Common Sense? "Common wisdom" REALLY? ...Choosing The Inspector.

Common Sense? "Common wisdom" REALLY?  ...Choosing The Inspector.

"Accepting a referral for an inspector through your realtor is not something I recommend." *

*(Quoted from the linked Montreal Gazette article below, A Guide to Choosing Inspectors.)

Many consider this to be good advice or just common sense.  But is it really?.... Realtors are commonly asked for such referrals.

The agent is someone who you are trusting to guide you though the whole process of making the major financial and investment decisions (often the major investment decisions) of your life.

You do need your own real estate agent who will be working for you, the buyer. The sellers will normally have their own agent. A well-informed real estate agent knows the rules, laws and ethical practices that are in place to protect you and them.  So aside from showing you properties your agent should be guiding you through every step involving the purchase of your home. 

In this regard they also know the players. Your agent will know the other agents and agencies that will be involved with the transaction. They will know of or dealt with or at least met before most if not all of the mortgage brokers, realtors, notaries and inspectors.

When it comes to inspectors your agent will have met any where from 20 to 100 or more, and will have seen how the inspector works and treats the client. So when an agent refers you to some inspectors he/she will be giving you a few names from a short list that represents the better 20% or so. Ethically the agents choices should be qualified referrals.

In Montreal their professional association requires that real estate agents provide a minimum of three referrals so you can do some comparative shopping or follow up. 

This gives you the choice to either opt for one of the referred inspectors or decide to find one on your own through the phone book, internet search or word of mouth.

The newspaper article (link below) provides a guideline as to what to look for and how to inteview an inspector no matter how you are chosing ;

Inspect the inspector before he examines your homeshar.esCheck credentials, ask about backgroundbefore spending hundreds on inspection

Or copy this into your web browser address line; http://www.montrealgazette.com/homes/Inspect+inspector+before+examines+your+home/6895116/story.html