Home inspectors market directly to Realtors because it is easy to do and they can get many clients if they spend all their time dropping off cards and brochures at brokers’ offices.
In rare but documented cases, some inspectors have even stooped to paying a fee to be included in a broker’s list of “preferred inspectors”, an obvious conflict of interest. Many Realtors use these inspectors because they know that if the inspector wants repeat business he will make the inspection process short and sweet for the Realtor.
Most agents want the home inspection in San Antonio to go smoothly and quickly. They want the inspector to find very few problems, the house to be sold, to collect their commission, and to move on to the next home.
In the meantime, the buyers move into their dream home filled with the joy of home ownership only to discover that the plumbing is older galvanized pipe that will have to be replaced in the near future, the AC compressor is past its useful life and needs to be replaced, and the windows in the back bedroom don’t open because the foundation has settled excessively. Well, now it’s really going to hit the fan.
The buyer blames the agent, the agent blames the inspector and lawyers are sure to become involved. But what if the inspector had been hired by the buyer? In that case, the inspector is solely responsible for his own mess, and/or the buyers can blame themselves for not doing a little more research.