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This is the Good Neighbor Podcast

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, the place where local businesses

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and neighbors come together . Here's

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your host , Jeremy Wolf

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.

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Hello , hello everyone , friends

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, family , universe , everyone out there

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. Thank you so much for joining us . Welcome back

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to another episode of the Good Neighbor Podcast . I

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am your co-host , I'm your not co-host

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, I'm your host . Goodness gracious me , it

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is a funky day today , but I'm sitting here

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with Cesar Costa . Cesar joins

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us from Housemaster Inspections

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. Cesar , thanks

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for joining us , brother .

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It's my pleasure .

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Thank you so much for inviting me . Yeah , of course

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, brother , this is what we do , and thanks

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, as always , to our listeners for tuning in to

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learn more about our great community and all of the lovely

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businesses that serve us . So

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, cesar , please tell everybody

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a little bit about Housemaster

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.

0:53

All right . So I'm Daron of Housemaster

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Home Inspections . It's a franchise

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. They have been in business for 40 years and

1:01

here in Broward I do

1:03

a little more than home inspections . Home

1:06

inspections are usually requested for

1:08

someone that is buying a home so

1:10

the buyer can get an evaluation of the conditions

1:12

of the house , so they can know a

1:14

little bit more about the conditions of the property

1:16

before finalizing the deal . But

1:19

in addition to home inspections , here in Florida

1:21

it's very common mold If

1:24

drywall gets wet . You know , in acs there's

1:27

mold outside as well , especially

1:29

for people that have allergies . So I'm also

1:31

mold assessor and I do

1:33

mold testing , testing , assessment

1:36

protocols , recommendations in terms of mold

1:38

. Okay , also here in florida

1:40

termites are very common

1:42

from From Orlando town . It's so

1:44

hot and humid . Termites just love

1:46

the tropics , they love humidity , they

1:49

love water and goes

1:51

hand in hand with mold . So

1:53

I am also a pest control

1:56

operator so I do termite inspections

1:58

and I can spray on some base stations

2:00

, depending on what is the case , to help

2:03

people to have their services . So

2:05

this trio is very rare to

2:07

find someone that has all those three licenses

2:09

. So I'm like a three-in-one home inspector

2:12

, board assessor and a best guy , and

2:15

my company also here offers a

2:17

lot of services . Every time that I

2:19

saw a problem , I tried to find a solution

2:21

and avoid that to happen again

2:23

. I try to find a solution and

2:26

avoid that to happen again . For example

2:28

, we closed several houses with a pool

2:30

and the buyer found out that

2:32

the pool was leaking and they asked me well

2:34

how I can find out before I buy the

2:37

house . So I have a liquidation for

2:39

swimming pool , which is very convenient

2:41

. Also

2:46

, I work with a lot of people in Hollywood , fort Lauderdale . They're

2:48

buying homes from the 70s

2:50

and the drain line

2:52

the piping usually

2:57

is made of cast iron and after 50 years in the ground that

2:59

pipe might be gone . So

3:01

it's a good idea to know the conditions of the piping before

3:03

they close the deal . So I have a camera

3:05

scope , I have drones for tall

3:08

buildings and commercial inspection . I

3:10

have a level two certification

3:12

for infrared so I do the thermal

3:14

imaging for properties and

3:17

on my team they have all the equipment as well

3:19

. So it's a very vast

3:21

range of services that we provide

3:23

for people that are buying homes .

3:25

That's interesting . I hadn't heard of

3:28

the . I've heard of inspections

3:30

with the mold aspect , but I hadn't

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heard with the other thing

3:34

that you mentioned in addition , which

3:37

was the remind

3:39

me again Mold termites , termites yes

3:41

, termites .

3:42

I told you it's a funky day , brother .

3:43

Things are escaping me today Termites , termites , yes , termites . I told you it's a funky day , brother , things are

3:45

escaping me today . But I did want to ask though you mentioned this is

3:47

a franchise and you mentioned you do work

3:49

in Fort Lauderdale . Pembroke Pines Is

3:51

your territory , your area , broward County

3:53

? What specific areas do you serve so

3:55

that when listeners hear this , they know if you can help

3:58

them specifically ?

3:59

Awesome . So I live in Cooper City . My

4:01

office is in Davie , so I'm local here , but

4:03

I serve the entire Broward County

4:05

, okay , and I also have another branch

4:10

in Orlando that I serve

4:13

Orlando from Winter

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Park , simi to the villages

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, so it's a vast area in Orlando as well

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, but I live here in Cooper City so I'm local

4:22

.

4:22

Oh , very cool . Welcome neighbor . I also

4:24

live in Cooper City . It's good to have

4:27

you . So when did you get

4:29

involved with House Messengers

4:31

? When did you purchase into the franchise ? How long

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ago was that ?

4:35

That was eight years

4:37

ago , almost nine now .

4:40

And so what was your background leading

4:43

up to that ? Had

4:45

you been involved in that space

4:48

and inspections , or did you have a totally different

4:50

life up until then ? Talk a little bit about the journey

4:52

that kind of led you to Housemaster .

4:54

Okay , and that's a great question . So I used

4:57

to work for big multinational companies

4:59

. I worked for Intel

5:01

, global Crossing , lucent

5:04

Technologies , yahoo

5:06

in business development . So I was helping big

5:08

corporations to launch new

5:10

products , enter new markets , expand

5:13

their business . So

5:15

it was always helping to bring

5:17

technology to new markets . So I always

5:19

loved the

5:21

challenge of applying

5:24

and selling technology and difficult to

5:26

understand things . So my

5:30

kids were considering

5:32

coming to US and studying here

5:34

for college . So

5:36

I told my wife , why don't we go with them

5:39

? And I always wanted to have my own

5:41

business as well . So I said I'm going to buy a franchise

5:43

in the US and start my own business

5:45

there . And because

5:48

I love technical things , I

5:51

like construction , I built my own house in

5:53

Brazil when I was living there

5:55

. I said you know , I'm going to find

5:57

something that is related to construction and

5:59

real estate that I love so much , that

6:02

has a very highly technical

6:04

aspect and also involves

6:06

building a team and developing the

6:08

business . So I think Housemaster

6:10

was a perfect match . I hired a consultant to

6:12

help me to find out the business and

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I couldn't be happier .

6:18

So this was eight years

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ago . Were you in Brazil at

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the time when you were looking for a business here

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. So you came over to the US and

6:26

simultaneously started a

6:28

business as well .

6:29

Yes , yes , actually , the beginning

6:31

was a little rougher than that

6:34

.

6:35

I imagine it's difficult enough , just kind of coming

6:37

from another country to start a business while

6:39

you do that . Hats off to you , kudos

6:41

.

6:42

Yeah , sold . I sold everything that I had

6:44

, right , I sold my , my personal

6:46

things um , my kids

6:49

, they sold their toys , everything

6:51

. We came with two suitcases each one . We

6:53

sold them , our house and everything else and

6:55

I came . My initial idea was

6:57

to be partners of

6:59

a friend that had a construction company

7:02

. He was selling steel

7:04

frame modules for prefabricated

7:06

residential that was the

7:08

idea . And I started that business with

7:11

him and after almost one year it didn't

7:13

work . The partners were not right , the guy

7:15

didn't have the right skills , didn't

7:17

have the right strategy . We got a lot

7:19

of resistance from the market to introduce

7:21

new building technology

7:23

and I said , no , I need to figure out . And

7:25

then I was here . My visa was

7:28

dependent on the , on the business . That was not

7:30

working . I said , oh , I need to restart and

7:32

and find something quick . So I

7:34

started to search here . When

7:37

I found out that this idea

7:40

that I had was not working , I

7:42

pivoted . I said , no , I'm going

7:44

to just get this franchise . I found the owner

7:46

here in Broward that was willing

7:48

to sell . He was very

7:50

cooperative , so we

7:52

were able to find a good

7:55

way to transition the company and

7:57

then that's all I had . I

7:59

had to make that work to be able

8:02

to pay for the losses from the other business

8:04

, to pay for the bills . So the beginning

8:06

was very hard . It was two or three

8:08

years of very , very hard work and

8:11

, as everybody knows , when you start a new business

8:14

, even if you get from

8:16

somewhere that was running before , you

8:18

lose money at the beginning because you're investing , you're

8:20

building , you're hiring people , you're training you're

8:23

trying to get new places , new offices , to develop

8:26

the local relationships and

8:29

after two or three years I said , oh my God am

8:31

I doing the ?

8:31

right thing and

8:34

everything works Now .

8:35

I'm happy I'm expanding . I went to Orlando

8:37

. I'm having more people

8:39

now it

8:42

has been a ride .

8:44

How long ago did you open the Orlando branch ?

8:46

A year ago .

8:48

A year ago . All right , cool man . So

8:50

, looking back

8:52

, having come over here eight

8:54

years ago , what

8:57

was one of the biggest challenges

8:59

transitioning from Brazil

9:02

over to the US and

9:05

one of the biggest rewards in

9:07

doing so ?

9:07

Okay , I

9:11

think the biggest challenges

9:13

it was there was too many

9:15

moving parts at the same time . So

9:18

I was moving with the family and the

9:20

family was trying to get adapted , the kids

9:23

going to school , trying to make friends

9:25

. We didn't know anybody

9:27

and we didn't know where to go

9:29

. I need to have a haircut . Where

9:31

do I go ? So we're trying

9:34

to figure out how to make the life work

9:37

. Then I got the

9:39

company , so I was trying to learn the business

9:41

, how to become an inspector , how to run the company

9:44

, and then I was learning how to sell

9:46

in newest in a completely different scenario

9:48

than I was used to , with

9:51

different people , different culture , different methods

9:54

of selling , running a

9:56

small business . And

9:58

the same time , I was trying to get figure out

10:00

with financing , having access to

10:02

capital , which is very hard when you start a business

10:04

. I was trying to get my

10:07

visa solved , which

10:09

was a challenge , trying

10:11

to make new friends and

10:14

finding opportunities also to have a life

10:16

. So it was too many moving

10:18

parts at the same time during a short

10:20

period of time , which was which

10:23

was a lot .

10:24

but really a lot . Yeah

10:27

, so sounds like

10:29

quite a bit to deal with . So again , on the other side

10:31

of that , now , having faced all those

10:33

challenges and gone through all those growing pains

10:36

and struggles and uncertainties

10:38

and everything that you faced along the way , sitting here

10:40

today looking back , what's

10:42

the biggest reward for

10:44

putting all that work in ?

10:46

Well , my biggest , my biggest reward

10:48

, I think , is my family . As

10:51

I mentioned before , I came here because my kids wanted

10:53

to go to attend

10:55

college in us . So my son

10:58

ended up going to Boston college , my

11:00

daughter went to Villanova . They chose the

11:02

schools . We visited all the schools possible

11:04

. They chose what was best for them . They

11:06

were accepted . My son just graduated

11:08

and he's working now . Thank

11:11

you . My daughter has just one year

11:13

to go , so I

11:15

was able to make

11:17

their dreams come true .

11:19

And I think that was the biggest reward

11:21

. Oh man , you're giving

11:23

me goosebumps . I'm getting all warm and fuzzy . I love

11:25

this . I love hearing this because I got a 10-year-old

11:28

and a 12-year-old and I'm not far behind you

11:30

and I'm visualizing the

11:32

future when I go checking colleges

11:34

and having them get through . So that's just going

11:36

to be so rewarding man . That's awesome .

11:38

Yeah , it is . It is . They feel happy , but

11:40

we as parents , we feel

11:42

10 times happier , right that's

11:44

I always said .

11:45

When it comes to like people that don't have children , like

11:47

you have a certain rate without children , you have a certain range of emotions

11:50

, range of experiences , right , good and bad

11:52

, and it's a spectrum , and as soon as you

11:54

have children , that spectrum increases like

11:56

infinitely . Right , it's like a hundred

11:58

times in both directions like

12:01

seeing your child have success . It just

12:03

warms your heart like no other . And then seeing them struggle

12:05

, it hurts like no other . Yeah

12:07

, that's true , such a joy , such a joy . So

12:10

what do you , guys , when you're not working , when you're not putting

12:12

in all the work and hustling out

12:14

there ?

12:17

what do you like to do for fun ? Well

12:21

, I like to do a lot of things , and

12:27

I also like to spend time with the kids my daughter and my son . My daughter likes

12:29

to go to the beaches and paddle , so I go with her . My son

12:31

played golf in high school he was the

12:33

golf captain of the team

12:35

so

12:40

I'm learning to play

12:42

golf so I can spend some time with him A golfing , which

12:44

is very good . My wife loves to travel

12:46

, so I travel with her when I can Do

12:49

you get back to Brazil often , or no

12:51

? We go to Brazil , we go in the

12:53

US , we went to Europe a few

12:55

times .

12:56

Yeah .

13:01

We went to Italy , france , we went to London

13:04

. So we love traveling .

13:06

And for myself . I like sailing .

13:09

So when I have some time and

13:11

wind conditions is good , I go

13:13

kite surfing in Dannebich . That's

13:16

something that I just love to do .

13:19

I could see it now in the future . You're going to

13:21

get your own giant sailboat and you're going to

13:23

travel around the world and go visit

13:25

all these wonderful places .

13:27

It was one of my ideas . I have

13:29

a friend that has a sailboat and I went

13:31

with him . It's a lot of fun , but it's a lot

13:33

of work to maintain the boat

13:35

and everything else .

13:38

The idea feels liberating right .

13:40

You go out to sea and just leave for months

13:42

and just go travel the world . That sounds like

13:45

fun .

13:46

Before we wrap up here , what would

13:48

be a piece of advice

13:50

, some kind of wisdom , something you can give to listeners

13:52

out there pertaining to your

13:55

business ? Right , housemaster Inspections ? What

13:57

can people do to protect

14:00

their assets , make sure that they

14:03

don't have issues in the future ? What's

14:05

some advice you can give ?

14:06

Okay , so

14:08

well . My advice

14:10

is always to consider doing home

14:13

inspections when you're buying a property and

14:15

not try to evaluate everything by

14:17

yourself . But not only

14:19

that , it's finding a good company

14:21

. Not everybody can look at mold

14:24

, termites , leaks , plumbing

14:26

, infrared , drones and have

14:28

all the tools . Most of the inspectors are so

14:31

basic . They do help

14:33

you , but the level of help

14:35

is just very small . So having

14:37

someone like me

14:39

and like Housemaster to do more

14:42

complete assessment of the conditions of the

14:44

house is going to help them a long

14:46

way to protect their investment , to avoid

14:48

issues , to decide better on

14:50

what they're doing and also when you're

14:52

getting renewals with insurance

14:54

, if they need to do a four-point

14:56

win mitigation sometimes the insurance sends you

14:59

a letter , your policy was canceled

15:01

, right , so call

15:04

me . Get a roof certification . We can always

15:06

provide documentation for the insurance to restate the

15:08

policy . Don't get desperate

15:11

with insurance . Insurance has been a

15:13

critical issue in Florida and we

15:15

can help everybody to have

15:17

their assessments for insurance or for their acquisitions

15:20

, so they can protect the

15:22

investment . The property inspection is

15:24

not perfect , right , we cannot guarantee

15:26

that after a storm our roofings are not going

15:28

to leak , our price is not going to break , our

15:31

homes have maintenance . But at least having

15:34

that snapshot in time and having

15:36

the assessment of the conditions at the time of the inspection

15:38

to have an idea on what they are getting is

15:40

a very long and good

15:42

help for them .

15:44

Yeah , absolutely Cesar . How

15:47

can our listeners learn more ? Anyone out there that

15:49

is either looking to buy a house , or

15:51

maybe they have their house . They need to get new insurance , they need to get

15:53

a new four-point inspection , new wind mitigation , anything like

15:55

that . How can they reach you ? Please

15:57

share your website , your contact information .

15:59

Yeah , call me 944-900-6056

16:02

. And my staff is going to help you right away

16:04

. And my staff is going to help you right away .

16:07

All right , good to know , and

16:10

we will , of course , put a link in the description with all of your contact information . Cesar

16:13

, thank you so much for joining us today . It was a pleasure

16:15

getting the opportunity to meet you and learn a little

16:17

bit about what you do , so again , truly

16:19

thanks for joining us .

16:21

Awesome , it's my pleasure

16:23

.

16:24

All right , brother , have a great day To our listeners . Thanks

16:26

so much for tuning in and we will catch everyone

16:28

next time on the next episode of the Good

16:30

Neighbor Podcast .

16:34

Take care . Thanks for listening to

16:36

the Good Neighbor Podcast Cooper City . To nominate your favorite local business to

16:39

be featured on the show , go to GNPCooperCitycom

16:44

. That's GNPCoercitycom

16:47

, or call 954-231-3170

16:52

.