847.926.HOME (4663) | Fax: 847.926.4463 | PO Box 812 - Highland Park, IL 60035
Your Home Inspector
As a real estate professional you strive to provide your clients with the best possible customer service. Your image and your success are reflected in the people with whom you work and recommend. The home inspector plays a critical role in the transaction not only from the standpoint of inspecting the property, but also in how your client perceives that property.
Perception and image are everything. From the moment the home inspector pulls up to the house you as the agent want to know you are working with a professional. Professionalism not only means that the inspector is licensed by the State of Illinois, which can be checked at the OBRE website, but that the inspector looks and acts like a professional. Winter makes it difficult sometimes to keep a vehicle clean, but you want the inspector's vehicle to look nice. You want the inspector to be dressed neatly and you want the inspector to be able to communicate well.
You want the inspector to be educated. Now that inspectors are licensed, there are continuing education requirements to be met. The two home inspector organizations, ASHI and NAHI, do a good job of providing continuing education to their members. It is not necessary for a home inspector to belong to either of these organizations so long as the inspector adheres to the Standards of Practice and Code of Ethics set forth by the State.
Communicating the condition of the property in such a way that does not alarm the client is critical. Yes, sometimes there are issues with a property that make the client not want to take that property. It is the role of the inspector to provide the client with information so that they may make an informed decision regarding that property. The inspector is not there to tell the client what to do. If a client decides not to purchase a property based on something that comes up at inspection, that is OK. You want the house to kill the deal, not the inspector. You want that client to walk away from that deal feeling grateful that they were protected from getting in over their head. You want that client to have the same team put together for that next property you find them because they were so happy with the service they received.
Agents and Inspectors each have their role to play in the transaction. Each should want to work with a professional on the other side. A good inspection should give the client an education about their property, the good and the bad, not just the condition. Agents want to have confidence in whom they recommend; they want a team which will compliment their business.
