I am not, or I will not take on any more clients.   I know some agents that dont take care of their clients needs, regardless of how busy they are or are not.  It may have more to do with their work ethic than how busy they are.   There are 24 hours in a day, I can always make the time to take care of the clients' I represent needs.

Just because they missed a call does not mean it's a common practice.  You probably should have told the buyer to ask the seller and not put you in the middle.

Not in my world.  

I always attend home inspections.

Some are, some aren't. I limit how many clients I work with a any given time to ensure that my service standards don't drop.

These expectations of the seller leaving/not leaving should have been addressed prior to the home inspection date. 

I had an occassion where the seller was unable to leave during the home inspection due to a medical condition. I called the buyers agent and let them know that the seller would be home during the home inspection.

I would have had an issue with the home inspector if I was representing the sellers and the home inspector asked them to leave. 

why isn't there an agent there during the inspection??? unheard of.... both agents should be there if they are doing a good job of representing their clients....

I don't think so. That is why I step in where I can to help my agents. 

If they are, then they aren't good agents.

The good ones? No

I tell sellers to vacate their home during home inspections. I usually attend inspections with buyers but don't make an appearance until an hour before the inspector finishes. If the inspector calls me and I know he's inspecting one of my properties or conducting an inspection for my buyers, I am going to answer my phone. I am amazed at the number of agents who make no appearance at an inspection. I'm fortunate. If I'm unavailable, Tom can meet buyers and inspectors.

I probably talk to one or more agents daily, I have not found this to be the case.  I have never heard of a client mentioning any scenario similar to this in Central Fl.  Only once was I not able to get in touch with an agent when the client was in need and that was a mis-communication between the agent and the client over scheduling for an inspection. 

Some agents are to busy.  But a lot of it is time management for some agents. You have to plan out your day and week on when you are calling clients, follow up & propect.  

Good agents usually attend the inspections. The home inspection is for inspection, not "private time" for the buyer. That desire should be satisfied by scheduling it with the agreement of the seller.

Hi Michael - that was a difficult situation.  Personally, in your position, I wouldn't have asked the seller to leave.  

As far as your question --- it's too general and there isn't enough information here to be critical of any agent based on the scenario you present.  I believe that no one should be in the house without real estate representation during a transaction but I know this practice does vary depending on jurisdiction.   A homeowner could say things to an inspector, buyer, appraiser that will adversely impact their position in a transaction.   

Michael Thornton Very awkward! The seller should have been told before hand they should not be at home during the inspection.

Michael,

not the agents we work with. A

Any agents that wants to grow has to learn not just about real estate, but also business in general. When you get to a point that you are busy you have 2 options: limit your business or built a team.

I always say built a team and a business you can sell down the road when you want to retire, if you get that busy obviously people want to work with you why not take it to the next level and help more peopl?

Unless I know and respect the other agent, I call upon my parenting skills and simply assume I need to politely state the obvious regarding our expectations in escrow. The quality of agents varies so much, it's lowest common denominator time...

I pre-set my expectations with Seller through their agent: date, time & duration I need the house for the property inspection and AVID. I do this in e-mail so I have written proof. This is private time for my inspector, clients and I to discuss the house bluntly. It's also when I talk repair strategies and negotiation tactics (hence private time).  So, I emphasize how we need the house and privacy. Some listing agents here want to attend, so I advise them on what time they may arrive for the inspector's "verbal wrap up", but not prior. 

For all other inspections, I don't care if the owner is home, I typically want them to hear first hand about these second tier inspections that come out of the property inspection like  roof, chimney, termite, etc.