Jon said, "Realtors, appraisors, surveyors, mortgage brokers, etc. are a dime a dozen and can easily be replaced by the buyer as it is hard to stand out from others in their industries."

I think you can substitute home inspectors for any other category and they could say the same thing. Face it, home inspectors are a dime a dozen, and can be easily replaced. It's happening every day when jobs are being scheduled by the $99 inspector.

Sure the bargain basement inspector is worth next to nothing compared to the high class service we all give (wink wink), but the reality is the average consumer does not know the difference, and sometimes doesn't care.

I ask a lot of my clients if they have ever had a home inspection. Many say "No". I then tell them that they really don't know if they just had the best home inspection possible, or an average one. In fact most clients are not going to know how good an inspector was, until they have something to compare it to.

Your attitude toward those other real estate related occupations, is what's wrong with ours. Everyone on your list thinks that THEY are the end all in the loop, and everyone else is just not as important, or "a dime a dozen". That's why realtors tell their clients to look for the lowest price, or they look for the lowest price when they are calling around for them. They do not value our profession.

Some of us think of ourselves as being indispensable in this whole process. Well here is how you check to see how indispensable you really are...

Get a 5 gallon bucket of water.
Put your arm in the bucket and touch the bottom.
Let it stay there 20 seconds.
Gently remove your arm.


Now measure the hole you left in the water and you will know how indispensable you really are.

Maybe it's just me, but in the realm of human characteristics, I view egocentric as a negative, and humility as a positive. That's just my 2 cents for what it's worth.
JF