•Possibly the best response might be to look at the facts.
Generally speaking, Home Inspectors are not trained nor qualified to act
as Real Estate Agents. Likewise, Real Estate Agents are salespeople, usually not trained nor qualified to do professional home inspections
(the Canadian Association of Home and Property Inspectors [CAPHI] does not permit its members to be active real estate agents because
of the obvious potential for conflict of interest).
Therefore, recommending a buyer purchase a home without first seeking a Professional
Home Inspection would be as unethical as a Home Inspector suggesting a negotiating price or whether or not to purchase the home, to
a client. A client would have every right to expect much better from a professional.
Some definitions useful to home buyers:
Real Estate
Agent
These are salespeople working on a straight commission. Simply, they earn their money when a home is sold/bought.
Listing Agent
Simply,
the listing agent is the salesperson representing the seller of the home and thus has the duty to the seller of getting the highest
possible price for the home.
Selling Agent
This agent is responsible for finding and showing new homes to the prospective buyer. It
surprises some home buyers that the obligation of the Selling Agent is to get the highest price possible for the seller.
Buyer Broker
or Buyer Agent
A relatively new concept and not yet widely common. This commission real estate sales person negotiates on the buyer's
behalf. You'll note that this is in major contrast to the duties of the Listing and Selling Agents.
With this information, it should
now be clear to home buyers, who in the real estate transaction, is looking out for the buyer's best interests.
