Update / July 17, 2013: Earlier today I spoke with Larry Buttress, Deputy Executive Officer for the Real Estate Council of British Columbia (RECBC) in regards to the complaint I filed with the RECBC about Scott Fraser, who back when he was my realtor, recommended to me, repeatedly, not to bother with having a home inspection done on a new home I was considering to purchase. During our conversation I asked Mr. Buttress whether or not he would ever do this to me (referring to what Scott Fraser did, i.e. recommending not to have a home inspection) > his response was: "would I personally? no, no I wouldn't."

Update / May 7, 2013: Closing assessment written by Jane Kolonsky, Compliance Officer for the Real Estate Council of British Columbia, in regards to the complaint I filed against Scott Fraser.

"“While it is clear that Mr. Fraser protected his client when he prepared the contract with an inspection clause, it appears Mr. Fraser gave advise upon which Mr. Thompson relied which does not appear to be in the best interest of the client.”

It doesn't get much clearer than this, unfortunately for me in the end this complaint process relied on 5 active Real Estate Agents whose job it was to rule on the actions of one of their own, which at the end of the day & for reasons unknown, it appears some RECBC (Real Estate Council of British Columbia) rules are deemed important & others not so important and as such, nothing has come of this assessment & Scott, if he so chooses, is free to recommend to the next person, not to bother with a home inspection on a new home.

The story so far...

Back in February of 2010, acting as my realtor, Scott Fraser (www.scottfraser.ca) of Royal LePage in the Comox Valley, advised me, repeatedly, not to bother with having a home inspection done on a new home I was considering to purchase, for which, at the time Scott gave me this advice, he knew next to nothing about the actual builder (Richard Boedeker of Tiki Construction). 

In fact prior to the actual purchase, I had specifically asked Scott how many homes Richard Boedeker had built & he said he would look into this. When Scott got back to me he told me that this was the first home Boedeker had built in the Valley & from my perspective this made it painfully obvious that Scott had no prior knowledge of the quality of Boedeker’s work - but still he somehow felt it was a good idea to dissuade me from getting a home inspection done.

In this instance the advice given to forgo having a home inspection, in my opinion, was nothing short of disastrously bad advice. Had an inspection been done by a professional home inspector, this would have undoubtedly detected numerous defects, which would have almost certainly been enough to convince me not to buy this house. I base this on the fact that later on, when an actual inspection was undertaken in 2011 by an independent appraiser (hired by Echelon General Insurance), numerous defects were sited in regards to the exterior alone.

One thing I would like to make perfectly clear upfront; since Scott did not build this house in no way do I blame him for the actual defects & I accept full responsibility for the decision to purchase this home.

However (my grievance summarized); as his client I would have hoped that throughout our dealings Scott would have always had my best interest in mind, something I personally feel was not the case.

When I look back I can't believe I went along with Scott's suggestion. At the time I had a lot on my plate, I was on the verge of moving from Richmond (BC) to Comox & I was also in the process of setting up a new business. But go along with this advice I did which included signing off on the clause in the contract to do with having a home inspection - Scott told me I had to do this as part of acknowledging that the offer to have a home inspection was declined by me, what a big mistake that was. 

Please note; in regards to Jane Kolonsky's assessment noted above, I am rather confused as to who exactly she believes Scott Fraser was "protecting" - from my position if he genuinely had my best interests in mind he would have recommended that I have a home inspection done. Putting a clause in a contract about having a home inspection & then convincing me not to have this inspection, how exactly have I been protected & from what??

Since I purchased this Tiki Construction home, a lengthy list of defects have surfaced related to the construction  (including water leaking through to the interior of the siding, running down on to the concrete porch) & as a result of this Echelon Insurance have now authorized an additional $7,000+ worth of warranty repairs towards the building envelope - which was recently written up extensively by two renovation specialists & an engineer from RDH Building Engineering Ltd.

In all, the last 3 years have seen countless problems with my home which has resulted in approximately $20,000+ worth of repair work authorized ($13,000 previously + the $7,000 noted above - thankfully covered by home warranty & Cumberland Concrete) all of which has significantly impacted my life in a negative way. Along the way hundreds of hours of my time have been eaten up dealing with this mess & not once has Scott Fraser come out to see what I have been dealing with. In fact after Scott had been paid his commission from the sale of this home I did not hear from him again until I complained to Royal LePage’s General Manager (& even then it was only briefly over the phone).

Later on I complained right to the owner/managing broker of Royal LePage in the Comox Valley, Gregg Hart, who informed me that Scott Fraser had admitted to him that he had advised me not to bother with a home inspection & that he (Gregg Hart) had told Scott: “I would have not suggested not to have a home inspection."

Mr. Hart also said: “lots of people in brand new houses don’t require building inspections…” however, stating what I believe should be obvious, also as per the Real Estate Council Rules (Ministerial Order: M417)

General Responsibilities of Licensees, Duties to clients, I hired Scott Fraser to provide me with the best advice he could as per Part 3 section (a): “act in the best interests of the client” & 

(d) "advise the client to seek independent professional advice on matters outside of the expertise of the licensee"

which I believe should have resulted in Scott directing me to who could help me - and nothing else.

In hindsight I tried to think of a situation where it would be appropriate to dissuade someone from having a home inspection & even in a scenario where the realtor could say he/she had known a builder for years & that this individual was well known for doing good work – even in this scenario it would still be appropriate, make that (in my opinion) essential, for the realtor to say: “but as your realtor I must still recommend that you get a home inspection done.”

Ultimately I wish that I had not hired Scott Fraser & I would never enlist his services again.

I will note here in closing; any attempt made to have me remove this blog (which is 100% truthful) will be rebuffed, any threats of legal action will be enthusiastically challenged in court & any relevant correspondence sent my way will be published here for all to see.

Closing recommendation for anyone looking for a new home: the main, overriding reason for writing this blog was for it to serve as a warning to others. My advice to you is never count on new home warranty to supplement the need for you to do your homework & purchase a quality home. My experience with home warranty has not been great, it has in fact been a highly stressful, time consuming headache. Also home warranty is short term & one day in the not so distant future you will be left with no warranty at which point the only thing standing between you & a mountain of bills & grief is a well constructed home. And if your realtor tells you not to bother with having a home inspection done my advice to you is fire him/her on the spot & find a new realtor, one who will genuinely look after your best interest.