[00:00:00] Eric Goranson: It's around the house. I've had a kitchen remodeled where a major renovator here in my area, famous one, forgot to get us final sign off on the kitchen remodeled. 20 years ago, visit and remodel and edition. We were going to have to rip off all the drywall in that edition, put the right insulation in, and there was gonna have to be so much work done that the kitchen remodel wasn't going to happen because there was no way.

[00:00:30] Eric Goranson: To get that up to current building code because someone didn't get a final permit. Sign off. Now that leads to the last part of this one. Have all the permits been signed off on that residence? When it comes to remodeling and renovating your home, there is a lot to know that we've got you further. This is around the house.

[00:00:56] Eric Goranson: Hey guys. Welcome to the Round the House Show. This is where we. Help you get the [00:01:00] most outta your home through information and education. Thanks for joining me today. I appreciate it. Hey, if you wanna find out more about this show, head over to around the house online.com or follow us on social media, Facebook around the House Show, and we have a closed group.

[00:01:15] Eric Goranson: Around the house nation where people share up projects and things and things that they're working on. And it's a, uh, real safe space to, uh, share up stuff. And, uh, trust me, if, uh, anybody gets had a hand over there or we don't, uh, we don't accept trolls and rudeness and, uh, fake posts, those people, uh, get removed from the group so we can keep it safe for everybody.

[00:01:38] Eric Goranson: Well, today I wanted to talk about the top 10 things to consider when buying a home. That most of the people out there don't tell you about. I'm sure there's an exception out there, but these are things that, uh, are not common that I think are a really big one. And, uh, let's dive into this today. Uh, number one on the list here.

[00:01:57] Eric Goranson: The first one, can you [00:02:00] afford to keep it up and maintain it? You know what's interesting? Someone might go out and buy a house, they bought their house, their dream house, and it's an old craftsman or an old Victorian, and they're just being able to get in there. But they maybe don't realize that there's 50 or a hundred thousand dollars.

[00:02:20] Eric Goranson: The work that needs to be done immediately is there. You know, maintenance as far as paint that needs to be done. Are they living in a coastal area where you literally have to repaint the house every five years, really understanding the house you're purchasing. And the ability to keep it up. You know, people go, oh, I'm gonna buy a home warranty for your two.

[00:02:43] Eric Goranson: You know that that is a great bandaid. It might keep the systems working, but if you've got a 20 year old H V A C system and a 25 year old roof, and it's been a decade or more since it's been painted, you have some big ticket items [00:03:00] heading your way. And these are things I really want you to pay attention to when you're out looking at a house because you know, with interest rates and things right now, as high as they are, you can't just go out and get a cheap home loan these days.

[00:03:13] Eric Goranson: You know that, uh, that is expensive. And so these are things that I really want you. To think about. Now, here's one of my pet peeves that, that this is something that I've been waving the flag on for a number of years, and if you've heard me say it, I do apologize. But this is one of the biggest mistakes that I see out there, especially when you're buying a home that has been modified, built on brand new home.

[00:03:36] Eric Goranson: Little bit different story. This is, are you getting what you're paying for? Now here's what happens. Let's say you bought a 1920s home in the middle of a nice town, and maybe the back porch has been wrapped. Maybe the, the top [00:04:00] of the, you know, the attic space has been converted, the basement has been finished.

[00:04:06] Eric Goranson: What I'd like to see, what I'd really like to see, Is that you figure out what the square footage of your listing is. So if they say that it's listed at 1700 square feet, this is the key. You might need to turn around and go to the building department, and this is what I want you to do. Head to the building department, find out where they list the building sizes.

[00:04:36] Eric Goranson: I have had 1700 square foot homes. Show up is a thousand square feet in the building department because somebody converted the basement in the attic space, and so it changes completely the square footage of the home. Now the problem is, is don't go to the tax accessor or the auditor because if you have a 1700 square foot house you're buying and you tell [00:05:00] 'em it's 3000 square feet, they'd be happy to tax you at 3000 square feet.

[00:05:03] Eric Goranson: That's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about what the building department has, cuz that building department, if the permits have not been pulled, that building department is gonna be the end all, be all of what that square footage is. And so what happens is, is you're getting a loan for 1700 square feet.

[00:05:20] Eric Goranson: You're paying so many hundreds of dollars a square foot for this house. And by doing that, what happens is you're now buying a house that you do that doesn't exist. You're paying stor, residential, you know, livable storage space where livable space instead of storage space, and that's huge. So you wanna make sure that's it.

[00:05:45] Eric Goranson: Now, if you're in buying a house and you're going through your due diligence and you find out that that is different, the next question to ask is, what's it going to take to get that whole house up to building code? So that [00:06:00] square footage can be called livable square footage. Now, sometimes that can be really easy.

[00:06:07] Eric Goranson: Sometimes it can be very hard because what happens is, is those things are traditionally not grandfathered in. What I mean is, is if they did that in the 1950s or 1960s and didn't pull permits, you're gonna have to bring that up to 2023 building code in most areas. I see most areas as there's probably an exception out there, but general rule is it has to be brought up to the newest one.

[00:06:33] Eric Goranson: And a great example is, is I had a remodel project. I was working with a great license and bonded contractor on probably back in 20 17, 20 18, actually 2017. Pulled a permit for a master bathroom renovation. Second floor of this house. Got the permit. They said it was good, tore it out. Called in for the rough framing and plumbing inspection.

[00:06:58] Eric Goranson: Specter starts heading upstairs. He goes, we [00:07:00] don't have a second floor on this. What? The homeowner even had a stamp set of plans for that second floor, but either they had lost the permit, which Portland had done. They had lost a number of years of building permits. At that time, the city of Portland had, when they converted over to digital, there were permits, permits that were lost, and then on top of that, what happened was is uh, it cost the homeowner another hundred thousand dollars to bring that second floor up to current building code.

[00:07:35] Eric Goranson: They had to go down in the basement that was finished. And put in new footings to have their proper support because it was attic space with storage, and so there was a significant remodel just to get that so it was counted to be livable space. I've had a kit remodel where a major renovator here in my area, famous one, forgot to get his final sign off on the kitchen [00:08:00] remodel 20 years ago.

[00:08:02] Eric Goranson: Is in remodel and edition, we were going to have to rip off all the drywall in that edition, put the right insulation in, and there was gonna have to be so much work done that the kitchen remodel wasn't going to happen because there was no way to get that up to current building code because someone didn't get a final permit sign off.

[00:08:24] Eric Goranson: Now that leads to the last part of this one. Have all the permits been signed off on that residence? Has everything that's been started, has it been finished? You'd be surprised how many times I go to look at a remodel and there are open permits from a previous project where the people were so happy to get in.

[00:08:45] Eric Goranson: And get finished that that project didn't get the final inspection or there was a problem where they, you know, got red tagged, whereas, oh, it's almost there. We gotta do four or five more things. And those four or five things got forgotten [00:09:00] and then nothing happened to get it finished off. People forgot about it.

[00:09:04] Eric Goranson: They moved on and the project never got signed off in the building department. So make sure that what you've done in that project or the projects that have been done previously are finished off before you buy the place. And these are things you wanna be doing early on. So when you're doing your due diligence during the inspection period, That you've got that taken care of cuz you wanna make sure that these things are signed off cuz your bank might not be happy that they bought 800 square feet or 700 square feet more than actually existed in your home.

[00:09:35] Eric Goranson: Around the house will be right back up to do some important messages. Don't go anywhere.

[00:09:46] Eric Goranson: Should I be loud? Be so hot.[00:10:00]

[00:10:12] Eric Goranson: Hey guys. Welcome back to Around The House Show where we get you the most outta your home through information and education. Thanks for joining me today. We're talking about the top 10 things to consider when buying a home that they don't tell you about. But first, make sure you're following me over on my new YouTube playlist, and that's over at Fox 12, Oregon.

[00:10:28] Eric Goranson: And look for the around the House Northwest over there. We're putting up five or six new videos each and every day over there. Actually 18 every week, so about one a day. Over there. We've got new stuff. So you're seeing some great video content of the stuff that I'm working on through the TV show that we've cut up that you can catch over there.

[00:10:44] Eric Goranson: So if you're looking to start a project, we're starting to really cover a lot of stuff over there, including some great main and. America made in northwest kind of stuff. Even though this show goes around the world and around the the country here in the United States, we have some great products here [00:11:00] that are made locally.

[00:11:00] Eric Goranson: To me, you might be surprised that are on your shelf no matter where you're at. We've been talking about the, uh, top things. To consider when buying a home they don't tell you about. And the next one is, is that you should really do your inspections and do not do a no inspection clause on a house unless you're buying it at a really reduced rate.

[00:11:21] Eric Goranson: So here's the thing. You need to make sure that you have all the inspections done, one or two of them. And here's where I want to put a little asterisk on this. If you have any cracks in the foundation, I wanna make sure you have a structural engineer come out and take a look at it, even a foundation contractor.

[00:11:38] Eric Goranson: But I really want that structural engineer to come out and take a look at it. And I want you to do indoor air quality testing in my area here. When you buy a home, it's, you are forced to do radon testing, but I wanna have mold testing. I want to have. Particulate matter, like PM 2.5, that kind of stuff. I want to have all this stuff tested to see [00:12:00] what issues are in the house, and those are things that I think are gonna really tell you a story.

[00:12:06] Eric Goranson: If you get air testing done that says that there's mold in a house, now you can do a little bigger look and say, where is that coming from? And to be honest, if you're the purchaser, you wanna be able to hang that on the hat of somebody else to pay for, right? Not you. So you wanna make sure that you can get that dialed in.

[00:12:24] Eric Goranson: So make sure, of course, that the rayon, the mold, you'd be surprised what comes up from chemicals to um, I mean, you, you can be surprised what pops up if there's been a house fire in there in the previously that can sometimes even show up. So these are things that I really want you to be able to see what the issues are.

[00:12:45] Eric Goranson: And at the same point, it's not a bad time to have on home energy audit done too, to see what you can do and see what, um, you know, how leaky is that house. What do you have to do to get that thing? So it's really going to be, you know, [00:13:00] efficient for you because with the price of heating and cooling and everything else these days, understanding what you're buying is gonna be key.

[00:13:07] Eric Goranson: Now, here's the next one here. This is an important one that gets flipped over a lot and we talk about it from time to time, but it's an important one. What is the houses standing in the neighborhood? Are you buying the most expensive house? Are you buying the cheapest house? What are you buying in the neighborhood?

[00:13:25] Eric Goranson: And I'm talking your investment. What is going on with your investment here? Because for instance, when I purchased my house, I bought the smallest. House with the biggest lot in the neighborhood, which ended up being the cheapest house in the neighborhood, and that gives me such a great place to be able to grow and be able to take this house into bigger and better things.

[00:13:48] Eric Goranson: Now, if you're buying a house in an upcoming neighborhood, you've got some serious issues there that you need to be aware of. Before you sign on the dotted line, [00:14:00] so this is an investment. I mean, this is gonna be your biggest purchase, most likely in your life for most people. So understanding where that house sits in the neighborhood, you wanna make the best value out of your decision.

[00:14:15] Eric Goranson: Now, if you're in a planned community and it's all brand new homes, or they're newer homes, That's really not the same conversation as, as in a, as in a more established neighborhood, or if you're out on a farm, you know, just making sure that you've got a place for this to grow, that you can come out and be a little farther ahead is gonna be a better deal.

[00:14:38] Eric Goranson: So that's one of the biggest ones. Now here's the next one here. Foundation issues. I want to make sure, and this is something that you can do, When you're looking at the house, you can walk around and see major cracks in drywall or apparent places where drywall might have been repaired. Doorways, [00:15:00] windows.

[00:15:01] Eric Goranson: And here's, let me explain to you how the best way to do this. If you're looking to put an offer on the house, go around and open all the doors and windows. If they're all opening correctly, that's a good sign. If you walk around the outside of the house, do you see any cracks or crumbling foundation Have a little level in your pocket?

[00:15:22] Eric Goranson: Do things look like that they are correct? Are things level? Are things plumb? Do you look like you have a clown house? Has there been bad remodels? These are things that I really want to be able to take a look at. Now, a concrete foundation is solid and if the foundation was poured right, it'll do a lot.

[00:15:43] Eric Goranson: Now if there's cracks, for instance, in concrete, it's not that big a deal cuz you can get that repaired. The only issue that you need to look for is when things are sinking, and you might have to put helical piers or pin piles in to help support stuff. Is [00:16:00] that chimney pulling away from the building?

[00:16:02] Eric Goranson: These are all the things that I want you to take a look around and just be aware of so you know what's going on, because these are expensive items that could need to be repaired, and it's gonna be something that could devalue your home. I was in a house one time. Where um, the guy, I felt bad cuz a homeowner was a truck driver and his kids were watching the house and I see kids, they were in their twenties.

[00:16:25] Eric Goranson: They knew better. The waterline had broken outta the drain in the laundry room, and it literally caused a hundred thousand dollars of the damage underneath the house because every time they ran that top load washing machine, it dropped 50 or 60 gallons underneath and washed out the foundation wall under the kitchen, which caused the kitchen to sink and the room to sink.

[00:16:45] Eric Goranson: So they were gonna have to rip out the plumbing, get rid of the mold and the crawlspace. Jack that portion of the house back up and repore the foundation in there and do that. Now these days, to be [00:17:00] honest, unless that is the big thing, you don't have to Jack A. House up and move it or do that kind of stuff anymore.

[00:17:06] Eric Goranson: Literally. There's lots of ways to do it in that situation. You're trying to get it back to level and fix it cuz it had settled. I mean it bound. You couldn't have gotten the refrigerator out without a sazo because it jammed the refrigerator from the exterior wall. And the sidewall into the cabinets. It wasn't coming outta there.

[00:17:20] Eric Goranson: It actually bent the refrigerator. That's how much force had been done. But really the k the, the key to all this here that you should be looking at, and this is the big one, is that make sure that this is gonna be something that you can repair down the road. I have done new interior foundations on foundations that were crumbling where people said You needed to jack the house up.

[00:17:42] Eric Goranson: No, you don't have to jack the house up anymore. That is the old school way of doing it. You could actually go inside of that basement and pour a brand new interior foundation. On the inside of that wall, you might lose a couple square feet, but you can actually live in the house instead of having to move outta the house and they [00:18:00] jack it up cuz most building departments and engineers will not let you stay in the house when they jack it up.

[00:18:04] Eric Goranson: If you're putting a new interior foundation as many times, it will be a headache. But you'll be able to stay in that house, and those are keys to be able to have a house that is gonna be worth the value that you're gonna spend the money on it because we wanna find you the right house. Before we head on to Branco, I wanna make sure you check out our home improvement videos on around the house online.com, and you can head to YouTube from there around the house.

[00:18:27] Eric Goranson: Be right back after these important messages. Don't go anywhere.[00:19:00]

[00:19:09] Eric Goranson: Welcome back to The Round The House Show. This is where we help you get the most outta your home through information and education. Thanks for joining us. You know, I've been talking about the top 10 things to consider when buying a home that they don't tell you about today. And appreciate everybody listening on the podcast and, uh, everybody catching on the radio network across the United States.

[00:19:27] Eric Goranson: Thanks for tuning in. I do appreciate every single one of you, and if you listen on the radio, don't worry. You can catch us all on the podcast. Just look for a round the House show on your favorite podcast network. Well, to review what we've talked so far is, you know, about those top 10 things to consider when buying a home that they don't tell you about.

[00:19:45] Eric Goranson: You know, can you afford to keep it up? Is one of 'em, are you getting what you're paying for is the actual square footage of the house? You know what they say? It's supposed to be indoor air quality issues, you [00:20:00] know, mold right on those kind of things. You know, how is the house in the neighborhood? Is it the most expensive one?

[00:20:05] Eric Goranson: Is the cheapest one? What's the value? And then we talked about, uh, foundation issues. And one more thing I kinda wanted to talk about, let me expand on that first one, which was, can you afford to keep it up? Are you living in an area where there is frequent or fr possibility to storm damage? Are you in a hurricane area?

[00:20:27] Eric Goranson: Are you in a tornado area? You know what's, you know, are you nor Easter's hitting you at the coast? What, what's, what's your situation? Now here's the key with that. I wanna go back and just kind of visit this real quick because we didn't really talk about it, but can you afford. To make sure that that's gonna be dialed in.

[00:20:47] Eric Goranson: If you get a storm, could, do you have enough to cover for that insurance policy? Can you afford the insurance policy on that home? Can you afford to get it back in it? You know what happens if you have a hurricane? [00:21:00] Is the house old where it might not make it? Or is it in Florida where it's one of the new fortified homes down there?

[00:21:07] Eric Goranson: That'll take a category four storm hit net. So making sure that you can maintain it in our increasingly crazy weather out there. And no, I'm not getting into the debate of weather, but obviously there's storms out there and, and we're putting more homes in areas that there haven't been homes and so we're seeing lots of different storm am damage out there.

[00:21:29] Eric Goranson: Can you afford to keep that house up through the storm? Something to consider. Well, the next one here on my list. Do you need room to expand? Are you, is? Are you a young family? You're thinking about having four kids and you have a two bedroom or a three bedroom house? Did you get a big enough piece of property that you can do in addition down the road?

[00:21:52] Eric Goranson: Now, here's the thing I want you to think about as well, and this is something that I have with my design clients. When I was doing design work a lot, it was a conversation we always [00:22:00] had. Younger parents, and I have been a younger parent and I've, I, I have thought about this. When you have young kids, you always think about, oh, well, I'm always gonna have younger kids.

[00:22:10] Eric Goranson: No, younger kids are something that just happens for a handful of years, and all of a sudden they're 6, 7, 8, 10 or or 10 to 15, and all of a sudden they're heading off to college. It goes quick, but is your house gonna be able to fit your family plans? Or do you have space to be able to make it that house?

[00:22:33] Eric Goranson: Because here's the thing, right now, for instance, is a great example. There are a lot of people out there that are looking at their house wanting to get to a bigger house, but they're like, I'm not paying the double the interest rate of what that new house is gonna cost me. I can't afford that. And so that's one to consider.

[00:22:52] Eric Goranson: Can you do something to your house to make it bigger, to fit your family situation? And maybe that's a big deal. [00:23:00] Maybe it's not a big deal, but it's something to consider. And I always say that if you're going to design your house for small children, unless you've got a daycare, that should be a temporary fix.

[00:23:13] Eric Goranson: You know, 10 years ago we saw, um, all these miniature childlike bathroom fixtures coming out with the small toilets and the miniature stuff, and I thought it was a really bad idea because. That was only gonna be in there for a couple years and then you were gonna tear it out because the kids were gonna outgrow it.

[00:23:32] Eric Goranson: And that's something that can cost you a lot of money and that's fairly wasteful. And, um, nah, that's just not one that I'd be be doing. I mean, it's cute and all might look good on your Instagram, but is it gonna be practical? Probably not. Now, here's the next one that I, that is a big one. Is there an HOA or a condo owner's association?

[00:23:56] Eric Goranson: Is there somebody that is controlling your property? [00:24:00] Are you a person that drives a big truck, but you can't drive a par park, a big truck in your driveway because it's against the hoa? Do you like to work on your cars? Do you like to do your own maintenance? And they won't let you do it in your driveway?

[00:24:17] Eric Goranson: Do you wanna have a natural landscape, but you have to have grass? Do you wanna paint your house black? But they can only let you have five different colors of tan. You see where I'm going? HOAs can be great for keeping a house value and not letting a neighborhood go badly. They can also be a nightmare for a homeowner if you tend to live a little bit outside the norm.

[00:24:44] Eric Goranson: There are so many stories out there, and you can just jump on YouTube and hit HOA horror stories. How many issues do we see out there where somebody can't park their work truck in the driveway? It has to go in the garage or [00:25:00] you know, you, you have more than three cars. You are not allowed to have more than three cars.

[00:25:03] Eric Goranson: You get where I'm going at this? These other issues with HOAs. I mean, I had a, I, I battled out a condo owner's association with, uh, my wife Julie's place where she used to live. I had no idea, and I mean, I had no idea because the rules weren't posted anywhere when I was dating Julie, that I was parking in the gas parking spot.

[00:25:29] Eric Goranson: They weren't posted anywhere that I had a limit on how many hours I could be parked. In that guest parking spot a year, so I was going to visit. All of a sudden it came out, where's my car? And guess what? My truck got towed by a predatory towing agency. Yes. And, uh, those guys are actually being sued by the state of Oregon right now, which I cannot be happier about.

[00:25:55] Eric Goranson: That was a very celebratory, but I tell you what, this predatory [00:26:00] towing agency and yeah, we have a big problem with towing companies being scammers in the state of Oregon. That's a huge issue here that our state still has not gotten under control. But I tell you what, car towed, it was illegal to tow it because the rules weren't posted and it was a battle.

[00:26:19] Eric Goranson: Also the thing is with condo owners, associations, and homeowners, let's say you wanna move and you're gonna keep your house as a rental. Are there rules saying that you can't rent it out and make it a, make it a rental? These things happen. So before you put that offer in, make sure you understand all the HOA rules before you get into that contractual agreement.

[00:26:43] Eric Goranson: Cuz it could be something. That is not conducive to your neighborhood. I mean, are you, do you like to be barbecued in the back with the, with the smoke going? I have heard of, of, uh, HOAs limiting the amount of days you can barbecue in the backyard. [00:27:00] Yeah. How insane is that? So be careful with what you do understand it.

[00:27:07] Eric Goranson: And if you love HOAs and you are part of that conversation, awesome. You have found your new home. But I just don't want you to get trapped into something where your hobbies, your woodworking, your lifestyle does not work due to the problems that you could have with HOA clashing. And yeah, there's a ton of it.

[00:27:30] Eric Goranson: I've seen people get sued for, um, or fined, actually not sued, but they get fined because they didn't mow their lawn every Monday, or you don't have control of your front yard. I have a buddy what gets planted in his front yard, he doesn't control the H HOA does. And you know something, even though he owns it, they're the ones planting the plants.

[00:27:51] Eric Goranson: They're the ones maintaining it, mowing it, doing all that to me, way too much. But for somebody that doesn't want [00:28:00] to have to take care of that stuff and wants to have that consistent look in the neighborhood, maybe that's for you. But just be informed. So you know what you're getting into before you go.

[00:28:10] Eric Goranson: All right, we come back. We're gonna wrap up all the different things, the top 10 things to consider when buying a home that they don't tell you about after these important messages. Hey, if you want more information about us, head over to around the house online.com or just find us on social media. And look for around the house show.

[00:28:25] Eric Goranson: We'll be right back.[00:29:00]

[00:29:03] Eric Goranson: Welcome back to The Round The House Show. Thanks for joining us today. Well, we've been talking about the top 10 things to consider when buying a home that they don't tell you about, and uh, the next one on the list here is really important and it's understanding the crime and the laws of the neighborhood you're moving into.

[00:29:23] Eric Goranson: So, for instance, if you're moving into Portland, Oregon, which you've seen all the different, uh, different things about Portland out there, do you understand that there's all these additional taxes like art taxes? Do you understand that that, uh, drug use and homelessness is, um, legal? That, uh, if you have somebody that decides to put a tent on your front yard, it's gonna be hard to get 'em out of there.

[00:29:49] Eric Goranson: Do you understand that? Somebody could be doing heroin in the street in front of you and the police aren't going to show up. So these are things that I really want you to understand what you're getting into. [00:30:00] In the neighborhood that you're moving into and understand what's the good stuff and what's the bad stuff so you can understand the right location for your home.

[00:30:11] Eric Goranson: Now, for many people, those are things that are okay. They don't have a problem with the high crime. They don't have a problem with the. The drug use and all that stuff that comes with it. And the homelessness and, and I'll say that, that they don't have a problem cuz they keep voting the people in that keep doing it and letting it happen and not solving the problems.

[00:30:30] Eric Goranson: So I just chalk it up and say, Hey, they're okay with it. And are you putting your house in the right location? Are you, do you have a family? Are you coming in an up and coming neighborhood where you're hoping it's a great investment? Or are you trying to go to a safe place with good schools, you know, There's no right or wrong answer here.

[00:30:50] Eric Goranson: It's gonna be what fits best for you and your lifestyle and where you want to live, and quite frankly, where you can afford to live. That's part of the reason [00:31:00] why so many people commute so far these days is because they can't afford to live by their place of employment. You can see a hundred or $200,000 in price difference between the house that's maybe close to their work.

[00:31:15] Eric Goranson: Versus to where they can afford to, which leads to traffic. So these are things that I really want you to think about and the other stuff that you can think about too is, is what happens in that neighborhood as far as your nor local neighborhood association. How active are they? Just things like that to, to understand what's going on.

[00:31:38] Eric Goranson: I, I am not a fan of next door, but um, once you've got an offer in or you're looking in there, see if you can have access to next door in that neighborhood. And if you're living in a neighborhood next close to it, you can understand what's going on because many people, and boy will, they complain about what's going on in the neighborhood.

[00:31:57] Eric Goranson: So it's just something to consider when you're out looking [00:32:00] around what those crimes. Laws, all that sort of thing is going on there so you have a better understanding. Now, the next one here is a big one. What is the likeliness of your home to be able to flood and can you get flood insurance for it? Just like earthquake?

[00:32:20] Eric Goranson: Hurricane, are you able to get coverage to be able to make sure your home is set? Floodplains a big one because, uh, some places are in a area that could be flooded and they can't get insurance. Sometimes it's a FEMA insurance. Sometimes they just go, Hey, one, you could have a flood, and two, we won't even let you build there again, which really reduces the value.

[00:32:46] Eric Goranson: So these are things to understand. Or if you look at some homes in some FEMA areas, they will say, you can build there, but you're gonna have to make the front door 12 feet off the ground or whatever that. Rate of flood is so [00:33:00] understand the ability to be able to have your house insured. If you have a pre 1920s house, sometimes that doesn't go well.

[00:33:10] Eric Goranson: I know many states out there where you have some serious issues with people trying to get their old homes insured, and it's due to the insurance companies out there. I know. Homeowners that every year their houses are inspected by their insurance companies in my area doesn't happen. So it's interesting to see how those areas are.

[00:33:31] Eric Goranson: So just understand the playing field and what your challenges are moving forward to be able to do that. So understand the insurability and the likely cause of damage to that house, kind of like we talked about in one, but just understanding so you can have that coverage and be good to go. And then number 10 on my list.

[00:33:53] Eric Goranson: Parking. Do you like to have barbecues and have friends over? Is there a place for there to park? [00:34:00] Do you have enough places for you even to park? Is your garage too small to feed your car into your truck? Are you gonna have an electric vehicle or do you have a place to charge it? If you have friends coming over with an electric vehicle, can they charge it there?

[00:34:18] Eric Goranson: These are all things to consider when purchasing that house. What can happen? Where can you park? Is it a busy street and then, and you have to walk, you know, a quarter mile down the road with no sidewalks. Maybe that's not the right house for you. Can you add some parking? These are all things to consider when looking at the home.

[00:34:42] Eric Goranson: Now, coming up here, I've got my honorable mentions that are a little side things that didn't make the top 10. But are pretty important that you should be able to think about, because I wanna make sure that you are gonna be comfortable in that next new home that you're gonna call yours. You know, it's kind of [00:35:00] funny.

[00:35:00] Eric Goranson: One of the biggest ones that I see out there that, uh, ends up popping up later is understanding where your property lines are. And what's your access is, are you coming off of, uh, off of a neighbor's driveway? Do you know that the fence lines might not actually be the property lines? You know, it's interesting.

[00:35:19] Eric Goranson: Uh, my house here, even that I purchased when I first bought it, started looking around. I realized that, uh, boy, my neighbor's fence is over on my property. There's a lot of different things like that where the math just doesn't work and that to me is pretty fascinating. To understand where those lines are and what problems they could have.

[00:35:41] Eric Goranson: You know, there are some interesting things where there's a pin in the ground and it says that's where the survey is, but now that number doesn't make sense, and so it's hard to figure out where the lines are and where they're not. And how to get away with that within your neighborhood, because these are [00:36:00] things that can be very contentious and expensive if you have to fight that battle.

[00:36:05] Eric Goranson: You know, for me, I understand where my property line is, but the problem is, is with the one fence, I have to be very careful and I'll have to have that conversation with my neighbor, and I haven't done it yet because if I do an addition over there, for instance, that line is going to be over. Where, you know, I have to measure from that side of the house to the property line, and it has to be a certain amount of feet to meet code in my area.

[00:36:31] Eric Goranson: Well, that property line is a couple feet into his yard. Or into their yard. So that's gonna be something that you have to really consider. So dealing with that, understanding where those lines are in maybe worst case, paying for a survey to understand what it is, can be a bigger piece because it's one of those things that, uh, as long as people understand where that line is and, uh, maybe fences don't have to move, but you can put something together where.

[00:36:58] Eric Goranson: You know that, [00:37:00] okay, and the next time that fence gets replaced, it's gonna have to get moved over, or maybe it's time to put a new fence up and, uh, you guys share the cost and, uh, put the fence over on the correct property line so that it's not, you know, being taken away as part of the property. So that's something to really consider and really think about when you're looking at something like that, because, uh, it's something that could really cost you some money or be a headache down the road.

[00:37:27] Eric Goranson: You know, with access, if you are coming off a flag lot and maybe your, uh, driveway comes off of that, making sure that you have all the rights and easements to your property is another key to finding the right home. And sometimes, and this is where realtors. Do a great job of trying to sell you and understand going through the process and depending where you are.

[00:37:50] Eric Goranson: Uh, some states require a lawyer, some states like mine don't, where you go through the escrow process and the realtor and the escrow, the attorney's not through it at [00:38:00] all, but it's uh, carried out through that way. Depending on what location you are, have different rules and laws. But understanding where that property line is and understanding how you're gonna go through this whole process to make sure that you're getting what you pay for.

[00:38:15] Eric Goranson: That's the important part in a course. Trying to find where you've got those issues that could cost you money later. I just wanna see that you get into the house, get exactly what you're paid for, and don't get ripped off or get, you're buying a house that you don't think it's. Nice is what you thought you were getting, and that's the key right there.

[00:38:35] Eric Goranson: All right, everybody. Well, that is our list for the day. We've got another one coming up here in just a moment in the next hour. But if you wanna find out more about around the house, head over to around the house online.com. If you have a question for me. Go over there and you can, uh, actually ask that question.

[00:38:50] Eric Goranson: Go over the contact us. I would love to put you on the show and, uh, have your question answered and I can help you with that. Doesn't matter if you're stuck on a project or you're trying to find [00:39:00] resources or whatever you're trying to do, I'm here to help. And head over to around the House online.com, or if you've got a question head over to Around the House Nation on Facebook, that is a group that we can also chat about what projects you have going.

[00:39:14] Eric Goranson: There's a lot of experts over there that would love to help, and some of them you've probably seen on television before. All right, thanks for tuning in around the house this hour. Hour two coming up. Thanks for tuning in to Around the House.