Home Buyers Heed the Recommendations of Your Agent When it Comes to Professional Services
Buyers can sometimes be skeptical of their Real estate agent when it comes to recommending other professionals for services. Their thought is that the Agent will somehow be compensated for sending them to a particular professional, or that the professional will take shortcuts that will be detrimental to the buyer. That should never be the case.
When a real estate agent recommends a particular bank for the mortgage, lawyer to handle the legal end of the transaction, or home inspector, they are referring them to a professional that has demonstrated consistency in their job and service to assist the buyer.
I recently had an instance where the buyer chose to ignore the two inspectors that I was offering them. A family member suggested they look for someone else to avoid problems. Was that ever a mistake.
Not all home inspectors are identical, as not all homes are the same. With first time home buyers, I like to use inspectors that will not only do the job properly, but they will also guide the prospective buyer through the home, pointing out areas requiring periodic maintenance, and also give a reasonable analysis of a problem that they encounter.
The inspector that these buyers chose to use certainly didn't give the best of service.
Upon entering the house, he started the hot water in the kitchen sink and the dishwasher. He then proceeded to walk about the rest of the kitchen and the rest of the rooms. When he got to the bathroom, he turned on the hot water and as the water was now tepid, proceeded to tell the buyers that the hot water heater was faulty. Meanwhile, the water tap in the kitchen was still running as was the dishwasher.
I suggested he shut off the water, let it recover and try again, which he did, then proceeded to tell the buyer that the hot water heater was marginal.
As he walked about the house, he said nothing to the buyer about what he was doing, or what they might inspect. At one point in the basement of the house, he told the buyer that he could not see something as he had not brought a flashlight. I went out to my car and brought in my light for him to use.
He completed the entire inspection within 45 minutes, without taking any photos, which is highly irregular for the inspectors I normally use.
He did not test any of the electrical outlets; he never went into the attic, and there were drop down stairs, and he didn't go into the detached garage.
When I got his report, several days later, it was a cryptic 3 pages, with half of one page giving the details of the home address and his specifics.
This buyer got cheated, and over my protests insisted that the inspection would be fine.
That is not the way a first time home buyer should accept an inspection, nor any one else.
The purpose of the home inspection is to give the prospective buyer a professional evaluation of the home so that they understand what they are buying. This buyer doubted the intentions of their agent. If they have problems down the road, they will have no one to blame but themselves.
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