Curious to know. This would be to a sop of InterNACHI, ASHI or similar sop.
I just completed my 4th inspection for a customer searching for a home. Short story all the previous has issues such as damaged EIFS, LP siding, Polybutelyne…
Can anyone top that? :nah:
Ray
Can’t top that, but I have done 3 inspections for one customer.
If you have to do more than four inspections for one client, maybe you’re not educating them enough!
I think I have done three inspections a couple of times.
When I got to number three, generally I sit down with the client and asked him what it is they’re actually looking for.
I also have a discussion with them about jumping from the frying pan into the fire. Generally, they tend to find better homes as they go along realizing that they can not afford to save money and get the house they want at the same time and/or start to learn from me what to look for when pre-viewing the next house.
I did 5 for one client. Two of them were because the appraisal was too low.
Client bought house #6. Wanted the perfect house and was willing to keep trying until she found it. She knew exactly what she wanted and what was unacceptable. I will take those clients any day over the wishy-washy type. She also learned quite a bit along the way.
I would not necessarily say that. In my instance the sellers on 3 of the homes were not pliable enough to make the deal happen in the buyers eyes. The funny thing was house #1 (several weeks ago) this seller was willing to now agree to the buyers repair requests but the buyers decided on house #4.
Also like Andrew stated some buyers feel like they need a near perfect home or a if the seller does not agree to some repairs they feel that the seller needs to consent to, the buyer walks.
I never had done 4 inspectors for 1 customer for 1 home before, the most was 2 previously.
Tops for me was 4. He bought the fourth one!
Tops for me was 3, then they went and bought the first one. Go figure
Tops for me was 5 Inspections with 1 customer before purchase of a home.
With over 3500+ Inspections performed, there have been several Clients that went to 3 or 4 Inspections prior to purchase.
I did 7-home inspections for one young lady. All of the homes ranged from $600,000.00 to $950,000.00
{7 X $450.00 = $3,150.00}
At each home I also did a complete Mold Inspection to include indoor and outdoor air samples, culture swabs etc.
{7 X $1,200.00 = $8,400.00 }
As she had an infant and a 4-year old so…in 5 out of 7 I also did lead testing. Two of the homes built in the late 60’s had traces of lead.
{5 X $75.00 = $375.00}
Naturally all of the homes had issues and before I did the 1st inspection I made sure that she was aware of the fact that there was no such thing as a “perfect house.”
The last house that I inspected for her was just two blocks away from her parents home and two blocks from the elementary school that she attended as a child.
It was a “Nice house” in an affluent neighborhood but… The furnace was rusted and in dire need of replacement. There was visible evidence of carpenter ants and… the roof needed to be replaced.
Well guess what? She bought the house at “Asking Price”! She added a new central air system and in the first winter the furnace “blew up” so that cost her an additional $8,500.00!
When she called to tell me I said… “I told you so!” She replied “Oh well, you and I both knew that this was going to happen but… I just had to have this house so that YOUR Grandchildren could at least grow up near one set of Grandparents.”
Here are my rates and what the “cost” would have been to the “General Public”
Home Inspections: $3,150.00
Mold Inspections: $8,400.00
Lead Testing: $375.00
Total: $11,925.00
Total charged / invoiced to Daughter in Law… Zero.
Now you might ask why a Father in law would go out of his way and do so many Home Inspections, Mold Inspections, 42-different Mold tests, and lab tests without any monetary compensation {Even for the lab tests} and the answer is… She is Family, and my son / her husband had recently died.
Because of “The Memories” My Daughter in Law could no longer bear to live in their beautiful home so she searched and searched for a home within a highly rated school system in which she could safely raise her sons / my Grandchildren.
So… It was 7-houses for my Daughter in law and 5-houses for an Elderly Couple who wanted to find their perfect “Forever & ever” house.
Hmmm, a perfect house…I have yet to find one.
Probably not as a home inspector. But my client did find the perfect home.(for her)
As a home inspector I am trying to make my home perfect.
But as I improve or replace one component another needs repairs. (Like my driveway)
When I repair or replace the drive then the water heater will go.
I will replace the water heater then the gutters will need cleaning.
And so on!!
But I have made an amazing amount of improvements, repairs and upgrades in the 5+ years I have lived here.
I am also trying to make my home energy efficient and with green building
products.
I would say my home was somewhat below average when I purchased and would now
be considered above average and well maintained.
But perfect, maybe in a few years for about a week.
Need the drive repaires, slab jack uneven walks, rewire 1960’s wiring, install a combination tank and tankless water heater, replace GDO and door, fix drywall cracks, finish basement, replace older toilet with 1.5GPF. Replace garage floor.
Have a date with HVAC to add a dual fuel heating system next month to get rid of older 22 year old systems.
Major items since I moved in.
Added insulation and ventilation
New 3d asphalt roof
Energy star appliances
Updated main panel
Fence
Shed
Updated kitchen
Updated windows
Added a blower/heater for fireplace
New carpet and laminate floors
Replaced water heater(5 years old now)
Rewired kitchen
Updated one bath
Basement system and exterior drainage.
gutter covers(Even they need maintenace)
Replaced numerous overgrown trees/vegetation and added landscaping.
A perfect house. If I have the money & time I may achieve this but there is always something needing repairs.
A GFCI could always fail to trip, a gutter could get blocked, a piece of trim could get rotted.
Sorry I am going on, but the perfect house does not exzist. Not even mine.
Also like Andrew stated some buyers feel like they need a near perfect home
As posted: there is no such animal.
Again, if you are not addressing your clients expectations, than you need to considering jumping ship!
I don’t care how pickey your client is, you should be able to put things in perspective. If you can’t I wouldn’t hang around for No# 5-6!
I don’t agree. I have an ongoing client that has done 3 so far (nice family) over 2 years. I don’t think my educating them to the houses conditions had anything to do with the failure of the house to close. The first house was out of their budget range and at the last minute the financing fell through. The second house developed a bad case of black mold. The third house the client and the seller couldn’t come to terms on the roof work that it needed. I believe the client had 3 inspections (and will be a fourth) because I did my job very well. Things just didn’t work out.
Oh and BTW 3 is the most.
I just did #5 for same buyer in 4 months. Wife is easy to work with, hubbie seems to be a real hoot. Except for very last house he keeps going after foreclosures in the $375,000 to $450,000 range. Most issues are out front in plain jane sight, BUT once they show up in report AND seller won’t go any lower, hes on to the next house. The last house had 3 defective GFCI’s, a 7.2 radon reading and 50/50 copper and polybutylene. All of which could be readily corrected - but he cancelled anyway.
He sends wifey out with lists each time to ask the inspector, that are mostly not home inspector questions - like: whats the airflow cfm at individual registers; whats the RPM on furnace blower motor compared to its data tag rating; has the builder used fill dirt on the lot of this 15 year old house, etc.
I’m starting to get worried that if he did buy something, he is so anal that he’d be an explosion waiting to happen if something went wrong 3 months into home ownership.
I even offered on the last house to do 1 of RR’s “Walk Around Non-Inspections” prior to contract to tell him exactly what I could see. I told him I’d do that for $100 just to make this easier - but nope, not interested.
I’m not even gonna mention the agents reactions to US each time he does this.
A home inspector has no interest in the outcome of the sale. From your post, it sounds as if you get a lot of your business from used house salesmen and feel a need to assist them in some way. If so, shame on you.
The client hires me to look at a house and tell him about it. He may do this as many times as he wishes before deciding upon one single home.