Webinar Recap: Keeping Risk Management a Priority While Negotiating for Your Clients

By Tyler Margid

During RISMedia’s recent webinar—“Keeping Risk Management a Priority While Negotiating for Your Clients”—panelists John Verdon, vice president of marketing at Pillar To Post Home Inspectors; Kimberly McAleenan, REALTOR®, MRP, CLHMS at Realty One Group Five Star; Dawn Hinton, designated managing broker at Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Starck Realty; Sue Ellen Burchfield, vice president of Strategic Alliances and regional vice president of sales at 2-10 Home Buyer’s Warranty, shared insights on different ways they inform clients and protect them from risks while still getting an accepted offer. 

The webinar was sponsored by 2-10 Home Buyer’s Warranty and Pillar To Post Home Inspectors and was moderated by Sherri Johnson, CEO and founder of Sherri Johnson Coaching & Consulting.

Key Takeaways:

• The four pillars of risk management are: 
  • Use a state-approved sales contract 
  • Include applicable sellers’ disclosures depending on state/municipality 
  • Offer a home inspection
  • Attach a home warranty service agreement 
• Being fully insured takes the risk away from REALTORS® so if anything goes wrong, they don’t become liable 
• Manage clients’ expectations with detailed consultation meetings to explain the buying/selling process step by step 
• Home inspections on even newly built homes can reveal unexpected problems for potential buyers 
• Setting a limit to the amount for repairs for which buyers are responsible shows the sellers a willingness to work with them rather than just “take it or leave it.”

Here’s What Our Esteemed Group of Panelists Had to Say:

“Everything we do has risk, but it’s all about managing that risk to do things safely. When you drive a car, you wear a seatbelt; when you buy a home you should have a home inspection. 

“There’s a big misconception out there right now. A lot of people think everybody’s waiving their home inspection. That’s actually not true; a lot of people are doing the home inspections, but some people are waiving their ability to ask for inspection items.” - Kimberly McAleenan

“Risk management is always keeping your clients’ strengths and their limitations in mind, especially in a situation where there’s heightened competition to put in the very best offer. 

“When you’re listing a home, you have to be very clear on ‘What is my product? What am I marketing?’ You can’t identify what you are marketing if you don’t evaluate the property with a pre-listing inspection.” - Dawn Hinton

“Risk management is about being instrumental in helping you as the agent retain business with referrals and repeat business. With the rush in today’s market, there’s a lot of buyer’s remorse out there. Some of it—most of it—relates to the unexpected maintenance and repairs. We suggest you use, at least, the four pillars of risk management.” - Sue Ellen Burchfield

“We want to help [homebuyers] make a confident homeownership decision and minimize the risk of that decision and make them aware that no home is perfect, but everything is fixable. 

“With all the waived home inspections…there’s going to be lawsuits in the next six months or year over people who ended up with a home without a home inspection and felt they were forced to waive the home inspection.” – John Verdon

For more information on how to keep risk management a priority while negotiating for your clients, check out the full webinar here.

Tyler Margid is RISMedia’s online news editor. Email him your story ideas at tmargid@rismedia.com.