GFD for Real Estate Agents

You choose how you live

It's time to differentiate yourself with SOI/past clients

An example to demonstrate how to differentiate yourself as a realtor with sphere of influence and past clients to get more more referrals is as follows:

“One of the hardest things to do when targeting your sphere of influence and past clients is to successfully differentiate yourself from other Realtor friends they have so YOU get the listing or referral. How do you do it? We’ve been exploring this question for over 4 years, have tested numerous methods, and have concluded the best way to do it. Watch the video for more details.”

Good Faith Deal is certainly a great leverage as a tool to help you further differentiate yourself as a realtor with great integrity .

You differentiate yourself by showing that you sincerely care about your sellers by helping them know their properties in more details and setting more realistic prices with their better understanding, and minimizing unpleasant or even terrible feelings about the transactions.

For buyers, you show that you care about them even after they move in the new bought property.

You naturally keep in touch with them even after the close of the escrow for one or more years.

Again, this is a great leverage for your leads for referrals.

You can really help your clients with outstanding advice

The following is a typical example that a good real estate agent should help his/her clients to avoid and distinguish himself/herself out.

“Elite Group Inspection Professionals charged me for an improper and incomplete home inspection, causing potential danger to my family. My husband and I began escrow for our home on March 2nd, 2020. Our real estate agent stated that we should have a home inspection done right away, and recommended that we use Elite Group Inspection Professionals (EGIP). EGIP sent **** ********* to inspect the property at ***** *********************************** ***** and **** drafted a final inspection report within a couple of hours of inspecting the home and listed the following issues: 1) the door between the garage and the kitchen did not have an auto closer for fire safety reasons 2) the gas line to the fireplace assembly was disconnected and left floating 3) no damper clamp on the fireplace 4) evidence of rodents or pests 5) shower head fixture leaks when operating 6) garbage disposal not operating properly 7) water heater temperature release valve installed incorrectly 8) old style push button breakers 9) damage to brick wall in backyard 10) standing water in backyard 11) roof material not properly fastened in areas 12) vent pipe missing flashings 13) vent and vent caps are not weather resistant 14) chimney cap is cracked in areas 15) spark arrestors are missing from the chimney cap Here is a list of what **** from EGIP failed to find: 1) disconnected bathroom vent in guest bathroom 2) disjoined kitchen vent 3) water heater not working properly because it was not venting properly 4) communication between conditioned air and air intake from the furnace Our biggest area of concern is 3) water heater not working properly because it was not venting properly. It wasn’t until we had a representative of SoCalGas come out to activate our gas service on April 5th, 2020 after we had closed escrow on April 1st, 2020, that it was discovered that our water heater was not venting properly and spilling significant amounts of carbon monoxide into our garage and potentially into the condition space. Because of this, our water heater was deemed unsafe and unable to be used. As a result of this, we had to pay for a third party inspector which discovered that the transite pipe (********) was not venting properly. If EGIP did their job that we paid them to do, we would have known about the water heater not working properly and would have led to the discovery that there was ******** in the home, meaning that the seller would have been liable for the cost of remediation. Because EGIP did such a poor job at inspecting our home, my husband and I are now stuck with the responsibility of having to pay for the removal of ******** when it should’ve been the seller’s responsibility in the first place had the inspection been done correctly. Our first attempt at finding a resolution was calling our realtor, who connected us to **** *********, who told us we would need to file a claim. We filed a claim on April 10th, 2020, and did not receive a proper response until April 22nd, 2020 – in fact, our realtor had to step in to help us get a response. On May 1st, 2020, we replied back to EGIP and we have not received a response since. This is a careless mistake that is going to cost us ***** for the removal of ******** and installation of a new vent pipe. Had we known that Elite would do such a lackluster job, we would not have followed our realtor’s recommendation to use EGIP’s services. Attached is a copy of EGIP’s inspection report and our email thread with them for your review.

Desired Outcome

We are asking for EGIP to pay for the cost of removal of asbestos and installation of a new vent pipe in full.

The Elite Group Property Inspection Service, Inc Response

06/11/2020

Good Morning, Per our initial response to your claim, we would like to reiterate that we empathize with you for experiencing issues after move in to your new home. We know this can be frustrating, and for 36 years in business, we’ve strived for all parties to walk away from every inspection with a positive experience. That being said, per our initial response to this claim, we must point out that this inspection was conducted per the Standards of Practice of the International Association of Certified Home Inspectors, InterNACHI. InterNACHI defines the home inspection as a visual non invasive inspection of the home and it’s accessible components. Per InterNACHI’s standards of practice, which was agreed upon by all parties in the signed inspection agreement, the home inspector is NOT required to perform back drafting water heater vent testing. This is beyond the scope of a home inspection. However, your home inspectors visual inspection of the water heater vent concluded, per your inspection report, that the vent was worn and older. Your home inspector also recommended in his report that the vent be upgraded. Your inspector also recommended, in the attic section of your inspection report, that the visible vents in the attic were also worn and older, and again recommended upgrading. Regarding the possible presence of asbestos. Per the inspection agreement that was agreed upon by all parties, your home inspection CAN NOT determine the presence of hazardous materials such as asbestos. Presence of asbestos and other hazardous materials can only be determined by proper lab testing, which again, is beyond the scope of a home inspection. Home inspectors in the state of California are not licensed to make such a determination. This being said, your home inspector did report on the final inspection report the presence of a ‘masonry/cement/transite type vent pipe in the attic – needs to be serviced and possibly upgraded to newer style vents’ Again, we are so sorry that you are incurring additional costs after your move in, however, due to the items detailed in your physical inspection report, and the limitations outlined in the mutually agreed upon inspection agreement, The Elite Group must stand by our initial assertion, that our options to assist further are quite limited. Best Regards”

There are many many similar problems in real estate transactions that require specialists inspections. As we said before, they are expensive and time consuming.

How do you truly advice your clients about specialists inspections? Very difficult!

With Good Faith Deal, you can truly help your client with your knowledge about these difficult issues and differentiate yourself outstandingly.

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