Certifying a home

[Darren]

Keep an eye on this one....

http://activerain.com/blogsview/483109/ ... SELL-HOMES

(Hey Neal, this isn't you is it?)

[hausdok]

Hi Darren,

Thanks; I'm left scratching my head wondering how much the home inspector is charging there. In most cases my fee for an average sized home would easily take up at least half of that $950 so there's no way it could be done that cheaply around here. So, are they corraling inspectors that participate into a one price fits all kind of thing? Then there's the question of liability. The inspector is being paid by the seller so how does the buyer hold the inspector liable for something he misses when the inspection and report were done for the seller?

I've often advocated seller's inspections but I think the buyers are still going to pay for their own inspections. That's actually a good thing for the profession though - 'cuz it increases the overall number of inspections and inspectors get to feed at both sides of the trough.

ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!!

Mike

[Neal Lewis]

No Darren, it's not me. I started seeing this in the real estate ads last year. I think only a small percentage of their listings are certified. This agency only has about 4 or five offfices. I am on their approved list, though. I have had a relationship with one of their agents for at least 20 years. Housemeister tried that program maybe as far back as the early nineties.

Lately, I have been getting calls from realtors who want to include an pre-sell inspection as part of a listing package. The agent throws in the inspection for free to get the listing. Of course they want a reduced price in exchange for promising me a bunch of inspections. One realtor said I would get paid after the house sells, or when the listing expires. So I do the inspection now, at a reduced price, and I might have to wait six months to get paid. No thanks. We're actually still keeping busy enough up here.

[kurt]

The only folks going for this sort of thing are the total suckers.

[gtblum]

At least the realtors now admit to being certified used house salesmen. I wonder what this woman would think if she saw a car she liked, asked to take it to her mechanic/car inspector for evaluation, and was told, "There's no need for for that. My mechanic has already looked at it and certified it. Come to think of it, I've never been to a car dealer that had a table full of mechanic's dusty cards and brochures. Hmm.