Avoid Costly Mistakes: Why Home Inspections Matter for Investors

Stephen Schmidt (01:32)
to the show where we interview the nation’s leading real estate entrepreneurs It’s your host Stephen Schmidt and welcome back if you’re joining us for a second third or hundredth time and welcome to it If it’s your first time you’re in for a real treat today. I got Fred Rodrigues in the house He’s a fellow Floridian, even though I don’t live there right now and He runs a company that he found in that’s gonna get you a damn good inspection

Fred Rodrigues (01:31)
Welcome to the show where we interview the nation’s leading real estate entrepreneurs. It’s your host Stephen Schmidt and welcome back if you’re joining us for a second third or hundredth time and welcome to it if it’s your first time you’re in for a real treat today. I got Fred Rodriguez in the house. He’s a fellow Floridian even though I don’t live there right now and he runs a company that he found in that’s gonna get you a damn good inspection.

Stephen Schmidt (01:56)
That’s literally

name of this company. You can go to damn good inspection dot com. Check it out for yourself. You don’t believe me. Anyways, Fred has been in the home inspecting space for over six years and he brings a really unique lens to the table as to why everybody should be getting a home inspection. I’m a big believer in it personally, and I’m also a big believer in hiring an expert because I actually have a friend of mine out in Florida.

Fred Rodrigues (01:57)
literally the name of this company. You can go to damgoodinspection.com, check it out for yourself if you don’t believe me. Anyways, Fred has been in the home inspecting space for over six years and he brings a really unique lens to the table as to why everybody should be getting a home inspection. I’m a big believer in it personally and I’m also a big believer in hiring an expert because I actually have a friend of mine out

in

Stephen Schmidt (02:18)
had three inexperienced people look at his house before he bought it and they ended up buying it. And then eight months later, the entire house was growing mold with his young family because they installed a three pitch roof or ⁓ shingles on a three pitch roof, which isn’t code in Florida. So hire the expert, call Fred. You know what I’m saying? Just remember before we get started in our conversation at Investor Fuel, we help real estate investors, service providers and real estate entrepreneurs, two to five X their businesses.

Fred Rodrigues (02:19)
I’ve had three inexperienced people look at his house before he bought it and they ended up buying it. And then eight months later, the entire house was growing mold with his young family because they installed a three pitch roof or ⁓ shingles on a three pitch roof, which isn’t code in Florida. So hire the expert, call Fred. You know what I’m saying? Just remember before we get started in our conversation at Investor Fuel, we help real estate investors, service providers and real estate entrepreneurs, two to five X their

businesses.

Stephen Schmidt (02:47)
so they can

build the businesses they’ve always wanted in order to live the lives they’ve always dreamed of. With that being said, Fred, welcome to the show.

Fred Rodrigues (02:47)
so they can build the businesses they’ve always wanted in order to live the lives they’ve always dreamed of. With that being said, Fred,

to the show. Thank you very much, Steven.

a pleasure, man. Super excited to have you, I got love from my home inspectors, man, because I came from a background in roofing and did that for several years. I actually did it out in Florida for a period of time. telling you what, it’s a…

Stephen Schmidt (02:56)
Super excited to have you man. I got love from my home inspectors man because I came from a background in roofing and did that for several years. I actually did it out in Florida for a period of time and telling you what it’s a

totally

beast and they’ve got to know basically everything about everything on the house.

Fred Rodrigues (03:13)
totally different beasts and they’ve got to know basically everything about everything on the house.

Stephen Schmidt (03:18)
so Fred

Fred Rodrigues (03:19)
And so Fred, how’d you even get into the business? I mean, I don’t mean this offensively, but you’re no spring chicken. didn’t do this when you were straight out of high school. So what made you wake up one day and go, I want to go climb in 160 degree addicts in crawl

Stephen Schmidt (03:19)
How’d you even get into the business? I mean, I don’t mean this offensively, but you’re no spring chicken. You didn’t do this when you were straight out of high school. So what made you wake up one day and go, I want to go climb in 160 degree attics and crawl spaces.

Fred Rodrigues (03:32)
Dude. Um, yeah, I just turned 51, uh, late last year. So I, I ain’t no spring chicken. You’re right of all

Stephen Schmidt (03:41)
You

look great for 51 though, by the way. I

Fred Rodrigues (03:41)
You look great for 51, though, by the

Stephen Schmidt (03:44)
never have guessed that.

Fred Rodrigues (03:44)
Thank I would never have

guessed that. Yeah, 51, man. Going strong. ⁓ So ⁓ home inspection was a choice that got made for me. ⁓ I was an executive at ⁓ major corporations. ⁓ I had a position where I led.

international brands ⁓ introducing themselves into the US market ⁓ in this consumer packaged goods industry. So basically food that you buy at supermarkets. ⁓ I was blessed to introduce several brands and ran this business for them for a while. I got fed up, ⁓ didn’t want to do it anymore. So you know what people do? They actually start a consulting business.

Stephen Schmidt (04:13)
No kidding.

Fred Rodrigues (04:37)
And I did that. ⁓ After the consulting business, I opened a coffee shop down in South Florida, down in Delray Beach. Unfortunately, that didn’t go too well. I lost pretty much everything I owned. I had that coffee shop. ⁓ And a very good friend of mine ⁓ introduced me to home inspection. So I thought this would be a side gig, you know, for a while while I was trying to figure out things.

And God they had different plan, man. I started ⁓ before COVID and when COVID hit, it was insane. Literally insane. Yeah. We were doing, I was by myself back then. was doing gosh, multiple inspections every day. And ⁓ it was crazy, but thank God everything worked out. And ⁓ here we are ⁓ almost six years later.

I’m a certified master inspector. Only less than 1 % of Florida home inspectors have a certified master inspector certification. And I say that even less are damn good inspectors.

Stephen Schmidt (05:46)
I’m kidding.

love that. Out of curiosity, you say less than 1 % has that. What separates you from the rest of the crowd by having the certified master inspector on the title versus like, I’m a house inspector. What’s the big difference?

Fred Rodrigues (05:52)
Out of curiosity, you say less than 1 % has that. What separates you from the rest of the crowd by having a certified master inspector on the title versus like, I’m a house inspector. What’s the big

difference? So a certification of a certified master inspector, you have to hit some thresholds. So you have to do over 1,000 inspections, to ⁓ go through some additional training. ⁓

proven that you are one of the leading inspectors in the industry and myself and I have another inspector that works with me. We both ⁓ qualify and again, ⁓ home inspection is kind of a, it’s a field where a lot of people that do home inspections are, they do home inspections as a side gig, you know? ⁓ So if you go through a cheap inspector, I call it,

I’m no pun intended, right? So I call it Hector, the chief inspector. We’re in Florida, Hector the inspector. Pair you with a paintbrush. Yeah, Hector is probably, you know, a plumber or a painter or a roofer. when he gets, you know,

Stephen Schmidt (06:56)
I love it Hector the inspector Perry with a paintbrush chuck in the truck, you know

Amazing. Right.

Fred Rodrigues (08:00)
the home inspector license and he charges, you know, $299 to do the inspection because it’s his side gig.

⁓ We are full-time inspectors, so we dedicate ourselves to the business. We are in and out ⁓ classes and we want to learn more. My team and I, we are very proud of what we do and we take responsibilities for what we do and we love what we do.

Stephen Schmidt (08:30)
So what are some of the things that you’ve ran into and I’m sure we could have an entire podcast just filled with odd stories but what are some of the things that you’ve ran into that make you just go what in the world?

Fred Rodrigues (08:31)
So what are some of the things that you’ve ran into, and I’m sure we could have an entire podcast just filled with odd stories, but what are some of the things that you’ve ran into that make you just go, what?

Gosh, where do I start? As a matter of fact, I’m putting together a little podcast called Don’t Kill My Deal. I like that. Which is, you know, just stories where, you know, of deals that almost went dead for various reasons. So that’s a plan. But missing shingles on new construction. How about that?

Stephen Schmidt (08:52)
Right.

I like that.

Mm. Sure.

Yeah, that’s a weird one for sure. No kidding.

Fred Rodrigues (09:19)
Yeah, that’s a weird one for sure. Yeah,

they got the CEO. They got everything. It’s a new construction. But missing shingles. That’s lovely. ⁓ We had also a new construction not too long ago where ⁓ one of my inspector was just testing plumbing and all of a sudden everything backed up. ⁓ New construction, townhouse, city. We’re not talking about country.

Stephen Schmidt (09:29)
tight.

Fred Rodrigues (09:50)
And I went there and I did the sewer scope and it was a disconnect on the sewer line.

Stephen Schmidt (09:58)
No, that’s not great.

Fred Rodrigues (09:58)
No, that’s

not great. Yeah. That would have backed up for that buyer in a matter of seconds because there was a huge disconnect. was like very disconnected, the sewer line. So there are a lot of things that we find in a daily basis that can really ⁓ write a great book.

Stephen Schmidt (10:01)
Wow.

Yeah.

Right. Wow. That’s crazy.

Fred Rodrigues (11:00)
Sure. Yeah, absolutely, man.

Stephen Schmidt (11:00)
Sure, yeah, absolutely, man. I totally

Fred Rodrigues (11:02)
I totally am with you on that. I’ve had a few careers that, well, for example, I just even the other day saw a pipe actually on a roof straight coming straight out of the shingles where the attic would be and dripping water onto the shingles. And I don’t know. Once you’re a roofer, you just can’t stop looking at roofs. Right. And so

Stephen Schmidt (11:02)
am with you on that. I’ve had a few careers that, well, for example, I just even the other day saw a pipe actually on a roof coming straight out of the shingles where the attic would be and dripping water onto the shingles. And I don’t know, once you’re a roofer, you just can’t stop looking at roofs, right? And so I’m like…

Fred Rodrigues (11:25)
I’m like, I can’t even believe what I’m seeing right now. AC drain for sure.

Stephen Schmidt (11:25)
I can’t even believe what I’m seeing right now or who thought that was a good idea.

Fred Rodrigues (11:30)
I’ve seen it a few times. Yeah, I’ve seen the. So well, that actually explains it now, though. That’s really I appreciate that. No kidding. AC drain. AC drain. Yeah, I’ve seen it a few times. No kidding. What an amazing thing. Yeah. Well, somebody clearly didn’t know what they were doing. There are a lot of people out there, Steven. A lot of creative people out there.

Stephen Schmidt (11:30)
Yeah, right. That’s crazy. So, well, that actually explains it now, though. That’s really I appreciate that. No kidding. A.C. Jane. That’s what that was. crazy. No kidding. Wow. What an amazing thing. Yeah. Well, somebody clearly didn’t know what they were doing. ⁓ No kidding. So.

I think it goes without saying it’s just a simple logic based question like

Fred Rodrigues (11:54)
I think it goes without saying it’s just a simple logic based question like.

Stephen Schmidt (11:59)
why should everybody get a home inspection but can you maybe speak to your experience on like some of the deals that you’ve seen that legit have fell through for things that nobody would have caught unless they were really truly looking.

Fred Rodrigues (12:00)
why should everybody get a home inspection? But can you maybe speak to your experience on like some of the deals that you’ve seen that legit have fell through for things that nobody would have caught unless they were really truly

looking? Well, you mentioned early mode ⁓ and that is a big thing here in Florida. ⁓ We do use ⁓ infrared cameras as part of our inspection protocol. That’s the

A long time ago, people used to charge extra for that. We implemented that as a part of an inspection protocol. And there are more than a few times where we, ⁓ using the infrared camera, we found ⁓ moisture. And here in Florida, if you find moisture on a drywall, it’s mold. It has to be mold. ⁓

We’ve seen few deals where you know sellers wouldn’t say no, we just spend it over and that’s

⁓ And yeah, and all sorts of things where we see ⁓ sewer lines is a big thing. People don’t realize, you know.

A tree intrusion on the sewer line, if you have a tree and you know that the sewer line is running by that tree, it’s not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when that tree root will break that pipe and try to get some water.

Stephen Schmidt (13:37)
Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. Now, so obviously for your own house, get an inspection. think that’s just common sense, right? But like why should investors, like why is it so important for investors to also do the same?

Fred Rodrigues (13:39)
a lot of sense. Now, so obviously for your own house, get an inspection. That’s just common sense, right? But why should investors, why is it so important for investors to also do

the same? Great question. So ⁓ for investors, obviously, depending on what you’re trying to invest, if you’re going to flip the house and you’re going to gutter it, why would you need an inspection?

And I get that. I’m okay with that. I was talking to some agents, real estate agents up in Massachusetts, and they were saying that the government is making mandatory the inspection, which I don’t like, honestly. But either way. But if you’re planning on renting that unit or that property, if you’re planning on using it, or if you’re investing so you can make sure…

make sure that the make sure that investment is sound and you’re not getting into a money pit. ⁓ I always say hire the best inspector you can afford. That makes sense for you because the money that you’re to save on the inspection, you may spend that money later in probably 10 times. ⁓ So the inspection makes sense if you’re going to use that property.

⁓ to make money out of that property in a way that you don’t plan to make a huge ⁓ investment. Even ⁓ some investors that we serve, sometimes hire us just to do a walk and talk kind of inspection. Hey, can you take a look at this? If you need to put the sewer camera, check the pipes. I just don’t want to get into more than what I’m budgeting for. And that makes sense.

But here in Florida, the other big problem here is insurance. So most of the insurance will require you to do a four point and a wind mitigation. So you can qualify for better insurance rates. And that is minimally what you should be doing. Although ⁓ stick with minimum would, this is what I say, ⁓ and I wanna be honest with you.

So everybody that has skin in the game in the transaction are covering their butts. right. Banks are calling for an appraisal. Here in Florida, insurance, you have to provide a four point so they can determine what kind of liability they are taking. The only one rolling dice is the buyer. Right. So ⁓ I don’t think that’s the smartest move unless you really know what you’re doing. And

You’re definitely going to save money at the end by investing in a good reputable qualified home inspector. Sure. Are there any common misconceptions about what you do? More than a few. ⁓ So ⁓ a home inspector, ⁓ my analogy is that the home inspector is like your primary care physician. ⁓ We are there to identify problems and send you to a specialist.

Stephen Schmidt (17:21)
Are there any common misconceptions about what you do?

Fred Rodrigues (17:42)
So if you do have a roof problem, we can identify that roof problem, we can pinpoint that roof problem, we are not obligated to find every little detail with that roof problem, but we’re gonna say, you need to hire a roofer to take a ⁓ further look into this problem. ⁓ So the misconception that we mostly receive is that, ⁓ why didn’t you go and find every little thing?

there’s only 24 hours in a day. sometimes we just gonna go there, to see, check for problems. ⁓ Unfortunately, profession is ⁓ checking for problems is what I do for a living. And ⁓ I’m gonna divert you to the specialist to know the severity.

⁓ mitigation or remediation of that kind of problem.

Stephen Schmidt (18:45)
How did, and so you obviously you have a team now too, so like how did you go from solopreneur to running a team? When did that happen for you?

Fred Rodrigues (18:46)
How did, and so you obviously, you have a team now too, so like how did you go from solopreneur to running a team? When did that happen for you? ⁓

That happened when I moved to Central Florida. I had a running business in South Florida, ⁓ which I have one of the best inspectors in the world out there, still doing business with us. And his name is Scott.

He is a great inspector, also qualified to be a certified master inspector. And when I moved to Central Florida, I left the business with him to run the business in Central Florida. here in South, I’m sorry, here in Central, he’s running the business in South Florida. Here in Central Florida, I started, I restarted the business in 2021. When we moved here, my wife and I and my family,

And I business grew growing here and I hired an inspector, which is also a great inspector here. His name is Andre. He’s and he’s great, great customer service, great, great with with the clients and great at what he does. And in South Florida, I still have two inspectors that work with me part time, Marcelo and Nicholas. And here in central Florida, I pick up the excess of work myself.

Stephen Schmidt (20:12)
What was the biggest turning point in your business as you were growing that team?

Fred Rodrigues (20:12)
What was the biggest turning point in your business as you were growing

that team?

For the team was ⁓ really marketing. We started doing a lot of ⁓ online presence, know, TikTok and ⁓ Instagram. We developed good partnerships with real estate agents that really trust and like us and we like them back. And ⁓ that partnership is ⁓ only growing. So we know that we are not for everybody and that’s OK.

⁓ There are different people that have different types of demands and relationships, but we are damn good at what we do. At least we like to think that we are.

Stephen Schmidt (21:01)
Have you found some marketing strategies that didn’t work well for you?

Fred Rodrigues (21:03)
Have you found some marketing strategies that didn’t work well for

you? Yep, for us, because inspection is a very unique game. You’re going to hire an inspector immediately after signing a contract. And you only have three, five, seven days, 10 days to do the inspection. And there’s no strategy for us to remarketing or to do anything that’s long term to reach out to that client.

So for us, ⁓ it’s something when people call us, when the phone is ringing or when we got a message, we have to answer in a second because people are ready to roll. They’re not going to be, they have to hire the inspector that day and not three days later because time is ticking. So for us, doing a marketing where ⁓ now we’re focusing more in delivering ⁓

Stephen Schmidt (21:40)
Yeah.

Yeah, 100%.

Fred Rodrigues (22:00)
content, valuable content for agents especially. I still think that a lot of agents don’t exactly understand what a home inspector does and see most home inspectors as a nuisance rather than a partner to really make that deal happen.

Stephen Schmidt (22:23)
What’s your approach to build long-term relationships in the business? ⁓

Fred Rodrigues (22:25)
What’s your approach to build long-term relationships in the business?

Real estate agents for sure and investors. Those are the two main, long-term relationships that we are building. How you go about building them though? Yeah, networking mostly ⁓ and word of mouth. I have a great investor that a very good friend of mine

Stephen Schmidt (22:40)
How do you go about building them though?

Fred Rodrigues (22:52)
introduced us to them. did an inspection for them last week. And they are from overseas and I think they bought 50 properties here in central Florida. And they started either flipping or renting. And every time they have a problem or anything, they just call us and we get it done. It’s a matter of trust and getting things done.

Stephen Schmidt (23:06)
Hmm, okay.

Fred Rodrigues (23:19)
more than price is just, hey, if I call you, I have a problem and I need it solved. And that’s the approach that we take. At the end of the day, Steven, we are a service company. We are here to serve our clients. And we are here to solve their problems. And if we’re not doing that, we are failing. So that’s the approach that we have.

Stephen Schmidt (23:32)
Right. Sure.

Yeah, 100 % man. Well, I appreciate you coming on and sharing some insights and some wisdom with us here about your side of the biz. I know a lot of people are gonna get some value from this episode and it’s neat for me because I haven’t had a home inspector on in a long time. So this is great. I’m glad we were able ⁓ to do this. If people wanna connect with you for more or kind of figure out what you’re working on, things like that, can they go follow you?

Fred Rodrigues (23:44)
Well, I appreciate you coming on and sharing some insights and some wisdom with us here about your, your side of the biz. know a lot of people are going to get some value from this episode and it’s neat for me cause I haven’t had a home inspector on in a long time. So, ⁓ this is great. I’m glad, glad we were able to, to do this. If people want to connect with you for more or kind of figure out what you’re working on, things like that, where can they go follow

you? Sure. ⁓ damn good inspection. ⁓ in every major, ⁓

social media on YouTube, on Instagram, on TikTok, on X, Twitter. You can find us there. DamnGoodInspection.com is the website where, go check it out. You can even book the inspection online, ⁓ which makes things very easy. And we are simple people. We love what we do and we love serving ⁓ our clients. ⁓ if you don’t get anything else from this conversation,

get an inspection. Well folks go connect with them show some love from the real estate pros and the investor fuel community we appreciate it a ton for after you’ve been on and we’ll see y’all on the

Stephen Schmidt (24:44)
Yeah, I love it. What a great way to end the show. Well, folks, go connect with them. Show them some love from the real estate pros and the investor fuel community. We appreciate it a ton. Fred, for you being on and we’ll see you all on the next episode.