We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Matthew Stonesifer. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Matthew below.

Alright, Matthew thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Some of the most interesting parts of our journey emerge from areas where we believe something that most people in our industry do not – do you have something like that?

There is a common belief within the home inspection industry that, to operate completely in the best interests of the client, we are at odds with the real estate agent. This can cause even further conflict and issues as home inspection is largely a B2B2C industry. This can be heard in networking and social media groups on both sides of the aisle.

We are all doing everything we can to uphold our fiduciary responsibility to the client, so why do we have to be at odds? I challenge everyone to look at the process differently. I approach the process as everyone working on behalf of the home buyer or seller is a different member of the same team. If we are all on the same page with open communication, from agent and inspector to attorney and mortgage team, then the client is most likely to have the best and most thorough experience possible.

Some misconstrue this as we have to alter or lessen our inspection processes, but that is not true. You can be incredibly thorough and in depth while maintaining a team mentality. A pivotal key to this is clear communication with all parties involved, from booking to inspection and follow through. Being able to educate a client and their real estate team on findings of a report and what those findings mean without inducing undue fear or unrest can both facilitate fact base decision making and provide the opportunity to find solutions.

You also have to lead with compassion, especially when significant defects are identified. Compassion doesn’t just end at the client, who likely is already identifying with this new home and now has more steps in ensuring their home is safe for them. Compassion must also extend to the remainder of the real estate team, like the real estate agent who may no longer be getting a paycheck if the client chooses not to go forward with the transaction. While this compassion doesn’t alter the facts and findings, it should affect the tone of delivery.

Everyone within the clients real estate transaction are all on the same team, the clients team.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I am a proud combat Veteran of the US Army. I served for just shy of 9 years as an Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Technician before being medically retired after my second Afghanistan tour. After retirement, I moved into the trades and started a kitchen and bathroom remodeling company specializing in custom tile work. While work was steady, I struggled with making the next step once the work became too much for me to do alone. This lead to burnout pretty quickly, especially with the limitations from some combat related injuries. The desire to stay trades related while reducing some of the physical wear and tear lead me to the home inspection industry.

Once completing school and attaining my NYS home inspection license, I spent about 3 months on my own before joining Ace Home Inspections of Upstate New York. I was hired as a commissioned inspector and worked my way up through the reigns, from inspector to lead inspector and inspector manager. On January 1, 2023 my wife Sarah (the operations manager) and I purchased the company completely from our previous boss.

Since taking ownership, we have maintained incredible and consistent growth of around 35% even in a down market. This growth happened all during a major overhaul of the company from top to bottom, from small things such as a rebrand with new logos to larger improvements like developing a robust and healthy company culture. We also implemented systems for every process within the company, from scripting of our client care coordinators to clear marketing plans and growth strategies. In February of this year, Ace Home Inspections was recognized as the InspectionGo 2023 Maverick Award winner for innovation and resiliency within the industry. We were also able to do all of this while improving the inspection process, as I refuse to except any reduction of quality in the pursuit of growth.

I have an amazing team, with whom I truly believe we can redefine the home buying experience in our market and beyond. While Ace Home Inspections is the original all in one shop and largest inspection company in our market, I truly believe this is just the beginning of something amazing.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

We made an initial purchase agreement Q3 2022 and took over ownership at the beginning of 2023, right in the middle of a pretty significant change in the real estate market both locally and nationally. Prior to late 2022, low interest rates and, to a certain extent, the Covid pandemic caused a real estate market boom. This boom was also great for the home inspection industry, resulting in significant growth with little concentration on sustainability at times.

During our due diligence period from Q3 2022 to closing on the business, our market and subsequently our inspection volume, took a major downturn. We took on a pretty large, privately funded loan to purchase the assets of the company, which comes with the risk of additional overhead. We finished January 2023 at around a $15,000 net loss, draining our working capital to a point where default in February was a real risk.

We were able to lean into low cost marketing strategies and relationship building to increase our volume steadily, resulting in recovering our losses over the following few months. We have since tripled our staffing and our continuing to grow.

Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?

One of the largest contributing resources to what we have been able to build has been professional coaching. I am an active member of the InspectionGo Community which is an industry specific coaching program aimed building healthy companies through proper growth and development. I do not have a business degree or background, so coaching has helped endlessly, from understanding every penny of a P&L statement to building company culture. It has also helped me identify what services that I should subcontract out in the interest of time management. I am a firm believer that a business coach could help even the most developed business grow and exceed their goals.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://acehomeny.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/matthew.stonesifer
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthew-stonesifer-685a7694/