I am a Professional Home Inspector, which is a pretty cool job, as I get to help people for a living. I obviously do my best to make sure that my clients’ needs are met. This usually involves answering questions about the house they’re considering purchasing, as well as the occasional question about the home-buying process. While inspectors typically answer the same questions over and over, there is one question that none of us want to hear from our clients. As it turns out, it is one of our clients’ most frequently asked questions: “Should I buy this house?”
Sometimes the buyers question us covertly, approaching their inspector when their real estate agent is out of earshot. Some of them call us after the inspection is over, looking for some “off the record” advice. Some of them will simply ask in front of their agent, trying to get their inspector’s input in this all important home buying decision.
Being forthright and blindly answering a question like this can be a recipe for disaster, so we need to be on the look out for this situation. This question can easily send us down a slippery slope if the wrong thing comes out our mouth. It’s important that we anticipate this dreaded question and have a proper response already planned for our clients.
Diplomacy is the art of knowing what not to say.
Matthew Trump
It goes without saying that our first responsibility is to the rules and laws of our individual state and/or professional organization. We should know exactly what our responsibilities are and what we are allowed to say when we inevitably find ourselves in this situation. A recommendation for or against the purchase of a home we’ve inspected can easily be construed as an opinion on the value of the house, and that is something that is not included in an inspector’s job description.
We are not there to advise home buyers regarding the purchase of a home; we are there to inspect the house, document any potential concerns or problems, and relay that information to our clients in a clear and concise manner. That is the extent of our job duties, and we should adhere to our standards and stay in our lane.
Everything else to do with the sale of that home is somebody else’s responsibility. Home inspector, real estate agent, appraiser, termite inspector, lender, insurance agent, title company; they all have a specific role to play in a real estate transaction.
Venturing into any part of the transaction that is not within our area of expertise is a recipe for disaster.
Inspecting houses is pretty repetitive, and surprisingly, so is dealing with our clients. It’s a given that we will likely get the same questions (in some form or fashion) from all our clients. Just like every other item we should be ready for while doing our job, we should be prepared for the dreaded question. We should know that it’s coming and should have some type of well-rehearsed answer at the ready.
Obviously, every inspection is different and every client is unique. We must always remember to play to our audience, taking into consideration the distinct circumstances of every different situation. But even though everyone is different, having pre-practiced “scripts” that we can tweak for each customer is a sure-fire way to increase our efficiency and lessen our stress.
When faced with the “Should I buy this house?” question, I usually offer the same advice to my clients: Typically, anything that’s wrong with a house can be fixed. The important question is always whether or not it makes financial sense to do so.
As we’re often faced with a situation where we barely know our clients, it would be foolish to believe that we possess enough information to properly advise them on their home purchase. Fortunately, they already have someone who fits that bill: their Realtor. In conjunction with their appraiser and lender, the buyers hire their Realtor to advise them regarding their home buying decision.
An professional home inspectors, we should step back and let them do their job so we can concentrate on doing ours.
Knowing how to stay in our own lane while doing our job is one of the most difficult things we must learn as an inspector. Most of us pride ourselves on the fact that we’re helping our clients with the largest financial decision of their lives. It can be difficult to reign in our desire to help. It’s ingrained in our DNA. Regardless, we’ve got to realize that there are boundaries, know where those boundaries are, and abide by them.
Advising someone on whether or not they should buy a specific property lies outside those boundaries.
So, when we find ourselves in this situation, we’ve got to think long and hard about what it is we’re going to say. Spitting out the wrong answer could have long-term, negative implications on our career.
Or, we could just repeat the same old, worn-out speech that’s worked every time before.
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Thanks, Joe
