SPEAKER_01 0:00

Even when back in the day when we only had five, ten people show up, Mark would always say to me, I'd be so upset and he'd be like, Everyone was smiling. Yeah. Everyone had a great time. We have a great product. Give it time.

SPEAKER_00 0:16

All right, everybody. Welcome to another episode of Connections That Matter, where we tell the stories of Northern Colorado's best networkers and find out the business tips and networking tips that they've made that has led to their success. Today I have Brent Fletcher from Fletcher's Home Inspections on the show. Super excited. You might have been to a real estate happy hour or seen one of his social media videos. But Brent, thanks so much for coming on Connection. Right on. Well, uh you have seen some things in your inspections. One or two things. Some things that are done to code and some things that are not done to code. But uh share us uh a little bit of what it is it to be the life of a home inspector.

SPEAKER_01 0:57

Well, it's a home inspector. You know, we we go around day to day trying to find any uh defects in a home, get a visual inspection on everything, and really what we're trying to do is convey our findings to the client. It's not a pass-fail, it's just a condition of the home where it's at, so the buyer can make an educated decision on if it's the best property for them or not. So and and uh what's the state of construction these days? You know, and we get this one a lot. Is it good or is it bad compared to how it used to be? Well, you know, 100 years ago, if it was built bad, it didn't last. If it was built good, it's still here. So where that's what we're trying to figure out today, is it gonna last 100 years from now? So I've seen it go back and forwards, I've seen gray homes, and then we have some questionable ones.

SPEAKER_00 1:38

So well, and I think buyers beware, right? Or as long as you understand what you're buying, that's things to be able to find and uh that's but my job is to convey all that to them. So what uh what do you see though is like some common things. Uh, I'm sure you don't want to see any what father-in-laws come into the home inspection.

SPEAKER_01 1:56

Right, bringing their flashlight, going around. It's it's totally they're totally welcome to the inspection. They have a lot of good insight, and then at the end of the day, they're just looking out for their kids or whatnot. So we always welcome them.

SPEAKER_00 2:07

But uh normal people, when they view their house, they're just walking in. Uh I do some real estate investing. I was like, the things I see in the first two weeks, if I don't do anything to fix them or update them, I'm just gonna, that's just gonna be my house and uh it's gonna go away. But you see things freshly with fresh eyes uh and with expert eyes too.

SPEAKER_01 2:27

Right. And I get to see the progression year after year of them not being corrected and what can happen. So what may seem like a little bit of caulking on the outside, I say get it fixed. You don't, I've seen what happens in five years if you don't do it. And then it ends up being a big problem, a lot more expensive. Most major issues start as minor defects. One ounce of prevention helps a lot of the preventative maintenance is gonna be your biggest, your b your most uh effective cost saver.

SPEAKER_00 2:51

What uh as a as a normal homeowner, what what kind of maintenance should people be doing?

SPEAKER_01 2:56

You know, I say if you can figure out how to use a caulking gun, that's gonna save you a lot of money. Make sure things are tightened down, make sure anything that can allow water in, get it sealed up. From the exterior? From yeah, from the exterior. Well, the interior too, around the toilets, around your um, yeah, your any of your faucet, your handles, and anything. Anything that can allow water to go behind walls, that can cause issues.

SPEAKER_00 3:16

How much of your business is the relationships to the client that hires you versus the real estate agent that probably made a recommendation?

SPEAKER_01 3:24

Right. Uh, you know, when I first started out, I would say I was relying pretty heavily on the real estate agents, you know, as most home inspectors do when you get into the market to be the referral. But um as you get more into it, um, you know, thanks to social media, I'm getting a lot more clients that are coming to me now directly, and the agents are getting to work with me and we're getting to work together based upon the clients referral from seeing me, and then we're picking up new agents through the clients.

SPEAKER_00 3:48

And then let's talk about the social media. So you go through the house, you make the inspection, but you also are creating content. And uh just by the nature of your job, it's great content. Uh, but how do you how do you find what you're gonna share? Uh, and what makes the what makes the actual real versus the the cutting room floor?

SPEAKER_01 4:05

Right. So it's it's and it's fun because you never know what you're gonna find. And you know, there are so many things I wish I can record, but that you know it's just not the right time, it's not the right place. Uh, but you just see something, if it's making me question and scratch my head, that's a video instantly. Like that that doesn't make sense. People are gonna need to see this one.

SPEAKER_00 4:22

So what uh so do you do you crawl in the attic, the crawl space, uh you get to know a home that way most people don't even know their own home?

SPEAKER_01 4:30

Right, yeah. Most people will be in a home for 20 years and say they've never been in the attic, and that's just crazy. I mean, every single house I go into, um every crawl space, go down to those deep corners and check the plumbing. Most people never do it. I mean, I've lived in my house five years, I've only been in my attic once.

SPEAKER_00 4:45

What's some of the craziest things you found while you're there in the attic or crawl space?

SPEAKER_01 4:49

You know, one that I really love is you have you ever heard the witch's crook? No. So a witch's crook. So this is old folklore, and you'll see it any home about a hundred years or older. The chimneys, instead of going straight up in the attic, they curved them because they believe a witch couldn't fly down a curved chimney. So in old attics, you'll go up into the attic and it'll look like the chimney is like falling over, but it's actually staggered and built that way. I mean, it'll probably also help from rain falling straight into. But that's the old folklore from it.

SPEAKER_00 5:18

Have you ever in I'm sure you have, but uh the old like craftsman home, somebody who spent it and did it maybe above and beyond. Um, what does that quality craftsmanship look like that might be miss missing from a standard uh you starter home or something that's just put together real quick?

SPEAKER_01 5:36

You're talking about from back in the day to what we see today. Uh you know, lumber is a lot different. Lumber was a lot more solid back day, uh back in the day. You know, the rings were closer together, they're using older lumber, so the lumber itself was more sturdy. Where now they're you know they're almost you know factoring trees out, so therefore they're not as old. So therefore two by fours can snap easier in your attic. You start throwing a roof on, trusses start snapping and all that stuff. So um, that's one thing you can see from old house to a newer home. Awesome.

SPEAKER_00 6:03

And then as far as your marketing, is your social media? Was that something you did when you first started your business and have grown it to this, or have you made a conscious decision to do it?

SPEAKER_01 6:12

So a little bit of column A, a little bit of column B. I when I first started the business, I was extremely busy. Um I just had uh my son and he was young. I was home a lot. I couldn't get out and network like I wanted to. So I was like, well, if I can't get out and network and put myself in front of people, I'm going to post a post every single day onto Instagram. And then it started off with just photos, you know, and this little things that I would see throughout the day. Then I made the conscious decision about three years in to start making videos heavily, and then that's when it really just took off.

SPEAKER_00 6:42

And then the don't do that.

SPEAKER_01 6:44

What was the origin story on that? So that one, um, it kind of one day I did an inspection, and I remember I walked into the mud room, and there was a toilet in the mud room before you went to the house. Like, and I just walked in and the camera, I was like, don't do that. And I said that as I saw it, and I posted that video, and it just blew up. Yeah, so I made one more to see if it was a fluke or not, and that one, same thing, went straight up. So I was like, all right, well, looks like we're gonna do a bunch of don't do that series, and it just kept going from there.

SPEAKER_00 7:15

What is what is the maybe the top three besides the toilet and the mudroom, but top three don't do that moments on the show?

SPEAKER_01 7:22

I say I saw one the other day where uh you know, a double pane window, it was full of water, so when I moved it, it looked like a fish tank was rolling around in there. So that that was a pretty good one. Uh old homes where the all the pillars and posts have settled and they're no longer touching the floor joys, so you can kind of move the floorboards around. Wow. Those are always good little sketch when you're down there. Uh yeah. Little sketch.

SPEAKER_00 7:46

Yeah, a little sketch. Um for a for a buyer and they get the report, and for some, you know, there's red ink that come on there. How would you advise something to take your report? There's things they have to fix, is like do now, do later.

SPEAKER_01 8:01

Right. Well, it's it's important to remember everything can be fixed. And what level do you put it at and where you're going to classify as your worries and whatnot? Uh I say, you know, talk with your agent, figure out what is the best uh course of action and what it matters to you the most and get those corrected. Um, you know, anything structural, I'd say that's a pretty big one.

SPEAKER_00 8:20

Yeah, for sure. Well, let's talk about networking because beyond the social media, you also have run a really successful networking meetup. I went to Illegal Pete's and meet you and your crew, and uh um, but for those who haven't visited, uh plug it and share a little bit about what you do.

SPEAKER_01 8:36

So uh Happy Hour Real Estate Networking was a networking group I started about four years ago. Um I kind of just you know wanted a networking event where I didn't have to wear a name tag or stand up and say my name. I wanted to be a little bit more relaxed. Um, because I figured, you know, direct referrals are the best referrals. And if you get to know somebody on a personal level, you're referring someone that you trust because you you got to know them. So Happy Rail Estate is a five to seven, so it's when you clock out and we provide food and we always do it at a rooftop at like a legal piece, where you can grab a margarita, have some tacos, and really just talk with everyone. Um, it started out at Blind Pig back when Blind Pig was a thing. Sure. Um and it started, I think our first event we had like 10 people there, and it was in the middle of the winter, and their uh furnace broke. So we were all in there with coats and they're just staying open for my event, and I just I ended up buying a case of uh champagne. I was like, we're just gonna have fun and we're gonna do this. But from humble beginnings. Yeah, now we have over a thousand people in the group. Uh we usually have around 50 or so people show up to uh once a month to the networking events. Uh and yeah, it's just been a great time. It just keeps growing and yeah, we like it.

SPEAKER_00 9:42

Well, and shout out your leadership team because uh you guys, it's not just you doing it, you got a team of people that's helping you with it.

SPEAKER_01 9:48

Yeah, I got uh Mark and Matt. They are uh more the face of it than I am, they're prettier than me. So we let them do all the talking. Uh Mark is with um he does mortgage rates, and then we got Matt that does title. So we got everybody kind of in the real estate that pulls it together, and then Lydia has come on, and she has really just pumped up the back end of everything and been making sure emails are going out and people are aware, and she just rebranded the color schemes and everything. So it has a fresh new vibe and it's looking phenomenal.

SPEAKER_00 10:18

There you go. Well, how did you come together? Um, uh, were they attending the event or who was the OG of the event?

SPEAKER_01 10:25

So it was um originally it was me, and I was sharing an office with Mark way back in the day, and I was trying to get it up and running, and uh you know, I I started the Facebook group page, and before you know I had two 300 people remember, and I was like, oh my god, I actually have to do this. I didn't know what I was gonna do, and I couldn't find a spot to do it, so I ended up being like, I'm gonna pull the plug. And Mark's like, you don't start something if you're just gonna quit it. So I was like, all right, well, do you want to? He's like, Yeah, dude, I'll do it with you. So he helped out. Um, we had Stephanie Zambo, a real estate agent, came on for a little bit, and she was there the first couple years, and we all worked together really hard. Um, and then Stephanie was went off to do some other stuff, and Mark knew Matt through golfing, so he brought him on, and Matt just really took it off to a whole new level, too.

SPEAKER_00 11:08

So well, and in a relaxed environment where you can have tacos and margaritas, um and and one uh one other thing I see you do is it it's it's real estate happy hour. So it yeah, you have a just in the title of description, it's what it's for. Yeah, you think that helps people be more effective when they understand that hey, this this group does have a little focus rather than just hey, we have a networking event open to all industries. I think so.

SPEAKER_01 11:33

And we're not just you know going straight with real estate agents, we're doing everyone in the industry. So we got roofers, electricians, anyone that can help provide, you know, help to a homeowner anywhere in that that category. We've even had methods therapists coming in there because you know, stressful being a real estate agent. I'm sure so we have um people come up from all over, everyone's always welcome to it. We want to see people grow, we want to see people um work together to build the community to be a stronger community. Yeah, so getting everyone in there, yeah, it's been a great time. So when you own the real estate of the networking group, has that allowed you to make some additional connections with the I've met so many great people that are now such good friends of mine um through it, and yeah, we've had connections, we've we've done all done jobs together. But you know, it's it's really successful when we do a networking event from five to seven, and then three-fourths of the people there all go out to the after-hour party.

SPEAKER_00 12:23

The after party is where it was at.

SPEAKER_01 12:25

Yeah, yeah. That's what I'm saying. So normally when you're doing a networking event, you're like, all right, time's off, let's go on to my next part of my day. But everyone was having so much fun networking, they want to keep on hanging out. That's where the real connections are made. That's when people start referring people, that's when people start talking, is when everyone's willing to keep on hanging out.

SPEAKER_00 12:39

How do you create the magic of hey, let's let's go to the after party? And where it's we're more friends and we're more like we don't want the party to end or we don't want the networking to end.

SPEAKER_01 12:50

You know, as simple as an invite. Hey, we're all going to trailhead, let's go. Just go around and spring it up. And if people are having a good time, they're gonna follow. Yeah. And that's when we realized it was a successful networking event. Even when back in the day, when we only had five, ten people show up. Mark would always say to me, I'd be so upset, and he'd be like, Everyone was smiling. Yeah, everyone had a great time. We have a great product, give it time. And it just kept growing from there.

SPEAKER_00 13:12

When did you see the numbers start to increase? I mean, and there's power and consistency and doing things over like just like your social media, but how long did it take?

SPEAKER_01 13:21

I'd say the first year we were probably sitting around 10 to 15 people per event. Maybe we get lucky and hit 20. But year two, we started picking up by year three, we were consistently seeing 50 plus people at the end. Um, but yeah, just consistent. We do 11 events a year, so we take a little break for Christmas because everyone's doing their own thing for that.

SPEAKER_00 13:40

Yeah. Well, what are your goals? What uh I mean, I think a lot of people would look at with the social media following you have, and you know, it it looks like super successful and met people from your team who just talk so highly from you. It's that's awesome. It's cool to see that you're building uh a brand and an organization, but uh where where's Fletcher's home experience uh home inspections going?

SPEAKER_01 14:01

So I do want to keep growing it. Um I I had a purpose when I started this, and I I remember when I first started, I said by year five I wanted five employees. I hit that goal. Nice. So I want to keep on growing it from there. And my whole point of starting this company and bringing employees on was to be able to provide a job that had flexible hours, did not overwork people, gave well benefits, and affordable wage. And if I can give that to the employees, I want to keep growing that till we can keep doing that and provide quality home inspections for home buyers because that's gonna strengthen the community. That's in the end of the day, that's what I want. I want to see the community be stronger, I want to see people be successful, people to be entrepreneurs. I'm all for people doing their own thing. So yeah. Any extra pressure with like your name on the the name of the business? Uh I've thought about that a time or two. Uh there's definitely a level of quality. Um, my training processes are rigorous because you got to make sure you're representing the brand name um pretty well throughout that. Uh but other than that, you know, I've I've always liked my name. I'll keep it.

SPEAKER_00 15:02

Sure. Sure. Um, and then all your content is from northern Colorado, right? So you've gotten a lot of uh connections for Fort Collins. How far south do you do you do?

SPEAKER_01 15:12

Oh, we'll go all the way down to Colorado Springs. I've done Pueblo. Uh this time of year when we're rolling this hard and this busy, it's summer, we're out of peak season. We're we're shrinking a little bit. So we'll go down to like Littleton. Um, but that's about as far south we're going right now. Once we start loosening up in the winter, we'll go back down to Colorado Springs and all that. Uh until I can hire on more people and open up a Denver branch, which is really my goal, my next step. Uh we're kind of keeping a little bit tuck tighter.

SPEAKER_00 15:36

So and then do you get obviously a lot of referrals? The people, real estate agents, mortgage lenders are recommending you, or or the people who are finding you on social media are they like, no, I want Brent to inspect my house.

SPEAKER_01 15:50

So that's that's where it's really coming from. Um I say about half our business now is coming from people seeing us online, and then their agent already has their inspectors, and good for them. They should they should have their three recommended, but they'll be a Denver agent we've never met before. Well, the client will say, We want this guy, they'll come over, they'll use us, and then they'll see the quality of service we provide, yeah, and they'll see all that, and then now they're going to refer us out from their move forward. So we picked up so many new agents um along the way, but it's only one thing to be able to get people to use you. There's a level of service you have to provide in order for people to keep using you. Yeah, right. I mean, you can be you know all the bells and whistles from social media you want, but if you're not providing a quality um service, then it's not going to go very far.

SPEAKER_00 16:33

And then when you find stuff, it illuminates the need for work being done. So do you recommend others, tradespeople to get stuff fixed, or do you try to stay out of that realm?

SPEAKER_01 16:42

Um, I I don't fix anything myself. Um that that's outside of that. If I can meet any good solid contractors, um I will refer them out. And I do have a referral page on my website where I try to, you know, vet people, meet them, understand them, and a lot of people from the networking event. If I can get to know you personally and know that you're going to treat the clients well, then you'll get a spot on the referral list.

SPEAKER_00 17:03

Yeah, so like walk me through that. Somebody wants to be on your list. Yeah. Uh they show up to the event, meet you, like what is kind of the keys to your list?

SPEAKER_01 17:12

Right. First, I'm gonna look at you know, where do you stand online? You know, if you if you're if you're a 1.5 star rating, then you're probably totally um so that that's gonna start there, and then I'm just gonna get to know you. Let's go grab a drink, you know, let's talk, and then see who you are as a person, and I'll give you a shot. You know, if something pops up, I'll I may refer you out on a job, and then I will look for the client's feedback on how you did. And if the client gives you a good positive feedback, good experience, then I'm like, all right, this person can move to the referral.

SPEAKER_00 17:37

So it's like an audition. Uh hey, give me it at that coach.

SPEAKER_01 17:40

Every person you refer, your name's on it. So you want to make sure that everyone's providing the same quality that you want to, and per I think a lot of people are looking for people that are matching the same energy they match. Every not every home inspector is like me. Some are, you know, way more up or down or this and that in their mood levels. So you gotta find a quality of contractors that are gonna work at your level.

SPEAKER_00 18:00

What um what where do you see the biggest opportunities to refer?

SPEAKER_01 18:05

Uh you know, real estate, I mean, that's everywhere, that's what I'm used to. So there's always a million opportunities there. I um you know, it's when I get to know my clients really well, and then I can read what type of personality they have, and I know who they're gonna match with from who I've met, because I got to know those people on a personal level. That's why I always recommend get to know someone, go grab lunch, go grab coffee. There's only so much you get on the day-to-day networking, but get to know someone on a personal level. Go golfing, who cares?

SPEAKER_00 18:29

Well, how do you how do you do it all, Brent? Like uh between like the content you create, obviously your handle, you're you're booked out, you're doing the inspections, uh, but you're also making time to vet referral partners, create relationships.

SPEAKER_01 18:42

I mean, it's amazing how much you can get done if you just do one thing at a time. It's it's just really just amazing. I also don't sleep very much, so there's that too. Uh but I don't know. I just I like to keep moving. I like to set a goal and try to accomplish it multiple times a day and just keep keep we have one foot in front of the other.

SPEAKER_00 18:58

Awesome. Well, thanks so much. Uh, if people are interested in coming to Happy Hour, how do they find out about the the group or the meetup?

SPEAKER_01 19:05

Yeah, so Facebook group, uh the Happy Hour Real Estate Networking, that's gonna be the number one. Um, we're working out some other ways to advertise it, and that's what Lydia is going to be taking over and trying to figure out all that aspect of it. But start on Facebook. Start there, join the group. Once you get on there, um, we can start sending you messages and uh emails as well.

SPEAKER_00 19:23

Awesome. Well, thanks so much for for being on the show, and and uh uh we'll see you around happy hour in northern Colorado. Yeah, let's go grab a drink. All right, thanks, Bray. Yeah, thank you, buddy. Hey all, thanks for watching. I love networking and building relationships with other Northern Colorado business leaders. So if you want to come meet some of these podcast guests, meet me or meet some other amazing entrepreneurs in Northern Colorado, I would love to have you attend one of our next events. Uh go in the podcast description. There's a way so that you can see our upcoming schedule. And maybe uh you could be a future podcast guest as well. Thanks.