At the ripe age of 27, Jesse Durham was so impressed by his dealings with Pillar To Post Home Inspectors during his career as a Realtor, he decided to become a franchise owner with the No. 1 home inspection company in North America in 2021. The Fort Worth resident is serving homebuyers and sellers throughout Tarrant and Johnson counties, Texas focusing primarily on north Fort Worth.
Durham was a Realtor in southeast Michigan before relocating to Texas. "I enjoyed every minute of my career in real estate but when we moved to Fort Worth, I decided to make a leap while still staying close to the real estate market. I wanted to put my skills to the test," said Jesse. "Choosing Pillar To Post Home Inspectors was an easy choice for me. I was able to see firsthand the Pillar To Post Home Inspectors' difference as a Realtor. It made it clear to me that if I wanted to be successful, then that is the franchise to choose."
Jesse couldn't have chosen a more interesting and opportune time to join the growing home inspection franchise. During and after the COVID crisis, the real estate market in general was out of control. Houses were going for double the value of the year before due to people deciding that if they had to be home, they wanted more space or their 'dream home'.
"Home sales were booming," said Jesse. "Cash bids were coming in at sometimes 30 to 40% over asking price in many markets, which until then was unheard of".
Fortunately, at that time Pillar To Post was rolling out new technologies they had been working on for years. Fast tracked then to accommodate the required 'contactless' home inspection, these new
technologies zoomed the company forward.
"Buyers were often pressured to forgo the home inspection and other contingencies to get to the front of the line and have their bid accepted by the seller. I knew that was a huge mistake buyers would regret, so I was very happy we had the tools to step in quickly and conduct thorough home inspections without the Realtor or Buyer present. They got a thorough report, digitally, with many features that were not easily available at that time," said Jesse.
Jesse stresses, "I decided to make a leap to home inspection because it kept me close to the real estate market. I wanted to use all the valuable skills I gained as a Realtor, and thankfully that plan really paid off. In a bustling, crazy real estate market, we kept our cool, stressing to everyone to NOT skip a home inspection, especially because it was such a competitive market. People who were convinced to skip some contingencies to "get that house" have lived to regret skipping their home inspection.
The company has achieved the highest standings in various rankings of "Best in Category," "Top 20 Franchises to Buy," "Top 10 Global Franchises" and "Top Franchises for Veterans" in addition to achieving 5-Star status with VetFran, a program offered by the International Franchise Association that provides discounted franchise fees to veterans.
"It has always been a dream of mine to own my own business," Jesse said. "I want my kids
to grow up seeing that hard work can pay off. And pay off it did when he was named the company's Rookie of the Year for 2022.
"It doesn't get much better than this when you more than obtain your goal during the first year in business," concluded Jesse.