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A-1 Home Inspections, Inc. was Founded and Incorporated Feb. 8th 1990, by Moe & Dot Couture. It is and always has been a Family own and operated business. Clients deal only with the Couture's. A-1 is Not a Franchise. It was during the Winter of 1989/90 that injuries necessitated a change of careers for Moe who had worked for a prominent Electrical Contractor for 28 years as a Construction Supervisor in charge of large Commercial and Industrial Projects in the southern part of New Hampshire. A Career Opportunity to become a Home Inspector presented itself and caught Moe’s Interest. Because of his extensive training in the construction field, not only as an Electrician, but as a Home Builder and Land Developer, combined with the entrepreneurial skills of his wife Dot, who had worked side by side with him through all their Real Estate activities as well as most other endeavors, this new career opportunity seemed a natural progression in a long line of Construction related Businesses. So off they went to Oregon to get their training in the Home Inspection Field. They opened doors in the worst possible Real Estate market imaginable. After the glut of the 80's, a deep recession had just about shut down the market. Realtors, at that time were struggling to make ends meet and they were not very enthused with this new "can of worms" called Home Inspections. Marketing the new Business, at that time, was a real challenge with Property Foreclosures taking up at least six pages daily in the Newspapers. Those were the days when the Realtors would throw your promotional material into the garbage can as soon as you left their office, or if the Inspector dared to say anything derogatory about the house they were inspecting, all your materials, in their offices, would disappear. There are still Realtors that think this way. Some have the perfect right, due to the lack of Licensing or Mandatory Training in N.H. The lack of competency of many Home Inspectors is very evident in the amount of expensive bad judgment calls and major problems not detected due mostly from lack of knowledge and integrity, in this field. June of 1998, Dan began full time training under Moe while attending school to learn the trade of Home Inspecting. Although Dan has never been employed in the construction field, having spent a great deal of time involved with the families Real Estate and Construction ventures this was a natural progression and training went quickly. Dan began his solo career March of 1999 after completing Certification Training with The School of Building Inspections, Level 1 and 2 Core Courses. During this time Dan also completed more than 150 Home Inspections under the direct supervision of Moe. As it turned out, no one anticipated this to be an important step in the A-1 history. December of 2000, Moe slipped on a roof during a home inspection landing himself in the hospital with two broken arms and a concussion. Dan became the sole full time Inspector for A-1, Moe was semi retired to handling phone calls, scheduling and book keeping while Dot retired to a well deserved rest. Had Dan not joined the company shortly before the accident, you may not be reading this today. March first, 2004, Moe officially retired. Dan purchased the business and took over duties as President of the Corporation. Nancy Irlbacher, Dan's Partner, was named Treasurer and has taken over answering phones, scheduling Inspections, and dealing with the financial aspects of the Company. The Company currently operates out of their home in beautiful Hopkinton NH. Today, due to our Top-Notch service, expertise, knowledge and people skills, our business is thriving. Word of Mouth is our largest contributor, followed by Yellow Pages and promotional Brochures set out in Real Estate Offices, Loan office and other Real Estate affiliated Companies. This is a good mix as we work for our Clients, Not for Realtors. We've come a long way, through the years, and by continually re-educating ourselves in the Home Inspection Field, we hope to continue to continue to provide A-1 service to our Clients in years to come.
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