I HATE it when they are late!

[Jerry Simon]

"I know you don't want me to miss anything, but keep asking questions/distracting me, I guarantee I will miss something. . ."

Said every now and then.

[Mike Lamb]

You don't want to hear about how your client's ex was flying to Vegas every month to f*ck her cousin and how she found out about it and divorced his sorry ass?

I have had to tell at least a couple clients to basically shut up. They did not seem offended.

[Inspectorjoe]

I may be the odd duck, but I don't mind some small talk - in fact, I often initiate it. I like to build a rapport with my clients. We're going to be together for 3 or more hours - we may as well get to know each other. It pays back if a report is late or if I might miss something. It also boosts referrals. At least half of my inspections is repeat business from past clients or referrals from them. Although I'm definitely not a multi-tasker, I don't find it distracting. I simply pause my thinking for a moment or two.

As far as people arriving late, I don't mind it a bit, in fact I often welcome it. I don't like people getting there early. I try to arrive about 15 minutes early. I hate when the buyers are already there when I arrive. I hate it even more when they realize who I am and immediately get out of their car and walk towards mine. I'm often not ready to get out of the car and get started, but I guess it would be considered rude to just stare at them through the closed driver's side window. On a side note, I try not to arrive more than 15 minutes before the stated start time. If the seller is told the inspection starts at 9 AM, it's just not right to show up at 8:30.

I also hate when the buyer insists on following me around on my initial get-aquainted tour of the house. This is after I explain that I need to do it alone so i can concentrate on and remember a number of different things, and they won't be missing any of the inspection. The same goes for the roof. I make it clear that I won't be commenting on it until I finish looking at it, and at that time, I'll go over everything and show the pictures I took. Inevitably, once a month or so, I'll have someone follow me outside, and as soon as I climb the ladder and step off, shout up to me "How's the roof?" That drives me nuts.

[MZak]

We very rarely have the client come for the inspection. They often don't even come for the summary.