Episode 97

Bridging the Gap: Home Inspections and Mortgage Insights for 2025

Published on: 18th January, 2025

Discover the essential insights on home inspections and the current mortgage landscape in our latest discussion on Boxcar Universe. David Dion from Whole Home Inspections joins Steve & Melonie to emphasize the importance of understanding your home’s condition before selling, highlighting how pre-listing inspections can prevent surprises during buyer evaluations. As the housing market faces challenges in 2025, including fluctuating interest rates and inventory shortages, Jeff Kadlec from NEXA Mortgage shares strategies for navigating these changes effectively. We delve into the impact of inflation and government policies on mortgage rates, and discuss how homeowners can leverage their equity to manage debt and improve financial situations. Tune in for valuable tips on maintaining your property and making informed decisions in today's evolving real estate market.

Mankind has long sought refuge from the elements, evolving from primitive shelters to modern structures. This episode explores the journey of human habitation, focusing on sustainable living through container home innovations. Steve Deubel, along with co-host Melonie Clearwater, emphasizes the growing need for eco-friendly alternatives in housing. The conversation highlights the benefits of container homes, including their affordability and environmental impact, which resonate with the current global push for sustainability. As they delve deeper into home inspections, they interview David Dion from Whole Home Inspections, who shares insights on the importance of understanding property conditions before buying or selling. The discussions underscore that thorough inspections can prevent future liabilities and ensure buyers make informed decisions. Additionally, Jeff Kadlec from NEXA Mortgage joins to discuss the volatile mortgage market predicted for 2025, hinting at significant changes that could affect homeowners and investors alike. Ultimately, this episode serves as a guide for those looking to navigate the evolving landscape of residential living and financial planning, all while promoting a sustainable lifestyle that aligns with contemporary values.

Takeaways:

  • The evolution of shelters reflects humanity's ongoing efforts to adapt to environmental challenges.
  • Container homes represent a sustainable and innovative approach to modern housing solutions.
  • Home inspections are crucial for understanding property issues before buying or selling a home.
  • Rising interest rates can impact housing affordability, making it essential for buyers to strategize.
  • Understanding the condition of your home can prevent costly repairs in the long run.
  • It is important to educate homeowners on maintaining their properties to avoid future hazards.

Links referenced in this episode:

Companies mentioned in this episode:

  • Whole Home Inspections
  • NEXA Mortgage
  • Ideal Home Improvement, LLC.
  • Legacy Custom Homes AZ., LLC.
  • Stardust Building Supplies
  • Mr. Electric
Transcript
Steve Dubell:

Since the dawn of time, mankind has searched for ways to shelter themselves from the elements.

Steve Dubell:

Over the centuries, these shelters have evolved from bamboo huts to concrete towers.

Steve Dubell:

The last few years, there's been a push to save the planet.

Steve Dubell:

Are you ready to embark on a more sustainable lifestyle?

Steve Dubell:

Look no further.

Steve Dubell:

You're about to enter the adventures of Container Home Living.

Steve Dubell:

And now, contractor, radio and TV personality and your host for Boxcar Universe, Steve Dubell.

Melanie Clearwater:

Hi, I'm Steve Dubell, host of Boxcar Universe, along with my co host Melanie Clearwater.

Melanie Clearwater:

And we want to send out some healing vibes to Melanie because she is definitely under the weather.

Melanie Clearwater:

I don't know what it is.

Melanie Clearwater:

Everybody is getting that four or five day, call it, I don't know, crud or whatever and everybody's sick and it comes on.

Melanie Clearwater:

I know that hit me a few weeks ago, but sending out some, some good vibes to Melanie, hope she gets well really quick.

Melanie Clearwater:

But we want to let you know what's coming up on this week's edition of Boxcar Universe.

Melanie Clearwater:

Today's edition, we are talking with David Dion from Whole House Inspections.

Melanie Clearwater:

And if you're interested in buying or selling a home, you need to know all the issues about your property.

Melanie Clearwater:

David will also review some of these things that you need to know.

Melanie Clearwater:

Also with us, longtime friend and show guest Jeff Kadleck from NEXA Mortgage is with us.

Melanie Clearwater:

In January of this year,:

Melanie Clearwater:

Jeff will let us know all the things that you need to know and what's going on in the mortgage climate for today for all our homeowners and investors, all that and more on this week's edition of Boxcar Universe, your home for remodeling and renovating your world.

Melanie Clearwater:

And I'd like to welcome all our listeners.

Melanie Clearwater:

A happy new year for:

Melanie Clearwater:

And we've got a lot of good things planned for you this year and we want to welcome our guest in because I want to have a little talk a little bit before we get into our topic today, a little bit about the LA fires that are going on.

Melanie Clearwater:

So David Dionne from Whole House Inspections, welcome to Boxcar Universe, first time on the show.

David Dion:

Hello.

David Dion:

Thanks for having me.

Melanie Clearwater:

Great to have you here.

Melanie Clearwater:

And Jeff Kadlak is with us from NEXA Mortgage.

Melanie Clearwater:

And if you ever need any, any mortgages, there's only One person you have to look at, you have to go to Nexa.

Melanie Clearwater:

Jeff Kadleck.

Melanie Clearwater:

How you doing, Jeff?

Jeff Kadleck:

Good, Steve.

Unnamed Guest:

How you doing?

Melanie Clearwater:

All right, Good, good.

Melanie Clearwater:

Hey, you know, we've been, I'm sure all of us have been just watching a lot about the California fires and there are a lot of things that are going on there.

Melanie Clearwater:

One of the things that I want to let all our listeners know about, if you have watched, been watching TV and you see a lot of places that you can, you know, make donations for the people in California, the link that I saw the most, and actually you're watching some of the NFL games last week, there is a link.

Melanie Clearwater:

You can go to The Red Cross, redcross.com NFL if you'd like to go there or just go to Red Cross.

Melanie Clearwater:

And I'm sure there are links there that you'll be able to donate to help all our friends in California who are have lost their homes and really need a helping hand.

Melanie Clearwater:

And now's the time that we always need to reach out.

Melanie Clearwater:

But some of these conditions that are out there.

Melanie Clearwater:

I know my TV producer from several years ago lives out in California.

Melanie Clearwater:

She's only 18 miles from some of the fires and she actually volunteers for Cal Vet out in California.

Melanie Clearwater:

And she told me yesterday that the people, the location where she was volunteering had to be evacuated.

Melanie Clearwater:

So sometimes it's a little closer than you think.

Melanie Clearwater:

And I'm sure some of the pictures you see look devastating.

Melanie Clearwater:

I mean, I heard somebody make a talking about the way that looks, made a comparison.

Melanie Clearwater:

That's the word I was looking for, a comparison of the way the pictures in LA look in the Palisade area, especially to Ukraine that completely burnt and bombed.

Melanie Clearwater:

I mean, it looks horrible.

Melanie Clearwater:

And I think it's going to take years, years for that to, to go back and be good.

Melanie Clearwater:

You know, some of the things that the Santa Ana winds, you know, here in the Valley of the sun, you know, we have our own weather conditions that we always deal with, you know, extreme heat in the summer and monsoon storms in, in July and August, you know, and I'm sure, guys, you've seen a lot of those things that have affected the houses, like Jeff David, for instance, the homes that you go into, especially after monsoons.

Melanie Clearwater:

I mean, you must get a lot of calls for water damage.

David Dion:

Yeah, I mean, we're always looking for any signs of water intrusion as part of our thing.

David Dion:

Sometimes it's a bit hard when we're at almost 150 days now without rain, but we're looking for any signs of that.

David Dion:

Usually we can find some of that stuff.

Melanie Clearwater:

Oh, yeah.

Melanie Clearwater:

I mean, you know, we're coming into, you know, usually January or February.

Melanie Clearwater:

We do get a little more rain, though last summer, you know, I think the monsoon just passed us by because I don't think we had really much at all.

Melanie Clearwater:

But David, for first time on the show, give our listeners a little bit about, you know, your background and in your company and some of the things that you.

Melanie Clearwater:

You are, some of your specialties of what you get into.

David Dion:

Yeah.

David Dion:

So Dave Dion, whole home inspections, we launched a bit over nine years ago, and I've personally done over 2,000 inspections all over the valley.

David Dion:

And I mean all over the Valley.

David Dion:

So mansions to mobile homes type things, fourplex.

David Dion:

So we do specialize in residential home inspections.

David Dion:

So there are commercial inspectors out there and things like that.

David Dion:

One thing that we're really good at is first time home buyers and working with kind of buyers that, that aren't familiar with the process because we walk them through everything.

David Dion:

We make sure that when we're giving information about a home that we're letting them know, hey, this is homeownership.

David Dion:

There's going to be some maintenance items that come up.

David Dion:

A lot of stuff that we do see as deferred maintenance or things that just, you know, they're on the checklist.

David Dion:

They just never get checked off and then the house gets sold and then they don't get checked off again.

David Dion:

And so it's, it's kind of like I.

Melanie Clearwater:

Out of sight, out of mind.

David Dion:

Yeah.

David Dion:

It's like clean your dryer vents.

David Dion:

All right, everybody.

Melanie Clearwater:

Oh, my God.

Melanie Clearwater:

I have, I have a.

Melanie Clearwater:

Talking about dry events.

Melanie Clearwater:

I have, I have a story to tell you.

Melanie Clearwater:

Okay.

Melanie Clearwater:

And it just, it, it's not due to lack of maintenance.

Melanie Clearwater:

Okay.

Melanie Clearwater:

Though sometimes the builder could be just as at fault.

Melanie Clearwater:

Okay.

Melanie Clearwater:

Back in:

Melanie Clearwater:

So the gentleman, don't get me wrong, he did.

Melanie Clearwater:

He does great stucco work.

Melanie Clearwater:

Great stucco work.

Melanie Clearwater:

Okay.

Melanie Clearwater:

I've used him for years on all kinds of remodeling projects.

Melanie Clearwater:

Well, I had him come by to do my stucco.

Melanie Clearwater:

My house.

Melanie Clearwater:

Well, little did I know, the flap that's outside on the wall, he accidentally stuccoed part of it over and he couldn't.

Melanie Clearwater:

It was stuck, closed and it couldn't air.

Melanie Clearwater:

Okay.

Melanie Clearwater:

Very.

Melanie Clearwater:

I should say very little air got out.

Melanie Clearwater:

So, you know, a couple years go by.

Melanie Clearwater:

Okay.

Melanie Clearwater:

And then all of a sudden my wife says to me, you know, there you Know, I just smell this, like, this burnt smell in the laundry room.

Melanie Clearwater:

And I'm like, burnt smell.

Melanie Clearwater:

So it's one of the first things I thought of.

Melanie Clearwater:

I'm like, come to think of it, you know, it probably, it's.

Melanie Clearwater:

It's probably long overdue to clear and, and clean out the, you know, the dryer duct.

Melanie Clearwater:

And then all of a sudden, you know, I, I snaked it.

Melanie Clearwater:

I snaked it from the bottom up.

Melanie Clearwater:

And then all of a sudden when I got up, I felt like I hit a dead end.

Melanie Clearwater:

And I'm like, what is going on here?

Melanie Clearwater:

And then all of a sudden I go outside, pull out the ladder.

Melanie Clearwater:

I go up to go up the ladder.

Melanie Clearwater:

I look at the.

Melanie Clearwater:

I look at the vent.

Melanie Clearwater:

It's stucco closed.

Melanie Clearwater:

And I called him up.

Melanie Clearwater:

I'm like, you did a great stucco job, but you did a little more than you needed to.

Melanie Clearwater:

And I told him what happened.

Melanie Clearwater:

But those are things that people don't.

Melanie Clearwater:

Aren't aware of that, you know, when, like, it's like, when's the last time you opened up your love box and looked at your, your.

Melanie Clearwater:

Your book for your car, your manual?

Melanie Clearwater:

Probably never.

David Dion:

And that's what, what the home inspection is.

David Dion:

It's kind of the, the, the.

David Dion:

The user guide, the starter guide for, for back to dryer vents.

David Dion:

I mean, we, we see overspray a lot.

David Dion:

Overspray paint.

David Dion:

That happens a lot as well, where it just gets sealed shut and all you got to do is, is open it once and then it's good.

David Dion:

Yeah.

David Dion:

But when it's sealed shut like that, or we see a lot of times people want to put screens over vents to, to help with roof rats and things.

David Dion:

And then they screen over their dryer vent, which is a huge mistake as well, because it, it builds lint a lot faster.

David Dion:

So if it is screened, you got to know that it's screened and get it cleaned much, much more often because, you know, it's.

David Dion:

It's best to go with a damper versus a screen because you'll get that same, Same issue back up.

Melanie Clearwater:

Yeah, I mean, and I remember some of the stuff I pulled out was just.

Melanie Clearwater:

It was just.

Melanie Clearwater:

It was, it was.

Melanie Clearwater:

It's no wonder.

Melanie Clearwater:

I mean, it's all at lint.

Melanie Clearwater:

And what happens is, you know, some people may wonder, well, besides being clogged, what it's going to do.

Melanie Clearwater:

It could cause a fire.

Melanie Clearwater:

Could somebody.

Melanie Clearwater:

Yeah, it could.

Melanie Clearwater:

It could get so hot from the, from the heat from the dryer.

Melanie Clearwater:

And it's so compacted after years of being compacted it could literally start a fire.

Melanie Clearwater:

I mean, and that's.

Melanie Clearwater:

And that's not a good thing.

Melanie Clearwater:

But, you know, one of the things, too, and Jeff, you probably.

Melanie Clearwater:

Probably ran across this, you know, I did.

Melanie Clearwater:

Was not a fan.

Melanie Clearwater:

And then all of a sudden, several years ago, and all of a sudden, I think the realtors started getting a little, you know, sell and buy happy when they turned around and they're like, oh, you don't have to do, you know, some of the.

Melanie Clearwater:

We'll buy your house with no inspection.

Melanie Clearwater:

Okay, well, that's all well and good, but you're asking.

Melanie Clearwater:

You're asking for a lot of trouble without knowing the history of the house.

Melanie Clearwater:

And, and, and the.

Melanie Clearwater:

I think there were some of the realtors touted it as, well, you could save money.

Melanie Clearwater:

You don't need a home inspection.

Melanie Clearwater:

Or they have a home inspector come in, and the home inspector goes in there, and then like, you know, ask you for, like, $400, and he's out of there in an hour.

Melanie Clearwater:

I mean, you know, I mean, and I.

Melanie Clearwater:

I've seen most of that, and it's just like, you know, did the guy do this?

Melanie Clearwater:

Did the guy do that?

Melanie Clearwater:

I mean, what did he do for you in an hour and he asked you for 400 bucks?

Melanie Clearwater:

I mean, it's not good.

Melanie Clearwater:

And it could come back and bite you.

David Dion:

Yeah, for sure.

David Dion:

It's very important.

David Dion:

And, you know, if you do buy a house or you did buy a house back in, you know, a few years ago, when they were doing two day inspection periods, five day inspection periods, there were waiving inspections and things like that.

David Dion:

Hey, get an inspection.

David Dion:

We will find things that you don't see, that you don't know about.

David Dion:

We just have a different eye.

David Dion:

We're trained to see those kind of things.

David Dion:

And we've been out there so many times that, you know, again, experience matters with.

David Dion:

With something like this.

David Dion:

With home inspections, there's only so much you can read in a book.

David Dion:

And, you know, home inspections is one of those things, too, where you could see something a thousand times and not know what it is.

David Dion:

And once you know it, then you know it.

David Dion:

Yeah, and that's where experience comes in as well, is being able to see something and be able to know exactly what it's telling you.

David Dion:

So I have an analogy for home inspections is that we are translators.

David Dion:

We go in and we just tell you what the house tells us.

David Dion:

I mean, so.

David Dion:

And experience makes a better translator the house.

Melanie Clearwater:

Jeff, have you ever had any houses that talk to you that you wanted to flip I think so.

Unnamed Guest:

Don't let them yell at me, Steve.

Unnamed Guest:

I was just talking.

Unnamed Guest:

Yeah, I've had a few.

Unnamed Guest:

We've had a few together.

Unnamed Guest:

You and I have done one or two and.

Melanie Clearwater:

Oh, yeah.

Melanie Clearwater:

Oh, yeah.

Melanie Clearwater:

No, some of them were talking.

Melanie Clearwater:

You know, I was coming out of.

Unnamed Guest:

The windows was the first skull that I was hearing.

Unnamed Guest:

And then.

Unnamed Guest:

But.

Unnamed Guest:

Yeah, but you, you know, when you're buying stuff like that, there's not enough time to have it inspected.

Unnamed Guest:

But you and I both know that I've inspected all my homes because if I have a budget I'm trying to keep, I'm going to find out the major issues first and make sure they're handled.

Unnamed Guest:

You know, I think there was one that you did with me down there in San Tan.

Unnamed Guest:

This goes back.

Unnamed Guest:

We're talking decade ago, maybe.

Melanie Clearwater:

Yeah, maybe.

Unnamed Guest:

And you know, I thought I had a great deal until I found out one of the trusses up in the top were cracked and that had all be pulled out.

Unnamed Guest:

Yeah, it wasn't that much.

Unnamed Guest:

I mean, I think we probably spent about 2,000 bucks fixing it.

Unnamed Guest:

But the other one was house looked great from the run by on the auction because I was buying stuff off the auction block and $16,000 worth of foundation problems really took away the profits on that one.

Unnamed Guest:

Said, you know, it wasn't until we actually walked in the house and noticed that, you know, everything was rolling to the right of the house, right down your paper and the roller was rolling away like, you know, we met our problem here.

Unnamed Guest:

I think that's what all the thick coughing was covering up.

Unnamed Guest:

Sure enough.

Melanie Clearwater:

Right.

Melanie Clearwater:

Yeah, it's.

Melanie Clearwater:

Yeah, it's unbelievable too.

Melanie Clearwater:

But I got, I have, I have some home.

Melanie Clearwater:

I've got a home inspection.

Melanie Clearwater:

You know.

Melanie Clearwater:

You know, sometimes when you find, when you do remodeling work, you actually.

Melanie Clearwater:

Because I'm always looking for something that's.

Melanie Clearwater:

That's bad.

Melanie Clearwater:

Not looking to make more money.

Melanie Clearwater:

It's just something.

Melanie Clearwater:

It just happens to work that way.

Melanie Clearwater:

But when you find looking for things that are bad or a danger to the homeowner and to the people living in the house, well, that's when it becomes critical.

Melanie Clearwater:

And I always try to make people aware of it.

Melanie Clearwater:

I have a story to tell you that you just will, you will not believe.

Melanie Clearwater:

But.

Melanie Clearwater:

And I'm sure David, if you saw it, you'd like the first thing red flags would go up.

Melanie Clearwater:

But we're going to save that for when we come back from break and David's got some other information that he wants to share and you know, general things that you could do as a homeowner that you could get, get ready if you're going to get your house for sale.

Melanie Clearwater:

You know, like you said, some of those things that, you know were bad that you really need to take care of, but you just really haven't gotten around to it and now you want to sell the house and now it's crunch time.

Melanie Clearwater:

So I want everybody to stay tuned.

Melanie Clearwater:

We're going to get into that and more right here on Boxcar Universe.

Melanie Clearwater:

Don't go away.

Melanie Clearwater:

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Melanie Clearwater:

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Melanie Clearwater:

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Melanie Clearwater:

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Melanie Clearwater:

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Melanie Clearwater:

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Melanie Clearwater:

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Melanie Clearwater:

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Melanie Clearwater:

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Steve Dubell:

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Steve Dubell:

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Steve Dubell:

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Steve Dubell:

For more info, visit stardustbuilding.org.

Melanie Clearwater:

All right, we are back and you're listening to Boxcar Units Universe.

Melanie Clearwater:

And we are talking home inspection today.

Melanie Clearwater:

Traditional homes, boxcar homes, anything residential homes where there are things that you need, you need to know things about that you could be wrong with your house.

Melanie Clearwater:

ow, if, you know, with now in:

Melanie Clearwater:

If the market gets a little more friendly and people want to sell, if the interest rates come down, and I want to talk a little bit about that with Jeff a little bit later.

Melanie Clearwater:

You know, people may see that it might be a little more conducive to, to sell their home.

Melanie Clearwater:

Well, you know, you need to take a look at and assess what your house is.

Melanie Clearwater:

And then again, if you know that there are things that need to be done.

Melanie Clearwater:

You know, I've gone into people's homes already and they say, well, I've got, I know I got this one, a little bit of this that needs to be fixed, but I haven't addressed this or I haven't done this.

Melanie Clearwater:

Can you take a look at that and then, then I get into a little bit more of, you know, discussion.

Melanie Clearwater:

Well, are you just catching up or do you have a purpose behind this?

Melanie Clearwater:

And then they say, well, yeah, you know, I'm going to sell a house and there are things that need to get done.

Melanie Clearwater:

And you know, I guess it's almost like, David, I've run into times where the homeowner, I get the impression they're like in fear, like, oh my God, the home inspector is coming and there are going to be all kinds of things wrong and I'm going to have to fix everything and I'm going to have to chop, you know, thousands off my asking price.

Melanie Clearwater:

And it's just like, well, that might be true but you know, you take care of them beforehand so that it's not a big surprise.

David Dion:

Yeah, that's a pre listing inspection is a really good tool for a seller.

David Dion:

And then they, they, they know going into it what's, what's going to be coming up in the buyer's inspection side.

David Dion:

It's not necessarily to say don't get your own inspection.

David Dion:

It's to say, hey, here's full, full disclosure.

David Dion:

This is every, everything we know.

David Dion:

Because the standard seller's disclosure is kind of nice.

David Dion:

But I generally tell people it's not really the stuff on the seller's disclosure.

David Dion:

You got to wor stuff that's not the stuff that they don't even know about.

David Dion:

And most of the things that do come up in a home inspection the seller doesn't even know exists.

David Dion:

And so yeah, pre list inspection is a really good way to start.

David Dion:

And we try as home inspectors, I hope all of my industry does is that we try really hard to, you know, let people know that homes are sold as is.

David Dion:

And this isn't a negotiating tool.

David Dion:

We're not here to help you negotiate for the house.

David Dion:

We're here so that you know what you're stepping into and you know what is coming up in your future.

David Dion:

This is your purchase.

David Dion:

This is the home that you chose.

David Dion:

This is a neighborhood you chose.

David Dion:

And we're not there to say don't buy the house.

David Dion:

The battle says xyz, we don't grade it.

David Dion:

I've gotten people to say, would you buy this house?

David Dion:

And I'd say, well, my wife would miss me if I, if I bought this house.

David Dion:

So, you know, we're there to educate the homeowner.

David Dion:

This, this is to better understand the property.

David Dion:

Things that they're going to need to, to address sooner than later and, or you know, put on the honey do list and knock it off as, as they, as they live there.

David Dion:

I'd say, I'd say one of the best resources for you if you're selling your house is pull the inspection report when you bought the house and see what's still pending.

Melanie Clearwater:

It's still pending.

Melanie Clearwater:

You know, things that you never forgot, you never had a chance to do or completely spaced on.

David Dion:

Yep.

Melanie Clearwater:

Yeah.

Melanie Clearwater:

No, yeah, you're absolutely right.

Melanie Clearwater:

You know, and a lot of those things, you know, like you say the trained eye is worth more a lot of times, like, I know an investor has a house in Mesa that I did some work for.

Melanie Clearwater:

And he asked me, like, he's got this huge living room on this one side, and you could see that the foundation in the floor had sank because the bottom, the base molding was put on top of the tile.

Melanie Clearwater:

And then all of a sudden, now he's got like in one corner, he's got a half inch space between the bottom of the baseboard and the top of the tile.

Melanie Clearwater:

He says, well, what do you think's happened?

Melanie Clearwater:

Is my foundation sinking?

Melanie Clearwater:

I'm like, well, yeah, it's something wrong.

Melanie Clearwater:

And then we went outside and we looked around the outside of the house and found out that over time they had.

Melanie Clearwater:

The person who was living there before had a, a garden there right outside it, you know, because we always tell people, don't plant three feet from the stem wall because that's not, that's just not good.

Melanie Clearwater:

You can't, you can't keep water, like planter boxes and stuff that are right in the stem wall.

Melanie Clearwater:

Well, it was so bad that they had used it so often for years.

Melanie Clearwater:

I'm going back like 10 years now that the foundation just sank in that corner of the house.

David Dion:

Plus here in the valley, we have expansive soil which is clay and clay, it.

David Dion:

It sucks, literally.

David Dion:

So, I mean, it's like a paper towel.

David Dion:

So if it gets a little bit of that moisture, it's going to want to pull in that moisture.

David Dion:

And if that clay is underneath your home, it'll expand and retract through our seasons throughout the monsoon.

David Dion:

And then we have the super hot.

David Dion:

And so that expansion and retraction over time, that's why we use post tension.

David Dion:

I say we lightly.

David Dion:

That's why post tension is used in the valley a lot of times is because to help with the expansive soil issues that we have out here.

Melanie Clearwater:

Right.

Melanie Clearwater:

I mean, and then that's what from years ago, that's one of the things that besieged the new area up north.

Melanie Clearwater:

Anthem.

Melanie Clearwater:

Anthem had tons of tons of homes a year or two years after they were built where everybody was having all kinds of problems and they just didn't, you know, the builder just didn't, you know, do what he was supposed to do to help maintain.

Melanie Clearwater:

He's building, you know, three, 400, $500,000 homes up there now the foundations are cracking and they're sinking and they're doing all kinds of strange things.

Melanie Clearwater:

So which is, and it's not cheap.

Melanie Clearwater:

I mean, not saying you can't fix these things, but they have new techniques now.

Melanie Clearwater:

But still, I mean, I know a gentleman who actually does foundation repair.

Melanie Clearwater:

I mean you could drop five grand easy in, in, in jacking up the foundation through the use of the, the special foam that they have that they inject under the, under the slab.

Melanie Clearwater:

They dig holes on an angle underneath and they inject it under slab and then it just expands and it comes to, it hardens, it gets it level.

Melanie Clearwater:

That's how they fix cracks on air court one day runways.

David Dion:

So speaking of cracks there, you know, it's very common to see in drywall joints where you'll have a crack, especially in garages, I mean 90%, 95% of garages you're going to have cracks.

David Dion:

And in the joint lines of drywall, I think it's time to get a little bit more concerned.

David Dion:

If you see ripping drywall, if you see drywall ripping through instead of on that joint.

David Dion:

And that would be kind of a.

David Dion:

Let's dig in a little further.

David Dion:

Let's see what's going on here.

David Dion:

Is there racking going on there?

David Dion:

Are all the windows and doors not opening and closing properly or just in line?

David Dion:

You know, there's little things that add up to bigger things.

David Dion:

A one off doesn't really tell us much, but we may see another thing and another thing.

David Dion:

There's about seven signs of foundation failure that I personally look for.

David Dion:

A foundation specialist looks for like 12 signs of foundation failure.

David Dion:

So at least for the time that we're there and what we're doing and the types of things that we're looking for that should lead us down a path of is this a foundational failure?

David Dion:

Is this from ground up or from top down?

David Dion:

Is that something going on in the attic space?

David Dion:

And look through the attic space.

Melanie Clearwater:

And so yeah, yeah, again, you've got to be, you got, you have to be observant.

Melanie Clearwater:

The story I wanted to tell you before and share with you is about a homeowner who actually had a home for several years.

Melanie Clearwater:

I mean, I think it's probably either five or 10 years.

Melanie Clearwater:

And I had gone in here to do some work and I noticed in the toilet closet that someone, I guess, you know, trying to emphasize the amount of caulk that they use, they went, they went space happy.

Melanie Clearwater:

They must have emptied at least a caulk or maybe even two tubes of caulk around the bottom of the toilet where it met the linoleum.

Melanie Clearwater:

I mean, and it was at least 2 inches thick.

Melanie Clearwater:

I mean, in height.

Melanie Clearwater:

Okay.

Melanie Clearwater:

And it was like, what was that over there?

Melanie Clearwater:

And he's telling me, well, you know, they, we didn't do that.

Melanie Clearwater:

We.

Melanie Clearwater:

We think that the previous owner did that.

Melanie Clearwater:

Okay?

Melanie Clearwater:

So nobody had done anything.

Melanie Clearwater:

But, you know, the other day we were taking off the baseboard and my guy says to me, he says, you know that the floor feels a little squishy over here.

Melanie Clearwater:

You know, I'm like, okay, well, let me look at it.

Melanie Clearwater:

So we pulled back a little bit of the linoleum right next to the side of the toilet and the plywood.

Melanie Clearwater:

Now that substrate is at least 3/4 of an inch plywood, because it's on the second floor.

Melanie Clearwater:

Okay?

Melanie Clearwater:

It was like oatmeal.

Melanie Clearwater:

That's how bad it was.

Melanie Clearwater:

I mean, this had to be going on for like years.

Melanie Clearwater:

And he said to me, steve, he says, you know, I didn't want to go use the bathroom upstairs.

Melanie Clearwater:

And then wind up when I left and I was done, I'd be downstairs because it was afraid it was going to fall through the ceiling.

Melanie Clearwater:

That's how bad it was.

Melanie Clearwater:

And you just never know it was linoleum on top covers everything.

Melanie Clearwater:

You would never, you would never see this.

Melanie Clearwater:

It's just amazing.

Melanie Clearwater:

So again, you've got to.

Melanie Clearwater:

If something doesn't look right in your home, it probably isn't.

Melanie Clearwater:

And if you don't know, you need to call somebody who can tell you, hey, I've got this problem, you know, and.

Melanie Clearwater:

And sometimes, you know, people call me and then, you know, I'll.

Melanie Clearwater:

Unless it's something really odd that I haven't seen before or really serious.

Melanie Clearwater:

I.

Melanie Clearwater:

Sometimes I've seen enough over my 30 some years that I can have a good idea what might be wrong.

Melanie Clearwater:

But Stan, there's nothing to.

Melanie Clearwater:

There's nothing to take away from actually going and looking at it and inspecting it, because that's the only way to tell for sure, you know, that's why I would say I am a big.

Melanie Clearwater:

A big fan of.

Melanie Clearwater:

You need to get your.

Melanie Clearwater:

You need to get your inspections done.

Melanie Clearwater:

There's just no.

Melanie Clearwater:

No way.

Melanie Clearwater:

Data.

Melanie Clearwater:

One of my old One of my friends is a retired home inspector.

Melanie Clearwater:

Now they used to.

Melanie Clearwater:

They nicknamed him the.

Melanie Clearwater:

The realtors nicknamed him the deal killer because every time he would go in and look at a home and he'd find all these different things wrong.

Melanie Clearwater:

And here's the realtor, just like that.

Melanie Clearwater:

Please don't find anything wrong.

Melanie Clearwater:

I want to sell this house and make the sale.

Melanie Clearwater:

And I'm like, no, man, look, this is wrong.

Melanie Clearwater:

I mean, like you say, you're not there to, to take sides.

Melanie Clearwater:

I mean, you giving an accurate assessment of what the house looks like?

David Dion:

Yeah, for sure.

David Dion:

And like, as a homeowner, if you notice that your toilet is loose to the floor, that, that's a good time to call in a handyman.

David Dion:

Start with the handyman because then they can lead you to.

David Dion:

Hey, it's actually been leaking so long that the subfloor is damaged.

David Dion:

So loose toilet seats is a sign of something more.

David Dion:

So it's loose for a reason and sometimes it just needs to be tightened down.

David Dion:

But as my grandfather raised me, if you ever pull a toilet, you gotta replace everything, replace the ring.

David Dion:

And even if it was just set, you know, so if you, if you pull it, you got to replace the ring.

David Dion:

And, and so absolutely little things like that, you know, helps homeowners if those little things that, like you said, if it doesn't seem right, it probably isn't.

David Dion:

And how big of a deal is it is really the road you should travel down?

Melanie Clearwater:

Yeah.

Melanie Clearwater:

Do you get up on a.

Melanie Clearwater:

You find a lot of.

Melanie Clearwater:

Do a lot of roof inspections.

David Dion:

Yeah.

David Dion:

So every inspection is the roof is part of that inspection.

David Dion:

I say that there's nothing like getting boots on a roof.

David Dion:

You should do that every possible chance.

David Dion:

Luckily, with the pitches in the valley and most of the construction around here, 90% of the roofs we can get on for those roofs that we can't.

David Dion:

Or let's say the builder a new build says we can't.

David Dion:

We were drone licensed pilots as well, so that we can fly a drone on it.

David Dion:

Licensing is very important for flying drones.

David Dion:

I know a lot of people fly drones without licenses.

David Dion:

However, if worst case scenario happens, the last person you want to get spanked by is the faa.

Melanie Clearwater:

Yep.

Melanie Clearwater:

Yeah, that's for sure.

Melanie Clearwater:

Yeah, you want to make sure you.

Melanie Clearwater:

You do that.

Melanie Clearwater:

But yeah, again, and that's one of the first questions I always ask when I'm.

Melanie Clearwater:

People are interested in doing solar and I'm like, okay, how old is your roof?

Melanie Clearwater:

Because I'm not going to put, you know, a 30, $40,000 solar system on your house if your roof is like 15 years old and we know in five years or less that you're going to have to get the substrate underneath or the, the underlayment underneath changed.

Melanie Clearwater:

So let's talk about doing that all at one time and make that happen.

David Dion:

And for, for most roofs after we have a really hard monsoon or your neighborhood gets high, high, high winds, that's a really good time just to get a roof evaluation.

David Dion:

Just get a roofer.

David Dion:

Now me personally, I know other, other inspectors do one off inspections or that kind of thing.

David Dion:

However, I always point people towards a specialist.

David Dion:

If they say I have a roof concern, just a roof only concern, I'd say go directly to a specialist because I'm going to go up there and go, yep, I'm concerned too, get a roofer.

David Dion:

So let's bypass the person that's going to tell you your suspicions are correct.

David Dion:

Just go directly to the source.

David Dion:

Generally that's my advice.

David Dion:

Most of the time I can talk, talk through a lot of phone conversations and lead them down the right path.

David Dion:

And a home inspector is just a great resource for a home or for a homeowner if they just want to talk to somebody who's unbiased and say what do you think I should do with this thing?

David Dion:

Like we're probably a good phone call to somebody to call, especially your home inspector.

David Dion:

The inspector that did your home.

David Dion:

You can't pick up the phone and talk to anybody that's going to know your house as much as he does.

Melanie Clearwater:

So that's true.

David Dion:

Yeah, I mean I've, we save all the documentation of an inspection.

David Dion:

So there's several times I get a call, I just jump in, pull up all the pictures and then I can lead them down the right path.

David Dion:

Yeah, it's like, hey, the reset button's hidden in your pantry for the gfci.

Melanie Clearwater:

Right.

Melanie Clearwater:

So yeah, you got to know those things.

Melanie Clearwater:

It's amazing.

Melanie Clearwater:

But David, tell our listeners a little bit about how they can contact you and your website.

David Dion:

Yeah.

David Dion:

So whole Home inspections, you can find it on anywhere.

David Dion:

I've been around long enough that we're well established.

David Dion:

Website is www.phxinspect.com.

David Dion:

so abbreviations, abbreviation for Phoenix PA checks, inspect.com or wholehomeinspections llc.com nobody's going to write down a phone number while they're driving or anything.

David Dion:

So just look up Whole Home inspections.

David Dion:

You'll see us and feel free to reach out anytime if you have any questions.

David Dion:

Home questions.

David Dion:

I tell people just think of us as your local Home guru guys that can just call.

Melanie Clearwater:

So that's right.

Melanie Clearwater:

Home guru guys and edged.

Melanie Clearwater:

And again, don't try and be a homeowner who's dangerous with tools and try and fix things yourself.

Melanie Clearwater:

Call the professional.

David Dion:

You gotta know your threshold.

Melanie Clearwater:

That's what I'm here for.

Melanie Clearwater:

This way you won't have any problems.

Melanie Clearwater:

And again, you know, think about, think about your roof and make sure you walk around.

Melanie Clearwater:

I tell everybody, make sure you walk around your house, the exterior at least like once a month just to see if anything looks odd that shouldn't are there, you know, is anything loose, is anything, you know, especially after storms and go back, you know.

Melanie Clearwater:

And the other one thing that you want to just touch base on that people should be well aware of termite tracks, especially if you don't have a post tension slab.

Melanie Clearwater:

You could conceivably have termites coming up through the insulation expansion boards in between your slab and your stem wall.

Melanie Clearwater:

And that's one of the things that, you know, I'm always on the lookout for.

David Dion:

Having a slump box block house doesn't, doesn't stop the termites, no, they're still going to come in.

David Dion:

So even if you're thinking, oh I got a slump block house, it's fine.

Melanie Clearwater:

Termites, termites won't come here and they'll find it.

Melanie Clearwater:

Because if, you know, I've seen it, don't forget that a lot of people I've seen where the termites will actually go up maybe on the inside of a stick built wall.

Melanie Clearwater:

And all of a sudden you've got a track coming down from the center of your ceiling.

Melanie Clearwater:

You're like, what the hell is that?

Melanie Clearwater:

It's a termite track.

Melanie Clearwater:

And they don't know where they're tunneling, they're just looking for food.

Melanie Clearwater:

So again, those telltale signs of those and you could really tell usually tell an active track from a, an old track.

Melanie Clearwater:

So please make sure you're aware of that.

Melanie Clearwater:

And David, thank you so much.

Melanie Clearwater:

Appreciate it.

Melanie Clearwater:

We'll get the word out and hope to have you back soon.

David Dion:

Thank you very much.

Melanie Clearwater:

All right, David Dion from Whole House Inspections.

Melanie Clearwater:

And we're going to take a short break before we get into our mortgage discussion with our good friend Jeff Cadle from Nexa Mortgage.

Melanie Clearwater:

So stay tuned, don't go away.

Erica Thompson:

Hi, I'm Erica Thompson, the dominating designer, a hard working artist with a sense of humor.

Erica Thompson:

What is the dominating designer process?

Erica Thompson:

It's just like what you see on tv.

Erica Thompson:

We discuss your wants and needs about your project, go over your ideas, then I provide you creative, one of a kind options that fit your budget with respect to your home's value.

Erica Thompson:

When we finish your project, you are set to enjoy your new space.

Erica Thompson:

I would love to help you with your upcoming project.

Erica Thompson:

Please reach out to me on Instagram thedominatingdesigner.

Melanie Clearwater:

Govern the future of sustainable lifestyle living with Boxcar Universe.

Melanie Clearwater:

Your go to source for cutting edge container home and container pool information.

Melanie Clearwater:

Want a dream container home or pool?

Melanie Clearwater:

We can build it for you.

Melanie Clearwater:

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Melanie Clearwater:

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Melanie Clearwater:

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Melanie Clearwater:

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Melanie Clearwater:

Listen, learn and build with us.

Melanie Clearwater:

All right, we are back and you are listening to Boxcar Universe and we want to thank David Dion from whole Home Inspections with us and he's going to stick around for a little bit because I'm sure he'll have some two cents to give us regarding some of the stuff that we're going to be talking about.

Melanie Clearwater:

Homes and mortgages and everything next to mortgage with Jeff Kadleck.

Melanie Clearwater:

Jeff, thanks for being here today.

Melanie Clearwater:

hat the heck can we expect in:

Melanie Clearwater:

What's going on?

Melanie Clearwater:

Where have we been?

Melanie Clearwater:

Where's the mortgages now?

Melanie Clearwater:

And give us a little idea.

Melanie Clearwater:

What kind of ride are we looking at here?

Unnamed Guest:

You got a coin?

Melanie Clearwater:

Yeah.

Melanie Clearwater:

Can I flip it?

Unnamed Guest:

And they'll have this good of a decision that I would make telling people what to do with their mortgages at this point.

Melanie Clearwater:

Pull straws, maybe.

Melanie Clearwater:

Pull straws.

Unnamed Guest:

Interest rates.

Unnamed Guest:

Yeah, interest rates they've been promising us.

Unnamed Guest:

And I say they meaning the economists of the world, those that are much more intelligent than myself, not promising us for almost two years now that rates are coming down.

Unnamed Guest:

Rates are coming down.

Unnamed Guest:

But we all know inflation is driving that.

Unnamed Guest:

And now there's discussions that they're not sure rates are really going to come down that far yet.

Unnamed Guest:

We were hoping by the end of this year we'd be sitting at the low sixes.

Unnamed Guest:

Even the high fives would be fine.

Unnamed Guest:

Anything lower than that, we're probably going to deal with another economic crash.

Unnamed Guest:

You don't want rates to go too low.

Unnamed Guest:

As much as we all love the 1.9 nines and the 2.5s we're all sitting on, the problem with that is number one, right now there's an inventory shortage.

Unnamed Guest:

Nobody wants to sell that rate.

Unnamed Guest:

And number two.

Unnamed Guest:

I'm sorry, there is no number two.

Unnamed Guest:

I forgot what it was.

Unnamed Guest:

So I'm going to say there is no number two right now, but it'll come back to me.

Unnamed Guest:

But yeah, people are just locked into their homes right now.

Unnamed Guest:

And if we have rates of 2 and a half and 3 percent, the only reason that's happening is because we're trying to stimulate the economy because it's crashing.

Unnamed Guest:

So as much as I love those rates, they're great for refi booms.

Unnamed Guest:

I don't, because it means the market's crashing and we have some problems with the value of our homes going down again.

Unnamed Guest:

But right now we have an inventory problem and that's our main thing.

Unnamed Guest:

But there are strategies out there people can use and they can use.

Unnamed Guest:

And I'm finding a lot of little niches out there that the ones who are buying are being successful doing.

Unnamed Guest:

But yeah, it's going to be fun to see once the new administration comes in.

Unnamed Guest:

Nothing like a real estate guy in the office in the White House.

Melanie Clearwater:

Yeah, I mean, it's going to be, it's, it's definitely going to be interesting on what, what kind of things we're good.

Melanie Clearwater:

You know, hopefully price, you know, everything's got to happen all at once.

Melanie Clearwater:

You know, we're talking about all these things are wrong.

Melanie Clearwater:

Mortgage rates are, are too high.

Melanie Clearwater:

You know, food's too high, we're paying too much in fuel.

Melanie Clearwater:

opefully a lot will happen in:

Melanie Clearwater:

You know, they don't want to leave a payment.

Unnamed Guest:

I mean, most people can't even rent for what they're paying on a mortgage right now.

Melanie Clearwater:

That, that's, that's the other thing.

Unnamed Guest:

Why would you want to sell it?

Unnamed Guest:

You know, and the, the strategies that I see working right now for people when it comes to buying homes and a lot of people are just, they are blinded.

Unnamed Guest:

They're blinded by their rate and they don't even realize that.

Unnamed Guest:

I just dealt with a couple last month last, it was actually, it was probably end of December and they just started doing their paperwork this week, but they were just blown away at, you know, they're sitting on a, I believe it was a 3.75% 30 year fixed on their home.

Unnamed Guest:

Well, their home has about probably $300,000 in equity sitting in it.

Unnamed Guest:

They're sitting also on about 70 to $80,000 in bad credit card debt, charging them anywhere between 16 to 29%.

Unnamed Guest:

And they just couldn't fathom leaving their home.

Unnamed Guest:

They need a bigger home.

Unnamed Guest:

And at first they wanted to refinance, but once we recalculated all their stuff, I showed them, listen, at six and a half percent, even that could be there on a buy down or whatnot, you're still going to be able to buy your home and you're still going to have a lower payment every month than what you're living on right now.

Unnamed Guest:

but we're at like, you know,:

Unnamed Guest:

And I said, yeah, but your total expense going out the door every month is about $4,000 a month, not including your utilities and your, you know, the other things, your phone bills.

Unnamed Guest:

I'm talking debt.

Unnamed Guest:

And now you can go out, take that $300,000 that's just rotten away inside the equity of your house, grab 70 grand of it, get a new mortgage, put the rest down on a house, and your payment's going to be about 2,600 bucks a month.

Unnamed Guest:

2,700 bucks a month.

Unnamed Guest:

So now you're, when you've been living on, you've been, you've been spending 4,000amonth on your debt.

Unnamed Guest:

Now you're on 2,600amonth in debt, no credit cards, and hopefully you don't run them up again.

Unnamed Guest:

But there's, there's one solution that a lot of people are figuring out.

Unnamed Guest:

Well, they don't always figure it out.

Unnamed Guest:

They're just locked on that rate.

Unnamed Guest:

So sometimes you have to take a look at the blended rate that people are playing with.

Unnamed Guest:

And so when I did their blended rate, their blended rate was somewhere around seven and a quarter percent.

Unnamed Guest:

So I told them, you're already paying seven and a quarter.

Unnamed Guest:

You think that three and a quarter is, is so great or 3.75 is so great.

Unnamed Guest:

The blended rate was almost 60 of their debt.

Unnamed Guest:

So they had an opportunity to, to move on to the next house.

Unnamed Guest:

And that's what a lot of people don't realize is that you, you can't just look at that, that great rent payment you're paying because you are paying rent to the bank.

Unnamed Guest:

You got to look at your whole financial situation and people are, it's like having $300,000 in the bank and not using it to pay down your debt.

Melanie Clearwater:

Yeah, I mean, and obviously he's got equity in the house and the equity's not making him any money.

Melanie Clearwater:

It's just sitting there.

Unnamed Guest:

No, no, the equity is not actually.

Unnamed Guest:

It's in my book here.

Unnamed Guest:

I have it.

Unnamed Guest:

I don't want to go through thinking it's personal stuff, but, yeah, just.

Unnamed Guest:

It's amazing when people.

Unnamed Guest:

When you can actually get people to the table to talk to them and, you know, I would say seven out of 10 times, it doesn't help.

Unnamed Guest:

But, you know, those three, three, three times, people will go, wow, I didn't realize.

Unnamed Guest:

Sometimes no one's real.

Unnamed Guest:

There's a.

Unnamed Guest:

There's a new software out there.

Unnamed Guest:

I see the app all the time.

Unnamed Guest:

I wish they.

Unnamed Guest:

Maybe I should create that software.

Unnamed Guest:

We can take all your finances and tell you what you're paying every month to the banks and interest.

Unnamed Guest:

But right now they have that.

Unnamed Guest:

There's a software out.

Unnamed Guest:

I can't remember the name of it, but it basically put it, Put, put, put, put this app on your finances through your bank, and it's going to tell you all your payments that you're making to, like, subscriptions.

Unnamed Guest:

And we've all seen those commercials because people Pay for subscriptions.

Unnamed Guest:

70amonth or 25amonth.

Unnamed Guest:

I don't even know they're paying for it anymore.

Melanie Clearwater:

Yeah, Rocket Mortgage.

Unnamed Guest:

It's.

Unnamed Guest:

It's not Rocket.

Unnamed Guest:

No, it's Rocket.

Unnamed Guest:

I think it's Rocket.

Unnamed Guest:

You're right.

Unnamed Guest:

I think the app is called Rocket something.

Unnamed Guest:

But yeah, yeah, it's kind of philosophy.

Unnamed Guest:

All of a sudden you realize, wait a second, I'm paying $4,000 a month in credit cards and housing payment.

Unnamed Guest:

yments, only, you know, maybe:

Unnamed Guest:

That's insane.

Unnamed Guest:

And I can go buy a new house even bigger, and I'll only be paying 3,000amonth, and that's $1,000 savings.

Unnamed Guest:

That's.

Unnamed Guest:

That's a strategy that most people forget to even think about.

Melanie Clearwater:

Yeah.

Melanie Clearwater:

I think they get stuck.

Melanie Clearwater:

They get stuck in a rut.

Unnamed Guest:

Yep.

Unnamed Guest:

You know, they locked into that rate.

Melanie Clearwater:

Yeah, that's exactly right.

Melanie Clearwater:

And they don't want to take.

Melanie Clearwater:

They don't want to take a look at, make, make changes.

Melanie Clearwater:

You know, we're actually like.

Melanie Clearwater:

You were creatures of habit.

Unnamed Guest:

Yeah.

Melanie Clearwater:

You know, just like, Just like we were talking about before with David.

Melanie Clearwater:

You know, people just.

Melanie Clearwater:

They get into a habit.

Melanie Clearwater:

They.

Melanie Clearwater:

They see things wrong with their house and they just.

Melanie Clearwater:

They'll accept it instead of trying to fix it.

Melanie Clearwater:

And then.

Unnamed Guest:

Right.

Melanie Clearwater:

And that's.

Melanie Clearwater:

And that's a problem because it's like, would you do that to your car?

Melanie Clearwater:

The check engine light Came on and you're like.

Melanie Clearwater:

And don't worry about it.

Melanie Clearwater:

It's just check engine.

Melanie Clearwater:

I saw somebody once, they put.

Melanie Clearwater:

He took it about check engine light.

Melanie Clearwater:

He took a piece of black electrical tape and put it over his dashboard.

Melanie Clearwater:

That covered up the check engine light so he didn't have to see the check engine light.

Melanie Clearwater:

So it's out of sight, out of mind.

Melanie Clearwater:

One of these days it's going to come back and bite you in the ass.

Unnamed Guest:

I tell you, David's going to be in a lot of trouble for even mentioning to go look at your home reports from when you bought the home because a lot of husbands in the area are going to be going, son of a.

Unnamed Guest:

Glad my wife doesn't listen to anything I talk about.

Unnamed Guest:

So we'll be fine.

Unnamed Guest:

I'm safe.

Melanie Clearwater:

Oh, you're safe.

Melanie Clearwater:

Okay.

Melanie Clearwater:

But you.

Melanie Clearwater:

But.

Melanie Clearwater:

But list down.

Unnamed Guest:

I'd be doing a whole bunch of that when I bought the home 20 years ago, they told me was wrong with it.

Melanie Clearwater:

Right.

Melanie Clearwater:

But you know, could you.

Melanie Clearwater:

Hey, as long as.

Melanie Clearwater:

As long as you don't get into it, you know, and.

Melanie Clearwater:

And you have it, nothing's happened.

Melanie Clearwater:

Don't worry about it.

Melanie Clearwater:

Right.

Melanie Clearwater:

Yeah.

Melanie Clearwater:

Your roof will last forever.

Melanie Clearwater:

Sure.

Unnamed Guest:

Now I gotta go out to my garage and find peeling paint.

Melanie Clearwater:

Son of a.

Melanie Clearwater:

Ah, See that?

David Dion:

Yeah.

Melanie Clearwater:

Sinking paint.

Melanie Clearwater:

That's what we're talking about.

Melanie Clearwater:

Yeah.

Melanie Clearwater:

That was just amazing.

Melanie Clearwater:

All right, we're gonna take one more break before we wrap things up on the mortgage side and we're gonna talk a little bit about some of the things that are going to be influencing the rates that want everybody to be cognizant of.

Melanie Clearwater:

Because it.

Melanie Clearwater:

If you're looking to sell your home again.

Melanie Clearwater:

Jeff made a very good point.

Melanie Clearwater:

You could have an awesome rate in spending a lot more in other debt.

Melanie Clearwater:

But if somebody and a financial planner or somebody takes a whole entire look at your financial situation, you know, changing your rate and maybe moving up in with your home rate and doing away with your debt could be just the ticket that you need and you wind up having more money in your pocket.

Melanie Clearwater:

So keep that thought in mind.

Melanie Clearwater:

And when we come back, we're going to talk about those other factors.

Melanie Clearwater:

So don't go wait.

Melanie Clearwater:

You're listening to Boxcar Universe.

Melanie Clearwater:

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Melanie Clearwater:

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Melanie Clearwater:

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Melanie Clearwater:

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Melanie Clearwater:

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Melanie Clearwater:

-:

Melanie Clearwater:

so, what's in your attic?

Jeff Kadleck:

Hi, I'm Sean with Mr.

Jeff Kadleck:

Electric, and I have a tip to help make your life better.

Jeff Kadleck:

One important reminder is to call a qualified electrician when you have frequent problems with blowing fuses or tripping circuit breakers.

Jeff Kadleck:

When a circuit breaker trips or a fuse blows, it's indicating that you have a problem with some other part of the circuit.

Jeff Kadleck:

If your breaker trips more than once, you should have a qualified electrician come out and take a look at it.

Jeff Kadleck:

Contrary to what may be acceptable, you really shouldn't try to continuously try to reset the breaker because there may be a problem somewhere else down the circuit and you could be causing a fire hazard.

Jeff Kadleck:

There could be a loose connection or some other form of fire problem on the circuit, and every time you reset the circuit breaker, it could be causing a spark at the other end.

Jeff Kadleck:

We recommend having a qualified electrician come out and check on the condition of the circuit and make sure that the circuit does not have any problems.

Jeff Kadleck:

And it could just be a bad breaker also.

Jeff Kadleck:

But you definitely want to have a qualified electrician check that out.

Jeff Kadleck:

To have someone come out from our team may only take a portion of a day, but it could potentially save you a lot of money or your life.

Jeff Kadleck:

And that's just another way Mr.

Jeff Kadleck:

Electric has the power to make your life better.

Melanie Clearwater:

All right, we are back, and you are listening to Boxcar universe.

Melanie Clearwater:

And today is home inspection day and talking about mortgage day.

Melanie Clearwater:

So I guess, you know, obviously a lot of us who own homes, you could say you're under the influence.

Melanie Clearwater:

And I don't mean alcohol.

Melanie Clearwater:

I'm talking about mortgage.

Melanie Clearwater:

Most of us probably on high mortgage.

Melanie Clearwater:

The other people that have low mortgages, you know, Jeff brought up a good thing before that we went to break.

Melanie Clearwater:

People with low mortgages could have just, you know, issues, different kind of issues than people that, you know, are out getting 6 and 7%, you know, mortgages, you know, but like Jeff had said to me and a lot of other people, it's like, you know, this isn't going to last forever.

Melanie Clearwater:

If you could afford the payment at 6 or 7% and you want to get your house now and you can't wait, you could always refinance, you know, so you could get it at 6% and wait, you know, another year or two, hopefully.

David Dion:

Yeah.

David Dion:

What do they say?

David Dion:

Marry the house and date the mortgage?

Melanie Clearwater:

Is that what.

David Dion:

Date the rate.

David Dion:

There you go.

Melanie Clearwater:

Date the rate.

Melanie Clearwater:

There you go.

David Dion:

All right, date the rate.

Melanie Clearwater:

But, but what do you think are some of the, you know, now that where we're going now, what, what influenced mortgage rates to go up?

Melanie Clearwater:

I mean, we did talk about a little bit about inflation and of course, like you say, supply and demand.

Melanie Clearwater:

You know, if there, if there's not a lot of supply, obviously the rates are going to go up because people are going to want to buy.

Melanie Clearwater:

I remember in the last four years and I just couldn't believe it.

Melanie Clearwater:

You know, the rental rates were just absurd.

Melanie Clearwater:

No one, at least I never heard of in all my life before.

Melanie Clearwater:

Like what the mid.

Melanie Clearwater:

Like we'll say:

Melanie Clearwater:

You people were actually bidding on rental rates to rent apartments where, you know, that was unheard of.

Melanie Clearwater:

You know, a rental rate was a rental rate.

Melanie Clearwater:

The only time you heard people bidding on things is if you wanted to get a property.

Melanie Clearwater:

we bought a Property back in:

Melanie Clearwater:

We were in a bidding war between another person that wanted the five acres and us.

Melanie Clearwater:

Well, you know, we wind up spending $50,000 more on those five acres than, than it was listed for, but we got it.

Melanie Clearwater:

But never, never bidding on rental rates.

Melanie Clearwater:

I couldn't believe it.

Melanie Clearwater:

You know, the rental rates are bad enough.

Melanie Clearwater:

You're going to try and spend more money just to get housing.

Melanie Clearwater:

This is ridiculous.

Melanie Clearwater:

This is the, this isn't the American way.

Melanie Clearwater:

ence us going into, you know,:

Melanie Clearwater:

Where do you think the rates will get down?

Melanie Clearwater:

Do you think they'll hit the low fives in the next year?

Unnamed Guest:

I don't know if they're going to hit that low in the next year, Steve.

Unnamed Guest:

I truly believe that it's going to be.

Unnamed Guest:

It's going to be a slow ride down.

Unnamed Guest:

It's always a fast ride up and a slow ride down.

Unnamed Guest:

But the main thing that's.

Unnamed Guest:

That's been hurting our, in my opinion, I mean, I mean, there's a lot of different economic forecasts and what's happening, but we know that our country is in serious debt.

Unnamed Guest:

It's the, it's the demand on our money, our money supply, the monetary policies, things like that.

Unnamed Guest:

You know, if you have only 10 pounds of gold in the world, how much is that gold worth?

Unnamed Guest:

We know the game.

Unnamed Guest:

It's a money supply.

Unnamed Guest:

And if you print up more gold, how much is that gold going to be worth?

Unnamed Guest:

If you print up double the gold, half the price.

Unnamed Guest:

If you print up another double third, now 30% more gold, what do you have?

Unnamed Guest:

Your prices keep dropping because the demand is low.

Unnamed Guest:

And that's monetary policies.

Unnamed Guest:

And then the other thing is just, I mean, government policies, it's a deficit spending that's killing us.

Unnamed Guest:

They're spending money pulling, you know, paying Peter to pay pull.

Unnamed Guest:

If you and I ran our household the way our government runs our money supply or our monetary policies, we'd be broke because you can't spend more than you make.

Unnamed Guest:

Right now, America's spending more on interest than they are bringing in.

Unnamed Guest:

So that creates a problem that, you know, no matter who's in office might not be able to control it.

Unnamed Guest:

So it's scary.

Unnamed Guest:

I mean, when you, the other thing you have to understand in the economic policies that are killing us is we all remember the minimum wage fight and we knew this would happen.

Unnamed Guest:

Minimum wage fight.

Unnamed Guest:

Basically think about, you have a restaurant and you're paying all your employees and salaries is minimum wage and they're making money on tips and that's how they make their earnings.

Unnamed Guest:

But if you force me to pay them double, where's that money coming from?

Unnamed Guest:

It's not coming out of the owner's pocket, it's coming out of the consumer's pocket.

Unnamed Guest:

Right.

Unnamed Guest:

So that's, that's really where we're going.

Unnamed Guest:

We're looking at the tariff talks now.

Unnamed Guest:

I mean, will tariffs do anything to do it, it has the same effect as taxes, but I think it's going to, I, I, in my opinion, I think it's going to keep more, more countries in line with what they're getting away with in our country as far as trade deficits.

Unnamed Guest:

So, but there's so many things that, that take it to effect.

Unnamed Guest:

I mean, we, I'm tired of hearing about the supply chain disruption because that thing that should be over by now, I believe.

Unnamed Guest:

But I don't know.

Unnamed Guest:

What are your thoughts?

Unnamed Guest:

What do you think?

Melanie Clearwater:

I, I, I think it should, I don't think that should be even an issue anymore.

Melanie Clearwater:

I mean, we pretty much all caught up, you know, but you never know.

Melanie Clearwater:

The, you know, the outgoing administration, you know, will probably have something to say about that they'll probably uses as an excuse for the way things are right now.

Melanie Clearwater:

But it's just, you know, like I say, it's, I'm looking Forward that with all these different situations that we're talking about for homeowners to be able, it should not cost you the same amount of money to rent an apartment that it costs for a mortgage payment.

Melanie Clearwater:

It just, it just shouldn't.

Melanie Clearwater:

I mean, what's that?

Melanie Clearwater:

What's the advantage?

Unnamed Guest:

Well, what happens if we have, if mortgages are less than rent?

Unnamed Guest:

Guess what happens?

Unnamed Guest:

We run out of supply.

Melanie Clearwater:

Well, that's true.

Unnamed Guest:

Everybody's running out to buy houses now.

Unnamed Guest:

Why pay rent?

Unnamed Guest:

That happened in:

Unnamed Guest:

We were just dealing with people that like, hey man, I'm paying $1,000 a month in rent and I could buy a house for $800.

Unnamed Guest:

Let's go do that.

Unnamed Guest:

Unless you get the tax write off, which, you know, a lot of people don't take into consideration.

Unnamed Guest:

But the other challenge, Steve, we have is our, you know, the housing prices in some areas of the country have just skyrocketed and the incomes have not kept up with it.

Unnamed Guest:

So when you have that mixture where it's going to take a while for people's incomes to go up.

Unnamed Guest:

So let's raise minimum wage.

Unnamed Guest:

I'm kidding.

Unnamed Guest:

But incomes have got to go up in order to afford.

Unnamed Guest:

That's, that's my biggest challenge with the buyers.

Unnamed Guest:

I don't have any less calls than I had in 20, 21, 22 and 23.

Unnamed Guest:

22.

Unnamed Guest:

In 23, the calls pretty much went the same way, but they started a little different.

Unnamed Guest:

I used to be able to tell, ask people how much they made, what was their debt, let's see what we can qualify you for, blah, blah, blah.

Unnamed Guest:

Now my first question is how much do you want to pay?

Unnamed Guest:

And they'll give me a number and I'll say, how much do you look at to buy?

Unnamed Guest:

And they'll give me a number.

Unnamed Guest:

So if someone comes in and saying, well, I want to spend 800 bucks a month, but I want to buy a half a million dollar home, I say, Great, you got 200,000 in the bank because you're not buying a 3% down half a million dollar home and going to get an eighteen hundred dollars a month payment.

Unnamed Guest:

And that not only could some people not afford it, some people could they just like, oh, I'm not paying $4,000 a month to buy a house.

Unnamed Guest:

So it's a pricing issue in some parts of the country, not everywhere.

Unnamed Guest:

I mean, it's just where your housing index is the best.

Unnamed Guest:

And there are some parts of the country that are out there that the housing index is low enough where people can still afford based on their income.

Unnamed Guest:

And that's, that's what a lot of these cities have to get to.

Unnamed Guest:

A lot of these metro metropolitan areas have to get to is our incomes have got to increase.

Unnamed Guest:

Our income's gone up dramatically.

Unnamed Guest:

I mean, our medium income in Phoenix is at $80,000 now in some areas when probably three, four, five years ago was probably in the 50s to 60s.

Melanie Clearwater:

Yeah, I was going to say 60.

Melanie Clearwater:

Yeah.

Unnamed Guest:

Yeah.

Unnamed Guest:

So the income's going up and you know, to afford a home, you probably need to make about 125 to 150,000 a year.

Unnamed Guest:

Family, that's between, you know, a family, they have to put.

Unnamed Guest:

That's how much income has to go in the application, whether it be one, one person, two people.

Unnamed Guest:

So people just have to buy smaller or they just have to find other ways to consolidate their debt.

Unnamed Guest:

Which I think that is the hidden gem that most people aren't paying attention to.

Melanie Clearwater:

Yep.

Unnamed Guest:

They have car payments that they probably could get rid of.

Unnamed Guest:

That's the other challenge in my industry I see.

Unnamed Guest:

I mean, you have a 27 year old kid driving around with an $800 payment on his car.

Melanie Clearwater:

Yeah.

Unnamed Guest:

You want to buy a house?

Melanie Clearwater:

Let's just get rid of your car.

Melanie Clearwater:

Stupid.

Melanie Clearwater:

Yeah, stupid.

Unnamed Guest:

It's youth, man.

Unnamed Guest:

I would have done the same thing if I had the money.

Melanie Clearwater:

Yeah, if you had the money.

Melanie Clearwater:

Well, it's like you have the money to burn.

Unnamed Guest:

You can't meet women driving around in your house.

Unnamed Guest:

You got to get them there somehow.

Unnamed Guest:

Right.

Melanie Clearwater:

That's true.

Melanie Clearwater:

You're not, you're not going to get that mare on the scooter, that's for sure.

Unnamed Guest:

That's right, man.

Unnamed Guest:

So it's.

Unnamed Guest:

And you know what, we work through this all the time.

Unnamed Guest:

It's been a push, but yeah, I just think it's, it's just, you know, if we can get rates down, I think if we get rates down, like just even a point, you're going to get probably about another million people in this country can afford to buy a home.

Unnamed Guest:

And that's our biggest challenge.

Melanie Clearwater:

Yeah.

Unnamed Guest:

Well, I was going to say the good plus that just came out.

Unnamed Guest:

Medical, medical collections are now getting taken off credit reports, which is the big yahoo that just came through last week.

Unnamed Guest:

They announced which is, which was great policy.

Unnamed Guest:

The Biden administration pushed through and it was, you know, I don't know why they waited four years to do it.

Unnamed Guest:

They should have done in the beginning, but that's a, that's a policy that has really hurt a lot of people or that's policy that's going to help a lot of people.

Unnamed Guest:

Out of almost 100 million Americans in the country right now, their credit score is going to drop, jump by almost 20%.

Unnamed Guest:

So that can take a lot of people to the next level where their rates are going to get a little better to help them.

Unnamed Guest:

But now they're not going to sit there and go, we used to have a, we have to use a calculation of their total medical debt.

Unnamed Guest:

And if they have, you know, $10,000 in medical debt, we got to take 2 or 3% of it and count it as a payment.

Unnamed Guest:

And that excludes them from buying a house.

Unnamed Guest:

So big, big thing that should help our housing market in some areas.

Melanie Clearwater:

Well, we all hope for the best going into 20, 25, and a lot of changes coming down the pike.

Melanie Clearwater:

So we're going to just see what happens.

Melanie Clearwater:

So we want to be able to have more people selling homes and doing that so David could have more inspections.

Melanie Clearwater:

I mean, we all have to feed our families, right?

Melanie Clearwater:

So it's all got to be good.

Unnamed Guest:

And David, you can't be killing the deals.

David Dion:

They called the last guy the deal killer.

David Dion:

They don't call me.

Unnamed Guest:

All right, I'll say to Steve, I said, you know, they put appraises under, you know what happened to appraisers in my industry?

Unnamed Guest:

They got massive control over them.

Unnamed Guest:

So they could, I could no longer say, hey, call my buddy Bob the appraiser.

Unnamed Guest:

I was curious if they were ever going to do that to the inspector industry, because I'm not speaking of you, but I've had many real estate agents in my career tell me, yeah, I'm not using that inspector anymore.

Unnamed Guest:

He kills too many of my deals.

Unnamed Guest:

I just remember that, as Steve said that.

Unnamed Guest:

So have you heard anything about that going on in the industry at all?

Unnamed Guest:

Is that something that they've been discussed?

David Dion:

There's talks of controlling our industry more than what it is.

David Dion:

I mean, Arizona is a licensed state, which is good.

David Dion:

We have a state board.

David Dion:

We have SOP to follow.

David Dion:

That's great.

David Dion:

That's about as much government as you want for a home inspection company or industry.

David Dion:

Because if you get too involved and you, you, you tighten the rope too much, you're going to get a bunch of rubber stamps and checklist type of inspection stuff where it's, it's not going to be what it is.

David Dion:

Now, you, the homeowner is the client.

David Dion:

The buyer is the client.

David Dion:

The client hires us.

David Dion:

They are the ones signing our agreement.

David Dion:

Yeah, realtors are great.

David Dion:

They're great referral Source and realtors refer inspectors that they know their temperament, they know, they know how they're going to present findings.

David Dion:

They're going to know that they're not going to be on the hook because the inspector is diligent and does their, their best job.

David Dion:

And not only that, they can relay that information to a client without freaking them out and just explaining that a house is a house and it's going to have some things and these are, these are resources to fix these things.

David Dion:

These are the right people to call and be a resource for the client.

David Dion:

So but again, the person paying me is my client and their best interest is what I have to have for ethical purposes.

David Dion:

I mean look, they're the ones that at the end of the day I need to satisfy them.

David Dion:

They need to be educated and they need to know that they have a resource in me.

David Dion:

And what realtors appreciate that they know that hey, they're not the ones going to get the call.

David Dion:

And if they do get the call, they can simply go, just call Dave, just call your home inspector.

David Dion:

He's going to take walk you through this.

David Dion:

I mean whatever comes up, we're the resource for them.

Unnamed Guest:

So I've been on both sides of that where I've actually had, you know, real estate agents call me up saying I can't believe he missed this, the roof is leaking the next month or something.

David Dion:

I'm like call the, call the inspector.

David Dion:

Right, call the inspector.

Melanie Clearwater:

Call the inspector.

Unnamed Guest:

In your defense, the poor realtors are getting beaten up and sued because they didn't tell the buyer.

Unnamed Guest:

They say the seller was hiding.

Unnamed Guest:

I've seen those, I've seen more my share of those sellers hiding stuff and that's why, you know, it should have been the realtor's responsibility to find it.

Melanie Clearwater:

Yeah.

Melanie Clearwater:

Anyway, Jeff, tell our listeners how they can contact you.

Unnamed Guest:

They can find me at low rates, fast closings.com, real simple or just give me a ring on the phone.

Unnamed Guest:

I'm old fashioned, man.

Unnamed Guest:

I started this business when we use carbon paper.

Unnamed Guest:

So for:

Unnamed Guest:

I'll find out.

Unnamed Guest:

I did it before, just forgot.

Melanie Clearwater:

All right, one, one more time was left.

Melanie Clearwater:

One more time with the phone, with the phone number.

Melanie Clearwater:

Okay.

Melanie Clearwater:

No carbon paper.

Unnamed Guest:

480241 home.

Unnamed Guest:

H O M E.

Unnamed Guest:

No one knows how to do that but us.

Unnamed Guest:

But it's:

Melanie Clearwater:

All right, that's great.

Melanie Clearwater:

All right.

Melanie Clearwater:

Jeff, thank you so much for being on the show today.

Melanie Clearwater:

And thanks for all our listeners for watching.

Melanie Clearwater:

For listening to Boxcar Universe, you may remember we are your source for cutting edge information for remodeling and renovating your home, plus container homes and container pools.

Melanie Clearwater:

So if you are thinking of building a container home or pool, give us a call.

Melanie Clearwater:

We've got a new 800 number for all our listeners worldwide.

Melanie Clearwater:

It's one eight triple three boxcar.

Melanie Clearwater:

One eight triple three boxcar.

Melanie Clearwater:

Or you could email us, as Jeff said, the old fashioned way.

Melanie Clearwater:

Steve boxcaruniverse.com Remember, the Boxcar Universe could be heard on any podcast player.

Melanie Clearwater:

And always remember, let us elevate your sustainable lifestyle.

Melanie Clearwater:

See you next time on Boxcar Universe.

Unnamed Guest:

You're a great American.

Melanie Clearwater:

I love.

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About the Podcast

Boxcar Universe
Boxcar Universe - brings the most comprehensive and up-to-date information about high-tech container home sustainable lifestyle living. For over 17 years, TV and radio personality Steve Deubel has been hosting the Image Home Improvement Show—always at the forefront of home improvement and home renovation projects now entering the new wave sweeping the country….Container Home Living in the “Boxcar Universe" Mel Alva joins Steve as his co-host. Mel is the owner of Alva Interiors AZ. & has over 22 years' experience in residential and commercial design. Together, they join forces and bring you the cutting edge information of Container Home & Sustainable Lifestyle Living.

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Stephen Deubel