Idea for more business

[Amn]

I'm not a home inspector, but thought that I'd suggest an idea to those of you who are, that might enable you to increase your business somewhat.

I'm currently selling my house in Dallas. I've only lived in the house for two years, and now the Seller's Disclosure requires the seller to disclose all reports received in the past four years. When I bought the house, I had a home inspector inspect and produce a report, and the sellers disclosure required me to disclose it.

Fortunately, I referred to that report when getting the house ready to list and it provided a really good road map for me to follow in fixing things up and prepping for a buyer's home inspector.

OK, here's where the idea comes in:

It might be a valuable service to market your expertise to potential sellers, and informally visit a property, perform a walkthrough, and give the home seller a "heads up" on what a buyer's inspector is probably going to find and require to be fixed. I mention "informally" since no homeseller is going to want a report of any sort, but I can say that some up-front guidance would certainly benefit a seller and soften the blow when a buyer's report does come in (I've read a lot of horror stories on here about sellers indignant of anything that you find and write up).

Sellers would most likely not want to pay the full amount of an inspection and report, but you may find a way to reduce the cost since the time and effort of producing a report would not be required.

Anyway, I don't even know if this idea makes any sense or can fit into your business plans, but I have read here of many guys looking for additional work and it seems to me to be an untapped market, with a minimal, if any, risk associated.

I pass it along, only since it benefitted me as a result of a short duration of owning a home.

A

[Jim Katen]

The problem with a walk & talk inspection of any kind is that there’s no documentation of what was and wasn’t said. That makes for misunderstandings later.

There are lots of inspectors who do listing inspections. Most say that they do exactly the same report for the seller that they’d do for the buyer.

When I’ve done them they work like this. I do my regular inspection and report. The seller takes the report throws it on the table and says to potential buyers, “I’m selling my house for $XXX dollars. That price already takes into account the defects noted in this exemplary report written by that fine inspector and all around great human being, Jim Katen. If you’d like to make an offer on my house, please have it inspected by an inspector who’ll be working on your behalf. But understand that I won’t be negotiating on any of the issues that are already disclosed in Katen’s report.â€

[Bradd Judd]

I have to concurr with Mr. katen. It is unbelieveable how many phone calls will haved to be entertained/addressed by real estate attorneys, and contractors. By the time It leaves your mouth to their ears and then a 3rd party, it's a completely different area, problem, and somtimes house.

It's a good suggestion, but without documentation it's unsubstantiated and unsupported. It will end up costing the inspector more in lost time than in gained revenue.

[^]Thanks for your input!

[Les]

Wonder if we could do a pre-list report that would self-destruct in thirty days? Or just put a bunch of sensors everywhere in the house and have a usb port by the doorbell that the realtor could connect their laptop to and produce a report in real time.

[chrisprickett]

Originally posted by Les

Wonder if we could do a pre-list report that would self-destruct in thirty days? Or just put a bunch of sensors everywhere in the house and have a usb port by the doorbell that the realtor could connect their laptop to and produce a report in real time.

I find marking the defects with purple spray paint works well, although I've been known to take up more than one wall with my documentation and illustrations.