Meet Alex Byron | Home Inspector

We had the good fortune of connecting with Alex Byron and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Alex, what do you attribute your success to?
Quality and consistency. My goal is to give my customers a great home inspection experience, a thorough report, and excellent customer service – every time. Even though home inspectors are regulated by the state of Arizona, and we all have to follow the same standards of practice, unfortunately there is a wide spectrum of quality in home inspections. Some inspectors don’t even meet the standards of practice, Some just do the bare minimum so they can cram multiple jobs in one day – it’s all about quantity for them.

My business is focused on quality. I only do one or two inspections in a day to ensure I have all the time it takes to do a thorough job. My inspections take about 3 to 4 hours on average. I always encourage my clients to come to the inspection. I like to give them a summary at the end and answer all their questions. After the inspection, I spend another hour or two on finishing the report, adding photos and annotations, and proofreading the report. When I’m happy with the report, I send it to the client.

Unfortunately for the consumer, they don’t know how to tell the difference between a good and a bad home inspector. They don’t know what questions to ask. Usually they don’t find out that they had a bad inspection until after it’s done. I have compiled a list of questions people should ask when shopping for a home inspector to help them pick the right one. When a potential client calls me, I go over this list with them to help them make a good choice.

Long story short: I believe that a major factor of my success is delivering a quality service to my clients every time. That, and being an anal retentive German.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
I am a home inspector. I inspect homes for home buyers, do home check-ups for homeowners, and help people prepare their homes for sale by doing pre-listing inspections. I spend several hours investigating and collecting information about a home so I can give my client a detailed overview. For home buyers, it helps them either move forward and negotiate with the seller, or walk away if there are more issues than they can handle. For homeowners, it helps them stay on top of their home maintenance and keep their home in good shape. For home sellers, it helps them understand what to expect when a buyer brings in their home inspector, and what they can do to get the house in better shape to get more money and ensure the sale is successful.

Before I became a home inspector, I actually spent 20 years working in hi-tech for Silicon Valley tech companies. I was in technical support, IT, network security, and also wrote technical documentation. I got tired of all the corporate BS and had to do something different. Making such a radical change into being self-employed in a completely different industry was definitely scary and had its many challenges. My German sense of organization and discipline, my tech skills, and my writing abilities definitely came in very handy in the process.

In the end though, it has helped me grow as a person and has been really rewarding. I’ve learned so much, built self-confidence, improved my public speaking skills, made a whole new set of friends, learned about running my own business, and the importance of positive relationships with people that share the same values.

I really enjoy helping people, empowering them with knowledge, reducing their stress level, and providing them with all the information they need to make a good decision.

Home buying is pretty stressful as it is. There is so much to learn and consider. There is so much information coming at you. It’s quite overwhelming, especially for first time buyers. As a result, when my clients show up to the home inspection, they are often nervous, intimidated, hesitant, anxious.

I know I have done my job right when at the end my clients leave with a smile on their face, a spring in their step, a sense of relief and direction, and generally so much happier than when they first walked in the door. Seeing this makes me really happy.

One of the many things that sets me apart from others and shows just how passionate I am about my job is that I wrote a book about home maintenance. The problem when you buy a house is that nobody gives you a manual to show you how to take care of the biggest investment of your life! Many people don’t know all the stuff they’re supposed to do, and learn the hard way. Something breaks, they call a professional, and only then learn what they should have done. So I decided to write that manual.

The book was a lot of work, but it turned out great. Every word and every photo in the book is directly based on my experience inspecting homes over the years. The first part describes the various components of the home and what to know about them. The second part is an annual home maintenance calendar that walks you through maintaining your home. One little task every week or so, very easy, spread out over the year, makes home maintenance much easier and much less intimidating. My clients love it when I hand them the book at the end of the inspection – especially first time home buyers!

It contains a boatload of useful information, it features Mojo The Home Pro, and it’s funny to boot.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
There are so many things to see and do in Tucson! For upscale dining and shopping, there is La Encantada. For down-to-earth dining and shopping, there is 4th Avenue. There are many good restaurants here. The Rialto downtown is great for concerts. For outdoor enthusiasts, there are many places to hike and mountain bike. Some interesting and unique things to see are the Desert Museum, Old Tucson western town, the Titan Missile Museum, and a tour of the Asarco Mine. There are many events throughout the year such as El Tour De Tucson road cycling event, the Gem Show, the Reptile Show, the 4th Avenue street fair, just to name a few.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Much love and gratitude to my partner Mel for so much inspiration and encouragement, Mojo the Home Pro – the most adorable mascot ever, my awesome business coach Stephanie Rising, my BNI networking friends, and all the realtors who put their trust in me and recommend me to their clients.

Website: https://desertdiamondhomeinspections.com/

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