I did a full home inspection on a home built in 1992 about a month ago. I advised the client prior to the home inspection to check with his insurance agent to see if a 4 pt. ins. inspection would be required and to see if his agent advised him to have a wind mit. Apparently, the agent directed him to the $50 wind mit guy who did the wind mit while I was conducting the home inspection. Today, I received a call from the agent requesting that I complete a “simple form” based on the home inspection that I completed. Of course, the agent expected me to complete this simple form for free. Here is the email that I received from the agent after the phone call:
"RE: 4 POINT INSPECTION FORM (3 Pages) that state Farm now requires. Please review to see if the requested information is included in your original inspection and can be transferred to this report. I appreciate your assistance… thanks, XXXXX XXXXX (name removed)
She attached a scanned 3 page check box form for me to fill out and return. Just curious how everyone else would handle this request. Looking for to any input from the group.
My approach has always to put together all of the documents my client might need which I can supply, and then sell them to him as a package.
So, if the client’s insurance agent is calling me and I didn’t create one and it really needed one, then I’d most likely go ahead and supply it.
Something to consider about what is happening here in the Tampa Bay area, is there are Realtors who are suggesting to some clients that all they need are Wind Mitigation & Four Point inspections in lieu of a full home inspection. Before booking any Four Point inspection, I now first ask if the home is under a real estate contract, and if so I won’t do the four point/wind mitigation without doing a full home inspection too.
Joe, I advised the client about ancillary ins. Inspections prior to the home inspection. As always, I also advised client that these ancillary inspections could be completed (by me) at time of the home inspection for additional fees. Client opted for the $50 wind mit guy as my discounted wind mit is over double the $50 guy. Client did not opt for the 4pt. at time of home inspection.
Mike, the ubiquitous $50 wind mit guy in Jacksonville does not have a website that I am aware of.
Joe, does the information above affect your opinion on this situation?
Only usually asked for four points on houses over 25 years old. But, IF you have all the information, and don’t need to go back to the site, I would offer to fill it out for 49.95 just to undercut the 50 buck guy!
Are they asking for a 4pt on the State Farm form? If so, that would take some time just to complete it, even if you already have the photos and information. A standard 4pt form should only take about 15 mins to complete pulling the info from your home inspection. That is something I would not charge for after the fact, IF I knew it would be “paying it forward” as they say. I do normally add the insurance inspections as ancillary add-ons though.
Usually we know what reports they will need so we tell them what they will need. We quote with that in mind. If they decide they do not want us to do the wind mit/four point and they are needed, will fill them out anyway. When they call back for them they are ready to go(sans signature), when they pay for them we deliver them.
If they tell me that they are paying someone else to do them I leave it to them. Usually I will have the data, just in case. We also give a discount(at the time of the inspection) if we do them all. It is full price if they need it at a later date.
I would write them back and explain that their client was offered this service at the time of the inspection and declined. I would tell her that the client can contact me for payment and then I can send the report.
I would tell them to contact the wind mit guy and he can take care of it for 25 bucks. :mrgreen:
At the time of inspection, I tell my cleints what they might need as far as inspections goes. In this case, for the wind mit, I still would have taken the pictures and same goes for the 4-point.
If they bring in a 50 wind mit guy and he doesn’t do the 4-point, then I would already have the information, and actually, with my software, the form would be filled out already, I would tell the agent, “I’ll put the 4-point together and get it to my client…”.
On a side note, I seem to remember saying when the SF form first came out, that it would become the standard 4-point form. Anyone want to make a small wager on if that is going to happen? :mrgreen:
mmaizel
(Marvin Maizel, CMI® Fl State Lic HI 681)
11
Is there a reason to do a “4 Point” on houses less than 30 years old?
I’ve had two cases where State Farm has asked for 4 points on newer homes (less than 6 years old), the agent claimed they were starting to ask for them on any home that had been vacant for more then 6 months.
Steven - I would not perform a “free one”. This stuff gets played all the time. I would tell the insurance agent that your information has been deleted with all the photos. I do not keep the photos once the report is written.
I also need to go back to the residence to perform the inspection correctly, for me to just put the information in without proper photos and documentation would look poorly upon me and my company by having a hap hazard inspection not reflecting my companies true quality.
But I did notice there was a wind mit guy there, ask him for the information maybe since he was there performing the wind mitigation he also performed this aspect of the report.
I can go back and perform one for $175 which is much higher than the $100 I offered to do it for at the time of the inspection, but the buyer declined my offer saying the insurance agent had it handled.
Steven, not free. I normally do most of my ins inspections after the fact just because so much goes wrong with negotiations, to appraisals, etc. Just tell client that his/her insurance is needing a 4 point inspection and this is the fee, if you have all the pictures, you don’t need a return trip out there and can maybe discount the fee (your call). I always take all the pics needed, mit, 4 point at every inspection even on new houses for this very reason.
I make sure I take the photos and get the information for the 4 point during my inspection. I tell client that if they need the report, I will do it at half my regular price or $50. For State Farm, that would be $75.
No way in hell would I participate in an “after the fact” insurance inspection, particularly since some time has elapsed since I did the home inspection. YOU end up on a merry go round between the sellers their agent, the buyer, their agent the insurance company and the mortgage company…and all for free. Been there, done that and learned my lesson…years ago. This is a business, treat as such. I would insist on going back to make sure some things have not changed since my initial inspection (some people actually do fix the items we discover) to make sure I was not being hung out to dry if something comes up later and I would definately charge something for my time, efforts and knowledge.
