In short
Tyler Gibbs, owner of Building Trust Inspections, explains how home and commercial inspections help buyers purchase with confidence by educating them calmly, separating deal-killers from normal maintenance, and building trust with realtors/bankers. He also discusses growing an inspection business in Appalachia, managing seasonal demand, and using AI carefully.
Guest background
Tyler Gibbs is 41, lives in Huntington, West Virginia, and is licensed for home and commercial inspections in West Virginia and Ohio. He started buying and gut-renovating houses in his early 20s after the 2008–09 collapse, has a contractor’s license, and previously ran a family customer-service business for about 20 years (IT/restaurant-direct). He joined BNI for referrals and networking.
Key claims
Inspectors should educate, not intimidate; call out safety and major risks (especially foundations) while treating minor issues as repair “to-do lists.” Integrity is essential because some agents/bankers prefer sales over honest reports. Home inspections create negotiation leverage (price reductions or seller-paid repairs).
Notable examples
Common findings include non-working/absent GFCI outlets, older roofs, and missing safety items like basement stair handrails. Foundation issues (water intrusion or significant movement) are rare but the biggest deal-killers. He uses AI for concise report explanations but warns against relying on AI images without human judgment.
Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.
Chapters
Tap a time to open that second in VOIntroduction of Tyler Gibbs
0:25 to 1:20
Cliff introduces Tyler Gibbs and his company Building Trust Inspections.
“All right, everyone, welcome to this week's episode of Epic Entrepreneurs.”
Tyler's Background and Journey
1:20 to 2:44
Tyler shares his personal journey into home inspections and real estate.
“So, you know, tell me a little about yourself.”
Building Trust in Inspections
2:44 to 3:52
Tyler discusses the importance of trust in his inspection business and educating clients.
“You know, are they going to do the right thing?”
Transition to Home Inspection Business
3:52 to 6:40
Tyler talks about the transition from customer service to becoming a home inspector.
“So take me back to the moment you first realized, you know, this thing could really become a real business.”
The Role of BNI in Networking
6:40 to 8:06
Tyler explains the role of BNI in building business connections.
“I met a lot of real estate agents and then just people kind of getting the word out.”
Effective Communication as an Inspector
8:06 to 11:12
Tyler outlines how he communicates risks effectively to clients without causing panic.
“And so there's a process of getting into one.”
Challenges in the Home Inspection Business
11:12 to 13:50
Tyler candidly discusses challenges like client loyalty and market dynamics.
“And that's what really the inspector's job is, is to know what's a big problem versus what's average maintenance task.”
Reaching the Next Level
13:50 to 14:00
Tyler shares insights on growth obstacles and strategies for his business.
Challenges in Business Growth
14:00 to 16:51
Explore the challenges Tyler faces in growing his inspection business.
“Well, you know, to be honest it's people connections and some of that's within my control.”
Common Home Inspection Issues
16:51 to 20:00
Learn about the most common issues found during home inspections and their implications.
“Thank you for that thorough answer there.”
Show all 23 chapters
Negotiating After Inspections
20:00 to 22:56
Understand how home inspections can influence negotiations in real estate deals.
“And so I will tell you, that's a big part of number one, why you should get a home inspection.”
Balancing Multiple Roles
22:56 to 24:59
Tyler discusses his workload and balancing his inspection business with contracting work.
“But then I also probably spend another, I don't know, let's say eight hours a week of just kind of hitting the pavement, so to speak, going to a B &I chapter meeting.”
Strengths and Areas for Improvement
24:59 to 28:00
Tyler reflects on his strengths as a business owner and areas he wants to improve.
“And then next week it'll be 25 because it's just a slow week and I didn't book a lot of inspections.”
Confidence in Business Relationships
28:00 to 29:22
Tyler discusses the importance of confidence in building business relationships and how it impacts his work as a home inspector.
“like keeping all my files straight and all that.”
The Power of Referrals
29:22 to 31:36
Tyler shares his experience about how word-of-mouth referrals and relationships in real estate significantly contribute to his business success.
“And it's not just like agents, real estate relationship is what I mean.”
Managing Growth and Work-Life Balance
31:36 to 33:12
Tyler explores the challenges of balancing work-life and managing increased business demands, especially if his inspections were to double overnight.
“And then those people look for houses and they can call someone that they trust.”
This or That: Personal Preferences
33:12 to 33:54
The hosts engage Tyler in a fun segment discussing his personal preferences on various topics like coffee vs. energy drinks and beach vs. mountains.
“The balance, the work-life balance and trying to keep it all organized.”
This or That: Business Insights
33:54 to 41:48
Tyler continues the 'this or that' segment, providing insights into his business preferences like networking vs. social media and hiring preferences.
“So this kind of shows you a little bit of your personality.”
Personal Values in Business Decisions
42:00 to 45:20
Explore the significance of attitude and skill in hiring and personal preferences.
“I love a good attitude, but if they're really unskilled, yikes, that's scary, right?”
The Role of AI in Inspections
45:20 to 46:42
Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of AI in building inspections.
“Kind of shows you a little personal side there.”
Advice for Aspiring Entrepreneurs
46:42 to 50:26
Gain insights on the challenges of entrepreneurship and how to persevere.
“So, you know, don't lean on it too much to do your job.”
Future Goals for Building Trust Inspections
50:26 to 53:07
Learn about future aspirations and growth strategies for the inspection business.
“Some days I feel like I wish I just worked at a factory.”
Building a Work-Life Balance
53:07 to 55:08
Understand the importance of work-life balance for long-term happiness and success.
“I do offer a few auxiliary things right now, but I'm continuing to do more.”
Transcript
Automatic transcript. May contain errors.0:00Tyler Gibbs:Everybody sees the success. We want the story behind it. This is Epic Entrepreneurs from Action Coach Business Growth Partners. My name is Cliff McRae. Each week, we sit down with business owners and leaders to uncover the decisions, setbacks, and turning points that shape their companies and the lessons you can use to grow yours. No fluff, no highlight reels, just what it really takes to build, lead, and grow a successful business. Let's get right into it.
0:45Tyler Gibbs:All right, everyone, welcome to this week's episode of Epic Entrepreneurs. I am Cliff McRae with Action Coach Business Growth Partners, where we work with local business owners to turn big ideas into real scalable growth. Today, I'm excited to be joined by Tyler Gibbs with Building Trust Inspections, a West Virginia and Ohio licensed home and commercial building inspection company helping buyers. Tyler, how are you doing today, sir? I'm doing well. We are ready to go here. All right. Perfect. Perfect. We're really excited to have you. So if you don't mind, let's go ahead and jump right into things.
1:20Tyler Gibbs:All right. So, you know, tell me a little about yourself. Who is Tyler Gibbs? You know, what do you got going on personally? So I am, my name is Tyler Gibbs. I am 41 years old. I live here in Huntington, West Virginia. So I grew up here, been here my whole life really, but we've traveled quite a bit throughout the world. Actually extensively, my wife is a travel agent as well. So that makes it pretty convenient to travel. But as far as how home inspections work for me, I started out buying houses in my early 20s. So that was after the 08, 09 kind of house collapse. And around here, it collapsed, but not quite like everywhere else.
2:00But you could still get great deals being inside Appalachia. Our home prices are still very affordable. So that's how I got into houses. At 20, I think 22, 23, I bought my first house and took on the challenge of just, hey, I'll gut it and figure it out.
2:17Tyler Gibbs:So as far as that goes to Tyler, kind of getting into that a little bit more, you know, So building trust inspection works on two levels. What did you want that name to promise to clients? Yeah, so I think the word building, of course, I do home and commercial inspection. So a lot of apartment buildings or houses. And so, of course, we're looking at buildings. But the trust side of it, you know, you have to trust the person who's helping you out, whether that's your realtor or your banker or your home inspector. You know, are they going to do the right thing? Are they going to be honest with you and explain to you what you're really getting into without selling you something or without being overly dramatic and making you afraid?
3:02And so something I like to help people understand by building the trust with them is, you know, I want to educate people about their house or their commercial investment. I don't want to intimidate them. And so sometimes you'll see that with home inspecting is it can be intimidating. It can scare away realtors. It can scare away banks. It can scare away buyers. And so if I come across the problem, which I likely will at some point, right? An electrical issue is not a big deal for an electrician. It might scare you. It might scare the home buyer, whatever seller. But if you call it professional, that's what they do every day.
3:38So let's just look to the next step. How can we fix it? How can we build trust with one another so you can go to the right direction and ultimately get your ultimate goal of buying a sound property that's priced right, feasible, and works for you without being a money pit.
3:55Tyler Gibbs:Okay. I love that. I love that. So take me back to the moment you first realized, you know, this thing could really become a real business. Yeah. So I was in a customer service business for about 20 years. We had a family business. We did something completely different. It was more kind of computer IT restaurant direct. And so, you know, I took care of customers for, I'm 41. I start, it's a family business. So basically I lived it my whole life. And then, uh, I was always into houses, but I had always done houses, stuff on the side. And I did that full time. So what happened was that got sold.
4:32Oh, I don't know, several years back. And I decided, you know, I've always been into real estate and houses myself personally. I've bought and sold them or I've fixed them up and lived in them or kept them as rentals. And so I had a contractor's license for that reason, just so I could do different work permit wise and make some side money. So I looked at home inspecting as an opportunity to number one, have a business where I could do something I like. I like houses. I like how they work. I always liked real estate. I didn't want to sell houses, but I knew I could help people. People would call me oftentimes and be like, hey, can you help me with this?
5:11Or can I'm going to go look at this house? You want to go with me and take a look at it? So I had friends that would do it or family members. And I thought, you know, it's kind of a natural fit to just take a look at houses for people and then explain to them, hey, look out for this or look out for that. I've done it before. You don't want to do it. You know, you don't want to find the same problems I have sneaking up on you and pay for them. So I had an opportunity when we sold a business, I wanted to start a business. I knew I didn't want to go be an employee somewhere. So it was kind of a natural fit.
5:40I love that
5:42Tyler Gibbs:now what did your path well you kind of just talked about that a little bit here but you know was there like a specific moment when you knew man I'm all in I'm putting all my chips in this basket and we're going full throttle yeah so like I said we sold the business I had an opportunity to take I looked into going back to some schooling and I thought well this is it let's just do this and then I have some couple associates or friends who are real estate agents and they suggested, why don't you just become a home inspector? And I thought about it and we looked into the research on it and I thought, you know, it's really not that big of a task for me to take on.
6:18In fact, I went to the training and we already had a contractor's license. Some of the stuff we went over, you know, and I took about a three week course. It was 40 hours, 50 hours a week, three weeks. And some of that I was like, oh, I already know a lot of this just from having the contractor's test. So and then, you know, I started this business. I joined a BNI chapter here locally, and that has been great for connections. I met a lot of real estate agents and then just people kind of getting the word out. I, you know, I help one customer and they go, Hey, you should call this guy. If you're buying a house, he'll, he'll take care of you.
6:55So it just seemed like a fit that I could do and something that I could help people with. And so I went all in on it and then I started doing Ohio as well. And so hopefully we can continue to grow that and just help people out in the area.
7:10Tyler Gibbs:Perfect. Perfect. Now, following up with that a little bit, you know, can you explain for the audience what the BNI group is? Yeah. So to use a term like BNI, it is a business networking group that meets once a week. They're all over the country. So if you have a business or you're wanting to start one, I suggest reaching out to one of these business networking groups. BNI is an actual, it's like an organized group nationwide. Actually, it's international. I've seen it in other countries as well while traveling, but it does wonders. You meet people and you kind of become that guy for your group or you have a, that person.
7:49So you say, Hey, you know, I really need an insurance guy. And I go, you know, I have this guy in my BNI group. You should call him or Hey, I need a home inspector and they go, you know, I got a guy in my B &I group I've known for three or four years. I've seen the reviews he has and the people that like him. You should give this guy a call. And so there's a process of getting into one. They vet their people. They hope to find people who are good, honest people. And we've had people come and go. We've had businesses that weren't a fit or people maybe that weren't a fit. But a business networking group like that has been great for my business.
8:25It's also great for a customer looking for a service because the people in there have been, have gained knowledge and have a reputation amongst a group of, let's say 30 or so people. And then we all give referrals to one another. So, you know, like I said before, if you ask me who an insurance person is, I'll tell you, Hey, I got a good guy, call him, see what he can do for you. So that's what a BNI is. Basically, It's a group of friends that get together once a week and do an organized meeting to try to build your business and our reputations in the area as honest, helpful business owners.
9:03Tyler Gibbs:Yeah, I appreciate that. Now, an inspector has to be thorough without turning every finding into a crisis. So how do you communicate risk in a way that is accurate, calm and useful? That is the that is really the job of an inspector, isn't it? So I could probably give you a piece of paper and say, hey, check all these boxes. But if you find something, you may not have the experience to know, is this a major issue or is this a no big deal part of owning a home kind of maintenance thing? Because you could build a brand new house and there will be a punch list at the end of that, of this that needs, this thing needs fixed or that thing needs repaired or this little minor issue.
9:49So you don't want things to become a crisis, but you want people to be aware that, hey, this is an issue. So oftentimes around here, the houses are older. Having experience, I kind of see the common theme of fell points, right? Typically, it's a bad, this leaky kind of basement or maybe some older electric. But I don't want to alarm people. So if I come across, let's say, an electrical issue. Now, that might scare you as a homeowner. You may have never looked at electricity in your life, except for, you know, you don't touch it. Well, that's fine. But I can explain to you, hey, this is a minor issue.
10:24It's going to take someone two or three hours to come in and fix it. Who's a professional. And so instead of scaring the buyer, like I mentioned before, I like to educate them. I don't want to intimidate them. And so I say, hey, listen, you got a few outlets that aren't working, or you got something that's a little bit of a danger here. that might scare them. But for a professional electrician, this is every day of his life. This is what he does. So let's just get that person connected with you and they can take care of it. No problem. And I think that helps the buyer, the investor and the real estate agent, because sometimes they, they are afraid, right?
10:58They think, Oh no, this inspector is going to come in and he's going to kind of nitpick my house and make it look as bad as he can. And that's not what I want to do. I hope to never find anything wrong with the house. But if I do, I like to point it out, make them aware of it and say, hey, how are we going to fix that? And that's what really the inspector's job is, is to know what's a big problem versus what's average maintenance task.
11:28Tyler Gibbs:okay now Tyler what would you say is the biggest you know we're going to really get into some of the nitty-gritty hard-hitting questions here because we do have a pretty big audience here that's you know entrepreneurs that listen to us every week so Tyler I want you to be as candid as you can what is the biggest challenge your business your particular business is facing right now just no business is perfect as an inspector I think the the biggest challenge is you have a loyalty to your customer, right? So I work for the buyer, whatever situation that is, a multi-unit building, a commercial building or a home.
12:04And I want to look out for them at the highest level. And unfortunately, some, some of the real estate business just want to sell real estate. And so it's a balance of, I will never, I will always be honest with my customer. I will always tell them the things I find, but there is a balance of finding real estate agents or bankers that are okay with that because not all of them, sadly, in this world are looking to be the most honest or looking out for a customer first, right? They're looking out for their business first. And so I think a challenge to growing a home inspection business is you have to weed that out.
12:51You have to be a person of integrity. And that might upset some people, but those aren't the people you really want to work with anyway. And so it might take some time to weed through that, to build a reputation that you are trustworthy. And the other thing is homebuyers don't buy a house every day, right? So you might buy a house and not buy another one for ever, or it might be 10 years. So if you like me, that's great, but you may not buy a house again for 10 years. So that's a bit of a challenge. And then inside Appalachia, as you guys know, is a definitely not booming market. So we don't live in a big metropolitan city where there are just influxes of people in and out.
13:33In our area, homeownership is really high. And family plot, kind of like three or four houses, you know, up a hill or holler there, tends to be common. So what we get is not a lot of home movement like you would in a big metropolitan city. So that's a bit of a challenge.
13:53Tyler Gibbs:Yeah, no, that's definitely true When we first moved to the area here We had, me personally, I had a huge issue finding a house I'm like, man, people don't want to sell their houses here People move in and they stay for a long time, like you said So, that's very true Now, Tyler, what do you believe is preventing your business right now From reaching its next level? Well, you know, to be honest it's people connections and some of that's within my control. And then some of it is, how do you find those people? How do you find people who are looking to invest? And so you have to get creative. It's a challenge sometimes to find people who are buying.
14:35Sometimes the housing market, it goes with the seasons. You know, around the holidays, people aren't really closing on a lot of personal homes. So what do you look for? Well, you look for commercial because at the end of the year, people have money they need to spend for their tax reasons. So I look more to commercial. And then you go, you know, it seems like the housing market in April, May, June is big because people are wanting to sell and move during the summer. And so there's a challenge to every business. And so I think the thing that holds me back some is just the search for people that are looking for the services needed, right?
15:18They're looking for an inspection because it's not always going to be a great housing market or it's not always the time. And so what's difficult with home inspecting is I will do three or four in one week. And then the next week I have one or sometimes zero. So sometimes it's kind of boom or bust and that's a challenge. It can be frustrating at times. And I think what, what stops it from going to the next level is getting your name out there can be difficult. Like I said, sometimes if you give a true report and it kind of kills a house sell, that can hurt your reputation, not reputation, but it can, it can keep the real estate agent from calling you back.
16:02They don't like a really thorough inspector, sadly. And so So the homeowner that they want that, but agents always don't. So they'll kind of steer that. I think what, what will help get to the next level is things like getting out here and getting to know people, things like this podcast, things like a business networking group, you know, you think you can't grow, but then you meet the one right person and you kind of build a power team of, Hey, you know, I'm, I'm an investor and I buy 10 properties a year. Would you be my inspector? Or would you give me a to-do list basically for all these properties?
16:36And so that kind of stuff is how you overcome that. You have to be creative. You have to think outside the box. And that makes it difficult at times. But also, you're always one introduction from meeting that right person. I love that.
16:51Tyler Gibbs:Thank you for that thorough answer there. So what would you say are the issues you most often find that buyers never notice during the showing? The biggest ones are usually minor. I mean, the most often occurring ones are minor. The biggest deal killer is usually a foundation issue, right? Water coming through the basement walls or a movement of the home that's not just a subtle thing, but a pretty big one. In this area, of course, it's full of mountains and hills and water runs downhill. So if it's maybe been neglected maintenance or built not quite to the best standard or sometimes out of control of the contractor that built it years ago, the hills moved or slide, that's going to be the deal killer.
17:40That, I don't find that often. Honestly, I probably find one or maybe two of those a year that are just, in my mind, now they can do what they want with the information, but in my mind, I wouldn't tell necessarily some of this, but I would run away from that house, right? Typically what we find 99 % of the time, it's going to be a GFCI outlet that's not working properly. It's there, but it doesn't work anymore, or it's not there. It's an older home. Maybe they just didn't put them in or it wasn't the code at the time. And so it's some safety stuff. And I think I don't really pay too much attention if there's a nail hole in a wall, right?
18:25That's kind of a cosmetic issue. What I'm really combing through is safety things. Is your kid going to get hurt? Are you going to get hurt? Or I look for things like this. Is this going to cost you$10 ,000 next year because the heat and air is so old or it's been band-aided so many times? So what I typically come across 99 % of the time, older roofs, I find a roof issue and to go out of this roof's pretty old but that tends to be something the homeowner knows what they don't usually know is electrical they may who tests their gfcis i don't and i actually have i have an electrical license and a contracting license and i'm a home inspector and you know i never go over to mine and test them they go bad they for some reason they just stop working and so that's probably the most common thing things like handrails they'll have a set of basement the stairs with no handrail.
19:17Well, they're fine because they're 20 or 25. But if, you know, someone a little bit older moves in that house or a kid, they need to have some safety, maybe a handrail or some kind of a door for safety. And so it's typically small safety items like that. And they add up to a couple of days worth of work, but they're not usually what I say is a deal killer. Right. And that's 99 % of the time is what we're getting.
19:43Tyler Gibbs:So just deal killers, just done. That's it. You can't buy the house. Well, you can buy whatever, but you're going to get a whole lot better price. Yeah. Yeah. Gotcha. Gotcha. That's kind of like a negotiation tactic, right? You can now go back to the buyer or seller and say, Hey, this is going on. Let me get 10 K off or whatever it is. Yeah. And so I will tell you, that's a big part of number one, why you should get a home inspection. It's to keep you from accidentally finding a pitfall. So let's say you're going to buy a house. I inspect it. I say, hey, the roof really needs replaced. Well, somebody is going to pay for that, right?
20:21So if they're asking, let's just say 200 ,000 for the house. Well, are we going to take 15, 20 grand off the price or is the seller willing to replace the roof and still sell it at that full price? Because the seller wants to get market value. Okay. That's what every seller wants. And every buyer wants to get a good deal. Well, a good deal isn't always lower price. Sometimes a good deal is having a home that you can move into that's maintenance free because a buyer was willing to invest in that home to sell you a properly functioning home. And so a big part of what I say is, Hey, all I'm doing is creating a to-do list.
21:00I'm giving you a to-do list for this house. Now you and the buyer and the seller, you guys need to work out who's going to do the items on that to-do list and who's going to pay for them. And that's essentially what a home inspection is.
21:17Tyler Gibbs:Now, what would you say is something that people assume is easy about running, you know, your type of business that is actually very difficult? Well, I'd say we're all in the customer service business, no matter what business you have, right? You want to make customers happy. And so my customer is the buyer, but I have a relationship with multiple people and they all have different goals. The buyer has the goal of buying a house that has few problems and isn't going to surprise them later with a giant bill. The seller also knows my business name, though they didn't hire me. They can get a little defensive at times when I say, Hey, listen, this house has a bad problem with this or that.
22:02And they say, well, I did that myself. Or they say, I just put that on there. Well, let's look back. How long ago was it? 15 years ago. It wasn't just yesterday. So I'm kind of juggling two or three different customers, even though I only really have a one customer that's paying me and I'm loyal to, I have to be, make everyone happy and be fair at the same time. So that's probably the biggest challenge as running that business is being in customer service helped for sure previous to this, because you're essentially in the customer retention business of making everyone happy. Everyone feel like they got what they wanted and that it was fair.
22:42Tyler Gibbs:Now, Tyler, about how many hours a week are you working in and out of the business right now? Well, actual inspections, let's say, I don't know, 15 to 20 on the actual at the house, But then there's always a few hours or an hour or two, let's say a paperwork, computer work, really, of the inspection, finishing it, annotate, like putting notes in, putting, adding some pictures and explanations. So that takes a little bit of time. But then I also probably spend another, I don't know, let's say eight hours a week of just kind of hitting the pavement, so to speak, going to a B &I chapter meeting. I've driven around and gone into banks to lenders and handed out my card and said, Hey, listen, I know you're a lender.
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23:28If, if you have a buyer that's looking for a home inspector, send them my way or, you know, put me on the list because they obviously not going to steer you to a home inspector. Cause you know, you don't want some kind of collusion there, but I've done that. I've gone to a realty offices and explained, Hey, I'd like to help out your customers. I know agents and inspectors don't always get along, but I'm not trying to intimidate your customer or be dramatic. I want to educate them and help them to understand that any house is going to need a repair at some point. So how do we go about buying one and being happy with what you're getting?
24:03And so I think, yeah, that's the, I probably spend another eight hours a week doing that, just trying to go out there and, and kind of drum up business.
24:13Tyler Gibbs:Okay. So total you're thinking maybe 50, 60 hours a week or? On the inspection business, to be honest, I probably spend$25,$30, probably$30 on it. I do have rental property as well. And I have a contractor's license. So I don't run a full contracting business. I don't have contracting employees. But I do jobs like right now. I personally know somebody who bought a condo and they want it completely remodeled. Kitchen, bath, all that. So I'm doing that right now. and I'll bring in some people. I brought a kitchen cabinet guy over that kind of stuff. So, you know, the inspection business is my main priority full-time business, but I do at times the ebbs and flows.
24:58So sometimes I do that and it is 50, 60 hours. And then next week it'll be 25 because it's just a slow week and I didn't book a lot of inspections. And then the next week it'll be another 40, 50 hour week with it. So with inspection business, it kind of ebbs and flows. So it's hard. And I, you know, I've been doing it about, this is my fourth year with this business in particular. And so I'm still gaining traction. And with that, I still keep basically something when times are slow, let's say during the holidays for that kind of month in December where everyone's focused on banks are closed and kids are out of school.
25:38People are like, well, we'll deal with that at the beginning of the year. We'll get our house sorted. So when those times are slow, I do some contracting work. And so at times I do work 40, 50 hours a week in the inspection business. And then the next week, like I said, it'll be 30 hours, 20 hours. So Tyler,
25:57Tyler Gibbs:what would you say is your greatest strength as a business owner right now? greatest strength. I will, I'm big on, on, on helping the customer, whether that's going above and beyond. Uh, my wife honestly gets on me sometimes because I will almost over help. You know, I'm honestly only obligated to do whatever X, Y, Z, what we agreed upon. And I will call them back. I will go above and beyond. I will, I've driven back over and showed them things. Hey, let me explain this. Let me just come over. I'll show it to you. I'll show you what I'm saying. And so do I have to do that? I feel like I do. You know, am I legally bound to do it?
26:42Probably not. But I think my kind of commitment to genuinely helping someone, it's not just about dollars and cents for me. I mean, that's why we're in business, right? To make money. but I want you to feel good about the services I provided more so than just for business or money reputation. But I want you to genuinely feel like, Hey, that's a good guy. He really looked out for me. And I think that's a strength is kind of, I want to be a person of integrity who you feel like was honest and upfront with you and did the best job they could. Love it.
27:19Tyler Gibbs:Love it. Now, you know, and you gotta be, gotta really be candid and honest on this one if you can, but, you know, what is one leadership or business skill you know you still need to improve?
27:34Oh, hold on. Sorry. Sorry about that. I would say.
27:45Some some organizing stuff. As far as. Not the inspections, they're fine, but. I genuinely don't love office work and those types of things. And so I think I avoid, you know, doing all my pay, like keeping all my files straight and all that. That's something that's tough for me, but what would affect my customer that I could work on? I think sometimes being, being confident in the ability that I have is, it's funny. I know it's a funny thing to say, but what I mean by that is you ever second guess yourself like, Oh man, I don't know if I'm doing a good job or I don't know if I should call that person.
28:29I don't want to bother them, that real estate agent or that banker. So I think sometimes that's a hindrance. I think I could work on that, you know, thinking, hey, you know what? They need me to. Instead of think, well, I'm bothering them as an inspector. I'm bothering them looking for business. And I think B &I has helped with that, knowing that, you know, people want to be able to have a person to call. a guy, we always say like, oh, they want to have that person, right? Like I got a, I got an HVAC guy. I got an inspector guy. I got a plumber guy. And so I think sometimes having the confidence to realize like, Hey, I can be that guy is tough for me personally, or,
29:11or yeah, that can be a challenge in business, right? To understand that, Hey, you're the person everyone's looking to in this situation. And so I think that's something that can be worked on.
29:21Tyler Gibbs:Now, Tyler, how much of your business comes through real estate relationships versus direct consumer service? I would say, let's say 90, 95 % of it. And it's not just like agents, real estate relationship is what I mean. I'm talking about, I talk about real estate because I like it. So people know me. I started out years ago, accidentally buying a house and flipping it. And then I kind of did two or three more after that. And I'm a good flipper. I'm not one of these, you know, they don't always have the best reputation. And then I have some rentals. So, you know, honestly, some of the rentals I have, some of the people have moved out and be like, Hey, you know, I do home inspections too.
30:07If you're looking for a house, here's a few agents I recommend that I trust. And then if you need an inspection, you know, give me a call. Those kinds of relationships or my B &I relationships. I don't even, you know, you kind of forget you're there for business, to be honest, in these groups. and it just becomes your friends or people that have known me from other things go, oh yeah, he's a home inspector. He, he also has a bunch of houses, you know, he does houses and he does this. And so a lot of it is still the old word of mouth. And so you can buy all the ads you want, but how many of us drive by a billboard, look at it and then never do anything with it?
30:43Probably most of us. And so when someone says, Hey, I know a guy or I know a girl that does this, and they're really good at it. That's probably my biggest, the best referral, right? That's a warm referral that someone who is vouching for you. And so that's where I think customer service comes in. And I think that helping people out comes in and does build your business. There's a saying in the RB &I chapter and all of them, it's called giver's gain. And you have to really believe that not just doing it out of like some kind of a selfish thing, but you generally, if you help people out, all of a sudden you'll start seeing people recommend you.
31:22And so I think the biggest way for me to get customers is the relationship I have with people, not just some ad or a card or whatever it is, but truly the community, getting to know realtors, getting to know bankers, getting to know people. And then those people look for houses and they can call someone that they trust. Okay.
31:43Tyler Gibbs:Now, if the, let's say, and it's obviously hypothetical, but let's say if your business like suddenly doubled overnight, like, right, you came in in the morning and you had double the inspections ready to go for that day. What is the very first thing that would break and you would need to be fixed? Oh, good question. Who? The very first thing that would break and need fixed. Probably my other stuff. I would put it all in the back. I have rentals and I know I'm thinking like, Like, oh man, if I had to work five days a week or six days every day doing two or three inspections, two a day, let's say for five days a week, it would be hard to also balance the other things.
32:26So I would probably neglect my, probably my own yard and my, you know, my poor tenants, but I could, I could sub those things out. Right. I could, I could get someone to do that. That's what would break. Cause I, I get a lot of phone calls, you know, it's like. not only do I do inspections, but then I get this call or I do, uh, you know, you're in the customer service business with rental properties as well. And I don't have that many. I have about a dozen, but it is, can be time consuming because when something is wrong, they need you now. And so that, that would be tough to manage all that. I'd probably just push it off on somebody else or spend more money paying someone instead of doing it myself.
33:05But yeah, that, that would be probably the first thing to break. Okay. Is the balance.
33:11Tyler Gibbs:Perfect. The balance, the work-life balance and trying to keep it all organized. That would probably be the first thing to break down. Yeah, I got you. Gotcha. But you definitely would be able to handle the additional work though. Oh, I'll take it. Well, if you guys are going to go ahead and call me and double up my work, let's do it. I'll figure out how to do it. I'll get rid of stuff, whatever I have to do. And that might be the problem why it would be a challenge. I will do whatever it takes. And that could probably not be good.
33:40Tyler Gibbs:All right. Perfect. All right, Tyler. So we're going to head into what's called this or that. So I'm going to give you this or that. I'm going to give you two things. I want you to choose one of them. And then I want you to give me the why and why you chose a kind of a small paragraph on why you chose that. All right. All right. So this kind of shows you a little bit of your personality. A lot of these things are more personal stuff. I do have some business stuff thrown into kind of get some business stuff. And this is more showing kind of who you are as a person a little bit. I'm not scared. All right.
34:08Tyler Gibbs:Coffee or energy drink? Coffee. Coffee. I'm drinking coffee right now. It's just, I don't know. I enjoy coffee. It can be different, right? There's different flavors, different styles. Energy drink, it's okay. I don't know. It's a lot of artificial stuff in there, too.
34:28Tyler Gibbs:Beach or mountains? Mountains, man. I'm an Appalachia guy. I was born and raised in West Virginia. I do like the beach, but I swear it's trying to kill you, right? The sun's trying to kill you. The sand gets everywhere. The ocean tries to drown you. You go to a nice mountain lake, smooth and flat. There's no sharks in there. I mean, it's mountain, right? Mountain lake, it's the best. Sunrise or sunset? Oh, probably sunset. I will get up early. I do get up early. Not my favorite. I'd rather hang out, get home, let's say from work. have a beer, watch the sunset. Yeah, let's go sunset. That's what I'm talking about.
35:09Tyler Gibbs:That's me too. Dogs or cats? No, dogs. I've never even owned a cat. I'm out. Old dog guy. Yeah, yeah. I can train a dog. Cat's a wild card, man. They have their place. Here's my thought on that. I think cats aren't really your pet. They're just in captivity. If they could leave you, they probably would. anything you can throw outside and can survive on its own it's not really your pet is it yeah that's true because cats are very cats are for people who are like you know they're like independent I just like to have them every once in a while but they're if they do their own thing dogs are more like kids they're kind of like toddlers they need a lot more they're just kind of like a rude mate they live with you they're like if you leave I'd be better off
36:02Tyler Gibbs:sweet or salty oh man oh salty yeah i'd rather eat a whole pizza than a thing of ice cream for sure okay okay road trip or flying oh man that's a tough one depends i guess flying is the best because it's easy right especially if you go east coast let's say i'm going to florida on vacation man hopping a flight is so much easier than driving that boring drive but there is something adventurous and fun in a road trip, let's say out West. So I'd say at this point I've flown a ton. I'm about tired of it. I actually just got back from China. So I just took an incredible amount of flights. So let's go road trip.
36:49I think a road trip is fun. You can stop, have a, have a drink here, there, sightsee, listen to good music. So road trip.
36:58Tyler Gibbs:And you're totally right about that East coast thing. I mean, you can get to, I mean, we can get all the way to Florida in like, what, an hour, hour and a half? It's a hour and a half to an hour. Versus road trip, which driving out of Florida takes, what, 12 hours? 14, 15 hours? Yeah, depending on where you are. Yeah, it's a long ride. Boring ride, too. It's actually probably cheaper to fly to Florida. Yep. Much cheaper, actually. Book or podcast? Podcast. Podcast. Because, you know, if you're working and you're doing stuff, you got your earphones in or headphones in now, it's so easy to listen to a couple podcasts.
37:33You get a lot out of it. A book, it's hard to find. Buy out the time to sit down and no one make noise for like an hour. That's a tough, tough ask in modern day life. All right.
37:45Tyler Gibbs:So in some of the more business owner-oriented, this or that, phone call or text for your business? Whatever is easier for you. Text sometimes works better because you're giving me a list of information, your name, your phone number, your agent's name, the house address. So a text is nice. Sometimes people call me, I'm driving, I say, is it okay? Could you send me a text with all that information in it? And a lot of times they prefer it. So initially I like a phone call so we can kind of talk, but a text with information I think is probably more effective. Planner or go with the flow? Go with the flow.
38:25My wife's a planner, so I let her do all that planning. Like anytime we take a trip. She does. She has an itinerary. Okay. Not, not as far as like what we're doing, but where we're going. And that's great. Cause I hate doing that stuff. So definitely go with the flow.
38:39Tyler Gibbs:Networking or social media? Oh, networking. I'd rather talk to a person. I'm that a, I'm 41. So I'm kind of on that edge, right? Kind of had both and I'd rather see people talk to people. I'm a people person, I guess, over social media, social media. You don't know who's real and who's not. And I think a lot of people, that's a lot of disingenuous stuff on there. Right. I'd rather see someone in person and get to know them. Early bird or night owl? Oh, how about neither? Neither. I don't know. Yeah, I don't know. I guess if I have to work, it's usually whatever work dictates. But naturally, I'd probably stay up later and be a night owl.
39:29Tyler Gibbs:yeah yeah i definitely night out once the sun goes down like you talked about sunset earlier once the sun goes down i get like a i get like a second wind for a little bit yeah yeah i'll stay up late watching especially football season let's say i'll stay up late oh yeah you know that's night and yeah i'm cool with that so yeah definitely night out new construction or historic homes oh man you know i used i do love historic homes but if i if i'm doing it i'd rather do new man it's so much easier to work on than old houses but yeah i think i've moved to new homes now at this point in my life after doing all these inspections man it's just like there's so many hidden things in old houses they're beautiful they're amazing but a new house, you can control what's going in it.
40:21You know, it's good and new if you have the right builder.
40:25Tyler Gibbs:Crawl space or attic? Oh, I'd say, I'd say crawl space. And I know that's probably out on a limb for most people. They're probably going to like, you know, look at me crazy for that, but it's not 200 degrees in a crawl space. And I don't have to worry about, you know, stepping on your drywall or trip, you know, there's just, think of crawl space. Buyer inspection or pre-listing inspection? I'm sorry, repeat that. Buyer inspection or pre-listing inspection? Hmm. Yeah, those are both good ones. Probably pre... Well, no, buyer. Buyer. I think buyer inspection. It's fun to see someone excited about buying a house.
41:12Tyler Gibbs:First-time homebuyers or experienced investors? experienced investors. I like, honestly, multi-unit big buildings are great. First-time homebuyers, fine too, but sometimes they're a little, they're really intimidated and they're unsure, which it is fun navigating that with them, teaching them, okay, ask this question, ask that. Cause remember I have no other motivation except for to give you a good report. And so it's kind of fun for me sometimes to be like, you know, here's this, call your agent, negotiate the price. So that's fun. Experienced investor, sometimes it's not very personal with them, which is fine, which is maybe why I like that too.
41:55But yeah, I don't know. First, I'm a home buyer.
41:58Tyler Gibbs:Higher for skill or higher for attitude? Depends on the job. I don't mind. I love a good attitude, but if they're really unskilled, yikes, that's scary, right? If you were to hire somebody, it'll work for you. Yeah, if they're really skilled and they have a really bad attitude, I think I'd really hire for attitude. You can train them, right? If they're trainable and they have a good attitude, they're humble, you can work with that. Someone's unhumble, even if they're a great skill, you can't be sure that they're actually going to do the work the way you like them to. Fast decisions or careful decisions?
42:41Fast decisions. I don't, I mean, there's probably good and bad to both those, but if you want to know about you personally, probably fast decisions, which gets you in trouble sometimes.
42:53Tyler Gibbs:All right. And revenue growth or more free time?
42:58More free time. I think, yeah, I think that's more important. I mean, obviously, if you can do both, that's great. Let's all make$1 ,000 an hour. Right. But if you could make$1 ,000 an hour, would you work 40 hours a week or would you work 10? So I'd probably work the 10 and still be wealthy. So yeah, definitely freedom. Freedom's where it's at. That's probably why I have my own business. Even though what happens is you end up working all the time, you think initially it'll be for free.
43:26Tyler Gibbs:Summer or winter? Oh. Well, where are we? I mean, winter in like South Florida or summer in like... no some plus that seasons honestly summer because getting dark at 5pm is just that's so bad but it is football season so I still go with summer a lot of beautiful lakes, outdoor stuff summer's nice here yeah that's true perfect inspection or perfect customer experience
44:08perfect perfect customer experience i think trust or reputation aren't they the same thing trust or reputation i mean that's what i hope is the same thing i want my reputation to be trustworthy i guess probably trust because i think that that'll proceed that is your reputation that becomes your reputation right yeah yeah for sure and the last one is dream home or dream vacations oh you just came from china too so yeah yeah maybe it's just because i've done a lot of traveling so i'll go dream home you know because i'm at home let's say you're at home let's say you even traveled like two months a year you're still home like 40 weeks a year.
44:56So let's go dream home.
44:58Tyler Gibbs:Yeah. Yeah. Totally agree. I mean, that's where you spend all your time. Right. Right. I want my home to be, you know, the place I want to be at all the time. So. Plus my dream home would be in a vacation spot, right? If we go dream home, I'm like, well, it's going to be on lake mountainside lake with everything I want anyway. So yeah, that's basically, I'm going to live in a vacation. Yeah. Yeah. That's true. All right. Perfect. So yeah, appreciate you getting through that. This is that. That was great. That was great. Kind of shows you a little personal side there. So, you know, a couple last things here.
45:26Tyler Gibbs:Now, you know, with all this talk of self-automation and AI and everything, where do you see your industry in particular heading in the next 10 to 15 years? Yeah, I think some of the good of that is even now, I use this, not all the time, but there are some features on the program I use for the annotation. So it will explain. so I'll put something in there like there's a bad GFCI outlet okay well that's great but then it'll explain a bad GFCI outlet can be a danger because it'll it'll give a little paragraph on that so that's a great great thing a bad thing I think could come from it is if I just take a picture of a kitchen and it does the inspection for me because how does it really know it doesn't have experience it doesn't have human qualities to know what's safe and what's not and so that could be the bad side of it.
46:17I think it's a balance of using it in the proper way. It's great for helping us to write things in a more concise way or getting rid of some of the unnecessary things in an explanation. But I think it can be too much of a crutch to where it hurts people's experience and it becomes so trusted that they don't verify what AI is seeing. And so you have to kind of do that. It's still a computer. It still is not a human. So, you know, don't lean on it too much to do your job. Yeah. Okay.
46:50Tyler Gibbs:Now, where do you see your particular company building trust inspections? You know, let's say by 2030, I was going to say 2020, 2030. I know when we hear that number 2030, it sounds like it's so far away, but really it's only three and a half years away. Yeah. Yeah. It's only four, yeah. Three and a half years away. COVID was last year, right? No, it was like, I like it. Isn't that weird? Yeah. Let's see. By 2030, what I would like to have is I'd like to have probably six inspections booked a week would be nice. That would be a good balance that would be busy. It would be a good stream of income.
47:27And it would be a good still balance of not working all the time. I would stop doing side construction or contracting stuff and just do this full time. If I could have five to six a week would be awesome. And that's a very that's a realistic goal. And that's where I'm trying to build. And I think that's a real thing by 2030 I can do.
47:46Tyler Gibbs:Great, great, great. And I want you to be as candid and as honest as you can for this next question here. But, you know, that's because we like I told you earlier, we have a lot of entrepreneurs that listen to our podcast every week and look for, you know, advice from other people who are doing it, too. So, you know, let's say we have a guy, let's say, you know, I usually ask, I kind of mix this up sometimes, but let's say we have a guy, let's say we're around your age. Let's say a guy is 40 years old, right? And he's thinking about, you know, leaving that corporate job and starting his business, right?
48:15Tyler Gibbs:He's got a plan all written out. He's gone through it with his family. Everybody's like, man, it sounds great. Give it a go. Do it. Jump on it. And he's going to do it, right? And he does it, and he's having a rough go of things at first, right? Things aren't going right. Business has not grown right. He's feeling stuck or overwhelmed at this point. What's a piece of advice, Tyler, you would give to him today? Anything worth having is not easy. And so it's going to be hard. Don't give up. Everyone, ask anyone. Watch any show. Even, I mean, it can be incredibly successful people. People on Shark Tank, whatever.
48:53And they'll tell you, yeah, I was an overnight success, but it took me 30 years. And so it's not going to be easy. If it were easy, everyone would do it. So it's a bit of a challenge. It's easier now than it's been for everyone. We live in this time, I think, when it's the best time. So don't quit. Keep at it. If you're not, you know, not finding success, what is your definition of success? Is it getting incredibly rich, incredibly fast? Because that doesn't happen. If you define success as having a stable job that can provide for your life that you're happy with, then remember, you know, keep yourself in check there as far as what reality is.
49:32I think sometimes people start businesses and they think I'm going to make so much money. Well, it's not as easy as you think, but don't give up. It's little by little. And eventually, you know, Rome, as they say, wasn't built in a day. So kind of brick by brick, you'll have it. It does get to a point. And this is true. And I learned this doing houses, every house I get to a point when I'm remodeling it. I think this is never going to end. And then eventually it's ending. So don't give up on your business. It does feel hopeless sometimes, but just keep going. Okay.
50:05Tyler Gibbs:And you have no, you know, you don't really think, you know, starting over at kind of 40 years old is not, there's no problem there. I think you have to know yourself. Are you really going to be able to, if some people, you have to be honest with yourself. Some people prefer, and there's nothing wrong with that. Prefer staying at the corporate job, having insurance, going to your nine to five, coming home. Some days I feel like I wish I just worked at a factory. You could punch out at three or four o 'clock and come home and not think, but realistically that's just not how my brain works. So, you know, I think being honest with yourself and knowing yourself too, as part of it, it's kind of trendy to be an entrepreneur now.
50:44Are you really cut out for it or do you need someone else to build structure and do things for you? And if you do, that's fine too, because if you're going to be happier doing that and more successful, stay there or find a different job at a corporate level that you enjoy. I love that.
50:59Tyler Gibbs:Good advice. Now, Tyler, if there was one thing you could change about your business in the next 90 days, and 90 days would lead us up to about Halloween now at this point, almost at the end of July as we're recording this. So if there was one thing you could change about your business by Halloween, what would it be and why? I would dedicate myself, more of my time to growing the business and working on it instead of working in it. And that's difficult as a one man entrepreneur. It's hard to work on your business and balance working in your business. You get to a point where you're so busy and that's a good thing, right?
51:38You want to have business, you want to make money, but then you, you start not being able to, to expand widen the net or go deeper or whatever. And so I think, yeah, you have to carefully balance working on it versus working in it. Okay.
51:57Tyler Gibbs:Now to follow up on that a little bit more, you know, let's, let's say, let's say we talked, let's say if you came back on the podcast and on Halloween, let's say, and we spoke again on that date, what would you want to be different? There's because there's a difference between, you know, what you would, yeah, what you'd like to be different than what you want? I would want to be different. I would want to me, for me to have expanded my relationships into different areas. You know, I mainly work in the city I live in and across the river is the state of Ohio. So there's kind of a good housing community size over there in that area.
52:32There's one about 30 minutes away that honestly is growing rapidly, maybe one of the fastest growing places in West Virginia. And so I'd like to break into that market a little more, get to know people up that way. And that's just a matter of, like I was mentioning before, kind of working on the business versus working in it. I stay busy working in it, in my area, but it would be nice to expand to that area.
52:55Tyler Gibbs:Gotcha. Okay. Great. Great. All right. So what's next for building trust inspections? What should people be excited about coming up in the your future. Well, I continue to get education and certifications. I do offer a few auxiliary things right now, but I'm continuing to do more. Next up, I'm going to take radon training. And I didn't realize this, but mobile homes actually require a specialized type of inspection. And I believe that's for the kind of, they use like tornado tie down straps, things like that, stability wise. And so those are going to be added to my list of, of skills. All right.
53:36Tyler Gibbs:Good deal. Good deal. All right. Well, Tyler, hey man, this was great having you on talking about your business here. And we really wish building trust inspections, you know, success in the continued and then your future, you know, before we go ahead and sign off any last words for the audience before we go ahead and call it. Yeah. If you're looking, if you, I assume a lot of the audience is going to be other business owners that are interested in building a business. I would look into a BNI chapter in your area. I would also listen to this podcast and podcasts like this because you get to know real people and what their struggles are, what their strengths are.
54:09The other thing is remember to have a work-life balance. Yes, your business is important. Yes, you have to work, outwork the failures of your business, but remember you're doing this for what reason? You're doing this to be happy in your life. And So find that balance. Work really hard when you're at work, but also enjoy your friends and family because you don't want to be that business guy in 40 years that looks back and all he's got is business. So that's my advice for running a business. And that can be difficult sometimes. We all have to be honest with ourselves and say, you know, maybe I need to take a break.
54:44But at the same time, if you're starting out, I would say don't give up. Keep going. Anything worth having isn't easy.
54:51Tyler Gibbs:So, yeah, yeah, no, totally true. Totally true. Well, Tyler, thanks again for coming on, you know, to everyone listening. Be sure to connect with our guests who's in the information on their podcast episode today and follow Epic Entrepreneurs for more conversations with people building businesses and communities every day. This is Cliff McRae with ActionCoast Business Growth Partners. Tyler, thank you again for coming on. We'll see you next time. Yay. Thanks.
55:15Hey, thanks for listening to the Epic Entrepreneurs podcast. Here's three things that you can do. Number one, remember to subscribe to the podcast. It takes very little effort on your part. It's going to help you and your fellow entrepreneurs. Plus, you guys know how it works. The more subscribers we get, the more cool things we can offer to you. Second, to learn more about growing your business, just download my book, The Coach Approach. It's free for you at giftfrombill.com. That's giftfrombill.com. Hey, and if you'd like more info about growing your business and what we can do to help you grow your business, send me an email directly.
56:02Just send it to williamgilliland at actioncoach.com. That's my personal email that I read. No one else reads it first. It's not screened. It's my real email. Just send it to me. I can't wait to talk to you. Hey, and until then, all the best.
From the publisher
A home inspection can either leave you feeling informed or feeling terrified, and the difference often comes down to one thing: trust. We sit down with Tyler Gibbs, owner of Building Trust Inspections, to talk about what buyers, investors, and entrepreneurs should actually expect from a West Virginia and Ohio licensed home and commercial building inspector. Tyler explains how he approaches inspections as education, not intimidation, so clients walk away with clarity instead of panic.
We get into the real mechanics of communicating risk: what counts as a true deal killer like major foundation movement or water intrusion, and what shows up constantly but is still fixable, such as GFCI issues, handrails, older electrical concerns, and aging systems that can trigger expensive surprises. Tyler also breaks down a simple way to think about the inspection report: a to-do list that helps the buyer and seller negotiate repairs, credits, or price with facts on the table.
For the entrepreneurs listening, Tyler shares what it takes to build a referral-driven service business in a slower market where inspections can be boom or bust. We talk BNI networking, reputation, integrity under pressure, working on the business versus working in it, and how AI can help write clearer reports without replacing human judgment. If you are building a business and trying to keep your life intact, the closing message on work-life balance hits hard.
Subscribe to Epic Entrepreneurs, share this conversation with a buyer or business owner who needs it, and leave a review so more people can find the show. What part of buying property or running a service business do you want us to go deeper on next?
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