As it turns out the "client" was her husband. She made it very clear to me that she was NOT a party to the contract. (Something that is of no consequence to me - so I'm not sure why she thought it was important.) She also made it clear that her husband was an investor. (Also of no consequence to me unless she's about to ask for a quantity discount.) We set the appointment several days out since they were planning to be away over the Thanksgiving holiday. Even though she gave me the combo code, I still called Centralized Showing to schedule the appointment. We follow protocol here! If we don't have approval from Centralized Showing or the listing agent, we don't go. Too much legal liability, otherwise.
Oddly, I got the approval from the listing agent but then the buyer's agent called to cancel. The reason for the cancellation was that she had negotiated for the seller to pay for the inspection and that the sellers wanted to choose the inspector since they were paying for it.
Alrighty then! I cheerfully told her that I'd cancel the appointment and ended the call. But I remember when I bought this house 30 odd years ago and the seller paid for the termite inspection. The report said there were no termites here. Never had been! Wasn't that good news? Of course, within a month of my moving in, the termites were swarming outside the garage. The good folks who came to treat it (glad that chlordane was still legal 30 years ago) showed me the places where it had been spot-treated before. Which was amazing because according to the seller's inspector, no termite had ever set foot (or wing or whatever they have) on this property.
Seems to me that if you're going to have the seller pick the inspector, who may be his or her brother-in-law, you might just as well accept the seller's disclosure at face value. Why even bother with an inspection?
She may have been looking for a graceful way to cancel without appearing to be a cheapskate. (We do not claim to be the cheapest - only the best!) But she may have cleverly negotiated her husband (nothing to do with her!) into a position of not really knowing anything about the property he's investing in. Either way, good luck with that.
