SWFL-HI.com – Don't forget the dash!

I had a customer in Fort Myers with a newly installed roof. During my inspection, I found a broken deck plank (pictured to the right) — it must have broken sometime after the secondary water barrier and shingles were installed. Neither the city inspectors nor the roofing company had any way of knowing, since it was only visible from inside the attic; if anyone had stepped on that exact spot they would have fallen straight through. I contacted the roofing company, and they came out the very next day to make the repair. Had the customer refused their inspection, this issue would have gone uncorrected.

A wind mitigation inspection is a home evaluation performed by a licensed inspector to document the specific building features that help a property withstand hurricane-force winds. In Florida, this typically includes checking the roof’s construction type and shape, the age and condition of the roof covering, how the roof deck is attached to the frame, whether the roof-to-wall connections use clips or straps, the presence of secondary water resistance (like a sealed roof deck), and whether windows and doors have impact-resistant glass or shutters. The inspector fills out a standardized form (the Uniform Mitigation Verification Inspection Form, OIR-B1-1802) that documents these features with photos and measurements.

The purpose of the inspection is to give homeowners access to insurance discounts. Florida law requires insurance companies to offer premium credits for wind-resistant features, since homes built or retrofitted to better withstand hurricanes cause fewer and less severe claims. A stronger roof-to-wall connection or a newer roof, for example, can significantly lower the risk of major wind damage, and insurers pass some of that reduced risk on to the homeowner in the form of lower premiums. Given how high property insurance costs have climbed in Florida in recent years, a wind mitigation inspection is one of the more reliable ways for homeowners to reduce their annual premium, and the certificate is generally valid for five years before it needs to be renewed.

For more in-depth information about wind mitigation inspections, please visit our informational site: Wind-Mitigation.info

Your contractor chooses inspectors from a pool of local inspectors to perform a wind mitigation inspection at the conclusion of their work for a number of very important reasons.

Whenever a wind mitigation related change is made to your home, you should have a new inspection performed and submit that report to your insurance agency.

The sole reason for them offering this inspection is not for a “Rebate” to help cover the cost of the work they performed, there are numerous other reasons they include this inspection. These reasons include, but are not limited to, those listed below on this page.

This inspection report is the primary way of letting your insurance company know you’ve had a new roof installed. Even before the recent string of hurricanes and the ongoing insurance crisis in the state, insurance companies were dropping customers with roofs over 10–15 years old with little or no notice. This inspection helps you avoid scrambling to get an up-to-date wind mitigation report and searching for a new insurer in a difficult market. Also, if your home is over 20 years old and you’ve been dropped, your new company will require an additional 4-point inspection (and the 4-point inspection must be less than 10 days old if you’re on bank-forced insurance). Headaches like those can be avoided by having this inspection.

Due to the work performed, your existing wind mitigation report is now void. Once a wind-mitigation-related change is made to your home, Florida law automatically invalidates any prior report. That’s actually to your benefit — it ensures your insurance company has an accurate, current picture of your home, and the upgrade may qualify you for a lower premium.

The Uniform Mitigation Verification Inspection Form (OIR-B1-1802, Rev. 04/26) used for your inspection is a required document. Virtually every Florida insurance company requires a current wind mitigation inspection to issue a quote — without one, your options shrink dramatically, or getting insured at all can become impossible.

With the ongoing insurance crisis in our state, the odds you’ll need this report are high even if you have no plans to switch companies. Since 2022, over 30 insurance companies have gone bankrupt or left Florida — more than 50% of the companies that were writing policies here. If you ever need to change insurers within the next 5 years, an up-to-date wind mitigation report showing your new roof (or other upgrade) will be required before they’ll cover you.

You want to make sure the wind-resistance work you had done meets the requirements to qualify for insurance discount credits. Customers regularly tell me they saw around $1,400+ in savings after a new roof, or $750–$950/year after a third-nail retrofit. Every home and insurer is different — the age and material of the old roof play a factor — but most customers report significant savings, with a typical discount of 15–25% for a new roof. If you’ve paid your premium in full for the year, most companies issue a refund check quickly, which you can use to lower your mortgage escrow or offset the cost of the upgrade. After that, you’ll keep the savings for years to come.

After witnessing the impact to our area from Hurricane Ian, we all now know the potential danger of living in Southwest Florida. You will want to ensure that the work performed by your contractor meets the wind resistance requirements expected for the safety of your property and life. I’ll also note on the report other items your home has that offer wind resistance or impact protection. The report may also show where you can improve your safety with other additional updates in the future.

You want the insurance company to have an accurate representation of what your home has, and any improvements you may have made, so there can be no dispute about the coverage value/age of those items should something happen. For example, you might spend tens of thousands of dollars on impact-rated hurricane windows and doors. While they’re impact-rated, they can still crack. If they’re damaged in a storm, a picky insurer could get technical and deny the claim simply because they were unaware you’d installed expensive impact-rated glass.

You should still have this inspection done if you self-insure. There’s no cost to you, and it verifies your contractor’s work meets wind-resistance standards, giving you peace of mind. City and county inspectors don’t check the attic, so my inspection can catch things theirs can’t — broken deck planking, for example, is only visible from inside the attic. Insurance companies offer discount credits for specific features because those features lower the risk of property damage, injury, and death — so this report gives you a clear picture of where your home stands and what you could do to reduce your own financial and physical risk. There’s no cost for the inspection, and it typically takes under 30 minutes; in most cases all you need to do is open the garage door for attic access.(if that’s it’s location).

If there are deficiencies, or improvements that could be made, this report shows you what to address to better protect your home and potentially unlock additional discounts. Some fixes pay for themselves almost immediately through years of savings; others take longer but bring peace of mind either way. You’ll have what you need to weigh your options and choose the level of protection that fits your budget.

There’s no cost for the inspection, and it shows prospective buyers what discounts the property currently qualifies for — while confirming your new roof, windows, doors, shutters, or third-nail retrofit was installed to wind-resistant standards. You’ll also keep receiving any insurance discount credits until the property sells. Most inspections take under 30 minutes; in most cases all you need to do is open the garage door for attic access. The buyer will be required to have a wind mitigation report before they can get insurance, and should be able to use yours as a starting point — if a name change is needed, there’s no charge. Saving the buyer time and money can help speed up the sale.

No. I’m an independent, one-person inspection company — I’m the only inspector, though I do have one part-time employee, Krista, who works 2–3 days a week handling callbacks, scheduling, and travel routing.

Companies select me from a pool of local licensed inspectors, since many insurance carriers require or prefer wind mitigation forms to be completed by an independent third party. Technically, I work for you: the inspection agreement is signed with you, and the report is issued in the homeowner’s name. Who pays my fee has zero effect on my findings — I have no incentive either way. I’m required by my license to document everything I see with photographs, invoices, and permits; I can’t rely on a “best guess,” and I’m not willing to let anything slide and risk my license, your property, or your safety.

I inspect as a subcontractor for several companies, and I only do repeat work for reputable ones. Finding an issue that slipped by city / county inspectors is rare and typically found in the attic where they do not inspect. On the few occasions it happens, it’s always been corrected promptly. I won’t inspect for a company with a poor reputation or repeated problems — partly because I don’t want my name associated with that kind of work, and partly because I’d much rather be the person who helps you save money on insurance than the one delivering bad news. So if a company chose me to inspect their work, that itself says something: they know upfront I won’t hesitate to call out problems, and they aren’t afraid of that. I’ve built my business on this reputation, which is also why I’ve never expanded by hiring additional inspectors — every inspection needs to meet my own standard.

A real example: After Hurricane Ian, one roofing company I’d worked with for years — with thousands of inspections between us — was running multiple crews to keep up with demand. On one inspection, I found the roof deck hadn’t been re-nailed with the required 8D nails; it still had only the original 1970’s wire staples. I flagged it, and the company tore off the brand-new roof and re-installed it from scratch that same week — a real financial loss for them, but they clearly valued their reputation over the cost, and ensuring the customer was happy was their priority. They still use me today, knowing full well I’ll call out issues when I find them.

By contrast, in my years inspecting for direct-pay customers across hundreds of companies, I’ve seen less reputable ones respond to the same kind of problem by stalling or offering a small discount (say, $1,000 off) instead of fixing it. As a homeowner myself, that wouldn’t come close to covering what’s at stake — losing a decade-plus in insurance credit, and having a home that’s less protected than what you paid for.

Mistakes do happen — we’re all human. But if a contractor’s error rate is more than a rare occurrence, I won’t work with them. Every company that lists me as a preferred vendor falls well below that threshold. I’ve also walked away from a company that kept needing corrections more often than would be deemed acceptable — even though they always made things right, I didn’t want my name tied to inconsistent work, and I didn’t think it was fair to make homeowners go through the inspection twice.

This is by design. I actually ask customers to please not leave online reviews. If you’d like to help my business, word-of-mouth referrals to friends, family, coworkers, and business associates mean far more to me. I intentionally keep my web presence low. My websites exist for current customers only, to share information and communicate with them, not to attract new business. Most of my online content is hidden from search engines intentionally. After selling my computer sales and networking business I owned an SEO company and later actually worked as a Search Engine Analyst for a company contracted with both Google and Bing. I know how to rank in search engines, but have intentionally chosen not to.

With thousands of inspections performed, even a 5% review rate would significantly boost my rankings and traffic on both my website and business listings. That might sound like an odd thing to avoid, but for the past four years or so I’ve been booked out roughly two weeks in advance and couldn’t take on more work without shortchanging existing customers.

I’m a small business, just me performing inspections, & have no plans to grow. If I were a large company or wanted to expand it would make sense to encourage reviews.

Here is where the problem lies: Over the past 30 years, I’ve owned & run a few successful businesses. I’ve hired & trained more than a hundred employees combined. During that time only two employees matched the level of commitment I hold myself to. When it comes to inspecting the safety of your home, I’m not willing to hand that responsibility to an employee. Picture an attic at 150 degrees, blown-in insulation, no headroom, and a 30-foot crawl to reach an exterior wall, that’s the kind of situation where a less committed employee might not push through to find the discount credit you qualify for. It’s not their business, property, or life on the line, so the motivation to go that extra mile just isn’t the same. That’s why I have zero plans to expand. I’m happy keeping full control over every inspection from start to finish.

In short: if business ever slows, I can always advertise temporarily. But if my search rankings climb, it would inevitably mean longer wait times and frustrated customers. My public-facing pages are intentionally simple, and every page meant for existing customers has a “noindex” tag built in specifically to keep search traffic and overall site traffic to a minimum.

We understand you want this done as soon as possible — every month’s delay can mean continuing to pay that higher premium, or you may be facing an insurance cancellation deadline. Please keep in mind we cannot schedule your appointment until we receive your information from your contractor, and we can’t inspect until all their work is complete. If you contact us before we’ve received that information, we won’t be able to schedule you yet.

Once your final payment is sent to your contractor and the work is complete, they’ll send us your information. At that point, my employee Krista (or I) will reach out to schedule a time — typically within 1–2 business days of receiving it. If we can’t reach you by phone, we’ll leave a voicemail and immediately follow up with a text.

If you screen calls, you may want to save our numbers now so you don’t miss us:

239-427-1518 — Main Office

24/7 Text Lines:
239-281-2898 — Scheduling
239-645-4970 — Support (my personal cell, used when Krista is off, and the number I’ll text you from on appointment day if I’m running early or late)

After 5 unsuccessful call/text attempts, we’ll send an email just to rule out an outdated or incorrect phone number. To make sure it doesn’t land in spam, add aaron@swflhomeinspector.com to your contacts.

(Most people screen unfamiliar numbers, and voicemails often don’t get heard right away — which only delays scheduling further.)

One more thing worth knowing: calling you the same day we receive your information versus 1–2 business days later won’t get your appointment any sooner, since no scheduling happens during that window anyway. The short delay exists because Krista schedules in batches a few hours a day, 2–3 days a week — which lets her map out efficient travel routes in advance rather than plotting them live on the phone with you. I work a different region each day and route appointments by shortest distance between stops (while still working around your schedule), which avoids crisscrossing a city and opens up more appointment slots — meaning less wait time for you overall.

• Florida State Licensed Home Inspector since 2017
• Formed my LLC, SWFL Home Inspector LLC, on March 1, 2021 (started as a sole proprietor)
• Specialize exclusively in Wind Mitigation, 4-Point, and Roof Inspections
• Perform up to & over 1,200+ Wind Mitigation Inspections per year, plus hundreds of 4-point inspections
• Hold 6 wind mitigation certifications from 5 different state-approved schools

I’m Aaron Schafer, and Southwest Florida Home Inspector LLC is a small business with just one licensed inspector — me. My part-time employee, Krista, works a few hours a day, 2–3 days a week, scheduling appointments and mapping travel routes; she previously did similar work for decades at a national trucking company.

My service area runs from southern Sarasota County down to Marco Island, and I cover a different region each day. I’m based in Cape Coral (Lee County). Areas farther from Lee County get visited less often — for example, I may only make it to Port Charlotte or Marco Island 5–7 times a month, depending on demand, so appointment slots there tend to be less flexible.

Prior to becoming a home inspector I owned a computer company. We built, repaired and networked computer systems. My clients included average consumers, business, and a number of city and town halls, court systems and state prisons. I then later sold that business to a competitor I was friendly with to focus on my SEO business. Following that I worked as a Search Engine analyst for a company contracted with both Google and Bing. My last year doing that work I ended up training AI to take my job. I then became a Home Inspector in 2017 during that transition figuring AI wouldn’t be able to replace me in that line of work. lol.

I’ve lived in Fort Myers Beach, Fort Myers and now Cape Coral and experienced my fair share of Hurricanes, I had always thought I was overprepared for them, often even being picked on by my family about how prepared I was. That was until I saw the destruction from Hurricane Ian. When I lived on Fort Myers Beach, we always heard about storm surge, but other than a few feet of water that washed across the island for Charlie, all other predictions never had the predicted surge. When I saw the devastation from Ian, I could never have imagined it being that bad and quickly realized how underprepared I actually was. It changed my entire perspective on Hurricanes. Estero Island will never be the same. But that’s why I take my job so seriously. Here’s a bit about my family and I:

My wife, whom I’ve been with for 38 years now, is a Kindergarten teacher and has worked for the Lee County School District for 17 years.

My son is a US Marine who served in the 2nd Iraq war and has a wonderful wife who owns a successful local photography business. They are both also head coaches for Football & Cheerleading here in Lee County. They have given me 3 spectacular grandchildren.

My daughter grew up on Fort Myers Beach, went to Beach School, she was even a “Shrimp Princess” in the Shrimp Festival Parade for 2 years in a row and has regularly volunteered for different local charities. She then attended Eckerd College in St Pete and then went on to graduate school at NYU. She and her husband are both medical professionals here in Lee County.

My personal dream retirement plan is to continue to be a Home Inspector even into retirement, that’s how much I enjoy my job & meeting new people. Obviously once I reach a certain age there would be a need to limit myself to morning appointments to adjust for my age & the heat in Florida attics safely, but as long as I can climb a ladder I plan to do my job for as long as I can.

Then in my retirement during the afternoon & evening I would love to run my own Dog Rescue. Every week here in Southwest Florida I see something horrific on the news about the mistreatment of a dog. I am a dog lover, and my wife worries I would not be able to give them up, but the satisfaction of giving a dog a good home would feel extremely rewarding. To me, dogs are part of the family and it tears me up with how commonplace the abuse, hoarding, and neglect of dogs occur in our area.

Speaking of which, take a look at some of My Favorite Clients. I tend to take photos of them at my inspection appointments.