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On another thread there was discussion about seller's being present during a home inspection. I thought I would share this funny story.
I show up to a house for the inspection and was greeted by a very nice elderly lady. I explain who I am, and that I'm going to be inspecting her house, and I'm going to be there a few hours. She says OK. I tell her I am going to be going in and out several times, and ask if she has any animals that I need to be aware of. "No"
I set up my computer and some tools in the kitchen and start doing my thing. At some point I go out into the garage. Now keep in mind, as an experienced inspector, whenever I go out a door, I always check to make sure it is unlocked, so I can get back in. IT'S A HABIT.
I finish the garage and go to the door to the house, and it's locked. I knock a few times - no answer. OK, so I go around to the front door, and ring the bell. She comes to the door, and looks at me like she has never seen me before. I explain that I'm not finished yet.
I do a little more of the inside of the house, go out onto the patio, spend about 5 minutes there, turn to go back inside, AND THE DOOR IS LOCKED. I walk around to the front of the house, ring the bell again, and we go through the same thing again.
I probably had to ring the doorbell 5 or 6 times that day. Each time, she greeted me like she had never seen me before.
I would turn down the air conditioner a few degrees so I could check the operation, and she would go after me and turn it off. When I was running water in two bathrooms at the same time, she would turn off the water in the bathroom I wasn't in.
Bless her heart, I'm not sure if she was slightly senile, or just diabolical. The really odd thing is, she was never around me, yet as soon as I went outside, she was, BAM, at the door locking it.
My grandma would've been about like that later on. Not altzheimers but plain old dementia from years of semi-retirement and a lack of keeping the mind active.
My fiance and I are sort of like that sometimes. She'll go to the office and turn the fan on, then go to the bathroom. While she's in there I'll walk by, see the fan on (not knowing she's in the bathroom or coming right back) and turn it off. She comes back to the office a minute later and wonders what's going on.
This was also interesting. It was the owner of one of the largest construction companies in Knoxville. He had his Secretary call me and ask if I would stop by his office because he wanted to interview me before he chose an inspector.
I met him and he told me he had contacted 4 inspectors in Knoxville, and I was several hundred dollars higher than any of the rest. Before I could answer, he also said that he wasn't asking me to lower my price, he just wanted to know why I was higher.
Apparently my answers were satisfactory, because he hired me. He didn't attend the inspection because, I guess he was too busy running his business, and felt that I would do an OK job for him.
The Realtor didn't show up because he knew the seller would be there.
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Who ordered inspection
