The way it was in home inspection
James Morrison writes today about home inspection before home inspectors began to be licensed in 2001.
BostonCharles wrote:There continue to be structural issues with the field, just like with appraisers. How many home inspectors with a rep for pointing out problems get new clients?There are ‘structural problems’ in every professional field and the field of home inspection is certainly no exception. I’ve been a professional home inspector for my entire adult life (and indeed, part of my childhood.) What I’ve written should be interpreted from that perspective.
BostonCharles raises a thorny issue. Historically (when buyer representation was rare), home inspectors relied on seller-representing real estate agents to refer homebuyers to them. On the surface, it made good sense. Real estate agents have contact with hordes of homebuyers and are in a position to funnel loads of business to home inspectors.
The inherent conflict is quite clear. Home inspectors work for homebuyers. The traditional real estate agent worked for the seller. Buyers and Sellers have directly opposing interests, so what was a poor home inspector to do?
This gave rise to three basic categories home inspector:1. The Hawkeyed home inspector who does an excellent job diagnosing and reporting a home’s every problem to a prospective buyer. He or she will alert them to every potential problem in the house.
2. The Half-witted home inspector who is very often the cheapest and fastest inspector around. He or she does and says as little as possible and rarely encumbers him or herself with the process of critical thinking.
3. Then there’s a hardly ever talked about 3rd option that I call: The Fair to the House home inspector. This is the guy (or gal) who is technically competent and while he or she probably meets the minimum State standards most of the time. He is very careful to treat Buyers gently, trying hard not to scare them on site, or in the report. He or she knows the buyer wants to buy the house and the seller wants to sell it. He or she just tries to do his job without upsetting the applecart. These inspectors worked too hard to be liked and were likely to leave the buyer woefully uninformed.
Well, you can see the conflict. Predictably, standardization came. In 2001, inspectors were licensed. Rules regarding their practice and their relationships with agents changed. Seller’s agent could no longer refer buyers to a specific –or even a group of specific – of home inspectors. If a buyer asks a Seller’s agent for the name of a good home inspector, the agent is required to give the buyer a list of all of the licensed inspectors in the State.
It’s been nearly ten years now. Has licensing improved the field of home inspections in MA? Did you buy before the law came into effect? Did you use an inspector recommended by a seller’s agent?
