May 31, 2025 • 47 mins
Full show from the Donovan & Jorgenson Heating & Cooling Studio: Saturday, May 31st, 2025
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to the Creative Construction Wisconsin Home Improvement show on
Fox Sports nine twenty and your iHeart Radio app by
Mike mcgiffern. And look who's back? Did you get all
the way back turning left the whole time? Or how
was the Indy five hundred?
Speaker 2 (00:15):
Well, the week before I was that we're just going straight?
You know, I went to you ever go to drag race?
No're like four seconds long, right? You real fasts four
seconds over twenty store one No one. That was kind
of cool. That was cool to see that. And then
the other one is you know it's the Indy five
hundred and uh, you know, I guess a lot of
left turns. But that race was was this was this
weird because they were crashing before the race started. Then
(00:38):
there were then there were they were like seven ray
laps when he started the race and they even throw
the even throw green yet but the counting laps on
the board, and so we're like, what.
Speaker 3 (00:45):
Is going on?
Speaker 1 (00:46):
I don't know. It was I have no idea. What
if you had seen it, you would see it.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
It was just it was just it was the most
it was the weirdest race.
Speaker 1 (00:54):
Just missed it.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
Well, yeah, then you know the Panskes are cheating the
week before you got caught with that, So there's a
lot of a lot of dry about that.
Speaker 1 (01:01):
I was hoping. I had a guest on Faith in
the Zone Sting Ray Rob, who is a strong Christian
and came in and shared his faith on the show
that I did that Sunday mornings from eight to nine.
Right here.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
You know he supposed to turn left all the time.
Well he didn't turn left.
Speaker 1 (01:18):
He did, he turned right? Yeah, Sting right. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
Well sometimes their GPS goes out.
Speaker 1 (01:23):
You know that's his real name too. I love that
parents are big Corvette fans and he was born to
be a race car drive.
Speaker 2 (01:29):
That's like you know, my granddaughter Shelby and it is
named after the car. Okay, yeah, yeah, so that does happen.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
That's awesome. Well, welcome back. Ray did a nice job
filling it. He's not you, but he did a nice job.
Speaker 2 (01:43):
He's all right, but I know that you brought me back.
Neither back up.
Speaker 1 (01:46):
We need the ratings to go back up. Our special
guest in studio and it's nice to meet him. He's
a Colorado boy, but he's kind of a cheese seat.
I guess he's Eric Schaeffer. He's the general manager. He's
a sort of five master inspector for around the Block inspections. Eric,
how you been good?
Speaker 3 (02:05):
How are you doing good?
Speaker 1 (02:06):
I need to say happy birthday to Peyton graduation for
Ryland Merrowhead and Peyton turned fifteen and man, happy birthday
to to Peyton. How was the birthday party?
Speaker 3 (02:18):
Oh? It was great.
Speaker 4 (02:19):
She has a great group of friends and yeah, no
it was She had a blast. They had a blast,
and it was a blessing.
Speaker 1 (02:26):
Sounds like you were either singing a lot or yelling
at somebody because your voice is a little scratchy.
Speaker 2 (02:31):
But you got me think about it, he's saying around
the block. There wasn't another show around the.
Speaker 1 (02:35):
Song around the corner. Yeah, I was thinking about it.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
That's yeah, that's the other one with them around the
more famous giving.
Speaker 1 (02:42):
Well, I think most people just watched that show to
see the one minute sports second.
Speaker 2 (02:47):
Yeah, that's only why I did. I will figure out.
I'll call you up to say what time is that
gonna be on? I watch for a one minute.
Speaker 1 (02:52):
That was that's it there. Well, you know what's really
funny to me being goes out running to people who
will say mcgiverney, are you related to John McGivern. Yeah,
that's my brother. I've watched that show every week, blah
blah blah, And I go, You've watched Around the Corner
every week. Yeah, I'm a huge fan. We even watch
replays and I go, do I look familiar? No? And
(03:12):
I go, what do you like? You blink during the
sports seconment? I was on it for eight years.
Speaker 2 (03:17):
Well, my dad was one of those two, cause that's
you know, every time we had to go to my
dad's house, we have to watch that episode where he
was on it, right, Yes, the same thing. Remember we
brought him in the radio show and he goes, yeah, no,
why who are you?
Speaker 1 (03:26):
Who are you? Yeah? You know? Yeah, I'm like, are
you kidding? No? I never missed one of those. In fact,
we went to Eagle River because your brother John told
us to go to you. I go, I did a
great segment on the Hockey Hall of Fame from Meago River. No,
we wants to miss that. So but around the Block Inspections, Hey, Eric,
give us your background. You grew up in Colorado and
(03:48):
went to high school there. First of all, how'd you
get to Wisconsin?
Speaker 4 (03:53):
So Wisconsin's kind of funny. We we we my wife
and we grew up in Colorado and we just uh
during the COVID time, a little bit before COVID, we
just felt a lot of people traffic started at worse.
We're kind of like, we do we want to move leave.
So we went to Montana, Idaho, Utah, and then Wisconsin
(04:18):
was actually our last state to look at my wife
she wanted nothing to do with humidity because of her
hair and.
Speaker 1 (04:26):
Name Sarah Sarah, Yeah beautiful. And so you tried Wisconsin
and it stuck or.
Speaker 3 (04:34):
Yeah, we fell in love with it.
Speaker 4 (04:36):
We fell in love with the lake, all the lakes,
the tree, I mean, the people, yeah, just everything about it.
Speaker 3 (04:44):
We we loved it.
Speaker 4 (04:45):
We love it's it's uh yeah, it's been.
Speaker 1 (04:48):
That's awesome. Good for you and the kids go to Arrowhead, Yes, yeah,
you know it's funny. After this show, I do a
high school football, high school basketball, high school sports show,
and anytime you talk to anybody in the in that conference,
who's your rival? Who don't you like? Arrowhead? Now? Mosquigo's
getting to be close second now right, But Arrowhead, because
(05:09):
of the success they've had in a lot of different
sports throughout the years. Nobody likes them right now, So yeah,
I can tell you that that's that's out of pure
respect for the most part.
Speaker 2 (05:20):
Look at a training facility when we did a live
Showlder one time, and the training facility, Wow.
Speaker 1 (05:26):
Yeah it is.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
It's a way.
Speaker 1 (05:28):
There are some advantages out there, for sure. I like
a lot of people out there. Have you been in
the home inspection industry for a long time? I have.
Speaker 4 (05:40):
My background has started out plumbing, HVAC, boiler work for
a company and I actually am still a master plumber
in Colorado and then just been in the trade since
I was about twenty.
Speaker 3 (05:56):
Worked my way up.
Speaker 4 (05:58):
I was at a pretty large company, became manager and
then just felt like it was time the owner was retiring.
Speaker 3 (06:07):
I just felt like I always.
Speaker 4 (06:08):
Wanted to own my own company, to do my own business,
and when the owner retired, family was taken over and
other family it felt like a good time to transition.
And it was scary. It was scary because I'd been
at my job for about twenty years working for that company.
Speaker 1 (06:25):
And sure it gets a little bit nerve wracking.
Speaker 4 (06:28):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (06:28):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (06:28):
It was a lot of praying, Yeah, a lot of yeah,
a lot of stress.
Speaker 1 (06:34):
It was a yeah, I can tell you most of
my buddies are retiring. Right. Two years ago I started
my own company. A lot of sleepless nights, a little
bit at the beginning. But you're enjoying it so far. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (06:45):
Yeah, it's you know, like anything, there's pros and cons,
you know, but yeah, for the most part yet, it's uh,
wouldn't change it. It's uh gives you a little bit
sometimes more flexibility, depending how busy you are the store.
You're working eighty hours a week or more.
Speaker 3 (07:02):
But that's what is.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
You own your own business, right, Look at the free
time you have when you own your own business, you know.
Speaker 1 (07:08):
Yeah, tell me.
Speaker 2 (07:09):
People always say, well, I don't want my business at
your own hours. Yeah, I do have some my own hours.
I just you know, but this is what I love
to do. So I'm technically I'm really not working, right.
I like doing this.
Speaker 1 (07:17):
That's kind of That's kind of how I feel too.
You know. You get up every day and every day
is different and amazing.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
Every time the phone rings, you don't know what what's
that going to develop into? And what you know, what
am I going to be?
Speaker 1 (07:30):
How many weeks ago and I had to fire my secretary.
Now I kept her on as my personal assistant. But
my wife, I'm like, yeah, I you know what, I
You're not doing that secretary. So so she goes, I have
my own job. I'm not anybody's secretary. And I'm like,
I kind of had you on my my chart, is
like being my secretary. And she's like, no, that is
(07:51):
not going to happen.
Speaker 2 (07:52):
So when she's also a human resource department, Oh yeah she.
Speaker 1 (07:57):
Is, Yeah she is. And uh there's a lot lot
of things that she doesn't know that she did. She
helps me a lot every day. She works out of
our home and we butt. We moved eric to p
Waukee a couple of years ago in a condo area
and uh it's nice. We both have our own offices
and I can close my door and uh, but she's
there and she's a medical review specialist and she works
(08:20):
really hard.
Speaker 2 (08:21):
Maybe if you had an office in a basement. Why
why I got to bring up her basement?
Speaker 1 (08:25):
Why do you do that anytime there's any kind of
bad weather. My wife just is not happy that we
moved into a condo that doesn't have a basement. So
if you could get after the show, if you could
go build me one real quick. Just get that, get
that done. Hey, why the home inspection industry? What what
about that industry caught your attention? And and why that
(08:45):
that industry?
Speaker 4 (08:46):
Sure? I think just being in the trade since I
was like from a teenager and on with my dad,
and you know, it just seemed like a good fit.
I actually looked at buying franchises, carpet cleaning, to mold restoration,
to all sorts of things in the home inspection. I
can't I kept coming back to just because of the
(09:10):
trades I had been in. I was really interest me.
I was really I enjoy helping people, talking with people.
It was it just seemed like overall a good fit.
That's kind of where I landed.
Speaker 1 (09:24):
Are you happy that that's the industry that you you
got involved in? Yeah?
Speaker 3 (09:28):
Yeah, definitely. I didn't know what a lot of.
Speaker 1 (09:31):
Competition right, yes there is yeah, And and I'm on
your website and around the block inspections dot com, around
the block inspections dot com. When when somebody asked you
what sets you apart from from the people in your
competition in your field, what do you tell them?
Speaker 4 (09:49):
I would tell them, Well, a lot of inspectors are
gonna say their experienced mine, I would say my experience.
Speaker 3 (09:56):
I've been a.
Speaker 4 (09:56):
Part of several associations. I'm always educating. I always believe
in you know, knowledge is power and just learning as
much as you can mastering your craft. I've always done that,
and I I just think, are you know, we just
we truly care about the people, We care about the
(10:19):
the house sur bying. We just want to make it,
you know, help them out as much as possible. And
you know that's kind of what separates us. We just
I always say, we always try and inspect like it's
our house and help people as much as possible, educate them.
Speaker 2 (10:35):
I always seed the negative part about what happens when
you don't do home inspections. As people are people still
waving home inspections.
Speaker 1 (10:43):
They are, yes, well and a perfect time to have
you in studio too, because I look, this is the
time that a lot of people spring, people are putting
their houses up, and I'm seeing even in the Pewaukee
area a lot more for sale signs than I did
three months ago. Go and we I think it's so
important that people have that. Don't waive that right, I
(11:06):
I look, you fall in love with the place. And
now you know what.
Speaker 2 (11:09):
They say to me is, but mister, you don't understand.
They get eight other offers for the house with but
everybody waves a home inspection sooner or later. When I
run into them, they just and they're trying to find
way to get their money back. They want to go.
I mean, and don't people winning this dealer lawyers.
Speaker 1 (11:25):
One hundred one hundred percent? And look are you finding
that more and more people are at least considering that.
And when somebody says to you, I feel like we're
going to lose this this dream house that we that
we that we we love the neighborhood, love the house.
But you just shake your head and say, don't do that.
We I think you need to probably have us come
(11:47):
in and just take a quick look at it, right.
Speaker 4 (11:49):
Yeah, exactly, And then uh yeah, because just getting another
set eye as a professional, someone knows what they're doing,
you know, just if anything for peace of mind. But yeah,
it's uh, it's such a big investment. And you know,
and I call the camp miss items like the roof,
the structure of the mechanicals, those things they can be
(12:11):
kind of pricey. If you need any repairs done or
you know, so just having us look at everything and
you know it's uh, we do we have been doing
more post inspections.
Speaker 1 (12:22):
Oh you have.
Speaker 4 (12:23):
Yeah, we we'll go in there after they buy the
house and just let them know the overall condition, just
so they can kind of get a checklist, a little
honeydoo list maintenance items, what needs to be done and
prioritize everything.
Speaker 2 (12:36):
And there's an other thing too. I'm running because I'm
running to these people, you know, people like Eric, they're
doing warranty inspections, like they had the house for eleven months, Yeah,
and they go through an inspection and find all the
stuff that's wrong, was you know, catch at it's still
in a warranty because after one year the warranty's over.
Speaker 1 (12:51):
Yeah. So I think that's important. When when I asked
you that question about what sets you part for me personally,
the fact that you you were in the home improvement
field for a long time. You didn't just get out
of school and then become a home inspector by by
book learning. I mean you've been you sway a hammer
(13:11):
for a bit. What did your father do?
Speaker 4 (13:14):
So my dad was also a master plumber and then
my grandpa was a steam fitter.
Speaker 1 (13:19):
Okay, so yeah, did you know in high school that
that was kind of the way the direction you're going
to go? Because you know what, like Bengos dad was
in my father was bricklayer, and Mason wanted one of
the mcgifferent boys to follow his footsteps. Nobody did, And
you know what we should have because any problems that
we have, I got And we have this joke every week,
(13:41):
but my wife has his son's phone number on speed
dial because if I start to try to do any
home improvement project, she just calls Zack and says, Okay,
he's got his goggles on, he's trying to take this.
Just be ready. The phone's going to ring here in
a minute, and he needs some help. So I wish
that one of us the McGivern boys would have followed
(14:01):
my dad's footsteps, and we didn't. Did you know as
a high school kid that that this was the direction
for you?
Speaker 4 (14:06):
No? I didn't. I honestly didn't know what I wanted
to do in high school. And then I came really
close to joining the Navy. I was getting ready to
took the ASVA and all that, and then my dad said, well,
why don't you give plumbing a shot? And I go, okay,
well I want to go to school. I'll get my
journeyman license. That takes four years, and then I'll go
(14:27):
back to school'll hold off with the Navy, and uh
just kind of go from there and then next thing,
you know, four years, eight years, ten years past. You
have a family, You're making decent money. Plumbing's always been
I've never been without work, you know, it's been a blessing. Yeah,
even during two thousand and eight, that recession time we
(14:49):
went through. You know, I was always pretty busy with
the company I worked for and doing plumbing hvac work,
and you know, so it was. It's always been a
good trade.
Speaker 1 (14:58):
Ye you missed you in that that work.
Speaker 3 (15:00):
Yeah I did.
Speaker 4 (15:01):
I still do it around my house. Yeah, yeah, yeah,
I just got a furnace last year. But yeah, no,
I I I still like getting my hands dirty. And
I have no issue jumping in there. I help a
friend of mine who has a plumbing, hvac boiler company
sometimes and on bigger jobs he does, and but I
am glad I'm not doing it every day.
Speaker 1 (15:21):
Well, we you know this. We are we are in
the diving and Jorgenson Heating and Cooling Studios. Yes, and
I was there yesterday, stopped to see Scott Fisher, uh
the president of Divan Jorgensen and and uh.
Speaker 2 (15:34):
Two great being always available.
Speaker 1 (15:38):
Yeah, I'm just throwing that out there. And there man
the largest employee owned the HVAC company in the state
of Wisconsin. They do a great job. And I can't
recommend those guys enough. They've been to my house quite
a bit.
Speaker 2 (15:49):
It must really be busy because even when it turned
the heat on air, it just keeps changing.
Speaker 1 (15:54):
It keeps changing. Guess who else since you've been gone,
we are now a customer for with the water with
water doctors. John came out to the We did all
of it. My wife is so happy with.
Speaker 2 (16:05):
The water nerd.
Speaker 1 (16:07):
The water nerd, I'll tell you what. He was really good.
In the living room at the mcgiffern house. My wife
had a lot of questions. Well, yeah, well that that
dude knows more about water, like kind of like what
you would with inspections. Eric.
Speaker 2 (16:23):
We also, you know, we do training with home inspectors, right, Well,
I brought him in and he talked for an hour
and a half about water and percentages and points and
stuff that you more than everyone to know.
Speaker 1 (16:33):
Ever want to know. Yeah, my goodness, Hey, the most
difficult part of the home inspection field right now. You
not only do you do residential, you do commercial. And
I don't know if if all the inspectors do both.
But but for you, what what's the most difficult part
of being in that field right now? Is it that
(16:55):
people are starting to continue to waive the home inspection
before they buy the house? Is that the one that
shapes that you get you shake your head at the.
Speaker 3 (17:03):
Most, Yeah, that definitely, And then.
Speaker 4 (17:07):
Yeah, that'd probably be number one. That's the one. And
I get if you want.
Speaker 3 (17:11):
Your you know, a property, or you're you're.
Speaker 4 (17:13):
Trying just to get a home, and that's why we're
doing more post inspections too. But uh, you know, and
actually I had a friend of mine too who had
another inspector did the work. I'm like, well, just send
me over the report. Let's see how thorough it is.
See if they covered like the bigger items, they looked
at them, and you know, so I'll do that too.
But that and just right, you know, right now, it's uh,
(17:37):
I feel I do feel bad for buyers in this market.
It's been like this for a long time. But you
know they're just uh, you know, it just kind of
is what it is, and we just help them as
much as possible.
Speaker 1 (17:49):
And yeah, on your website and it's a really good website.
I've I've learned a lot about your company. What I
like the most is when when the when you're willing
to it out there, you know, give us five percent
of your trust and we'll earn the other ninety five percent.
And then in that you go, look, this is who
(18:10):
we are. This is nearly thirty years of plumbing, an
HVAC experience, and more than two thousand inspections performed. I
guarantee you'll receive the highest quality inspection from someone who
generally cares. If you're willing to put that paragraph on
your website, you can't run from that because people go,
hold on a second. It says that you see, this
(18:31):
is you. I'm quoting you, and I love the fact
that you're willing to stand out on the on the
edge of the corner there and say, look to give
us five percent and we'll earn the other ninety five percent.
And because of my experience, in our experience, you can
trust us and here's why. That's a big statement for me.
(18:51):
I highlighted that on your website because you're not running
from that. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (18:55):
Oh correct, Well, I will do whatever we can to
make try and make someone happy.
Speaker 2 (19:01):
You know.
Speaker 1 (19:01):
Hey, I'm sorry. Sarah involved in the.
Speaker 3 (19:03):
Company, she is.
Speaker 4 (19:04):
Yes, she helps out with the marketing side. A lot
of the behind the scenes stuff.
Speaker 3 (19:10):
She helps out.
Speaker 4 (19:11):
She's a huge, huge help with just uh, I love
the just the website, the social media, you know, just
getting putting that all together, you know, and just the
marketing side.
Speaker 3 (19:26):
The newsletter she for her. Yeah, and she puts up
with me, so she's you.
Speaker 2 (19:31):
Know what, Yeah, she's a special She's also times to
human resources too.
Speaker 1 (19:37):
Oh man, well, don't do what I did, because when
you fire your secretary who happens to be your wife,
dinner is not all that good.
Speaker 2 (19:46):
Why don't you just fire me? Okay, you can't quit.
Speaker 1 (19:49):
Don't do that. I get no zucchini bread or any
of that.
Speaker 2 (19:53):
If if you fire she actually just brought that up
there days, it's time for me to start making likini bread.
I guess she got someone froze it and saved it.
Speaker 1 (20:01):
For enough her. Do not fire her, Do not fire her.
Our special cast for the entire hour. I've got a
number of questions for her, for him, for her, I
want Sharon here. I guess Peyton And do you think
really the Peyton will get involved in this this company
one day.
Speaker 3 (20:19):
I could see my daughter at some point.
Speaker 4 (20:22):
Honestly, Yeah, it's uh my son right, he's kind of going, Uh,
he's going. College's gonna go oshcost next year and uh
criminal justice and the military interest in so I'm not
sure what.
Speaker 3 (20:34):
He's going to do. Bodybuilding, he's in there.
Speaker 4 (20:36):
He wants to be a professional bottle bodybuilder too.
Speaker 1 (20:39):
Him and I are like twins. Thread. Four weeks ago,
I was in San Diego for the US Marine Educator's
workshops like US Marine boot Camp where Camp Camp Pendleton
Ramar at the depot Solid Graduation.
Speaker 2 (20:54):
Playing the top Gun song.
Speaker 1 (20:57):
It's funny because I got a chance to talk to it.
And then we went to Miramar. We got to go
through the planes and I asked him, I said, you
get sick and tired of people asking the top gun question.
He goes, absolutely not. You see that runway right there?
I go, yeah, because remember Tom Cruise on the motorcycle.
I go yeah. He goes that's where it was filmed.
You go up over that hill is where the house is.
But yeah, it was really really cool. It was really cool,
(21:20):
beautiful part of the country. I've not been there before,
and it was there was some working out stuff that
I'm telling you one day, I'll tell you the story.
I had a drill instructor and she was She was
probably five to two, about one hundred pounds and scared
the living daylights out of me. And I started laughing
because she was lighting me up. And she goes, you're laughing.
(21:41):
I said, I laugh when I get nervous. She goes, Okay,
nervous boy, All right, here we go. We're gonna do
these bear crawls. I said, now, I can't do those.
Got a little bit of a bad back, but I'll
run a little bit more. Well, we have a runner here.
You're a runner now, and I'm like, man, man, I
haven't gotten yelled at like that in a long time.
We're going to get to a our special guest, Eric Schaeffer,
(22:02):
general manager for Around the Block Inspections. Go to Around
the Block Inspections dot com for more information. This is
the Creative Construction, Wisconsin home improvement show on Fox Sports
nine twenty and your iHeart Radio App. Welcome back to
the Creative Construction Wisconsin home improvement show on Fox Sports
nine twenty, your iHeartRadio App. Coming live from the Donovan
(22:25):
Enjorgans and Heating and Cooling Studios. I'm Mike McGivern alongside
Bingo Emmons. He's the owner of Creative Construction of Wisconsin.
And our special guest he is Eric Schaefer, General manager
Around the Block Inspections. Go to Around the Block Inspections
dot com for any information that you need on this company. Eric,
(22:47):
we had talked a little bit about the commercial side
of it. I want to just kind of touch on that.
How much business is it fifty to fifty between residential commercial?
Is at seventy five twenty five? How much commercial business
do you guys do?
Speaker 4 (23:02):
So it's probably about seventy thirty okay right now, Yeah,
it's seventy residential thirty percent. We're actually expanding our commercial
division right now and growing that.
Speaker 1 (23:13):
What does that look like?
Speaker 4 (23:14):
That looks like just more marketing, offering more services and
then you know the marketing is the biggest thing, and
then sure getting the word out there, and.
Speaker 2 (23:25):
Well, commercials are different animals. There's different things, you know,
holrofs you got, yeah, mean you got you know different
there's different things you got that you know, all the
handicap stuff that you got to be looking for now
and and just all these different things.
Speaker 1 (23:38):
How many employees do you have?
Speaker 4 (23:40):
So with me and my wife, there's two of us,
and then we have you know, other people behind the
scenes kind of doing some stuff. So we're still smaller,
growing good.
Speaker 1 (23:50):
Yeah, you got to be nimble, huh. Yeah. Yeah, And
you had said early on, you know there are there
this time year, you know, there could be some sixty
hour weeks for you, maybe eighty. I mean, you got it.
Now is the time I would think, especially in the
residential area. Is the commercial more seasonal or is that
(24:10):
year round?
Speaker 3 (24:11):
That's yeah, that's more year round.
Speaker 4 (24:13):
Okay, we're in the residential you know, it's seasonal like
you guys know or you know this time of year
we're cranking along pretty good and so, but yeah, the
residence seems to be a little more consistent, little more
study or commercial.
Speaker 1 (24:27):
Yeah. Are you mostly in southeast Wisconsin, mostly in the
Lake Country area or all of southeast where you go
to Franklin, where you go to al Creek. I mean,
what is there a territory that you that you cover. No,
we have a.
Speaker 4 (24:40):
Pretty big territory, you know, and commercial will go outside
that even territory a little bit further depending on the job.
But yeah, those areas we go to you mentioned, and
then usually like within an hour or so of the
Lake Country area we'll travel to.
Speaker 1 (24:57):
But we'll go.
Speaker 4 (24:57):
Outside that definitely for a special occasions or commercial properties or.
Speaker 1 (25:03):
Hey, whether commercial or residential. If if what you do
reveal some some issues, you don't make recommend You don't
make recommendations whether somebody should buy the house, not buy
the house. You just give them the facts, correct, correct? Yeah, yeah,
I mean because they I mean people, I'm sure people
(25:23):
ask you would you buy the house all the time.
Speaker 2 (25:26):
But I mean people think that they're rude sometimes because
they won't but they can't. So that's when they'll tell them.
They call me because I can say whatever I want.
Speaker 1 (25:37):
Most of the time. You do, right, That's what I do.
Speaker 2 (25:39):
Is I got you know, you know mp I and
those guys, right, they'll say, you know what, you should
really contact this guy because you know, because they're deciding
the things are disaster right, But they don't. They can't
say it, so they'll tell me because I'm the professional
expert to tell them whatever it's conciding or on.
Speaker 1 (25:53):
Hey, the difference between doing residential and commercial is it
a commercial is a whole different animal's first time fees,
how much time you're going to spend in that depending
on I guess how big the commercial building is. You
can do a home inspection. You can go in one
day and get that done. Commercial is a couple of
days a.
Speaker 4 (26:13):
Week, depending on Usually like one day, depends on how
the size of like the building or warehouse. Sometimes we'll
bring in specialists, like if we need a structural engineer,
like someone like being with his expertise. Sometimes we'll bring
an HVAC company or a roofing company. So we try
and if it's a larger price, we'll have more of
a team concept. Well, we'll bring in the space. At
(26:35):
that point we're more like an advisor to the buyer
and just inform them.
Speaker 3 (26:39):
But it's uh, Now, if.
Speaker 4 (26:41):
It's a really large property, it might be a couple
of days like a warehouse or well.
Speaker 1 (26:44):
You said for the buyer, do you work for the buyer?
Do you work for the seller? It doesn't go. You've
got to put on a few hats.
Speaker 4 (26:53):
Yeah, investors, buyers, sellers. Sometimes the person owns the property
wants kind of like a checklist to prioritize the maintenance
items and what needs to be done long term, short term.
Speaker 2 (27:06):
A lot of the people, including residential, we'll get home,
we'll get a home inspector before they put on the market. Yeah,
so they know what the problems are going to be.
Speaker 1 (27:13):
Well. Yeah, my wife before we lived on eightieth in
townshend for thirty some years. Small house but as big
as the studio, but it held a lot pala and
it had a basement. I don't want Bingo to bring
that up again, but I can tell you that my
wife was like, we we need to we need to
have a home inspection before we put it up in
(27:35):
the market because we need to know what and and
one of the things we had a crack in the basement.
Chris Mancuso called him and he came out and said,
look we can we can put a band aid on it,
or we can fix it. And my wife was like,
fix it, you know, And he put in the beams
exactly where they need to be. And so when we
(27:57):
sold the house, everything, the electrical we had Kernel Electric
come out, Donovan Jorian's had came out, Chris Mancuser came out,
Bingo came out. We had everybody come out. And so
when we knew when the people who put an offer
and wanted to have an inspected, we knew everything was
going to pass and that for my wife she could
(28:18):
sleep at night because what she didn't want to do
is leave any issues for this new family. And they're
little one that was coming to buy this home that
we loved for thirty years. Right, we loved it, and
that made her at least. It took me two years
to get to convince her to sell it because our
kids had moved. They had lived Kitty Corner for a
(28:40):
while and the grandkids moved to Brookfield, and I just wanted
to it was time, it was time, and she for her, fine,
well we'll put it up, but we have to do
the inspection first. And I can tell you the peace
of mind for us after that was perfect. I mean, well,
now let's put it up because we know it's going
to pass, and it wasn't it. You guys, don't charge
(29:02):
I don't think a whole lot of money for that
kind of piece some mind. Era.
Speaker 3 (29:06):
Yeah, yeah, No, you're exactly right. It's and I have
been doing.
Speaker 4 (29:13):
Quite a few prelisting inspections lately, and it's just like
you said, people who are putting the house on the market,
they want to see if there's any big issues. They
just want to everything that's going out the house, and
then anything they need to address before it's on the
market so they can use their contractors or they can,
you know, get a few bids whatever that looks like.
(29:35):
It's not they just have a little bit more time
to take care of it. And so we have been
doing more of those lately. And I think it's extreme.
Speaker 1 (29:43):
It's smart, Eric, I'm not kidding. I fought her on
it and I said, no, no, we don't that's not
what we have to do. They'll do that, and and
she said, Michael, I'm not uh huh, I don't want
to do that because we've been in this house a
long time and we've we've worked with quality people, Randy
Miller and Bingo and that. But let's just make sure.
(30:04):
And after we got that done and we knew the
issues that we needed to get, we needed to address
a couple of issues before we put the house up,
and it really did. I think it helped us that
peace of mind of okay, we can start looking now
because we know we're going to be able to put
(30:25):
the house up and we know it's going to pass
the inspection, and that really helped her, you know, a
tremendous amount. The difference between working for a buyer and
a seller in your industry is huge, right, yeah, yeah,
I mean you do the same work, yes, but to
be able to say, hey, look here, here are some issues.
Do you look at it in a different scope when
(30:47):
you're working for the buyer or the seller.
Speaker 4 (30:50):
With the seller, I know there's there might be another
home inspector for me too right away.
Speaker 3 (30:55):
So I feel if anything.
Speaker 4 (30:57):
I don't want to say it's more thorough, but you
have to that mindset and you have to. But it's
still the same report. It's you know, we're still going
through all the five hundred point checklists we do with
our software. It's still looking at all the major systems,
health and safety and just uh. But it's it's almost
(31:18):
used for seller. Its uses a marketing piece too, So
you know, we try and have that mindset where good
pictures we don't want to put a bunch of pictures
that don't make sense, you know, just it's a marketing piece,
but it states the facts. It states like I always say,
if the house could speak, you know, we're the voice
and that reports the voice of the house.
Speaker 2 (31:37):
And you know, I mean just and we have debates
about whether this is you know, legit or not. But
what happened is people have a home a pre home inspection,
and then ay, and then a viro will come and
take a look at it and goes, hey, here's my
pre home spection. You're welcome to look at it. You
can see what the found already, So I mean, and
that's what and sometimes that really helps the people sell
because and then but it's like also too is when
(31:58):
you know I look at it, I get different and
I call for different reasons because usually as a problem,
sometimes the guy just wants to get out of this
deal and he wants me to how much tell him
he is I wasn't expecting this montal cost to fix it, right,
you know. And then yeah, and then we said a
difference between buyers and sellers in my world is the
seller wants a BANDI and the buyer wants a brand
new everything.
Speaker 1 (32:18):
Redone and except my wife. My wife wanted everything.
Speaker 2 (32:23):
But you were the same thing. You had a pre
thing done right. They fixed the basement. And when someone says, hey,
it looks like he has I worked on a basement.
You showed a copy of receipt and you're like, you're golden.
Speaker 1 (32:32):
One Hundred's what's funny, Eric, is those beams in the basement.
When when we're selling it, you'd get you'd get a notice, Hey,
tomorrow at three o'clock somebody wants to come through and
you get out for some reason. Our sure West they
had us down as like a ten minute warning thing.
(32:52):
So twice we got a ten minute warning. My wife
was not happy.
Speaker 2 (32:56):
So you're still in a shower?
Speaker 1 (32:57):
Yeah no, no, yeah, well literally, she was cooking dinner
one time. The second time, I was on the sidelines
on the Silent Reporter for the high school football game
of the week on my twenty four and I get
a text saying, oh this is that was the first
time she was making dinner for herself. And she goes,
I just got a ten minute warning. You got to stop.
What's going on? It shouldn't we at least get an hour? Well,
(33:19):
I thought I got that fixed and then I was home.
She had just pulled up with groceries and we got
another ten minute thing and they go, no, this is perfect.
One of the issues people would see the beams in
the basement and that scared them. Well, now we got
a ten minute warning. And so I wasn't going to
leave and I thought, if they can't sell my house,
I will. And so the people walked in as I
(33:40):
was taking garbage out and they said, sorry, we you know,
we were right around the corner. Wanted to take a look.
And I said, great, can I you mind if I
stay there? Like no, and I walked in the basement.
I said, let me tell you what these beams are.
Showed them the warranty for Mancuso. It stays with the house.
It just they just did this four months ago, twenty
(34:00):
five year warranty and stays with the house. And boom,
that was the couple that bought the house. And it
was because what Bingo said, we're able to say, look,
we identified the problem. We didn't put a band aid
on it. We fixed it. And so I hate to
say I was wrong and my wife was right, but
you know what she was And because of the receipts
(34:21):
we had for any issues. There was nothing when when
they brought their own inspector and there was nothing that
he found Because Current Electric Donovan jorianson Right all Right
Home and Remodeling, Bengo Creative Construction Wisconsin took care of
all this stuff alongside Chris Mancuso and it was an
easy transition for us. Yeah, I really I loved that. Hey,
(34:44):
when when when people have you come out to their home,
can they stay with you while you're doing the work
and explain things or would you prefer them to get out.
Speaker 4 (34:54):
For a while Or I would say, we're really easy
to work with and they only have we only have
a limited time in their house or their future how
potential house, whatever.
Speaker 3 (35:03):
But I you know, it's up to them.
Speaker 4 (35:05):
Typically in the email they get from us a reminder,
it says, if you want to give us that first hour,
that way, we're we're just really formatting the report, taking pictures.
We don't have much to talk about because we haven't
seen the house. But if they want to come in
the beginning and measure stuff, we bring extra tape measures. Okay,
they want to look around, you know, test things up themselves.
That's that's that's we're easy to work with them. They're
(35:28):
more than welcome.
Speaker 1 (35:28):
Can you can you see when a homeowner is putting
band aids up on things? You catch that, don't you? Yeah?
Big always talk some stories in the past that I
laugh about where well.
Speaker 2 (35:40):
We'll talk about basements or even I mean, you know,
they got duct tapes on the wall and they're freshly
painting a wall.
Speaker 1 (35:46):
I know, but we did. You know, some of us
homeowners think.
Speaker 2 (35:49):
We're slick or you know they got you know, they
put toothpaste in the holes in it, like okay, like
that again, it looks I don't know why a will
a pride? Why are you picking toothpaste? But lets say
toothpaste in there? He goes, How do you know? I
was just a gasp?
Speaker 1 (36:01):
Right, Yeah? You can you catch some of that, don't you?
Speaker 3 (36:04):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (36:05):
Yeah, we're trying to be slick. Yeah, can't you can't
do it? Do you? Do you feel like as an
inspector that you're going to find every problem with the
property or are you looking for more major issues you're looking.
Speaker 4 (36:19):
I always call them like the big fish, the defects,
the health and safety can't miss items we consider like
foundation issues roof fishes leaks a bunch of molds somewhere,
not like a little but you know you open the
attic and there's molder. Those are can't miss issues. Structural
you know, those are can't mission issues. But uh no,
(36:43):
like little thing. I always tell people. Ultimately, we're there
for the big fish, the defects along the way. You'll
see some medium sized small fish in the report, like
maintenance items.
Speaker 1 (36:52):
That that that quote that you used a minute ago,
were the voice of the home? Oh sure, I would
use that and a lot of your marketing because I
really like that. That for me and a and a
simple guy from the east side of Milwaukee like me.
When you when you say that, I hear that that
rings out. You're the voice of the home and kind
(37:14):
of the doctor of this thing. Right, let's find out
if there's some some major issues, and you may find
some of the smaller issues along the way. Right, Yeah,
what is the what is the cost for a residential?
Is there is there different cost? Is? Do you have
a one time standard? Here's what we charge.
Speaker 4 (37:31):
Sure, so it depends on the size of the house
and the age. Sure, sometimes location, depending on what area
of Wisconsin. But uh, average inspection. I'd say nowadays it's
probably around four fifty five dollars, you know, without Now
if they want like raid on testing, mold testing, or
a sewer scope, that would be additional. But yeah, that's
(37:52):
the average inspection.
Speaker 1 (37:54):
And boy, in the scheme of what we're doing selling
and buying houses, which is the biggest in investment, that's
a rounding error to have peace of mind, right.
Speaker 2 (38:03):
Yes, yeah, I've seen what these the home inspectros come
and look at stuff, and these deals get canceled because
they're like, you know, they're like, I mean there's just
a one recently, right, We're one hundred thousand dollars to
fix it. I mean, to repair it so you can
live in it. You know that you want to get
out of that deal? Way now you see you know
what that was the best five hundred bucks ever spent.
Speaker 1 (38:22):
Yeah, you're out of it, man. I look I again,
I fought it, right, I didn't think we should be
the one doing it, But talk about peace of mind,
and that was a round the amount that that the cost.
And then to have our guys, the people we know
and trust, come in and do the the fixing of
it to be able to then put it up and
(38:44):
know it that we don't have to worry. We could
start looking now because once they make an offer, it's
going to be done. He is Eric Schaeffer again, general manager,
Around the Block Inspections. How did you come up with
that name?
Speaker 2 (38:55):
By the way, Oh you know that was you should say?
You're watching his other TV?
Speaker 1 (38:59):
Yeah, around the Corner and now you're yeah a lot.
But did you know I was on the show? Yes? Okay, good,
thank you, thank you. I appreciate that.
Speaker 4 (39:09):
No, uh yeah, no, I love that show. But uh,
you know, we went through hundreds of names probably and
with my kids involved.
Speaker 2 (39:18):
And they came up with some creative was already taken.
Speaker 1 (39:21):
Oh yeah, creative Yeah, Around the Creative Block is what
it should have been.
Speaker 4 (39:26):
Creative. Yeah, but we just we landed on it, and
it's like I liked it.
Speaker 3 (39:30):
It stuck.
Speaker 4 (39:31):
It seem kind of old fashioned, but you know kind
of people I felt like a lot of times they
say around the Corner. Sure, around the block, but they
still it's just kind of catchy.
Speaker 1 (39:40):
Yeah, that's awesome. He is again Eric Schaeffer, General Manager.
He is a certified Master inspector. He is h fact
plumbing is what he grew up doing and I love
the fact that he has been in the homes in
a different a different avenue. Right. He has been in
the homes as a as a plumber, as an HVAT guy,
(40:01):
and now as an inspector. I think he has a
different set of eyes when it comes to this. Go
to around the Block Inspections dot Com. Around the Block
Inspections dot Com. Again, they are the voice of the home.
I love that that line because that's truly what they do.
This is the Creative Construction Wisconsin Home Improvement Show on
Fox Sports nine twenty in your iHeart Radio App. Welcome
(40:23):
back to the Creative Construction Wisconsin Home Improvement Show on
Fox Sports nine twenty in your iHeartRadio app. Coming live
from the Divan and Jorgans and Heating and Cooling Studios. Man,
I love having Bngo Emmons back in. I wish people
could hear what we talk about during the break. That'd
be all right. I wouldn't mind that our special guest,
Derrick Shaeffer, grew up in Denver, Colorado area. Bengo had
(40:45):
a couple of Colorado questions for him. But I think
we'll pass.
Speaker 2 (40:49):
Yeah, we again, you know, I want I want to
stay in the air for a long time.
Speaker 1 (40:52):
Yeah, we want to stay in the air for a while.
Speaker 2 (40:55):
Well, I got to even shout out the Bolbauer he
just signed. We had at Tolsa East, Yeah, Wednesday night,
way to signing for uh, they had thirty son kids
sign up for you know, for to make commitments to
becoming you know, you know it's the trades. It's way different.
You know, they get it that. You know, don't say
you do't have to send kids to college to be
(41:15):
in debt. You can give them a job where they
make a lot of money up you know, upfront and learning,
get training and and you know, my milestone was there
they you know, they got they got somebody. It was
we were like drafts, we're interviewing people and so yeah,
so we have a good worker. So you know, so
bo is going to be you know, the summer you'll
see them.
Speaker 1 (41:35):
It's starting to change the little pendulum of of people
getting into the trades.
Speaker 2 (41:40):
Even the mayor was there were congratulating these kids. I mean,
it's it's opposite, superintendent. You know, it's just opposite what
used to be in the old days. Like no kids
are going to the kids are gonna go to college
and fail or do whatever they do no matter what.
Speaker 1 (41:51):
Right, Yeah, I I love that. Around the inspection dot
around the inspections dot com, around the block inspections dot
Com is where you're going to want to go. Hey, Eric,
we talked here in the break other inspections kind of
that you offer again sets you apart a little bit.
Can we talk a little bit about some of that?
Speaker 4 (42:09):
Yeah, so we we offer. We talked a little bit
about we obviously do the raid on testing, the mold
testing and mold inspections, sewer scopes, but also, like with
new construction, we'll do a eleven month warranty inspection. Like
we were kind of talking about when their one year
builder warranty is running.
Speaker 2 (42:26):
Up a tape of a sewer.
Speaker 3 (42:31):
What's it?
Speaker 2 (42:31):
Oh, yeah, tape, there's a clock.
Speaker 3 (42:37):
Can I say, get your popcorn?
Speaker 4 (42:38):
And yeah, yeah, it's uh, it's kind of funny, but
uh and then uh, the eleven month warranty will also
do a final inspection right before the buyer moves into
the house. We can go through it's more like a
punch list for the builder, but sometimes we'll find some
crazy stuff and then uh, and then obviously the pre list.
Speaker 2 (43:01):
Also talking about new homes new homes, so there's more
problems with new homes sometimes with than the old homes.
And it really is you really should have a new
home should always be inspected.
Speaker 1 (43:09):
Yes, definitely, really so you would think that, No, that
people would not think that. But but you've said this
a couple of times.
Speaker 2 (43:20):
Remember as work shorters, so some stuff seems to get
missed or skipped or something. That guy wasn't there that day,
or he was going to come back in the afternoon
and do some cocking around the windows and you forgot,
you know, and there's I mean, there's only you know,
I mean like an extra you're hiring an extra set
of eyes just to cover your back to make sure
that it's you're getting what you paid for.
Speaker 1 (43:38):
Ye yeah, I agree with that. Hey, on your website,
these helpful video resources that you guys have up there,
you know why hire a certified master inspector, mold inspections,
things like that. Just again set your part a little
bit because you get an idea on on your website.
(43:59):
For me personally, I get a really good feel on
what what the heartbeat of your your company is, and
I thank you for that. Because not everybody. You know,
we'll we'll pull the current back that, Yeah, always share
does you know what we're gonna have Sarah come in
and you know, maybe Peyton will come in who knows. Well,
we'll figure that part out some other day. But I
(44:21):
thank her for that and the fact that you could
just go on and kind of get a feel for
the company and and what your mission statement is by
just reading that looking at some of those those videos,
I think is a really good way to go about
doing this. Hey, a couple other questions before we let
you go? Can somebody I guess people think they know
(44:46):
a lot about this industry. Are there people that try
to do their own inspection on something like this?
Speaker 3 (44:52):
Yeah, sometimes we'll see that.
Speaker 2 (44:53):
Well, especially the father and a lot of shows up
the best. He's the best inspector and you've ever seen.
Speaker 4 (45:00):
Yeah, I get nervous when they show over with a
box of tools, like, oh, how's this gonna shake out?
But yeah, I always say the more eyes are better.
So we encourage you know, family member if their dad
wants to come or whatever, give them peace of mind.
But yeah, it's uh, it's an interesting deal, and I
I do think some people you know. I even had
(45:23):
I when I was inspecting my old, my last house.
I even brought in a friend of mine who was a
structural engineer, like, I know what's going on here. I
just want to make sure because we used to have
a lot of u bet night clay in Colorado, expansive
soil and a lot of structural issues out there we
would see and just for peace of mind, I haven't.
I think it's a great idea. I've done work for builders.
(45:44):
They just say, hey, Eric, I want you come in here.
Speaker 3 (45:46):
I know my stuff.
Speaker 4 (45:47):
I just want you to go through it too, and
so we have a nice clean report.
Speaker 1 (45:51):
Hey, real quick, what is the what is the time frame?
If somebody calls you on Monday, how how far out
are you at this point?
Speaker 4 (46:00):
So usually we're a few days out, okay, But we
try and leave open spots too, and that you don't
always like being just you know, we try and do
our best. If we're booked out, we uh, I'll try
and put a third slot somewhere. Do my best because
with the deadlines, it's so important.
Speaker 1 (46:16):
Man.
Speaker 2 (46:16):
You don't have a lot of time. A lot of
time you make an offer to purchase. Sometimes you only
got a week.
Speaker 1 (46:21):
That's it. Yeah, yeah, he is. Eric Shaeffer, so good
to meet you. To tell Sarah a great job on this,
and I certainly wish Peyton a happy birthday. Bengo, it's
good to see you again. We're going to some rate.
We're gonna watch a race or something.
Speaker 2 (46:35):
I don't you actually can watch races and even Sunday
night races five o'clock Sunday night. Man, I want to
sleep with that race on.
Speaker 1 (46:42):
Trust me, I probably go in Nashville the guy.
Speaker 2 (46:45):
When they win, you win, get a guitar. Of course
you know that.
Speaker 1 (46:47):
Of course I do. They Yeah, they've asked me to
present that guitar to the winter, but I'm not gonna
be able to make it. Guys, it's good to see
Eric's good to meet you. This is the Creative Construction,
Wisconsin home improvement show on Fox Sports Night twenty in
your iHeart Radio app
Welcome to the Creative Construction Wisconsin Home Improvement show on
Fox Sports nine twenty and your iHeart Radio app by
Mike mcgiffern. And look who's back? Did you get all
the way back turning left the whole time? Or how
was the Indy five hundred?
Speaker 2 (00:15):
Well, the week before I was that we're just going straight?
You know, I went to you ever go to drag race?
No're like four seconds long, right? You real fasts four
seconds over twenty store one No one. That was kind
of cool. That was cool to see that. And then
the other one is you know it's the Indy five
hundred and uh, you know, I guess a lot of
left turns. But that race was was this was this
weird because they were crashing before the race started. Then
(00:38):
there were then there were they were like seven ray
laps when he started the race and they even throw
the even throw green yet but the counting laps on
the board, and so we're like, what.
Speaker 3 (00:45):
Is going on?
Speaker 1 (00:46):
I don't know. It was I have no idea. What
if you had seen it, you would see it.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
It was just it was just it was the most
it was the weirdest race.
Speaker 1 (00:54):
Just missed it.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
Well, yeah, then you know the Panskes are cheating the
week before you got caught with that, So there's a
lot of a lot of dry about that.
Speaker 1 (01:01):
I was hoping. I had a guest on Faith in
the Zone Sting Ray Rob, who is a strong Christian
and came in and shared his faith on the show
that I did that Sunday mornings from eight to nine.
Right here.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
You know he supposed to turn left all the time.
Well he didn't turn left.
Speaker 1 (01:18):
He did, he turned right? Yeah, Sting right. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
Well sometimes their GPS goes out.
Speaker 1 (01:23):
You know that's his real name too. I love that
parents are big Corvette fans and he was born to
be a race car drive.
Speaker 2 (01:29):
That's like you know, my granddaughter Shelby and it is
named after the car. Okay, yeah, yeah, so that does happen.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
That's awesome. Well, welcome back. Ray did a nice job
filling it. He's not you, but he did a nice job.
Speaker 2 (01:43):
He's all right, but I know that you brought me back.
Neither back up.
Speaker 1 (01:46):
We need the ratings to go back up. Our special
guest in studio and it's nice to meet him. He's
a Colorado boy, but he's kind of a cheese seat.
I guess he's Eric Schaeffer. He's the general manager. He's
a sort of five master inspector for around the Block inspections. Eric,
how you been good?
Speaker 3 (02:05):
How are you doing good?
Speaker 1 (02:06):
I need to say happy birthday to Peyton graduation for
Ryland Merrowhead and Peyton turned fifteen and man, happy birthday
to to Peyton. How was the birthday party?
Speaker 3 (02:18):
Oh? It was great.
Speaker 4 (02:19):
She has a great group of friends and yeah, no
it was She had a blast. They had a blast,
and it was a blessing.
Speaker 1 (02:26):
Sounds like you were either singing a lot or yelling
at somebody because your voice is a little scratchy.
Speaker 2 (02:31):
But you got me think about it, he's saying around
the block. There wasn't another show around the.
Speaker 1 (02:35):
Song around the corner. Yeah, I was thinking about it.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
That's yeah, that's the other one with them around the
more famous giving.
Speaker 1 (02:42):
Well, I think most people just watched that show to
see the one minute sports second.
Speaker 2 (02:47):
Yeah, that's only why I did. I will figure out.
I'll call you up to say what time is that
gonna be on? I watch for a one minute.
Speaker 1 (02:52):
That was that's it there. Well, you know what's really
funny to me being goes out running to people who
will say mcgiverney, are you related to John McGivern. Yeah,
that's my brother. I've watched that show every week, blah
blah blah, And I go, You've watched Around the Corner
every week. Yeah, I'm a huge fan. We even watch
replays and I go, do I look familiar? No? And
(03:12):
I go, what do you like? You blink during the
sports seconment? I was on it for eight years.
Speaker 2 (03:17):
Well, my dad was one of those two, cause that's
you know, every time we had to go to my
dad's house, we have to watch that episode where he
was on it, right, Yes, the same thing. Remember we
brought him in the radio show and he goes, yeah, no,
why who are you?
Speaker 1 (03:26):
Who are you? Yeah? You know? Yeah, I'm like, are
you kidding? No? I never missed one of those. In fact,
we went to Eagle River because your brother John told
us to go to you. I go, I did a
great segment on the Hockey Hall of Fame from Meago River. No,
we wants to miss that. So but around the Block Inspections, Hey, Eric,
give us your background. You grew up in Colorado and
(03:48):
went to high school there. First of all, how'd you
get to Wisconsin?
Speaker 4 (03:53):
So Wisconsin's kind of funny. We we we my wife
and we grew up in Colorado and we just uh
during the COVID time, a little bit before COVID, we
just felt a lot of people traffic started at worse.
We're kind of like, we do we want to move leave.
So we went to Montana, Idaho, Utah, and then Wisconsin
(04:18):
was actually our last state to look at my wife
she wanted nothing to do with humidity because of her
hair and.
Speaker 1 (04:26):
Name Sarah Sarah, Yeah beautiful. And so you tried Wisconsin
and it stuck or.
Speaker 3 (04:34):
Yeah, we fell in love with it.
Speaker 4 (04:36):
We fell in love with the lake, all the lakes,
the tree, I mean, the people, yeah, just everything about it.
Speaker 3 (04:44):
We we loved it.
Speaker 4 (04:45):
We love it's it's uh yeah, it's been.
Speaker 1 (04:48):
That's awesome. Good for you and the kids go to Arrowhead, Yes, yeah,
you know it's funny. After this show, I do a
high school football, high school basketball, high school sports show,
and anytime you talk to anybody in the in that conference,
who's your rival? Who don't you like? Arrowhead? Now? Mosquigo's
getting to be close second now right, But Arrowhead, because
(05:09):
of the success they've had in a lot of different
sports throughout the years. Nobody likes them right now, So yeah,
I can tell you that that's that's out of pure
respect for the most part.
Speaker 2 (05:20):
Look at a training facility when we did a live
Showlder one time, and the training facility, Wow.
Speaker 1 (05:26):
Yeah it is.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
It's a way.
Speaker 1 (05:28):
There are some advantages out there, for sure. I like
a lot of people out there. Have you been in
the home inspection industry for a long time? I have.
Speaker 4 (05:40):
My background has started out plumbing, HVAC, boiler work for
a company and I actually am still a master plumber
in Colorado and then just been in the trade since
I was about twenty.
Speaker 3 (05:56):
Worked my way up.
Speaker 4 (05:58):
I was at a pretty large company, became manager and
then just felt like it was time the owner was retiring.
Speaker 3 (06:07):
I just felt like I always.
Speaker 4 (06:08):
Wanted to own my own company, to do my own business,
and when the owner retired, family was taken over and
other family it felt like a good time to transition.
And it was scary. It was scary because I'd been
at my job for about twenty years working for that company.
Speaker 1 (06:25):
And sure it gets a little bit nerve wracking.
Speaker 4 (06:28):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (06:28):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (06:28):
It was a lot of praying, Yeah, a lot of yeah,
a lot of stress.
Speaker 1 (06:34):
It was a yeah, I can tell you most of
my buddies are retiring. Right. Two years ago I started
my own company. A lot of sleepless nights, a little
bit at the beginning. But you're enjoying it so far. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (06:45):
Yeah, it's you know, like anything, there's pros and cons,
you know, but yeah, for the most part yet, it's uh,
wouldn't change it. It's uh gives you a little bit
sometimes more flexibility, depending how busy you are the store.
You're working eighty hours a week or more.
Speaker 3 (07:02):
But that's what is.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
You own your own business, right, Look at the free
time you have when you own your own business, you know.
Speaker 1 (07:08):
Yeah, tell me.
Speaker 2 (07:09):
People always say, well, I don't want my business at
your own hours. Yeah, I do have some my own hours.
I just you know, but this is what I love
to do. So I'm technically I'm really not working, right.
I like doing this.
Speaker 1 (07:17):
That's kind of That's kind of how I feel too.
You know. You get up every day and every day
is different and amazing.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
Every time the phone rings, you don't know what what's
that going to develop into? And what you know, what
am I going to be?
Speaker 1 (07:30):
How many weeks ago and I had to fire my secretary.
Now I kept her on as my personal assistant. But
my wife, I'm like, yeah, I you know what, I
You're not doing that secretary. So so she goes, I have
my own job. I'm not anybody's secretary. And I'm like,
I kind of had you on my my chart, is
like being my secretary. And she's like, no, that is
(07:51):
not going to happen.
Speaker 2 (07:52):
So when she's also a human resource department, Oh yeah she.
Speaker 1 (07:57):
Is, Yeah she is. And uh there's a lot lot
of things that she doesn't know that she did. She
helps me a lot every day. She works out of
our home and we butt. We moved eric to p
Waukee a couple of years ago in a condo area
and uh it's nice. We both have our own offices
and I can close my door and uh, but she's
there and she's a medical review specialist and she works
(08:20):
really hard.
Speaker 2 (08:21):
Maybe if you had an office in a basement. Why
why I got to bring up her basement?
Speaker 1 (08:25):
Why do you do that anytime there's any kind of
bad weather. My wife just is not happy that we
moved into a condo that doesn't have a basement. So
if you could get after the show, if you could
go build me one real quick. Just get that, get
that done. Hey, why the home inspection industry? What what
about that industry caught your attention? And and why that
(08:45):
that industry?
Speaker 4 (08:46):
Sure? I think just being in the trade since I
was like from a teenager and on with my dad,
and you know, it just seemed like a good fit.
I actually looked at buying franchises, carpet cleaning, to mold restoration,
to all sorts of things in the home inspection. I
can't I kept coming back to just because of the
(09:10):
trades I had been in. I was really interest me.
I was really I enjoy helping people, talking with people.
It was it just seemed like overall a good fit.
That's kind of where I landed.
Speaker 1 (09:24):
Are you happy that that's the industry that you you
got involved in? Yeah?
Speaker 3 (09:28):
Yeah, definitely. I didn't know what a lot of.
Speaker 1 (09:31):
Competition right, yes there is yeah, And and I'm on
your website and around the block inspections dot com, around
the block inspections dot com. When when somebody asked you
what sets you apart from from the people in your
competition in your field, what do you tell them?
Speaker 4 (09:49):
I would tell them, Well, a lot of inspectors are
gonna say their experienced mine, I would say my experience.
Speaker 3 (09:56):
I've been a.
Speaker 4 (09:56):
Part of several associations. I'm always educating. I always believe
in you know, knowledge is power and just learning as
much as you can mastering your craft. I've always done that,
and I I just think, are you know, we just
we truly care about the people, We care about the
(10:19):
the house sur bying. We just want to make it,
you know, help them out as much as possible. And
you know that's kind of what separates us. We just
I always say, we always try and inspect like it's
our house and help people as much as possible, educate them.
Speaker 2 (10:35):
I always seed the negative part about what happens when
you don't do home inspections. As people are people still
waving home inspections.
Speaker 1 (10:43):
They are, yes, well and a perfect time to have
you in studio too, because I look, this is the
time that a lot of people spring, people are putting
their houses up, and I'm seeing even in the Pewaukee
area a lot more for sale signs than I did
three months ago. Go and we I think it's so
important that people have that. Don't waive that right, I
(11:06):
I look, you fall in love with the place. And
now you know what.
Speaker 2 (11:09):
They say to me is, but mister, you don't understand.
They get eight other offers for the house with but
everybody waves a home inspection sooner or later. When I
run into them, they just and they're trying to find
way to get their money back. They want to go.
I mean, and don't people winning this dealer lawyers.
Speaker 1 (11:25):
One hundred one hundred percent? And look are you finding
that more and more people are at least considering that.
And when somebody says to you, I feel like we're
going to lose this this dream house that we that
we that we we love the neighborhood, love the house.
But you just shake your head and say, don't do that.
We I think you need to probably have us come
(11:47):
in and just take a quick look at it, right.
Speaker 4 (11:49):
Yeah, exactly, And then uh yeah, because just getting another
set eye as a professional, someone knows what they're doing,
you know, just if anything for peace of mind. But yeah,
it's uh, it's such a big investment. And you know,
and I call the camp miss items like the roof,
the structure of the mechanicals, those things they can be
(12:11):
kind of pricey. If you need any repairs done or
you know, so just having us look at everything and
you know it's uh, we do we have been doing
more post inspections.
Speaker 1 (12:22):
Oh you have.
Speaker 4 (12:23):
Yeah, we we'll go in there after they buy the
house and just let them know the overall condition, just
so they can kind of get a checklist, a little
honeydoo list maintenance items, what needs to be done and
prioritize everything.
Speaker 2 (12:36):
And there's an other thing too. I'm running because I'm
running to these people, you know, people like Eric, they're
doing warranty inspections, like they had the house for eleven months, Yeah,
and they go through an inspection and find all the
stuff that's wrong, was you know, catch at it's still
in a warranty because after one year the warranty's over.
Speaker 1 (12:51):
Yeah. So I think that's important. When when I asked
you that question about what sets you part for me personally,
the fact that you you were in the home improvement
field for a long time. You didn't just get out
of school and then become a home inspector by by
book learning. I mean you've been you sway a hammer
(13:11):
for a bit. What did your father do?
Speaker 4 (13:14):
So my dad was also a master plumber and then
my grandpa was a steam fitter.
Speaker 1 (13:19):
Okay, so yeah, did you know in high school that
that was kind of the way the direction you're going
to go? Because you know what, like Bengos dad was
in my father was bricklayer, and Mason wanted one of
the mcgifferent boys to follow his footsteps. Nobody did, And
you know what we should have because any problems that
we have, I got And we have this joke every week,
(13:41):
but my wife has his son's phone number on speed
dial because if I start to try to do any
home improvement project, she just calls Zack and says, Okay,
he's got his goggles on, he's trying to take this.
Just be ready. The phone's going to ring here in
a minute, and he needs some help. So I wish
that one of us the McGivern boys would have followed
(14:01):
my dad's footsteps, and we didn't. Did you know as
a high school kid that that this was the direction
for you?
Speaker 4 (14:06):
No? I didn't. I honestly didn't know what I wanted
to do in high school. And then I came really
close to joining the Navy. I was getting ready to
took the ASVA and all that, and then my dad said, well,
why don't you give plumbing a shot? And I go, okay,
well I want to go to school. I'll get my
journeyman license. That takes four years, and then I'll go
(14:27):
back to school'll hold off with the Navy, and uh
just kind of go from there and then next thing,
you know, four years, eight years, ten years past. You
have a family, You're making decent money. Plumbing's always been
I've never been without work, you know, it's been a blessing. Yeah,
even during two thousand and eight, that recession time we
(14:49):
went through. You know, I was always pretty busy with
the company I worked for and doing plumbing hvac work,
and you know, so it was. It's always been a
good trade.
Speaker 1 (14:58):
Ye you missed you in that that work.
Speaker 3 (15:00):
Yeah I did.
Speaker 4 (15:01):
I still do it around my house. Yeah, yeah, yeah,
I just got a furnace last year. But yeah, no,
I I I still like getting my hands dirty. And
I have no issue jumping in there. I help a
friend of mine who has a plumbing, hvac boiler company
sometimes and on bigger jobs he does, and but I
am glad I'm not doing it every day.
Speaker 1 (15:21):
Well, we you know this. We are we are in
the diving and Jorgenson Heating and Cooling Studios. Yes, and
I was there yesterday, stopped to see Scott Fisher, uh
the president of Divan Jorgensen and and uh.
Speaker 2 (15:34):
Two great being always available.
Speaker 1 (15:38):
Yeah, I'm just throwing that out there. And there man
the largest employee owned the HVAC company in the state
of Wisconsin. They do a great job. And I can't
recommend those guys enough. They've been to my house quite
a bit.
Speaker 2 (15:49):
It must really be busy because even when it turned
the heat on air, it just keeps changing.
Speaker 1 (15:54):
It keeps changing. Guess who else since you've been gone,
we are now a customer for with the water with
water doctors. John came out to the We did all
of it. My wife is so happy with.
Speaker 2 (16:05):
The water nerd.
Speaker 1 (16:07):
The water nerd, I'll tell you what. He was really good.
In the living room at the mcgiffern house. My wife
had a lot of questions. Well, yeah, well that that
dude knows more about water, like kind of like what
you would with inspections. Eric.
Speaker 2 (16:23):
We also, you know, we do training with home inspectors, right, Well,
I brought him in and he talked for an hour
and a half about water and percentages and points and
stuff that you more than everyone to know.
Speaker 1 (16:33):
Ever want to know. Yeah, my goodness, Hey, the most
difficult part of the home inspection field right now. You
not only do you do residential, you do commercial. And
I don't know if if all the inspectors do both.
But but for you, what what's the most difficult part
of being in that field right now? Is it that
(16:55):
people are starting to continue to waive the home inspection
before they buy the house? Is that the one that
shapes that you get you shake your head at the.
Speaker 3 (17:03):
Most, Yeah, that definitely, And then.
Speaker 4 (17:07):
Yeah, that'd probably be number one. That's the one. And
I get if you want.
Speaker 3 (17:11):
Your you know, a property, or you're you're.
Speaker 4 (17:13):
Trying just to get a home, and that's why we're
doing more post inspections too. But uh, you know, and
actually I had a friend of mine too who had
another inspector did the work. I'm like, well, just send
me over the report. Let's see how thorough it is.
See if they covered like the bigger items, they looked
at them, and you know, so I'll do that too.
But that and just right, you know, right now, it's uh,
(17:37):
I feel I do feel bad for buyers in this market.
It's been like this for a long time. But you
know they're just uh, you know, it just kind of
is what it is, and we just help them as
much as possible.
Speaker 1 (17:49):
And yeah, on your website and it's a really good website.
I've I've learned a lot about your company. What I
like the most is when when the when you're willing
to it out there, you know, give us five percent
of your trust and we'll earn the other ninety five percent.
And then in that you go, look, this is who
(18:10):
we are. This is nearly thirty years of plumbing, an
HVAC experience, and more than two thousand inspections performed. I
guarantee you'll receive the highest quality inspection from someone who
generally cares. If you're willing to put that paragraph on
your website, you can't run from that because people go,
hold on a second. It says that you see, this
(18:31):
is you. I'm quoting you, and I love the fact
that you're willing to stand out on the on the
edge of the corner there and say, look to give
us five percent and we'll earn the other ninety five percent.
And because of my experience, in our experience, you can
trust us and here's why. That's a big statement for me.
(18:51):
I highlighted that on your website because you're not running
from that. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (18:55):
Oh correct, Well, I will do whatever we can to
make try and make someone happy.
Speaker 2 (19:01):
You know.
Speaker 1 (19:01):
Hey, I'm sorry. Sarah involved in the.
Speaker 3 (19:03):
Company, she is.
Speaker 4 (19:04):
Yes, she helps out with the marketing side. A lot
of the behind the scenes stuff.
Speaker 3 (19:10):
She helps out.
Speaker 4 (19:11):
She's a huge, huge help with just uh, I love
the just the website, the social media, you know, just
getting putting that all together, you know, and just the
marketing side.
Speaker 3 (19:26):
The newsletter she for her. Yeah, and she puts up
with me, so she's you.
Speaker 2 (19:31):
Know what, Yeah, she's a special She's also times to
human resources too.
Speaker 1 (19:37):
Oh man, well, don't do what I did, because when
you fire your secretary who happens to be your wife,
dinner is not all that good.
Speaker 2 (19:46):
Why don't you just fire me? Okay, you can't quit.
Speaker 1 (19:49):
Don't do that. I get no zucchini bread or any
of that.
Speaker 2 (19:53):
If if you fire she actually just brought that up
there days, it's time for me to start making likini bread.
I guess she got someone froze it and saved it.
Speaker 1 (20:01):
For enough her. Do not fire her, Do not fire her.
Our special cast for the entire hour. I've got a
number of questions for her, for him, for her, I
want Sharon here. I guess Peyton And do you think
really the Peyton will get involved in this this company
one day.
Speaker 3 (20:19):
I could see my daughter at some point.
Speaker 4 (20:22):
Honestly, Yeah, it's uh my son right, he's kind of going, Uh,
he's going. College's gonna go oshcost next year and uh
criminal justice and the military interest in so I'm not
sure what.
Speaker 3 (20:34):
He's going to do. Bodybuilding, he's in there.
Speaker 4 (20:36):
He wants to be a professional bottle bodybuilder too.
Speaker 1 (20:39):
Him and I are like twins. Thread. Four weeks ago,
I was in San Diego for the US Marine Educator's
workshops like US Marine boot Camp where Camp Camp Pendleton
Ramar at the depot Solid Graduation.
Speaker 2 (20:54):
Playing the top Gun song.
Speaker 1 (20:57):
It's funny because I got a chance to talk to it.
And then we went to Miramar. We got to go
through the planes and I asked him, I said, you
get sick and tired of people asking the top gun question.
He goes, absolutely not. You see that runway right there?
I go, yeah, because remember Tom Cruise on the motorcycle.
I go yeah. He goes that's where it was filmed.
You go up over that hill is where the house is.
But yeah, it was really really cool. It was really cool,
(21:20):
beautiful part of the country. I've not been there before,
and it was there was some working out stuff that
I'm telling you one day, I'll tell you the story.
I had a drill instructor and she was She was
probably five to two, about one hundred pounds and scared
the living daylights out of me. And I started laughing
because she was lighting me up. And she goes, you're laughing.
(21:41):
I said, I laugh when I get nervous. She goes, Okay,
nervous boy, All right, here we go. We're gonna do
these bear crawls. I said, now, I can't do those.
Got a little bit of a bad back, but I'll
run a little bit more. Well, we have a runner here.
You're a runner now, and I'm like, man, man, I
haven't gotten yelled at like that in a long time.
We're going to get to a our special guest, Eric Schaeffer,
(22:02):
general manager for Around the Block Inspections. Go to Around
the Block Inspections dot com for more information. This is
the Creative Construction, Wisconsin home improvement show on Fox Sports
nine twenty and your iHeart Radio App. Welcome back to
the Creative Construction Wisconsin home improvement show on Fox Sports
nine twenty, your iHeartRadio App. Coming live from the Donovan
(22:25):
Enjorgans and Heating and Cooling Studios. I'm Mike McGivern alongside
Bingo Emmons. He's the owner of Creative Construction of Wisconsin.
And our special guest he is Eric Schaefer, General manager
Around the Block Inspections. Go to Around the Block Inspections
dot com for any information that you need on this company. Eric,
(22:47):
we had talked a little bit about the commercial side
of it. I want to just kind of touch on that.
How much business is it fifty to fifty between residential commercial?
Is at seventy five twenty five? How much commercial business
do you guys do?
Speaker 4 (23:02):
So it's probably about seventy thirty okay right now, Yeah,
it's seventy residential thirty percent. We're actually expanding our commercial
division right now and growing that.
Speaker 1 (23:13):
What does that look like?
Speaker 4 (23:14):
That looks like just more marketing, offering more services and
then you know the marketing is the biggest thing, and
then sure getting the word out there, and.
Speaker 2 (23:25):
Well, commercials are different animals. There's different things, you know,
holrofs you got, yeah, mean you got you know different
there's different things you got that you know, all the
handicap stuff that you got to be looking for now
and and just all these different things.
Speaker 1 (23:38):
How many employees do you have?
Speaker 4 (23:40):
So with me and my wife, there's two of us,
and then we have you know, other people behind the
scenes kind of doing some stuff. So we're still smaller,
growing good.
Speaker 1 (23:50):
Yeah, you got to be nimble, huh. Yeah. Yeah, And
you had said early on, you know there are there
this time year, you know, there could be some sixty
hour weeks for you, maybe eighty. I mean, you got it.
Now is the time I would think, especially in the
residential area. Is the commercial more seasonal or is that
(24:10):
year round?
Speaker 3 (24:11):
That's yeah, that's more year round.
Speaker 4 (24:13):
Okay, we're in the residential you know, it's seasonal like
you guys know or you know this time of year
we're cranking along pretty good and so, but yeah, the
residence seems to be a little more consistent, little more
study or commercial.
Speaker 1 (24:27):
Yeah. Are you mostly in southeast Wisconsin, mostly in the
Lake Country area or all of southeast where you go
to Franklin, where you go to al Creek. I mean,
what is there a territory that you that you cover. No,
we have a.
Speaker 4 (24:40):
Pretty big territory, you know, and commercial will go outside
that even territory a little bit further depending on the job.
But yeah, those areas we go to you mentioned, and
then usually like within an hour or so of the
Lake Country area we'll travel to.
Speaker 1 (24:57):
But we'll go.
Speaker 4 (24:57):
Outside that definitely for a special occasions or commercial properties or.
Speaker 1 (25:03):
Hey, whether commercial or residential. If if what you do
reveal some some issues, you don't make recommend You don't
make recommendations whether somebody should buy the house, not buy
the house. You just give them the facts, correct, correct? Yeah, yeah,
I mean because they I mean people, I'm sure people
(25:23):
ask you would you buy the house all the time.
Speaker 2 (25:26):
But I mean people think that they're rude sometimes because
they won't but they can't. So that's when they'll tell them.
They call me because I can say whatever I want.
Speaker 1 (25:37):
Most of the time. You do, right, That's what I do.
Speaker 2 (25:39):
Is I got you know, you know mp I and
those guys, right, they'll say, you know what, you should
really contact this guy because you know, because they're deciding
the things are disaster right, But they don't. They can't
say it, so they'll tell me because I'm the professional
expert to tell them whatever it's conciding or on.
Speaker 1 (25:53):
Hey, the difference between doing residential and commercial is it
a commercial is a whole different animal's first time fees,
how much time you're going to spend in that depending
on I guess how big the commercial building is. You
can do a home inspection. You can go in one
day and get that done. Commercial is a couple of
days a.
Speaker 4 (26:13):
Week, depending on Usually like one day, depends on how
the size of like the building or warehouse. Sometimes we'll
bring in specialists, like if we need a structural engineer,
like someone like being with his expertise. Sometimes we'll bring
an HVAC company or a roofing company. So we try
and if it's a larger price, we'll have more of
a team concept. Well, we'll bring in the space. At
(26:35):
that point we're more like an advisor to the buyer
and just inform them.
Speaker 3 (26:39):
But it's uh, Now, if.
Speaker 4 (26:41):
It's a really large property, it might be a couple
of days like a warehouse or well.
Speaker 1 (26:44):
You said for the buyer, do you work for the buyer?
Do you work for the seller? It doesn't go. You've
got to put on a few hats.
Speaker 4 (26:53):
Yeah, investors, buyers, sellers. Sometimes the person owns the property
wants kind of like a checklist to prioritize the maintenance
items and what needs to be done long term, short term.
Speaker 2 (27:06):
A lot of the people, including residential, we'll get home,
we'll get a home inspector before they put on the market. Yeah,
so they know what the problems are going to be.
Speaker 1 (27:13):
Well. Yeah, my wife before we lived on eightieth in
townshend for thirty some years. Small house but as big
as the studio, but it held a lot pala and
it had a basement. I don't want Bingo to bring
that up again, but I can tell you that my
wife was like, we we need to we need to
have a home inspection before we put it up in
(27:35):
the market because we need to know what and and
one of the things we had a crack in the basement.
Chris Mancuso called him and he came out and said,
look we can we can put a band aid on it,
or we can fix it. And my wife was like,
fix it, you know, And he put in the beams
exactly where they need to be. And so when we
(27:57):
sold the house, everything, the electrical we had Kernel Electric
come out, Donovan Jorian's had came out, Chris Mancuser came out,
Bingo came out. We had everybody come out. And so
when we knew when the people who put an offer
and wanted to have an inspected, we knew everything was
going to pass and that for my wife she could
(28:18):
sleep at night because what she didn't want to do
is leave any issues for this new family. And they're
little one that was coming to buy this home that
we loved for thirty years. Right, we loved it, and
that made her at least. It took me two years
to get to convince her to sell it because our
kids had moved. They had lived Kitty Corner for a
(28:40):
while and the grandkids moved to Brookfield, and I just wanted
to it was time, it was time, and she for her, fine,
well we'll put it up, but we have to do
the inspection first. And I can tell you the peace
of mind for us after that was perfect. I mean, well,
now let's put it up because we know it's going
to pass, and it wasn't it. You guys, don't charge
(29:02):
I don't think a whole lot of money for that
kind of piece some mind. Era.
Speaker 3 (29:06):
Yeah, yeah, No, you're exactly right. It's and I have
been doing.
Speaker 4 (29:13):
Quite a few prelisting inspections lately, and it's just like
you said, people who are putting the house on the market,
they want to see if there's any big issues. They
just want to everything that's going out the house, and
then anything they need to address before it's on the
market so they can use their contractors or they can,
you know, get a few bids whatever that looks like.
(29:35):
It's not they just have a little bit more time
to take care of it. And so we have been
doing more of those lately. And I think it's extreme.
Speaker 1 (29:43):
It's smart, Eric, I'm not kidding. I fought her on
it and I said, no, no, we don't that's not
what we have to do. They'll do that, and and
she said, Michael, I'm not uh huh, I don't want
to do that because we've been in this house a
long time and we've we've worked with quality people, Randy
Miller and Bingo and that. But let's just make sure.
(30:04):
And after we got that done and we knew the
issues that we needed to get, we needed to address
a couple of issues before we put the house up,
and it really did. I think it helped us that
peace of mind of okay, we can start looking now
because we know we're going to be able to put
(30:25):
the house up and we know it's going to pass
the inspection, and that really helped her, you know, a
tremendous amount. The difference between working for a buyer and
a seller in your industry is huge, right, yeah, yeah,
I mean you do the same work, yes, but to
be able to say, hey, look here, here are some issues.
Do you look at it in a different scope when
(30:47):
you're working for the buyer or the seller.
Speaker 4 (30:50):
With the seller, I know there's there might be another
home inspector for me too right away.
Speaker 3 (30:55):
So I feel if anything.
Speaker 4 (30:57):
I don't want to say it's more thorough, but you
have to that mindset and you have to. But it's
still the same report. It's you know, we're still going
through all the five hundred point checklists we do with
our software. It's still looking at all the major systems,
health and safety and just uh. But it's it's almost
(31:18):
used for seller. Its uses a marketing piece too, So
you know, we try and have that mindset where good
pictures we don't want to put a bunch of pictures
that don't make sense, you know, just it's a marketing piece,
but it states the facts. It states like I always say,
if the house could speak, you know, we're the voice
and that reports the voice of the house.
Speaker 2 (31:37):
And you know, I mean just and we have debates
about whether this is you know, legit or not. But
what happened is people have a home a pre home inspection,
and then ay, and then a viro will come and
take a look at it and goes, hey, here's my
pre home spection. You're welcome to look at it. You
can see what the found already, So I mean, and
that's what and sometimes that really helps the people sell
because and then but it's like also too is when
(31:58):
you know I look at it, I get different and
I call for different reasons because usually as a problem,
sometimes the guy just wants to get out of this
deal and he wants me to how much tell him
he is I wasn't expecting this montal cost to fix it, right,
you know. And then yeah, and then we said a
difference between buyers and sellers in my world is the
seller wants a BANDI and the buyer wants a brand
new everything.
Speaker 1 (32:18):
Redone and except my wife. My wife wanted everything.
Speaker 2 (32:23):
But you were the same thing. You had a pre
thing done right. They fixed the basement. And when someone says, hey,
it looks like he has I worked on a basement.
You showed a copy of receipt and you're like, you're golden.
Speaker 1 (32:32):
One Hundred's what's funny, Eric, is those beams in the basement.
When when we're selling it, you'd get you'd get a notice, Hey,
tomorrow at three o'clock somebody wants to come through and
you get out for some reason. Our sure West they
had us down as like a ten minute warning thing.
(32:52):
So twice we got a ten minute warning. My wife
was not happy.
Speaker 2 (32:56):
So you're still in a shower?
Speaker 1 (32:57):
Yeah no, no, yeah, well literally, she was cooking dinner
one time. The second time, I was on the sidelines
on the Silent Reporter for the high school football game
of the week on my twenty four and I get
a text saying, oh this is that was the first
time she was making dinner for herself. And she goes,
I just got a ten minute warning. You got to stop.
What's going on? It shouldn't we at least get an hour? Well,
(33:19):
I thought I got that fixed and then I was home.
She had just pulled up with groceries and we got
another ten minute thing and they go, no, this is perfect.
One of the issues people would see the beams in
the basement and that scared them. Well, now we got
a ten minute warning. And so I wasn't going to
leave and I thought, if they can't sell my house,
I will. And so the people walked in as I
(33:40):
was taking garbage out and they said, sorry, we you know,
we were right around the corner. Wanted to take a look.
And I said, great, can I you mind if I
stay there? Like no, and I walked in the basement.
I said, let me tell you what these beams are.
Showed them the warranty for Mancuso. It stays with the house.
It just they just did this four months ago, twenty
(34:00):
five year warranty and stays with the house. And boom,
that was the couple that bought the house. And it
was because what Bingo said, we're able to say, look,
we identified the problem. We didn't put a band aid
on it. We fixed it. And so I hate to
say I was wrong and my wife was right, but
you know what she was And because of the receipts
(34:21):
we had for any issues. There was nothing when when
they brought their own inspector and there was nothing that
he found Because Current Electric Donovan jorianson Right all Right
Home and Remodeling, Bengo Creative Construction Wisconsin took care of
all this stuff alongside Chris Mancuso and it was an
easy transition for us. Yeah, I really I loved that. Hey,
(34:44):
when when when people have you come out to their home,
can they stay with you while you're doing the work
and explain things or would you prefer them to get out.
Speaker 4 (34:54):
For a while Or I would say, we're really easy
to work with and they only have we only have
a limited time in their house or their future how
potential house, whatever.
Speaker 3 (35:03):
But I you know, it's up to them.
Speaker 4 (35:05):
Typically in the email they get from us a reminder,
it says, if you want to give us that first hour,
that way, we're we're just really formatting the report, taking pictures.
We don't have much to talk about because we haven't
seen the house. But if they want to come in
the beginning and measure stuff, we bring extra tape measures. Okay,
they want to look around, you know, test things up themselves.
That's that's that's we're easy to work with them. They're
(35:28):
more than welcome.
Speaker 1 (35:28):
Can you can you see when a homeowner is putting
band aids up on things? You catch that, don't you? Yeah?
Big always talk some stories in the past that I
laugh about where well.
Speaker 2 (35:40):
We'll talk about basements or even I mean, you know,
they got duct tapes on the wall and they're freshly
painting a wall.
Speaker 1 (35:46):
I know, but we did. You know, some of us
homeowners think.
Speaker 2 (35:49):
We're slick or you know they got you know, they
put toothpaste in the holes in it, like okay, like
that again, it looks I don't know why a will
a pride? Why are you picking toothpaste? But lets say
toothpaste in there? He goes, How do you know? I
was just a gasp?
Speaker 1 (36:01):
Right, Yeah? You can you catch some of that, don't you?
Speaker 3 (36:04):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (36:05):
Yeah, we're trying to be slick. Yeah, can't you can't
do it? Do you? Do you feel like as an
inspector that you're going to find every problem with the
property or are you looking for more major issues you're looking.
Speaker 4 (36:19):
I always call them like the big fish, the defects,
the health and safety can't miss items we consider like
foundation issues roof fishes leaks a bunch of molds somewhere,
not like a little but you know you open the
attic and there's molder. Those are can't miss issues. Structural
you know, those are can't mission issues. But uh no,
(36:43):
like little thing. I always tell people. Ultimately, we're there
for the big fish, the defects along the way. You'll
see some medium sized small fish in the report, like
maintenance items.
Speaker 1 (36:52):
That that that quote that you used a minute ago,
were the voice of the home? Oh sure, I would
use that and a lot of your marketing because I
really like that. That for me and a and a
simple guy from the east side of Milwaukee like me.
When you when you say that, I hear that that
rings out. You're the voice of the home and kind
(37:14):
of the doctor of this thing. Right, let's find out
if there's some some major issues, and you may find
some of the smaller issues along the way. Right, Yeah,
what is the what is the cost for a residential?
Is there is there different cost? Is? Do you have
a one time standard? Here's what we charge.
Speaker 4 (37:31):
Sure, so it depends on the size of the house
and the age. Sure, sometimes location, depending on what area
of Wisconsin. But uh, average inspection. I'd say nowadays it's
probably around four fifty five dollars, you know, without Now
if they want like raid on testing, mold testing, or
a sewer scope, that would be additional. But yeah, that's
(37:52):
the average inspection.
Speaker 1 (37:54):
And boy, in the scheme of what we're doing selling
and buying houses, which is the biggest in investment, that's
a rounding error to have peace of mind, right.
Speaker 2 (38:03):
Yes, yeah, I've seen what these the home inspectros come
and look at stuff, and these deals get canceled because
they're like, you know, they're like, I mean there's just
a one recently, right, We're one hundred thousand dollars to
fix it. I mean, to repair it so you can
live in it. You know that you want to get
out of that deal? Way now you see you know
what that was the best five hundred bucks ever spent.
Speaker 1 (38:22):
Yeah, you're out of it, man. I look I again,
I fought it, right, I didn't think we should be
the one doing it, But talk about peace of mind,
and that was a round the amount that that the cost.
And then to have our guys, the people we know
and trust, come in and do the the fixing of
it to be able to then put it up and
(38:44):
know it that we don't have to worry. We could
start looking now because once they make an offer, it's
going to be done. He is Eric Schaeffer again, general manager,
Around the Block Inspections. How did you come up with
that name?
Speaker 2 (38:55):
By the way, Oh you know that was you should say?
You're watching his other TV?
Speaker 1 (38:59):
Yeah, around the Corner and now you're yeah a lot.
But did you know I was on the show? Yes? Okay, good,
thank you, thank you. I appreciate that.
Speaker 4 (39:09):
No, uh yeah, no, I love that show. But uh,
you know, we went through hundreds of names probably and
with my kids involved.
Speaker 2 (39:18):
And they came up with some creative was already taken.
Speaker 1 (39:21):
Oh yeah, creative Yeah, Around the Creative Block is what
it should have been.
Speaker 4 (39:26):
Creative. Yeah, but we just we landed on it, and
it's like I liked it.
Speaker 3 (39:30):
It stuck.
Speaker 4 (39:31):
It seem kind of old fashioned, but you know kind
of people I felt like a lot of times they
say around the Corner. Sure, around the block, but they
still it's just kind of catchy.
Speaker 1 (39:40):
Yeah, that's awesome. He is again Eric Schaeffer, General Manager.
He is a certified Master inspector. He is h fact
plumbing is what he grew up doing and I love
the fact that he has been in the homes in
a different a different avenue. Right. He has been in
the homes as a as a plumber, as an HVAT guy,
(40:01):
and now as an inspector. I think he has a
different set of eyes when it comes to this. Go
to around the Block Inspections dot Com. Around the Block
Inspections dot Com. Again, they are the voice of the home.
I love that that line because that's truly what they do.
This is the Creative Construction Wisconsin Home Improvement Show on
Fox Sports nine twenty in your iHeart Radio App. Welcome
(40:23):
back to the Creative Construction Wisconsin Home Improvement Show on
Fox Sports nine twenty in your iHeartRadio app. Coming live
from the Divan and Jorgans and Heating and Cooling Studios. Man,
I love having Bngo Emmons back in. I wish people
could hear what we talk about during the break. That'd
be all right. I wouldn't mind that our special guest,
Derrick Shaeffer, grew up in Denver, Colorado area. Bengo had
(40:45):
a couple of Colorado questions for him. But I think
we'll pass.
Speaker 2 (40:49):
Yeah, we again, you know, I want I want to
stay in the air for a long time.
Speaker 1 (40:52):
Yeah, we want to stay in the air for a while.
Speaker 2 (40:55):
Well, I got to even shout out the Bolbauer he
just signed. We had at Tolsa East, Yeah, Wednesday night,
way to signing for uh, they had thirty son kids
sign up for you know, for to make commitments to
becoming you know, you know it's the trades. It's way different.
You know, they get it that. You know, don't say
you do't have to send kids to college to be
(41:15):
in debt. You can give them a job where they
make a lot of money up you know, upfront and learning,
get training and and you know, my milestone was there
they you know, they got they got somebody. It was
we were like drafts, we're interviewing people and so yeah,
so we have a good worker. So you know, so
bo is going to be you know, the summer you'll
see them.
Speaker 1 (41:35):
It's starting to change the little pendulum of of people
getting into the trades.
Speaker 2 (41:40):
Even the mayor was there were congratulating these kids. I mean,
it's it's opposite, superintendent. You know, it's just opposite what
used to be in the old days. Like no kids
are going to the kids are gonna go to college
and fail or do whatever they do no matter what.
Speaker 1 (41:51):
Right, Yeah, I I love that. Around the inspection dot
around the inspections dot com, around the block inspections dot
Com is where you're going to want to go. Hey, Eric,
we talked here in the break other inspections kind of
that you offer again sets you apart a little bit.
Can we talk a little bit about some of that?
Speaker 4 (42:09):
Yeah, so we we offer. We talked a little bit
about we obviously do the raid on testing, the mold
testing and mold inspections, sewer scopes, but also, like with
new construction, we'll do a eleven month warranty inspection. Like
we were kind of talking about when their one year
builder warranty is running.
Speaker 2 (42:26):
Up a tape of a sewer.
Speaker 3 (42:31):
What's it?
Speaker 2 (42:31):
Oh, yeah, tape, there's a clock.
Speaker 3 (42:37):
Can I say, get your popcorn?
Speaker 4 (42:38):
And yeah, yeah, it's uh, it's kind of funny, but
uh and then uh, the eleven month warranty will also
do a final inspection right before the buyer moves into
the house. We can go through it's more like a
punch list for the builder, but sometimes we'll find some
crazy stuff and then uh, and then obviously the pre list.
Speaker 2 (43:01):
Also talking about new homes new homes, so there's more
problems with new homes sometimes with than the old homes.
And it really is you really should have a new
home should always be inspected.
Speaker 1 (43:09):
Yes, definitely, really so you would think that, No, that
people would not think that. But but you've said this
a couple of times.
Speaker 2 (43:20):
Remember as work shorters, so some stuff seems to get
missed or skipped or something. That guy wasn't there that day,
or he was going to come back in the afternoon
and do some cocking around the windows and you forgot,
you know, and there's I mean, there's only you know,
I mean like an extra you're hiring an extra set
of eyes just to cover your back to make sure
that it's you're getting what you paid for.
Speaker 1 (43:38):
Ye yeah, I agree with that. Hey, on your website,
these helpful video resources that you guys have up there,
you know why hire a certified master inspector, mold inspections,
things like that. Just again set your part a little
bit because you get an idea on on your website.
(43:59):
For me personally, I get a really good feel on
what what the heartbeat of your your company is, and
I thank you for that. Because not everybody. You know,
we'll we'll pull the current back that, Yeah, always share
does you know what we're gonna have Sarah come in
and you know, maybe Peyton will come in who knows. Well,
we'll figure that part out some other day. But I
(44:21):
thank her for that and the fact that you could
just go on and kind of get a feel for
the company and and what your mission statement is by
just reading that looking at some of those those videos,
I think is a really good way to go about
doing this. Hey, a couple other questions before we let
you go? Can somebody I guess people think they know
(44:46):
a lot about this industry. Are there people that try
to do their own inspection on something like this?
Speaker 3 (44:52):
Yeah, sometimes we'll see that.
Speaker 2 (44:53):
Well, especially the father and a lot of shows up
the best. He's the best inspector and you've ever seen.
Speaker 4 (45:00):
Yeah, I get nervous when they show over with a
box of tools, like, oh, how's this gonna shake out?
But yeah, I always say the more eyes are better.
So we encourage you know, family member if their dad
wants to come or whatever, give them peace of mind.
But yeah, it's uh, it's an interesting deal, and I
I do think some people you know. I even had
(45:23):
I when I was inspecting my old, my last house.
I even brought in a friend of mine who was a
structural engineer, like, I know what's going on here. I
just want to make sure because we used to have
a lot of u bet night clay in Colorado, expansive
soil and a lot of structural issues out there we
would see and just for peace of mind, I haven't.
I think it's a great idea. I've done work for builders.
(45:44):
They just say, hey, Eric, I want you come in here.
Speaker 3 (45:46):
I know my stuff.
Speaker 4 (45:47):
I just want you to go through it too, and
so we have a nice clean report.
Speaker 1 (45:51):
Hey, real quick, what is the what is the time frame?
If somebody calls you on Monday, how how far out
are you at this point?
Speaker 4 (46:00):
So usually we're a few days out, okay, But we
try and leave open spots too, and that you don't
always like being just you know, we try and do
our best. If we're booked out, we uh, I'll try
and put a third slot somewhere. Do my best because
with the deadlines, it's so important.
Speaker 1 (46:16):
Man.
Speaker 2 (46:16):
You don't have a lot of time. A lot of
time you make an offer to purchase. Sometimes you only
got a week.
Speaker 1 (46:21):
That's it. Yeah, yeah, he is. Eric Shaeffer, so good
to meet you. To tell Sarah a great job on this,
and I certainly wish Peyton a happy birthday. Bengo, it's
good to see you again. We're going to some rate.
We're gonna watch a race or something.
Speaker 2 (46:35):
I don't you actually can watch races and even Sunday
night races five o'clock Sunday night. Man, I want to
sleep with that race on.
Speaker 1 (46:42):
Trust me, I probably go in Nashville the guy.
Speaker 2 (46:45):
When they win, you win, get a guitar. Of course
you know that.
Speaker 1 (46:47):
Of course I do. They Yeah, they've asked me to
present that guitar to the winter, but I'm not gonna
be able to make it. Guys, it's good to see
Eric's good to meet you. This is the Creative Construction,
Wisconsin home improvement show on Fox Sports Night twenty in
your iHeart Radio app
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.