How Does A Real Estate Agent Control The Inspector Selection Process?
There are many tactics used, some subtle and some not so subtle. The agent may discourage the potential buyer from using a certain inspector by making comments like: “That inspector is a deal killer”, or “that inspector takes too long” or “we’ve had trouble with that inspector” or “we don’t allow that inspector to inspect any of our listed properties” or “that inspector is too expensive.” A twist on the fee tactic is to advise the prospective buyer that they should expect a home inspector to charge around $150 or $200. By advising homebuyers to expect these low (unrealistic) fees, agents are trying to steer homebuyers to certain inspectors, because the prospective homebuyers might limit their search to the arbitrary price range set by the real estate agent. The tactics used to encourage a prospective buyer to use a particular inspector include: “We’ve had good luck with this inspector” or “this inspector has the lowest fee” or “we use this inspector all the time” or “this inspector can
