We recently caught up with Michael Pelliccia of Metro Property Inspections, a top home inspector in the Kansas City area to talk home inspections, homeowners and his business.
We chose to feature Michael because he has been an absolute professional to work with since we met. He has more than 15 years experience in the home inspection industry, so his resume speaks for itself.
Metro Property Inspections boasts 61 Google Reviews and an outstanding 4.7 rating.
I had been in the insurance industry for the prior 14 years as an adjuster and then ultimately as a claims manager. As part of my training, I spent a great deal of time working outside in the field. This experience of hands on- away from the desk and face to face interaction with our clients prepared me well for the last 12 years of being a home inspector.
Due to my construction knowledge and a love for Real Estate (before it was cool/on tv) I thought it was a perfect marriage of what I like to do. So in early 2005 I opened Metro Property Inspection in my dining room.
Here’s the secret- its NOT who’s the best inspector, its who’s the best Communicator. I can teach most people how to find a crack in a basement- what is special about us is that we know how to communicate our findings in a way that both fully informs the buyer without unnecessarily scaring them out of the deal.
It’s the ability to walk this “tight-rope” between full disclosure and frightening our clients that keeps our agents calling us back and not the Deal Killers. Our largest source of new referrals is from Listing Agents. They love our demeanor as much as the Buyers Agents. Once they see how we communicate they often call us for their buyers needs.
Another reason we continue to grow is that we value our agents and buyers so much that we provide a FREE 100 day warranty on every home we inspect. That way when the garbage disposal fails in the first week- the buyers agent doesn’t get a call saying the inspector missed this, the sellers agent doesn’t get a call saying the seller lied about the disposal on the disclosure- WE get the call and arrange for the repair, period.
Walking through a home with a buyer that is super-excited about their new home. Showing them how it works or some cool feature they didn’t even know was there is great. At the end of the inspection, after we’ve gone over our summary – to see physically see the weight that gets lifted off our clients because they were worried about the inspection process- that’s pretty cool.
Sometimes you can actually see them complete the big exhale, and say, “whew”…. and now they can worry about the appraisal process.
Having someone call and say they are having a problem with their home- a problem that we called out in the report but that the buyers chose not to repair/or have repaired. This happens all the time- people don’t read their reports. It also sucks when you do an inspection for a client on a corporate move that has moved 12 times in the last 10 years and doesn’t even show up for the inspection. Those are easy but no fun.
Would you buy this house? Does this house “pass” inspection? Those are probably my 2 most often asked questions.
My kids are into sports so that’s big for me. My son and I also ride dirt bikes on weekends when we can. My family has season tickets to the Royals and to the MLS soccer team, KC Sporting. Plus, we try to do at least one flip/investment property per year. So, not a lot of free time.
Treat your new home as if it were a new child. Once (we) deliver it to you, you need to have routine checkups (heat/ac/etc.) and don’t ignore “symptoms”. With the amount of information at hand on everyone’s phone, from Google to You-Tube you should be able to a least partially diagnose most things that can go wrong in your home. At least figure out what trade to call when an issue does arise- because it will. Also- get a home warranty.
This can dramatically reduce the sting of an unforeseeable issue that may develop during the first year of ownership. For most folks the first year is the year they are least prepared (financially) or able to repair any major home system. At the risk of sounding self-serving: Get the home inspected, get a home warranty and pay attention.
If you're a local real estate agent wanting to get in touch with Metro Property Inspections, you can find them online - https://metropropertyinspection.com/or email Michael at mpelliccia@metropropertyinspection.com