I am a Home Inspector in SW Florida and episodes of Power and Water off has been occurring. I would like to present a scenario and see what the Realtors think and why. Here is what typically happens. Remember I am in SW Florida and many of my clients are not present because they live out of town.
An inspection is booked through the office. We confirm a date and time and specifically mention that if the power and water are off, we need them turned on to perform the inspection properly. We then make this statement to the buyers agent. We then send them an email stating this EXACT same thing and tell remind them to ENSURE the water and power are on.
We call the day before and remind them AGAIN and ask AGAIN if the power and water are on and we are always told "yes".
Well as I am sure you have guessed by now, we show up and low and behold, no water or power. So now the question is who do we charge? The buyer was just doing what they were told and they were told it was on, the buyers agent confirmed with the listing agent it was on. So now who pays me for the lost time? I show up to the job with 4 inspectors, travel time, and many times its in the middle of the day and my next appointment cannot move up that fast. So I am out about $150 and missed time I could have fit another inspection in. Who do I charge? Buyer, Buyers agent or listing agent and how do I go about collecting?
Just want to see it from your eyes.
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