Pre-Offer Consultations, Walk-and-Talk Inspections, Whatever - I Don't Like Them!

Let's talk about walk-and-talk inspections. Which, I will point at in the beginning, isn't really an inspection - it's the inspector blabbing away and hoping that the client is taking copious notes, a plentitude of photos, and understands what is being conveyed.

Can I get a show of hands on how likely that might be? Very? Or, nope?

These have become popular, especially among real estate licensees who hate written reports that require future disclosure. Pesky things, written reports. Discoverable documents.

Walk-and-talk inspections are popular with some inspectors as half a fee is better than none, and the inspector is not required to walk the roof, walk the attic, enter the crawlspace, take the cover off the electrical panel or furnace, or generally do anything that you might expect from an inspector.

All of them have contracts with disclaimers: "THIS IS NOT A HOME INSPECTION. GET THE PROPERTY INSPECTED BEFORE PURCHASING."

Which would be great except: a) the client does not get that inspection; and, b) the seller, on the advice of their agent, is not permitting a full home inspection.

To cap it off, in the heydays of the hot Seattle market, you only had a window of time to do the walk-through, a couple of hours on next Thursday so you might have ten parties all milling through the house at one time. The buyer has the choice of a pre-offer consultation (what they call these in Washington State) and bupkis.

Total chaos.

Surprises abound.

I HATE surprises.

Now, if it should sound as though I think this is a bad practice, you would be correct.

The eventual effect is that the worst inspector rules. He's the one that doesn't find anything and has clients who buy a house with either no idea of its true condition, or worse, a mistaken idea of its condition.

I know for a fact that I can get into crawlspaces that others can't - and it isn't always a matter of willingness. Being skinny is an advantage to an inspector.

I know, for a fact, that there are inspectors who will not bend over to get a better look at the foundation more closely. Who won't look up to judge the height of the chimney from the roof.

I know inspectors who will call an electrical panel (FPE) bad in Washington and call the same one in Idaho fine.

In a world where I am king, walk-and-talk inspections would disappear. But, then, I'm a curmudgeonly inspector who hates surprises - and hates to have his clients surprised. And, no, the government shouldn't pass a law. They do too much of that already.

I would like common sense and ethical behavior to fix the situation.

Sadly, walk-and-talk inspections are not going away any time soon.