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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
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    Osceola, AR
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    311

    Default A funny thing happend on the way to the inspection

    Call #1.
    Prospective client calls & I give my sales pitch. She asks several questions, length of time to perform the inspection, will I walk the roof, do I check the furnace, things of that nature. She seemed pleased with the answers & explanations that I gave. Ended up confirming that she wanted me to do the inspection. I asked her to contact her agent to confirm a time for the inspection & that all utilities would be on.

    Call #2.
    Prospective clients calls back. Agent has informed her that there is a charge to dewinterize the home & to turn on utilities. Her agents suggestion was that since I wanted the services on that I should be footing the bill, and that having the utilities turned on just for the inspection was a waste of money... I refrained from voicing my opinion on the agents comments to the caller.

    Call #3.
    Prospective client calls again. Agent has informed the buyer that my services are way overpriced & that with what I am charging that I should be willing to pay for the temporary utilities & to dewinterize. Buyer is now in tears as she knows that she needs an inspection and she has spoken to at least two other inspectors who gave her pretty much the same story that I did and a price that is close to mine. Again I refrained from comments concerning the sanity of the agent and her business practices.

    Call #4
    Oh wait, there hasn't been a call #4. Don't know if the buyer is going through with the deal, looking for an inspector who will pay for utilities, looking for an inspector who will inspect with the utilities off, or if she is looking for another realtor...

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    Alton Darty
    ATN Services, LLC
    www.arinspections.com

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Location
    Charlotte NC
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    2,304

    Default Re: A funny thing happend on the way to the inspection

    Oh wait, there hasn't been a call #4.
    Not all blessings come clearly marked .


  3. #3
    A.D. Miller's Avatar
    A.D. Miller Guest

    Default Re: A funny thing happend on the way to the inspection

    AD: In this cirucumstance, which I have witnesses more than once, I explain to the client that the agent will be collecting a commission upon the sale of this home that will be, at a minimum, three times greater than my inspection fee. For this reaons it is customary for agents to pick up the tab for de-winterizations, et al.


  4. #4
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
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    Spring Hill (Nashville), TN
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    5,851

    Default Re: A funny thing happend on the way to the inspection

    This is was too common!

    A similar issue happened to me a week or so back. I posted it on my blog and it has had a few good responses from agents and inspectors.
    Real Estate Blog - Don't Shoot the Messenger or the Home Inspector!

    Scott Patterson, ACI
    Spring Hill, TN
    www.traceinspections.com

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    Chicago IL
    Posts
    2,048

    Default Re: A funny thing happend on the way to the inspection

    And you didn't slam dunk the agent Why? I think you did yourself a disservice by not informing the client about how full of crap the agent was. You've potentially lost a job, left a confused client hanging and left a potential client at the mercy of a scumbag agent. Not that it's our job to save stupid buyers but it is helpful to do so.
    As far as utilities, I prefer that they are on but overall don't really care one way or the other. I do a lot of REO where utilities aren't on. If it is an REO, at least around here, the mechanicals need either full or substantial replacement anyway.

    www.aic-chicago.com
    773/844-4AIC
    "The Code is not a ceiling to reach but a floor to work up from"

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    Osceola, AR
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    311

    Default Re: A funny thing happend on the way to the inspection

    Quote Originally Posted by Markus Keller View Post
    And you didn't slam dunk the agent Why? I think you did yourself a disservice by not informing the client about how full of crap the agent was. You've potentially lost a job, left a confused client hanging and left a potential client at the mercy of a scumbag agent. Not that it's our job to save stupid buyers but it is helpful to do so.
    As far as utilities, I prefer that they are on but overall don't really care one way or the other. I do a lot of REO where utilities aren't on. If it is an REO, at least around here, the mechanicals need either full or substantial replacement anyway.
    Didn't need to run down the agent. I am certain that the buyer realizes what a winner she got in this one. She (the buyer) had researched some of the issues with buying & had done her homework on inspections. From our last conversation I know that she was not happy with her agents response, just don't know what the buyer has decided on....

    I guess that I have gotten a little spoiled, the majority of agents that I have dealt with have been pros, only a few times a year do I run into an agent like this.
    Even with REOs I can usually get most, if not all the utilities turned on without any problem just by asking the agent. I also have a pretty good relationship with some of the utility companies close by & often I can get temp power, gas, and water just by calling the offices. Always with the knowledge & approval of the buyers & sellers agents of course (yeah, I know that I may be on thin ice with that one, but sometimes it is just quicker & easier for me to call the manager at the water authority or the head guy at the gas company).

    Alton Darty
    ATN Services, LLC
    www.arinspections.com

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Location
    Knoxville, TN
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    2,560

    Default Re: A funny thing happend on the way to the inspection

    I think doing an inspection without the utilities on is a dis-service to the client. While the mechanicals might be old and needing replacement, there can be a huge amount of plumbing issues that can't be found without something flowing thru the pipes.

    I think I would have thrown the Realtor under the bus by call #3, or maybe #2.


  8. #8
    A.D. Miller's Avatar
    A.D. Miller Guest

    Default Re: A funny thing happend on the way to the inspection

    I think I would have thrown the Realtor under the bus by call #3, or maybe #2.
    JF: Yep.


  9. #9
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Location
    Spring City/Surrounding Philadelphia area
    Posts
    3,509

    Default Re: A funny thing happend on the way to the inspection

    When I get a call from a buyer who tells me the house is winterized or power is off or no gas, I tell them it is best if any utilities that are currently OFF can be turned ON prior to the inspection, otherwise it ends up being an incomplete inspection. Some agree and take the necessary measures to get said things turned on. Some just say "oh well" and ask me to inspect what I can. I advise them in the event of no running water, no gas, or no electric, the inspections of these systems are visual and I am unable to confirm operability, leaks, etc. and so the sma ein my report

    I just looked at a 3,400 square foot under construction house last week. No gas, no running water, no operable toilets, and only two operable circuits in the house. The well water supply pipe wasn't even hooked up and neither was the main sanitary drain line to the septic tank. It was 20 degrees outside the house and 40 degrees inside. The buyer said he'd talk to the builder about getting things turned on prior to the inspection but the only system that was even in a partially working state was the electric. Even though I had to disclaim over 50% of the house in the report, he wanted the inspection because I think he had to make a decision as to whether or not he wanted to move forward with the purchase.


  10. #10
    Join Date
    Sep 2009
    Location
    Twin Cities, Minnesota
    Posts
    150

    Default Re: A funny thing happend on the way to the inspection

    You test drive a car before purchasing it, right? Imagine going to a dealership and having them tell you that you can test drive the car, but you need to put gas in it before it'll go anywhere.

    -Jon
    Errickson Home Inspections, LLC
    http://www.erricksonhomeinspections.com

  11. #11
    Ted Menelly's Avatar
    Ted Menelly Guest

    Default Re: A funny thing happend on the way to the inspection

    It is not your responsibility, the agents responsibility or money or the agent handling the sale for the bank or whom ever. It is the cost of the owner of the property thru the listing agent handling the property. Listing agent takes the appointment for the home to be inspected and makes the calls to have the utilities turned on and the owner foots the bill.

    To suggest in the slightest that the inspector should foot the bill deserves a B slap upside the head to that extremely ignorant Realtor. The funny thing is that a lot of Realtors read this board and I am hoping they read this. The word "extremely ignorant was extremely nice. If any other Realtors out there are reading this and you think that this Realtor was in line it is high time you woke up and came out of your fog.

    To even conceder selling a property with no utilities on to anyone including an investor is ignorant in itself never mind to a home buyer intending on living there.


  12. #12
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Location
    Plano, Texas
    Posts
    4,245

    Default Re: A funny thing happend on the way to the inspection

    "Oh, don't worry, smart realtors always put a stipulation in the contract that makes the seller is responsible for making sure the utilities are on for the inspection" said the inspector to his client.

    Jim Luttrall
    www.MrInspector.net
    Plano, Texas

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Nov 2009
    Location
    St Paul, MN
    Posts
    1,630

    Default Re: A funny thing happend on the way to the inspection

    At the end of call #3 I would have called the agent's broker and let them know what was going on.

    I'll offer to do inspections with the utilities off, but I'll tell the clients that anything associated with those utilies will be disclaimed and the price won't be discounted. I'll also let them know that it isn't really worth doing the inspection, in my opinion, with the utilities shut off. I don't do very many of them.

    MinnesotaHomeInspectors.com
    Minnesota Home Inspectors LLC
    ASHI #242887 mnradontesting.com

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Location
    Fletcher, NC
    Posts
    28,032

    Default Re: A funny thing happened on the way to the inspection

    Quote Originally Posted by Alton Darty View Post
    Call #3.
    Prospective client calls again. Agent has informed the buyer that my services are way overpriced

    That's when you ask the prospective client if the agent is charging the customary 1/2% real estate commission fee or the higher 6% that some overpriced agents charge, and that if the agent is overcharging then the agent surely will have be able to pay for that fee.

    Jerry Peck
    Construction/Litigation/Code Consultant - Retired
    www.AskCodeMan.com

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