Recently, I had a conversation with a Realtor that I have just started working more frequently with.
I'm always excited about the chance to work regularly with Realtors, since it allows me to get to know them a bit better and make sure that my services and reports are helpful to them in serving the clients. The better I know them, the more familiar I am with what report format they like to use, whether they like PDF or online versions, follow us during the inspection, or wait for a summary of findings, etc.
In the end, it produces a more complete product, and better service for the client - which is (of course) the ultimate goal (or at least it should be).
The Realtor mentioned that they started using me after the inspector they have used for years went "rogue" on them. After years of working together, the inspector suddenly began pushing the Realtor away during the inspection, making editorial comments (like "oh, no - that's bad) over issues that didn't seem to warrant it, and offering advice about what the client should negotiate for and how to do it.
When contacted by the Realtor about his new "approach" after one particularly difficult inspection, the inspector got combative. He responded that he was protecting his client and that the Realtor should appreciate it and not involve themselves in the inspection process.
It was the inspector's reference to "his" client that ultimately drove the Realtor away. I have heard this attitude from many inspectors over nearly a decade in the business, and it made me think: "Whose client is it, anyway?"
Many times the client finds me on their own, with no referral or prompting from their agent. I am paid by the client. I have contrctual obligations with the client. I am bound to follow the specific instructions of the client (especially with regard to providing the report to other parties). So, doesn't that make them my client during the inspection?
In short, no - it doesn't.
It doesn't negate the countless hours the Realtor put in researching and showing properties, walking the buyers through the process to the point where they were able to submit an offer and reach the inspection stage of the process. It doesn't trump the Realtor's fiduciary responsibility to the client that also exists during the inspection. And it doesn't overrule the Realtor's relationship with these clients. But those factors don't make make the buyer the Realtor's client exclusively, either.
The real answer is that they are OUR clients - together. We are a team of professionals working on the clients' behalf to jointly protect their interests and provide the best service possible.
There are times where personalities clash (Inspectors, Realtors, and clients), but even those times don't prevent me from being able to work together with the client and their agent to get the best result for the client. (OK, sometimes the client can't get out of their own way, and that makes it much harder to do, but even then I can still find a way....)
In the end, the client is the boss at the inspection and has selected each of us for our respective skills and expertise, trusting us to work for them. I try never to forget the 4th through 8th words in the sentance above.
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