$2 million to $15 million | 2025 Revenue: $2,850,000
Kurt Stein hit on the idea for HouseScan Inspections during a family dinner conversation. Nearly nine years later, the company says it performs roughly 1 in 5 home inspections in Northeast Florida.
Stein, a Pittsburgh native and Pennsylvania State University engineering graduate who chose Florida to escape snow, said his date for the dinner was Stephanie Tufts, now his spouse. Her family was embedded in Jacksonville real estate, and other guests that evening included a real estate agent.
“Everybody kind of had a piece of the real estate world,” Stein said. “Issues would come up.”
Scheduling home inspections was a hassle, the group complained, and the process seemed antiquated. Pricing was often unclear, and inspectors would finish a job and then surprise clients with additional charges for reports that should have been mentioned up-front, Stein said.
Stein had experienced it himself. While closing on a rental property, his insurance company requested two documents frequently required by Florida insurers: a wind-mitigation report and a four-point inspection. Stein called the inspector, who told him it would cost another $200 for the documents, on top of the $500 he had paid weeks earlier.
“It felt like a bait and switch,” he said.
Stephanie’s father suggested Stein start a home inspection company. Stein, who has an industrial engineering background and operations experience at the Maxwell House coffee plant in Downtown Jacksonville, said he had been thinking similarly.
“I kind of knew how the operational side of businesses worked,” he said.
Over the next several weeks, Stein researched the industry, spoke with real estate agents, studied common customer complaints and worked toward obtaining his home inspector license.
He launched HouseScan Inspections in late 2017.
Stein, 35, wasn’t trying to reinvent the home inspection industry, he said. Instead, he focused on improving a series of small operational details that collectively created a better experience for homebuyers and real estate agents.
HouseScan was among the first inspection companies in Jacksonville to offer online scheduling and transparent pricing posted on its website, Stein said.
The company also bundled wind-mitigation and four-point inspection reports into its standard service at no additional charge. Stein said the documents — often sold separately by competitors — typically take only a few minutes to complete.
HouseScan inspectors also began carrying infrared cameras to detect moisture, electrical issues and missing insulation behind walls and ceilings.
Just as important, Stein said, was the time inspectors spent with clients after the inspection.
Post-inspection walk-throughs became standard practice, with inspectors spending 15 to 30 minutes explaining their findings and helping clients understand which issues required immediate attention and which were less significant.
“We just wanted to be matter-of-fact,” Stein said. “This is going on. This is definitely an issue. This is an issue but not that big of an issue.”
Still, the company’s early years were not easy.
“For lack of a better term, you’re just eating it for a long time,” Stein said. “Just getting hit on the chin, nonstop, for three years.”
Like many new service businesses, HouseScan faced the slow process of building relationships and earning referrals in a crowded industry. Stability came gradually. Around year five, so did scale.
Today, HouseScan employs about 20 full-time employees, including inspectors, managers and office staff who handle scheduling, client communication and permits.
The company has completed more than 20,000 inspections since its founding, Stein said.
Stein credits much of that growth to employee retention, a persistent challenge in an industry where newly trained inspectors often leave to start competing businesses.
At HouseScan, new inspectors complete six to eight months of one-on-one training before working independently.
The investment is significant, Stein said, but it improves consistency and helps build loyalty among employees.
As the company has grown, inspectors no longer drive across Northeast Florida for appointments.
Most now work near their homes in and around Jacksonville and St. Johns County, which Stein said improves both efficiency and quality of life.
Stein also credits Director of Operations Jillian Walker and Manager Devin Johnson with helping the company scale.
“I’d like to think we have a great culture,” he said. “We listen to our employees. Everybody has steadily gotten higher compensation. We’ve added benefits over the years.”
Stein said in its first five years, the company relied on a blend of grassroots marketing with flyers, one-on-one meetings with brokers and social media to raise its profile. Then came referrals.
With operations in the Jacksonville market established, the company now plans to expand geographically. One inspector already has opened a HouseScan office in Charleston, South Carolina.
Stein also is actively recruiting inspectors in several Florida counties, including Flagler, Nassau, Putnam and Volusia.
He is eyeing larger metro areas such as Orlando, Tallahassee and Tampa.
The goal, Stein said, is to grow methodically while maintaining the service standards that helped the company gain traction in Northeast Florida.
“Our goal is to own Florida,” he said. “And long-term, to have a HouseScan in every city in America.”
Within Florida, the company plans to continue operating with employee inspectors, Stein said.
Outside of the state, he envisions a franchise or licensing model with local operators running day-to-day operations using systems and infrastructure developed in Jacksonville.
Looking back, Stein said he sometimes wonders what he would have told himself before launching the business nearly a decade ago.
“I probably wouldn’t have gone into business, knowing how difficult it would have been,” he said. “It’s just an absolute grind.”
Still, Stein said the experience has been worth it.
“I wouldn’t trade it for anything,” he said.
Stein, Stephanie and their 3-year-old daughter, Hampton, live in Neptune Beach.