Property inspectors delight in the details

When he is not working on getting his handicap down to a nine at the golf course near his house in Rancho El Dorado, John Haag is busy working hard to keep his business growing.

Not long ago, John would have found it hard to believe he would ever have time to improve his golf game. But thanks to the success of his business, National Property Inspections (NPI), he has hired another employee to take some of the work load.

John and his wife, Rute, started with NPI four years ago in Casa Grande and recently moved to Maricopa with their four children.

“We absolutely adore Maricopa,” John said. “We want to see it grow.”

NPI is a franchise company that began in 1987. The Haags bought the Pinal County franchise rights in 2009.

NPI specializes in property inspections for new homes, resales, commercial properties and foreclosures. They also do warranty inspections. The company assesses how things are working within the structure and check for major electrical and plumbing issues, as well as simple things like nicks in the walls or stucco damage.

“It’s basically giving the folks a full evaluation of the house from the foundation to the roof and everything in between,” John said.

John and his employee, Jeff Arellano, are both certified, licensed, bonded and insured and do not cut corners when inspecting a house. Their training sets them apart from their competition, according to Haag.

“We go into places. You know, we walk roofs, we go into attics, and we check furnaces,” Haag said.

While John inspects the homes, Rute handles the business operations from answering phones to making sure inspection requests are completed within the state-mandated 10-day deadline.

“I make sure all the I’s are dotted and T’s are crossed,” Rute said.

Resale inspections help NPI’s clients and their Realtors make educated decisions about whether to buy the house.

“We put together easy-to-read reports that are usually 40 to 50 pages and delivered the same day,” John said.

Another practice John said sets his business apart from other home inspectors is his use of thermography when inspecting a house. They scan properties with infrared guns that check beneath the surface for insulation and energy-loss issues.

“It works on a wavelength that our eye can’t see, so it allows us to see variations in temperature,” he said.