Eric G’s midweek update is an intriguing exploration of the current state of affordable housing, sprinkled with a hefty dose of wit and insight that keeps listeners glued to their earbuds. Kicking things off, Eric shares some surprising stats about the housing market, noting a 3.2% uptick in existing home sales—a glimmer of hope for prospective buyers. He paints a picture of a market that’s anything but uniform, where some states are thriving while others are caught in a downward spiral, especially on the West Coast. It’s a vivid landscape of highs and lows, and Eric's commentary is both informative and engaging, as he navigates the twists and turns of this complex issue. The episode takes a deep dive into the struggles of Portland’s affordable housing system, with Eric shedding light on a looming financial collapse fueled by mismanagement and a lack of accountability among nonprofit providers. He highlights the absurdity of having thousands of vacant affordable units while people struggle to find a place to live. This isn’t just a local problem; it’s a cautionary tale about what happens when good intentions collide with poor execution. Eric’s analysis is sharp and thought-provoking, urging listeners to think critically about the systems that are supposed to provide support but often fall short. Wrapping up on a lighter note, Eric transitions into a recall announcement about solar camera systems that pose a fire hazard—because who doesn’t love a thrilling twist in their home improvement updates? He cleverly advises listeners on the importance of proper disposal of lithium-ion batteries, mixing in humor with practical advice. With his signature blend of casual banter and insightful observations, Eric G’s midweek update not only informs but also entertains, making it a delightful listen for anyone interested in the intersection of housing, policy, and community well-being.

Takeaways:

• Affordable housing in Portland is facing a financial crisis, with many vacant subsidized apartments.
• The average housing market varies widely across states, with some booming and others struggling.
• Many existing affordable housing programs lack accountability, leading to financial mismanagement.
• Federal changes in housing rules may help reduce inflated costs and improve affordability.
• Recent recalls on solar cameras highlight consumer safety issues and the importance of proper disposal.
• Energy efficiency rules are being reconsidered, aiming for a balance between cost and sustainability.

Links referenced in this episode:

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Foreign.

The House with Eric G. Your go to source for everything home improvement Whether you're a DIY enthusiast or just looking to make your space shine, Eric G.

Is here to guide you through the latest tips, tricks and trends.

So grab your toolbox, put on your thinking cap and let's get to work right here on around the House with.

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

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

This is our midweek update.

This is the show we do that talks about the stuff that didn't make it into last weekend show and of course isn't making it into next weekend show.

And boy, do we have a lot to talk about here today.

First off, we got some great shows coming up this weekend.

We'll talk about it later on here in this episode that I'm excited for.

We've got some great guests, got some great conversations.

Going to be a lot of fun.

Well, there's a lot going on out there.

I just saw in the national housing market, existing home sales rose 3.2% in May to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.17 million, highest since December, beating expectations, which is cool.

First time home buyers accounted for 35% of purchases.

Now what I'm seeing out there, guys, I know there's a lot of people out there going, wow, it's not in my area.

Well, it's probably not in my area either.

But that is the average across the states.

But we have something that is really growing out there and we've talked a little bit about it in the past.

I just wanted to talk about it again today real quick.

We're not going to get too much in the weeds in this.

What I'm seeing out there is there are states that are booming, housing's coming along, people are building homes, people are working.

We have states out there that are booming.

We also have states that are like us on the west coast that are kind of in a depression almost.

We have things crashing out here in our local markets.

I know of electricians that are in other states working because they their two year backup of business is gone.

I'm seeing remodeling contractors out there that are the best in the industry going, wow, I'm not sure what my guys are doing here in July that have had years tom of waiting list.

So that is something that we're seeing.

There's plenty of homes on the market now where there was a shortage six months ago.

It has swapped very quickly up here on the west coast for people that are selling.

There are definitely more sellers than buyers.

So you're going to see this market to market.

Something that's happening in Texas could be exactly the opposite of something that's happening in Washington, Oregon.

So keep an eye out there.

When I talk about these prices, this is the average.

And I think right now we have bigger highs and lows compared to what we've had in the past just because of how states are being run and what they're doing or what they're not doing.

And that's an interesting one.

Now, speaking of that, we've got an interesting housing situation going on here in Portland, my hometown.

And I talk about this a lot because it's on my news every day.

It's easy to follow.

But the mayor came out here and said that Portland's affordable housing system is on the verge of financial collapse.

One of their major nonprofit providers, and this is where the grift kind of comes in, is you've got the cities or counties throwing in tens or hundreds of millions of dollars into these nonprofit providers that aren't really held accountable.

You don't know how many people are making, you know, 500,000 or a million bucks a year.

And they've got their groups here that are getting rich off of this and not fixing the problem.

So right now in Portland, we're not a huge city.

No one's renting them, no income coming in.

So with almost a thousand empty units just under the home forward, which is Portland's housing authority, units often are near market rates.

And I tell you what, it is just a disaster.

And they're gonna have to let that crash and burn and maybe have somebody come in and actually run it that knows how to do real estate and rentals because it's a hot mess.

I tried to get a family member in affordable retirement living, and they said just the wait period.

And this was five or six years ago, so I know it's worse.

Was probably two years to get into that program.

And just getting them in there was gonna be tough.

And it's a two year process.

Many times to get into that lot can happen with people.

By the time they say, hey, I'm done and over with here, I can't afford my bills and I have to wait another two years.

It's just something that's really broken.

So the other thing that we have here is that we keep investing in these.

You Know, putting more money into thousands and thousands of units out here, but we can't manage the ones we have.

So hopefully they will see the writing on the wall and really do some work on that.

Now, it's interesting, in Portland and Seattle and a lot of these west coast cities, we have locally created our own problems here with housing.

Why is it that Oregon and Washington were two of the highest growth rate of in the last 40 years?

What is our real estate growth over there?

It is some of the biggest in the country as far as price value from where it was to where it is now.

I think I saw a number, it was like 700%.

And that's because all of our rules that we've created out here has actually made it harder to build homes.

You can't build them on land.

And if it's not in the urban growth boundary or in an area that they said you could build, and there's so many regulations, it makes housing rare.

And when something is rare, it's more expensive.

There are lots I should be able to get for $125,000 if you're looking at a normal market rate.

But because they've made them rare, they're four or five hundred thousand dollars.

And then you try to build affordable housing on it.

So it's a hot mess.

It's going to take some serious changes for anything like that to really pop up and, you know, be a value change that's going to see it move the needle.

They're going to have to do some drastic stuff to fix that.

And we don't have the people in there right now.

They're going to do that.

So that's kind of what we're seeing out here in the West Coast.

And I know a lot of you out there, friends and audience members out there.

You guys have a lot of great things going on in your area.

And hats off to you for putting the right people in office that are making things happen on a state level or locally.

You know, I'd give you a clap.

I can't.

But thanks.

I appreciate y' all for doing the right thing out there.

There's a big recall that popped in here, Wise Labs, which I like their stuff, recalls solar cam pan security cameras due to risk of serious injury from fire or burn hazard.

So the incorrect assembly instructions can lead consumers to accidentally puncture the lithium ion's battery metal casing, causing the battery to rapidly overheat, posing a risk of serious injury or property damage from fire and burn hazards.

So that's a big one here.

Is the thing that is a little different than this one.

All consumers who use the long flathead screw to install the solar panel on top of the camera should participate in the recall.

So they're giving you a free replacement camera with solar panel accessory, a full refund or a gift card for the original purchase, you know, so you can use it on the firm's website.

And then they will be required to attest to disposal of the recalled camera.

Now here's the biggest part of this.

Do not throw this recalled camera with the lithium ion battery in the trash.

Make sure that you put it in a right recycling place.

Don't put it in the recycle curbside.

Go to a used battering recycling boxes found at various retail home improvement stores.

So they must be disposed of way differently than other batteries because you don't want to burn the garbage truck down in front of your house or anywhere else.

So let's not get people hurt there.

Just be really careful with that.

And if you want to find out more information on this or any other recalls, head over to CPSC.gov recalls oh, and one more thing out there, guys.

Another thing we're seeing in the housing markets out there, especially in the federal level, so Secretary Scott Turner is doing some changing up there.

They are getting rid of many of the rules that have, that have inflated costs for housing out there.

So they are rescinding certain energy efficiency mandates and pushing back against local rules that inflate costs.

So it's going to be kind of interesting if they change.

You know, we're seeing a lot of things out there where they were like, okay, we're gonna get rid of gas and homes.

We're gonna get rid of the gas water heater not gonna be available nationwide anymore.

That was another one.

There's a lot of those things that we were seeing and looks like those are getting pushed back or completely removed.

So there could be some things and this is going to be a battle.

This is not an easy one because there are some things that they can do that will save you a ton of energy.

I don't agree with banning gas anything however comma heat pump, water heater does save you a lot of money compared to a gas one.

So these are things that we should be thinking a lot more about and how we're going to be doing it because we still need to be building healthy homes.

It makes sense to put in some energy efficient pieces into the home because it's going to save you money in the long run.

But I don't like it.

When they mandate that you have to put in something that's energy efficient, that's so expensive that it's going to take you 30 years to recoup that.

So hopefully we're going to see some what I would say common sense going into these rules.

So we'll see what happens.

I think that we might be safe on the federal level of banning gas, water heaters or front load washing machines or, or any of those kind of things.

Going to front, you know, front load only washing machines and banning top loads.

I think they might be dialing those back to see if we can save people some money out there.

And as long as it's smart and it fits within a healthy home, I'm cool with that.

All right, guys, we got a great show coming up this weekend that I am excited for.

We're gonna be talking about moving secrets in our number one and hour two, we're gonna be talking to the company that has created basically a smart home program that will run off of your existing items in your house and make it so you've got cleaner air, you're tracking your air and something super cool that is going to be great for people trying to keep a healthier home when it comes to indoor air quality.

And it's something that runs automatically that once it's set up and running, you can set it forget it.

Which is something I like.

All coming up this weekend on the show.

All right, everybody, have a great rest of the week.

Happy Wednesday.

We'll see you on Saturday.

Thanks for tuning in to around the house.

We'll see you soon.

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