Some of you may recall that Ellingwood Pro used to offer walk and talk inspections, but you may be wondering why we no longer offer walk and talk inspections as one of our services. So, we figured we would take the time to write a blog and explain it. Walk and talk inspections or consultations were a newer service in the real estate world. These consultations provided buyers with the opinion of a home inspector without the formality of a home inspection report. Other terms used for a walk and talk inspection were “consultation”, “30-minute walk through,” “limited inspection,” “partial inspection,” and even “verbal inspection.”
What is a Walk and Talk Inspection?
The overall idea behind all of these is that they were a general walk-through of the property where a home inspector would provide his expert opinion on the property and not provide a written report. This review of the property was typically short and many times completed during a showing of the property. This consultation allowed the buyers to have a second opinion on the property without the formality of a home inspection. With the competitive housing market, this allowed buyers to have peace of mind prior to dropping the home inspection contingency when submitting an offer.
Why Did Ellingwood Pro Stop Walk and Talk Inspections?
You may be wondering, what happened to the walk-and-talk consultations with Ellingwood Pro Home Inspections? As a company, Ellingwood Pro has decided to no longer offer this service. According to WV Legislative Rule § 87-5- Certification of Home Inspectors, it can be deemed unethical to complete walk and talk consultations. This rule defines a client as follows:
“2.5.b. “Client” — Means any person who for compensation engages the services of a home inspector for the purpose of obtaining inspection of, and a written report upon, the condition of a residential dwelling.” W. Va. Code R. § 87-5-2
This rule explains that a written report must be provided so therefore a walk and talk consultation can be considered unethical. Ellingwood Pro Home Inspections does not want to conduct any services that could be considered unethical in any way. They also do not want to put the client at risk of not finding a serious issue in a property. Even though Ellingwood Pro completes home inspections in several states they want to ensure they are holding themselves to the highest standards possible especially when it comes to their clients and their future homes because of this they do not offer this service anymore, regardless of the state.
Ellingwood Pro’s Recommendation
Ellingwood Pro uses InterNachi’s standards of practice to complete all home inspections and hold their inspectors to the highest standard of professionalism and strive to always be ethical.
Ellingwood Pro suggests that any buyer or seller complete a residential home inspection before closing on a property. This will include an entire inspection of the interior, exterior and systems and appliances of a home.
A residential home inspection will provide a detailed report to the clients outlining the inspector’s findings. A residential home inspection may seem more complicated than the walk and talk inspection but it provides a true inspection of the home and leaves less room for errors of something being missed that could cause major issues down the road.
Don’t risk it, have a residential home inspection done on your property. It is best to inspect before you buy!
If you have questions regarding residential home inspections or additional services offered by Ellingwood Pro, feel free to give us a call at 276-566-5669. Curious about home much it would cost? We make it easy to find out! You can use our free estimate tool located directly on our website or by clicking here to generate your free quote instantly.
