Local Marine is a Savvy Home Inspector Who Joined No. 1 Network
(San Antonio, TX) –Gordon Jones puts considerable thought and effort into everything he does and that will serve him well as he becomes an owner within the Pillar To Post Home Inspectors® network, the largest home inspection franchise in North America. Launching operations in January, Jones will serve homebuyers and sellers throughout San Antonio. He most recently operated his own home inspection company – cleverly called GI Jones Home Inspection – but admitted it was difficult operating solo with no support system in place.
The San Antonio resident is a United States Marine Corps veteran who served seven years as a Rifleman and through two deployments, Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. Pillar to Post Home Inspectors has been at the forefront of the home inspection industry with its outstanding and innovative technologies that were introduced just in time to provide contactless home inspections during the pandemic.
Home inspections have become a vital part of the real estate sector, providing buyers and sellers with reliable information about the condition and value of a property. The U.S. building inspector industry, measured by revenue, is estimated to have a market size of $4.9 billion according to global research firm IBISWorld. Being such a large player in the industry provides Pillar To Post Hone Inspectors with many advantages.
“By myself, it was always trial and error. It was up to me to create and implement such things as marketing efforts. For example, I decided to give handmade cutting boards to my clients and realtors. I thought it would help me gain referrals and reviews, but I never had a system to track the responses. It was just a shot in the dark that cost me time and money,” Jones said. “Pillar To Post Home Inspectors has systems in place to evaluate marketing materials and return on investment. They also have the experiences of their franchisees to know what will work and what won’t. So, while I’m independent, I’m also part of a large support system. It’s the ideal situation.”
While looking forward to his new opportunity, Jones is also introspective when looking back at his life after he left the military, admitting it was difficult for him to adjust to civilian life at the onset and wasn’t necessarily his doing.
“I struggled to find a job anywhere,” Jones said. “In the Marines I would be entrusted with the lives of dozens of Marines and millions of dollars of equipment, but a major retailer said I was unqualified to work as a junior sales associate. Experiences like that led me to open my own business and eventually become a Pillar To Post Home Inspectors franchisee.”
Jones grew up in a military family. His parents are both retired military officers. “The civilian world was totally foreign to me growing up,” Jones said. “I still think it’s strange that people grow up in only one town. I can’t even remember how many zip codes I’ve lived in.”
But now that he is settled, Jones has definite goals in mind as a franchise owner with Pillar To Post Home Inspectors. “My dream is to build a business that I can pass down to my child… a business they can rely on, so they won’t have to experience the shame of being turned down for a minimum-wage job at the gas station,” he said.
Jones is a perfect example of why so many military veterans are a perfect fit for owning a franchise. Veterans represent 14 percent of franchisees, and they prove a good fit for the franchise model because veterans possess strong leadership skills and a thorough understanding of being part of a team. Franchises also operate on proven systems and defined procedures and the military training that veterans go through allows them to easily adapt to a system and find success in franchising.
“Attention to detail is very important. Small things can be an indicator of a bigger problem,” Jones said. “When I had my company, deteriorated or missing caulking was probably the most common issue I would see. But that caulking prevents water from entering behind an exterior light fixture, for example, which could cause a short and start a fire. While the chances are small, caulking is cheap and easy to apply, but major consequences can occur if it’s not maintained.”
The Pillar To Post Home Inspectors business model affords Jones the opportunity to structure the business as he sees fit, whether hiring employees or doing it all himself. Having worked for himself and now within a franchise system, Jones said he has learned the value of time. Every hour counts.
According to a 2023 survey by Clever Real Estate, a “find a real estate agent” website, homebuyers of 2021 and 2022 have regrets over their home purchase. The main reasons cited? Skipped home inspections to get a fast close in a competitive housing market panic, which started with the pandemic in 2020.
And there are other important considerations in addition to a home’s square footage and number of bathrooms. Clever’s survey also found that almost half of homebuyers – 43 percent – made financial concessions like waiving a home inspection amid fierce competition for homes, according to CNBC. And skipping that home inspection can be costly. A survey from insurance firm Hippo found that most homeowners – 77 percent – had to pay for an unexpected repair within the first year of owning a house. Two-thirds of respondents said those fixes cost more than $1,000, said the CNBC report.
“I am excited about the technological advances that have come to the home inspection industry. Not that long ago, a home inspector was just a guy with a clipboard who wrote down things about your house and left,” Jones said. “Now it’s a professional operation: advanced reporting software with annotated pictures, virtual tours of the house, thermal imaging cameras, drones zooming around and more. And the technology will only continue to evolve.”
For Information visit https://jonesteam.pillartopost.com or call 210-817-1212.
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 more than 550 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