TOPIC: Re-inspection

Thank you Greg - you gush, I blush...

P.s.  YOU can have anything you want in terms of your business.  "You are never given a wish without also being given the power to make it true ... you may have to work for it however."  Jonathan Livingston Seagull

due to the distance of my service area, I can't afford to do this for free very often.

I do reinspection's a lot of the time. Generally if it is time sensitive and I have to make a special trip I  charge 50% of the original inspection fee and I  do another report. I know a lot of people do not do the report but I feel that documenting is as important as inspecting.

I reduced my fees if the client can be flexible and I can come in and reinspect during lunch or after my afternoon inspection one I'm already in the area. I generally charge about $95 for this.

I attempt to discourage reinspection of certified/licensed contractor repairs when it requires taking something apart that they have done to inspect it. When I touch it,   I could become the responsible party and possibly  void the repair warranty.

Often clients are not comfortable that the repair will be done correctly and hire me anyway (This is often the case when they are not impressed with construction quality to start with). They are informed that I am not there to evaluate the workmanship, rather that the issue which was reported in my inspection report has gone away, and new ones were not created.

There is always the chance of conflict with the trades. I answer calls frequently from electricians and HVAC contractors disputing my findings. Simply put, it's the clients concern and they need to do something about it. There is no way to overcome this because these guys truly believe that a home inspector does not know their job (which may be the case), but not in my case. If I reported the issue, it's an issue!

Advice over the phone should always be free and offered to your client. I tell my clients that they have free telephone support for the rest of their life after I complete the inspection! I always get a second look from that comment! Then I reiterate, "well, for the rest of my life anyway"! I get telephone calls all the time from real estate agents with problems that they don't understand. As I posted in another thread, making yourself "the answer Guy" for your client or a referring real estate agent is the most effective thing you can achieve when it comes to future referrals. When there is a problem, who  are they going to call? When they have work to be done  comments about those free telephone  assists always seem to make it to their clients.

A lot of inspectors do not like to work the realtor referral as they think they can't give an objective report and keep the real estate agent happy. I have only found one or two real estate agents that I refuse to work for because they are obviously looking for the soft report. When your report is objective and it is staged to help the client, the real estate agent as well as the homeowner (keeping things in perspective ) everyone can be happy (except maybe those trades people)   

That's good stuff David... 

I always ask people to call me anytime, and they do.  Both clients and realtors.

We only have a couple of realtors on our "do not accept business from these" list.  Every industry has its unscrupulous.  I avoid them like a bad disease.

Another problem I have is the realtor who calls and schedules an inspection just to save a slot, knowing that I am busy and they may not be able to get that slot if they wait until after a contract ratifies.  We ALWAYS ask if the contract is ratified, or the electricity or water is on, etc., and often the realtor lies about it and reserves the slot.  Then they call to cancel because of a "contract problem."  Translation - they lied.  It is a problem I have not been able to overcome.  I don't have a lie-o-meter on my phone or in my ear.  This does not happen with regular realty clients, though.  Only the new ones - "Hey, Jay, I got your name from..."  I had just such a cancellation this morning!

I, too, try to be "the Answer Guy," but now that I know you are one - um, can I call anytime too?

Jay,

I was chatting with Aram earlier and he's taking $100 deposits on inspections via his website. Maybe taking a deposit would take care of those types of agents who try to book a slot from you. At least you're guaranteed the $100 if they bail and would have the power to carry it over if you feel they are being honest about the cancellation.

Is good idea this.  I think now...

Let me know what you come up with during your thinking