The Real Estate Agent’s Duty

Just for a moment, let’s assume that you’re a real estate agent. The seller has accepted your clients' offer and now, with your help, your clients must choose a home inspector. Should you steer them toward the inspector who writes the softest reports? Should you steer them toward the inspector who pays to be on your office's preferred vendor list? Should you help them find the cheapest inspector? The answers to these questions are of course, No.

Real estate agents have a fiduciary duty to their clients and, therefore, must recommend an inspector with their clients best interest at heart, regardless of how it may affect the likelihood of closing the deal. If a real estate agent recommends an inspector that has a tendency to overlook items in order to push the deal along, an inspector who indirectly pays for an agent's recommendation, or a low budget inexperienced inspector, the agent potentially violates their fiduciary duty to their client.

Because most real estate agents get paid only if the real estate transaction successfully takes place, the personal interests and the fiduciary duties may already conflict. Agents should not make the situation any worse. The best way to avoid negligent referral claims, to operate ethically, and to fulfill the fiduciary duty is to help the client find an inspector based on quality and experience. And although no real estate agent can guarantee the thoroughness of any particular inspector, there is a strong correlation between a home inspector's fees and the inspector's competence (in other words, you get what you pay for). When in doubt, the agent and client should shop quality, and seek out the most experienced inspectors for their clients.

And for you inspectors, compete with each other on value, not price.