Assured Home Services owner Jim Robinson will celebrate 22 years of home inspections with a Customer Appreciation Day Saturday at Bathtub Row Brewing Cooperative. Courtesy photo
COMMUNITY NEWS
Assured Home Services, a local home inspection company, will be holding a Customer Appreciation Day from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 23, at the Bathtub Row Brewing Cooperative. The Tub will be open for regular business during the party.
Jim Robinson began Assured Home Services at the end of 2002. A significant back injury while working in construction led him to reexamine his career options.
“In the late 90’s, I was working at Pajarito Mountain as a chair lift operator. One of my co-workers, who will remain anonymous, was working as a home inspector at the time. I had never even heard of it. His personality was not great for interacting with people. I remember thinking that if this guy could make a living at this job, then I surely could. It turns out that he couldn’t make a living out of it, but it was an excellent career shift for me”,” Robinson said. “I have really enjoyed being part of the home buying process for the people in Los Alamos and Northern New Mexico. It’s been rewarding to provide information about the houses and properties that people are considering. Helping first time buyers with the stressful aspect of objectively looking at the condition of the house they wanted to buy was especially fulfilling.”
Since beginning in 2003 with a house on San Juan on Barranca Mesa, Jim has inspected almost 3,700 homes for clients. Four lab directors, and the Oppenheimer and Bethe houses are included in that list.
The largest by far inspected by Robinson was a property in Abiquiu owned by the actress Marcia Mason.
“It was so big it took me two full days for the inspection, and one to write up the report. There really wasn’t a whole lot wrong with it, but it was just massive. I think it had 16 fireplaces if my memory is correct. The guest house was a three bedroom house, with two efficiency apartments inside. It was like a Russian nesting doll. That one actually just recently listed again for sale at $16 million if you are interested,: he said.
One of the smaller properties was a yurt in the village of Cundiyo.
“It was interesting, because it was sort of a tent and sort of a complete house. I couldn’t walk on the roof, so I hope it didn’t leak after I left. I tried to get out of that inspection, but it was for the daughter of a friend, and she was very insistent that I do the inspection for her,” Robinson said.
He noted that there were some lean years at first.
“It can take a while for a new business to build up a good reputation. For the first few years, I worked part time building decks and projects like that to fill in the gaps when business was slow. By the time the Lab contract changed over the first time in 2006, things were starting to go pretty well. When the real estate market crashed in 2008, things got pretty slow, but enough critical mass was present to keep things afloat, Robinson said. “The busiest year was in 2016, with 340 inspections recorded that year. The Covid years were a little slower, and presented additional challenges for the real estate industry.”
The last few years Assured Home Services has been operating on more of a part time basis while Jim and his wife Lisa enjoy spending some time traveling.
The party on the Aug. 23 will feature live rock and roll from musical mercenary Andy Primm and Second World, from Santa Fe. The music will begin at some point after 3:00 p.m. on the patio, weather permitting. Burgers, brats and some side dishes will be available until they run out. There is no expectation that the Tub will run out of beer, Robinson said.
A final decision has not been made at this time, but it is likely that retirement is imminent for Jim.
“Business will definitely continue up until Christmas. Assured Home Services would like to thank the many buyers, sellers, real estate agents, title companies, and everyone else involved in the home buying process for a 22 year career that exceeded all of the original expectations,” Robinson said.
A final quote from Jim about his career in Los Alamos is “Los Alamos is really a wonderful place to live and work. The real estate agents are all very professional and competent. My wife grew up here, but I had never been here before we moved here in 1994. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. I love it here, and we have no plans to leave. We built our forever home here a few years ago, and plan to remain in it as long as we can. I hope to see as many of you as I can on the 23rd.”