Home Inspectors ~ Do you have to justify your existence?

Just had my first inspection where the inspector found NOTHING wrong...even he couldn't believe it.

Of course, it's newer and in great condition. Usually we find reversed polarity on exterior plugs because the builders use dyslexic electricians. But, no. Nothing! What a pleasant surprize.

Eileen ~ that must have been a surprise.  A welcome one I'm sure!  We are finding new home inspections are actually worse than the resales.  I always insist on a new home buyer having the inspection done,hopefully from the dirt up!

kk

I have a feeling that Mr. Wonderful won't be around very long.  We all want inspectors to do a good and fair job but Mr. Wonderful seems to have an axe to grind or the proverbial chip on his shoulder.  His reputation will put him out of business.  I remember many many years ago, a home inspector showed up, stood on the sidewalk looked up at the house he was to inspect, and said to the young buyers "You paid $160,000 for this?????"  That story flew through the real estate community so fast, I don't think the inspector got back to the office before everyone was talking about it.   His business never recovered.

I just haad aan inspection on one of my listings that wanted door locks and patch in garage wall, tightened outside faucet along with a whole list of other stuff.  Very frustrating for my sellers and the buyers are investors.  All this after beating us down in price and closing time.  I was not too happy with that inspector!

We had an inspector just like that back when I started in real estate. All the agents knew that if he was doing the inspection, the transaction was toast. Don't know what happened to him, but we're all glad he's gone.

We had an inspector like your Mr. Wonderful here a few years back.  He just flat refused to address any REALTOR, and totally bashed every house, and of course most of those sales fell apart.   He very quickly had little business coming his way.  Just a few months ago, he turned up again, did an inspection on one of my listings, and he wasn't anywhere near the person he was a few years ago.  He was personable, talked to all of us, complimentary to the good things, even-toned about the things needing attention.  That experience was so different from what he had been like that I had to go back to my office and double check to make sure it was this same person.  And it was......total change in personality and attitude.  And to top it all off, his mother is a REALTOR, a very nice and hard-working REALTOR. 

Ann

The "Alarmist" is the inspector that is the hardest to work with.  He may be the most experienced, knowledgeable, friendly inspector you will find.  But he finds something like a stain on the bathroom wall and says, "it could just be splash from the shower, but it could be a major leak behind the wall.  You should have the seller remove the drywall to see if there is anything back there."  What does the buyer now want?  She wants the drywall removed because the "expert says so."  No, not even satsified with a moisture tester results that shows nothing is there.  Sill wants the drywall removed.  Then the inspector says, "yeah, there was no reason for them to go so far and get excited.  I said all along, it could have been a splash from the shower."

When recommending inspectors I try and stay within the guideline "thorough but not petty" Several inspectors in my area met this simple but effective standard.

Linda ~ Some of them must go to the same school!  Funny, guess he thought someone cared about his price opinion, he should try real estate school next!

Cynthia ~ It certainly does wear the seller's down.  Sometimes they need it but so often it is for the WRONG things.

Sharon ~ Inspectors need to go to diplomacy school. They need product knowledge and people skills.

Ann ~ Good story!  I wonder who took him aside and told him to "straighten up!"  Thank goodness he listened!  Maybe it was Mom...

Steve ~ It doesn't take much for a buyer to get crazy sometimes.  A good inspector can keep that reigned it with his words.

Al ~ "Thorough not petty"  I like your words.;..very wise!

Thanks all for stopping by,

kk

Fantastic post as we all have our horror stories. And even though the media may differ in this opinion, all we want is a thorough, fair, complete inspection!

Worst one I had was from an "engineer" on a 2-yr old home. This particular major builder often used 6" wide cedar trim at the vertical corners of their homes. Strictly decorative and looked better than the vinyl siding corners. The "engineer" said that the corners of these 2 pieces of cedar should be mitered rather than butted together. This was on an average priced home - not a custom build. The buyer then asked for all the exterior trim to be replaced with mitered trim. My seller refused to re-build the home, so the buyer walked. Much like your 12" above ground response. 

A good home inspector is worth their weight in gold! Fortunately, I have a couple of really top-notch ones that I recommend to my Buyers.

What bothers me is that it seems like they all go to the same inspection conference and listen to some lawyer talk about the latest litigation on the danger of bathroom fans properly venting to the outside, or lack of GFCI circuits in the kitchen, or debris in the crawlspace. And then, the next thing you know, every inspector and their brother calls out all the same issues!

... and to continue Rich's comments ... they recommend bringing an old home up to current codes ... like the vents & GFCI. Hey, I'd like to be updated, too, with a younger face and bod, but trust me, the cost would be too great! Ain't a-gonna happen!

We have buyer and seller escrow coordinators on our team so I rarely deal with home inspectors. Are home inspectors held to any level of ethics or government scrutiny like agents are? If so, I wonder how consumer-friendly the complaint process is.

Ken Mascia recently blogged about a NOTORIOUS inspector in our area who failed 3 houses for one of his clients.  One of my favorite issues was mold under the deck!  The deck!  Outside mold.  Is there something I don't know?  Probably.  I am no mold expert.

I knock on wood that he has never been involved in any of my deals. 

Elaine ~ that sounds like another inspection horror story.  I can't imagine what mitered corners have to do with the structual or safety of the house.

Rich ~ bathroom fans venting is an extremely Hazardous (but not dangerous) problem, isn't it?

Elaine ~ I'm with you.  When we they invent the redo for us? (that's affordable!)

John ~ home inspectors are not licensed.  I don't know of any complaint process through an ethics board either.  Maybe the Better business bureau...

MF ~ Three times sounds like a track record.  I would question the inspector's technique and motives. 

Kristal,

I think there are a couple of these inspectors in every market area.  In Atlanta there are two that all agents know as the kiss of death for  a deal.  I've had two of my buyers use the one dealer killer against my warnings and fortunately the deals went through.

What I have found to be effective is to be there to engage them and to ask them the right questions in the presence of your clients.  Usually a good one is "Is this typical of a home of this age in this area?  Are these items things that my client will see in most other homes in the area?" 

Also, it's good to have a general idea on how much things cost to be fixed.  Many times these guys write things up in a way that sounds really complicated and scary. When you show your client that it can be fixed with a 5 cent washer at Home Depot you're on your way to having your clients question just how serious the other items are.

Tim ~ I agree, it's better for the buyers to be present. I call it "Home Maintenance 101" if the buyer is paying for the inspection, they should be present to learn as much about their new home as possible.

I like your qualifying questions "Is this typical of a home of this age in this area?  Are these items things that my client will see in most other homes in the area?"  That's a great way to "ground" both the inspector and the buyer.  They can't expect the home to be more than it was intended to be, unless of course it's been updated.

 Thanks for adding your 2 cents!

kk

KK

Awesome write up. I to have questions with my inspector from time to time. He over alarmed a client and the deal fell through this October and I am still trying to get them back up on the horse to look for another house.

I am working on my third home inspector in only a year.

But I know I will prevail for my clients who deserve the best interest for them.

Again, awesome, keep up the good work.

Susan ~ that is so sad. I hope you can find a good guy who will do a good job and not alarm folks (inless it's necessary.)

Thanks,

kk

Great post, Kristal. I have had the same experiences, as I'm sure many others have as well. We had one inspector in our area in Boston who was known among all the agents for being the guy who would fail ANY house and seemed to take great glee in doing so. Ultimately, for a variety of reasons I won't get into, he had a number of major complaints filed against him and is license was suspended. THere are other stores to, but some great inspectors as well - I always recommended them and it worked out well...and buyers were pleased and felt they were fairly represented.

Jeff ~ Interesting how there seems to be one extra-large ego in every area!  I'm impressed to hear you have liscensing for home inspectors in your state.  We don't and we should.  Of couse in Colorado we are still trying to figure out what to do with all the mortgage people running around.

Maybe open up hunting season to thin the crop...(just kidding folks!)

kk

Agents should send a link to this post to any home inspector that they plan on working with. It will save them some major headaches.

I realize this is quite old but I though I might address it.  I will write a blog similiar to this as well...but in the meantime:

Pass -vs- Fail

 I notice this a lot with my local Realtors...and I feel I have to comment.  As a home inspector, my job is not to pass or fail a structure.  It is to report on the many different systems within that structure.  If during my analysis, the system shows some deficiencies...I write them up as such.  If a system shows signs of deferred maintenance, I write it up as such.  I don't think that a structure passes or fails an inspection....

I cannot speak for other inspectors, nor can I vouch for their interpersonal skills....I can only speak for myself.  That being said, my goal is not to find deficiencies, my goal is to find the deficiencies that should be found.  I think what we all need to keep in mind is that the inspector doesn't kill a deal....a house with lots of deficiencies kills a deal.  That may not always be true as some inspectors are alarmists, however, not all inspectors are created equally and I like to think of myself as one that knows how to explain things in a way that is suitable for each situation. 

One thing we have to all keep in mind.....that client of yours that is buying the house?  He/She is also the Home Inspectors' client.  The Realtor has a duty to their client, and so does the Home Inspector.  I think that there are a great many Home Inspectors that think they are the cat's meow when it comes to inspecting, but I bet you would agree that there are some Realtors like this as well.

Personally, I love working and interacting with my clients and both Realtors.  I enjoy the Real Estate business, I just don't want to be a Realtor. 

Hope this helps.

Here is my blog.....

Kristal,

While I always enjoy reading your posts, I find it somewhat sad, that so many of us (myself included) have lost deals over Inspections that were morel like false alarms. I can only agree - having a home inspector that knows what represents a problem and what falls under maintenance, is the way to go.