Is Inspection Guru Barry Stone Behind the Times?

[kurt]

No, he is a columnist, not a journalist and there is a gulf of difference between the two.

That's really what it's all about. These guys/gals have to reinvent themselves every day/week, and they'll grab at whatever they can grab.

Don't ya just hate it, though, when agents say they "used" you? Who corrects the agent when they say that?

(My hand is raised......)

[Marc]

From Barry Stone:

From Barry Stone

"Mr. Morrison,

The agent uses the home inspector to serve the interests of his/her clients.

A good home inspector serves all parties. He serves the buyers by making sure that they know what they are buying before they buy it. He serves the agents and sellers by decreasing the likelihood that they will be sued for nondisclosure.

Barry Stone"

Wrong. Dead wrong.

Never, ever, say that the agent is 'using' the inspector when only the buyer and the inspector have signed the inspection contract and the buyer compensates the inspector directly for his services.

Marc

[randynavarro]

I've disliked the term "used" for years, but I haven't figures a diplomatic and respectful response.

What do you say Kurt?

[kurt]

I've disliked the term "used" for years, but I haven't figures a diplomatic and respectful response.

What do you say Kurt?

I'm swift and succinct in informing them they've never ever recommended me, let alone "used" me. Depending on my demeanor at the moment, I might elaborate on why they've never recommended me, and how even if they did, they are nothing more than a bad smell as far as I'm concerned.

I can get really, really obnoxious to realtors. They hate me, I can't stand most of them and I hold almost everything in their industry in utter contempt, and as long as there's that understanding between us, I'm OK with it.

[:-angel]

[Jim Morrison]

When Betty Big-Hair says: "I used to use you." or something to that effect, I just look puzzled and reply: "Oh, I'm sorry, I must have forgotten. Did I inspect your house?"

They almost always correct themselves and say: "No, but I've referred clients to you in the past."

Which is more often than not, a lie, but I thank them anyway and get on with things.

Stone just doesn't get it. And doesn't want to. You're not supposed to bite the hand that feeds you.

[Bain]

I must admit that I've used a few real estate agents over the years. Without exception, they never sent a referral after the fact. But that's okay.

[Tom Raymond]

I can get really, really obnoxious to realtors. They hate me, I can't stand most of them and I hold almost everything in their industry in utter contempt, and as long as there's that understanding between us, I'm OK with it.

Kurt, you're entirely wrong. It's a profession, not an industry.[:-dev3]

[Jim Katen]

Let me get this right. You guys think that when a realtor employs one of the most common verbs in the English language, "to use," in reference to a home inspector, that it's really a subtle way of expressing a subservient relationship?

If so, I think that you're more than a little paranoid and you're definitely giving realtors way too much credit for their communication skills.

Save it for stuff that matters.

[kurt]

I don't think it's paranoia at all.

It's the understanding these whelps consider themselves at the center of the universe, and my distaste for association with folks that are that way.

And, it's a factual inaccuracy; they're lying.

Just can't abide vapidity, you see.

[Jim Morrison]

Let me get this right. You guys think that when a realtor employs one of the most common verbs in the English language, "to use," in reference to a home inspector, that it's really a subtle way of expressing a subservient relationship?

If so, I think that you're more than a little paranoid and you're definitely giving realtors way too much credit for their communication skills.

Save it for stuff that matters.

Being common has nothing to do with it and I don't think it's subtle at all. Words matter. If they didn't, why do you suppose they don't all spontaneously begin using a better word?

Thoughts become words

Words become actions

Actions become habits

And on it goes.

Maybe I should have posted Barry Stone's complete response to me. He gets it. He gets that he's part of the sales team, that is.

I don't get steamed when brokers talk like that, I expect it from them and simply correct them. Inspectors ought to know better.

Jimmy

[Jim Katen]

I don't think it's paranoia at all.

It's the understanding these whelps consider themselves at the center of the universe, and my distaste for association with folks that are that way.

And, it's a factual inaccuracy; they're lying.

Just can't abide vapidity, you see.

Well, if they're lying then they're lying. That's one issue.

But if a particular realtor regularly recommends and works with inspector Smith and later says, "I use inspector Smith," I see that as a harmless use of the word "use." It doesn't make her a liar, it doesn't make her a whelp, and it doesn't make her vapid. (Though she might be all of those things, they aren't related to her choice of verb in this case.)

I find it quite bizarre that inspectors seem to be offended by it. Are we really that thin skinned?

- Jim Katen, Oregon

[Jim Katen]

Let me get this right. You guys think that when a realtor employs one of the most common verbs in the English language, "to use," in reference to a home inspector, that it's really a subtle way of expressing a subservient relationship?

If so, I think that you're more than a little paranoid and you're definitely giving realtors way too much credit for their communication skills.

Save it for stuff that matters.

Being common has nothing to do with it and I don't think it's subtle at all. Words matter. If they didn't, why do you suppose they don't all spontaneously begin using a better word?

Thoughts become words

Words become actions

Actions become habits

And on it goes. . .

Yeah, yeah, I know. But "use" isn't a loaded word. Only super-sensitive, insecure inspectors believe that. Realtors use the word because it's short and easy to say. Sure, they could be more accurate and say, "I regularly recommend inspector Smith to my clients," but it's much easier to say, "I use inspector Smith." It's that simple.

- Jim Katen, Oregon

[gtblum]

Yeah, yeah, I know. But "use" isn't a loaded word. Only super-sensitive, insecure inspectors believe that. Realtors use the word because it's short and easy to say. Sure, they could be more accurate and say, "I regularly recommend inspector Smith to my clients," but it's much easier to say, "I use inspector Smith." It's that simple.

- Jim Katen, Oregon

Please explain what you mean by "super-sensitive, insecure inspectors".

You're just playing with us, right?

[Jim Morrison]

I might be super-sensitive but insecure? Nah.

You may be right that they mean nothing by it, but I think they often do, even if it's subconscious.

I hardly interact at all with real estate agents in the course of an inspection and when I do, I'm always pleasant and polite. I just don't like it when they say they 'use' me. They don't. So I correct them.

[Jim Katen]

Yeah, yeah, I know. But "use" isn't a loaded word. Only super-sensitive, insecure inspectors believe that. Realtors use the word because it's short and easy to say. Sure, they could be more accurate and say, "I regularly recommend inspector Smith to my clients," but it's much easier to say, "I use inspector Smith." It's that simple.

- Jim Katen, Oregon

Please explain what you mean by "super-sensitive, insecure inspectors".

You're just playing with us, right?

It's a clarification of "paranoid."

I'm not playing. I think that there's a lot wrong with the relationship between realtors & inspectors. It's dysfunctional on both sides. But to carp about the verb "use" when there are so many real problems to deal with is just plain wierd.

[kurt]

Maybe some of us abide mindlessness.........personally, I don't, and I don't think I ever did.

[gtblum]

So, how many times have you heard one say, I don't use, We don't use?

I have.

How much business have you lost because some part time housewife / realtor didn't care for the way you DID your job as apposed to the inspector they use?

I busted one three different times, trying to get a client to hire their inspector instead of me.

When I got the initial call and asked who the realtor was, I warned each one of the clients, there was a good chance it might happen, and what might be said.

All three times I was called back in less than an hour to be told that what I'd said was exactly what happened. They all hired me.

Big deal! How many have been steered away? How many have been told whatever bullshit story that kept them, and maybe their friends from ever hiring me.

The word used means nothing to me. The idea it's used ever, is what bugs me.

Does this dress make me look super-sensitive?

[Bain]

To me, it's not worth raising my hackles over, but I lean more toward Kurt's interpretation. To say one "uses" another infers superiority. It happens, but you won't often hear someone say they use this doctor or that builder. To borrow from the K Man, we squiggle through rat shit for livings, so egos need to be held in check. BUT when we're part of a real estate transaction with another integral person--i.e. the realtor--propriety and common courtesy dictate that we treat each other with respect.

Even when I know a realtor hates my guts, if he/she is professional and respectful to me in front of a client, I absolutely return the favor. If a realtor is condescending or dismissive, I have no problem telling her she simply isn't attractive enough to pull off both stupid AND rude.

[Jim Katen]

So, how many times have you heard one say, I don't use, We don't use?

I have.

How much business have you lost because some part time housewife / realtor didn't care for the way you DID your job as apposed to the inspector they use?

I busted one three different times, trying to get a client to hire their inspector instead of me.

When I got the initial call and asked who the realtor was, I warned each one of the clients, there was a good chance it might happen, and what might be said.

All three times I was called back in less than an hour to be told that what I'd said was exactly what happened. They all hired me.

Big deal! How many have been steered away? How many have been told whatever bullshit story that kept them, and maybe their friends from ever hiring me.

The word used means nothing to me. The idea it's used ever, is what bugs me.

Does this dress make me look super-sensitive?

So if they stopped saying "use" all this would go away, right?

Damn! If only we could get those realtors to stop using "use" all our problems would be solved. We'd be rolling in work and the "bad" inspectors would all be out of business.

The problems you've described are real. But they have nothing to do with whether someone uses the verb "to use."

- Jim Katen, Oregon

[Jim Katen]

Maybe some of us abide mindlessness.........personally, I don't, and I don't think I ever did.

Do you think that saying, "I use inspector Smith" when one means "I regularly refer inspector Smith to my clients" is mindlessness?

It's a simple colloquial expression. The idea that someone is trying to impose a hierarchical relationship with it is, well, paranoid.

It reminds me of the scene in Annie Hall where Alvy Singer is convinced that a coworker is dissing him because, when he asks if he had lunch yet, he says, "D'jou eat yet?" and Alvy interprets it as "Jew eat yet" and is sure that he's being victimized.

[Jim Morrison]

Maybe some of us abide mindlessness.........personally, I don't, and I don't think I ever did.

Do you think that saying, "I use inspector Smith" when one means "I regularly refer inspector Smith to my clients" is mindlessness?

It's a simple colloquial expression. The idea that someone is trying to impose a hierarchical relationship with it is, well, paranoid.

It reminds me of the scene in Annie Hall where Alvy Singer is convinced that a coworker is dissing him because, when he asks if he had lunch yet, he says, "D'jou eat yet?" and Alvy interprets it as "Jew eat yet" and is sure that he's being victimized.

I'm surely not erudite enough to understand Woody Allen references. Never have been. But I am convinced that what we're taking about is quite real and more subtle than either Katen or Mitenbuler purport.

[Chad Fabry]

It's not the word "use" that's offensive, it's the fact that every time a realtor says " I use so and so", so and so happens to be the second scummiest inspector that serves the area.

The scummiest inspector's name is always preceded by the words "My inspector..."

Of course, "I use" infers that someone was used. "I was used" has an ugly connotation.

With either phrase, the true objection stems from the slimy, used car salesman reputation that realtors have developed by choosing the least competent and least ethical inspectors to enhance their sales presentation.

[kurt]

It's mildly bizarre for one to be so insistent that someone else's distaste at a mindless and offensive interaction is paranoid or delusional.

I don't like it, never have, and find it to be as tasteless and mindless a comment as anyone could make. If you said something like that to a Chinese person, they'd view it as the most base crude remark imaginable.

So, you can keep your internet psychoanalyzing to yourself, and it'll probably be OK.

And the Woody Allen reference didn't even make sense; it's (sort of) a non-sequitur, or something.

So there.

[randynavarro]

I guess I don't mind that folks use my services.

But I don't like folks using me personally.

Most all of us are one man shows. We're not cranking out widgets to be used as part of a process. We're hired because we're unique individuals with something to bring to the table.

I never used my mortgage guy. He helped us re-finance our home. I've never used my mechanic. He does great work on cars, is honest, and can fix it right. I've never used my dentist. He cleans my teeth.

[Inspectorjoe]

I don't like it, never have, and find it to be as tasteless and mindless a comment as anyone could make.

Really?

So I assume you'd go all apoplectic if an out-of-work acquaintance asked if he could use you as a reference?