Thread: Home inspectors: who are they working for? - ConsumerAffairs

InspectionNews has just found the following information that might be of interest to you:

Home inspectors: who are they working for? ConsumerAffairs “Anyone in the home inspection business knows as soon as you blow a couple of deals the Realtors are going to tell each other, 'stay away from him, he ruined my sale,'” he said. “This is the only business that, the better you get at it, the less ...

More...

To continue the discussion, this Fine Homebuilding article was recently posted on the CREIA site. Seems one of their contributing writers did not have a good experience. Lots of misinformation here. Just wondering what our Oregon inspectors think of this...

Do home inspections need to be inspected themselves? - Fine Homebuilding Article

Gunnar

What is over looked is the fact there are thousands upon thousands of inspections conducted which do show up major problems that very well could be over looked by other inspectors. Realtor referred inspectors and inspectors who work independently of Realtors can also miss significant items.

Considering the number of real esate transactions conducted yearly home inspections actually have fewer complaints then other trades, such as roofers, pavers, plumbers, et ceteras.

Unfortunately we do not know if the inspector was hindered in gaining access to the area of concern. As a matter of fact we as readers never do here counter reasons why the inspector may have missed the area referred to in the article.

But as with many professions, we also read about doctors misdiagnosing patients or of negligent operations. Nothing in life is fool proof, so consumers can only help reduce the risk by doing their homework in order to avoid stories like this.

But we already knew that didn't we.

I am relatively new to the business but I have never sought any marketing through real estate agents and I have no plans to, I feel like it's a conflict of interest even though I'm sure it would be more income. Fortunately HI is not my only income source and I have fairly low income needs.

Much of the article was just plain wrong. I wrote a letter to the editor. It was a bit wordy, but it should be interesting to see if they print it.

Gunnar thank you for writing the letter, more need to take some of these authors on.

Here is some ammo for your future efforts from the BBB.

2013 Complaint and Inquiry Statistics

2012 Complaint and Inquiry Statistics North America BBB

2011 Complaint and Inquiry Statistics

Thank you,
Best.
Ray

Opinions on realtor referrals haven't changed in the 14 years.

My take.. Based on experience in the field and exposure to complaints at the state level.
95% of the agents that refer me DO want the best inspection for their clients. The other 5% will not refer you again.
One comment from a realtor that may or may not be a red flag... I am looking for a new home inspector and sell a lot of homes, if you do a "good job" on this one I can send you a lot of referrals >
I guess its up to me to figure out what a good job means to that agent

Just because a realtor doesn't refer me again doesn't mean he/she doesn't want the best for their clients.
If they call me to to do a home for them, family members or best friends, its a good chance in their eyes that I may be doing a good job.
Most of the agents that refer me only sell 6-10 homes a year, once in a while some of their clients may decide not to have an inspection, have or know another inspector that they may prefer to use..

Inspectors, including myself often may not be as good or as great as we think we are. If a realtor doesn't refer you again it may be the way we presented ourselves or the lack of ability to communicate the problems to the realtors or clients expectations..
Heck I've I heard realtors comment that the other inspector smelled like he didn't take a bath that day, smelled like cigs, was to big to access the attic, roof or crawl space, was in a hurry to get to his next job, spent more time bragging how great he was , 1 even stated an inspector smelled like booze.

As far as unethical realtors that are only thinking about their commissions, I'm betting there are as many inspectors that only thinking about getting additional referrals from the realtor that they just met, opposed to properly disclosing any defects and trying to get the next referral from their new client, and maybe the agent if she/he is in fact concerned about their clients ..

Originally Posted by Dan Harris

Opinions on realtor referrals haven't changed in the 14 years.

My take.. Based on experience in the field and exposure to complaints at the state level.
95% of the agents that refer me DO want the best inspection for their clients. The other 5% will not refer you again.

I agree with you. I get many referrals from agents and they are fine when I "kill" a deal. Many of them are happy because they do not want their client (who could refer them business) to be unhappy with the house they bought. The few that are unhappy when I kill a deal may not call again, and that is fine with me.

Last week I was inspecting a townhouse with stucco. I had warned the buyers when they scheduled about problems with stucco. They were already aware of problems in the neighborhood and were going to do moisture testing. (To me, knowing of problems in the neighborhood would be enough not to go ahead, but that is another story). I began the inspection by looking closely at the perimeter of the basement above the foundation walls. I found major signs of water penetration and some damage to wall sheathing and sub-flooring. I seldom offer to stop an inspection, but at that point I explained what they were looking at and asked if they wanted to continue. At that point the agent said that there is no way that they should waste any more money and should just walk away. At another inspection with the same agent I found major problems in a crawl space (I found that at the end of the inspection). When reviewing with the client the agent said there is no way I will let you buy this house.

There are many good agents looking out for their client's interests.

From the article, I take it that this McClure guy must be an active home inspector. Evidence that bad inspectors can write a book and someone will assume that they must know what they are talking about.

There are some good comments here about the relationship between agents and HIs. Good agents will recommend good inspectors. I've had plenty of good agents groan when I find a major defect, but that is why they refer me. They want to protect the interests of their clients. Some mediocre agents will recommend good inspectors, because they want to protect their own interests (and rears).