My clients sometimes are surprised when I tell them I have experience in both construction and journalism. While this combination may be unusual, I think it makes me a better home inspector. For almost 20 years, I worked as a carpenter and general contractor, mostly renovating houses and small multifamily buildings on Chicago's North Side, or in the northern suburbs. I'm familiar with the homes in this area because I've worked on dozens of them. I spent another 10 years or so in journalism, including a stint at Fine Homebuilding magazine, one of the nation's leading sources of information on residential building. For most of us, buying real estate is a big step. I'd be happy to help you with that by getting you as much information as possible about the property you're interested in.