Meet John Mease of John Mease Home Inspections in Roswell

Today we’d like to introduce you to John Mease.

John, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
John Mease Home Inspections is an independent building property inspection service in the metro Atlanta area. My background includes earning my Engineering degree from The Citadel in 1980. I performed commercial engineering, construction and inspection projects for a Fortune 100 company for fifteen years throughout the Eastern US including notable Atlanta landmarks – Midtown Plaza, the Marriott Marquis Hotel downtown, the Terraces buildings at the Perimeter, the Cumberland Overlook buildings and River Ridge in Sandy Springs.

My hobby has always been houses and when it came time to find a home and a career to settle into, we chose my wife’s hometown of Atlanta and my hobby. I returned to school to certify for Home Inspections and have performed over nine thousand private home and building inspections since 1995. I am Code certified for new homes, older homes and commercial buildings by the International Code Council, the group that writes the Codes adopted by Georgia. I also hold the engineering credentials required by several local new home builders. I earned my Indoor Air Quality Investigator certification from the Medical University of South Carolina. The state of Georgia does not license Home Inspectors. We must prove our worth on our own.

As a certified home inspector, I have performed home inspections on starter homes through custom nine bathroom homes with elevators. I am also certified for commercial buildings and have inspected residential to commercial conversions (for doctor’s and dentist’s offices and the like) through fifty unit mid-rise apartment buildings and one hundred unit townhouse communities. I have also inspected homes built during each generation of Atlanta including the only home General Sherman gave a direct order not to burn during the Battle of Atlanta in the Civil War (this was the home of the engineer that built the first railroad here (in Stone Mountain) and was being used as a Confederate solider’s hospital – with Civil War medicine once you were in the hospital you would not return to battle).

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
The largest challenge with home inspections is the cyclical nature of the business. The monthly cycle of buying early in the month and closing at the end of the month creates varying demand. The annual cycles of spring buying versus end of the school year lull plus pre-school year demand versus late year holiday lull create another challenge. The larger cycles of investment and growth (5-7 years) create larger concerns than the monthly and annual cycles. The last down cycle (the Great Recession) was the deepest I have experienced and was primarily caused by a real estate depression. My referral list of repeat leads fell from over 100 customers and companies to less than 10. This down cycle was the longest since the 1930’s tested everyone who survived to a point we hope does not return on our lifetime.

As a sole proprietor I am responsible for every aspect of my business. This is both luxurious and laborious. Each part of an enterprise cannot be your favorite. You must balance what you enjoy and do best with the rest of your responsibilities. I am fortunate to have my wife who is very intuitive, tremendous with numbers and provides me a different perspective on the day’s challenges.

John Mease Home Inspections – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
The reason for a home inspection is to learn about your prospective purchase. Adults do not like surprises and the unknown is the concern. I am a Certified Inspector by the American Society of Home Inspectors and our ‘tag line’ is ‘We Teach House’. Delivering positive information is easy – everyone likes good news. Informing my clients about the concerns with the property is the challenge. My client may be a first time buyer, from another climate or another country. Their backgrounds and past experiences are diverse and I must deliver the information so they can understand. The technical portion of the building is static. The client is variable and I adjust my style to meet their needs. A first time home buyer’s needs are different than an investor’s needs and recognizing their level of confidence and being able to communicate effectively on any plane is my specialty.

What is “success” or “successful” for you?
Home inspection is a people based business. Most think it is technical and while the technical aspects are the base requirement it has little benefit if you cannot communicate the information to your client. I define daily success as a knowing smile from my client that they have learned something new and understand what was unknown. Making you client smile from the satisfaction they know brings them the power to succeed and brings long term success. Do your best every day and long term success will come.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://johnmeasehomeinspections.com/
• Phone: 770-597-8052
• Email: [email protected]
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/john-mease-home-inspections-roswell

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