Hiring a professional home inspector before purchasing a home is a smart thing to do, but how

does one find a non-bias inspector? At least one state recognizes the potential conflict of interest

when a real estate agent selling a home also recommends a home inspector to the buyer.

Massachusetts is the only state that prohibits an agent selling a home from being involved in the

inspector selection process. Some people may ask, “what’s wrong with the real estate agent

recommending a home inspector to a prospective buyer?” The answer is: A selling real estate

agent works for their client (the seller.) A home inspector works for the person who hires him/her

(the prospective homebuyer.) There have been many cases of unhappy buyers and at least one

court case involving agent referred home inspectors.

One home inspector association, the Independent Home Inspectors of North America

http://www.independentinspectors.org/ , advocates for the removal of real estate agents from the

home inspector selection process. This organization was started to give prospective homebuyers a chance

to obtain the services of non-bias professional home inspectors. IHINA director, Dennis Robitaille, admits

membership is growing slowly due to the dependency many inspectors have with real estate agent referrals.

If you cannot find an independent inspector near you, check with your attorney, friends or co-workers for a

recommendation and avoid using a recommendation from the real estate agent, unless they are giving you a

list of all the inspectors in the area