First of all, I'd like to say that I love lots of home inspectors...especially my husband Tom. (Who is NACHI certified and doesn't do inspections for me or anyone within our real estate company so there is no conflict of interest). I have met and worked with MANY professional inspectors who know their stuff and do a great job in protecting their client's interest.
These inspectors, (the great ones), are good communicators and realise that their services to their client can save them much time and money. One of the ways a good inspector can save their client time and money is by working with the real estate agent, (whose client the buyer ALSO is), to effectively convey deficiencies in the property that may adversely affect that buyer's current or future investment. The inspection report can help to resolve issues of safety and monetary consideration BEFORE closing. That is the whole purpose of getting an inspection. Safety, knowledge, and investment security.
That being said, there are OTHER inspectors who can't stand the real estate agent. Who don't want the re agent around and think that the re agent is there to sell THEIR client a lemon. If you don't believe me, you should look at one of their public blog sites to see what all they have to say about us, the people who work with them on a day to day basis, and the clients we refer to them.
I think, to some degree, that these agent hating inspectors should be granted their wish and have the agent taken COMPLETELY out of the picture and removed from all liability concerning the inspection phase of the transaction. I think they should be required to get their own access keys, to be bonded and insured and to pass background checks as do the agents who let them into the properties. Also, I think that an agent should not be expected to meet an inspector at a property, waste their gas and time, be ignored or worse treated like an enemy in front of the agent's client, and then allow them to gain access to the property at the agent's expense.
THEN, I think in order to make the inspector truly independent of any negotiation through the agent, (which might be construed as a conflict of interest), perhaps the inspectors should be educated about contract law, (at their own expense, of course), and tested and licensed in that area, so that they can totally independently undertake to explain the full consequences of their report on the transaction and come to a resolution or dissolution based upon their findings. Of course, this would involve some risk because then the inspector would have SOME SORT OF ACCOUNTABILITY AND LEGAL LIABILITY as we do, (other than the cheesy disclosure most of them tote around saying that the level of damages they are bound to is only equal to the dollar amount of their inspection)...instead of the REAL financial liability that brokers and agents face, sometimes because of their very reports.
Who wants to step to the plate on this one? I love to bicker with the hot heads...and I love the intelligent comments from the inspectors who are real. Who wants to vote to secede from the agents they love to hate? Hey...we make the "big bucks" so what if the inspectors paid us for our time in letting them and "their client" into the property?
Lania DeMers, Broker Rocky Mountain Realty Co.
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Lania,
I agree 100% with your post. We have a couple of home inspectors in my area that seem to be big headed, or that they have some type of point to prove ( low self-esteem). The main thing is communication between all parties & help someone sell or buy a home.