Buying a home, do you know a good inspector ? What should I know about inspection process? (sales, home inspectors)

[Captain Bill]

Originally Posted by azriverfan.

1. Hire your own home inspector. Don't use the one the realtor refers to you. There is a conflict of interest with the realtor referred inspector because that inspector relies upon referrals provided by that realtor. Therefore, the inspector has less incentive to find fault with the house that could result in the buyer pulling out of the deal...

That is not a correct assumption. There is no conflict of interest.

Like most other realtors, I refer inspectors who do a good job for my clients. I know the work they do, and if they do one thing wrong, I will never refer them again. Consequently, there is pressure on them to do a good job so they will get future referrals.

When a realtor refers an inspector, that referral reflects on the realtor. We want him/her to find things that may cause the client a problem later on. We want them to write them up properly.

The sellers are only required to repair items that are within the warranty area of the contract, such as plumbing, electrical, and mechanical operations.

All of the other items that an inspector finds are not required to be fixed. However, the buyer can request, and the seller can accept or refuse. But we want the buyers to know the condition of the property.

I had been using one inspector who was doing a good thorough job and was very good at communicating with the clients, and pointing out things so that they understood.

One client paid extra for a pool inspection. The pool had pop up clean outs, which cost around $90 each to replace. The inspectors write up stated that he did not check all of the pop ups due to a lack of time.

I saw this and told him that the clients paid for him to inpsect the entire pool, which included the pop ups.

He said he did check them all, and the language was just standard language in his write up. I told him that his written report states that he did NOT check the pop ups and that he cannot override that verbally. I insisted that he come back to check the pop ups, and both the client and myself were there to watch him check them.

I never referred him again because of that, and I told him that I would neve refer him again.

[greenthinker]

Originally Posted by Captain Bill

That is not a correct assumption. There is no conflict of interest.

Like most other realtors, I refer inspectors who do a good job for my clients. I know the work they do, and if they do one thing wrong, I will never refer them again. Consequently, there is pressure on them to do a good job so they will get future referrals.

When a realtor refers an inspector, that referral reflects on the realtor. We want him/her to find things that may cause the client a problem later on. We want them to write them up properly.

The sellers are only required to repair items that are within the warranty area of the contract, such as plumbing, electrical, and mechanical operations.

All of the other items that an inspector finds are not required to be fixed. However, the buyer can request, and the seller can accept or refuse. But we want the buyers to know the condition of the property.

I had been using one inspector who was doing a good thorough job and was very good at communicating with the clients, and pointing out things so that they understood.

One client paid extra for a pool inspection. The pool had pop up clean outs, which cost around $90 each to replace. The inspectors write up stated that he did not check all of the pop ups due to a lack of time.

I saw this and told him that the clients paid for him to inpsect the entire pool, which included the pop ups.

He said he did check them all, and the language was just standard language in his write up. I told him that his written report states that he did NOT check the pop ups and that he cannot override that verbally. I insisted that he come back to check the pop ups, and both the client and myself were there to watch him check them.

I never referred him again because of that, and I told him that I would neve refer him again.

Captain Bill, do you mind to tell us who is the inspector you use now?
Do we need to check for radon? Thank you!

[rjrcm]

Originally Posted by greenthinker

Captain Bill, do you mind to tell us who is the inspector you use now?
Do we need to check for radon? Thank you!

It's really up to the buyer to decide if radon is a concern worth checking, along with any other potential health and safety hazards. For more information on radon, check the EPA website:
Radon | Indoor Air Quality | US EPA

[azriverfan.]

Originally Posted by Captain Bill

That is not a correct assumption. There is no conflict of interest.

Like most other realtors, I refer inspectors who do a good job for my clients. I know the work they do, and if they do one thing wrong, I will never refer them again. Consequently, there is pressure on them to do a good job so they will get future referrals.

When a realtor refers an inspector, that referral reflects on the realtor. We want him/her to find things that may cause the client a problem later on. We want them to write them up properly.

There is a clear conflict of interest. At this stage of the housing purchase, no realtor will wants his client to pull out of the deal. That doesn't make realtors dishonest, it makes them human. There is a lot of work that goes into the deal prior to the inspection and no realtor would prefer to find things wrong with a house that leads to the buyer pulling out or the buyer asking the seller to make too many consolations. If such actions leads to the deal failing to close, the realtor may or may not use that inspector again. The home inspector wants to please the realtor because he or she wants future referrals.

Besides, an honest and professional realtor wouldn't care if a buyer hires his or her home inspector. If it brings a buyer peace of mind to hire his or her inspector then a good realtor will honor that. Most home inspectors will find the same major problems anyway. Therefore, I don't see how it matters if a buyer hires his or her own inspector. With my realtor, he was fine with us using our own inspector. He only had some inspectors available if we didn't want to search or hire one on our own. It made us appreciate that realtor even more. A realtor I used in the past (who I will never use again) made a lot of fuss and drama about us hiring our own inspector and it made us question her motives and lose respect for her.

[azriverfan.]

Originally Posted by greenthinker

radon is a scary thing. Should we check it out?

I think the chances of your home having radon is incredibly low. At the same time, it's been associated with cancer. It's a colorless odorless gas. If it was me, I would get it but I'm the paranoid type too. I agree with ASUfan as well you probably don't need it and if you didn't get it, I wouldn't think it's a bad decision.

[rjrcm]

Originally Posted by azriverfan.

There is a clear conflict of interest. At this stage of the housing purchase, no realtor will wants his client to pull out of the deal. That doesn't make realtors dishonest. It's just human nature. There is a lot of work that goes into the deal prior to the inspection and no realtor would prefer to find things wrong with a house at this point. ...

I really dislike sweeping generalizations like this. While I'm sure there are some Realtors that may try to influence the inspection, most want an honest perspective of the home's condition. We have a fiduciary duty to represent the buyer's best interests, including doing what we can to insure they get a fair inspection of the home. I would be happy if the buyer wanted to chose their own inspector, as this relieves me of one more potential liability.

[asufan]

Originally Posted by azriverfan.

There is a clear conflict of interest. At this stage of the housing purchase, no realtor will wants his client to pull out of the deal. That doesn't make realtors dishonest, it makes them human. There is a lot of work that goes into the deal prior to the inspection and no realtor would prefer to find things wrong with a house that leads to the buyer pulling out or the buyer asking the seller to make too many consolations. If such actions leads to the deal failing to close, the realtor may or may not use that inspector again. The home inspector wants to please the realtor because he or she wants future referrals.

Besides, an honest and professional realtor wouldn't care if a buyer hires his or her home inspector. If it brings a buyer peace of mind to hire his or her inspector then a good realtor will honor that. Most home inspectors will find the same major problems anyway. Therefore, I don't see how it matters if a buyer hires his or her own inspector. With my realtor, he was fine with us using our own inspector. He only had some inspectors available if we didn't want to search or hire one on our own. It made us appreciate that realtor even more. A realtor I used in the past (who I will never use again) made a lot of fuss and drama about us hiring our own inspector and it made us question her motives and lose respect for her.

Correct! It's always best to use an independent inspector. I have an acquaintance that has his own inspection company, and he tells me he is always hassled by the realtors. They always threaten to stop referring inspections to him if he kills deals. It's best to go out and find your own. I have used Assure Home inspection in the past (not my acquaintance), and they have done a good job. Although not all realtors are in cahoots, it's still a conflict of interest. And yeah, I am a realtor too, but not as my profession.

[azriverfan.]

Originally Posted by rjrcm

I really dislike sweeping generalizations like this. While I'm sure there are some Realtors that may try to influence the inspection, most want an honest perspective of the home's condition. We have a fiduciary duty to represent the buyer's best interests, including doing what we can to insure they get a fair inspection of the home. I would be happy if the buyer wanted to chose their own inspector, as this relieves me of one more potential liability.

I think you misunderstand the term "conflict of interest." That's not defined as saying the realtor is dishonest. It's just saying that a position exists that could benefit the realtor and not necessarily the buyer. That is not a sweeping generalization but a fact.

I'm a physician. We diagnose patients that may lead to intervention that I would perform and thus benefit from. That is also a conflict of interest. Like you, I have a duty to diagnose patients honestly and to do no harm which means I would not diagnose a patient unethically just to do a procedure. Nonetheless, if a patient requests a second opinion, I have no problem with that and am never offended by that decision. I know it brings them peace of mind and will even encourage them getting a second opinion. I know that I do my best to diagnose them honestly so that I don't fear if they want to see another physician to get a second opinion. Likewise, I know an honest realtor will not care if a client chooses to hire his or her own home inspector. A good realtor will understand and not care.

[azriverfan.]

Originally Posted by asufan

Correct! It's always best to use an independent inspector. I have an acquaintance that has his own inspection company, and he tells me he is always hassled by the realtors. They always threaten to stop referring inspections to him if he kills deals. It's best to go out and find your own. I have used Assure Home inspection in the past (not my acquaintance), and they have done a good job. Although not all realtors are in cahoots, it's still a conflict of interest. And yeah, I am a realtor too, but not as my profession.

I can see that you understand what I was trying to say. It's still a conflict of interest regardless if the realtor is honest. It's just a smart idea to get an independent third party involved that isn't affilated with the realtor. It's just checks and balances and being smart. A good realtor understands this and isn't offended by this notion. Thanks for the referral about Assure Home Inspection too.

[Captain Bill]

Originally Posted by greenthinker

Captain Bill, do you mind to tell us who is the inspector you use now?
Do we need to check for radon? Thank you!

I currently use J. Dewey Property Inspection 480 704 1602. He has several inspectors working for him.