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by Wally Conway,
Host
of the Home and Garden Show on WOKV
Everyone knows that at the end of a home inspection, a report is
generated that outlines the findings of the home inspector. But
did you know that this is not intended to be a "hit list"
of negatives? Us home inspectors do what we do in order to objectively
describe the home. This is not the place for emotion, rather a simple
stating of the facts. Homes do not pass or fail inspections, they
merely describe the strengths or weakness.
Inspections are also not intended to favor buyer
or seller. In fact, the greatest
flattery an inspector can receive is for the seller of a recently
inspected home to call the same inspector to inspect their next
home. This action tells all that the inspector discovered every
defect known to the seller, discussed and documented those defects
in a fair and objective manner. Furthermore, any unknowns discovered
were likewise handled with objective fairness. This outcome should
be the inspector's goal for every inspection.
 Sometimes
situations do arise where the person who contracted for the home
inspection chooses not to or is unable to complete the transaction.
When a new buyer is found, it is a common thought to use the previous
report as a decision tool for this new buyer.
This is an extremely dangerous practice!
This is among the prime reasons that nearly all inspectors stipulate
in their inspection agreement that the home inspection is considered
a confidential communication between buyer and inspector.
Why do inspectors feel so strongly about this particular piece
of the issue? Primarily because…
The written inspection document is not the complete
home inspection experience!
What? How can this be?
Because, the written document only supports the observations
and dialogs exchanged by all parties at the inspection. While it
is certainly correct that all that is written in the report and
all that is said at the inspection should be consistent, the total
understanding by the buyer of the inspection comes from blending
the observed with the spoken and with the written.
A new buyer viewing only the written portion of the inspection
is missing much in the understanding, perspective, and context of
the total inspection experience. This is a high-risk practice and
should always be avoided.
Old Reports for New Buyers. When the original buyer
leaves the transaction, generally the inspection report goes with
that buyer. Because of the issues of confidentiality and, just as
importantly, the completeness of understanding by the new buyer,
a new inspection should be ordered.
However, in some cases, the original buyer, being the kind and
decent souls that they are, will sometimes give the now "useless"
report to the agent, who now has another party interested in the
home. How wonderful! More often, however, the original buyer of
the home inspection does not know of the report handoff.
The agent and the new buyer can now use the old report as a decision
tool, and all without expense. The agent is a hero to the new buyer!
Yikes! No one told the new buyer about confidentiality, or about
completeness of the inspection report and experience. But, even
more importantly, no one told the new buyer that there is another
key reason not to engage in such a practice - things change!
An inspection report is a snapshot in time of the observable conditions
of the home. That picture can change in an instant!
Things do happen to homes. Should the roof now leak or the air-conditioning
now not cool, this would be an unknown to the buyer. Whether or
not the seller knew is a whole other issue.
The buyer, after taking possession of the home and discovering
the failure and expense to repair of failing systems, has been harmed
by the lack of documentation of defect in the written inspection
report. When people feel harmed, they seek relief.
When such is the case, most buyers will initially seek relief from
the home inspector. Several problems exist is seeking relief from
this source. Among the problems is the fact that the home inspector
did not miss the failed systems, they were functioning as intended
and correctly described at the time of inspection of the written
report.
Next among the problems for the new buyer in seeking relief from
the original inspector is that the new buyer is not the customer
with whom the inspector had the complete inspection experience and
confidential agreement. Nope, there is no relief forthcoming from
this inspector.
Advice For Agents. So now, where does the harmed,
and getting hotter all the time, homeowner go for relief? The agent
of course! That seems rotten and unreasonable; the agent did their
buyer a favor! But, it was usually the real estate agent who improperly
provided the previous inspection report. Worse yet, in many cases,
it turns out that the complete written report was not provided,
only a summary. This always goes badly for the agent!
Not only is the homeowner mad at the agent, but also the potential
exists for the original buyer to discover that their report has
been shared with a new buyer. If there was no permission to do this,
that original buyer is typically very upset with the agent. This
original buyer paid for the report and now feels betrayed by the
agent. More bad news for the agent!
In the situation where the agent is still working with the original
buyer for a different home than inspected, I have seen the buyer
so upset with the agent that they have terminated that relationship.
Strangely enough, they stayed with the same home inspector. Relationships
in real estate are about trust, and giving away someone's report
is a great way to lose that trust.
So now, the agent has on one hand an aggravated homeowner that
wants to be compensated, and on the other hand has just lost a potential
buyer. That looks like money going out and nothing coming in! This
is not a good business situation. Ultimately, sharing home inspection
reports with multiple customers is not a good business practice.
Copyright © Florida HomePro, Inc. and Wallace
J. Conway. All rights in all media reserved.
About the Author: Wally Conway is your weekly Host of the Home
and Garden Show on WOKV, and author of the book "Secrets of the Happy
Home Inspector", available at GoHomePro.com.
Wally's expertise and experience has been sought after by HGTV's "House
Detective", DIY Network's "Finders Fixers", the National Association
of REALTORS®, newspapers, and corporations. As a speaker, writer, and instructor,
Wally blends the right amount of up-to-date information with just the right
amount of humor, insight, motivation, and real-world application. Visit WallyConway.com
for more information!
Reproduction of this article: Permission is granted to use this article
in any media provided that the article is reproduced in its entirety as shown
above, with the authors resource box/bio included including links to http://www.gohomepro.com
and http://www.wallyconway.com
as the original publisher.
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