bourbonnais home inspection: Quality of Life Raise
- 10/31/24 07:16 AM
Quality of Life Raise. This post could have started writting many years ago, 2014 to be exact. I started my home inspection business, SLS Home Inspections in 2007. I started with a 13 page pile of paper with components of what to inspect. It matched the primitive report software I was using. It wasn't very expensive to use the report writing software but it did the job for 11 years. I was at a home inspection conferance and met Erin Brockovich, yes the Erin Brockovich. I was standing in line to get a picture with her and the inspector behind me in
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bourbonnais home inspection: All Because I Raised my Hand
- 07/31/24 12:27 PM
All Because I Raised my Hand As I write this letter, I am in the final stages of selling my company that I started 17 years ago. The interesting thing is, I never thought I would be in this position when I made the giant leap of faith to start a business on my own. I just figured I would someday hang up the tool bag and take down the website and fade away. But none of it would have happened if I hadn't raised my hand one December morning in 1997. I had been selling lumber and building materials since
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bourbonnais home inspection: You Made The Right Decision Mr. Buyer
- 05/31/24 10:13 AM
You made the right decision Mr. Buyer. One of the things we do when we finish an inspection is give the buyer a simple survey questionnaire to fill out at that moment. It has questions like was the inspector on time or was the inspector clean and courteous or would you hire this inspector again? Buyers would never think these things are important to them, but the simple fact of asking these questions, builds a level of trust inside them going forward. They don't know what they don't know. When someone asks them how was the inspection, they just might
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bourbonnais home inspection: 21 Kids Will be Biking After Christmas
- 12/19/23 04:48 PM
21 Kids Will be Biking After Christmas. How do I know this you may ask? I know this because I helped collect then repair then deliver those same 21 bikes to the local Kankakee, IL Salvation Army. They have a Toyland event where local underprivelaged families can come to the Salvation Army gym that has been all set up with rows and rows of tables filled with donated toys and games. The families usually fill out a wish list for their children and when they arrive at the Toyland, a Salvation Army volunteer walks them through and helps find the
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bourbonnais home inspection: You Don't Know What You Don't Know
- 10/30/23 06:27 AM
You Don't Know What You Don't Know. Boy is that ever true, especially when it comes to tech stuff on the computer. Over the years I have spent literally dozens of hours trying to search for documents, create a postcard or flyer or prepare presentations only to have them blow up in my face when I finally get finished. They may have things like bad fon't sizing, wrong font, off center, weird script that just disappears when I think it's ready to go, or just plain look ugly and unprofessional. Don't even get me started with Excel or Powerpoint. The
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bourbonnais home inspection: Lessons From Life and Business
- 08/31/23 06:56 AM
Lessons From Life and Business. As a father of 6 kids, it has been one of the standing jokes of the family over the years that I am always telling stories about random events and happenings in my life that should be a valuable lesson for them to learn from. Here are a couple examples. I told my daughters for years that I was the smartest guy they will ever know. After numerous boyfriends and one ex-husband, I can confidently say still to this day that I am the smartest guy they have ever known. There are a few challengers
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bourbonnais home inspection: Why Us You May Ask?
- 07/30/23 07:43 AM
Why Us You May Ask? That's a great question and isn't asked very often. Most of the time the very first words we hear when the phone rings and a potential buyer is on the other end is "How much is a home inspection?" Literally 9 out of 10 times, that's all the caller wants to know. They don't know that it's not really what they want to know, but they don't know what they don't know. What they really want to know is what are you going to tell me that is so valuable and worthwhile and important in
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bourbonnais home inspection: Flower Season is Way Too Short
- 05/30/23 09:02 PM
Flower season is way too short. Every April and May in Bourbonnais, Illinois we get an amazing blast of color thanks to the wide and assorted collection of flowers that bloom seemingly all at once. These flowers make real-life paintings in everyone's gardens and flower beds. Having a job where I get to visit homes and enjoy these beautiful gardens all over our area is a bonus that I don't take for granted. Finding such beauty in what otherwise may be a very dull and drama free inspection and turns it into a perfect opportunity to snap a few
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bourbonnais home inspection: Nope, I Didn't Always Know Everything
- 05/01/23 07:07 AM
Nope, I Didn't Always Know Everything Someone recently asked me what it takes to start a home inspection business. How did you get started? You seem to know everything. Really? When I started my business, I had the good fortune to already have a full-time job. Good thing too, because it was right before the mortgage crisis in 2008. That took some of the pressure off to make the leap to full time. I was able to ease into the inspection business and build my network and relationships with many local agents. I completed 4 free inspections in
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bourbonnais home inspection: Maybe a Seinfeld Episode?
- 03/26/23 07:40 AM
Maybe a Seinfeld Episode? Many years ago when I first started doing inspections, I had the pleasure of inspecting a condo for my daughter and her soon to be husband. The marriage didn't last for a few good reasons but that's not what this story is about. They were buying unit one of a 4 unit condo. The complex was horseshoe shaped with a detached row of garages in the middle of the horseshoe. The seller was home. As I walked around the back by the gas meters, I could smell a strong natural gas smell at the meters. I
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bourbonnais home inspection: Not a Bozo Bucket For Sure
- 03/23/23 08:21 AM
Not a Bozo Bucket For Sure About 6-7 years ago, I had an inspection scheulded for a client that was buying his very first flip house. He owned a carpet cleaning business and this property was only $30,000. I remember thinking how many carpets he must have cleaned to save up $30K. Nothing was really out of the ordinary on the roof and exterior. The interior was a different story however. As I was in the basement looking at a section of about five 2x8 floor joists, I saw there were termite tunnels and what looked like squishy wood. There
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bourbonnais home inspection: Now Just Hold on a Second There
- 03/23/23 07:05 AM
Now Just Hold on a Second There. There are many times when a seller is present at the home inspection. Most of the time they just hang around the house, in the kitchen or family room watching TV or reading, etc. They may say to check with them if we have any questions we need answered. Very helpful and totally fine with me and my buyer. We always remind the buyer that we are in the seller's home and we should wear boot covers, which I bring with for them just in case to respect the home. I also remind
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bourbonnais home inspection: If I Could Live Anywhere...
- 02/28/23 08:04 AM
If I could live anywhere, I have to think I may just end up where I am at this very moment. I know there are zillions of other locations around the world and for sure around the country that are more beautiful, have more amazingly intense sunsets, more green cool forests and maybe even a better quality of life. But, and this is a really big but, it's not where I call home. I've been living in the Kankakee, IL area ever since my family moved here from a small town in central Illinois in 1970. At the time
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bourbonnais home inspection: Old School-New School
- 01/30/23 01:05 PM
Old School-New School Last year was a crazy year in real estate and I'm pretty sure everyone that reads this might agree. While some months were normal to average business wise, there were several months that were not close to 2021. As the year went on, we determined that 2021 was an anomaly and we were more likely tracking with 2020. Our fees increased slightly, so while our number of inspections were down, we were still above in total revenue. The biggest change happened in April when our longtime marketing partner sold their business to a new company for a huge chunk of
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bourbonnais home inspection: My Top Blog post Ever ever ever
- 10/23/22 07:36 AM
My top blog post ever ever ever. Several years ago the monthly challenge contest was called the AR Pay it Forward Challenge. This was my entry. PROJECT RE:CYCLE BLOG POST I like to enter the challenges every month if I can, and when I saw this one, I knew exactly what I would write about. I've been in Activerain for maybe 10 years now, and really try and read as many blogs as possible. I don't always comment on each and every one that I end up reading, and I'm sure I miss a whole bunch of them
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bourbonnais home inspection: OOh OOh That Smell
- 09/23/22 07:57 PM
OOh OOh that smell. In my 15 years inspecting homes, I've seen so may weird and wacky and just plain stupid things, I really should just write a book. I can tell you it would be a best seller. For instance, tell me these aren't crazy things to find on an inspection. Cut off mannequin head just inside the attic hatch. Oh, it also has fake blood on it's face. Real funny Mr Seller. How about finding an oil painting of a nude woman in the attic of a nearly empty house, who just happens to be packing up
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bourbonnais home inspection: OOh OOh That Smell
- 09/23/22 07:57 PM
OOh OOh that smell. In my 15 years inspecting homes, I've seen so may weird and wacky and just plain stupid things, I really should just write a book. I can tell you it would be a best seller. For instance, tell me these aren't crazy things to find on an inspection. Cut off mannequin head just inside the attic hatch. Oh, it also has fake blood on it's face. Real funny Mr Seller. How about finding an oil painting of a nude woman in the attic of a nearly empty house, who just happens to be packing up
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bourbonnais home inspection: 21 Questions Challenge Accepted
- 08/28/22 08:24 AM
Questions 1. We all go on vacation to get away from it all and have a great time, but I want to know, what vacation day was your worst? My wife Mary and I got married in October 1981. Went to Mexico with plans to stop in Dallas for a few days to visit her Aunt Erika and Uncle Imants. 2 days after arriving in Dallas my wife got really sick. I was fine until.... I was with Imants at the Kennedy Memorial and that's when it hit me. We spent the next 5 days in bed violently ill and had to
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bourbonnais home inspection: Fly With Pride
- 06/12/22 06:41 AM
Fly with Pride. As a past Scoutmaster for Boy Scout Troop 324 in Bourbonnais, IL, I had a special task teaching all the scouts in our troop the rules and guidelines for raising and lowering a flag, folding and storing the flag, marching and displaying our flag and removing a tattered flag from service. There are very old and historic rules about all of these actions regarding the American flag. Other than the pledge of allegiance, most young people don't really ever look at a flag and for sure don't know or are taught the rules of respect for flag handling.
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bourbonnais home inspection: Good Reminder for Homeowners
- 01/19/22 10:12 AM
Old post but really good reminder for any homeowner. I've said it before...Water always wins and it is not your friend inside your home. This sump pump discharge pipe jumped out at me the minute I saw it at my Bourbonnais Illinois Home inspection. Matted down grass. Moss growing on the wall. Large opening where the pipe exits the wall. It took every ounce of willpower to not run inside the house and look at the interior wall, joists and plywood. The house next door had an elbow directing the water down into the drain pipe away from the house.
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