I swear, she really said this!

[chrisprickett]

A big Realtor, whom I've worked with for three years, told me she can't give my name out anymore, because I'm too picky. Then she says, "Don't get me wrong, if I buy another house, your the first inspector I'd call, but you make my buyers too jumpy because of the stuff you find."

I wished her a nice day.

[Brian G]

Originally posted by chrisprickett

Then she says, "Don't get me wrong, if I buy another house, your the first inspector I'd call, but you make my buyers too jumpy because of the stuff you find."

Not to have a double standard or anything, eh?

---

I wished her a nice day.

That's the right way. I try to never burn my bridges, personally or professionally. You never know how it might go down the road.

It feels good to get fired for your principles, doesn't it Brother Prickett? [:-thumbu]

Brian G.

[DonTx]

I try to never burn my bridges, personally or professionally. You never know how it might go down the road.

Brian G.

That sounds like something my wife would say....or Dr. Phil!

I generally say...[:-hot] Burn Baby Burn...[:-jump] As I've explained to me wife, this way there is no turning back...gotta forge ahead no matter what!

We actually had some freakin manager type from one of the big builders call the office today and complain about some of the wording in our reports. Was he worried about all the code violations I write up? No. He didn't like the sentence in the summary that says...."This is an average quality newly constructed home that needs additional repairs and adjustments to components and systems before closing."

They were upset about the word "average". I told her to give him my cell number or tell him that I was being generous with my opinion when I called their homes "average".[:-smile_green]

Warp 9 Scotty!

Donald

[DonTx]

Chris, let 'er go..you two were just never meant to be. [:-brokenheart]

It's her, it's not you...[:-crazy]

Don't beat yourself up..she's not worth it. [:-witch]

Theres plenty other fish...errr Realtors...in the swamp...err sea. [:-goldfish]

I'm sure you'll go on to find someone better...[-crzwom]

Okay, that's about all the break up lines I can think of right now...I hope they helped [:-bouncy]

Come to think of it, she probably left because you called her "big". [:-eyebrows]

Donald

[Brian G]

Originally posted by Donald Lawson

That sounds like something my wife would say....or Dr. Phil!

It's more like Zen than Dr. Phil-osophy. One need not burn the bridge just crossed to forge ahead grasshopper. Whatever works for you, so be it.

The times I've been challenged (meaning threatened and bitched at) by sellers, realtors, etc. I've never given them the satisfaction of moving me one inch off of my professionalism. Calm, rational, firm but non-combative. If someone were to get over the line I would just disengage if I could. If they say I was an ass later, I want it to be a lie and for them to know it. My personal choice.

You dang Texans eat too much spicy food, makes you tempermental. [:-dev3][][:-dev3]

Brian G.

[DLRambo]

I've got a BIG GUNS REALESTATOR in Kansas City that will stand on her head to keep me out of her listings or sales - BUT - 3 times in the past 2 years has referred ne to her college sorority sister and plastic surgeon husband buying a 3.5 million dollar house; her daughter; and her nephew when they were buying.

Several years ago that sort of attitude gave a sense of pride - TODAY - I give a $hit about the pride - I want the income from the 37 sales she gave to the WHITEWASH INSPECTOR.

Dan Bowers

[swarga]

Brother Pricket,

Welcome to the club. (Her name isn't Joanne is it?)

I had the same thing happen to me, the woman refers three a month to me, tells everyone in the office about me then suddenly stops calling. [:-?help]

I run into her a few month down the road and she says business has slowed down. I run into her assistant the next day. She says there busier than s#!t[:-censored] and she misses me because she cant understand the new inspectors reports. [:-banghead]I asked why they quit referring me? (Could it be my prices?)She says the problem was I was to picky and everyone could understand my report. She wanted to continue to use me but the Realtor said no.

Last month I inspected the Realtors new house and the rental property her son is buying.

[]

Monday I inspected a house for her Broker's daughter. It seems he walked into the office meeting and asked who the most through inspector was and my name was mentioned by 1/2 the agents in the room.[:-bouncy]

Keep up the good work Chris. I guess it's time to raise your prices again.[:-bonc01]

[Jim Morrison]

Originally posted by chrisprickett

A big Realtor, whom I've worked with for three years, told me she can't give my name out anymore, because I'm too picky. Then she says, "Don't get me wrong, if I buy another house, your the first inspector I'd call, but you make my buyers too jumpy because of the stuff you find."

I wished her a nice day.

Nicely done, Chris. You don't need Miss Stakeholder and you know it. That's just another home inspector Rite of Passage.

Last year I accidentally got cc'd by a broker emailing another broker about what an incompetent jerk I am. She even went into great detail about an inspection we botched, that I had no record of. I called her and was very professional, but as soon as I told her who I was and that I wanted to discuss that libelous email, she burst into tears. She went on and on about how her aunt recently died, she was under a lot of stress, etc., etc. I ended the conversation and called the owner of the company a couple of hours later. He told me it wouldn't happen again. She had quit her job in the interim.

Even Dennis was impressed. I simply chalked it up to one of those quirky benchmarks of success. Just like Chris.

When brokers aren't the center of your universe, this stuff doesn't really bother you and this job gets to be a lot more fun.

[kurt]

We're the only profession where the referring marketplace punishes us for doing a good job.

Like everyone else said, the goal is to get free of the "referring marketplace".

[chrisprickett]

Originally posted by kurt

We're the only profession where the referring marketplace punishes us for doing a good job.

You can stitch that on your sampler!

[crusty]

This is a very common occurrence in my neck of the woods. It is not publicized but most big offices here have 2 lists of inspectors. One for relatives and picky buyers and the other for listing inspections. It's hard to be on both lists but our knowledge and education, presentation skills and an effort to educate the client and put issues in proper perspective seems to go a long way toward that direction. Making comments educational and putting issues in proper perspective during the verbal presentation seem to calm down jumpy buyers. Given a choice, I'll always opt for presence on the picky list.

Of course there are those referral sources with ethics lower than whale droppings and I am very happy that they don't call me. I fired one a couple of weeks ago. It felt good too.

[Brian G]

Originally posted by swarga

She says the problem was I was to picky and everyone could understand my report.

Well jeez SwargaMan, you gotta cut that out. []

Brian G.

[Steven Hockstein]

Originally posted by chrisprickett

A big Realtor, whom I've worked with for three years, told me she can't give my name out anymore, because I'm too picky. Then she says, "Don't get me wrong, if I buy another house, your the first inspector I'd call, but you make my buyers too jumpy because of the stuff you find."

I wished her a nice day.

You missed the part about when they call for the inspection for themselves they ask for a special discount because they are an agent, regardless of the fact that they never call you except when they want a "Real" inspection.

[Paul MacLean]

Last week I did an early 80s house that had been through an extensive remodel and update. It was well done and I thought the house was in excellent condition everything considered. Still there was a long list of repairs (mostly minor) including things like missing GFCIs and a water heater on the garage floor.

The client was out-of-town with the agent running interference, so I had to deliver the report via agent. I got a late evening phone call from the agent reaming me out for writing up so many repairs. She was really upset saying I killed her deal, etc. After trying to answer her questions for awhile, I finally tired of her abuse and told her to have the buyer call me (she wouldn't give me the buyer's phone number). I then asked her to never call me again.

After we hung up my wife, who overheard my side of the conversation, asked me if the agent had been drinking...interesting observation and question.

36 hours later the buyer called me. We went over the report and the buyer thanked my for my detail. The real client was happy...screw the agent!

[Brian G]

I just signed a client to a second inspection after the first one found BIG problems (a FISBO deal that didn't work out). This time he has a realtor and is offering on a listed property, both at the same office. They told thier agent to make the offer, but contingent on the inspection. She asked who they wanted, they named me, she said okay. Within an hour the agent called the wife. She had spoken with the listing agent, who was more...familiar...with me. She says to the wife, "Now you know he's kind of picky...." [:-mischievous]

Brian G.

AKA "Mr. Picky", "The Deal Killer", "That Dirty %#^**%#@", etc. [:-dev3][][:-dev3]

[DonTx]

So here I am laying on my stomach in a hot[:-hot] attic, sweating my fat ass off inspecting the furnace that I had to crawl from the garage to the middle of the home to reach.

I could hear both the listing and buying agents (from the same office) having a litte chat in the living room below while the buyer and his dad were in the back yard. [:-eyebrows] I was hoping they were talking about something other than real estate or inspectors, but no luck.

Listing Agent: "I use so and so. They're good but sometimes they scare my clients with thoughtless ramblings. They also put too much s**t in their reports"

Buying Agent: "Those kind aren't bad on a home like this, but you sure don't want them on your listings"

Listing Agent: "This is only the 3rd listing I've had this year and there is no telling what these two bozos (meaning me and my helper) will find. Plus you got Daddy paying for all these other people coming in (he had a roofer and electrician come in also) I got news for them, we're not negotiating s**t on this home"

The buyer (a young kid right out of college) and his Dad came back in from the back yard and they put their happy faces back on and started the happy chat B.S. routine. I crawled my fat ass back out of the ever increasing pool of sweat [:-crazy](will probably leave a stain on the ceiling) to the attic entry, gasping for the cool air of the garage[:-cold].

On the way out, the listing agent gave me one of those looks and said "Thank you for comming out...I think"

"We'll see" I said with a wink [:-tong2]

Donald