Local 4 anchor, Ruth Spencer, put out an awful tip in today’s Freep.
RUTH TO THE RESCUE : Get a home inspector who’ll tell it like it isHome inspectors who want future referrals from a real estate agent have been known not to tell it like it is if the truth could cause a buyer to back out of a sale. Try a home inspector recommended by an attorney or a friend.Ruth Spencer, Local 4 News
Ruth, that is not only insulting to both the Realtor and the professional home inspector, its just plain bad advice. As a Realtor, I’ve made hundreds of recommendations to my clients when they needed home inspections. My primary goal, as my client’s fiduciary, is to ensure that the inspector finds everything that may concern my client as the future homeowner. I never want to hear from a client after closing that there is a problem that the inspector should have found. I want the house to be everything the client expected, and that is why I recommend an inspector in the first place.
All of the Realtors I know would rather have a purchase fall apart after a home inspection than have the purchaser discover defects later. Believe me, its much easier for us to have a “deal” fall apart than it is to deal with a purchaser with problems after close.
And, unlike a buyer’s attorney or friend, I’ve been to hundreds of home inspections. Most people’s friends have been to one or two inspections. I’ve listened to good inspectors and bad inspectors. I’ve had clients not chose an inspector recommended by me to save money, or because a relative recommended someone else, and they’ve regretted their decision later.
So, Ruth, I think you need to rethink that advice and print a retraction, because you are just plain wrong.
[tags]home inspection, purchase, advice, ruth spencer[/tags]
Written by Maureen Francis
SKBK Sotheby's International Realty, 248.430.4450
Visit Website
Search for homes in Oakland County
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Maureen 09.25.06 at 12:52 pm
Mark,
I am an http://ashi.org fan myself.
Jay T. 09.25.06 at 1:25 pm
Ruth could not be more wrong. Great response Maureen…
teresa boardman 09.25.06 at 3:41 pm
Nice blog. I am sorry that I have not stopped by sooner.
Maureen McCabe 09.27.06 at 2:26 pm
Good advice…. I always wonder when I see this sort of thing whether it is left over from the days of sub agency or comes from the CFA report which reads like advice to consumers who are not represented by a licensee (sub agency.)
I have a list of mostly ASHI inspectors on my website. Occasionally I have a buyer client use someone who was recommened to them by a friend. They don’t do the same level of inspection, as the pros!
We don’t have licensing here for home inspectors yet. The two companies I like best are all engineers and are members of ASHI… both have a “stable†of inspectors.
the other Maureen
Bonnie Erickson 09.27.06 at 10:18 pm
I don’t think Ruth realizes the liability involved in getting an inspector who isn’t thorough. I tell my clients, buyer or sellers, that I want the meanest, baddest, pickiest, most thorough inspector to do their inspection. That way there are no surprises for anyone. And, yes, I have lost a sale or two because of the inspection. But in both cases, the seller became aware of a serious problem they had not known about before!
Maureen 09.30.06 at 11:45 am
This post generated quite a bit of discussion on my activerain blog. I thought I would share the conversation here….
I read that article too. Glad you wrote to her. I just hope your letter gets published.
09/26/2006 by Haven Realtors Edit Delete
egads…next thing you know they won’t want to use the lenders we recommend and the deal will fall apart at the table.
Congrats on your 100th!!!
09/26/2006 by Kelli Sheppe and Michael Fournier Edit Delete
Obviously Ruth is living in Neverland! JOIN the real world Ruth, Unlike you we REALTORS and home inspectors have a FIDUCIARY to the people we work for. IF there is something wrong with a property WE WANT to know about it. Hiding truths, slighting facts or purposely ignoring major defects will not only get us in court, but will also take away our livelihoods. We work hard to do what is right, it’s not about “the deal†it’s about the “right house†and disclosing information the buyer needs to know.
Suggesting otherwise is most ignorant on your part. Tell me Ruth, when you make a statement that is incorrect, who holds you accountable? Nobody does.
You and the media continue to print unfounded facts, spin half truths and know one holds you accountable.
Of course, we can just cancel our subscriptions to the newspapers. Besides my parrot died and I really have no other use for a newspaper.
09/26/2006 by Kristal Kraft Edit Delete
BTW MF, Congrats on 100 excellent posts. I look forward to reading your cyber brain waves, much, much, much more than reading a stupid newspaper.
09/26/2006 by Kristal Kraft Edit Delete
Hey, KK, I think I will cancel that subscription! Yesterday was the first issue I read in weeks. The papers are stacking up. Why give ‘em my money if they put out drivvel like that.
And I am sorry to hear about your parrot.
09/26/2006 by Maureen Francis & Dmitry Koublitsky Edit Delete
Great letter, keep us posted. Congrats on your 100th. I think I’m at 105? However, I’ve been noticing not a lot of comments lately. Too many blogs? Your thoughts.
09/26/2006 by Karen Villa Schweinfurth, ABR, CRS, SRES, e-Pro, CyberStar® Edit Delete
Too much to read KVS. I agree.
Not so many comments now either. I am almost only reading my associates with a few quick peaks around to see what I might be missing.
Maybe people are just focused on getting google food out there? I don’t think so though. I think its just the shear volume.
A few of my favorite bloggers don’t post here that often, so I have started reading their “real blogsâ€â€¦
09/26/2006 by Maureen Francis & Dmitry Koublitsky Edit Delete
KVS and MF: Maybe some people start to write a comment, then think “that’s a really good idea, I’ll think I’ll write my own blog with it instead of just commenting†??
Re Being Rescued by Ruth: I am always amazed at where people come up with some of the ideas they have about us.
And I still get just a little rankled over this one from Yahoo News
09/26/2006 by Cheryl Johnson Edit Delete
Maureen, 100!!! Yippee. Shocking how quick we get there. I really need to get a job. Good post by the way. I hate it when people voice opinions about something they are clueless about.
I look forward to reading 100 more. Thanks for all the great info.
09/26/2006 by Bryant Tutas Edit Delete
Congrats on the 100th post! I’m exhausted just thinking about it.
Ruth is taking the low road. Her opinion lacks the journalistic integity of research and reflects on a poor work ethic on her part.
Moo
09/26/2006 by Angus Woodbury Edit Delete
The simple truth about journalists or other newspaper folk who write about real estate is that real estate is not their business. Writing about real estate is their business and they usually look for a “hookâ€. In this case, the agent has an ulterior motive when they recommend a home inspector.
If the Gods are watching, Good Old Ruth will buy a home and use a home inspector recommended by a friend or attorney and have the usual worthless home inspection experience.
If someone asks my attorney to recommend a home inspector, he’s going to send them to me for names. He knows who knows.
Lenn Harley, Homefinders.com, http://www.homefinders.com
Serving home buyers in Maryland and Virginia
09/26/2006 by Lenn Harley Edit Delete
Holy Cow… I can remember way back when you were just babes in these woods.
Congrats and Blog on!
09/26/2006 by Craig Schiller Edit Delete
Congrats on a strong blog!
In Illinois our inspectors are licensed! Keeps the part-timers and relatives out of our hair.
Had an inspection yesterday…and he found some items. Had to go back today for the radon guy…and I noticed tennis sized bumps under the siding. I swear it wasn’t there yesterday.
Get the inspector to go back out at NO CHARGE! There’s a problem with the vinyl installation he tells us. And, most of the subdivision is that way too.
So, my buyer can walk…there are other properties. Or he can stay…but at least he knows what he’s facing.
Give her Hell! And you might as well cancel the paper. Newspaper advertising is moving to the web…big time!
09/26/2006 by Eileen Landau, ABR, CRS, e-PRO Edit Delete
What a load of…..you know what….
09/26/2006 by Susan Milner – SW Florida Real Estate Edit Delete
Be sure to keep us posted on her response – if she gives one.
Like others have mentioned, the blogs really have deteriorated the past week or so. Too many boring ones!
09/26/2006 by Elaine Reese Edit Delete
Maureen,
That makes my blood boil. I think that I too may want to send a letter to Ruth. She’s the one that needs to be rescued…. Rescued and brought back to reality
Clearly she lives in a sideways universe. UCK!
09/26/2006 by Sara Lipnitz Edit Delete
Congrats on the 100th.
Maybe it was a slow news day for ol’ Ruth. So she just used some filler type fluffy this-can’t-get-me-into-any-hot-water, lame subject matter.
Could be her well ran dry.
09/26/2006 by Mark Flanders Edit Delete
Well, you seem surprised that the press is taking potshots at the Realtor/Home Inspector relationship. They’ve attacked the lender/appraiser relationship here suggesting that every appraiser in San Diego is on the take.
How about the press defend the gore factor on the local news? I guess the old saw “if it it doesn’t bleed it doesn’t lead†will never have to be explained.
Thanks, Ruth. We all love the fact that you’ve positioned attorneys as the morally superior professionals.
09/27/2006 by Brian Brady Edit Delete
That would be why I recommend 3 inspectors and let the buyer pick one. I honestly have seen examples of inspectors who work with agents and make sure the house comes out O.K. If any insector I know ever did that I would never use him/her again.
09/27/2006 by Teresa Boardman Edit Delete
Teresa, I too always recommend three.
09/27/2006 by Maureen Francis & Dmitry Koublitsky Edit Delete
It is people like Ruth that give Realtors a bad name! Thanks for sending a letter to her.
Every successful realtor has their clients best intrest at heart.
09/27/2006 by Erin Keating Dewald Edit Delete
Some ideas occurred to me, inspired in part by the post about Rescued by Ruth
http://activerain.com/blogsview/Unintended-Consequences?10855
09/27/2006 by Cheryl Johnson Edit Delete
Pleeeeeease email your blog and these comments to the TV station.
09/27/2006 by Lisa Dunn Edit Delete
I love the last sentence of Brian Brady’s remark! That really sums the whole thing up perfectly! Just perfectly!
09/27/2006 by Sara Lipnitz Edit Delete
Your blog entry was very interesting. I am a realtor specializing in Tampa Bay Florida Real Estate .
09/28/2006 by David Gilbert Edit Delete
I may live in Northern Michigan but I do read the Detroit Freepress daily. It seems that they are always writing articles that are negative toward Realtors. The state law makes us handout three names of home inspectors and let the CONSUMER choose. THE TIGERS ARE IN THE PLAYOFFS…WRITE ABOUT THAT.
09/28/2006 by Geno D’Angelo Edit Delete