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Comment by analog31 | Hacker News Reader

My rule of thumb is, nobody works for the buyer or the seller. They work for the sale, because the sale is what pays their commission.

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If your hire your own inspector, they get paid either way.

True, they always say to hire your own inspector. But finding one who isn't a charalatan is a coin toss. You might be able to hire them independently, but recommendations from agents who are "working for you" is still a large part of their business. And they're not liable for anything they fail to notice. That entire industry favors people who are deal makers, not deal breakers.

The inspector is working for the sale, but indirectly.

One house that my family sold, the inspector showed up at the appointed time, and mentioned that he was the buyer broker's brother. He didn't find any problems with the house.

Yep, got to bring your own checklist for the inspector.

He didn't find any problems with the house.

Don't they have any legal liability if they miss something obvious?

Usually their liability is limited at most to the cost of the inspection. Basically nothing in the grand scheme if they miss something big.

I had a friend who had a house with termite issues that 2 inspectors missed. He tried to get lawyers involved and they all told him he had absolutely no resource besides the inspection fees, which would have been swamped by lawyer fees anyways.

He ended up ripping out all the drywall to repair the termite damage bit by bit.

If you find and pay. Once they inspect and approve a place they are out of work. So they are more likely to make a bigger deal out of the smllest things.

If the realtor pays the opposite happens.

Not following. The inspector is generally out of the picture after the inspection, however it goes. If they identify problems, specialized contractors (e.g., plumber, electrician, carpenter) will be contacted to get more detail on the problem. Besides which, inspectors rely on word-of-mouth referrals from real estate agents even if they're always employed directly by buyers. If an inspector frequently blows up deals with overly critical inspections, their referrals will dry up.

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