How A Navy Veteran Builds Trust Through Thorough Home Inspections with Philip Nistal

0:00Welcome to Epic Entrepreneurs. I am Cliff McRae with Action Coach Business Growth Partners. Every week, we sit down with business owners, founders, and leaders to uncover the real stories behind building a successful business. The wins, the setbacks, the lessons learned, and the strategies that help them grow. No scripts, no fluff, just honest conversations with entrepreneurs who are in the trenches every single day. Whether you are a business owner yourself, thinking about starting a business, or simply enjoy hearing how successful people think and operate, you are in the right place. Let's jump into today's episode, shall we?

0:58Hi, 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 Philip Listell with 8 Point Home Inspections. Philip, thanks for being here. How are you doing today, sir? I'm doing great. How are you? Yeah, I'm doing wonderful. We're really, really excited to have you here. So if you don't mind, let's go ahead and jump right into things. Yeah, let's go ahead. Let's knock it out. All right. Perfect. So for those of you who may not know it yet, you know, what is 8-Point Home Inspections and what do you provide for our community?

1:37So 8-Point Home Inspections is not just your average home inspection company. What we like to do is we like to influence and we like to teach our homebuyers, you know, the importance of, you know, maintaining a home. You know, a home is a huge investment that a lot of people, you know, spend a lot of time achieving to get, you know, to buy a home. So if it's their first time home buyer or maybe somebody that's a veteran and buying homes and it's their fifth home or sixth and now it's their forever home. You know, as a home inspector, I want to make sure that they are making the right decision.

2:16I want to make sure that, you know, the home that they're buying is going to be suitable for what they need at that time in their life. Who are you as a person who is Philip Mistel? Oh, Philip Mistel is a funny guy. You know, he's a guy that's very witty, a retired veteran of the Navy of 23 years. And, you know, I have a big heart and I want to, you know, help people out. That's my biggest thing as a person. I like to help people. And my wife always tells me that I always give more information than what I need to. But you know what? That's who I am. I'm a giver. I'm not a taker. And I want to see people succeed.

2:59And that's what makes me who I am. Yeah, yeah. No, I get it. I get it. So, you know, Philip, let's get right into the business side of things. Kind of what people came to listen to. What is something about running your business that people think is amazing, but is actually complete? Running my business has been very challenging. You know, going from a military mindset to a business mindset has been so much of a struggle for me, but I'm learning due to, you know, being around a bunch of other business owners and a group that I'm part of. I'm part of a B &I group. And that has helped me with my transition of military mindset to a business mindset.

3:47So that has given me confidence. It's given me better speaking towards business. And overall, it's just helped me grow as a person. And people say you never stop growing. Well, that's the truth. I have not stopped growing. I continue to grow every single day. As being a home inspector, you come across different houses every day, and that's what I love about being a home inspector. You never go see the same house. It's always something different, and you just do your best to make sure that you get the same quality report every time, and that's the person who I am. I'm very methodical. I'm very thorough, and I want my customers to understand that the report they're getting for their home is going to be comprehensible.

4:44Everybody talks about, you know, oh, it's clear communication. No, I can communicate all day, but does the person comprehend what I'm trying to say about their home? That's what puts me different. I like to make sure that it's a friendly report, that it's not going to scare them, that it gives them that peace of mind when they know that they're buying a good home. Yeah, I get it. Get it. Now, Philip, what would you say was the exact moment where you realized, you know, this business could either really work or it could completely blow up in your face. You could lose everything. Have you ever had that moment?

5:20To be honest with you, I did. I had that back in August of 25. that's when I went from active duty to I guess your retirement you know you went on your terminal leave and stuff like that and you know when you're first starting off as a business owner and you don't get the calls come in or the leads or referrals you start doubting yourself and so I was doubting myself like did I make the right decision was retiring at this age and my career you know 23 years to me was long enough so yeah there was times where i doubted myself i didn't think i was gonna make it but you know was talking to other people you know friends and family it helped me get over that the hump and you know you hear a lot of people saying oh your first year is the hardest you know you don't know if you're gonna make it a lot of businesses fail the first year.

6:18Well, I took that as a challenge. I took that on as, you know what, I'm going to make this work. I'm going to get my name out there to the community and, you know, it's catching on. And that's what drives me every single day to wake up, lace up my shoes and go out and do my job as, you know, helping homeowners buy a quality home. Now, what would you say was the most stressful moment you've ever had as a business owner? Like a, you know, how am I going to get through this type of moment? Oh, the setup of the business, just trying to navigate, you know, setting up the LLC, making sure I'm, you know, doing everything by the book, tax codes, you know, just trying to figure everything out.

7:04You know, you see so many different things that people talk about. It doesn't matter if it's on Instagram, TikTok, or just people talking in general. is just trying to find the right avenue to take, but also find a great CPA, a good bookkeeper to help you make sure you're doing the right thing. That was the one that stressed me out because it was uncharted territory for me. With being in a military mindset, you're used to set things that this is the instruction to read, this is what you do, this is what you do. and the business life there's not a set and manual that tells you that you have to do this you have to do that it tells you you can do this or you can do that so there was this you know a lot of reading a lot of research and and that kind of stressed me out to the point like man being a business owner does really have its you know downfalls but it also has a lot of you know good thinks about it.

8:06You know, I can make my own schedule. I can, you know, do what I want to do. And it sort of gives me a lot of family time. Now, have you ever thought about quitting your business and going back to like a nine to five, for example, or maybe starting something else? Oh, no, no, no, no, not at all. The reason I got into being a home inspector was because the flexibility of the schedule. I have my son 50 % of the time because of court custody and anything like that. So I have week on, week off. So if I'd had a retired from the Navy and I had a regular nine to five job, I would not be able to pick them up and take them to school like I do right now.

8:47So choosing to be a home inspector or start my own business gave me that flexibility, gave me that freedom to be able to continue with my custody agreement. Never thought. I love that. I love that. Now, and this is kind of a hypothetical question, but let's say if you could, you know, you could pick up and wave a magic wand and instantly fix one part of your business tomorrow, what would you fix? the relationship with realtors and what i mean what i mean by that is you know as a home inspector you want to have solid you know realtors in your uh in your corner you want to have a good working relationship and i got a few but there's a lot out there that you know their companies are like oh we have to use this guy we have to use this guy you know wish you know more people in the community when they're buying a home understand that they don't have to use a builder's home inspector they can use however they want and you know i hope people are listening to this i guess know that you can research any home inspector there's plenty of sites out there especially if you're part of the internazci the program that i'm part of that has a list of inter-Nazi inspectors throughout the whole Hampton Road area.

10:10So I challenge new homeowners or old veteran homeowners to do their research on a home inspector, make sure that they're getting a good home inspector and not just referring to what a realtor wants. Now, have you seen that? I'm sure you've got a lot of stories you could probably tell about that, but have you, you have an example you could share? You think of something like that happening? I've gone around as a new business owner, as a home inspector, and I've gone around to realtors, companies, and, you know, I walk in to introduce myself. And there's been a couple of them that are like, oh, man, I need it.

10:48I was looking for a home inspector, you know, was wanting somebody. And then I've had some that are like, we have people already. Thank you for coming by. So, you know, I don't get mad at it. I just look at, okay, well, that's probably not something I want to work with. But, you know, it is what it is. It's the business is how it is. There's a lot of realtors, you know, out there in the area, and there's a lot of home inspectors out in the area. And everybody has their way of thinking and how they want to do things. So, you know, it is what it is. It's a relationship with realtors. So what do you think, or let's say if you were able to mend or have a better relationship with the realtors, you know, what do you think that would solve ultimately for your business?

11:35Just more. I actually just want more of a, you know, realtors that, you know, support me and I can support them with referrals. That's, you know, all this business is about is having good working relationships with people. And, you know, I'm not trying to cut anybody's, you know, legs out from underneath them or anything like that. You know, I look at it as, you know, yes, I'm a new home inspector to the business, but that gives me fresh eyes. That gives me, you know, that, you know, energy that I want to do the job. You know, some people that have been in the business for a long time get complacent and they get so set in their ways, you know.

12:17I look at it as, you know, a new home inspector. He has, you know, just got out of training. He knows what's going on with the newest codes. The newest things are being brought out by the builders, you know, and I'd rather go with somebody that's new. That's because they're energized. They're ready to go, you know. Okay. Now, let's say if you were able to have a better relationship with realtors and let's say every single time you walked in, you were able to get that job every single time. and let's say your business doubled or even quadrupled, could your current staff and everything you have going on, your processes in place, could you handle that additional business if that were to happen?

13:02I could handle it right now. It would be very grateful to be able to achieve, you know, that homes added on. Right now I'm averaging 10 to 15 homes. My goal is to do 20 to 25 homes a month. So adding on a few more is not going to hurt me. I like to stay busy. I don't like downtime. This is who I am as a person. I'm not an idle body. I got to stay busy. So I'm always active, always doing something within the community. Now, and this next question is hypothetical, but let's say if someone shadowed you, kind of followed you around and watched you work for like a full day or let's say even a full week.

13:46What would you think would surprise them the most about how you operate your company? I think they would find that I'm very honest. I'm very trustworthy and that, you know, if a duck's a duck, I'm not going to sugarcoat anything. I call it, I'm a straight shooter. I'm going to call it as it is. And that's the thing about me is I'm very methodical when it comes to doing things, you know, even in the military. I had times where they're like, you can delegate that to somebody. Now, if I want it done right, I'm going to do it myself. So I would have people shadow me and they would, you know, follow me and, you know, understand why I do certain things the way I do.

14:30It's, you know, it's just a thought process I have. But, you know, they would see that I am a hard charger, that I am very committed to what I do. and if I have somebody that comes to work with me, they've got to have the same mindset as me. We put the customers first. It's not about me. It's not about time. And every time, people are like, oh, home inspectors take two hours. Well, it should. But like me, I normally take three to four hours to do a, you know, a 1 ,400 to 1 ,600 square foot home. Some home inspectors will have that done within an hour and a half to two hours. I just, I look at everything.

15:12even from, you know, cosmetic features, you know, some realtors like, well, we don't care about, you know, a towel holder missing in the bathroom. Well, the homeowner that's buying the house might, you know, want to know that it's not there, you know, that they might need to add it or something like that. So, you know, I get, I go the extra mile and it's better than, you know, being underbid or not underbid, but being not for some information. I'd rather have more information so that they know they're making a solid purchase of them. No, you're right. You're right. So, and, you know, I don't know if you've ever thought of this before, but what's one thing you're doing today that's giving you kind of an unfair advantage over your competitors, would you say?

15:59I mean, you kind of actually kind of talked about that there. It's really kind of how thorough you are. Is that kind of what makes you different? Not really. This depends on, you know, there's a lot of inspectors out there that do a lot of good jobs. I mean, I know a few inspectors out there have been doing the job for a very long time, and they're very methodical, and, you know, they're good at what they do. I think what makes my reports different is I do a three-step concept. I do an observation, implement, and recommendation or implication. basically i talked about the observation i found at the house what's the implication of it you know is it something that can be fixed right then and there is it something that you know can't be put off for six months it's not going to you know deteriorate anymore you know it just depends on the situation and then the recommendation is you know if you're a do-it-yourself person you You can think you can fix it or, you know, recommend a certified licensed contractor to, you know, take care of the problem.

17:08Also, you know, I like to know my customers prior to going to the home. I like to know if they're a first-time homebuyer, if they're a forever home. So, you know, the more I get to know about the people and what they're looking for, then I get a better understanding of what they want for a home. You know, a lot of times I would work with investors that just want to report so they know what they need to do to fix the house to get on the market. A couple of weeks ago, I had a husband and wife that, you know, had the husband like the house with a whack didn't. And so, you know, she was having a hard time with visiting the house.

17:54You know, she wanted to do it all then and there. You know, I want an open wall concept in the kitchen, the living room, you know. And I told her, I said, you know, I said, right now, I said, this might not feel like the home you want. I said that you can make it into the home you want. You know, so I grabbed her by the hand and I showed her around the house and I showed her, you know, things that, you know, you can expand this kitchen, you can do this, you know. I try to comfort the homeowners so they understand that, you know, yes, this might not be the dream home that you see right now, but guess what?

18:29In a few years, with the right budget, it can become the home that you want. And then, you know, as we change, as we evolve as humans, our needs change, you know, family increases or decreases due to kids moving out or going off to college or, you know, now you need a downsize, you know, the house that you have now might not be the house that you want 15 years later. So then you go look for that new house. So, you know, I want them to understand that any house can change, you know, it might not be it, but you got to have that open mind, that vision to make the home your home. and that's why I tried to bring it to my classroom.

19:12All right, so perfect. So we're heading into what's called the quickfire round. So how this works is I'm going to give you one word and then I just want you to give me the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear each word in regards to running your business and then give me kind of a little blurb after kind of like a couple of sentences. Okay. All right, first word is success. Success. Money. Perfect, and then kind of, yeah, give a couple sentences on why you chose that. So success is, I look at it as money. You're succeeding when you see that your profit is outgrowing your loss. And, you know, that's the way I look at it.

19:49You know, you don't want to be in the red. You want to be in the green. So I see that my business is succeeding and successful when I'm having more income coming in. That's the way I look at it. Yeah, I mean, you can go down and buy that brand new Corvette, right? Oh, no. Not a Corvette. not a corvette guy what kind of cars do you like i'm a drug guy okay all right well hey you know you could have the truck too but then you have the the corvette for the sunday sunday sunday rides or weekend if i know it'd be more of a shelby mustang gt500 okay oh you're ford guy okay yeah no problem with that he's like that would be my must have my weekend car be a you know forward okay mustangs are great too i love those oh next word is failure defeat i don't like that i'm feeling like i failed i don't like that feeling i don't like feeling defeated it's not something that sits well with me even if i do feel like i've been defeated i try to find the positive to get out of it.

20:56So I'm not dwelling in that realm of film failure or defeat. Burnout. Burnout. Just overwhelmed and tired. Overwhelmed, I would say. Sometimes I do get overwhelmed with, you know, trying to handle the business and life. And, you know, I just got to find that middle ground, that medium right there. So I'm balanced. If I'm not balanced, then I'll either step up at the home life or I can step up in the business. Then I can't afford to step up in the business and home life. I got to have an even playing ground. Scaling. Say that one more time. Scaling. Scaling? I don't understand. Scaling? So scaling is kind of like, you know, expanding, growing your business, basically?

21:47Oh, oh, gotcha, gotcha. I don't know what to say. I don't know one word for that, scaling. Probably opportunity in the future. Right now, I am so proud of it and I kind of like it, but I need to get more experience behind me to where I can have that referral base from people that know I'm trustworthy, that when I hire somebody on, that that person would be trustworthy to do the same quality job I provide. So it'll be in the near, it'll be in the future, but not anytime soon. Competition. Bring it on. I like, I like a good competition. In this, in this field, there is plenty of jobs out there. There's plenty of homes.

22:49And so, you know, it's good to have competition. It keeps you driven. It keeps you motivated to becoming a better person, better person at your job. And that's why I like to read a lot and learn. So whenever I'm not working, I'm actually just collecting extra CEs, continuous education. So I build a better toolbox in my mind of things to help out. And the last word is freedom. What does freedom mean to you for running your business? Peace of mind. Freedom is a peace of mind for me. The freedom to be able to do what I need to do, make my own schedule. You can't put a price on that. You know, not having to answer to anybody besides the wife.

23:40That's who my boss is. You know, it gives me, it's a luxury that I will not want to replace. I don't want to go back to a normal nine to five job or working for somebody else. Once you become like a business head and, you know, you see your goals and you see your future and that's what I'm driving for. I don't want to change that. That's such a beautiful picture that I see at the finish line. Okay, perfect. I appreciate you getting to that quickfire round here. So, you know, with all of this talk of AI and self-automation, you know, where do you think your industry is going? You know, where do you see your industry, let's say 10, 15 years from now, do you think AI and self-automation will take over?

24:26How do you see that going? Well, I see AI playing a role in helping the inspector. And it's a good thing, but it's also, it's not going to take over the profession like everybody else says. and what I mean by that is people working computer jobs or banking or whatever AI has taken those positions but as a home inspector you're walking around a home, you're looking at things and AI plays a part when you come across a new system or a new brand that this came out that you never seen just like now they have boilers that are crossed over with water heaters It's a boiler system that also a water heater for the house, but it's set to only turn the baseboard heaters on when it's 55 and below.

25:23So, you know, it's just different things like that are coming out where, you know, your phone has that feature on it where you can take a picture of it and give you information about the product. That helps out in our field because stuff's always changing. A lot of times, AC units, the Freon's always changing due to EPA, changing their rules from R22 to R410. Now you have R452, R53, Bravo. It's a frameable gas that's in the houses. Well, those units have to have a leak detection so it can show off the unit in case it detects a leak. so these are things that you know are very helpful with ai to help us with that and it does help with you know coming across situations that you've never seen that can give you an idea but you know i always reach out to other home inspectors to get some information if i come across something that i've never seen or dealt with you know there's always people to help out and that's why I like the good thing about InterNACHI.

26:34There's a huge forum on there where we can upload a picture and say, hey guys, I need help with this. Have you seen this or dealt with this? And when I am within five, ten minutes, you have replies coming back with other home inspectors throughout the whole United States saying, hey, I've done this before. Hey, that's normal. You know, it's AI can be good, but AI sometimes can be bad. But the way I look at it, Your plumbers, your HVACs, your construction workers, home inspectors, that's not going to go anywhere anytime soon. And it's likely to take over by AI. Yeah. So, Philip, what do you think your particular business will be by 2030?

27:17What do you see yourself going in the near future? by 2030 probably hiring people and just you know managing those individuals you know as we expand you know into north carolina and virginia right now i'm in virginia i want to expand into north Carolina and started doing home inspections there and just, you know, a quality team that provides quality and comprehensive inspections to, you know, people that are buying homes. Right. So, and I want you to be as candid as you can, or, you know, as honest as you can on the, on the answer to this next question, but Philip, let's say, let's say a small business owner, or small entrepreneurs listening to the podcast episode with you today, and let's say they're feeling stuck or overwhelmed, they're just not having a great go of 2026, what's a piece of advice you'd want them to hear from you?

28:16I would say get out. Go to networking events. Go to social events. The more that you are out in the community meeting other businesses, meeting people that are business mindset, you expand your knowledge. You expand how to go different avenues. If you want, there's a great opportunity. You can join the Business Networking International, BNI. There's BizConnects. There's all kinds of different groups out there that you can go to their meetings, on their weekly. There's all kinds of opportunities out there.

29:03Philip Nistal:Hey, 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.

29:50Philip Nistal:Just 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.