You could say Steve Maher knows a bit about homes. And keeping them safe. After a 30-year career in security he ought to. "After a dozen years or so in the field, I worked my way into corporate as a start-up/turn-around leader for two different North American security integration and monitoring companies. Eventually, I became their 'start-up/turn-around' executive to either start new departments or fix ones that are failing. As such, I moved around a lot - Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, Chicago, Minneapolis, Indianapolis, Phoenix, and Dallas." So why home inspection as a new career?

"During my moves from city to city, we needed places to live," said Steve. "I've been through the real estate purchase/sale process many times. I had respect for the inspection process as it was always an insightful experience for us. My wife Janet worked as a Realtor, so that helped us move around quickly, find a good and fair deal; and now she will help me in the home inspection business because she has tremendous knowledge and contacts in the real estate community. She also 'gets it' and knows how to make the real estate agents' lives easier, and she knows what reliability and integrity looks like in this field.

With every home we owned, improvements were made. Everything from cosmetic all the way to taking rooms down to the studs and doing full renovations. This was a rewarding experience. We uncovered many problems, and became very good at spotting them, solving them, and improving our homes tremendously."

Steve now runs his own Pillar To Post Home Inspectors® business and serves Kokomo, Lafayette, Frankfurt, Delphi, Logansport, Peru, Wabash, Marion, Tipton in Indiana. Among the many reasons he chose Pillar To Post were the innovative technologies the company introduced during the Covid "contactless home inspections." These advanced technologies, along with the proven business model, provide an exceptional home inspection with unique and innovative features that are all delivered within a seamless brand experience. All developed pre-pandemic fast- tracked when the pandemic struck, the new features further highlight Pillar To Post Home Inspectors' standing as a visionary in its industry. The package is now known as the Ultimate Home Inspection and it's revolutionizing the home inspection industry. So much so that the company was just awarded the much- coveted Best Innovators by Franchise Update Media in the category of "best customer service tools."

Steve hopes to build a legacy for the future, "It will be a new and I think fantastic experience. My wife and I moved here to be closer to our son James, and we will work out a plan for him to hopefully join the business, then eventually take it over." Simple math quickly demonstrates that a home inspection is money well- spent when making what is typically the largest single investment most people will ever make. That's one piece of advice that's hard to argue," said Steve. "No one needs surprises with what they are spending to buy a home in today's market."

In fact, during the housing market boom, many homebuyers were encouraged to forego home inspections to get the upper hand in an offer they were making. Such was the competition in most major markets for homes. There were often more than five serious offers on one home and waiving some contingencies led to the winning bid. Now, one to two years later the horror stories are hitting the news.

"Many people who waived home inspections to get the deal done now have buyer's remorse," shared Steve. "Skipping an inspection can cost you hundreds and worse, thousands of dollars of missed issues. With these technical differentiators we become less about 'checking a box' in the home ownership process, and more about bringing meaningful solutions to the table to drive confident home ownership for our customers. Moreover, I look forward to the day that long-time home-owners leverage home inspectors."

Just like an annual check-up at the doctor, home inspections every year or two can bring fresh solutions, often money-saving ones, to existing home-owners to help them understand how healthy their home is, and where attention may be required. Having that report handy will also put that home in a much better position to be sold.

About Pillar To Post Home Inspectors®

Founded in 1994, Pillar To Post Home Inspectors is the largest home inspection company in North America with home offices in Toronto and Tampa. There are over 500 franchises located in 49 states and nine Canadian provinces. Long-term plans include adding 500 to 600 new franchisees over the next five years. For further information, please visit www.pillartopost.com or for info about a franchise go to www.pillartopostfranchise.com