Excellent article.
I just posted this link on my web page.
Thanks Nick.
Perhaps the real problem our industry has is that the realtors have the power to get their home inspector choosen most of the time. Why is it “the bribe” that is considered the issue?
I find in my area that a “good home inspector” takes no longer than two hours, doesn’t “inspect too much”, doesn’t “explain too much”, patrons the REALTOR organizations, provides a vague and terribly concise inspection report, provides cheap auxillary services for the mere convenience and can be trusted to not “kill the deal” over “things that should not kill deals”. With the substantial amount of commission $$$ regularly on the line, as well as the potential liability with referring certain types of “friendly” home inspectors, I seriously doubt these “standards” would change for some inspector who paid the office a less than a quarter of a commission on the average closed house to have a glossy ad or top placement in a “Preferred Vendor List”.
The “bribe” scheme may work to “influence” a home inspector into conforming to realtor demands, as the way to “earn back” the money invested into “getting their foot in the door”. Regardless, the problem once again is that the home inspector is working in the interest of the agents because that is the way to get business. We would not have a problem with “bribes” if the realtors did not have the power to abuse them in the first place …
I used to watch old newsreels from the 1930’s and 1940’s that pictured hundreds of Nazi civilian prisoners being lined up and shot - one at a time - by a solitary (or small number) of Nazis. It boggled my mind to try to understand why hundreds of human beings could allow themselves to be destroyed under such circumstances…without attempting to resist. Certainly, the hundreds could easily overcome the two or three and those killed in the process would be no worse off than they would be, anyway.
Then, I watch how hundreds of home inspectors in a single metropolitan area - for the sake of the crumbs that are thrown to them in the form of referrals - allow themselves to controlled by used house salesmen in much the same manner.
Even the price controls that limit them are voluntarily accepted. With each blow from a real estate salesman on the Acid Rain blog, you will see some desperate home inspector rush to post “Thank you, sir. Can I have another?” with the hope of gaining favor.
I imagine irony dictates that those who throw the most amount of dignity onto the realtor altar are the ones who receive little in return.
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Blow? :mrgreen:
What’s going on over there that I don’t know about?