Home inspection killed multiple sales.

[Richard L. Bennett]

Why did our client retain us??

Is it broke? Is it a safety issue to his kids? etc

rlb

[lkrausz]

We report the facts regarding the actual condition of the home. What our client decides to do with these facts is, frankly, none of our business.

Some "deals" die. Get over it.

Jim's right, Just the facts, don't exergate, don't down play. Just educate to allow them to make a decision on buying. That's our job...

[James H. Bushart]

I wonder how many of these real estate salespeople who are lamenting the "alarmist" home inspector are also pushing for legislation to mandate E&O insurance for home inspectors.

IMO, the credibility of a report can be directly measured by the distance between the person trying to sell the house and the person inspecting it.

[Joseph Hagarty, CMI]

Originally Posted by jbushart

.... But when we found a mound of mouse turds in one corner of a garage...he went crazy. "Do you know what kind of diseases....?" etcetera, and so on. I know that one of the things he mentioned was the bubonic plaugue, along with several others.

His agent and I just looked at each other while he carried on. Was it my job to take him aside and tell him he may be overreacting? Nope.

http://www.hantavirus.net/

[Brian E. Kelly]

It is not in the best interest of the HI for the cleint to ever purcase a house.

[John McKenna]

Once upon a time...

I was telling a couple ladies that the cracks in the exterior
brick (big enough for my hand to go through) meant that
the foundation was showing signs of movement.

These two ladies nearly collapsed, starting crying and
had trouble breathing... I'm not kidding.

I turned around and could hardly believe what I was
seeing. I was totally shocked at how emotional they
had become.

The Realtor came in about that time and just glared
at me.... I could see he was not happy with what I
did to his sale.

Hey... What can I say? ... I did it.

It's my fault. I am sure there are other inspectors who
could have imparted this information with more honey and
sweetness... but not me. I killed the deal.

One of the ladies put her hands over her ears and screamed
for me to stop talking, because she did not want to hear
that the house had any problems.

Later, she told me she was sorry and was glad I told her
the truth.

The Realtor still glared at me. He probably wrote a bad
article about me later.

It's a thankless job sometimes.

[Brian E. Kelly]

I was pointing out the AL wires to the Realtor before the client walked up and he told me "That's no big deal" I told him "I do not get to make that call, the client gets to decide what is and what is not a big deal"

I point it out to the client and she says something about a family member dying in a house fire........................

It was interesting to note, that the Realtor was no longer singing the "No big deal tune".

[Mark A. Timpani, CMI]

i agree

[Timothy J. Gardner]

Speaking of crumbling hardboard siding... I inspected a house a realtor was buying that had been recently painted. When I showed him how he could push his thumb through the totally deteriorated siding, he said: " Jeanine (the sellers realtor) is going to call you a deal killer".

You can please some, not all
tg

[mporras]

Okay...up on the soapbox...

If I was buying a home, I would want my home inspector to be a "deal killer". I realize that this is a loaded term, and has negative connotations, but I would rather have someone who is tougher and will not gloss over defects so that they do not lose a Realtors referrals. (We all know this happens...) At the same time, I think it goes without saying that a home inspector who is an alarmist is either uneducated or inexperienced, and should read a few more books or get on the net, and learn to put things in context. It is our duty to not only report the facts as they are, but to try to put them in context, without crossing a very thin line. The buyer should then use this info to decide whether they want the home. Period. We as real estate professionals should remember this, and so should the Realtors.

Okay...off the soapbox now.... .