Being in the home inspection business for all these years has been challenging to say the least, but it’s taught me (at least) one thing: that we home inspectors are a generally unflappable bunch. After all, we repeatedly endure fire from all sides, a condition that would quickly wilt much more delicate flowers. Long working hours, demanding clients and agents …

As home inspectors, we don’t often come across three-phase power systems while inspecting residential structures. However, as we move into the commercial inspection side of the business (and on rare occasions in a residential home), we will come across three-phase electrical power systems. Having a basic understanding of how these systems work can go a long way towards making our …

Running a small business is hard work. With so many different things on our plate, and trying to do them all at the same time, it’s no wonder that many of us turn to drinking. Quite often, we find ourselves looking for short cuts; tips and tricks to help us move our business along. We’re searching high and low, trying …

So, we didn’t get picked for that job. It happens. A lot. There are lots more inspection going on out there that the number that we’re doing. So, why didn’t we get picked for that one? Maybe they didn’t see us; they don’t even know that we exist. Maybe they didn’t like us, our appearance, our vibe, our demeanor, the …

Stress. Just reading the word can cause us to tense up. Stress is something that we all must deal with, and most of us would agree that it seems like modern life is getting more stressful every day. Whoever you talk to, it seems as though they would love to return to “days gone by,” as most people believe that …

When’s the last time you thought about how amazing electricity really is? While electricity is considered an everyday item in the advanced countries of the world, and we hardly give it a second thought while we’re plugging in our phones, electricity generation and delivery are miracles of modern science. Electricity (along with HVAC systems) is one of the more difficult …

Electricity. It’s so commonplace that we often take it for granted. (Until there’s a power failure, that is!) It’s hard to imagine a time when someone couldn’t simply plug a cord into the wall and power up whatever device or appliance they needed. But there was a time, not so long ago, when even the most advanced parts of the …

As we head into 2024, let’s take a moment to look back on our successes and failures of the past year and learn what we can from 2023 before we put it to rest. Hopefully, we’ve all had some measure of success this past year, even though, from a real estate perspective, it wasn’t that great. It’s certain that we’ve …

Looking back is always an adventure. All too often, it’s an exercise that’s fraught with anxiety as we ruminate on the things we’ve done and foolishly stress out thinking about the things that we could’ve done better. Thinking about past mistakes and figuring out a better way forward can be a very rewarding mental exercise. Dwelling on those mistakes at …

Honest feedback. It’s the lifeblood of every business owner, but it’s so hard to get. We can ask our clients to let us know where they think we can improve, but most people are going to give us some throwaway answer like “You’re doing a great job” or “Don’t change anything.” But if we’re really serious about getting better, we’ve …