I’m buying a home, and have to have a home inspection prior to signing the next round of papers. My realtor has recommended an inspector and promises that he’s very thorough (like she’d promise that he’s sloppy and writes with crayons; that would get a lot of business).
However, I’ve been told that you shouldn’t use the inspector that your realtor recommends. Yet I’ve talked to dozens of people who’ve done just that and had no problems with the quality of the inspection on down the road.
I checked her recommendation out online, and seems to be at least as legit as any other home inspector I checked out online, including the (at least) 3 sort-of professional organizations of home inspectors.
So what’s the Doper Experience with regard to this? Should I use the recommended inspector or call a different one?
There is no hard and fast answer, go with what feels the best, most comfortable. In buying 2 homes the first one we went with the suggested one. Things went fine, and I feel I got a decent report.
But for the second house the situation was a bit more revealing to me, what goes on behind the scenes so to speak. We got one that was out of the area and didn’t deal with this realtor. I could tell that the realtor was noticeably uncomfortable, and was also getting impatient with the thoroughness of the inspection. I did get a very good report that even went into things like possible reasons why things were the way they were.
All and all neither house had any major issues, but the different was the first one did the job as if he was working for the realtor, the second one I felt was working for me and was not giving in to the realtor’s cues that he should hurry thru and get it passed.
After that I feel that even though you are paying the inspector, the inspector has a vested interest in getting the realtor’s home sold, if the inspector gives too many bad reports the realtor will stop using him/her. For this reason I feel that it would be generally better to get your own, one you feel comfortable with and one who does not generally work with that realtor.
I trusted my real estate agent and used the one she recommended. She was pretty mellow though, and I’m sure she wouldn’t have gotten her knickers in a twist if we had used someone else.
Your Realtor should not be recommending anyone, but supplying you with a list of qualified candidates for the job. Recommendations are unethical, at least in my state.
Hire your own so that you’re assured that they are working for you. Your realtor has a vested interest in the sale proceeding, so there’s an inherent conflict of interest.
I would agree. The home inspector could be OK and is maybe just a distant relative or perhaps your realtor is getting a kickback - but still, I would get my own home inspector and do your own research. Otherwise you will always have that gnawing feeling that perhaps the inspector intentionally missed something (minor or major) to help ensure you buy the house.
Plus - even if it wasn’t intentional - should you find termites in four years, or a piece of the foundation rots in three years, will you have any recourse to take that person to court or get money to fix the problem? If not, once again you will wonder if that was an intentional error (even if it wasn’t).
Get your own…that way, even if crap happens a few years down the line, you at least won’t be wondering if there was some kind of scam going on back then and kicking yourself for not getting someone independent. And what do you have to lose by getting someone else? My guess is cost is going to be exactly the same.
Don’t worry about it. In my experience, there are virtually no home inspectors out there who would fast-track an inspection to help an agent get a sale. Considering how paranoid and adverse to litigation most inspectors are, it’s pretty silly to worry about who is doing the recommending.
My wife is a realtor in Ohio, and she is required to supply the names of three inspectors to the buyer, who can choose one of them or choose his own. Inspectors who cause problems with the completion of sales stop appearing on realtors’ lists of three. You would probably be better off finding your own and making it clear to him that you wanted a thorough inspection.
There was a thread a few years back from someone who accepted the home inspector recommended by her realtor and got screwed big time. I can’t remember the specifics, but don’t do it. Get your own.
No, do not use the realtor’s inspector. There is a conflict of interest. The realtor wants you to buy the house. You want an inspector who will tell you why you shouldn’t buy the house. Find the toughest, most critical, most thorough inspector you can find.
Be there while the inspector is going over the house so you can see that he is properly doing his job and you’ll know all the problems. They all check the little things (do the lights work? toilets flush?), but you need to really be concerned about big things like roof issues, water problems, foundation, rotten wood, electrical and HVAC problems. For example, when he’s in the attic he should carefully examine all of the roof looking for water damage instead of just doing a quick look around. Be sure to convey to your inspector that you want a thorough inspection so he knows to find every problem.
Yeah, this pretty much encapsulates my thinking. Solely for my own piece of mind and because I don’t want even the slightest reason to feel, even at some later date, taken by my realtor, I called someone else.
Thanks for the responses. I hope we continue to have people vote and post, so that other future Dopers about to go experience the Joys of Homeownership™ can find this and get some perspectives on the issue.
I trusted my realtor (who is truly exceptional) and used the inspector she recommended – however had we gone with another one, she wouldn’t have been fazed. Yes, realtors want you to buy the house – however, if their inspector does a bad job and you end up with a bunch of trouble, it’s pretty easy to spread the word that said realtor can’t be trusted. Word of mouth is huge in real estate.
We went with the guy she knew because he was willing to wait until closing to get paid. I was there during the whole inspection. We’ve had no problems.
I would use my own, for all the reasons noted. I would also have my own inspection done when selling a house - when we were selling our last house, the prospective buyers brought in their own inspector and basically tried to defraud us into lowering the price significantly by inventing things wrong with the house (foundation problems, roofing problems, plumbing problems, etc.). We hired our own inspector and his inspection, while thorough, didn’t agree with any of these issues.
That subsequently became a selling feature - inspection already done. Prospective buyers could use our inspection, or have one of their own done.
An excellent idea, and I recommend that procedure to all my Sellers. I recommend they have anything found during the inspection fixed, then reinspected (usually free or cheap with the same inspector) so they can show prospective Buyers that the home is perfect and ready to move in.
That’s exactly why ethical Realtors don’t recommend, they only provide lists of qualified workmen. Same goes for surveyors, roofers, plumbers, etc.
It’s rare (in my neighborhood) that any inspector is not willing to wait until close. That’s when most bills – inspections, repairs, etc. – are taken care of, all at once.
Our rule of thumb is a minimum of 3. I see nothing wrong with providing longer lists, and most of ours are. I think we only have 2 piano tuners in the county, however.
You want someone independent. An inspector that relies on a realtor for business will be tempted to make the house look good to make the realtor happy. They’ll never see you again, and may not give a second thought about forgetting to notice something, or just shading their report in favor of the sale.
We used the one our realtor recommended. We trusted our realtor as he came highly recommended and had been used by several people I worked with. It went very well.
In most real estate transactions, the realtor’s primary fiduciary responsibility is to the seller and not the buyer, because the seller is paying the fee to sell the home.
In such a case, I don’t see how there is not a conflict of interest, although it’s common for the realtor to suggest inspector names.
Consider how likely it might be to find an issue. If it’s likely (old home, e.g.) then I would find an independent inspector. If you are unskilled at making your own judgments regarding the home’s possible flaws, that’s another reason to hire an independent inspector.