aspisak
(Allan Spisak, B.A. Law, Mech Eng Tech,)
1
At our seminar on Monday we had a brief discussion about the number of offers that buyers were waiving Home Inspections. Thus this spring market is slower that ever for the home inspection industry. Yet Realtors are making tons of money with no liability because they get their client to sign on the dotted line…
So they buy their house way over priced no inspection for all the main reasons we have a job, structure, electrical, plumbing, attic vermiculite etc.
I talked to an asbestos abatement contractor last month at a trade show and he told me since Jan 16 he has had 3 people who found vermiculite in the attic that was asbestos and had to remove at a 10K cost!
Put the licencing issue on the backburner because if this keeps going the consumer has no protection - let alone better protection from licensing.
If you want to lobby the government don’t waste time on the licensing if there is no inspections required.
We all know the stories so who has an action plan? This is the time to start.
Make home inspections mandatory like an auto safety check?
If so then does this need to be added into the Licensing Bill?
Well the Ontario government wants to make Energy Audits mandatory? Yes, not home inspections.
I suggest to start and lobby for mandatory HOME INSPECTIONS.
Do you know who is your MPP?
Call them now!
Allan Spisak
ACISS Home & Commercial Inspection Consultants
Chair PHPIC www.aciss.ca
Agreed Allan…but you know that will never happen. The realtors lobby groups are much bigger and better funded than home inspectors. Besides what home inspector could afford to attend a $1500.00 per plate fundraising dinner?:twisted:
Just askin
Cheers
Allan you have exposed yet another achilles heal in the real estate process. Not only does it hurt home inspectors, it also has a higher potential to impact the home purchaser.
I believe mandatory home inspections goes part and parcel with licensing. Every home regardless, deserves a home inspection. Now that is a step forward in protecting consumers.
Hi Guys!
I think that we all agree a home inspection is a valuable commodity for the purchaser. As said earlier we don’t have the numbers or capital to go toe to toe with the REA’s after all who stands more to lose…them.
Don’t let this be lost, there are good REA’s out there who won’t sell a house without an inspection.
My suggestion is this, make a pre listing inspection a must have as part of the listing process. This would eliminate the inspection clause being tossed out in multiple offer deals. This would make a more secure scenario for the financial institutions. Sure some REA’s will not like it because it will cost them some listings if the house is in need of repair but look at the liability safety net for both the REA and the buyer.
Again if the house is in need of repair, the house could be evaluated at a real cost (with repairs that have been made or professional estimates for repairs) not a guess. How many deals fall apart because the house is in poor shape. How many times do buyers get duped into throwing away the inspection so they can compete in an offer only to find out the house was in bad shape.
This is consumer protection!! We (Ontarioachi) have talked with MPP Han Dong about this viable solution. Win Win!
We have discussed this as being part of the process for some time at Ontarioachi but if we can put it forward in a united front with ALL the associations together, we can possibly sell it to the MPP’s in time for the licensing process. This would have to be some kind of addendum I would imagine or a separate Bill I don’t know.
Good things start with an idea…thoughts?
JMO
Scott:
I would even go one step further with a mandated pre inspection. In most rural inspection the septic and water all need to be inspected and tested. Have that part of the pre inspection and have the home inspector coordinate it all. In a lot of cases I’m always writing to have the furnace cleaned and service. Make this part of the pre inspection. If the breaker panel needs further review, ie aluminum wiring ESA approval, make it part of the pre inspection and have the home inspector coordinate all of this. Each of the trades would write their part of the report and the inspector would put it all together into one report. You want consumer protection this would have it. Take all this away from the Realtors so when a buyer reads the report they get the full picture before they make an offer. You could argue about the price of the pre-inspection but lets make it .5% to 1% of the value of the home. Payment to be made at the time of closing or when the seller takes it off the market. Lets get paid when RE’s, Laywers etc get their money. And yes I know the home inspector would then have to wait for their money but so do RE’s and they seem to be fine with that.
Lots of details to work out but some more food for thought
Don’t see that working well at all. Just try to find a plumber or electrician who would do something like that. I spent months trying to find an electrician to install a box for a ceiling fan and wound up doing it myself. Tried to get a plumber to correct water hammer in my home… you guessed it nobody is interested unless they can get $500.00 or more just to show up
Cheers
What!
How many times have you been beaten up on the price of your home inspections, pr-elisting or otherwise?
Realtors get their huge commissions because they can get away with it.
I can’t tell you how many realtors tried to TELL me how much to charge for an inspection, or telling me I charged to much and went to some low ball inspector instead.
Fewer and fewer people are willing to pay re’s the fee to sell the homes witness the rise of buy dot com and property guys etc. The government does not give a whit about consumers they care about votes. Licensing HI’s gets votes while mandatory inspections would be seen as another money grab and imposition on the taxpayer/voter.
I think that making home inspection mandatory is a good proposition. This should be viewed as a pre-requisite for obtaining mortgage IMHO. Banks should be requesting home inspectors’ reports prior to approval of the financing for the client. I know some of the banks do this but not too many. If someone buys the house for cash without mortgage then it’s their own choice. But otherwise the financing should be approved only after the home inspection will be completed.
Yuri you are absolutely correct, and also include any mortgage company too!
In my past I did a fair amount of work with a few appraisers, particularly where they felt homes were over-valued, and respectful of protecting the banks.
Again, in the past study by CMHC was done on the exact “mandatory” home inspection scenario, and it would not take a lot of consideration on who felt this would hurt them.
I’m not sure about this Marcel. Appraisers don’t know much about the technicality of the houses. They go mostly by the price which is based on the market condition. I think banks will be interested to know that there is no dangerous wiring that can cause fire or serious structural issues. Appraisers will not be able to tell them about this.
Don’t get me wrong, I agree mandatory inspections would be a great idea but I truly believe it won’t be seen in our lifetime.
Yurie is correct in his assessment of appraisers. They look at the size of the home comparable sales in the area and decide if the property is priced correctly so the lender knows they are not getting shafted.
As an example I did an inspection a few years ago and noted minor step cracking in the brick veneer.
An appraiser comes along and claims the home is about to collapse due to cracking in the outer walls (brick veneer):shock:
LOL Doug and then there is the other side of the coin. When they appraised our house the guy took a pic from the street…didn’t even come in …under valued the house by $80,000 .00
Drive by appraisals!
What are the chances of Ontario home inspectors to find regional information sessions or use media such as radio, news and print to remind home owners that they run their home buying process, ash humming the risk without hiring a professional (you wouldn’t take a car of the lot without going for a test drive). Realtors are using scare market tactics and false information to get clients to over pay. We have all seen them lie to them.
Only way we will help the consumer is by education.
*“What are the chances of Ontario home inspectors to find regional information sessions or use media such as radio, news and print to remind home owners that they run their home buying process…”
*
Not a bad idea, but…the problem is how to reach them (consumers). It’s a moving target, and as most already know realtors still dominate the market, and H.I. referral system. On top now consider how much it will cost…Lets see possibly at best 1500 home inspectors in the province versus well over 15,000 realtors. We know who has the bigger war chest and control of the market.
Do a good job, and eventually you will find yourself “blacklisted”, maybe not by everyone, but enough to hurt your business.