I inspected a house in Elkins Park with a retaining wall running along the side of the driveway. The wall was failing. Bowed out, cracked through, the kind of damage you can see from the street. I photographed it and wrote it up as a major defect, because that is what it was. Rebuilding a wall like that runs around $20,000.
A day later, the agent on the deal called me. Not to ask about the wall. To ask me to take it out of the report.
Not soften it. Remove it. The photos, the notation, all of it.
I told her she could stand in that driveway and see the damage with her own eyes, the same as I did, and that I was not taking it out of anything.
Who a home inspector actually works for
When you hire me, you are the client. Not the agent, not the seller, not the lender, not the deal. The report goes to you, and it says what I found, whether or not that is convenient for anyone trying to get to closing.
An agent works on commission, and the commission depends on the sale going through. I am not saying every agent wants defects buried. Most are straight with their clients. But the incentive is real, and you should know which side of it your inspector stands on. Mine is simple. I do not get paid more if you buy the house, and I do not get paid less if you walk away. So I have no reason to tell you anything except what is there.
Why a wall like that is not a small thing
A retaining wall holds back soil and grade. When it fails, the ground it was holding starts moving, water starts going where it should not, and the problem feeds itself. Left alone, a failing wall near a house can turn into a drainage problem and then a foundation conversation. None of that is cheap, and all of it lands on whoever owns the house when it gets bad enough to deal with.
A defect quietly left out of a report does not disappear. It just gets handed to the buyer without anybody telling them. That is the part I will not be part of. I inspect homes across Elkins Park, Cheltenham, and the rest of the area, and the report is the one thing standing between a buyer and a surprise like that.
How to make sure your inspector is yours
Hire your own inspector. You are allowed to. You do not have to use the one whose card your agent slides across the table, and there is nothing wrong with the agent offering, but the inspector you found and paid yourself answers to you. A few things worth doing:
- Ask who the report is addressed to. It should be you.
- Ask straight out whether they will stand behind a finding that threatens the deal.
- Pick someone with no stake in whether you buy. An independent inspector has nothing riding on the sale.
The wall in Elkins Park stayed in the report. The buyer got the truth, in writing, with photos. What they did with it was their call to make, which is exactly how it should work.
Home inspection service areas
Bob personally inspects homes across the Greater Philadelphia region, and the report answers to you. Every town he covers is below, or see the full service area directory.