Eric and John dive straight into the nitty-gritty of the 2026 real estate market, and trust me, this convo is a goldmine for anyone thinking about buying or selling a home. They're dishing out real estate tricks that cut through the media fluff, giving you the inside scoop on what’s actually happening in the marketplace. With interest rates dipping to a still-historically decent range of 5.5% to 6%, they emphasize the importance of assembling your dream team before even peeking at listings. From the nitty-gritty of home inspections to the sneaky nuances of property taxes and neighborhood vibes, these guys are covering all bases to ensure you’re armed with the knowledge you need to make savvy decisions. So grab your favorite snack, tune in, and get ready to level up your real estate game! Real estate is a wild ride, and in this show, Eric and John dive into the nitty-gritty of the 2026 market. They dissect the latest trends, like how interest rates are dipping down to a manageable range, making it a prime time for buyers to dip their toes back into the housing pool. They chat about how the media paints a picture that might not match the street-level reality of home buying and selling. If you're planning to toss your hat in the ring, they've got insider tips to help you navigate the murky waters of real estate. From the importance of assembling your dream team of realtors and lenders before house hunting (seriously, don’t wing it!) to the art of negotiating commissions, they cover it all. Plus, they share anecdotes from their own experiences, highlighting how crucial it is to do your homework before making a big purchase. So grab a notepad and get ready to jot down some solid advice because this episode is a goldmine for anyone looking to buy or sell in 2026.

Takeaways:

• In 2026, interest rates are still hovering around 5.5% to 6%, a significant change from the previous 3% days, making it crucial for buyers to adapt their strategies accordingly.
• Before buying a home, it's absolutely essential to assemble your real estate team, including a trusted realtor and mortgage advisor, to avoid any unpleasant surprises later on.
• The importance of understanding the neighborhood dynamics cannot be overstated; local Facebook groups can reveal insights about potential changes that traditional listings might not mention.
• When selling your home, consider small investments like a garage door replacement, which can yield a surprisingly high return compared to larger renovations like kitchen remodels.
• Navigating the real estate market requires vigilance; unexpected neighborhood developments, like a new homeless shelter, can dramatically affect property values and livability.
• Don't skimp on inspections; having a home inspection before selling can save you from major headaches and expenses down the line, especially in competitive markets.

Links referenced in this episode:

• aroundthehouseonline.com

Companies mentioned in this episode:

• Red Wing

Thanks for listening to Around the house if you want to hear more please subscribe so you get notified of the latest episode as it posts at https://around-the-house-with-e.captivate.fm/listen

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We love comments and we would love reviews on how this information has helped you on your house! Thanks for listening! For more information about the show head to https://aroundthehouseonline.com/

Information given on the Around the House Show should not be considered construction or design advice for your specific project, nor is it intended to replace consulting at your home or jobsite by a building professional. The views and opinions expressed by those interviewed on the podcast are those of the guests and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the Around the House Show.

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Coast to coast, it's the nation's number one home improvement radio show and podcast with certified kitchen designer Eric G. And co host John Dudley, a former contractor and online technology expert.

Delivering real fixes, smart tech and trusted advice.

Remodels, repairs, energy savings, smart homes, diy.

We've got your answers.

It's around the House.

Dive in and get inspired.

Welcome to the around the House show, your trusted source for everything about your home.

I'm Eric G. Thanks for joining us today.

John Dudley, good to see you, friend.

What's happening, brother?

Good to see you, man.

We got a great, great show coming up today and I think you and I'll probably have a couple of rants in the middle of this, which is always good.

But today I wanted to talk about just kind of inside real estate secrets.

Interest rates have come down a little bit in the States.

People are starting to look around.

We're in that five and a half to 6% interest rate, which historically is pretty good.

We're never going to get back to that 3% stuff that we had five years ago where they're almost paying you to buy a house.

But those days are well over.

Yeah, never say never.

Never say never.

But I don't think that's going to happen in my lifetime at least.

Oh, it's just one of those things.

I think those days were great and are gone.

But I wanted to talk about this because it's so complex and so many people in the springtime are going to.

All right, I hate my house.

We had a new kid on the way.

Or I hate this neighborhood.

We gotta get outta here.

And I think it's just such a great discussion to have.

And with me going through the house selling process last year, it really brought up some holes in it.

And there's some great places for secrets for people out there that are looking to go buy a house.

And with the mls, the multiple listing service, and all this stuff changing, like for instance, Johnny, if it's changed since you left.

But if you go to go look at houses for before you jump in that realtor's car or meet them someplace.

Oh, that's right.

You got to sign an agreement with them saying, okay, this is what you're going to get paid out of the deal.

Yeah.

And you have to have that contract because now you negotiate that percentage.

Now again, I'll say this, there are great realtors and there are some that just aren't so great out there.

And the cool thing is the great realtors are the ones that will do Just about everything for you.

Great example.

My buddy Shep, one of my best friends, he's the realtor that will jump on the ladder, get up on the roof and he's up checking the flashing when some inspector called it out and said it's bad and you want that person that your advocate out there.

But before you even get into that, if you're going to be buying a home, my best advice is get your team together before you even start looking.

Figure out who your realtor is, go talk to the loan people, whether it's your bank or your mortgage or whatever, and understand the process and get pre approved so you don't get disappointed when you go to put an offer on the house and then go talk to the bank and they go, we can't get you a loan for that.

Yeah, yeah.

And generally speaking, that's the first thing a realtor is going to say.

What are you approved for?

They don't want to take, they don't want you wasting their time.

So.

No, they don't.

And the other thing is too is you need to understand also what kind of loan you're going to go.

Because if you're going to go through like a VA loan or an FHA loan, for instance, and you're looking at this older house going, I need a fixer upper.

Those aren't the best loans unless you get out of some other side programs because they won't accept peeling paint sometimes on the outside or some of that that's so cosmetic but important.

They're not, you're not going to make it through the inspection process where you're going to be either paying to have it done to get that signed off or it's a tough battle.

So you kind of need to know your game plan beforehand so you don't have to go through the pain.

Because many times in some of these markets you've got four or five, six people competing on a house.

You kind of want to make sure you got your ducks in a row so you can go bam.

And not be this long process and lose out on the deal.

It can get really expensive or you'll lose out on the house that you want.

Yeah.

And it's depending on the market you're in, obviously.

But my mom's property, she's been going through that and we've been talking about her foundation and stuff like that and having that stuff ready.

And what if somebody wants to buy it and she loses the buyer because the doesn't approve and fortunately.

Right.

She's on Taps island.

So it's one house a year goes up for sale there.

Yeah.

Very sought after.

So you don't really have to worry too much about.

And what I was trying to explain to her, like, ma, knock it off the bill.

And when they come and say this, that and this and that, just say, okay, knock off 20 grand and you fix it.

You can do that when there's competitive bidding going on.

Right.

And that's what it was with my house too.

You just brought up is if you don't have that and you don't have your ducks in a row and you're trying to buy the next one based on the sale of your current one, you're going to lose because you didn't think of that stuff ahead of time.

And I always recommend to having that home inspection done if you're selling the house.

If you're, hey, I'm putting my house up in the market and it's not something that's just brand new.

I would sit there and have that inspector come through it first.

So that way, bam, you know what's going on.

Yeah.

So many times that realtors can kill.

It off to a lot of that stuff.

A good realtor will spot some of that stuff before you even have to pay for an inspection.

They get, hey, they're gonna call that, I've been doing this 20 years.

I know what they're gonna call a good realtor.

I'll know.

So don't just go grab the first realtor you run into.

Yeah.

Do your research.

That's the thing we need to do.

Hey, let's.

Johnny, let's run out here real quick.

We need to talk about Red Wing, brother.

It's our time for the tip.

Let's go out to that.

To our friends with Red Wing.

I love these guys.

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Run exhaust fans or set up a portable fan to clear those fumes that can cause dizziness or breathing trouble.

Protect yourself with chemical resistant gloves, long sleeves, pants and safety goggles.

In cooler weather, layer a lightweight Red Wing hoodie for extra coverage without the bulk.

For heavy jobs like floor gluing or pest control, add a respirator and take fresh air breaks.

Store chemicals in a cool locked away spot.

From kids and heat sources.

Dispose of leftovers properly through your local hazardous waste program.

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Love those guys.

Love their new clothing line.

And talk about just a great old American company.

Those guys are just been killing it out there talking about this.

Johnny, it's so interesting.

And again, you brought this up, like with my house.

We did the inspection on it, and man, this inspector came through, caught some things that I caught.

A couple things I had no idea on that I didn't even know.

Wasn't leaking, but was leaking, which is somebody else's bad plumbing repair that was finally dripping a little bit.

Caught that.

But then he goes, oh, there's water coming through the foundation, dude.

That's epoxy from two years ago when I repaired that.

Didn't get over there, but just saw some shiny liquid.

Had no idea that was epoxy from a repair.

So it was like, ah, that's not what that is.

Yeah, the minute you told me that one, I knew it was good.

I was like, oh, he saw boxing.

Thought it was wet.

Yeah, thought it was wet, but.

And they do good stuff.

But here is the problem with house inspections.

And we'll do this real quick before we go out.

And this is an important one.

They're only liable in almost every area out there.

And I say that because I don't know of any other, that this is different end.

But I want to let you guys know in your local area, you should check most inspections.

If you pay for a $500 inspection on your home and they miss a whole bunch of stuff, their liability is at the $500 that you spent for them.

So if you buy a house that's got massive foundation issues and it's sliding off the hillside, you go back and they go, hey, a contract says that.

Let me give you your 500 bucks back.

Good luck.

Yeah.

And here's where that happens.

When the buyers bank inspector comes in, they are looking closely because they're the ones doling out the dough.

So your inspector's like, I'll get 500 bucks.

I'm on the next one.

Right?

And I'm not saying they're that way.

Inspectors are generally, they take pride in their work and they know there's a liability there.

Yeah, but like you said, it's 500 bucks.

And if they miss a $20,000 repair that comes off of your ticket, man, that's 20 grand, no question.

Johnny, when we come back, I want to talk about something that gets people caught.

That you could be buying half of the house that you think you are.

And it's one little loophole that no one's looking for.

We'll talk about that just as soon as around the House returns.

Welcome to the around the house show, your trusted source for everything about your home.

Hey, if you want to find out more about us, head over to our website, around the House online dot com.

Got a new blog post up there which is something that could save you a ton of money in plumbing, heating and cooling and any of those things.

Even electricians out there, there's something that's changing.

So you want to make sure and read that aroundthehouse online.com Johnny and I have been talking about these things that are tricks of the trade in real estate out there, whether you're looking to buy a house, selling it.

But first, I got a little rant I to go off on here, brother.

I was at the farmers market last Saturday before the show airs in our local area and I'm walking around and I could not believe it.

This is the craziest.

So there is a referendum that people, some people are trying to get here in Oregon on the shelf.

That's for us to vote on.

Probably not this year, but maybe next year.

And it is removing.

It sounds so beautiful and sweet.

Removing animal abuse exemptions.

And that's what it says.

Here's the problem.

And we got a lot of stations in Oregon here as well.

So if you're living in the Pacific Northwest, pay attention to this one.

Make sure these clowns aren't doing your state across the country.

If they remove these exemptions, it makes you going fishing.

That could be.

If you limit out on your fish, that could be felony animal abuse for killing fish.

If you're hunting, it could be.

It would outlaw all hunting and fishing.

It would.

This is where it gets nuts.

If you want to see the rats take over a city, you Would.

It would be a misdemeanor or felony, depending on how many killed of mice or rats in your house.

So literally single mom catches the mice in a trap in the house.

It's dead.

Walks it out to the dumpster and gets arrested for animal abuse.

It's insane, this thing.

And we've ranted about this privately and publicly more than a few times at this point.

And I'm just.

I just had to start laughing at myself, imagining somebody sneaking a rat trap out to the garbage and put it in the garbage down the street because they killed the mouse.

Like they're out there at midnight with a hood on, sneaking a dead rat.

Neighbor's house you don't like.

Right.

It's like,.

That's how ridiculous stays out.

And rolled up carpet right in the middle of the night.

Movie unbelievable.

I'm like, you got to be kidding me.

And the only way you could trap mice legally would be in live traps.

But then what are you gonna do?

Put it over in the neighbor's house or down the street or.

Oh, my gosh, maybe just create a camp for them.

Yeah, a nice little camp for the rats with, you know, right cheese at each end and some drinking bowls.

Yeah, wouldn't that be sweet?

Luckily, nobody in the Pacific Northwest likes to hunt or fish, so shouldn't be an issue up there.

Oh, yeah.

Oh, I was gonna go hiking on this trail today, but there's 42 bears on it because they've taken over this area of the woods.

That in the Northwest.

I'll eat my shoe.

Like, 99% of everybody I know in the northwest is a hunter or a fisher.

Come on, dude, they're crazy.

Only importantly, here's the other one too.

If you tie an animal up to something.

So if you're riding your horse and you tie it off to the barn so you can go open the gate, that is detaining an animal illegally.

So that could be a misdemeanor as well.

I see.

I don't understand that one.

And how walking a dog on a leash doesn't tie in.

Right.

If you're gonna do that, then you can't detain your dog while you walk it.

Oh, yeah.

That's abusive.

That's not.

Oh, yeah.

Same kind of thing.

Anyway.

Sanity.

Insanity.

And I just stood there watching people come blindly signing this, and I'm just like, oh, my gosh.

And they just didn't.

I'll say these people didn't know.

Oh, yeah.

I want to stop animal abuse.

I want to protect my dog.

You're not Picturing.

They're picturing rabbits in the makeup factory or something.

Exactly.

And they're not picturing that.

Taking over their house.

Yeah.

Eating all their food and their chicken.

Oh, my gosh.

It's out of a horror movie.

So anyway, there's my rant.

I couldn't believe that.

Getting back to this.

One of the biggest problems and we've talked about on the show before, but I can't not bring it up because it's still one of the biggest problems I see out there, especially with older homes.

Or the second story attic gets converted.

There is nobody in the process that contacts the building department to see if what the tax assessor says is equal to what the building department says.

And I feel bad for people because they buy that old farmhouse because, oh, it's got the finished basement with the media room and the attic is.

There's a master bedroom suite up there with.

Yeah.

Problem is they did that.

They didn't pull permits on it.

Building permit doesn't know when the tax assessor, if you told them it's a 10,000 square foot house, they'll take your money.

That's not a problem.

Gladly.

But everybody checks against the tax assessor.

There's the problem.

So you need to see what the building department has listed for versus what it is.

And we ran into this on a construction project because we were remodeling a second story bathroom, Submitted the permits, city of Portland, stamped them, said, we're good.

We do tear out.

Call for rough inspection.

Inspector walks upstairs, goes, whoa, we're in the attic for your house.

We have.

This isn't permitted.

Then we needed the support for that.

So we had to go down in the middle of the media room, take out the posts that were in the beautiful basement that was finished, put in these big 3 foot by 3 foot footings that had to be 2ft down and tear out all these ceilings.

We had to.

It was all of this huge structural work to get it to go.

Dude, if it's an attic like that or a basement.

Right.

You could be talking about literally rebuilding the Entire top of your house.

If they're like, you have to trust this out.

If you're going to put it on the second story, you can't use these old attic rafters.

That's not going to work.

Yeah, this is designed for storage.

This wasn't been here.

You got it?

Yeah.

Bearing load and all that stuff.

They'll thrash you.

You literally, like you said, now you're gutting downstairs now.

Oh man, you're just chasing it wicked.

Yeah.

What are you going to do?

Your stock.

Yeah.

Now, now you're looking at fines as well.

Not only an eighty thousand dollar budget, more than you were thinking, but now you're getting fines.

Now you got deadlines, now you got red tags.

You get.

Yeah.

Now here was the worst part in the building department down there when they scanned a digital.

They lost about 10 years of building plans.

We had a set of plans that said submitted on them that showed that bathroom from the previous homeowner.

In that period we didn't have plans.

That said approved and they didn't show any of it.

So that could have been permitted back in the day, but they lost that.

They thought they scanned them.

They didn't get saved.

They got rid of the hard copies and boom.

Why does that never fall in the right spot?

Why does that shoe always land on it?

You know what I mean?

Why is the liability always end on the good guy?

It just, it never works and they were trying to do it right.

Hey, when he come back, I want to talk about one of the biggest things when you're looking for a house out there.

And this can be big because I just ran into this a couple weeks ago myself when I was looking.

We'll do that just as soon as around the House returns.

Welcome back to the around the House show, your trusted source for everything about your home.

Hey, make sure you follow us on social media and both of our YouTube pages out there because we've got new content coming up there all the time.

If you want to find all the links, just head over to aroundthehouse online dot com.

Well, John Dudley and I have been sitting here talking about inside real estate secrets and whether you're buying a home or selling a home, some of the stuff that we're seeing out there.

One of the things that Johnny I've been doing is I jump on the websites, I take a look and I'm Looking to see a house I want one day and the location of where I want it.

One of the biggest things that people should pay attention to.

And it's so easy to fall in love with a house, pay attention to what's going on in the neighborhood and what the property taxes are.

Because I tell you what, I have looked at stuff and we have that in this market here.

Some places don't.

For instance, here in.

If I'm in Washington county in the Portland area, or Clackamas county versus Multnomah county, by the time they stack on their taxes over there, that can add four or five hundred dollars a month just to your bill at the end of the month.

So if you look at.

So pay attention when you're looking, if you're on Zillow or whatever platform they'll have, what would this cost you a month?

Take a look.

Because it's got the property taxes in there.

But if you all of a sudden have to pay another three, four, or five hundred bucks in property taxes, that changes the level of house you're looking at.

And there's a decent chance those property taxes are going to go up.

It's like HOAS.

You'll see many times in HOA.

Oh, it's only $75.

And they're going to mow your front lawn a month.

Awesome.

A couple years, that could be 250 bucks a month.

And they're doing the same thing.

So pay attention.

My moms have tripled her HOA fees over the last.

She's been there 20 years, to be fair, but still.

Yeah, it's a lot.

And the taxes have never been friendly in the Northwest.

No.

Always been wicked up there.

Yeah.

And even more so in the last couple decades, like, yeah, I want to.

Change our property tax laws here.

I think that anybody over 65 that's the primary owner of the house should.

We should stop their property taxes and say, hey, you're retired, you're on a fixed income.

We want to keep these people in their homes.

So my grandparents, my grandparents, perfect example.

They were well off.

My grandpa was an engineer, worked at Lockheed.

Boeing busted his tail for years.

Right.

Back then it was just renting absolutely nothing but woods in front of them.

They were at the top of the hill overlooking Lake Washington.

Beautiful place.

Forty years later, imagine what the taxes are on that.

More than they had 10 times then.

They had paid the thing off 15 years prior and they're paying $3,000 a month or I don't know what it was to be fair, but great.

It's a lot on their 78 years old and retired trading stocks like yeah, luckily they were well off.

But not everybody's in that position, man.

No, no.

And here's the thing too.

And you need to also know what's going on in the neighborhoods.

I've seen some crazy stuff like Elise and I were looking at a house going, we're going to in the next year or two, find another house and do that whole thing.

But here's the thing and this is where it got a little crazy.

We're looking in this neighborhood that's really cool.

Older mid century homes, nice big lots, just a classic place to live.

And I'm kind of looking around the area and I'm looking up, doing my research online what's going on in the neighborhood.

I find the neighborhood Facebook group and everybody's freaking out because at the entrance to the neighborhood there's a, oh, 15, 20 year old hotel.

Could have been a comfort in.

Could have been whatever.

Just a mid level.

Not a Motel 6, not the Four Seasons either.

Just your kind of off freeway exit hotel and the hotel you stay at.

When you have an independent record deal.

That hotel.

Yes, absolutely.

Or it's on.

It's not the.

This is our first tour and we're in my buddy's minivan.

It's the.

I've got an independent deal and it's not someplace you'll ever see a tour bus parked out front of either.

So.

Right.

Unless they're with a current record label that would only pay it at.

So that's a whole other story.

But yeah, yeah, T shirt sales weren't great last night.

That's where they stay.

But they're converting it over into homeless housing.

And I look at that and go, there is no way at the entrance to this neighborhood I would want a hotel of homeless people.

Because here in our state they're protected.

Those guys, I think they're always allowed that they can do drugs, they can do all that stuff around there.

There are no rules for these places, which means that they're now walking through your neighborhood on garbage day, going through there.

And if you got the aluminum stepladder on the side of the garage that's getting taken down for recycling by them, you know, and I don't want it, I don't want it.

I'm going to just hold the Rant on this one because it's long and not.

It's just.

Yeah, I'm just going to leave that.

So do your research.

I do want to bring up one point, brother.

You made a really.

You said something super important for people to pay attention to out there.

Check the Facebook groups, talk to people in the neighborhood.

Do not expect for a second that you're going to read something in the newspaper or county assessors information that's going to lead you to the truth, like, find it from the people.

That's super important.

And you're smart to be checking groups in that neighborhood.

Yeah, yeah.

Because you find the real story there.

It's, it's.

That's the real deal.

Yep.

You find who the Karens are, you find who the people are that are and that are fired up about what's going on, and you can kind of get a vibe of what's happening there.

And it's interesting.

Once you get into it and start looking, you go, oh, man.

Looking back, I love Cannon Beach, Oregon.

Would I buy another house there right now?

No, not with the politics.

It's going nuts in there.

And that garbage guy.

Yeah, and the garbage guy.

And they banned little solo stoves outside.

Oh, yeah.

Yeah.

At the beach, you can't have a fire pit.

What?

Are you crazy?

Yeah.

Oh, but I could have a fire pit if I don't rent the house.

But if I do rent the house ever, even though you own it, you can't use it when you're there.

It's that kind of stuff.

And by the way, when the city council is run by the hotel owners in town, they sure pass things that are anti Airbnb.

Funny how that works.

Yeah.

But you could have a.

You could have an open pit fire in the RV park that the city owns.

That's okay.

Which is brilliant because there's not a lot of propane tanks in those places.

Yeah.

Those things burn up like matchsticks.

So welcome to the story.

But it's just crazy.

It's crazy.

Wow.

So anyway, do your research around there.

And it's so interesting.

And across the country, so many markets are different.

Over the last few years, people in maybe Arizona or Texas and Florida had just massive amount of people moving in.

And here on the west coast, we've had.

Even though it's some of the most beautiful places in the US I guess.

What those people running for the hills.

They're running for the hills.

Speaking of the Northwest, I found this out the other day.

Did you know we have an accent?

Oh, really?

Yes.

Okay.

I guess if east coast has an accent, they think we do.

They don't.

So I didn't know this.

Say Seattle.

Yeah, Seattle.

We don't say T's.

We use D's.

Yeah, Seattle.

Who says Seattle?

Right?

Not us.

It sounds weird.

Seattle.

Yeah.

It's like saddle.

Yeah, yeah.

We just.

We just teaser Ds.

That's our northwest thing.

So all you guys listening across the country are going, yeah, we know that, but you don't notice it when it's your.

When it's how you're.

Like I said.

Yeah, like I said, people in Boston don't have an accent.

We just think they do.

Same kind of thing.

Same kind of thing.

But I saw that, and I was like, holy smokes.

They're right.

They're right.

Yeah.

So when we come back, in the last segment, languages.

What?

We were watching a movie, Miguel and I, and she's from here in Colombia.

Yeah.

And she's like, what the hell is that?

And I was like, oh, that's Cajun.

It was in New Orleans, right?

Oh, yeah.

She's like, what's Cajun?

I'm like, I wish I could tell you.

Yeah, it's a language.

It's not a language.

Southern French.

I call it Southern French.

Yeah, but.

Which is cool.

You're making me hungry.

Now I'm thinking about Cajun.

So immediately when we come back, let's wrap this up.

And I just want to talk about a few more secrets here.

When you're buying or selling the house, we'll do that just as soon as around the House returns.

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Welcome back to the around the House show, your trusted source for everything about your home.

Hey, if you want to get a hold of us here at the show, if you have a topic you want to hear us talk about or anything, just head over to aroundthehouse and dot com.

Those messages actually drop into my email inbox.

So get a hold of me here.

I want to hear your thoughts and, well, subject maybe that you have a question or a comment on, or you're like, hey, this happened to me.

Love to hear it.

Well, Johnny and I have been talking about real estate secrets and what we're seeing out there in another one that I see out there real quick.

I want to.

I'm curious to see how this goes because we're not going to get into the politics of this because this isn't a political show.

It's just our opinions.

But one of the things I'm wondering if we continue as the US Government continues to go after illegal immigration and I wonder what happens to our real estate if you take, let's say you ship 3 or 4 million people out of the United States back to their home countries that they're citizens in.

Now you've opened up rental homes and apartments because these people are renting someplace.

Most likely.

Yep.

Now you could have 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 people in a house.

Still, you're probably hundreds of thousands of residents.

And in some areas, if they're focusing on certain areas, that could be a lot.

So it's going to be interesting to see how that plays out.

Huge vacancy rates coming up.

And if you are a property owner, that gets a little sketchy and scary, doesn't it?

Yeah.

It's going to go to 800 because there's going to be.

You look at it here in the great example in our area here in Portland, they're not building any commercial or even new homes there.

There are in a few places, but it's 20 or 30% what it was a few years ago.

It's just super slow.

But then if you go over to eastern Washington in the Tri Cities, where we're on 610k ona over there on the radio, that's three hours away from here.

And I see apartment complexes going up everywhere.

But our market here.

We had our.

Just made the news a few weeks ago.

We talked about it, but we had our top 20 high rises in Portland, most expensive, tallest buildings lost 70% of market value.

I. Yeah, it's a lot of that.

A lot of that just did not recover after Covid.

Right.

That took a lot of it out.

Well, here specifically, it was Covid.

Since then, Portland hasn't done itself a lot of favors either.

No, no.

You know, when they make what it is free, free drugs, we're not gonna.

Here's the funny thing.

If I walked up on, if I walked up to the steps of city hall in Portland as of a year or two ago, and I had a glass of wine in my hand.

I'm now getting cuffed and stuff for alcohol consumption in public.

Yeah.

But if I had a heroin needle, they'd say, be careful with that kid.

Yeah.

Is that clean?

Let us help you out.

Let us help you.

Yeah.

Exactly.

So, again, that.

That.

That's its own.

That's its own thing.

Some comic land.

Oh, it is.

It is.

But it's kind of like the animal stuff that we were talking about earlier in the show.

It just doesn't make sense and it doesn't work.

But that's okay.

But one of the things I want to talk about here real quick, and we're going to run out of time, and I want to miss this part.

Be careful and listen to your realtor about what stuff you want to do to your house to put it up for sale.

Many times if you go spend $100,000 on a kitchen, you might get 50,000 back of that.

But if you went and spent $8,000 on a new garage door, you might get 12,000 of value back.

So, yeah, curb appeal always wins.

We've hit on that a number of times.

It's so important.

And I've had to just reel with my mom on that stuff.

Mom, you don't understand.

They're gonna come in and change half of what you think you're doing for them.

It's just not how it works.

If the carpets clean up, awesome.

Put clean them up.

Give them a small allowance for new carpet.

Yep.

Because guess what?

Moving into somebody's house with carpet is like borrowing their socks.

I don't like it.

Yeah, yeah.

Yep.

Yeah.

They're gonna change it out anyway.

It's going away.

Yeah.

If not immediately before they move in, it's very shortly thereafter.

It's absolutely.

And carpet's a great one.

That's why it's a very common allowance in a real estate deal.

Right.

$2,000 Carpet allowance.

Take it.

Don't bother.

You're not going to pick the cart that they want, so don't try.

And it's going to feel used to them.

Even though you put it down two weeks ago.

Yeah.

So it just doesn't work that way.

But here's the thing.

Knowledge is power from the consumer part of you.

When you're buying or when you're selling, the more you know, the better off.

And the other thing is, too, is if you're out running around and if you've got a.

If you're not handy at all and you have no idea what you're looking at, you're going to depend on a couple people.

One, that's where you want that expert realtor that's going to walk you through.

Yeah.

You got to have that.

Second of all, if you've got a friend, family member that's a contractor or handy Take a look.

Because I tell you what, I have had some homes that we went and looked at, went, oh, that's a cool mid century.

Could be a great project house.

And I walk in and I'm like, oh no, now this has to come to the studs.

Yeah.

And this doesn't.

You can always just call Eric.

He's happy to pop over to.

Oh yeah, right.

There we go.

I do that with friends.

But I also, I also got.

That's coming from a 30 year contractor that would get that call every.

Oh, hey.

It's been a long time.

Yeah.

We're buying a new house.

You think?

Yeah.

You buying me dinner tonight?

There's the first question.

Yeah, you definitely are.

There's no question.

Corona's on you, buddy.

Exactly, exactly.

But so anyway, just going back to it.

The stuff that you see that garage door replacement, new front door, manufactured stone veneer, dressing up, that siding up there, that can be a 208% return on investment.

Where your garage door is 268% and your new entry door is about 216%.

Doors always make sense to me.

The stone facade, I don't know if I buy that one because surely there's a bunch.

Well, I guess it depends if it's in fashion that year or not.

But I'm sure there's.

That's a catch.

Who knows?

Like people might.

I hate the stone, but I love the house.

Right?

You never know.

Yeah.

My house, I did the.

I did some stuff in it that was unintentional but intentional.

What did I do?

I made that one and a half bath when somebody walked into it.

Want to have it?

Yeah.

You know.

Oh my gosh, this is the best bathroom I've ever seen.

They forget that they've only got one and a half baths in the house.

Yeah.

And to make that totally bougie and awesome was way cheaper than doing a house edition with that.

So.

Yep.

I wanted to make it count.

It's gonna.

It.

That's a.

It was a three bedroom, one and a half bath house.

It wasn't anything crazy, but it was one of those things that if you make that just dial it in and be kick butt, you're okay.

And.

And I know I always rail on this and.

But I'm gonna keep doing it until people realize how dang simple it is to get online.

You're talking about being informed, right?

As a buyer and a seller.

Spend 30 minutes.

I finally got my mom talked In I always bring up my mom a lot anyway.

Yeah.

Because she's going through this process.

Go on to grok and just put in what's the best thing I can do to sell my house?

What should I be looking for when I buy.

And I guarantee you you will spend an hour and have a blast doing it.

Because every question that you get an answer to is going to prompt another question.

And that's how you get your research done.

Even when you don't know where to start.

Even when you don't know what research to do.

Ask.

Just say what should I think about?

And you'll spend an hour at least.

Like in our area here.

Might save you a hundred thousand dollars.

Might save you from moving in down the street from a homeless hotel.

Just do it.

And here's another thing too that they get you on here in our area.

You have to have radon testing and you have to have.

You got to have a sewer scope inspection and if you got a septic tank, you got to have that inspected.

Are there laws that say it has to be technically when you drive it?

No.

Yeah.

But it is the unofficial requirement.

And again now you're back to what the bank's going to call out and require, right?

Absolutely.

So may not be required.

But if the bank says it is and they've got your check, guess what?

That's kind of required.

And another one here real quick.

Take a look again in those neighborhoods on the.

If you're moving into another city, jump on their website and take a look development wise, what they have for planning.

Like two blocks down from me here, there is a quiet little two lane road that went we meanders through the neighborhood.

They're planning on making that thing four lanes to go through there because they're doing a big development out there.

But the lady that this lady just absolutely blocked it last week.

How did she do it?

She took her land that was along the river and donated it to be urban wetland.

So you can't put a road within 100ft of it.

So it completely takes out that entire project.

Can you still make roads up there?

Because you're a few rodents might die.

Oh, see though, that's the thing.

That's a whole other thing.

Can't put a grater out there.

You could kill a gopher.

But seriously, she totally killed this thing and used the land.

Urban wetland stuff that the homeowners get beat up on.

Can't put a house there.

She used it against the county and the city, which was pretty funny.

Thanks for coming on the show.

Great having you on here.

Great chatting with you about this stuff.

And you bought and sold a lot of houses, so it's always great to see your perspective.

Yeah, man, this was a fun one.

Thanks for having me, brother.

Anytime.

I'm Eric G. And for John Dudley, you've been listening to around the House.