Reason #987 why I hate realtors

First off - apologies to any realtors n the group - yes, I fully understand it everyone is bad and it’s 5% who make the lot of you look bad.

So as a rule of thumb I HATE few professions - lawyers and dentist can be absolute jackasses to deal with - but hey, it’s a jackass with 8 years of college making 6 figures - so they at least kind of earn that since of entitlement they have.

Used car sales people and realtors though - everything is about image and everything is “negotiable” in their mind. Come in acting as if they are big shots - bragging about their latest paycheck and commission. It’s like c’mon dude - sure you made 5 figures last month - but 2 shitty months and your talking bankruptcy. As a whole - these are a pawn brokers best customers.

So my latest misadventure with a realtor yesterday just adds to my personal hatred of them. Recently started looking at homes - found one, made offer and agreed on price - signed contract, paid my good faith deposit and signed a contract. First sign of annoying behavior was our realtor pushing their “preferred” lender - I know they take kick backs from lenders - it’s illegal but hey when you have like 20 people nationwide in HUD investigating this practice - enforcement is non existent. I said no thanks - I’ve got my own guy. They continue to push “their guy” saying “seller really prefers you use them” - I just said. I thanks - sellers could care less who wrote the check - just the amount the check is for.

So we get our closing date - approval from my lender yesterday and everything is going fine. Suddenly - realtor calls and says “seller has another offer possibly and wants to walk” - I’m just like - tough - we have a contract and if they try it - I’m prepared to seek damages - so unless that other offer is huge and they want to pay me off to walk - I’m gonna make this a nightmare for them.

Our realtor comes back with a laundry list of things seller is allegedly demanding - again - I said I’ll work with them within reason - but if they want to change terms - then we are changing price too in my favor. Suddenly it becomes “let me talk to them” and much less demanding.

So comes back late last night - it was all a “misunderstanding” - seller got skiddish we might back out and leave them back to square one - wanted to make sure we are committed (allegedly). Im just like now, isn’t that a hell of a way to ask that question. Tell me you have another buyer to “test” my commitment. Seems a rather stupid way that could easily backfire to me. After all - what the hell would they have said if I went “ok - let the other buyers have it then”.

I asked why in the hell couldn’t they act like adults and simply ask to make sure I’m committed (stupid me - I thought giving someone a few thousand dollars, getting financing and appraisal and setting a closing date shows I was “serious”) and not make up some alleged other offer. Get some half ass apology from my realtor and again it was just “a miscommunication”.

Now looking back in everything- I’m thinking it’s more my own damn realtor more so than the sellers who is pushing this. Why - it’s simple, my own damn realtor wants paid ASAP and is trying to push up closing date. No idea why - the date is set and it’s not like a title agency is going to be able to research things faster - even if they were - what do we save - a week, 10 days tops.

Wish I could change realtors - but at this stage in the game I doubt that’s possible/practical. Started getting suspicious when one of the “conditions” that were presented to me was changing to my realtors preferred lender (a competing major mortgage lender). Made zero sense - I mean get someone saying “I’m more comfortable with Joe at the local bank over some big national company” - but saying I only trust mega corp vs mega corp 2 makes no sense to me - especially when mega corps links and app are plastered across my realtors web page/email signature and business card - but never came up from sellers.

It’s stupid things like this that make me hate realtors. Seriously - you showed me 4 houses, your in line to make 3% for relatively little work - take the easy money and be happy. But no / gotta be greedy and try to milk a few hundred dollars or a free steak dinner at Ruth Chris outta a “their” mortgage guy by steering me to them. Who cares if it cost me a half percent on a rate - they made more. Some people simply do not understand who is paying their commissions or care about a reputation guess - and make life shit for the professionals that DO act honestly.

Guess this is what you get when your profession requires a 40 hour class at a community college for “training” to enter the field. Also - don’t get me started on home inspectors and that racket either.

 

This is why I don't use realtors, in my opinion they are even lower than used car salespeople. like many things in life there is nothing that they do that you can not do yourself.
For one, the title company takes care of most all legally required items, find a good one. And yes, you will have to do some work, some of it difficult, but it can be done. Last time I sold a house it turned out that my buyer had a wife he split with many years prior but had never divorced. Much extra paperwork was needed from her, notarized of course, but guess what, she was doing years of hard time in jail.
Well, I called the jail, set up a notary, got the documents from my title company, and drove to the jail. I sold the house and paid 0 in commissions.

 

Leaches of Life.

 

Aaaah, the emotional rollercoaster of home buying, "It's so fun", says no one who has ever done it! Our tolerance level for bullshit goes down significantly when in said emotional roll coaster, while being exhausted from stress and lack of sleep, and doing lots of work packing or fixing up a home to sell.

I feel for ya, realtors can be a bare, most are very lazy from my experience, not afraid to stretch the truth if it's in their best interest, and only care about the check! Most do the minimum they have to to get by, and they are suppose to advocate for you, but honestly they only advocate for each other and themselves!

I would agree with your own thoughts, try and get through this, get this house you want and move on. You cannot switch realtors anyway, if you want the house you are under contract with, as your realtor would still be entitled to her commission, so you might as well make her work for it!

I decided to sell my condo and buy a SFH in 2016, my first realtor lied on several occasions, told me there were showings when there were not (after I told him I was thinking of taking it off temporarily so I could put new flooring down and paint), just to make it look like I was getting a lot of traffic, then he lied on the listing saying it was in perfect condition, despite the flooring needing replacement (why I will never own cats again!). He used his apple iPhone to take the listing photos which were TERRIBLE! If he was a good realtor he would have said, hey, probably should replace the flooring (the two cats I had had scratched holes in the rug in a couple areas all the way down to the padding) before going on the market, and throw some neutral paint up etc. He showed me homes, and he was better then the second lazy dip shit I had, but neither understood the added stress of buying a SFH as a single female with no SFH fixing experience, thankfully I brought a good male friend with me when I could. Anyway, the market was just really heating up and recovering at that time, I gave it a month, and fired him, did some work, hired a new agent who was better when it came to selling it and it sold after two days on the market. She was also super lazy, made me let the buyer and his agent in for the inspection, neither agent showed up for the final walk through, I basically had to show the buyer the place the day before closing on my own. Same agent SUCKED when it came to looking at homes, again it was a hot market and you had to look at listings as soon as they came up or they would be gone.. She gave me a hard time when I wanted to see properties asap, including on the weekend days. Told me she had to spend time with her family, which I get it you have a family, but you are a damn real estate agent, when you signed up for that you lost your weekend days (this was EVERY weekend)! I finally told her that she needed to have anther agent with her group start showing me places then, since she couldn't, she suddenly freed up some time after that. She was super arrogant, I felt like she was legit working for all the sellers when it came to putting offers in, did not advocate for me in the least bit. I ran into a lot of "the seller wants to sell to a family..." crap, as if a single person doesn't deserve a house, the sellers would hold onto my offer and not respond for days while they waited for a couple or family to make an offer, or for a higher offer. I had money to put down, and it was a conventional loan, so it wasn't like I was asking them to deal with FHA headaches. I finally started telling her to put offer deadlines on my contracts, she then claimed I didn't respect her time... like WTF lady, I had to be home to let my buyer into my condo on 2-3 occasions cause you were to lazy to come do it!! Anywho, I was so fed up with her, I was ten seconds from firing her! A couple houses when on the market Labor Day weekend, I told her I want to look at them Friday, she again cried about it stating she needed to be with family, I told her Friday anytime or have another agent show me them... the first one was a disaster, mice everywhere, so gross!! The second one however, was THE ONE, I had her put an offer in as soon as she could that day and I ended up getting it because everyone else waiting until the next day or Monday to make offers, and THANKFULLY the widower who owned it didn't give a shit who bought it, she accepted. my full price offer and the rest is history.... I won't mention the shit the dumb inspector missed, like the toilet that had been leaking into the sub floor for at least six months, which I discovered while painting the bathroom, the garage ceiling was even wet from it and he missed that too!! He didn't even look at the toilet, as there was no comments on the report he gave me, needless to say I got my 400.00 dollars back, but I spent 1200 fixing what he missed. I ended up selling my condo in July and didn't find a house and close until October, thankfully I had a place I could stay for those few months, so I didn't have that worry!

To the OP, just take some deep breaths, realize it's just a rough patch and it will be worth it in the end!! Before you know it you will be popping wine corks and having a house warming party! I say fire that realtor though if this house falls through, which it won't, if it does just know it wasn't the right one and the universe has other plans for you! I look back on some of the houses I got denied on and I am SUPER thankful, because this one was SO well cared for by the previous owners, and beautifully updated, in the perfect place and the perfect size! You will find yourself in the right home when it's the right time!

-T

 

I can totally agree with most of the comments to a point...

We've been through hel! the last 6 months thanks to Mother Nature BUT out of all the Bull$hit , we found a FEW people who were actually on our side

The Agent that showed us our current home went above what any of the 3 others tried to do and got us in ahead of schedule as promised..

The Agent that sold our home in Fort Myers again went out of her way to help us through every obstacle thrown & then our Title lawyers team

knocked it out of the park when the HOA threatened the sale..

My trust must be earned BUT when I can look you in the eyes , talk to you on the phone , NOT TEXT and then shake your hand for helping me &

mine.. Job well done..

 

Man, do I ever feel this comment.

Back in 2008 when we sold our house, we had an offer literally the day it went on the market. We were younger and dumber then, and the offer was for almost exactly what we'd discussed our minimum accepting offer as being, so we took it.

As a condition of the sale we asked if we could keep our stuff there an extra week beyond the closing date - not because we had a lot of stuff to move but because I had one thing I needed help moving (I forget what it was). Turns out I was able to make it there the day after the closing.

We went there to find the front door wide open; new owner's vehicle was there, as was...his realtor's.

Went in the front door, calling out anyone's name, making sure we were heard....and walked in on the new owner and his realtor *making out in the hot tub.*

To say I was pissed is a vast understatement. My representing realtor and.his worked for the very same realty agency, so yeah, imagine how that looked to me. Not exactly illegal, but unethical as hell. I forget what the hell it was I left there but I said "F*** y'all, YOU can keep this damn thing. Don't try to get me to pick it up" and left.

With that said, there was a sort of....poetic justice to it, though not in their favor. Realtor got caught doing some shady stuff and was told in no uncertain terms to leave the agency and had her license revoked; and the buyer decided to relieve himself of the burden of life.

 

Bruh..... My first realtor was as arrogant as they come... She was one of those, they need me more than I need them... I can't remember how many unanswered texts and emails I sent her. She would rarely text me back, but when she did, she would respond with: "they all have offers", granted a hot market you will probably be busy, but not 1 reply? I'll work on it, I'm busy text you back, nothing. So, one night, I called her, and she answered the phone, over an appointment to view a house I wanted to put an offer on. She set an appointment with the agent, and off I was from NorCal to SoCal for the weekend.

The morning of, she called me early on about covid requirements and paperwork I needed to sign, so I mentioned I'm taking my niece and my mom, I was told it would be OK. I arrive at the house, and she blindsides me with I only have paperwork for 1 person, like I didn't just tell her not 2 hours prior I wasn't going to be alone. I let that go due to the Covid thing and once we were done with the viewing, she sprung on me 4 more houses she wanted to show me but had never mentioned them. Frustratingly I accepted since I was on a time crunch, and I needed options, due to a work transfer. We went to some random places where all the places were not what I was looking for. I needed 3 to 4 bedroom and she was offering viewings with 2 bed 1 bath, or 2 bed 2 baths. I was pretty hot, but politely declined the remaining 2 houses that were similarly listed. I told her I would call her back, and I never did.

My mom was probably twice as hot as I was and told me forget that lady, she ain't doing sh*t but wasting your time... call my agent, so I did. So, I started talking to this other agent, and she linked me up with her small mortgage company, I was hesitant, but I accepted. Once we started talking finances and she started talking about clearing out my retirement accounts, I started to resist the idea, but advised her that I needed a contract signed, since they're not gonna just let me clear it out. At that point she started bringing up that she needed family time and wanted to move to Idaho with her son and all this and that. So, she linked me up with her friend, because she was a broker and that's how they met.

Now agent #3, was above and beyond the last 2 agents, and what my mom expected from her agent. I was able to contact and got instant feedback on almost everything within reason. If she was busy, she would let me know, but was always updating me on any type of process. The most interesting part of the voyage was that I was able to make an offer on a house I had asked the 1st realtor about and was ignored for about a week and a half, when she replied it has multiple offers. So here I was, almost 3 months later making an offer on a property I was initially interested in. The plus side, I got it at a discount as the sellers needed to sell it due to a spouse's ailment. Realtor #3 walked me through the rest of the process and closing the transaction. It took a little longer than expected, but I was understanding due to their situation. Realtor #1 emailed me back 6 months later asking if I was still interested in purchasing the house I had just purchased. That there was an offer pending, but if I wanted to, she would help me make an offer. I never replied back, she sent me daily house listings for the next 3 months, something she had never done before. One day she just stopped all together, not sure if she got the message, or she found someone she actually needed.

 

Yes home buying is a roller coaster - but the reason I’m paying someone is to EASE the process - not make it worse. This is what pisses me off to know end. Jackass playing it off as “the evil sellers are making me make these demands” that ultimately benefits no one but HIM. I mean - how does the seller benefit if I use bank a vs bank b ?! The amount of the check they receive is the same - only difference is my realtor only gets a kickback from bank a. No bank ever gives kickbacks to listing agents.

Ditto with some of the other stuff demanded - all around getting my house here listed. Sellers don’t care a bit - they have a date that we close - they get their money on that date. Pushing up the listing of my current home a week benefits only the listing agent for me (slightly - I mean really, why would a house sell instantly on one day - but a week later command less interest - we are not talking Christmas trees here - it’s a house and demand is not seasonal).

Like I said - my gate if the profession originated from working in the auto field. Certain professions and ethnicities get a bad reputation- and realtors are usually the worst and well deserved. Most buy “luxury” brands - because well they gotta show off that “lifestyle” they are selling. I’m fine with that - lots of people overspend on a car to look flashy - no big deal to me. It’s when they come in and start the “do you know who I am….thousands of people see me in cars I bought here…you should be selling to me below cost because it’s free advertising for your brand and I’m basically selling cars for you” line that gets me. Like no douche bag - I don’t need you to sell new 5 series to wanna be yuppies and over tanned housewives - the slick print ads in whatever periodical your people read does that quite well. Just like no - maintenance isn’t free - even for you because your a “loyal” customer who every 20 months is at my desk trying to squeeze a few more dollars off the already pre-negotiated lease specials offered by corporate to you that we make nothing selling. The whole idea of these promos is we make it back in service - losing out on the profit of selling a unit - and you want me to PAY YOU by giving free materials and labor.

Like I said - realtors aren’t the only ones. Dentist, accountants and some attorneys can be bad too (some attorneys are actually fine though - typically the bigger they are - the less they care - it’s the young ones with no money who try to argue over every cent - the established guys just say “how much” and hand you a check - their time s worth more than arguing with a lowly car salesperson.

Oh well - hopefully it’s finished in a few weeks. I do not get attached to homes and could care less - aside from the headaches of having to start looking again. More the wife - she sees and starts making plans and projects immediately - and of course gets upset when they play this game - which in turn pisses me off.

 

Devils advocate - May not be your situation - often times selling a house results in a large sum of money being collected by the seller. Large sums of money can take days, and sometimes a week or more to process. It’s getting better, but still not great. If the seller banks with Chase let’s say, and you get your mortgage from chase, the transfer of funds may be near instantaneous as the channel to do so is all in house so to speak. Does that benefit you? Nope. Also, it’s not realtors you hate, it’s selfish self important people who happen to sell houses. I’ve had good and bad experiences with all walks of life, realtors included. Higher percentage of douche bag or “here for the check” types selling houses? Perhaps. Have a good friend who is a realtor that started his own real estate business. He’s honest, works hard, communicates openly and frequently and responds to requests. It’s not just me he’s treating this way, it’s how he runs his business. So, like anything, shop around when choosing a realtor. And don’t buy into the whole “under contract or agreement” with a realtor or real estate agent (not the same thing) as a buyer, or really as a seller. People either are, or aren’t meeting your needs in that arena. If it ain’t working, move on.

 

The mortgage company or bank does not hold the money, a title company or attorneys office holds the money in an escrow account, and writes the check to the seller, so using the same bank has nothing to do with how fast you get your money. Of course I could be wrong, but I think it has to be a neutral party that hands out, and collects the funds when it comes to selling a house.

 

Sold a house years ago and was given a check from Regions bank for my proceeds. Even regions bank wouldn’t cash it. My bank was going to take 10-14 days to process it. Regions wanted me to open a bank account with them or kick rocks. I wanted them to cash it since it’s their check. It was for around $17k. They wouldn’t cash their own F’n check. Had I banked with them, would have been no problem to deposit it and get funds quickly. My experience selling my last two houses was as as you described, funds deposited into my bank account from the title company same day, and I’m talking $100k proceeds instantly.

 

I've pretty much only had good experiences with realtors but I only use ones people I trust have recommended to me and who don't feel the need to advertise. A good realtor will have more business than they can handle just from referrals.

 

Unfortunately, when purchasing our home our realtor was also the mortgage broker.

So when we called up and said lock in the loan (at a specific interest rate), we thought we were all set. Only to find out days and weeks later they were playing games like not really locking our loan in at that time. They were expecting the interest rates to go down, so by waiting they were going to charge us the higher interest rate and pocket the difference. Only the interest rate never went down, continued a steady increase. I was so incredibly angry, ended up paying .75 points higher that when we said lock, and that was after me pushing the mortgage broker into paying half a point down at the tie of the closing.

Then, to put the cherry on top of the pain, the broker had set us up with CountryWide. OMFG...the shenanigans and thievery (years later) they were pulling (was all over the news). Ended up doing a refi (took no money out) just to get away from them. Flipped it to a 15 year loan from Navy Federal Credit Union. Absolutely no drama after that.... but good lord. I know there are good realtors and mortgage companies, but there sure a crap ton of crappy ones out there.

 

One of my sons is a realtor. He treats his clients with respect….but then again we live in Wyoming & he was raised to be respectful & honest. I agree, there are idiot real estate agents walking upright, taking nourishment, & pretending to work for their clients. I also agree, potential buyers & sellers should ask around to get recommendations before contacting a realtor.

 

Thing is - we have a closing date set. Sellers get their money immediately at closing (via bank wire from the title agency) - money is deposited prior to closing by my lender and held in escrow by the title agency - f contract isn’t signed for any reason - money goes back to my lender and seller keeps deed to the house (unless we agree to postpone of course).

Absolutely no benefit to using one lender over another - the date money is available to seller is set by the close date - they get it immediately at close. Also wouldn’t be faster if I used another lender - most lenders are pretty fast once approved - it’s time researching the title and verifying no outstanding liens or issues that takes time. It’s still a terribly outdated process in a way - but required when your talking a potential claim to something you pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for only to find out someone else has a claim to ownership or a stake because years ago someone failed to properly clear a title.

 

Regarding recommendations- sadly - this guy was recommended by a family member (wife’s side of family). Small town - went to school with one of them and attends church with another - oh he’s so great and committed to clients - BS. Guess no one actually bought a house with him - just knows him personally and not professionally.

Which brings me to another “personal recommendation” story - this one was for an attorney. My mom worked for years in local courts and actually clerked for a judge for a few years. The judge’s son is now the main attorney in a small town - everyone knows him, well liked and all. Mom went to him for estate plans and all - well when mom had a personal injury case - she went to him for help. I know enough - but honestly didn’t want to be involved in it personally as I was doing something very similar for my job at the time.

Anyway - this clown looks at her case and says “it’s a loser - you have zero chance” - and she does nothing. Unfortunately- she passed shortly thereafter - again I talked to the guy and he said don’t waste your time - it’s got ZERO chance. I took it to someone else and he told me simply whoever told you this has zero chance is an idiot - it’s not foolproof - but it’s also very winnable. Told him have fun with it and maybe we get lucky using this as leverage against a debt mom had to the company who she had a claim against - whatever he saves me I’d pay 25% as a fee.

6 weeks later he came to me with their offer - debt wiped out AND a low digit payment. This out of a case a trusted attorney told me had no legs. Turns out he was just too damn busy and didn’t want to take it - so instead of saying that he told mom she had no case and she believed him. Granted it’s taken just over 2 years to get the damn thing settled (stupid ass sibling who is demanding “their share” - I planned on just donating anything from it as it’s not my money and it’s what my parents would have wanted - but can’t remove people from their “rightful” inheritance - oh well - karma is a bitch and it will catch up to them sooner or later - not like they won’t piss it away stupidly in 6 months.

 

There are absolutely good home inspectors - problem is few of them WORK as home inspectors. A lot are in different areas of construction - but will occasionally do inspections especially for family/friends.

The ones recommended by realtors understand the game - if the house doesn’t sell - no one gets paid on the realtor side. If the realtor doesn’t get paid - they are unlikely to refer you again to their clients - so there is an incentive to downplay minor issues. Big stuff - yea - they will catch it because if they fail to - well they will get called on it by a dissatisfied home buyer sooner than later. It’s the “small stuff” and how they downplay some things that gets me.

One biggie I saw weekly - a home inspector does not physically go on the roof of a home and many won’t go into crawl spaces. Even if they do - it’s a cursory glance from the outside or top of the ladder - not physically inspecting anything. Guess what happens inevitably - home owner gets a leak - calls insurance and finds out there’s old wind/hail on the roof (predating their ownership) or a seepage issue somewhere that’s been going on a while and rotted wood that’s not covered by insurance.

Worst ones by far are the “flip” houses - investor buys a run down place/foreclosure and then tosses a bunch of modern finishes to cosmetically improve either doing it their selves or using cheap labor. It usually takes 6-8 months before the lipstick wears off the pig and issues surface - how a home inspector doesn’t catch these issues is beyond me. Hell - how a home buyer doesn’t question these purchases is puzzling. It’s not like it’s hard to see a homes history - and the moment you see a house that looked like shit 9 months ago and suddenly has a farmhouse decor with subway tile and an accent wall - you gotta question what it’s hiding and who did the work. Unfortunately- most buyers just feel rushed and the opportunity to buy a finished home that looks nice and doesn’t need any updates is just too tempting I guess.

 

So I live in Ontario Canada. The Realtors are just part of the system, they need to make a living so enforce their AGENDA - higher prices - to make higher commissions. Tactics includes holding off offers till a Certain day/time dealine to encourage multiple bids and FOMO- fear of missing out. At the height of the pandemic housing buying, some houses received offers in the three figure range. Picture that.

If you are buying a property many people don't realize in Ontario Canada that both the Realtor representing the Seller and the Buyer - work for the Seller. So even if your buddy is helping you find a property to buy - ask him or her - who they work for - the reaction is priceless.

The Greater Toronto Area Real Estate even with last year's, 18% correction still average over one million dollars.
This is still more expensive (based on income) than in late 80's early 90's when rates were high double digits and houses were $200,000

A one million dollar GTA home equates to approx. $5400 a month in mortgage payments.
That same house can be rented for 1/2 that amount with no house taxes, and house expenses, repairs to deal with.

Can you say Ponzi Scheme in Ontario Canada real estate......... right now ? (Until prices drop another 25% or rates go down).

I also have family members that are Realtors.
There are 80,000 Realtors in Ontario, Canada. 60,000 are part of the Toronto Real Estate Board on its own.

 

I generally had a good experience with the realtor who sold me this home. My Mom when she was looking signed with a lazy one who had her sign some sort of buyer's agent agreement or something and then dragged her feet getting her out to see homes. Don't remember the exact details, something about how until the thing expired she was entitled to commission whether my Mom went through her or someone else. So she put Mom on the back burner, felt no urgency to bust her ass showing her houses until it was almost up. After putting a little effort into trying to make it work my Mom simply stopped calling her and let it expire. Towards the end the lady was calling to see if she wanted to come see houses and Mom was blowing her off.

Then someone else got to make a quick pay day off of her writing one check to buy the new one and then quickly selling the old.

 

That's weird. Never heard of a realtor pulling such shenanigans. Maybe trying to get more $$ out of you for a bigger profit? I've both bought and sold a house. When I was buying my house, I had a harder time with the seller. The day of my closing, the seller's kid (who wanted daddy to give him the house) went into the house while I was at the bank and loosened every light bulb in the house. I promptly went to Lowe's and bought all new locks.

And home inspectors - LOL - When I bought my house we were out on the back porch while the inspector was writing his report. It was a wooden deck. We noticed a few big bees flying around - but I was green - what the hell do I know? Yeah - they were carpenter bees.

When I sold my parent's house the buyer wanted me to replace all of the windows in the house and lower my asking price by $30,000. Yeah ok - right. Needless to say I was glad to watch him walk.

 

The realtor I used to buy my condo was great. He had no issues telling it like it is and explaining how the industry works. One of his recommendations was always change the locks when you move into a new house, regardless of how nice or trustworthy you think the sellers are.

He also had lots of good connections, including a civil engineer who was massively over-qualified to be a house inspector but who did a really thorough job on my condo.

I used a different inspector when I bought my house. He used a drone to inspect the roof and generally did a really thorough job on the basement and main floor. Not sure if he was getting tired by the time he got to the second floor or what but he really rushed the end of the inspection and took off. He also had some stupid recommendations like "consider putting in a garage thermostat that goes down to 60 degrees". Well, if you'd bothered to walk over to the thermostat and look at it for 1 second, you would have seen that it's a garage one that goes down to 50 degrees.

 

I, personally, am intrigued to read about your other 986 reasons you hate realtors after reading this. =)

 

My home inspector on our last purchase was as a joke. Did the bare minimum. Maybe less. No real comprehensive inspection, a bunch of “can’t inspect that” action going. Even the stuff he could, he failed. I found a lot of missed items, like an outlet that had a neutral leg wired to hot on a separate circuit between a plug in and a 3 way switch. Got zapped on that one. Missed soft areas on the roof decking. Missed leaky plumbing fixtures. Just useless.

 

I'm hoping a technology like Blockchain will make this profession obsolete.

 

Main reason I'm glad my friend is a realtor. Mainly does rentals and sells/buys only for friends.

Takes a smaller % than normal and I get no bs.

Home inspectors are even worse. They aren't worth shit. I climb everywhere with them and point out shit I see too.

 

Around $600