Your relationships with inspectors don’t have to be scandalous | North Salem Real Estate

In a recent Broker Notebook column, Inman News columnist Teresa Boardman discussed how, in her view, taking care of the buyer’s inspection is a questionable business practice. As someone who has been on both sides — a former real estate agent and current owner of a home inspection franchising company — I understand where the author is coming from.

I see her point of view and agree to a certain extent. But I don’t believe home inspectors and real estate agents fostering trusted networking relationships is necessarily a questionable practice.

On the contrary, I think it can really help the customer. Undoubtedly, it can become a problem when home inspectors and real estate brokers become too buddy-buddy for the homebuyer’s own good.

But, having been on both sides, I believe that when a real estate broker finds a certified professional home inspector who consistently offers an unbiased third-party look at a property, it is oftentimes in the best interest of the homebuyer to utilize that trusted home inspector.

Let’s consider an example from that highly popular Fox program “Scandal” for clarity — and please disregard the fact that the name of the show is “Scandal” for the purpose of this analogy.

Those who have watched the series know that the lead character, Olivia Pope, is a professional fixer who is hired by clients to fix things, no matter the problem. Along with her associates, Pope uses any means necessary to protect the client. In a dramatic turn of events during one episode, one of her clients is working against Pope’s dearest friends

 

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http://www.inman.com/2013/09/27/your-relationships-with-inspectors-dont-have-to-be-scandalous/#sthash.wqvhMii9.dpuf