From the vibrant shores of Brazil to the bustling real estate market of Florida, Cesar Costa's journey is nothing short of inspirational. Our latest conversation with the mastermind behind Housemaster Inspections unearths the transformative tale of a corporate aficionado turning into a franchise maestro, while facing the challenges of relocation and embracing the nuances of a new culture. Cesar's unique perspective blends technical savvy with an intimate understanding of what homes in Broward County truly need—be it battling mold, termites, or the unseen perils lurking within the walls.
As we delve into the essence of Cesar's world, we discover more than just the intricacies of home inspection. This episode is a celebration of life's tapestry, weaving in the joy of family achievements, the zest for hobbies that rejuvenate, and the shared experiences of travel that bond. Cesar's story is a testament to the power of pursuing passion with purpose, and his commitment to safeguarding homeowners' investments through Housemaster Inspections shines through. Tune in and absorb the wisdom that could be the key to not only protecting your home but enriching your life's journey.
From the vibrant shores of Brazil to the bustling real estate market of Florida, Cesar Costa's journey is nothing short of inspirational. Our latest conversation with the mastermind behind Housemaster Inspections unearths the transformative tale of a corporate aficionado turning into a franchise maestro, while facing the challenges of relocation and embracing the nuances of a new culture. Cesar's unique perspective blends technical savvy with an intimate understanding of what homes in Broward County truly need—be it battling mold, termites, or the unseen perils lurking within the walls.
As we delve into the essence of Cesar's world, we discover more than just the intricacies of home inspection. This episode is a celebration of life's tapestry, weaving in the joy of family achievements, the zest for hobbies that rejuvenate, and the shared experiences of travel that bond. Cesar's story is a testament to the power of pursuing passion with purpose, and his commitment to safeguarding homeowners' investments through Housemaster Inspections shines through. Tune in and absorb the wisdom that could be the key to not only protecting your home but enriching your life's journey.
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Jeremy Wolf.
Speaker 2:
Hello, hello everyone, friends, family, universe, everyone out there. Thank you so much for joining us. Welcome back to another episode of the Good Neighbor Podcast. I am your co-host, I'm your not co-host, I'm your host. Goodness gracious me, it is a funky day today, but I'm sitting here with Cesar Costa. Cesar joins us from Housemaster Inspections. Cesar, thanks for joining us, brother.
Speaker 3:
It's my pleasure.
Speaker 2:
Thank you so much for inviting me. Yeah, of course, brother, this is what we do, and thanks, as always, to our listeners for tuning in to learn more about our great community and all of the lovely businesses that serve us. So, cesar, please tell everybody a little bit about Housemaster.
Speaker 3:
All right. So I'm Daron of Housemaster Home Inspections. It's a franchise. They have been in business for 40 years and here in Broward I do a little more than home inspections. Home inspections are usually requested for someone that is buying a home so the buyer can get an evaluation of the conditions of the house, so they can know a little bit more about the conditions of the property before finalizing the deal.
Speaker 3:
But in addition to home inspections, here in Florida it's very common mold If drywall gets wet. You know, in acs there's mold outside as well, especially for people that have allergies. So I'm also mold assessor and I do mold testing, testing, assessment protocols, recommendations in terms of mold. Okay, also here in florida termites are very common from From Orlando town. It's so hot and humid. Termites just love the tropics, they love humidity, they love water and goes hand in hand with mold.
Speaker 3:
So I am also a pest control operator so I do termite inspections and I can spray on some base stations, depending on what is the case, to help people to have their services. So this trio is very rare to find someone that has all those three licenses. So I'm like a three-in-one home inspector, board assessor and a best guy, and my company also here offers a lot of services. Every time that I saw a problem, I tried to find a solution and avoid that to happen again. I try to find a solution and avoid that to happen again. For example, we closed several houses with a pool and the buyer found out that the pool was leaking and they asked me well how I can find out before I buy the house.
Speaker 3:
So I have a liquidation for swimming pool, which is very convenient. Also, I work with a lot of people in Hollywood, fort Lauderdale. They're buying homes from the 70s and the drain line the piping usually is made of cast iron and after 50 years in the ground that pipe might be gone. So it's a good idea to know the conditions of the piping before they close the deal. So I have a camera scope, I have drones for tall buildings and commercial inspection. I have a level two certification for infrared so I do the thermal imaging for properties and on my team they have all the equipment as well. So it's a very vast range of services that we provide for people that are buying homes.
Speaker 2:
That's interesting. I hadn't heard of the. I've heard of inspections with the mold aspect, but I hadn't heard with the other thing that you mentioned in addition, which was the remind me again Mold termites, termites yes, termites.
Speaker 3:
I told you it's a funky day, brother.
Speaker 2:
Things are escaping me today Termites, termites, yes, termites. I told you it's a funky day, brother, things are escaping me today. But I did want to ask though you mentioned this is a franchise and you mentioned you do work in Fort Lauderdale. Pembroke Pines Is your territory, your area, broward County? What specific areas do you serve so that when listeners hear this, they know if you can help them specifically?
Speaker 3:
Awesome. So I live in Cooper City. My office is in Davie, so I'm local here, but I serve the entire Broward County, okay, and I also have another branch in Orlando that I serve Orlando from Winter Park, simi to the villages, so it's a vast area in Orlando as well, but I live here in Cooper City so I'm local.
Speaker 2:
Oh, very cool. Welcome neighbor. I also live in Cooper City. It's good to have you. So when did you get involved with House Messengers? When did you purchase into the franchise? How long ago was that?
Speaker 3:
That was eight years ago, almost nine now.
Speaker 2:
And so what was your background leading up to that? Had you been involved in that space and inspections, or did you have a totally different life up until then? Talk a little bit about the journey that kind of led you to Housemaster.
Speaker 3:
Okay, and that's a great question. So I used to work for big multinational companies. I worked for Intel, global Crossing, lucent Technologies, yahoo in business development. So I was helping big corporations to launch new products, enter new markets, expand their business. So it was always helping to bring technology to new markets. So I always loved the challenge of applying and selling technology and difficult to understand things.
Speaker 3:
So my kids were considering coming to US and studying here for college. So I told my wife, why don't we go with them? And I always wanted to have my own business as well. So I said I'm going to buy a franchise in the US and start my own business there. And because I love technical things, I like construction, I built my own house in Brazil when I was living there. I said you know, I'm going to find something that is related to construction and real estate that I love so much, that has a very highly technical aspect and also involves building a team and developing the business. So I think Housemaster was a perfect match. I hired a consultant to help me to find out the business and I couldn't be happier.
Speaker 2:
So this was eight years ago. Were you in Brazil at the time when you were looking for a business here. So you came over to the US and simultaneously started a business as well.
Speaker 3:
Yes, yes, actually, the beginning was a little rougher than that.
Speaker 2:
I imagine it's difficult enough, just kind of coming from another country to start a business while you do that. Hats off to you, kudos.
Speaker 3:
Yeah, sold. I sold everything that I had, right, I sold my, my personal things um, my kids, they sold their toys, everything. We came with two suitcases each one. We sold them, our house and everything else and I came. My initial idea was to be partners of a friend that had a construction company. He was selling steel frame modules for prefabricated residential that was the idea.
Speaker 3:
And I started that business with him and after almost one year it didn't work. The partners were not right, the guy didn't have the right skills, didn't have the right strategy. We got a lot of resistance from the market to introduce new building technology and I said, no, I need to figure out. And then I was here. My visa was dependent on the, on the business. That was not working. I said, oh, I need to restart and and find something quick. So I started to search here. When I found out that this idea that I had was not working, I pivoted. I said, no, I'm going to just get this franchise. I found the owner here in Broward that was willing to sell. He was very cooperative, so we were able to find a good way to transition the company and then that's all I had.
Speaker 3:
I had to make that work to be able to pay for the losses from the other business, to pay for the bills. So the beginning was very hard. It was two or three years of very, very hard work and, as everybody knows, when you start a new business, even if you get from somewhere that was running before, you lose money at the beginning because you're investing, you're building, you're hiring people, you're training you're trying to get new places, new offices, to develop the local relationships and after two or three years I said, oh my God am I doing the?
Speaker 2:
right thing and everything works Now.
Speaker 3:
I'm happy I'm expanding. I went to Orlando. I'm having more people now it has been a ride.
Speaker 2:
How long ago did you open the Orlando branch?
Speaker 3:
A year ago.
Speaker 2:
A year ago. All right, cool man. So, looking back, having come over here eight years ago, what was one of the biggest challenges transitioning from Brazil over to the US and one of the biggest rewards in doing so?
Speaker 3:
Okay, I think the biggest challenges it was there was too many moving parts at the same time. So I was moving with the family and the family was trying to get adapted, the kids going to school, trying to make friends. We didn't know anybody and we didn't know where to go. I need to have a haircut. Where do I go? So we're trying to figure out how to make the life work. Then I got the company, so I was trying to learn the business, how to become an inspector, how to run the company, and then I was learning how to sell in newest in a completely different scenario than I was used to, with different people, different culture, different methods of selling, running a small business. And the same time, I was trying to get figure out with financing, having access to capital, which is very hard when you start a business.
Speaker 3:
I was trying to get my visa solved, which was a challenge, trying to make new friends and finding opportunities also to have a life. So it was too many moving parts at the same time during a short period of time, which was which was a lot.
Speaker 2:
but really a lot. Yeah, so sounds like quite a bit to deal with. So again, on the other side of that, now, having faced all those challenges and gone through all those growing pains and struggles and uncertainties and everything that you faced along the way, sitting here today looking back, what's the biggest reward for putting all that work in?
Speaker 3:
Well, my biggest, my biggest reward, I think, is my family. As I mentioned before, I came here because my kids wanted to go to attend college in us. So my son ended up going to Boston college, my daughter went to Villanova. They chose the schools. We visited all the schools possible. They chose what was best for them. They were accepted. My son just graduated and he's working now. Thank you. My daughter has just one year to go, so I was able to make their dreams come true.
Speaker 2:
And I think that was the biggest reward. Oh man, you're giving me goosebumps. I'm getting all warm and fuzzy. I love this. I love hearing this because I got a 10-year-old and a 12-year-old and I'm not far behind you and I'm visualizing the future when I go checking colleges and having them get through. So that's just going to be so rewarding man. That's awesome.
Speaker 3:
Yeah, it is. It is. They feel happy, but we as parents, we feel 10 times happier, right that's I always said.
Speaker 2:
When it comes to like people that don't have children, like you have a certain rate without children, you have a certain range of emotions, range of experiences, right, good and bad, and it's a spectrum, and as soon as you have children, that spectrum increases like infinitely.
Speaker 2:
Right, it's like a hundred times in both directions like seeing your child have success. It just warms your heart like no other. And then seeing them struggle, it hurts like no other. Yeah, that's true, such a joy, such a joy. So what do you, guys, when you're not working, when you're not putting in all the work and hustling out there?
Speaker 3:
what do you like to do for fun? Well, I like to do a lot of things, and I also like to spend time with the kids my daughter and my son. My daughter likes to go to the beaches and paddle, so I go with her. My son played golf in high school he was the golf captain of the team so I'm learning to play golf so I can spend some time with him A golfing, which is very good. My wife loves to travel, so I travel with her when I can Do you get back to Brazil often, or no?
Speaker 3:
We go to Brazil, we go in the US, we went to Europe a few times.
Speaker 2:
Yeah.
Speaker 3:
We went to Italy, france, we went to London. So we love traveling.
Speaker 1:
And for myself. I like sailing.
Speaker 3:
So when I have some time and wind conditions is good, I go kite surfing in Dannebich. That's something that I just love to do.
Speaker 2:
I could see it now in the future. You're going to get your own giant sailboat and you're going to travel around the world and go visit all these wonderful places.
Speaker 3:
It was one of my ideas. I have a friend that has a sailboat and I went with him. It's a lot of fun, but it's a lot of work to maintain the boat and everything else.
Speaker 2:
The idea feels liberating right.
Speaker 1:
You go out to sea and just leave for months and just go travel the world. That sounds like fun.
Speaker 2:
Before we wrap up here, what would be a piece of advice, some kind of wisdom, something you can give to listeners out there pertaining to your business? Right, housemaster Inspections? What can people do to protect their assets, make sure that they don't have issues in the future? What's some advice you can give?
Speaker 3:
Okay, so well. My advice is always to consider doing home inspections when you're buying a property and not try to evaluate everything by yourself. But not only that, it's finding a good company. Not everybody can look at mold, termites, leaks, plumbing, infrared, drones and have all the tools. Most of the inspectors are so basic. They do help you, but the level of help is just very small. So having someone like me and like Housemaster to do more complete assessment of the conditions of the house is going to help them a long way to protect their investment, to avoid issues, to decide better on what they're doing and also when you're getting renewals with insurance, if they need to do a four-point win mitigation sometimes the insurance sends you a letter, your policy was canceled, right, so call me.
Speaker 3:
Get a roof certification. We can always provide documentation for the insurance to restate the policy. Don't get desperate with insurance. Insurance has been a critical issue in Florida and we can help everybody to have their assessments for insurance or for their acquisitions, so they can protect the investment.
Speaker 3:
The property inspection is not perfect, right, we cannot guarantee that after a storm our roofings are not going to leak, our price is not going to break, our homes have maintenance. But at least having that snapshot in time and having the assessment of the conditions at the time of the inspection to have an idea on what they are getting is a very long and good help for them.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, absolutely Cesar. How can our listeners learn more? Anyone out there that is either looking to buy a house, or maybe they have their house. They need to get new insurance, they need to get a new four-point inspection, new wind mitigation, anything like that. How can they reach you? Please share your website, your contact information.
Speaker 3:
Yeah, call me 944-900-6056. And my staff is going to help you right away. And my staff is going to help you right away.
Speaker 2:
All right, good to know, and we will, of course, put a link in the description with all of your contact information. Cesar, thank you so much for joining us today. It was a pleasure getting the opportunity to meet you and learn a little bit about what you do, so again, truly thanks for joining us.
Speaker 3:
Awesome, it's my pleasure.
Speaker 2:
All right, brother, have a great day To our listeners. Thanks so much for tuning in and we will catch everyone next time on the next episode of the Good Neighbor Podcast.
Speaker 1:
Take care. Thanks for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast Cooper City. To nominate your favorite local business to be featured on the show, go to GNPCooperCitycom. That's GNPCoercitycom, or call 954-231-3170.