All the Realtors care about is the sale…
Can you really say any of that surprised you???
No, not really. It’s just frustrating.
Seven years and still hearing it.
That has happened to us many times. They usually come around when they want to represent a higher caliber client. Give it time
I can’t stand realtors being involved in the inspection process at all - I think it is a massive conflict of interest. I too have lost realtor referrals because my reports are very detailed or I “killed” a deal. It is so frustrating dealign with realtors when my client is the home buyer…not the realtor! I have met so many shady realtors who only care about their commission it makes me ill.
The ones who stick around for a long time aren’t those REA’s. Those “used house salesman” types get a reputation and fizzle out. Those who do a good job are referred to friends and family, like we are. You want to associate with the ones who actually care about their client.
There are also “uber-successful” agents who are good at putting on the “politician-like” or “thespian-like” facade to make it sound like their the greatest, most caring, honest, ethical people on the planet. But “behind the scenes”, they’re anything but. These are the ones who do the most damage, because of their friendly “politician-like” status in the community. If you hinder an agents ability to maintain their lifestyle or potentially “make it difficult” to make their house/car/kid’s education payments, your’re going to “falter” in one way or the other, so-to-speak. Think about that, its just plain common sense. Why is it this way though? Answer: Money.
The HI & agent/Realtor relationship is the biggest “grey area” in any profession/industry, as far as I’m concerned.
true as well.
I just stay cordial, friendly, seems to work.
That’s all I do too, “kill em’ with kindness” (even though they continue to chastise and throw me under the bus.)
When you inspect a home listed by one of these agents, sharpen your pencil and be as thorough as you can be. There are two things that motivate an agent, making money and losing money.
Reece,
Yes I have never done 50 inspections in one month like Pope or any of the big dogs. On average right now I’m doing 20 to 30 and all that because in my opinion I always look out for my clients best interest regardless if the house kills itself or not. Remind you I just retired and before this I was to scared to pick up realtors because I already do 20 to 30 a month. Now since I’m retired I’m going to do some marketing to put these people in my egg basket at a potential additional source of income. Point being “ALWAYS” give your client what they paid for and never worry about realtors looking out for their own good. There are many realtors out there who will use you to protect their client in my opinion just keep looking. Below is proof I work for the best interest of my client only. I have several pages of testimonials now like these on Angies List and yes no bad reviews exist to date.
– Provided great feedback on several concern of mine.
The inspection was a good learning experience for my wife and I as we purchase our first home.
– Bill is awesome! He is very professional and knows his job very well. He has inspected 3 houses for us so far and we have not had any surprises with any of them after purchase. I will only use Bill for home inspections!
– Bill is an honest and hardworking expert that goes above and beyond the expectations for a property inspection. Bill provided us with a detailed report after conducting the property inspection. I’m very pleased with the online tools used to coordinate the scheduling, payments, and report processing. Bill brings his expertise of ST Louis and property inspections to the table making him a great asset in any property transaction.
– Bill was AMAZING! He did the most thorough home buyers inspection we’ve ever had. …Anywhere. He explained everything to us extremely well, was well versed in all the areas we asked him to check, and took as much time as we needed explaining all the how’s, why’s and implications of any concerns so we really understood. He even stepped in as our advocate proactively questioning the pool inspector to make sure we were getting all the right things looked at and spoke with other inspectors and made sure they did their jobs well. I can not explain how reassuring and educational it is to have this guy on our side. He knows his stuff! He did recall checks for everything else in the home and thermography at no extra charge. When he picked up on our lingering concerns about one area, he even went back to the home a took a second look at one of our concerns when he picked up the radon test, just to make sure all was indeed well. He has been extremely helpful and prompt answering our email questions even a week later as we think of things we want his opinion on; he gets right back to us in a matter of minutes or hours. He is just as kind as he can be and very knowledgeable! This is the kind of guy all other inspectors should strive to be. Would I recommend him? YES! We can not thank him enough. We would shout it from the rooftops! Bill Boerner is AWESOME!
– A complete inspection was conducted of the entire property including testing all the appliances and heating/air conditioning unit. After the inspection was completed I was shown any problems, that could arise in the future and told how to handle the problems. I was shown how to install a filter in the heater, how the flames should appear (which I had no knowledge of). I was completely confident that I could proceed in purchasing this property and that the inspector had my best interest. There report was forwarded promptly detailing (with pictures) all of the areas that were inspected. I would highly recommend this company.
– This experience was excellent from start to finish. I found STL Home Inspections Services online, and as everything online I was skeptical. However, after reading other’s reviews, it was apparent that this was the obvious choice for our Home Inspection. I’m very glad that I choose Bill.
I heard from him twice between booking the appointment and inspection and twice afterwards (very rare with any services!). Inspection day he was on time and VERY patient with my spouse and I as we asked questions and followed him around. He was incredibly clear on what was wrong, what needed to be addressed. I was personally impressed that he did not hesitate going into the attic on one of the hottest days of the year, and was crawling around up there for a long time! (no just sticking his head up there and looking around)
As a person with high attention to detail, it was amazing having everything pointed out that I missed/overlooked and didn’t know to look for! We were asking several questions and he always gave clear answers, no double talk or dodging answers. He told us what needed repair, why and what happens if the issue is not addressed.
Absolutely do not feel taken advantage of us because we were first time home buyers. He even helped us in addressing an extensive electric issue in the home.
After this there is no one else I would use to inspect a home of mine, I hope he is still inspecting whenever we move again!
Hey Billy,
I have oodles and oodles of testimonials like yours as well. The thing is, my clients love my services and detailed reports and, most importantly, appreciate the thoroughness (as it sounds like yours do to). All except Realtors (a vast majority of them, anyway). There are some very good ones, but they’re just so few and far between, it seems. It makes perfect sense to me, though. Why would a person who’s trying to sell something recommend someone who’s, more than likely, going to make it cumbersome or less easy to make that sale? It seems more logical to recommend someone who’s less throrough, plays things down, doesn’t report on “nit-pickey” items, and makes it a win-win-win for everyone. That way I get continued referrals from all sides; sellers, sellers agents, buyer’s agents, etc. because everybody got what they wanted. Then, and only then, will I become a successful Home Inspector… right?
Recently, I decided to visit some of the realtors in a competitors area. The whys are a different story for another day. Anyway, I was graciously invited to attend the weekly sales meeting. I began by handing each agent a list of questions and requested total and open honesty. Basic questions. One of them was: Would you want the same inspection for your clients as you would want for a home you were buying? Every agent replied yes. Now, this week I intend to drop in on the sales meeting to follow up. Will see how that goes. My point here is they may say it, now show me that you want that type of report for your clients. One of the questions asked if they had lost a sale due to a home inspection. Very few said that they had. Some had lost a few.
I will say, I did not hear much good said about some of the inspectors they were using. Amazing how a group of agents will open up and bad mouth someone.
Whether my approach works or not has yet to be seen. However, don’t come to me later and say that my reports are too thorough.
I think we all have that problem when it comes to real estate agents. Like many others on here I have a big problem with agents being involved in the inspection process. I’ve had several agents ask me to do some flat out illegal things for them this year. It’s been pretty unbelievable. I’m pretty blunt and have a hard time holding my tongue; it probably cost me some business but I’d rather not ever hear back from a few select agents. They are not the type of people I want to work with ever. I just try my best to take care of the good agents because they are the ones that will last.