Why I Do Not Attend Inspections
It has been a while since I have posted a blog on Active Rain. I have been extremely busy and our brokerage is doing great. I owe a big part of this to Active Rain. I learned so much from AR when I started my brokerage. OK, on to the blog.
I do not attend inspections. I am not a contractor and I feel I have no business hanging out at an inspection. I had someone question me today and tell me this "I cannot beleive you were not at the inspection". My response was this, "I am very sorry, but I do not attend inspections, and it is intentional." I have no desire to be a part of the inspection process. The thing I want most is an accurate inspection. If a deal goes south because it is a bad house, I am good with that... We will find another house, I sincerely want what is best for the customer.
I want the inspector to go in there and make his own opinions and put them in the report. Why would I need to be at the inspection? I have researched this and I belive that being there can create liability because one can be accused of being in cahoots with the inspector or influencing the inspection report. My relationship with the inspector is simple. I recommend him to the client (because he is a good inspector) and then they can decide if they want to use him or another inspector. They have to sign an agreement to do business with the inspector. I can order the report but the client must authorize.
If the client would like to be present at the inspection, that is OK with me, but I do recommend that they go towards the tail end of the process. If the client is there towards the tail end, I will stop by and say hello to everyone if I can. I just do not think being there alone with the inspector is the way to go.
Ok, lets get to repairs... These can kill you. I find it is best to limit repair limits to say $500 or $1000. It is hard to orchestrate major repairs if you are trying to close a deal in a few weeks.
Ok, oops, lets say we didn't cap the repair limits and we now have a big repair project. The key to the deal is the re-inspect. I advise all customers to hire an inspector to come back out and re-inspect. I am not a contractor and I do not want to make any claims that something is fixed correctly. I know enough to know that I am not the best man for that job. I have found that this system works very well and keeps relationships positive with the customer. You may have one out of 100 complain about it but it seems to make sense to me.
I have done it this way with many deals and it seems to work well.
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