Thread: Claritin

Home inspections are now fully recognized by the public ...

I just saw a Claritin commercial where it shows a guy in a red checkered flannel shirt who says "When I inspect homes ... " then something about that he can't let his allergies get in the way.

The problem is that the commercial presents the picture of what the public already expects - when he is done he said something like 'the house is okay' implying that he is passing the house and there are no problems.

I didnt like how in his appearance they portrayed him as the "stereotypical" contractor guy. He looked pretty unprofessional to me which speaks how we, IMO, are perceived to the public.

red flannel shirt, well in Canada we say while wearing them "I'm a Lumberjack and I'm ok!!" so we stole it from monty python but we still luv our lumberjacks and yeah they are Still ok by me and the rest of us up here lol..

Jerry,

My thoughts exactly when I first saw it...the house is Okay! What a joke, sounds like it might have been maded by the same group that produces Mike Holem's shows. He is always saying the bad inspector told the home buyers that the home was great with only a few minor issues. I never grade a home, no A, B, C, pass/fail, nothing like that. My guess, and my hope, is that few inspectors would.

Yes, saw that one too.
While I never say "The house is okay" per se, I will say "Overall, the house is in pretty good condition" (if that applies) but...like with most houses, there are some issues that need to be addressed. I often get asked "would you buy this house? I just chuckle and say " Nope! I've been married 4 times and I'm tired of giving away houses."

There is a fine line between being alarmist and delivering bad news. It's all in the delivery.
I've been known to "correct" listing Realtors" when they try to soft peddle a fault I have pointed out.
Around here, the inspection is usually attended by both Realtors, the client and a gang of family members, often including their in-house "expert" relative. Makes life interesting.

One way I handle this is to firmly lay down the ground rules at the start. I am the expert here, that's why they hired me. If they get too "helpful", I will stop the inspection and re-educate them about my role. Interested parties may follow along but must keep the comments and questions limited so as not to distract me and cause me to miss something important. "You don't want me to miss things do you? They usually get bored pretty soon and wander off and measure for curtains. It's amazing how "uninteresting" I can make the inspection process when I want to.

Originally Posted by Dana Bostick

Yes, saw that one too.
While I never say "The house is okay" per se, I will say "Overall, the house is in pretty good condition" (if that applies) but...like with most houses, there are some issues that need to be addressed. I often get asked "would you buy this house? I just chuckle and say " Nope! I've been married 4 times and I'm tired of giving away houses."

There is a fine line between being alarmist and delivering bad news. It's all in the delivery.
I've been known to "correct" listing Realtors" when they try to soft peddle a fault I have pointed out.
Around here, the inspection is usually attended by both Realtors, the client and a gang of family members, often including their in-house "expert" relative. Makes life interesting.

One way I handle this is to firmly lay down the ground rules at the start. I am the expert here, that's why they hired me. If they get too "helpful", I will stop the inspection and re-educate them about my role. Interested parties may follow along but must keep the comments and questions limited so as not to distract me and cause me to miss something important. "You don't want me to miss things do you? They usually get bored pretty soon and wander off and measure for curtains. It's amazing how "uninteresting" I can make the inspection process when I want to.

Wow, do you bring a CD and a player for the three ring circus music. On most occasions I have next to about no one at the inspection. At best the buyers are there but that is not usually till the end. I used to explain to folks that they could come in the beginning, middle, end or the entire time. It has become them asking if they could just come in the end of the inspection. Tomorrow I have a client that actually asked if he could be there the entire time and that has become a rarity. No one just automatically assumes that they can bring Grand Ma and Grand Pa and the nieces nephews and neighbors anymore. I believe that most Realtors around here or others that are referring or just the general perception has become, "Can we just come in the end of the inspection." I have stopped asking when they will be there as most come out up front with coming in the end.

Anyway back on to the commercial. It is silly just giving the thumbs up. I am also asked if I would buy the home and my answer is "I am not really looking for another home right now." Then I give them the real answer and say that it is not up to me to determine. I am not buying the home and I have no idea of the sales prices, what homes sell for in the area or how much they want the home or what they are willing to spend. I have used the term that overall, the home is in pretty good condition, as you say, if it fits.

@ Ted

I bring an extra small flashlight, a tape measure and a note pad with pen. These go to the buyer / visitors during the inspection, to try to give them something to do or think about so they will leave me alone during the actual inspection process. It works SOMETIMES.

I must be lucky. I have had very few problems with clients, or Realtors for that matter. For the past several years, Realtors do little more than show up, open the door, and leave.
I can only think of a couple times in the past two decades that I have had to "lay down the law" to anyone. Of course, there are those two times I did "fire" a client during an inspection.

We just saw that last night, and had a good laugh. Do you remember in "Lost" when Cl. Locke was supposed to be a home inspector, and didn't even have a ladder on his truck?

Apparently Jerry hasn't seen any Cialis commercials, those are all home inspectors!

@ Jack
You gotta tell us about how that went Jack?!?

You need to look at the positives (and the negatives), that commercial means that home inspectors are now mainstream and presumes that everyone knows about home inspectors (and now they will).

One of the negatives is the way the home inspector is portrayed and that the home inspector "passes" houses .

Jerry, we need to do a home inspection commerial and have the guy using claritin and send them the message back about us lol