bradley home inspection: Perry Farm is a Winning Visit for the Family
- 04/09/21 08:20 AM
Perry Farm is a winning visit for the family.
Bourbonnais Illinois is the home of the Perry Farm. Today it is listed by the National Park Service of the Dept of the Interior in the National Register of Historic Places. But it wasn't always like that.
In 1835, Thomas Durham moved his wife and family of five daughters and four sons to Bourbonnais Grove,IL, about 60 miles south of Chicago on property on the banks of the Kankakee River. He built a farmhouse and a three bay English barn and a horse barn. Legend is the farmhouse cellar was part of … (7 comments)
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bradley home inspection: Another Story Hard to Believe, or is it?
- 03/07/21 06:25 AM
See if you can guess which one of these things are fake. 1. Buyer shows up wearing bright blue, yellow, red, orange and purple fingernail polish. 2. Buyer has on a woman's diamond engagement ring on his ring finger. 3. A friend shows up and proceeds to pull a box of cards and dice and a clear plastic tube with 2 felt placemats out of his coat. The 2 of them play a game of Magic the Gathering on the kitchen island countertop. 4. The sewer line drains just fine and no water starts bubbling up into the basement through the … (7 comments)
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bradley home inspection: It's not Hard to Like Agents Like This
- 02/07/21 06:30 AM
It's not Hard to Like Agents Like This.
I am a home inspector, with two inspectors on our team. While not the largest inspection company in Illinois, we are pretty big in our small part of the world. We complete approximately 600 inspections each year, and have been steadily growing for every one of the 13 years in business. In this time, I have been able to work with literally hundreds of real estate agents. I have seen first hand the various ways of selling methods employed by these agents. Again, I'm not an agent, but I have been in sales for … (7 comments)
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bradley home inspection: Odd, It Was Easy To Be Thankful This Year
- 11/26/20 07:11 AM
Odd, It was easy to be thankful this year.
I know it sounds crazy but there are so many things to be thankful for as this trying, agonizing, maddening, frustrating, sad, painful, distressing year comes to close.
But as for business and the steady background of the corona virus, the business success far outpaced the virus. We are thankful for so many things, but our list would not be complete without these handful of events.
1. The PPP loan. Somehow we were able to take advantage of the PPP loan and get a much needed assist when the virus … (10 comments)
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bradley home inspection: Perfect Home Improvement Project for Each Season
- 10/12/20 06:46 AM
This post really caught my eye. I tell buyers all the time about taking care of their new home. maitaining it one of the best things they can do to keep or improve the value of the home. Fall is a great time to catch up on a few jobs you may have put off over the busy summer. Maybe it was so hot and rainy or smokey, but before winter, it would be a great idea to wrap up the house for winter and tackle a few inside jobs.
Scott Seaton-The Home Inspector With A Heart
SLS Home Inspections @815-644-6271
Inspecting … (2 comments)
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bradley home inspection: We Just Might be Telling You Something Important
- 05/24/20 06:42 AM
We Just Might be Telling You Something Important.
Really, if there was no benefit to the inspection agreement that the State of Illinois requires us to have signed before we start the inspection, then I would gladly toss it out right now. But it does have lots of valuable information that protects the buyer as well as the inspector. We always make sure and go over the agreement with the buyers at the end of the inspection so they have a clear understanding of what they signed, even though this is not required by our SOP. We just feel it's makes … (8 comments)
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bradley home inspection: The Great Kankakee River- Gotta Love it.
- 03/31/20 09:22 PM
The Great Kankakee River-Gotta Love It. I have lived in the Kankakee River Valley for over 50 years. Kankakee,IL is the county capitol for Kankakee County. Kankakee was an Indian name for the local tribes. The French fur traders discovered the great land surrounding the Kankakee River in the 1800's. I have spent time in numerous states around the country camping with BoyScouts. I was a Scoutmaster for over 9 years and a member of the local Troop 324 for nearly 20 years. I have taken pontoon rides, speedboat trips and rafting trips. But nothing compares to taking a … (7 comments)
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bradley home inspection: Safe Practices Video for you to Share
- 03/20/20 05:57 AM
Going along with my last post, here's a great video that has some smart safety tips for all parties. Feel free to share all you want.
Click here for the video.
Would you like a FREE CPE certification? What is CPE? It's called Client Protection Expert How can It Help YOU? Click this link for the course... http://www.cpecertification.com/
Watch the video below and then take the short 10-15 minute test and you will receive several free items that will benefit you and your clients as well as a certificate that you can use for your marketing. Click this link for the … (2 comments)
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bradley home inspection: What are we Doing to Stay Safe?
- 03/20/20 05:19 AM
What are we doing to stay safe?
Our priority at this time is the safety of our inspection team, their families, their relatives, their neighbors, their friends, our clients, our realtor partners, and all of their families, friends, neighbors, relatives. Basically, everyone that could possible be infected with the COVID-19 virus. With that in mind, we have instituted these rules for all inspections until we pass through this crisis.
We are requesting that only one person attend for the buyers, and best case is no one attends the inspection. We will call them in the evening after the report is sent to go … (7 comments)
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bradley home inspection: Time Can be Your Best Friend, or NOT
- 02/24/20 08:35 AM
Time can be your best friend, or NOT.
Several years ago I wrote this blog post (https://activerain.com/blogsview/4620028/think-of-all-the-things-i-can-get-done-now-) about time being spent on things that weren't helping my business move forward. There were numerous time wasters that I would catch myself doing from time to time, and even sometimes knowing I had other things to do, would still waste a few minutes here and there going back to the time wasters. I suppose just knowing there is an issue with wasting time is the first step. "Hello, my name is Scott and I'm a time waster." I should have added, … (16 comments)
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bradley home inspection: Best Years of My Life
- 01/29/20 11:35 AM
What did we do last year or the year before that made a difference in our business? Simply put, I stopped trying to run a business all by myself. In July 2018, I got a phone call from a past client. His name was Luke and he had purchesed the home I inspected for him back in 2016 and for the next 2 years, he had spent many hours reading and studying all about home inspections. He determined that he did not want to be an owner of a company, rather he was wanting to be able … (3 comments)
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bradley home inspection: Water is Not Your Friend, Inside the Home
- 12/29/19 05:34 AM
I've said it before...Water always wins and is not your friend inside your home.
This sump pump discharge 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.
This house was a bit different. When the pump turned on, the … (5 comments)
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bradley home inspection: Your Thoughts on my New Checklist?
- 12/15/19 06:31 AM
Thanks to Barb Todaro's post today, I thought I would ask the AR group what your thoughts are on this comparison sheet between my company and my competition. This will be available for agents to hand to their clients when they start their search for an inspection company. The typical practice is for the buyer agent (BA) to always give the client 3 names of inspectors to choose from. The logic is that if something goes wrong with the inspection, the BA liability will be reduced because the BA gave them 3 names, and it was the clients decision … (3 comments)
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bradley home inspection: Test Burn for the Fire Department??
- 12/02/19 04:42 PM
Test burn for the fire department? One of the first inspections I ever did was about 10 years ago. A woman in a very small town south of my home called to tell me the village wanted to condemn her home she was trying to sell. It was vacant but she had a potential buyer, and he would be there to walk around during the inspection with me. She wanted to prove to the village the home should not be condemned. The first thing I noticed when I pulled up to the house was there were no … (12 comments)
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bradley home inspection: Don't Wait Until the Snow Flies
- 12/01/19 08:59 AM
Did you remember to tuneup your furnace? Winter has been pretty rough in Bourbonnais, Illinois so far this year. There are a few things that are worse than a furnace acting up in the middle of the winter, but for the life of me I can't think of any right now. Your furnace needs an annual checkup and if you put it off until now, you're asking for trouble. Waiting until the snow flies means you waited about 3 months too long. Now if you're depending on something like this old furnace to keep you warm through the winter, then you might want to invest in a … (5 comments)
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bradley home inspection: Amazed Doesn't Begin to Cover it
- 11/29/19 07:51 AM
Amazed doesn't begin to cover it. I have 4 children with my wife Mary, and 2 with my ex-wife. I know people can be proud of their kids, as they should be. But there are times I have to just sit back and give thanks for the children my wife and I have, and what amazing young adults they have become. My 2 oldest children live in Delaware, so visits are not real frequent. But when we do get together, it's always the best of times. My oldest son Scott III, has a good, steady job with … (7 comments)
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bradley home inspection: Thankful for my Team
- 11/29/19 07:13 AM
Thankful for my Team. I have been inspecting homes for new home buyers for about 8 years full time. I was doing inspections part time for a few years before that. I was always a one man shop until July of 2018. I have averaged 2 inspections a day Monday through Friday for the past 2 years. Over 500 inspections each year is enough to wear anyone out. All I was doing is inspecting and writing reports, sometimes working 18 hours a day from 5AM until midnight . I was approached by a young man who I had … (6 comments)
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bradley home inspection: What a Difference 7 Years Makes
- 11/15/19 12:50 PM
What a difference 7 years makes. I am so grateful and thankful because for the past seven years, I have been witness to these amazing events in my family's history. Seven years ago in December, 2012 I had a heart attack and was shocked back to life twice on the ER table. This is what I almost missed. In that time, I've seen my youngest daughter graduate with her nursing degree from Olivet Nazarene University. She now works in her dream job the OR department of Riverside Medical Center. She is one of the most requested nurses … (2 comments)
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bradley home inspection: In My Past Life I.....
- 10/26/19 05:27 AM
In my past life I learned early on many the rights and wrongs of a home. I learned to have an eye for details. My Dad is an architect, so I was always wanting to be an architect. There was just one problem, I was not really good at math, or algebra. I worked at my dad's office as the copy machine boy for a few years putting spec books together and making blueprints. I remember taking off in the station wagon really early on Sunday mornings with my dad and we would just drive around town looking at … (9 comments)
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bradley home inspection: Dryer Vent Safety- Again
- 09/19/19 07:15 AM
How many times do people need to be reminded about dryer vents? Never too many is the answer. There are even clever commercials now from Farmer's Insurance Group showing a 17 foot tall ball of lint and the teacher torches the ball with a flame thrower to remind viewers how flammable the dryer lint can be.
One reason there are so many of these accordion type dryer vents still being used today is that the major appliance installation companies insist on showing up to install your new dryer with a new package of flexible dryer vent. It's so much easier to just … (5 comments)
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Perry Farm is a winning visit for the family.
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