I know why you don't have more luck with MIC

It’s simple. I had a broker explain it to me today. They don’t want to disclose the issues with the home while its being marketed…

Can’t rent out your hooker if the cutomer already knows she has herpes!!:stuck_out_tongue:

That’s backassward. You should be explaining it to the broker.

Since the defects are going to be revealed one way or another, anyway… I know of no agent that wouldn’t want the defect to be revealed as early on in the transaction as possible, so as it can be dealt with in time (before it can wreck the deal).

If the defect is so bad that it eventually wrecks the deal, I know of no agent that wouldn’t want the deal wrecked early (as agents don’t get paid by the hour). No agent gets paid to work hard to drag a deal right up to closing… only to have it fall apart in the eleventh hour.

When properly explained (and I’ve had to do it myself many times), all brokers quickly realize that MIC is not just in their client’s best interest… but MIC is in the broker’s best interest too.

1 Like

Here in KC, most homes are selling “AS IS”, so the buyer is “saving hundreds of dollars by not getting an inspection”.

Yes, backasswards.

I keep hearing the same thing!!! It seems like the RE’s outnumber you Nick :slight_smile:

I have one realtor that pays me to do an inspection before he puts the home on the market. Most are on Longboat Key Fl. he wants his clients to be informed. It has helped him sell. We are discussing how to use MIC to help him along. My first one was an old beach house. Rotten etc… I thought “this will be my last”. I gave him the report and he said that is what I need the truth. I need more like him. As he spreads the word it will increase. Great tool Nick Thanx

Nick, I pretty much agree with you, However the predominate attitude among Realtors remains “the less I know the better” (at least in my little corner of the world)

You are used to living in a world where the only way to find buyers is through the real estate agents (because the agents are the only ones who know who the buyers are).

With MIC, you can bypass the agent and take MIC straight to the seller. Buyers are tough to find. Sellers are easy to fine. Sellers have big signs in their yards and ads on the internet, all screaming “Hey, I’m selling!”

MIC sells easiest to sellers who have had their homes on the market for more than 90 days, but not in foreclosure.

Agents are filters. Bypass the filter.

I agree, Nick…and it is encouraging to finally see a national association of home inspectors taking the lead and developing strategies other than the one that worked in 2006…the peak of the housing boom.

It’s over…and the rules have changed.

Home inspectors who depended upon agents to keep them in business are dying with them…while home owners continue to sell houses and people continue to buy them.

The same kind of thinking that turned home inspectors into a commodity to be handed out (or not) at the whim of the used house salesman is NOT the kind of thinking that will carry him to success in this new market.

It’s time to change the way we think and…in my opinion…if there are salesmen who fear the effect of honest disclosure to their bottom line, instead of accomodating them ---- we should be exploiting them and making that the reason that a FSBO home is a BETTER deal for a home buyer when it has been inspected under the MIC.

The FSBO market is there for the taking. Is NACHI brave enough to lead? Are its members brave enough to loosen their tether to the used house salesman and step into the security of controlling their own destiny?

This is just not true either. Many defects will never be revealed, ever.

How? If the seller’s inspector discovers them, the seller has to disclose them. If the buyer’s inspector discovers them, they’ll be in the inspection report. If both seller and buyer hire their own inspectors, the defect is going to become known for sure.

It’s in an agent’s own personal, financial best interest to address any issue (that might queer the deal at the minute), sooner than later.

The reality is that agents get to see a lot. They have told me that it is useless to have a prelisting inspection unless it is done correctly because the buyers inspector may be much better than the first guy. No two reports will be the same on the more complicated houses even from two above average guy’s. The sellers are done spending money on the house anyway. The tried and proven concept to sell houses generally works: allow the buyer to fall in love with the house first, get financially vested in the deal, downplay the inspection report and railroad them straight to the closing table. Closings are happening very quick these days on the vacant houses around here. I inspected one on 1-26 and got the check from the atty today 2-2 on a house that had structural issues and much more wrong. They must have closed within 2-3 days of the inspection.

I spoke to someone last week I am thinking of paying just to push MIC. We are close to a deal. He is a go getter and I hope to add to my crew that currently is 2. My wife and I. :slight_smile:

Still not true. Many defects will never be found, eve. even with an Inspection.

And it is entirely possible that the buyer will not get in Inspection.

Sean’s first post answers that…

"It’s simple. I had a broker explain it to me today. They don’t want to disclose the issues with the home while its being marketed… (so they don’t get an inspection).

Can’t rent out your hooker if the cutomer already knows she has herpes!!":razz:

More 'n more that’s happening to buyers who lean on their realtor. Many ‘first time’ buyers I have consulted are scared, but the only person they know is the realtor (who says “trust me”…)

The less one knows, the less one has to fear.

I ain’t sayin’ that’s right–it’s just the way it is.

I have the same problem here. Realtors have ZERO interest in MIC. Sad, but true.

How could they have interest in something they’ve never heard of? By the time they show interest in doing these (and they will), you’ll have lost your competitive edge… and it will be too late. The time to roll out something new (that your competitors don’t offer)… is when it’s new.

I have done a few here, One only came back and tried to bite me, Lady had a home that was once listed for 1.2 Million , when things turned bad she was force to sell and then it was going to be foreclosed on . She decided to put it up for auction she thought a Inspection would show how well built it was . Keep in mind no Building inspector in this area.

Well that did not go well many problems nothing that could not be fixed but serious enough to worry some folks
She called and threaten to sue me ,said I devalued her property . ( Her Husband was a Lawyer) she was a Wall street Person .
She proceeded to ask my building back ground .
I told her
I ask who supervised the building of the home
Quote By her well i did of course
I asked her back ground in building
Silence
Then she said well it was approved by a building inspector ( remember above )
I ask her his name she couldn’t remember lolol That’s when i said simply you do not have to use the report, there is no Building inspector for that area , But if i am ask i will comment you know of the problems .And ask your Husband if i am talking to fast for him to write all this down. Sue me if you wish we will see then good bye. Oh with that i said something about EPA might want to know about the Visitors house sewage going to the lake lol

Not to many want them here, Honest Agents Have tried to get them but buyers are scared of them . Crappy Agents don’t want them

As they should be, having been paid for by the vendor or even worse, a realtor!!

Obviously, the inspectors in Colorado who are making this program work for them are in more control over their profession…and less dependent upon real estate salesmen… for the future of their businesses than others throughout the nation.

I remember President Reagan speaking once on “economists” describing them as people who refuse to accept, in theory, what is working in practice. The same applies to MIC. The inspectors in Colorado who are performing MIC inspections have yet to discover in practice, unlike those who have never given it a try have determined in theory, that it won’t work.

Perhaps…and I emphasize “perhaps”, since I have not attempted nor totally ruled out this idea…it requires that the inspector choosing to use it to think outside of the box and to be free from the encumbrances of having part timers who sell houses dictating how he will run his business.

I see risks…and I see the potential for someone to misunderstand the meaning of a house being “certified” as “move-in” ready. But I also see the opportunity to cover all the bases in advance…something we should all be doing in all of our inspections, anyway…to be certain that everything we use to communicate this program (from advertising to the final report, and everything in between) specifically and clearly defines the scope of the inspection and what it means.

In my opinion, this is a tool that a FSBO seller should be using to set themselves apart from the typical real estate salesman who…as we all know but only a few will publicly state…discourage full disclosure to varying degrees. FSBO homes could become the most credible and least expensive way to buy if more of them would use this program, IMO.

FSBO can be developed into a preferential way of buying…as well as selling a house. Unless it is owned by a bank, the FSBO will NOT be a foreclosure where maintenance has been deferred, sometimes for years, before the sale. Buyers won’t be paying for the salesman’s commission. The addition of a full inspection report will serve several purposes and the buyer will retain the option of still, if they so desire, to pay another inspector to provide them with an additional report as they currently do with homes sold through brokers.

There is potential here for the FSBO house to become the buyer’s preference as well as the seller’s.

[quote=“jbushart, post:19, topic:56239”]

Obviously, the inspectors in Colorado who are making this program work for them are in more control over their profession…and less dependent upon real estate salesmen… for the future of their businesses than others throughout the nation.

I remember President Reagan speaking once on “economists” describing them as people who refuse to accept, in theory, what is working in practice. The same applies to MIC. The inspectors in Colorado who are performing MIC inspections have yet to discover in practice, unlike those who have never given it a try have determined in theory, that it won’t work.

Perhaps…and I emphasize “perhaps”, since I have not attempted nor totally ruled out this idea…it requires that the inspector choosing to use it to think outside of the box and to be free from the encumbrances of having part timers who sell houses dictating how he will run his business.

I see risks…and I see the potential for someone to misunderstand the meaning of a house being “certified” as “move-in” ready. But I also see the opportunity to cover all the bases in advance…something we should all be doing in all of our inspections, anyway…to be certain that everything we use to communicate this program (from advertising to the final report, and everything in between) specifically and clearly defines the scope of the inspection and what it means.

In my opinion, this is a tool that a FSBO seller should be using to set themselves apart from the typical real estate salesman who…as we all know but only a few will publicly state…discourage full disclosure to varying degrees. FSBO homes could become the most credible and least expensive way to buy if more of them would use this program, IMO.

FSBO can be developed into a preferential way of buying…as well as selling a house. Unless it is owned by a bank, the FSBO will NOT be a foreclosure where maintenance has been deferred, sometimes for years, before the sale. Buyers won’t be paying for the salesman’s commission. The addition of a full inspection report will serve several purposes and the buyer will retain the option of still, if they so desire, to pay another inspector to provide them with an additional report as they currently do with homes sold through brokers.

There is potential here for the FSBO house to become the buyer’s preference as well as the seller’s./quote

James I agree. We all heard the story of the shoe salesman that went to a third world country got off the plane and saw no one was wearing shoes. Turned around and said there is no market there.
His competitor went to the same place and saw no one was wearing shoes called the office and said triple his order the market is wide open.
Or something like that. But you get the point.:wink: