Nothing is really free!
Is anything in life really free? I believe the answer to that is very few things. A perfect example is the last two “Termite” inspections I witnessed. Both were free to the home buyer, both found no active termites but some evidence of past termites and both sold termite treatments to the homeowners before they would issue a “Termite Letter”.
Always on the look out for scams, I stopped to review what I had seen.
The home buyers ordered the free inspection. The buyer, seller and/or a Realtor are present for the inspection and all are nervous. It is obvious to me and the termite inspector that the owner is military and is packing to go somewhere, likely a long way away from here. This is very much a buyers market and sellers will frequently jump through hoops to sell a home.
One home had an obvious treatment two years earlier and the small amount of original damage remained in the crawlspace. One home had a clear “letter” from another company that was only two months old.
Evidence of past termites was found in both homes with no active insects located.
Both homeowners shelled out around $1000 for re treatment and the letter.
It really makes no difference if the inspection is free or cost the buyer thirty dollars. It plays out the same way and can be very expensive for the seller.
In one case the salesman, I mean inspector, was so good at his job (sales) that he quoted changes in the law as the reason he had to treat. We are looking for that change, more on that at another time.
From the buyers perspective this could look like “Hey! I got a fresh treatment for free and maybe I won’t have any Termites!” Be careful thinking that way because there are only buyers and sellers, and for this home, you’re the seller next.
The business plan for the free inspector has to include this gimmick to get them into a situation to make a sale and then includes a good salesman to make the sales pitch.
On the other hand, the business plan for another company may include a reasonable fee for the inspection that actually covers their expenses and provides some profit. Their inspector may also sell services but who do you think is under the most pressure to sell? If the inspector does not even need to find active termites then there is much less need to really look! If the home has a crawlspace, it’s a safe bet to go ahead and say it needs to be treated. I have seen very few with no evidence of past termites.
We believe that inspection and repair by the same company is a conflict of interest. I like to believe that a part of the reason for the re treatment is to limit the companies liability exposure in case termites show up, but that was not what I just saw happen.
Perhaps the best solution is to have an agency that does the inspecting and let the “Termite” companies compete for treatments and prevention. There are new technologies available that greatly increase our ability to locate termites but no incentive to use them if the real purpose is to treat based on past evidence.
Bill
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Together we provide the unique dual perspective of a husband and wife team. Our philosophy is simple. We treat people the way we would like to be teated and we treat every inspection like we are buying the home.
