[00:00:00] Eric Goranson: It's around the house. We've been talking about my top 10 scams and theft prevention list here for everybody out there. And these are things that can get pretty, pretty wild out there. And I have one here that I want to mention here because it's a big one. And it's one for you guys out there that are renters.

[00:00:25] Eric Goranson: And this is a common problem, especially on social media, especially on places like Craigslist. And that is. People that are renting a home that they don't actually own or have the ability to rent. Then they jump on social media and try to rent it out at a below market rate so they can get a deposit and everything else.

[00:00:44] Eric Goranson: They make them sign a contract. When it comes to remodeling and renovating your home, there is a lot to know, but we've got you covered. This is Around the House. Welcome to the Around the House show, the next generation of home improvement. [00:01:00] We can help you with your design DIY or construction project and help you get the right information where you can do it right the first time I'm Eric G.

[00:01:08] Eric Goranson: Thanks for joining me today. Find out more about this show, head over to around the house online. com. And if you need help with your next project, feel free to give us a call on our home improvement helpline. And that is 8 3 3 2 3 9 41 44. That number again is 8 3 3. Two, three, nine, four, one, four, four. And you might end up on a future episode of around the house.

[00:01:32] Eric Goranson: And we are here to help you with these projects. Now, today I really wanted to talk about my top 10 list here for you, the homeowner or even renter. And this is my risk theft prevention list. This is something that. There are so many things as renters, homeowners, condo owners that we are having thrown at us.

[00:01:56] Eric Goranson: And these are things that I want you to be really careful [00:02:00] about out there, because these are what I call high risk situations that you should pay attention to and take that extra due diligence on. There's so many of these different things out there, but I figured, Hey, we're going down a list here. None of these are in a particular order because they could be higher risk for one person.

[00:02:17] Eric Goranson: Or another. So it's really hard to say, Hey, this is your number one. This is your number 10. First on the list here is a big one. And it's one of my biggest pet peeves. And this is door to door scams. Other than the girl scout cookies or the local school kids or a nonprofit like that going door to door.

[00:02:40] Eric Goranson: Most of the time, my warning lights go up when I have somebody knocking on my door trying to sell me anything. Now, love the kids coming by, doing that kind of stuff. Not a fan of the religious people knocking on my door. Please leave me alone. But here's the thing. This is where I get worried. [00:03:00] About you as the homeowner.

[00:03:02] Eric Goranson: So some of the common ones are, and before you actually get into that, let me talk about, for instance, how this can be in different areas, for instance, of my neighborhood and my city, they really cracked down on this to try to help homeowners not get scammed. So if you're a commercial company going door to door in my neighborhood, you had to go down to city hall and get a permit if you're trying to do door to door sales.

[00:03:28] Eric Goranson: Just so they know if you're out there, you'll have a permit number and you'll be able to go door to door and they've done the research on you. And that way you're not considered a prowler. So they want you to go down and do that, which to me, I like it. Cause it really reduces my door to door knocking here in my neighborhood, which I do, but here's the thing that I'm always worried about that construction company, maybe it's a pest control.

[00:03:53] Eric Goranson: Maybe it's a duck cleaning company. Maybe it's a siding and window or door roof salesman, [00:04:00] whatever it is. Even paving companies. My first one that gets my hair standing up on my neck. Hey, darn it. Hey, I was in the neighborhood. I'm working on Mrs. Smith's house right around the corner. I was in the neighborhood and figured I could give you a great deal by coming by your door.

[00:04:20] Eric Goranson: First off, rarely, that's a great deal. And if you followed that person around. Everywhere they're going, they're using that same exact script. So, my warning lights go on as soon as somebody says, I was in the area, so I thought I'd knock on your door and see. Unless you're working right next door to me, I'm automatically in my head thinking it's a scam.

[00:04:41] Eric Goranson: So that's the first one here. Second of all, when they lead out with high pressure sales and they won't let you talk, that's a deal killer for me as well. I'll have them come up and knock on my door and go, Hey, you need sighting. You need windows. You need roof on my, Hey man, I'm uninterested. And they keep going.

[00:04:59] Eric Goranson: [00:05:00] That deal's done. I don't care if you have something I need and it's the best price in the world. It's over. So that's the first one to be careful with. Now you will see some people out there that will pretend to do this and they're out scoping crime scene. If someone's knocking on the door. Seeing who the potential person is that answers the door.

[00:05:19] Eric Goranson: If it's a kid, if it's a parent, is it, they could be scoping the house up. And next thing they knock on the door, you answer and they're surprised. They're like, Oh, somebody's home. Didn't think anybody was home. I'm a door to door salesperson. So in theory, that could be somebody there that is doing that.

[00:05:34] Eric Goranson: And then the other one is this is really a prime ground for unlicensed businesses. Maybe they're. Unlicensed contractors. Maybe they're unlicensed pet control companies really depending on what the licensing is in your area, but that's one of those that really gets me nervous when I see this. So something to be really careful with door to door salespeople in that I know there's plenty of legitimate people that go door to door out there, [00:06:00] but there's also a lot of people out there that aren't.

[00:06:04] Eric Goranson: Now, here's the other thing here too. And I just want to. Give you the same thing. There is the same risk on social media too. And it's one of those things that I really want to talk about as well on this, just to give it a moment is that those same people that were door to door are now showing up in your Facebook groups.

[00:06:24] Eric Goranson: They're showing up on next door. And these are things that you need to be really careful with. Hey, I just moved in the area. I've got this I'm doing, or I'm landscaping, or I'm doing this and make sure their license bond are insured guys, make sure you know who you're working with. And what's going on. And I will say too, I don't use the BBB as one of my typical resources for doing the research on working with any contractor.

[00:06:49] Eric Goranson: And I've said this before, cause I'm not a fan of them only because I have seen, at least here in the Pacific Northwest, because it happened to me where I had a low rating and they [00:07:00] said, Hey, if you pay to be accredited, we'll make that an eight plus rating. And I only had a low rating because I had a.

[00:07:05] Eric Goranson: Business it was under two years old, but I had no complaints or anything else. So That's where I have a problem with this stuff is when you can write someone a check And good or good rating at that point, guess what? I do not believe that's going to be a solid resource for you. So that's why I take them off my list of solid resources and stuff to work with, because there's still a company out there that's trying to make money.

[00:07:28] Eric Goranson: And anytime that someone can buy it, that's a problem in my book. So next up here is a big one, and this is something that's been big here. In our state and many states across the country, and these are moving company scams, and there are a ton of them out there. And my state here in Oregon is aggressively going after that each and every year that they force everyone to be licensed when it's sure, and they have to have that license.

[00:07:53] Eric Goranson: And so. You're seeing now they actually send out people out there to look for moving trucks and roll up on it [00:08:00] and see if these people are actually licensed moving companies. And many times this is the problem that you will see somebody come out, give you a quote, say, Hey, we're going to move you from point A to point B.

[00:08:11] Eric Goranson: Here's your quote. Awesome. You sign the contract and they move stuff. Things get damaged. They get it in the truck and say, actually we were wrong. It's going to be 3, 000 more or whatever. And they have all your stuff and they won't give it to you unless you pay the bill. So these are things that you need to be really careful with out there.

[00:08:33] Eric Goranson: And I want you to make sure guys to follow whatever your state is or whatever your location is Whether whoever is your licensing area for you And maybe there isn't there might not be any licensing for moving companies in your area But in mine there are and so it's a good way to go in and take a look and try to do your research See if they have online reviews Are they part of a national company?

[00:08:57] Eric Goranson: What's the story. And here's the thing too, that I [00:09:00] think is important. If you can pay with a credit card, so at least you have some kind of a way to go back. If there was damage or you got ripped off, at least you have a way to go back. If it's a visa, MasterCard, American express, whatever. If you can pay that way, not with a debit card, but if you can play pay with plastic.

[00:09:19] Eric Goranson: It will also give you a little more, a little more protection there. And then some of the other things that I think is really smart too, is to make sure that if you have those valuables, grandma's stuff, family heirlooms, move it yourself, put it in your vehicle, take it with you. Any of that stuff that is super important that you're worried about.

[00:09:38] Eric Goranson: So you can get it moved. And that's just one less thing to worry about. All right, guys, when we come back more of my top 10 scam and theft prevention list items here for you, owners, renters, condo owners, we'll do that just as soon as around the house returns, don't go anywhere.[00:10:00]

[00:10:10] Eric Goranson: Welcome to the round, the house show for the next generation of home improvement, where we can help you with your design, DIY, or construction projects, get the right information the first time. I'm Eric G your host and thanks for joining us today. We've been talking about my top 10 scam and theft prevention items on that list to make sure that you don't get taken by all the things out there that are trying to take your privacy, your money, whatever else out there.

[00:10:35] Eric Goranson: So we're going to see if we can help you out today with some of the things that I see. Are relevant for 2024 on the last segment here. We were talking about a lot of the door to door knocking scams. You see out there as well as moving companies that we were talking about there and the moving company is a big one and just be very careful if you're hiring movers.

[00:10:54] Eric Goranson: I hire one company that has been doing my work for years when I've moved. And once you get that person, [00:11:00] it's great. And always just make sure that they're good license bonded people, that they can be protected if the moving truck gets in an accident, go into your next place. You want to make sure that they're covered and that your stuff is covered.

[00:11:12] Eric Goranson: And then if there is any damage that you've got some kind of recourse with that. So just be very careful out there. Now the next one here is really important. And this is one that I think is probably the biggest that I'm seeing lately in home improvement. And that is duct cleaning scams. Those people that are going in and cleaning your HVAC ducting and stuff in your house.

[00:11:37] Eric Goranson: This is one of those things that I am seeing some massive problems with this out there. Now, first off, there are great people in the industry that do this. Now there are certified companies that out there that have taken a test. They're certified and they're really good. Now there's other companies that aren't that can certified, [00:12:00] but still do a great job.

[00:12:01] Eric Goranson: No shade against these guys. My problems are these people that jump online and buy an old piece of used equipment and are going around with bags of stuff there. Look what I pulled out of your system. It didn't come out of your system. But these are the things that I get worried about. Now, duct cleaning is not always for everybody.

[00:12:21] Eric Goranson: And there's some debates out there, whether it's right or it's wrong, or if it's needed or what. But I tell you what, where I see the biggest issues with HVAC duct cleaning and where, why you might need it is right after a house is built or remodeled, you can have tons of construction to debris down in floor vents, little less up in ceiling vents.

[00:12:42] Eric Goranson: That can be a big issue. If you are moving into an older house that had smokers, pets, they used a lot of air fresheners, like the plugin style ones. Uh, vaping in the house, anything like that, maybe had a fire, lots of pets, [00:13:00] anything that created a sticky situation. And I'll say this again, people that have done a lot of stove, cop cooking without a good hood.

[00:13:07] Eric Goranson: Sometimes you'll see Southeastern Asian cultures that have. A great cooking style and makes me hungry thinking about it. But these hoods, if it was an older house, rarely kept up to that. So you ended up having a lot of cooking grease that ended up in the air in that area. And sometimes that intake vent will get in there.

[00:13:26] Eric Goranson: Now there's a lot of those different things, allergens, you could have mold issues. There's a lot of things that could happen. And duck cleaning is probably the right answer. But what I worry about is for instance, I'll jump on next door and that place is probably where you find a lot of bad people on there.

[00:13:43] Eric Goranson: I, and I will throw a little shade on next door because they do not do a great job of patrolling their community for illegal contractors and people out there doing duck cleaning scams. There is one on there every few weeks that I run into myself and there are [00:14:00] people always jumping on there trying to push this stuff.

[00:14:03] Eric Goranson: So the places that I see people pushing this is social media. You'll see somebody jump on a, if you're in any one of the neighborhood groups or any one of those kinds of things, pushing duck cleaning, you will see plenty of people on there that are not licensed or insured. And here's the problem. I get that you're not, you're paying for something you're not getting.

[00:14:23] Eric Goranson: But if these people don't know what they're doing and you have flux ducts that are in walls or crawl spaces and stuff, they can go through and do a significant amount of damage. So my perfect company is one that's either. NADCA certified or is attached to a legitimate healing, heating and cooling contractor.

[00:14:42] Eric Goranson: So if you have a carrier system, let's say, or you've got a train system and you have a train dealer that actually does this, I tend to trust those people a little bit more because they know that they, they don't want to have to send their crew out to fix the stuff that they did. So these are people that [00:15:00] understand the system really well.

[00:15:02] Eric Goranson: And I think it's smart every few years to have it done in many cases. But again, it's depending if you have pets, yeah, maybe that's a problem. And I think also it depends on where your registers are. If you have a ceiling register for the return air going back to your unit and you have a bunch of ceiling.

[00:15:18] Eric Goranson: Docs that is completely different than if you have everything in the floor because on the floor that tends to get more of the dirt. It tends to get more of the pet hair, all of that stuff that's on the floor that is settled out, tends to grab into that system a little bit more. If I had all ceiling and I had a good HVAC system, you might not need it at all.

[00:15:39] Eric Goranson: If you had a good filter, no indoor crazy contaminants, that might work great. At the same time, if you have pets or you have any of these other things going on, Remodeling that kind of stuff or you just bought a remodeled house or a new one might be worth at least having them take a look to make sure that's good.

[00:15:56] Eric Goranson: Make sure that you get the right people and be very leery [00:16:00] of the ones that are advertising on social media that have little or no credentials. Because there are tons of people hiding in the bushes, looking to take your money and possibly damage your system. So be very careful there. The next one here is one that you've got to be very careful with as well.

[00:16:17] Eric Goranson: And there are 95 percent I'll say of these people are awesome. And I'm talking the drain cleaning plumbers, but just like everybody, you got to watch out for the 5%. And there are people out there that are on commission. And these are the ones you need to be careful of. The come out, you've got a line that's backed up, they show up, I'm going to run a camera down and then they bring in their phone at the pictures and they start showing you the picture inside of your camera, the roots are in there.

[00:16:47] Eric Goranson: We had to dig up your front yard, replace a section of pipe or put a new one in. So if someone's coming out and they're going to run a scope on a camera and run a video for you, the proper way to do this. Is for them to [00:17:00] do an audio over the top of it. They've got the camera in their hand. You can see around, you can see the neighborhood, you can see what's going on.

[00:17:07] Eric Goranson: It's not like these guys have video editing software out there. They're going to be sending it right over to you're showing it right there. So they put the camera down. Maybe it's through a roof vent. Maybe it's through the bathroom toilet. Maybe it's through a clean out, whatever. And they will run that down through the system to make sure it's good and comment all the way.

[00:17:27] Eric Goranson: And it just ran into this with my brother's house right now. He had somebody come out and he said, wow, it says that this line is collapsed. And these guys were not trying to scam him, but the guy didn't know what he was doing. So I watch the video, I get the video sent to me, I see it coming down, and I'm going, and he goes, oh, see, it's a plug right there, and I'm like, nope, that's a T.

[00:17:48] Eric Goranson: You've got a funky plumbing layout, they're going through the roof. And I'm like, Nope, that's cast iron. He had a cast iron T and the guys bouncing off it. Nope. Hard plug. Maybe it's collapsed. Maybe it's something that's down there. And I'm [00:18:00] like, Nope, sure enough. My little brother opens up the floor and yes, there's a T down at the bottom.

[00:18:04] Eric Goranson: And in fairness, now they're going to be coming back out to re scope that to make sure that we don't have any issues there. So many plumbers I know are really good at seeing that. And sometimes the rookies, they're rookies. Everybody has to learn. And sometimes those are things that you just got to be careful with.

[00:18:20] Eric Goranson: And if you have to have them go out and show you again, while you're out there standing there while they're running the video, feel free, it's worth a little bit of extra time to do it. So you know what you've got. All right, everybody. We'll be right back after these important messages here. If you want to find out more about us, head over to around the house, online.

[00:18:37] Eric Goranson: com we'll keep talking about my top 10 scams and theft prevention list. Just as soon as we return, don't go anywhere.[00:19:00]

[00:19:05] Eric Goranson: Welcome back to the round the house show. This is where we help you with your home every single week. Thanks for joining us. This is the next generation of home improvement where we can help you with your design construction and DIY projects every single week. So you can get the right information, do it right.

[00:19:20] Eric Goranson: The first time. And I'm Eric G. Thanks for tuning in today. Whether you're on the podcast, you're streaming us, or if you're checking us out nationally on the talk media network, thanks for catching us today. If you missed part of the show, don't worry. You can find this show on any podcast player. Just look for around the house show.

[00:19:39] Eric Goranson: So if you're catching us on the radio, we appreciate you catching the station and make sure that you listen to these advertisers that are in the middle of the show here on the radio. These are the guys that keep this show going every single week. We are not a pay for play show. So if you're listening on the radio, make sure you give those advertisers support and say, Hey, thanks for supporting around the house.

[00:19:58] Eric Goranson: Cause we keep adding [00:20:00] new stations. All the time. So I appreciate it. We've been talking about my top tip, top 10 scam and theft prevention tips. Ways to not get ripped off as a condo owner, homeowner. Or just a renter out there. These are things that I want to make sure that you are watching out for out across the country here.

[00:20:18] Eric Goranson: Now we would be talking about in the last segments here, we were talking about door to door scams, moving company, scams, duct cleaning by non professionals. Some drain cleaning companies out there that are not good plumbers. Let's put it that way. Next up here is where I really get concerned. And it's a big one.

[00:20:37] Eric Goranson: If you're walking a home show or anything else, there are some window inciting companies out there that are fly by night. And I tell you what, it concerns me. Now, there are some great companies out there that do it beautifully. They do it right. And their craftsmanship and attention to detail is top notch.

[00:20:59] Eric Goranson: So this [00:21:00] is where you really have to do your research and understand what's going on. And some of the biggest problems that I see out there is one, they're not flashing these windows and doors correctly, which means there should be flexible flashing around all of these openings when they pull something out.

[00:21:18] Eric Goranson: There needs to be a water barrier between that new window and the framing and plywood and everything else underneath there. So that to me is actually more important than whether it's double pane or triple pane, to be honest, those things, as far as the installation, the proper installation is the flashing done correctly with flexible flashing.

[00:21:40] Eric Goranson: Is it all caulked in? Is it sealed up? Is there no way for water to get behind it? That's actually more important than if it's double painters or triple pain to me. So if you don't have that stuff right in five to 10 years in many climates, you're taking those windows out because you have rot inside the wall because you've got [00:22:00] water down there.

[00:22:00] Eric Goranson: You've got water damage inside. So making sure that those windows are actually in the frame of the house correctly with the waterproofing is key. So I want to make sure that's getting done correctly. Now, lesser is going to be the quality of windows going in there. I want to have a name brand window. I'm not a fan of these kind of off brand or, Oh, it's our own brand.

[00:22:23] Eric Goranson: Because here's what happens. And this is something that happened in the two thousands with vinyl windows during the crash of 08, 09, 010, 2010. That's when we lost a lot of window companies and there were a lot of window companies in the U. S. that had lifetime warranties that went, oops, we didn't make it, we're shut down.

[00:22:43] Eric Goranson: I've had a house that had horrible windows and it was new construction. It was built in 07 and I ended up having to do a lot of work on those windows because they were all failing. The window company with the lifetime warranty that they came with went chapter 11 during the financial [00:23:00] crash. So this was one of those things, and this happens with medium to small size window companies all the time.

[00:23:08] Eric Goranson: We'll go through, they'll extend themselves out to builders, we'll have a stock market slash real estate market crash. The builders have big loans out to these guys, they file chapter 11 and it takes the window companies down with them. And so then all of a sudden that warranty is gone. Maybe the window company starts up as another company with those assets, but they now don't exist and neither does your warranty.

[00:23:33] Eric Goranson: So stick to a name brand, a big national name brand, and you'll be better off because I think that's where those warranties are. Now, if you're getting into custom windows and European brands and some of that other stuff, I totally get it. They're super efficient. And that's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about if you're putting vinyl windows in stick with the big guys, And it's going to be much more reliable and feel free to call their customer service line and see if they are a [00:24:00] trained company and if they do a trained type company.

[00:24:03] Eric Goranson: So if they're installing window brand X, call the manufacturer and say, Hey, do you guys have a relationship with these guys or is there training? How does that work? And see what their customer service department says. I don't think that's a problem asking a bunch of questions with those guys. So something to think about there.

[00:24:21] Eric Goranson: I want to see, and some window manufacturers specifically do not do training, which I don't agree with, but I think that there needs to be some kind of a certification within that manufacturer for the bigger people. So they know that stuff is being put in per the design specs. And I know some companies out there say, Hey, we follow ANSI.

[00:24:40] Eric Goranson: Yeah, I get it, but each company has their own little ways of doing it. And I hope that's getting told to the installers. So do your research on that. And then really that installation is important and windows are like HVAC systems to me. The installation [00:25:00] is as important as the equipment itself. So make sure that you've got that dialed in and ready to go.

[00:25:07] Eric Goranson: Now, the next one here is a little more obvious, but it's something that I think that we should all be paying attention to a little bit more with our theft and the crime rates across the country is making sure that your packages. Are secure and your mail is secure when your mail person drops off from the US Postal Service.

[00:25:27] Eric Goranson: Is that going into something that's locked? Is that something that someone's gonna have to fight to get into? Or more importantly, he's gonna have to make some noise to get into. How about those porch pirates? Are you having FedEx, UPS, Amazon, whatever being dropped off at your door? And is that sitting there while you're at the office at the doctor's appointment?

[00:25:47] Eric Goranson: Is there a way to do that? Yes, there is. There's a lot of different mailbox companies that lock. My favorite is NB Sentinel, and I love those guys out of Texas. They actually make the box gobbler, [00:26:00] which mounts in the side of your house or garage, and it has a key pad that you give the code to for the driver.

[00:26:06] Eric Goranson: They'll come up, push the button, open up the vault, drop it in there, and that will drop it on the floor of your living room, on the floor of your Most likely garage. It's best, I think, placed in the side of the garage, but you could also put her on its own box outside where it's a more of a monument mount is it's mounted out there or it can be mounted out by your street.

[00:26:26] Eric Goranson: And I think that is a great way to secure those packages because these days with online ordering and medications of everything else we see out there from our food coming in on Amazon to everything that we're ordering online and having it shipped, I think in today's e commerce. We really should be taking a look at better ways to secure that information.

[00:26:47] Eric Goranson: And data, you get a new card because maybe the last one, somebody at the restaurant kiped it from you and took it and skipped it, skimmed it, whatever you want to make sure that you've got that dialed in. So when [00:27:00] that new card shows up, it's awful nice to not go, Oh, I got to check in my mailbox. I better go out and get it versus, ah, when I get out there, I'll get it.

[00:27:07] Eric Goranson: Cause I know at least it's under lock and key. And of course, nothing under lock and key is foolproof, but you want somebody to have to make a scene like they're having to break into it to get into it. Especially if it's during daytime hours. So that's a key right there. I had somebody in the neighborhood next door and next street up that was going last week, I saw people in their pictures on next door, sharing it up there of, Hey, look out for this car.

[00:27:28] Eric Goranson: Cause they're going through the neighborhood, checking out everybody's mailboxes. And so now everybody's. They used to leave their mail out there overnight and go, I'll get it in the morning. They got late delivered late in the day. Now they're spending the time to go out there and do that. So spend the time secure those when it's time to replace that mailbox.

[00:27:44] Eric Goranson: You might think about putting one of the lock on it and they do make a NB Sentinel does make a box gobbler with a mail thing that you can put out there as well. So that would lock it and you could do it all in one. That's not a bad way to go to keep you those packages safe and all that. Hey, before we go out to [00:28:00] break here, I wanted to say if you want to find out about all of my videos, check On around the House Northwest, which is my home improvement television show that airs weekly.

[00:28:08] Eric Goranson: We've got, geez, almost, uh, 360 videos up on YouTube. And if you wanna find that link, you can head over to social media, find it there, or you can just head over to around the house online.com. Alright, we come back, we're gonna wrap up this list to my top 10 items that you as a renter or homeowner need to be careful of.

[00:28:27] Eric Goranson: I don't wanna see you get scanned. We'll do that just as soon as we return

[00:28:54] Eric Goranson: back[00:29:00]

[00:29:02] Eric Goranson: to the round the house, show the next generation of home improvement, where we can help you with your design. DII or construction projects help you get the right information where you could do it right. The first time. Thanks for joining us today. I'm Eric G. This is our last segment of the show for this hour here.

[00:29:17] Eric Goranson: And if you want to find out more about us, head over to around the house online. com. And if you need help with your next project, feel free to give us a call on our home improvement helpline. That is 8 3 3 2 3 9 40 1 44. That number again, 8 3 3 2 3 9 40 1 44. And if you've got a question for us, I'll try my best to answer it for you with the information you give.

[00:29:39] Eric Goranson: And maybe you'll end up in a future episode of around the house. We've been talking about my top 10 scams and theft prevention list here for everybody out there. And these are things that can get pretty, pretty wild out there. And I have one here that I want to mention here because it's a big one. And [00:30:00] it's one for you guys out there that are renters.

[00:30:03] Eric Goranson: And this is a common problem, especially on social media, especially on places like Craigslist. And that is people that are renting a home that they don't actually own or have the ability to rent. And you're seeing this happen in the news where you've got somebody who's coming into an abandoned house, getting it cleaned up, putting it up for rent.

[00:30:24] Eric Goranson: And maybe the bank owns it. Maybe somebody across the country owns it and it's been vacant for a while. Then they jump on social media and try to rent it out at a below market rate so they can get a deposit and everything else. They make them sign a contract and guess what? People move in and they are unsuspecting and it's crazy how this happens.

[00:30:44] Eric Goranson: So the first thing is I want you to do some research. If you're out there figuring it out, you can jump on and basically get the tax number for this lot. Get under your county, city, township, whatever it is. Whoever takes [00:31:00] the property taxes in there. And you can jump online and usually see who that person is.

[00:31:06] Eric Goranson: And if it's not that person, is it somebody that is a paid representative of them? If it says, Mr. And Mrs. Smith pay the taxes on this property. And all of a sudden, Jim is doing it, and Jim's last name isn't Smith. Might want to start asking some questions. And second of all, if it's a rental agency, great, you can do the research.

[00:31:27] Eric Goranson: Are they a licensed business? Do the research to find out about them. And see if they're actually a property management company. Because you can sure find out, and it's not that hard to do. A little Google searching, a few phone calls, you can probably figure out if it's real or not. And that's the key right there.

[00:31:44] Eric Goranson: Figuring out if it's real or not, if this is actually it, and they use a lot of fear, a lot of problems to get things dialed in, to try to scam you for that rental deposit in first month's rent and make sure that you're not getting taken. If [00:32:00] something on your spidey senses says it's wrong, tap the brakes and don't get in a panic because they have four other people that want to rent it.

[00:32:08] Eric Goranson: Make sure that you've got that dialed in. That is a huge one right there. And I see people getting taken advantage of. And it's, it just makes me sick to my stomach that somebody can steal thousands of dollars to somebody. And at the same time, there's somebody else dealing with a renter. That's not paying them in the home.

[00:32:25] Eric Goranson: And I've seen some of these go on for months and are they squatters? Probably technically something. These people are getting ripped off as well. So you have two victims from one criminal. So be careful out there, you guys renting, because that can be a very big problem. Let's go back to the list that we talked about here in previous Parts of this episode here.

[00:32:45] Eric Goranson: We talked about door to door scams, the door to door salespeople ripping you off. We talked about moving company scams. Duct cleaning by non professionals, some drain cleaning plumbers that are not plumbers, but are out there trying to be drain cleaners and ripping people off. [00:33:00] Some windows companies out there that are doing door to door and that are showing up at home shows that aren't doing quality work, and then we were talking about securing your mail and packages.

[00:33:11] Eric Goranson: Next up here is internet security. Have you got things dialed in? Do you have. A very secure wifi password at your house that somebody is not going to get into. And this is where I think you should really think about having a great password or using some of the password protection things out there. Now there are programs you could put on your phone that are password vaults.

[00:33:35] Eric Goranson: Which will create very hard to hack passwords and then it'll save it on your phone. So you have to remember one detailed password and then it will generate new passwords for you on everything else. And then it saves it in one secure location. And if you've got banking, if you've got your wifi password, all that different stuff, not a bad idea to do that.

[00:33:58] Eric Goranson: And it's a great way. If you're always [00:34:00] thinking about, Oh man, what was my password again? You have four or five that you rotate through. All it takes is one little piece of identity theft. And if somebody gets a few of those or gets into your computer or into your wifi and gets into your computer, guess what?

[00:34:12] Eric Goranson: That can be a problem. So spend the time. Make sure that you've got your house locked down on the internet side of things, and then make sure your banking and all the other important things, which is basically everything you've got out there has a password. And I'm not just talking about a capital letter word and a couple numbers.

[00:34:33] Eric Goranson: If you could start using things that are not in the dictionary, if you want to start doing that, if you want to start using symbols and numbers and capital letters, this is where you start getting more secure and the longer the password, the better. Now, of course, some companies will let you log in and they're like, Oh, you can only use eight or 10 or whatever characters.

[00:34:52] Eric Goranson: That's fine, but use the best password you can and take a look. There are a lot of different password secure companies out [00:35:00] there for apps you could put on that will generate. And put that all in a vault for you so you can have that secure. So it's not a bad way to go. They use the right encryption and when in doubt, use the two level authentication.

[00:35:13] Eric Goranson: That way, if you log in and you need access into something, make it text you, so you put the number back. And that'll really make it hard because if somebody goes to get into that, you're going to get a text and that really can slow things down. Somebody has to really go to the next level to get around that.

[00:35:31] Eric Goranson: And then that's a whole other situation there. So really thinking about your password and your home wifi security is a big deal, especially since so many things are running off of it. And if you've got cameras and things like that inside your house, you want to be the one that can look at that, not anybody else.

[00:35:48] Eric Goranson: And the same thing here goes with your online, with your phone security, and your computer and everything else. So those all need to slide under that same umbrella. Make sure that all those passwords are good, all your PIN [00:36:00] numbers are good, and when in doubt, change those up from time to time. Because if all it takes is one place to get hacked and you're in trouble.

[00:36:08] Eric Goranson: So next up here is one that is not really a place you're going to get scammed, but it's something that you should do in case you do. And that is review your homeowner's insurance and make sure that you are covered. Let's talk about being risk adverse here for this. If you think about your homeowner's insurance, it is there to pay for damage, total loss, But when was the last time you reviewed what your house is worth?

[00:36:36] Eric Goranson: If it's been a couple of years, you could be underinsured by 10 or 15 or 20%. I went through mine last year, and to be honest, I had jumped online and bought from one of the online people out there and have no problem with them, but they did the simple calculations based on my house. But based on the Zillow, not what my house is actually worth.

[00:36:59] Eric Goranson: And [00:37:00] my house hadn't been on Zillow. So for a while, so it didn't have any idea what the value is. I was underinsured by about 40 percent and that's ugly because there was no way I, if I would have had a total loss of my house, vote out of fire, wildfire, or something like that happened. I would not have been covered where I could have replaced everything in my house for what I had in it.

[00:37:22] Eric Goranson: And that would have been a severe problem. So if it's been a couple of years, sit down, talk to your online people. Personally, I like talking with an agent to make sure I've got that kind of dialed in because that way you just know you can have that conversation and go, Hey, what about my tools or my tools covered?

[00:37:38] Eric Goranson: Maybe some of them are, is your artwork covered? Is your jewelry covered? Is any of your collection stuff? Do you have a baseball collection? Sports memorabilia, rock and roll guitars hanging on the wall. Are you covered? If you have stuff that is out of normal value and you don't have a writer on there, this could get really expensive [00:38:00] really quickly.

[00:38:01] Eric Goranson: So there's something else there. All right. Next one here is the last one on my list. Garage door openers and gate security. Does your garage door opener have a deadbolt? Does it? Will it lock? Can somebody force that thing open if they come in and push it up? Can they get in through that? I have come home before and seen my garage door laying on the driveway and all of my tools missing.

[00:38:25] Eric Goranson: Garage empty. They just couldn't move my big toolbox. It was too hard. So somebody came up, pulled the front doors right off. That's a little bit different story, but many garage doors, most can get in there pretty easily. Get the handle release. They push it up and get in there. So make sure you've got a deadbolt.

[00:38:41] Eric Goranson: A lot of the new door openers have them as well as some companies out there that we'll be having on a future episode here to be talking about that as a lover of security. And there is also gate security things, whether you have wood or metal fences to make sure that somebody can't easily go around and To the back of your house and get in there.[00:39:00]

[00:39:00] Eric Goranson: All right, everybody. Thanks for tuning into this hour of around the house show. If you want to find out more about us, head over to around the house online. com. And if you've got a home improvement question, or you just want to comment on this, you can just send us a message over at around the house online.

[00:39:13] Eric Goranson: com or give us a call at 8 3 3. 239 4144 that number again is 833 239 4144. All right, have a great rest of your day. Thanks for tuning in to Around the House. We got another episode coming right up.