TOPIC: Being a Deal Killer

Gentlemen, thank you for your advice. I think after talking to my trusted agent friend (which is probably an oxymoron) the thought of having to lean on agents too much for business was a problem. In the area that I live in New Jersey there are more RE agents than you can shake a stick at. I guess if you are considered a deal killer to one or two of them, it's not the end of the world. My oldest daughter is in the 6th grade and I get to meet a lot of the parents of her classmates at Bday parties, school functions,ect. Ten percent of them are agents! I guess it's hard to tick them all off!!!!

Drew

As you can see this can be a little sore spot for us HI's.  But you can't just dismiss that 99% (just pulled outa my butt) of people use Realtors and we should try to tap into that centralized market if we can.

Drew et al,
I thought I'd throw in a post because I had a situation just yesterday.  First a quick story... I inspected a home week ago that was water damaged but professionally dried-down.  The buyer hired me right after the flood occured in the home and I shot some IR images for him, and then during my home inspection he wanted the thermal add-on (I charge extra for IR).  This house looked fine and was even given a certification by the remediators.  The morning I inspected this house I received an automatic email from another RE agency showing a new listing.  This new listing happened to be next door to the inspection home and it said it had "a small leak" and the carpet had been removed.  I thought it very ironic that two houses side-by-side would have water damage--a trend? 

A few days ago I receive a call from a RE agent that uses (now maybe "used") me exclusively to inspect the new listing home for an investor client he has.  I've inspected another home earlier for this investor and expect I'll get a couple more jobs in the near future from this client.  I asked the RE agent if he knew it had water damage and he essentially said it was a "small" leak.  I wanted to see my thermal but ended up not doing so.  I inspected the home and reported what I saw.  I spoke with my client (I inspect for him and not the RE agent) and told him, as I recommend in my report, a mold test.  It appears to me that this home had more than just a "small" leak and required the entire first floor carpet to be removed.  There are smudges along the lower portion of all the downstairs walls that concern me as they could be a result of either an improper dry-down or a lack of a dry-down.  I didn't see any evidence of an intrusive moisture meter use or jetted air into wall cavities.  Additionally, if there is mold in the walls and he doesn't know it because he doesn't test for it, and then subsequently rents the place, he could have a tenant calling him because of respritory problems.  A simple but not cheap test should be done to mitigate his liability.  I mentioned to my client that the house next door had water damage and was dried down with no problems afterwards and I verified no areas of investigation with thermal when I inspected that home.

I was supposed to meet up with my client and the RE agent at some point of time yesterday at the home but they didn't show when they said they would so I pressed with my day.  I called the RE agent and the first thing he asked me was, "What did you say to him?" because the client wasn't going to buy the house.  He told me that client said he had bad feelings about the place, the next door home had problems, and he justed didn't feel like he wanted to purchase the place.  The agent went on to tell me that he didn't think I should be saying anything but exactly what is in my report because I'm only getting $325 for the inspection.  He did admit that the listing agent didn't fully disclose the nature of damage this house incurred and even went as far as bleaching the walls (the growth happened to reappear within the last five days).

Hmmm, maybe he has a point but I don't agree that I simply stick to the basics.  This client has hired me twice and said he will continue to use my services for next properties.  I think this RE angent may not use me any longer because he thinks I swayed the sale to a non-sale and he doesn't make his 3-5%.  As I told my wife, I'd do the same all over again because the RE agent won't pay my E&O deductible or go to court for me. 

Call it like you see it.  So when I was asked, "What did I tell him?" the answer was "the truth".

Greg

Greg - it sounds like the agent who "used" to use you was in cahootz with the agent who bleached the walls.  It seems to me that he knew the other agent had not disclosed everything regarding the very, teensy, small leak... 

I wonder what they would do should their names happen to show up at the local real estate agent licensing authority office in the form of a complaint...  bleaching walls is serious business.

You are probably right - two houses next to each other with the same problem may be  a pattern, not a coincidence.

Stick to your guns!  Always stick to your guns...

Amen brotha...  These RE's need to be held accountable to their actions.  Not everything in life is about a dollar. 

Or you could use this to your advantage and tell the RE that you should get all their business because you looked out for their well being and made sure their name "didn't" get turned into the licensing authority!

Okay maybe I like the first one a little more.  Makes me feel better even though it shouldn't!  lol

Uh Oh.  Better watch out everybody.  Looks like Dom is going to start inspecting now.     If something is not the way it is supposed to be, it is a defect and goes in the Red.  It is not up to me to determine what is important to the client and what is not important.   I had a client that was more concerned about the color of his front door than the melted FP circuit breakers in the panel.  Each to his own.

I would love to see a second defect button that would put items on the summary that would be a different color than red.  Still want the red, just want another color in addition.  Maybe yellow or blue.  I want it to show in the summary so the client knows it is a defect.  Cmon Dom.......walk away from the cookies..... write that code.