[00:00:00] Eric Goranson: It is around the house. Now, another one that's been interesting, and this is something that's been complex and we're not gonna get into the weeds on this, 'cause quite frankly it's boring radio and podcasting. But lumber prices have been all over the board. They have been expensive, they have been cheap.

[00:00:24] Eric Goranson: They've been back to expensive again. What I've seen in the last few years, O S B price. Prices where they're $9 a sheet retail, or 22 or $28 a sheet Retail. When builders have 50 or 60 extra thousand dollars in lumber prices in a house, yeah. That is going to, that is going to change how housing prices go.

[00:00:47] Eric Goranson: So if you think about it right now, if I took a a, a, a medium-sized house and we added $40,000 because our lumber package went up, when it comes to remodeling and renovating your home, there is a lot to [00:01:00] know. Oh, but we've got you covered. This is around the house. Welcome to the Around the House Show. This is what we hope to get the most outta your home through information and education.

[00:01:11] Eric Goranson: Thanks for joining us today. Well, in this episode, I wanted to talk about why housing and remodeling right now is so expensive and in most places of the country it has gone up significantly, and there's a lot of different facets to why. And I wanted to talk about those today so you understand it as well as is maybe we can sit here collectively and see if we can do something differently to help change that.

[00:01:42] Eric Goranson: Because right now, for many people, especially here in certain parts of the country, there is no way for a kid outta college to even be able to afford a apartment, let alone buy a house with a decent job. And so what's causing it? Let's talk about that [00:02:00] today. I wanted to talk about that to see what we can do to change that.

[00:02:05] Eric Goranson: The first one that I have seen, and this is depending on where you're located, but um, it's, it's a big issue. Building permit fees in some areas are adding so much to a house. Like for instance, here where I'm located in the city of Portland, Their impact fees that they do can be 50, 60, $70,000 to put a house on a lot, and that's just for the fees.

[00:02:35] Eric Goranson: And so anytime that you put on that kind of a hit onto a new home, that gets expensive. And I understand why the cities are trying to do this to cover costs of the building. Departments are trying to co cover the costs of new utilities, but let's say that there was some crack house there that was in the spot and it was burned down and you're gonna put another home in [00:03:00] its place, they will still charge you those impact fees even though there was a house there beforehand.

[00:03:06] Eric Goranson: So even though it really didn't change the impact to the neighborhood, They're gonna get you anyway, depending on the value of the house and what that is. And I think that is one of the biggest hurdles that we run into on projects when you know you have a permit fee that is not reasonable. Now, anytime that you're charging that much money just in fees, that goes right to the bottom line of that house.

[00:03:32] Eric Goranson: And so that's a big concern to me. On what's going on there, and that's gonna be a big expense. So watch those building permit fees. I think they should be reasonable, but I think they should not be a barrier to entry either. I mean, if you're already spending that kind of money, that's a big one. And if you add 50, 60, $70,000 on top of a house, that means there's a whole group of people that couldn't afford it because of that, [00:04:00] because that's gonna push them over their limit on what they can spend.

[00:04:05] Eric Goranson: That's a big one right there. Now here's one that's really, um, a bigger dive here that I want to talk about, but it's a big deal. Like out here on the West Coast, for instance, on my side of the country where I'm located, we have a problem with urban growth boundaries. Now, what an urban growth boundary is, is where cities and states, and most of the time it's states have gone in and said, okay, we are gonna control how much sprawl.

[00:04:33] Eric Goranson: How much people build out into the country, which I totally get. We don't need to have all the forests knocked down out here. We don't need to have all the farmland taken away. But here's the issue we have is it is spiked up the value because of supply and demand of buildable lots. So when you're looking at something that.

[00:04:57] Eric Goranson: What used to be a [00:05:00] $25,000 lot is now a $200,000 lot because we have made it very hard to find buildable lots. The problem is, is that gives us an opportunity then to inflate the price of the lots out there. So instead of it being a more affordable 'cause, there's a ton of lots to build. What we're seeing is, is that it is pushing up.

[00:05:23] Eric Goranson: Artificially building up those level of homes. And so we need to find a balance between those because what's happening is, is with Urban Growth Boundaries is it's becoming, you know, that can add a hundred thousand bucks to a price of a house just because that lot has gotten so expensive. So I think we need to find a balance of what is going to be a buildable lot, two.

[00:05:53] Eric Goranson: Why are we artificially pushing that up now as a homeowner? Do I want to see them put out, um, [00:06:00] investment wise? Would it be smart for them to go out and say, Hey, we're gonna open up this whole huge big swath of land and it's gotta tank our values? Well, no, of course not because that hurts things. But I think we need to be smart about how we're doing it and create a little bit more space for people to build so we can have affordable housing.

[00:06:20] Eric Goranson: This artificial push on these numbers is another barrier to entry for people that are trying to get in there. And I think that's gonna be another issue that we need to take a look at. And there's some states, like where we're at, a majority of the land in our state is owned by the federal or state government.

[00:06:38] Eric Goranson: So that means it's a federal forest, it's a state forest. These are un buildable places because guess what? We don't own them and nor can we own, own them. And more importantly, We can't get tax money from 'em. So there's no property taxes getting paid by the federal government to the state government really.

[00:06:58] Eric Goranson: So that's where we run into these [00:07:00] issues. And I wanna make sure that we talk about this 'cause it's a big deal. So you have some states out there that have a handful of percentage that is state or federal land. And then you have other states like the, the newer ones out here on the west coast that have a majority of their land is federal land.

[00:07:20] Eric Goranson: And that makes it really hard because one, the schools have to fight a little bit more. 'cause that's not, um, people paying on the property taxes and that's not going into our schools. And then second of all, what happens is, is that's our artificially, you know, Creating it where most of the land is never going to be buildable 'cause it's federal land.

[00:07:41] Eric Goranson: So I think we need to balance that out a little bit. I do not wanna see our, our forest taken down, but I think there needs to be a little more balance in this creation. So we can sit here, you know, of the market, the creation of the market. We can sit here and make this make sense to everybody. I think we need to balance that out.

[00:07:58] Eric Goranson: I think we need to open up more [00:08:00] land. I think we need to have more places. To build. But yes, that will come, um, you know, at the, at the detriment to mother Nature in some areas. But I think if by, if we do this correctly, by creating the right amount of green spaces, we can have less impact. But I think those are two big pieces of the puzzle here of why things are getting more and more expensive is that we have to one, really be able to watch those fees.

[00:08:28] Eric Goranson: And two, we've gotta be able to bring land prices down. And that has to be more affordable for people to go in and do that. Now, next up here on the list is a big one, and that's one that we're gonna carry into the next segment here, our labor shortage. Now, a lot of this comes down to what's going on in your school district.

[00:08:49] Eric Goranson: Yes. What are you doing in your school district to help build the trades? Is there a wood shop program in every middle school and high school? Did they eliminate those? Are those [00:09:00] gone because they made 'em into computer science rooms? Is there ways for people to learn welding? What skills are they teaching in high school for people that want to go into trades?

[00:09:12] Eric Goranson: And that's a big issue right now because labor is very high, which is great for you people out there that are working on the trades 'cause there is such a demand, but we're losing so many people. Our labor shortage that we have. We've got millions of jobs out there that we could have across the country for people in the trades, and we come back.

[00:09:31] Eric Goranson: We're gonna talk more about that and what we need to do to get that changed around because things are gonna keep getting more expensive. Which means that's harder for people to get into homes. We'll talk more about that just as soon as a round the house returns.

[00:09:57] Eric Goranson: What's up? This is Dick and Satchel [00:10:00] from. Steel Panther and you are listening to Around the House with Eric G. Yeah, we love Eric G and you should too.

[00:10:22] Eric Goranson: Welcome back to The Around The House Show where we help you get the most outta your home through information and education. Thanks for joining me today. We've been talking about why remodeling and new homes are so expensive right now and what's going into that. And so far we've talked about building permit fees being absolutely insane in some areas we've been talking about, um, you know, really the cost of land and urban growth boundaries that have been really artificially raising prices out there for property that's buildable.

[00:10:53] Eric Goranson: And then next up here, we've been talking about the labor shortage. This really comes down to you and [00:11:00] your school district, which means it's something that you have control of and people really need to get together to do this. Now, there are some school districts out there that have been stellar. They have CHOP classes, they have welding classes, they have automotive.

[00:11:14] Eric Goranson: They have all the things that they should have in a vocational skills program. And then there's other schools that have completely decimated those programs. They are focused only into getting kids into college, and they are not focused into getting kids into skilled trades. And those are the ones that are failing our children these days because we need to.

[00:11:37] Eric Goranson: Every kid is not gonna go to college, get a student loan and go out and do that. It just doesn't work that way. But the problem is, is that we have the big business of a college education. That has gotten into our schools and has turned around and said, Hey, look, um, there is no need for the trades. We are going to put everybody in college, and these schools want to collect those college dollars.[00:12:00]

[00:12:00] Eric Goranson: And the problem is, is what we're doing, and this is me getting on my soapbox a little bit here, guys, but what we're doing is we're making it so these kids are going out and having to spend a hundred grand on an education and then turn around and go, wow, I can't use that. Now I gotta go back and I'm gonna learn a skilled trade.

[00:12:16] Eric Goranson: And there's no excuse for that. We need to have balance in our schools, and that balance means that for the kids that aren't gonna go out and get a college education that are good with their hands, that are gonna be really great electricians, plumbers, house framers, contractors, welders, whatever, we need to be teaching those kids without trying to saddle them down with all this debt.

[00:12:41] Eric Goranson: And it's crazy that there are plenty of school districts out there that are doing really good at it, but right now there's way more that are not. And the cool thing is, is that you're in complete control of that. So what do you do about it? I want to see you get down and get involved with your, your schools.

[00:12:59] Eric Goranson: Now, [00:13:00] if there is no kids of yours in schools, it doesn't matter. Show up at the school board meeting. Find out. See what's going on. Help get those trades back into those schools because it's going to take us decades to get this back on track. But it's gonna be people like you asking a few questions, pushing a few buttons, and seeing if we can get those things back into the schools.

[00:13:26] Eric Goranson: That's what's gonna help us get this turned around for the trades. Now it's still gonna be for decades, a great education for somebody to go out and get into an apprenticeship program and do it. But we're getting to the point now where there's construction projects that can't happen because there's not enough people to do the work, and that is going to artificially raise prices even more and make it so housing's gonna be much harder for people.

[00:13:53] Eric Goranson: Those are gonna be some things that I really wanna make sure that we're doing and that's something you, as one of my listeners, can really take advantage of and get [00:14:00] active and see what you can do to do that. So check boxes here. We're gonna talk about, we, you know, we've stopped training people in school.

[00:14:10] Eric Goranson: Two, we've got the trades hitting the retirement age where there's a lot of people out there with 30, 40 years of experience that are saying, Hey, cool, I'm heading to the beach. I'm done. And then we've gotta really be able to get the kids that don't go to college, that don't want to go to college. Why are we taking their hard-earned money and get 'em getting loans and having to pay it back when they're not gonna use those skills anyway, so that's a big one.

[00:14:35] Eric Goranson: So let's fix that guys. Let's see if we can start making a dent with that. Now, the cost of money is really a big one. You know, if you look at contracting, you look at business owners, one of the biggest problems we have for small business, and yes, contracting. Home builders are small businesses. They are now, there are some national [00:15:00] big companies out there, don't get me wrong, that are the big home builders out there.

[00:15:05] Eric Goranson: And you know, something, they, they, they are running a business as well. But the thing that we have to look for is for small business when they have to pay 25 or 30% to get operating loans. Maybe they're gonna develop land or they're gonna buy land and they're gonna build and they need to carry that loan.

[00:15:27] Eric Goranson: That is stuff with our interest rates right now, that is making it very expensive for people to be building. If you're gonna go out and, uh, buy, let's say you're gonna go buy five acres and you're gonna put on 10 homes on there just to buy that land. The interest rate that they have right now is pushing that up even for that short term loan.

[00:15:49] Eric Goranson: So that is adding to our cost of housing. And so until we get, you know, this isn't a politics show 'cause we don't wanna do it, but obviously inflation. I took Econ 1 [00:16:00] 0 1, 2 0 1. We know that inflation is caused by government overspending. That's what it is. And guess what? We have devalued the dollar enough to do that.

[00:16:08] Eric Goranson: And that's the price we're paying right now. So this is black and white. We're gonna have to get government spending reigned in to get interest rates lower. So we can control that. That's how this works. So until we get this money thing figured out for businesses out there, this money just isn't available.

[00:16:29] Eric Goranson: What loans people have to get is very, very expensive. And that of course reflects in our housing prices. Now, another one that's been interesting, and this is something that's been complex and we're not gonna get into the weeds on this 'cause quite frankly it's boring radio and podcasting. Lumber prices have been all over the board.

[00:16:49] Eric Goranson: They have been expensive. They have been cheap. They've been back to expensive again. When I've seen in the last few years, O S B [00:17:00] prices where they're $9 a sheet retail, or 22 or $28 a sheet retail. When builders have 50 or 60 extra thousand dollars in lumber prices in a house, yeah. That is going to ex, that is going to change how housing prices go.

[00:17:19] Eric Goranson: So if you think about it right now, if I took a a, a, a medium-sized house and we added $40,000 because our lumber package went up, we added $40,000 for let's say, um, you know, your development fees to your city. Then you had, let's say, another $40,000 of inflated land cost due to urban growth boundaries, and that we just added 120,000 bucks to the price of a home, not even talking the labor.

[00:17:58] Eric Goranson: So even if we add in [00:18:00] 10,000 bucks for added labor costs in this house, we're at $130,000 for an average house. Think about that 130,000 bucks is a lot of money for an entry-level house for somebody. And that's where we've gotta change that and make it where we can get into this a little bit better for people out there.

[00:18:21] Eric Goranson: And some of this stuff we have complete control over, we just have to change our mindset. Of how to do that. Now, when we come back, I'm gonna talk onto a hot subject that I think is a little controversial, but for some people, but I think it's a smart, easy answer to affordable housing. We'll do that just as soon as a.

[00:18:59] Eric Goranson: [00:19:00] Hey, this is Ron Kehl, the metal Cowboy from Kehl, the Ron Kehl Band and Steeler. We are rocking around the house with Eric G. Ray is your best. Welcome back to the Round the House Show. This is where we hope to get the most outta your home through information and education. Today we've been talking about why remodeling costs and new homes are so expensive and we've been talking about, uh, The different pieces of that puzzle.

[00:19:25] Eric Goranson: Now, when we went to break, we were talking about lumber prices being high, and some of that has to do with between what's going on in the Canada market and the US market and uh, trade restrictions between those two and what that's doing for lumber prices. And anytime that we're having any kind of a battle like that, that gets to be pretty crazy expensive when we start adding tariffs and things onto that.

[00:19:50] Eric Goranson: So really we need to have a better relationship with, with Canada to make sure that, uh, we're getting their wood and we're getting stuff outta the US here, and we've got [00:20:00] some balanced trade there. And I'm not gonna get into all the politics of that. We're not gonna get into this whole detail with that.

[00:20:06] Eric Goranson: But really, lumber prices. One thing that we can really be careful with, and it is a commodity, so every day during the week that price is changing. And so it's a speculative market. At any time that we have hiccups in that speculation, prices go up, whether it's um, a trade deficit, whether it's a tariff, whether it's any of those things, it all affects the price of lumber.

[00:20:32] Eric Goranson: So this last week here, you know, our lumber future prices have been down in that $500 range. Now, to put that into a, into perspective, back here in 2021, during Covid I, they were up in the 1500. So you can really see where that's coming in and making a difference. But I just saw here this last week that Canada is going to challenge the extension of US softwood [00:21:00] lumber duties.

[00:21:01] Eric Goranson: So they're gonna, basically, they're saying, and what Canada's saying is the, that it's unfair, unjust, and illegal extension of US import duties on Canadian softwood lumber products. So basically the, to make this into a, I'm gonna simplify this a little bit, maybe oversimplify it. So I do apologize if I am, but there's been a decade long dispute.

[00:21:28] Eric Goranson: Over the structure of Canada's timber sector that could not be resolved. When their agreement expired in 2015, they kind of had this quota agreement thing going on, and so right now the US Department of Commerce has a July duty rate of 8%, 7.9 on the product. So that is getting extended out. And so they say that hurts the Canadian lumber market.

[00:21:55] Eric Goranson: And of course it makes things more expensive here. [00:22:00] So I understand why the US Trade, uh, representative's office is saying it's trying to ensure a level playing field, but um, this is where these battles occur and that affects. Our lumber prices and right now lumber prices are down, but that's because there's not a lot of home building either.

[00:22:20] Eric Goranson: So this is where things go. And so really it's something to take a look at. Right now we're on the lower side of things. I mean, if we go back into 2020 and like first of the year we were down the three hundreds. So really, um, and here's what happens with lumber future prices as well, is it takes it a while for that to work its way out into what are the retail sector.

[00:22:43] Eric Goranson: If people are buying lumber in September, October, whenever that lumber futures price is, that takes a while for that to occur. And then, you know, we're kind of looking a few months out of what's happening in the lumber market for what's happening for builders and [00:23:00] remodelers. So these are things to really take into account and anytime that we get into these trade disputes, those are things that end up costing money.

[00:23:08] Eric Goranson: Which make it a little bit harder, uh, on the builders and remodelers out there because those prices get more expensive. So keep an eye on lumber futures prices. It's a good way to see what the lumber prices is gonna be around the corner. Now, this is really your dimensional lumber, so this is two by fours sheets of plywood, O S B, that kind of stuff is what you're looking at when you're looking at lumber prices.

[00:23:30] Eric Goranson: So that's really where that is. It doesn't really change what's going on with cabinetry and some of the other finished goods. So just something to think about there. Now, here's another one that has been controversial and I think it's something that's good, but it's also something that adds to the cost.

[00:23:48] Eric Goranson: So changing energy standards are something that do cost and save people. So let's talk about that for a minute. Anytime that we start putting in [00:24:00] that we're changing energy standards, it usually doesn't. Reduce the cost of the materials, right? So if you have a dishwasher that has to come in with the new energy standard stuff, usually those are a little bit more money.

[00:24:14] Eric Goranson: And with this, it adds money to it. So for instance, if, um, you know, if you're looking at an induction range right now versus an electric because you're trying to push that or a gas range, I love the induction ranges. They're good, but you're gonna spend a lot more money for an induction range than you will over on a, um, you know, on a gas range, for instance.

[00:24:37] Eric Goranson: It's just the way it is. And to really get a good induction range, you're gonna have to spend a couple grand on it if you can find one, because there's so back ordered out there. There's not a lot on the market today, but anytime that you're sitting there saying, okay, we're gonna eliminate gas out of a neighborhood, that is an issue that comes up.

[00:24:55] Eric Goranson: It's going to be more expensive on those appliances to get something the other [00:25:00] way. Now, the other thing we get into is energy standards because, and again, these are things that I think are needed, but they just add to the price of a home, and maybe instead of doing so many rebates that we end up helping out a little bit better for people that are trying to build affordable housing to get that in there.

[00:25:17] Eric Goranson: Because what happens is, is that, um, you know, we're putting in more expensive heating and cooling systems because we need to, we need 'em to be more efficient. More efficient, usually costs you a little bit more money on the front end, just as you know, anytime that you're doing this stuff, uh, with e r V systems and ventilation and it, it's creating a healthier home, which is smart.

[00:25:42] Eric Goranson: It costs more money 'cause you're putting more parts inside the house. So that is kind of an unavoidable part, but it is a part of really creating something that's gonna be healthier that does come at a cost and that is unfortunate, but there's not really a lot we can do to avoid [00:26:00] that, except make some good choices on what we're doing.

[00:26:02] Eric Goranson: But really that that added cost adds up when you're building homes. So it's something to consider. Now, I'm gonna get on my soapbox a little bit here again on this one. I think we need to create some more spaces for affordable housing and fit in the manufactured home community. Now, let me tell you how you do this.

[00:26:26] Eric Goranson: And there are people out there like Skyline homes that do this every day that can create a more affordable factory built home. You can build developments. Where the homes are prefabricated, they come out where all they have to do is build the garage that's detached to the front of it. And you'd never know this was a manufactured home community, but you can do it faster, cleaner, healthier in, in a factory environment with risk, less risk, and less material waste than you see.

[00:26:58] Eric Goranson: So I [00:27:00] propose that we go through and really create. Some neighborhoods that are built outta these pre-made homes. And I'm not talking about your, your typical double wide mobile home park. I'm talking about fitting 'em in small, lots, nice yards, garages, something that looks like a regular door to door.

[00:27:23] Eric Goranson: Door-to-door, you know, suburbia community. But we can do it with a factory built home for less money, period. It's gonna look like a regular neighborhood. 'cause you're gonna have front garages on the front or the side of the house, depending on the design, and you can get those in there and get a turnkey place much faster and much easier with that.

[00:27:46] Eric Goranson: So I'm really advocating for prefabricated housing out there to take up some of this affordable housing stuff out there, because let's be honest, I can, I, I, I, I think it's much cheaper to build a home in a factory environment. [00:28:00] You can order sheet goods that are specialized so you're not wasting it. The amount of waste that goes into a new construction build versus what's in a prefabricated, it's not close.

[00:28:11] Eric Goranson: A new construction build, you've got probably a couple dumpster trips of materials, and you sure don't have that when they have sized pieces correctly, where the lumber's, precut. At the right length, and that means you're not throwing away, which is materials you're paying for that are going in the landfill, so you're paying for it twice.

[00:28:29] Eric Goranson: So we got more to talk about this next segment. I want to talk a little bit more about this and how we can create some affordable housing just as soon as around the house returns.[00:29:00]

[00:29:00] Eric Goranson: Welcome back to The Round the House Show where we can help you get the most outta your home through information and education. We've been talking today here about really trying to figure out how do we get more affordable housing for people out there. And we were talking a little bit earlier about, uh, the manufactured home community about how they're really building nice homes these days.

[00:29:20] Eric Goranson: And I mean, quite frankly, some of them are actually better than some of the low entry level priced homes that are out there. So why would you not want to turn around and get into a home that's maybe set on a foundation that you've put it in there like it's a regular house, it's not gonna be moved.

[00:29:37] Eric Goranson: You've got a attached garage to it. So in all intents and purposes, when you walk into it, it looks like a regular home. It doesn't look like something coming out of a seventies trailer court, which is the the old way of doing it, and I think that that we've got some really good ideas out there, especially with this pre-manufactured housing out there that can save some time and money.

[00:29:59] Eric Goranson: [00:30:00] I'm a full believer of building many homes, especially ones that are more affordable inside a structure that you can take out there and create a healthier home and a safer home. Without having to, uh, you know, give a bunch of subsidies and things like that. I think that this is one smart way to go. I was just recently doing a tour, uh, for one of my episodes of Around the House Northwest, the TV show, and we did a tour of Skyline Homes, which of course is a sponsor of the show, but this is not any commercial for them by any means.

[00:30:33] Eric Goranson: But I walked through them building these homes. It is surprising how much I. They're building those homes and many, you know, site-built, stick-built homes. There is so much more steel involved. There's so much more straps. And the things that I like too is that they have larger drywall sheets because there's less seams, [00:31:00] which means there's less ability to crack.

[00:31:02] Eric Goranson: The drywall sheets are glued, which is absolutely amazing, and all of a sudden you've got these things that are going on. That really hold things together well, but you don't have the quality issues down the road. So there's a lot of things that are happening right now in the manufactured housing markets now.

[00:31:19] Eric Goranson: There's prefabs, there's a lot of different things. I'm not talking like the container homes and, and that kind of stuff, that's a little kitschy, but I'm talking about, you know, people building homes in factories and setting 'em out to be put together or assembled. And I think that is going to be one of the many things.

[00:31:36] Eric Goranson: In the future of affordable housing, and I think it's smart. Now. Of course there are plenty of, of, of state run, county run municipalities, city, whatever you want to call it, of affordable housing programs out there. But from what I've seen in my area here on the West coast, private builders can build a more affordable house than when the government builds it.

[00:31:58] Eric Goranson: Let's be honest, it's [00:32:00] just how it goes. I have seen some, some affordable homes that were built, um, That were, if they were built by a private company, they'd be, uh, they'd be in luxury homes for the cost that they're doing. There's just no, no comparison when you have a, a private company build it. So I think we need to lean on that versus government housing, because government housing is something that ends up being very wasteful and there's just a lot of hoops and stuff to go through.

[00:32:30] Eric Goranson: I think that that is where many of the problems arise. Let's think about that a little bit of what we can do to build better homes, less, less expensive, but still create the value that these homes. What we wanna do is we wanna be able to get people into homes and second of all, when they get into homes, to have something that they can invest in and keep better and not have something that is, um, you know, going backwards like their car.

[00:32:58] Eric Goranson: So I think that is [00:33:00] something that, um, is obtainable. I think that is the, the, the future of that. Now, the other problem we have too is, and this is something that is, that is happening on the rental side that I wanted to talk about for all you renters out there, is that we've got some issues out there that are starting to happen in certain states where we've, we're really fighting some battles, like here in Oregon.

[00:33:24] Eric Goranson: I would not want to be a landlord, I'll be honest. I, in the past was a really responsible landlord. I had homes. That were well taken care of. We were quick to response if there was a problem. 'cause you wanted to keep people in those homes as long as we could. It costs you money if you have to go through and do this and swap people out all the time.

[00:33:43] Eric Goranson: So these are things that that can be done. But when it's nearly impossible to evict somebody for damaging the house or not paying rent or any of that, you start putting too much power. [00:34:00] Into the hands of the tenant. You're not gonna have people out there renting homes anymore. So what happens is, is when you come in and do a hard line on landlords, and I know people that are renters go, oh, those darn landlords, I get it.

[00:34:14] Eric Goranson: And the landlords are saying, those darn renters, it's this love hate relationship, but we need to make it easier for landlords to be able to take care of these rentals and and do it well. And so the problem is, is when you give too much power, To that potential renter and all of that. We end up having a problem like right now where there's areas because of government regulations where people are like, forget it.

[00:34:39] Eric Goranson: I'm selling all my rentals. I'm getting out, I'm moving outta state. And all of a sudden you have single family homes that are rentals that are great for families. These are for people with a dog or whatever that wanna have the next step out of apartment living to get into that before they maybe go buy a home.

[00:34:56] Eric Goranson: You have now made that so hard. I. It's hard [00:35:00] to navigate and now it makes it more expensive, and it seems the more controls that they put on rentals, the more expensive it gets. I mean, look at New York City for instance, what they have there. They have plenty of low quality rentals and they have plenty of high prices.

[00:35:19] Eric Goranson: Anytime that you get people involved in trying to regulate that, it seems to make it harder for people to get in there. Not easier. So I think we really need to start having some hard discussions about what can we do to get people into homes and get 'em in there responsibly. Now, you know, we hear about the, the, the, the housing crisis as far as, you know, the homeless out there.

[00:35:44] Eric Goranson: That's an entirely different subject that we're not really. Going to address here today, except that that in many cases, and I'm gonna say most cases, is very accurate, that the people that you see living in tents on the side of the freeway here in many of these Western [00:36:00] states and other eastern states as well, but really in the areas that you see this, this is a mental health and drug addiction problem and not a affordable housing problem.

[00:36:14] Eric Goranson: Because we really have to start taking care of people to fix that. And all the free housing in the world doesn't fix it. If they have to follow rules where they're not doing drugs, where they're not hurting people, where they're not in a mental health crisis. We need to get these people helped and a, a compassionate way of doing it.

[00:36:37] Eric Goranson: And we see that here. Um, I fought for a number of years. Trying to wave the flag of, uh, creating a space here, uh, out of an old jail that they had built a brand new jail here in the city, uh, in Portland, in, uh, in Multnomah County. They never used it. It was a jail facility and they wanted to tear it down and make it into an office complex.

[00:36:59] Eric Goranson: And, uh, Jordan [00:37:00] Schnitzer came in and purchased it at the auction and then turned it into a really reliable and safe. Transitional housing for people that are wanting to get off drugs, get off the streets and get into a safe place. They have now turned this into a great place for that. 'cause it had everything there.

[00:37:18] Eric Goranson: It was turnkey, ready to go. They could have put people in there in a matter of hours, and it was a building that they were gonna throw away. And so now you've got a nonprofit that's in there taking care of people. And you know, something that is such a tiny little dent of a, you know, A couple hundred people in there, but you know something that's a couple hundred people that are getting help and I'm happy with that.

[00:37:41] Eric Goranson: Now, if you've got ideas on how to deal with this, feel free to send me a message over to around the house online.com, and that's the way to get ahold of me there. And we're gonna be talking about with some great interviews coming forward here as well. We're coming into fall, so you know what it is with Fall and it's a Happy Labor Day weekend to everybody out there.

[00:37:58] Eric Goranson: Uh, this is really a, a, [00:38:00] a day to celebrate you and the people, hardworking people in the country out there. But really we're gonna be talking about some really good subjects here coming up this fall. Some great projects coming up, and some other great experts coming in. So we've got some exciting times coming up for around the house.

[00:38:15] Eric Goranson: Uh, make sure if you're, uh, listening to us on the radio that you follow the podcast and we have, uh, the podcast on any podcast player as well as our premium content, which we are going to have some, uh, some episodes here in September that we are gonna have, uh, at least one or two exclusive episodes for you to catch over there.

[00:38:34] Eric Goranson: Will be for our members and it's super inexpensive if you want to join. If not, no big deal. You can still catch the regular podcast or radio show anywhere you catch us. Alright, everybody, have a great rest of the Labor Day weekend. Enjoy for all you out there that are working this weekend. Uh, we appreciate you as well 'cause a lot of things still have to keep going.

[00:38:54] Eric Goranson: On these holidays, weekends. I appreciate y'all. Thanks for tuning in around the house. We'll see you next Saturday [00:39:00] or Wednesday on the podcast. Thanks for tuning in