The Objectivity of My Desire By very nature of friends and family members, they are not objective. They have great compassion for buyer and likewise great fear that some harm, be that physical or financial, may come to that buyer. Making matters all worse is fear in back of head of "friend in construction" that their experience is not truly enough to render opinions being offered.

This takes situation down path to an even less desirable situation. We have a nervous or anxious buyer being given advice by a now nervous and anxious person who is operating well outside their area of expertise. However, they are now reluctant to concede that they are lost and scared. This is not good for anyone in transaction - buyer, seller, or agents!

Trust and Credibility Moving on, we come to issue of credibility. I've observed thousands of transactions, and it seems to me that sellers are a distrusting lot. Or rather, they certainly are when it comes to issue of imperfections in their homes.

What happens if, by some stroke of good fortune, "friend in construction" actually performs home inspection in a superior manner, and actually discovers all of homes flaws in a clear and concise way? It is still probable that seller will doubt results are fair and objective due to relationship between buyer and "inspector".

This inherent distrust most always results in a professional inspector being called in to confirm or deny observations of "friend". Who pays bill for this additional involvement and what to do with conflicting observations only adds another layer of pain and confusion on a transaction that is already hemorrhaging to death.

Who to Hire? Keep life simple! Always hire professional ASHI qualified Home Inspectors. You can be sure that ASHI home inspectors adhere to a strict Code of Ethics, a well-defined Standards of Practice, and have passed most demanding membership certification requirements in country.

And if there is a personal connection to home inspector, be SURE to disclose that up front to all concerned. Most people will not object to disclosure, but let discovery be make after fact and trust, as well as transaction, may be gone forever.

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Read shipping and returns policies before making a purchase. Make sure you feel comfortable with them. Find answers to these questions...What is their shipping timeframe? Is it within a reasonable amount of time? Will they notify you if it will take longer than anticipated? What choices will you have if there is a delay in shipping? Do they allow returns? Are there restrictions on what items you can return and explanations as to why? Do they make sense?

Don't make huge purchases right off bat. Make a small, low cost purchase with company and consider it a low-risk test of their credibility. This allows retailer a chance to prove themselves worthy of your business, but limits monetary risk you are taking. Should all go well, you can make a larger purchase in future with peace of mind, now knowing that this is a legitimate business.

There are many advantages to purchasing online and as long as you are careful with who you choose to deal with you can reap rewards.

Here are some of benefits:

Convenience: Why fight crowds in stores, especially during holidays, when you can sit at home on your computer and shop. And price comparisons are just a click away when shopping on internet. There's no need to fight traffic running from store to store looking for "best deal." You can have your purchase delivered to your doorstep within a few days.

Prices: Online retailers and storefronts purchase their products from same manufacturers. However, an online retailer doesn't have costly overhead that a storefront has (i.e. Lease payments on building, heat and electric, and other related expenses). Therefore, online retailer doesn't have to markup price as high as storefront in order to make same profit. So you, consumer, come out winner!

Store Hours: Online retailers are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Shop at your convenience.

So as long as you take some simple precautions, shopping online can be a very pleasurable, time saving and money saving experience.