I know, most of us never give the report to the listing agent, as the buyer owns the report.
In California, many listing agents think they are entitled to the report.
And well, they are, just not from the inspector.
I break down the language of the California purchase contract on the topic of the Seller getting the report:
Note: None of this applies to any other state or territory outside of California.
Nice reminder about the California Real Estate disclosure agreements.
Here’s how I do it. I send an abreviated report (summary) for my buyer to give to the seller. This way they get no photos of any kind and it’s only the facts and recommendations. Sellers agents are traditionally lazy and they will use the full report to solicit second and third tier buyers in the future if they fail to arrive at a closing deal with my client the buyer. Even though my reports are copyrighted and not to be disseminated in the same format, no agents or sellers care about that. In the past when I provided only the full report to my client the buyer without a Summary report, the second and third tier buyers in the past have called me with questions about the report that I did for my buyer, I ask them if they received permission from my client to discuss the details of the copyrighted report (None of them ever gets permission). They just assume I will talk with them. Buyers are always looking for freebies. But they get none from me! They didn’t pay me for the report! My client paid god money for the Inspection report and it’s not fair to them that the sellers side takes liberties with copyrighted reports. Also, this way I’m not to selling myself short of a future inspection for another buyer on the same property.
With that said if I do a report as a pre-listing for a seller, I will discuss the report with any of their potential buyers. And if a buyer requests that I inspect a property for them after I have already produced a report for the seller I will decline the job as I feel it’s a conflict of interest. Just a couple of tips for helping your client (the buyer) without giving the seller something to use against your client or ruining your potential inspections on the same property.