Criticized for Being Good (buyer's agent, commission, Realtors, seller)

[Barking Spider]

Criticized for being excellent

When Tiger Woods wins yet another golf tournament, the accolades flow like Niagara Falls. “Best golfer ever” ,“What a talent”, ”No one better”. It seems like no one can say anything bad about him.

Ansel Adams is recognized as the epitome of black and white photography. His skills took decades to hone, and his talent is widely recognized.

These are examples of people that have a talent for what they do, they have practiced their craft, they work hard at getting better, and they take pride in their work. There is a marked distinction between them and the rest of the people that are in their field. They are recognized for their accomplishments and admired.

Home inspectors, for the most part, also take pride in their work. They work hard at getting better, by taking continuing education classes. They practice their craft by doing inspections, the more they do, they better they become. Some even reach the level of the “Tiger Woods” in their industry.

A good home inspector is going to try to find everything in a home they can, so that their client can have as much information about the property as possible. They take pride in being objective and telling the truth. There isn’t a need to “make something up to justify their fee”. If the house doesn’t have anything wrong, then there’s nothing to report. It is what it is!

On the other side of the coin, it’s just about impossible for an inspector to “create” a problem, just to report on it. You know, make a pipe leak, so we can write it down.

A really good inspector will probably find things wrong, that even the home owner may not know about. They may even find things a less experienced home inspector didn’t. The key word here is “experienced”. The golf pro at the local country club may be the best golfer in the region, but if he played a round with Tiger Woods, it would be very clear at the end of the day how far he has to go to be in the same league. Yet, until he played with Tiger, he was perceived as “the best around”.

Good home inspectors seem to be the only professional that is criticized for being excellent at what they do, for telling the truth, for pointing things out that are wrong, and for recognizing problems.

It is not generally recognized the potentially high liability that the inspector incurs during an inspection. The best protection from liability is to do an excellent job.

The next time you find yourself at an inspection, either as a buyer, seller, or a Realtor, remember that the inspector takes pride in his work, has practiced his craft, and works hard to continue building his skills.

[Austin-Willy]

Originally Posted by Barking Spider

Good home inspectors seem to be the only professional that is criticized for being excellent at what they do, for telling the truth, for pointing things out that are wrong, and for recognizing problems.

I understand what you are saying. But in fact, your industry isn't alone in that position. Basically anyone whose job it is to point out risks and problems gets caught in the shoot-the-messenger situation. And the the transactional cheerleaders are usually there to reload the gun and **** it [I guess pulling back the hammer is a bad word], if not pull the trigger.

But don't be too depressed. At least when you point out something that is wrong, for the most part, people understand what you're talking about. Imagine if you identified a leaky roof on your report and buyer, seller and both agents all got upset and wanted you to remove it from the report because they didn't understand why it's an issue.

[middle-aged mom]

Originally Posted by Barking Spider

Good home inspectors seem to be the only professional that is criticized for being excellent at what they do, for telling the truth, for pointing things out that are wrong, and for recognizing problems.

Auditors are in the same boat. Their job is to find weaknesses in internal controls and financial irregularities. Most in corporate America consider them a necessary evil.

Hats off to the good guys.

[Barking Spider]

I had not thought of auditors - yep, pretty much the same situation.

[matthews1965]

My hat is off to an excellent home inspector. One that is thorough, well educated, and takes his huge responsibility seriously and actually cares. I was in a continuing ed class when a group of realtors spoke negatively about a certain home inspector, who, has a reputation for being THOROUGH. I spoke up in no uncertain terms on his behalf. Just so you know, there are those of us that APPRECIATE and rely on people like you!!!!! Don't let the turkeys get you down!!!!!!!!!!

[le roi]

I'm ignorant to this; Do some people criticize inspectors for being thorough? I'm looking for the most obsessive inspector that I can find.

[Barking Spider]

Yes, home inspectors are criticized probably a lot more than you think.
While most Realtors are ethical and looking out for their clients, there are some out there that only care about a commission check.

Once in a while, the inspection finds things that send "the deal" back to negotiation. This is usually a "surprise" and something that is probably going to be costly to repair or replace. If they can not work it out by adjusting the price, making repairs, or some other concession, then the deal falls apart.

The reason it can't get worked out is what varies. Here are some examples:
Lets say there are $5,000 in repairs needed.
1. The buyer asks for $5,000 off the price and the seller refuses.
2. The seller offers to split the repair cost and offers $2,500 off, and the buyer refuses.
3. The buyer and seller are too stubborn to negotiate.
4. The Realtors can not get their clients to negotiate.

Some times the seller refuses to acknowledge there is really a problem with their house. I hear these comments all the time: It has never caused us any problems, It's been like that since we moved in, It was approved by the County so it has to be right, My relative is a (contractor,engineer,inspector, fill in the blank) and HE said there was nothing wrong with it, it's not that big of a leak, hole, crack, problem.

Sometimes one of the Realtors might chime in with "Well, it's just like this at my house, and I never had a problem".

You get the picture. Even though my report may have a photo of the defect in question, they refuse to admit there's a problem. I may include a copy of written instructions from the manufacturer to back up my report, and they will still say, 'There's nothing wrong with that, I've been doing this for X years, and I always do it this way.

So many times a really good inspector will be "labeled" as a "deal killer" or "nit-picker" or "too tough/picky".

So if a beginning inspector comes into a house and finds 25 things. One with more experience may find 40. A really good and experienced inspector might find 50, 60, 100 things. Not always, but the Tiger Woods is going to find much more than the guy that has only played 20 times.

Now here is where it gets interesting. The 25 things the beginner found are valid things. If Tiger finds 100, they are still valid, they are still problems, there just a longer list. And this is not to say that the extra things Tiger finds are "nit-picky", they might be a BIG thing that only an inspector with a lot of experience knows how to find.

When I started inspecting, I needed 250 inspections to earn a certification. It took me almost two and a half years to earn it. When I reached 100, I thought about some of those first ones, and realized that I probably didn't catch some of the stuff I was then. When I finally got to 250, I thought about some of those first 100, and wasn't all that proud of them. Keep that thought.

So the next benchmarks are 500, then the holy grail of 1000. Looking back after those and it's pretty clear that even those first 250 could have been better. Like Tiger....well, maybe he NEVER played poorly.

Right now I'm getting pretty close to the benchmark of 10,000 inspections. I actually quit keeping a to-date tally, so I'm not really sure. I'm pretty confident that I am thought of as a pretty damn good inspector. But when I got to continuing education classes (I complete about 30 hours a year) I STILL learn stuff.

Sorry this has turned into a commercial....

The point being, a really good inspector, while being respected for their skills, are not put on referral lists, and bad mouthed for pointing stuff out. What is interesting is that in my market there are several Realtors that have used me for their own personal houses, or for family members, but I have NEVER inspected one for their clients.

Of course, the other side of this are the many Realtors that give my name out knowing they are going to get the most thorough inspection possible.

[DubbleT]

I just had a home inspection done last week. The guy spent six hours inspecting an 1100 sq. ft. home and another hour or more walking me through the home and explaining the results, which he put into a 50 page report. He apologized for being so nit-picky, but I just wanted to hug the guy for being so darn thorough! He pointed out everything from bad roof shingles to tiny dings in the sheetrock.
As a first time homebuyer I felt like I learned some things from him, and I have a much better idea of what I'm gettng into as far as potential maintenance and repair issues the house I'm buying. So here is a big thumbs up to all those nit-picking, thorough home inpectors!

[austin-steve]

Good home inspectors seem to be the only professional that is criticized for being excellent at what they do, for telling the truth, for pointing things out that are wrong, and for recognizing problems.

Well, you left out the most important part, which is putting things into context and providing the buyer with the proper perspective within which to view the inspection results. It's called communication.

Many inspectors are technically proficient at finding every minor flaw in a home, but posses no skill at all in communicating to the buyer which items are normal and expected versus those that should be cause for alarm. Thus, we end up with buyers making a fuss over the dishwasher drain line not being "looped", or no "anti-tilt device" on the range, or the that gas fireplace doesn't have "flue clamps".

When I ask the buyer's agent if he or the buyer knows what any of those things are, they don't, but "the buyer is very concerned". These three aforementioned items are about $3 in materials and 10 minutes of labor, as any good inspector would explain to the buyer, but many don't. These items, and many others, are seen on just about ever inspection report in Texas.

The best inspectors I know, and whom our buyers use, don't miss anything important, and they leave the buyer feeling empowered and knowledgeable about the condition of the house they are buying, not frightened and confused and ready to cancel the deal or make rediculously uninformed repair demands of the seller.

Do you think that maybe a Doctor would report the same results of a physical exam a bit differently to a 76 year old than she would to a 25 year old? Of course. And it's because certain things, though not ideal, are normal and to be expected in a 76 year old, but not normal and expected in a younger subject. Same with houses. It's all about the context and the expectations. Good inspectors know how to frame the data inside a realistic context and expectations.

Before we even write an offer for our buyers on an older home, we have what I call the "ugly inspection" conversation. This is where I explain to the buyer that, on that older house they want that's closer in with the bigger lot and the big trees, we're going to see code compliance issues, mechanical issues related to the age of the equipment, missing GFI outlets, and a host of other things I could list prior to the inspection, based on nothing more than the age and location of the home. We know it's going to be an "ugly inspection", and I ask if they think they can survive that.

And if the buyer doesn't want to see all that stuff on an inspection report, we need to find a house that will produce a prettier inspection report, which means a newer house further out.

So, any inspector who thinks their job is simply to discover and report "data", isn't, in my opinion, a good inspector. And yes we don't use them again, ever, not because we're afraid of the data, but because our buyers deserve more than a blind laundry list of "needs fixing" items delivered with no context or perspective.

Steve

[shellytc]

I completely agree Steve. Communication is the key. I love a really experienced inspector for my folks, one who will do a thorough job of finding what COULD be an issue, what IS an issue and also, what is RIGHT about the house. And is able to comfortable explain the difference to our client.

shelly