Meet Diane DeCocq of Haven Home and Property Inspections in Gilbert

Today we’d like to introduce you to Diane DeCocq.

So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
As sometimes happens in life, one becomes clear in the midst of chaos. That’s what happened to my wife, Kathy, and I.

I have always loved being creative and working with my hands. I built custom, handmade furniture from 2011 to 2018. At the time, I was embarking on a new business venture, launching a new oak furniture line. On my way to the photo shoot for the launch, I was stopped at a light and suddenly felt a sharp, crushing impact. My body thrust forward, the seat failed, and I found myself laying down on my back. I was in pain, literally stopped dead in my tracks from making the photoshoot launch.

The furniture was ruined, the photo shoot canceled, and I hurt for months afterward. I could no longer stand, sit, or bend without pain.

The time I spent recovering gave me the opportunity to re-evaluate my life purpose, only to realize my heart really wasn’t in the furniture business anymore and the true passion was real estate.

My accident was the catalyst for my partner Kathy and I to transition into real estate. During that time, Kathy had worked in the corporate world for many years. Kathy felt like a cog in the corporate machine, and wanted a career change too, away from the slog of the 9-5, into something that sparked her creativity and passion.

Our passion
One of the things that brought us together was our love of houses. Our weekends and days off were spent viewing as many open houses as possible. We followed the housing market and became accurate predictors of how long a house might sit for and what the selling price would be.

Eventually, we began investing in houses together. We found that taking a sad, poorly maintained house and turning it into a welcoming and safe home – a haven – was deeply satisfying. That’s when we became clear about our passion. That’s when Haven was born.

Our passion for home inspection began from experiences buying and selling homes and dealing with costly surprises ourselves. As real estate investors and years of experience flipping homes, we gained a trained eye for evaluating potential issues which evolved into our home inspection craft.

The world of real estate is a big one, but it didn’t take long for us to hone in on home inspections as the launching point for our new business. After encouragement from a trusted real estate agent, I enrolled in Home Inspection School just five weeks after my accident.

Today, we’re living our passions through Haven Home and Property Inspections. Our mission is to empower our clients to make confident decisions by providing thorough, expert inspections explained without the confusing industry jargon. We understand home inspection can be stressful and we alleviate that stress by walking you through every step of the process, making sure you get honest, straight forward advice. Our goal is to make sure your new home is a haven in the making.

Has it been a smooth road?
Like any new business venture, there are struggles and growing pains along the way. One area, we really identified as an opportunity was the emotional aspect. We are a woman-owned and operated home inspection company and very in-tune with the emotions our customers experience. Purchasing a home is one of the biggest investments you’ll make. That’s why home inspections can be stressful, but they don’t have to be.

Coming to the home inspection stage of the process means that you may have a certain emotional investment in the property. You carry that emotion with you when you attend a Home Inspection and the Inspector is, in essence, someone you have hired to tell you what is wrong with your dream home. We understand that it can be a very negative experience and we aim to change that. We’ll not only inform you of the problems, but we’ll highlight the positive aspects of the home so that you get an honest, well-rounded picture. To us, a home inspection is about empowering buyers to make a decision that’s right for them. We want you and your home to live your best life.

So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Haven Home and Property Inspections story. Tell us more about the business.
We are very proud to be a woman-owned and operated home inspection company who serves home buyers by providing quality home inspections that give peace of mind so that you can avoid any surprises down the road.

We believe in:

Honest, thorough inspections above and beyond industry standards.
Being respectful of the buyer’s frame of mind when going through a stressful process.
Highlighting the special, unique characteristics of a home.
Presenting a home’s areas of concern with understandable language.
Building warm relationships with our clients in a relaxed environment.
Honest and open communication.
Empowering our clients with well-rounded information.
Giving back to our community through Haven Helps and giving 5% of each inspection to local charities.

Tell us about your childhood, what were you like growing up?
Growing up, I could be easily summarized as a Tomboy. I loved riding bikes through the neighborhood, hiking with my Mom, building model rockets with my Dad and generally engaging in shenanigans with my brother and sisters. My brother and I were closest in age and spent much of our time together. I suppose you could say we were born with an entrepreneurial spirit! I recall one time when I was about eight and my brother, Andrew, was seven. While at the Home Improvement store with our parents, we took MANY of the paint sample color cards and then went around door to door to our neighbors, trying to sell these paint sample cards. Much to our dismay, we did not sell any.

A few years later, while walking around our neighborhood, we came across a large slab of marble. Which we promptly split into smaller pieces, did our best at trying to clean them up and painted words on them like “Dad” and “Mom.” Naturally, we went around door to door to our neighbors, selling our goods. However, this time we made almost $20!!

It should be no surprise that today, we both own and operate our own small businesses.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.haveninspect.com
• Phone: 4803132792
• Email: info@haveninspect.com
• Instagram: haven_home_inspections
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HavenHomeAndPropertyInspections/

Image Credit:
The R2 Studio

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