I have been in the inspection industry for over 14 years and it amazes me how often I see seasoned agents make rookie mistakes. I am completely blown away when I see how ill prepared that buyer’s are when they come to the inspection. For some reason they feel that we are “Superman” and we can see and do all. It is possible that there are some in the industry that tout, “We inspect everything!” This is not the case. Below are realities of what home inspectors do and what buyer’s agents can do to prepare their clients for a home inspection. Tomorrow, I will present my list for selling agents.
• Help your client to understand that there are three things the home inspector cannot do.
o They cannot see through the walls
o They cannot predict the future
o They will not find every thing that is wrong with the property.
• Help your client to understand there are three things that all good home inspectors focus on. These are:
o What will affect their health
o What will affect their safety
o What will affect their pocketbook.
• Don't sweat the small stuff – every property will have cosmetic issues.
• Keep your focus on what is important – structure, safety, big-ticket items.
• Inspections are a snapshot in time. (A lot can happen between the time the sellers move out and your clients move in.)
• In the event something is amiss when they move in, please contact the home inspector.
o It gives the inspector and opportunity to work with your client to deliver customer service.
o Repairmen like to use scare tactics and put doubt in your client's minds.
♣ First of all, they want to sell them something.
♣ Repairmen may be good at what they do; however they are not home inspectors. They do not understand or know our standards of practice.
♣ Repairmen use phrases like:
• "This is not done to codes."
• "Your home inspector should have caught this."
♣ These are all scare tactics that repairman use to make you look bad and create doubt that your customer received a good, quality report.
• If you receive a complaint from your client, please, let the inspector know. We all make mistakes. Oftentimes inspectors never know there was a problem. Reputable companies will do their best to make things right. This is the true character of the owner. If they make things right, reward them by thanking them for taking care of your client and continue to do business with them. If they don’t, time to move on.
The Complete Home Inspections Team - Brentwood, TN 37027
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