Are Sequim home inspectors or Port Angeles home inspectors good, all the same, and are they all reliable or biased? There is some nonsense going around on the Internet about the “dangers of getting a referral for a home inspector from your Realtor.” If you are buying a home in Sequim or Port Angeles, I’ll tell you the honest-to-God truth in this brief article about home inspectors.
Here is a comment by someone who knows just enough to be dangerous themselves.
“Asking your Realtor is NOT a great way to find an inspector. Your Realtor gets paid only if the home sale goes through. Many good inspectors are called, ‘Deal Killers’ by R.E. agents and will not appear on a list of inspectors that are referred to home buying clients.”
This sentiment is echoed by self-appointed real estate expert Barry Stone, who himself is a home inspector:
“The trunk of the problem is this: Agents do not get paid until the sale is completed, and defect disclosure can make buyers change their minds about the sale. Since the best home inspectors disclose more defects, a large number of real estate agents regard the best home inspectors as “deal killers” — not because those inspectors actually kill deals, but because their thoroughness engenders the fear that they might kill a deal. As a result, some agents do not refer the best inspectors to their clients. Meanwhile, unwary clients assume that they are getting top-notch home inspection referrals from their agents.”
What is the truth about Realtor referrals and home inspectors in our small communities? I think I know all the home inspectors here, and they are all good, honest, hard working, and ethical men. There is absolutely no question about this. They all work off very detailed checklists, and the boilerplate checklists are almost exactly the same. Why? Because the issues of concern that have been developed over the past decade are common concerns that intelligent home inspectors all address in their inspections.
As for Realtors trying to hire home inspectors that won’t do a good job so the buyer can be fooled and the Realtor can get a quick commission, that is pure nonsense. At least it is here on the Olympic Peninsula. I’ve seen a lot of home inspections, and a seller is simply not going to be able to hide anything that is discoverable by a home inspector, and it is very very hard to hide a defect from a home inspector. There is no inspector in Sequim or Port Angeles that will intentionally not disclose a defect!
Home inspectors are also under the microscope to do an extremely thorough inspection, because the liabilities of getting sued and dragged through expensive litigation are simply too great to risk just to help a Realtor cheat a buyer. Maybe in some corner of Los Angeles or in New York city these kinds of conspiracies can happen, but not here.
Sequim home inspectors and Port Angeles home inspectors are some of the best in the country, and you would be justified in relying upon your Realtor’s recommendation for a good home inspector.
FAQs
[sc_fs_multi_faq headline-0=”h2″ question-0=”What does a home inspector do?” answer-0=”A home inspector does a thorough inspection of a home a buyer is planning to buy, including the interior, all electrical appliances and outlets, basic plumbing, heating and air conditioning systems, structural components, and a limited inspection of the exterior, including the foundation, siding, and roofing.” image-0=”” headline-1=”h2″ question-1=”How much does a home inspector charge?” answer-1=”In Sequim, Washington, a home inspector typically charges $350 to $450. This does not include exterior buildings like shops or guest homes.” image-1=”” headline-2=”h2″ question-2=”How do I use the home inspection report?” answer-2=”The report is intended to help you evaluate the condition of the home and whether there are any needed repairs. Most purchase agreements include a contingency for the home inspection, which gives the buyer the right to terminate the transaction if something is seriously wrong or the buyer and seller cannot agree on repairs.” image-2=”” count=”3″ html=”true” css_class=””]
Last Updated on December 6, 2019 by Chuck Marunde
Barbara, you shared an important story and a valid point. There are incompetents running around out there causing trouble for good people. I do write articles on this blog about incompetent real estate agents and other professionals (we haven’t had a serious problem here with incompetent inspectors, but they do exist in other areas). My fellow colleagues hate it when I tell true stories about real estate agents who are incompetent, although I never mention names or companies. It sounds to me in your case that there was an incompetent inspector and either an incompetent agent or unethical agent. What a legal combination. As you know, it is so hard these days to tell the difference between an absolutely honest professional and one who is not. They both smile. They both dress the part, and they both smell good. I hope people can see who I really am as they peruse this blog. I try to separate myself from the crowd, but that’s hard to do when some will say anything to make the sale.
When I hired the house inspector recommended by my agent for the the house in which I currently live, here in the beautiful Bitterroot Valley of western Montana, the inspector made no mention of the fact that the main box for this house’s electrical wiring was only half as big as its wiring required. In other words, the house was a major firetrap waiting to happen.
The agent I trusted assured me that her friend, the house inspector, operated on the standards set by the franchised house inspection business she ran as a small business on her own. It was a national franchise, though I had never hired someone from this group, nor even heard of it, and relied in the past on local, well-spoken inspectors who knew the building trade and codes inside and out.
I can assure you, that after losing the funds I had set aside to reestablish my art business in my new residence, I did not appreciate the buddy system exhibited by these two “professionals”. It was selfish ambition, that was all. Neither that agent, nor that so-called house inspector, will ever have my business again. At least I have some altruistic satisfaction in knowing that the buyer of my home will not have to worry about catastrophic electrical fires, or even an unhealthy, shoddy sewer system that freezes and backs up every winter or spring (yes, and I replaced the whole sewer system under the house, as well).
There you go, another lovely tale of “burned buyer bewares from now on”.