Contact the Listing Agent

I got a call this morning (just before noon) from a buyer's agent to see if Mark could do an inspection before Christmas. As it happens, this afternoon and tomorrow morning were both available. We want to take Christmas Eve off so our preference was this afternoon.

The next step was for me to contact the client (buyer), leave a voice mail and wait. After the discussion with the buyer, we decided to go for this afternoon.

Scheduling most inspections is easy. A simple call to Centralized Showing Service (CSS) and I'm told whether it is on supra (an electronic keybox) or a combination lock. I'm given any security codes that are needed to access the property and informed on whether there are any pets in the home. And we're good to go! Most of the time.

But every now and then (more often that I'd like) I'm told that I'll have to contact the listing agent. CSS gives me the listing agent's name and phone number and I make an "extra" phone call. It's all good when the agent answers his or her phone. Typically no problem at all. But sometimes you get their voice mail - then you're playing a waiting game. Today I was given the agent's office number rather than cell number. I'm somewhat familiar with the office in question. I know it is small and doesn't have a full-time receptionist. So when I got the office voice mail, I had no confidence that anyone, much less a specific agent would return my call in less than an hour - not on the Friday before a holiday.

I called CSS back to see if they could give me the agent's cell phone number.

"I'm sorry, we're not permitted to give out that number."

What!! The agent has a pending sale, a potential payday, but can't be bothered by phone calls? What is with some of these agents? They don't want CSS to handle it for them but they don't want anyone to have their phone number, either. I don't get it. But then I don't have to. My job is to get the inspection scheduled for the afternoon, or failing that, tomorrow morning.

The charming CSS representative offered to call the listing agent and have her call me. "Yes, please do. If we're to do it today, I'll need to know within 30 minutes." Not because I'm being a pain, but because it's the winter solstice - the shortest day of the year. If he's not started by 2 PM, he will run out of daylight.

The CSS representative called me back to let me know that she had been unable to reach the listing agent.

"I'm shocked!"

The CSS agent giggled and told me that she'd left a detailed message and instructions to phone me."

Wanting to cover all the bases, I called the buyer's agent. She did not have any rules about giving out the listing agent's phone number. In addition to giving me the phone number, she was able to contact the listing agent who told her that attempts were made to call me and my voice mail box was full. (Well, I wasn't on the phone when she was trying to call AND my voice mail box is NOT full AND my phone shows no missed calls.) But not a problem - I just want to set the appointment. I was prepared to give the listing agent a call. That call took less than two minutes. "Two o'clock is fine. The house is on supra and the nanny is home with twins."

It took nearly two hours from the first call until the inspector was on his way for reasons known only to the listing agent. And I thought I was going to spend the day wrapping presents.

It's an Optical Illusion

One of the first things Mark noticed about the exterior of the house was the leaning chimney. Mark being Mark, he was not content to trust what he saw but felt compelled to measure it. He measured the angle and then proceeded to calculate the weight of the bricks and the force with which they would hit the bass boat parked beside them if and when they should fall.

He was still outside looking at the Leaning Chimney of Frisco when the listing agent turned up. (We later learned that the listing agent was also the seller in this case.)

It was apparent to the agent that Mark was looking at the leaning chimney. "It's not leaning. It's an optical illusion. I had an engineer look at it."

As if that remark might alter Mark's opinion. However, it's Mark's policy to avoid interaction with sellers and listing agents that might lead to disagreement, except of course, if there is a serious safety issue. Getting hit with a ton of bricks is just such an issue. "Well, if anyone is out here when it falls, they'll be able to take cover under the boat."

The leaning chimney was included in the inspection report and the bass boat was moved before the inspection was over. I guess the listing agent/seller didn't want to buy the tenant a new bass boat in the event it was hit by an optical illusion.

The Angie's List Super Service Award

Yellow Hat has just been awarded the Angie's List Super Service Award for home inspection! WooHoo! This is given to the most highly rated companies in their categories - less than 5% make the grade.

We are so grateful to our clients who take the time to write a review and post it on Angie's List.

From my perspective, I especially love our Angie's List clients. They call us because they want a high level of service and good value for their money, not because they want to put a tick in the home inspection box for as little money as possible.

Meet the Inspector and His Wife

I've been blogging on "Old Gits and Tarts" since June. Mostly I write about our travels and the everyday things that happen. This blog will focus on the home inspection business. Mark has a blog to help readers with tips for maintaining their properties. I'll leave that to Mark. I want to focus on the real things that happen. These things range from humorous to outrageous to unbelievable. But first, some background information about us, and our company - Yellow Hat Inspections.

Mark has been a practicing licensed home inspector in Texas for six years. His undergraduate degree is in industrial engineering and he has a master's degree in education. He's a native of the UK and a refugee from Corporate America. (Even while living in the UK, he worked primarily for American companies after leaving British Aircraft Corporation.)

I've been assisting him for five years, ever since I was invited to leave Corporate America. I answer the phone, manage his schedule, do the accounting, and help with the marketing. My undergraduate degree is in Interdisciplinary Studies (split evenly among Communications, Social Studies, and Psychology) and I also have a master's degree in education.

Yellow Hat Inspections was not named after the man in the Curious George books. The image we use on our logo is a yellow hard hat. So every time you see someone in a yellow hard hat, now you can think of us. Several people have told us the name is absolutely brilliant. We think so, too. After kicking around several different names and trying to play off of Mark being British, we settled on Yellow Hat (which has nothing at all to do with being British). It sure makes branding a breeze. (If you want to know more about the company, click here.)

As I said, I plan to write about things that happen within the business. From my perspective, not necessarily from Mark's. We interact with clients, realtors, builders, marketeers and a host of others. Not to worry. Names will be changed (or more likely, not used) to protect the guilty. (I've found that the innocent rarely need protection.)