How a good inspector adds value
Last week, James Morrison took a shot at answering Boston Charles’s comment. Today, I go at it from the buyer broker perspective:
Boston Charles wrote:
How many home inspectors with a rep for pointing out problems get new clients?”
Because I am a buyer’s agent I can recommend inspectors. The ones I recommend do find problems. The inspectors who can’t find problems in this housing stock, I call "see no evil." They add no value for the buyer and they do not get my nod.
Inspection results are a negotiation tool. For a buyer, there is value to finding problems that the typical buyer won’t see. I add value by finding inspectors who find house problems. They help both negotiation and decision-making about future repair.
Having an alert inspector is worth-it to me, even if he sometimes inspires a walk-away. If an inspector on my list doesn’t add value, I lose credibility and future business. Here’s a story:
Last summer, one of my clients told me a story about a buyer’s agent who got their friends a house in competition. The agent went far and away beyond the call of duty. That buyer’s agent worked in the town my client was looking in. So, why was I chosen over this super-agent? The answer: The friend’s house had problems that the recommended home inspector should have been seen. Therefore, they hired me.
Not all alert inspectors are created equal. There are some who I don’t like to see coming:
1. Some talk a good talk, but write a report that says nothing. This handcuffs my negotiation.
2. Some make nicey-nicey during the inspection, then write a report that damns the house. This blindsides the buyers, since they didn’t hear it at the inspection, where they could have asked questions.
3. Some have a great reputation with buyers for being ruthless. They take it as a badge of honor that brokers and sellers hate them. They get in the way of my negotiations by alienating me and the listing agent or seller. (These are REAL Maven’s “deal killers.”) I call them "cowboys."
4. Some overstate the problems (Then my client has to pay for an engineer or plumber who says there is no problem.) This wastes time and money and interferes with my ability to negotiate.
Does anyone want to share their experience of house problems found and house problems missed?
Did you have a good inspector or a see-no-evil inspector?
What does a good inspector do, and not do?
How did you find your inspector?
