You Kind of Had to be There

Home inspections have become an every day occurrence for real estate agents over the past ten years. For sure, that is a good thing. Real estate agents and buyers themselves usually can't be expected to be an expert on such things as electrical, plumbing and building code issues. Inspectors have come to be an integral part of the transactions.

For some real estate agents, they don't see the value of being present at an inspection. It takes a long time... there are lots of telephone calls and clients needs to attend to... there are only so many hours in a day and it is just a matter of where spending your time is of the most value. These agents also sometimes don't necessarily encourage their buyers to be present either. They'll make a superficial lockbox appearance and slide out.

Being present or not doesn't change the facts about the house, but it can affect how the problems are perceived.

The inspector wants to be thorough, and wants to do a good job for his client, and certainly has to be concerned about his liability should something not be addressed. But the problems must be kept in context. Every real estate agent will tell you about home inspector's statements that have sent red flags up when taken the wrong way or improperly explained. To me, two simple questions need to be asked to these statements: How much would it cost to fix the problem? and What would be a reasonable expectation on how long before this problem needs to be fixed?

Things can be addressed much easier when the buyer and the agent are present and can be shown the issues at hand. A meeting later in the day with a visual of a printed sheet just don't cut it. For liability purposes, an inspector will use words like "may" and "possibly" a lot. I understand why they do it... they're just being careful. That's what the buyer hired them to do, but it certainly can be taken to an extreme. A five year old roof or furnace "may" need to be replaced some day. An accurate statement that needs to be explained further. If you're not there, it may lose something in the translation.

Home inspectors have their limitations, too. They work hard to keep up to date on issues, building codes, and rough estimates on repair costs. But truly, they can't be expected to give an accurate estimate on repair or replacement costs on a particular matter. Sometimes the buyer needs to take the inspector's advice and get an accurate estimate from a tradesman on what the costs to fix the problem will be.

Remember, knowledge is power. The real estate agent can often add another angle to a home inspection issue. If you weren't there and didn't see the issue, it's a little hard to add a credible fix to the problem.

You kinda had to be there.