have to share

[charlieb]

Ya know Mark it's funny how things happen. Like Kert, I had an "agent" (dual agent no less) tell a client if he used my company they would not sell him the house. I looked into filing a complaint with the RE commission and found it would do more harm to the broker than the agent. It is in our statutes that an "agent" can not influence the inspection process. I have a meeting with the broker (a large national franchise) next week. Clearly I won't get the job but I will not be strong armed out of providing a service with worth because the "agent" is more concerned with self that the consumer.

I don't have the contacts Kert does but I am on a first name basis with the head of the RE commission. I will let the broke know of my three expectations. A written apology, a belief that it will never happen again and my company will not be bad mouthed.

[:-monkeyd

[charlieb]

Thread drift here. The forum is wonderful. I ran into the bubble wrap duct insulation and a shower without a curb this week. I had this forum as a resource!

Just wish somebody had a referral for a HI in Memphis. Oh well.

[Mark P]

Kurt got lucky in finding out what had been said. I imagine it happens all the time and we never know about it. I agree we have to make it known we will not roll over and we will push back. Someday I will get lucky too, in the mean time they will continue to talk behind my back.

[hausdok]

Ya know Mark it's funny how things happen. Like Kert, I had an "agent" (dual agent no less) tell a client if he used my company they would not sell him the house. I looked into filing a complaint with the RE commission and found it would do more harm to the broker than the agent. It is in our statutes that an "agent" can not influence the inspection process. I have a meeting with the broker (a large national franchise) next week. Clearly I won't get the job but I will not be strong armed out of providing a service with worth because the "agent" is more concerned with self that the consumer.

I don't have the contacts Kert does but I am on a first name basis with the head of the RE commission. I will let the broke know of my three expectations. A written apology, a belief that it will never happen again and my company will not be bad mouthed.

[:-monkeyd

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Yeah, we need a like button. Charley, since we don't have one, in lieu of a like button, I'm giving you a coveted seven thumbs up.

Let's set a precedent. Sort of like something, one thumb, up, like it a little better, two thumbs up and so on with seven being the top of the heap. If you don't like something, do the same thing with the thumbs down. What say ye boys?

ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!!

Mike

[kurt]

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[Bain]

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Likewise <---(Yes, laziness.)

[Marc]

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Marc

[SNations]

Kurt, I'm kind of curious. How did this inspection go? Were the agents at least gracious to you? Were they pissy? (I'd guess yes.) Did you live up to your reputation in their minds?

[kurt]

It was a target rich environment.

Slate, copper, inlaid gutters, two pipe steam, old masonry w/lintel issues, old plumbing, oil tank, sucker lot drainage issues.............

I got to look smart and knowledgeable about several very expensive things most of them had never heard of before.

My guy was loving it...........quote after receiving report "this is exactly the information I was looking for".

Realtors, not so much.

It was a beautiful thing.

[Brandon Whitmore]

You know who he is and you know who his agent is. You have what you need to go and talk to a half dozen lenders to see whether that's true or a blatant lie. If it turns out to be a lie, you've got that agent by the short hairs because he's used lies to hurt your business.

Follow it up. If bankers tell you it's a lie, call the agent and tell him he owes you an apology or you'll be talking to an attorney, the media and the owner of the brokership. Give him a choice, he can apologize and promise to keep his yap shut or by the time you get done with him your business will be booming and he'll have a hard time getting clients.

I had one this past summer where the listing agent called the buyer's agent all ticked off about my report. He told the buyer's agent that they need to get together and quit using inspectors like me. I'm sure that happens all of the time.

I was of course ticked off, but figured it was a waste of time pursuing anything. Also, I didn't want to cause any issues for the buyer's agent who I've been working with for close to 10 years.

[Neal Lewis]

I've overheard lots of negative talk by realtors about inspectors (usually it's the same two locally). But, not once have I ever heard a mention, from a realtor or an inspector, of an inspector not being ALLOWED to do an inspection on a property. Maybe it's different in Jersey, I don't know.

[mgbinspect]

When it happened here, it was in the early 90's, and even most of the inspectors here felt the guy was truly a bit over the top on a lot of things he liked to write up. But, several listing agents would apparently have it in writing, most likely in the contract to purchase that this guy could not do the inspection. That's how he sued them and won. A year or two after that, sadly, he passed away from a aggressive form of cancer. I was new in the business, so I never got to meet him, but everyone in real estate knew of him. He was a legacy - that's for sure.

[Marc]

There are those inspectors among us that tend to greatly exaggerate findings on certain hot topics such as mold, PB, aluminum conductors, lead in paint, etc in which they're not well versed and this sometimes ends up costing agents their commission, perhaps unnecessarily. Agents respond to it by attacking inspectors indiscriminately since they themselves don't know which inspectors are the knowledgeable ones. They don't know the truth.

We all pay for those among us who are poorly prepared to practice, yet are allowed to.

Not to excuse those agent jerks who would simply eliminate our profession.

Marc

[Phillip]

I have had the listing agent tell my client agent if you let Phillip inspect that house your client will not buy it.

My client agent told the listing agent if he doesn't buy the house I will find him another one. Which she did.

How another agent tell my client which was also here client that I made mountains out of molehills. My client told her that what he wanted. He had got my name from a coworker.

[gtblum]

There are those inspectors among us that tend to greatly exaggerate findings on certain hot topics such as mold, PB, aluminum conductors, lead in paint, etc in which they're not well versed and this sometimes ends up costing agents their commission, perhaps unnecessarily. Agents respond to it by attacking inspectors indiscriminately since they themselves don't know which inspectors are the knowledgeable ones. They don't know the truth.

We all pay for those among us who are poorly prepared to practice, yet are allowed to.

Not to excuse those agent jerks who would simply eliminate our profession.

Marc

We also pay for those among them who are poorly prepared to practice, yet are allowed to.

It's a whole lot easier to blame an inspector for the loss of a sale than to be a professional salesperson, overcome objections, focus on features, benefits, and save the sale.

They don't even know what they're selling. I wish I had a cut of the commission for every time I've shown folks how a tilt in window works, or that they were in the house at all.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not trying to defend the people who jump into this gig without a clue of which way to hold a hammer or the one's who believe there's only one way to do things, and that's by the book they read.

I just think it might be time to stop accepting the blame for those few and see it for what it is.

Most of them couldn't sell their way out of a paper bag. The people who can, and are pros, will complete the sale no matter what you find. (within reason) The others throw their hands in the air, and give up.

Hell, I once sold a car to a guy after it got hit in the lot while we were doing the paperwork. We fixed it. He took it home.

I'm really happy Kurt busted these people and won a round, but until more bigshots like his client figure out the truth, and put an end to the way this system works, it's about the same as someone getting a speeding ticket. I'm sure the black ballers have already got the pedal back to floor.

[Jim Baird]

Go Kurt.

I have yet to meet a realtor that likes me. I give them to many hoops to jump thru.

[kurt]

I'm really happy Kurt busted these people and won a round, but until more bigshots like his client figure out the truth, and put an end to the way this system works, it's about the same as someone getting a speeding ticket. I'm sure the black ballers have already got the pedal back to floor.

Yeah, but maybe not all the way back on the floor. I said a long time ago I was going to outlast the XXXXXXX, and I just might.

[hausdok]

It's the bowler. Gotta be; I'll bet it intimidates the hell out of 'em.

ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!!

Mike

[allseason]

I get the call from the client saying he got my name from his friend, but when he told his realtor who he was going to use for the inspection, he was informed that he wasn't allowed to use me.

Now, this is nothing new. The matrons of the North Shore have blackballed me for years. There's not much business up there, so I don't care. He tells me the realtors (3 of 'em) all circled wagons and stated there was no way that I was ever going to inspect this house.

So, the guy asks if I know anyone I can refer him to, he wants someone good, because this is a big ticket house in the plush zone. Usually, I just give out a name of one of my buds in the biz because it's not that big a deal, but this time, I kinda passed through the looking glass to another dimension. No anger, just clarity.

In the nicest way, real polite, I told him no, I wouldn't refer him to anyone. I told him in a well stated extemporization that if he was the sort of person that would let a realtor tell him who he was allowed to use, he should just use the realtors guy.

All of a sudden, it was like the light bulb goes off in this guy's head, and he comes to his senses, we talk, and hit it off great.

Turns out, he's the managing partner for one of the largest accounting firms in the world. He calls his friend/colleague at XXXXXXXXXXX who's the managing director of the company that owns XXXXXXXXXXXXXX, the real estate company (big national operation).

The best friend at XXXXXXXXXXX calls real estate national corporate HQ, gets the general counsel/head lawyer on the phone, and tells her what's going on. She goes livid, gets on the phone to the local office, and sticks a flame thrower into the local office managers armpit.

I get the call a couple hours ago......I guess I'm looking at the property tomorrow.

Sometimes it's soooooooo sweet...........

That just rocks! I had a client recently that I had done an inspection for, did not buy the house. Asbestos, roof leaks, etc. The realtor was all over his a-- to send in his full deposit asap and got more urgent as we went on through the inspection. Realtor was someone I knew and I had inspected a couple of houses for his buyers in the past. Deal just fell apart.

My client was now in contract on another house in another town, new realtor (listing agent). When it came time to schedule the inspection he told her that he had someone to do the inspection, Me. She said she had someone who was better because he could do the inspection in 2 hours, not someone like myself, who chose to spend almost 4 hours with him on his last experience. It's f----g karma.

A week later one of the fellow realtors of the agent from the first failed deal calls me, why? To inspect a house that her daughter is buying.

If we all do our jobs everyone gets paid.

[Mark P]

Last year I had a realtor I had never heard of before call wanting me to inspect a house she was buying for herself. Her father turned out to be the broker and her sister another realtor. They were all there during the inspection and I asked why they called me. They answered they had seen my reports in other transactions and new from them the type of job I did. I then asked who they usually worked with; they told me the name of one of my local competitors. I asked why they did not use him for this house. They all just kind of chuckled and replied “oh – no not on my houseâ€