My top 10 scams that cost you money if you own or rent

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[00:00:22] Eric Goranson: Now the next one here, and I don't want to paint a brush with any of these saying that people in this whole area are bad. That's so not the case. Most people are good. But one of the biggest problems that I see is being sold and you as a homeowner with fear, and that is one of the biggest problems with certain foundation companies.

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[00:01:12] Eric Goranson: I'm Eric G. We got a fun show ahead first off though If you want to give me a call Give me a call at 833 239 4144. If you want to be part of the show, that number is 833 239 4144. Today, I thought we'd talk about the top 10 scams that are hurting homeowners and renters in 2024. Now these are not in any particular order.

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[00:02:03] Eric Goranson: So, there's a lot of great contractors out there, but I'm going to show you here what the top 10 issues that I see this year are. All right, here's one that is one of my big top ones that you hear on the radio all the time. And it's one that, uh, I feel is a huge issue and this is paying for insurance. You don't need, and this is something like, for instance, title lock insurance.

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[00:02:52] Eric Goranson: It's really hard. For somebody to come in and steal quote your title to your home, there is so [00:03:00] much that has to go on. There is so many things through title companies. It is really difficult. It is not impossible by no means is impossible, but for them to do it, it would have to take people signing stuff.

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[00:03:42] Eric Goranson: I think if you want to buy insurance, make sure your house is covered because. You're much more likely to have some kind of a major impact to your home from a storm, a flood, a fire, some other kind of damage is much more likely in my opinion. So, I would [00:04:00] spend my money on that versus one of these title lock insurance things because I just don't see it and FBI to check with their statistics.

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[00:04:33] Eric Goranson: That tells me a lot right there. If they went, oh my gosh, yeah, it's such an increasing crime. I would have had a lot to listen to, but there was dead silence and crickets. So that tells me what's going on. Next up here is one of my biggest concerns in this is door to door contractors knocking on your door.

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[00:05:22] Eric Goranson: So that is cool. But here's the problem that I see with the door to door contractors. It usually starts out, knock, knock, knock, you answer the door and they go, Hey, I was in the neighborhood. I was working at Mrs. Smith's house right around the corner. Mrs. Smith doesn't exist 99. 9 percent of the time. And I thought I'd walk around cause I can get you a huge discount since I'm already in the neighborhood.

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[00:06:03] Eric Goranson: But here's the thing these people that are coming around my concern when you have people out doing that. Is that they've got some kid out there, they're paying minimum wage or not even that, because they're on commission and they're out there trying to pitch anything to anybody. And so my concern is most of the reputable companies that I'm aware of out there rarely do this.

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[00:06:50] Eric Goranson: I don't appreciate that high pressure sales technique when someone is standing there in front of you. One to me, it smells of [00:07:00] desperation. I don't want you to think about it, because if you think about it, you're going to know this is too expensive or we're not telling you what we're going to be doing correctly.

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[00:07:28] Eric Goranson: But I also look at it as, wow, I don't want you to think about this because you're going to regret it later. So be very careful of the people knocking on the door. Now I've had people that I know that are friends that did windows or doors or whatever from that, and they turned out. Okay. But the problem is I wonder how it's going to be 10 years from now when they go, Oh, they didn't flash those windows.

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[00:08:10] Eric Goranson: I want the kids to come by and do their school projects, all that stuff. I'm totally cool with that. I just don't want the door to door salespeople on another note. And I know this is going to make me sound like a horrible person. And I'm okay with that. If you get the. Census crime statistics people knocking on your door.

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[00:08:49] Eric Goranson: Man, those guys want to do this long interview and when you're busy, this is stuff that I just go, come on, guys, you're taking up way too much of my time. When you tell them you're not interested, it doesn't matter. [00:09:00] They just keep coming back for more. And then when you tell them, hey, I'm out of town, I'm not even here when they call you, and this is my personal experience, you get a certified letter from the census saying, hey, it's really important for you to get this information.

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[00:09:31] Eric Goranson: They are all over it, so be careful with them. We'll be right back after these important messages. Don't go anywhere.[00:10:00]

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[00:10:28] Eric Goranson: To the around the house show. This is where we hope to get the most out of your home through information and education. We really appreciate you. Hey, if you want to get ahold of us, 8 If you have a home improvement question, that's 41 44. And I do appreciate everybody listening on the radio on the talk media network.

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[00:11:04] Eric Goranson: Now, the next one here, and I don't want to paint a brush with any of these saying that people in this whole area are bad. That's so not the case. Most people are good, but one of the biggest problems that I see. is being sold and you as a homeowner with fear. And that is one of the biggest problems with certain foundation companies.

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[00:11:50] Eric Goranson: And I would come in and they'd have a estimate for 40, 000. And it would be 25, 000 if they signed today, [00:12:00] you know, what we were talking about last segment and I come in, take a look at it and go, guys, this is a 5, 000 fix. It's not the end of the world. So, let me tell you how this goes. So, the scam kind of goes this way and I'll call it a scam because anytime that you're using fear and seeing something that's not true, I throw that in the scam category box.

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[00:12:40] Eric Goranson: You've got 3 contractors coming over to give you quotes and the 1st 1 comes in. And you're there for an hour long presentation after they do their look around. And then the high pressure sales technique comes back here. Oh, yeah. Wow. You're going to need to do this, this, this, and this, and use this package and this package.[00:13:00]

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[00:13:17] Eric Goranson: We can get this done. You know the drill. And then you get the other people looking at it. And so what happens is so many homeowners will go in and sign for 40, 50, 000. They'll finance it through them. And the contractor's making a little buck on the financing on the side, and they're making a ton of profit where if you would have gone about that differently.

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[00:14:02] Eric Goranson: They might charge you even for coming out, but that's okay. You're hiring a professional. That's what happens. They don't work for free. So they pop on over, they take a look at it and they write a report saying, okay, you have a crack. My recommendation would be to fix this with carbon fiber, a couple strips here, little crack lock here, do that kind of stuff and you'll be good to go.

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[00:14:47] Eric Goranson: So now you're going to get the right solution for this without having to spend a bunch of money. And you can weed through those estimates. So this works for water in the basement. Any of those other things that you're [00:15:00] trying to figure out, there are different solutions sometimes, but I rely on the structural engineer so you don't get taken and you don't have a bigger problem down the road.

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[00:15:31] Eric Goranson: I can't tell you what I'm on Facebook. For one of us people that are on Facebook, I can't tell you how many times in my online marketplace on my local area. Do I see people on there selling duck cleaning? Oh, 99 special, whatever it is. And most of those people you see right there are scams. There are people that are to come in, they're going to put a little brush around.

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[00:16:11] Eric Goranson: It's going to be 400 instead of 99. They spend an hour and they walk away and they just took a bunch of your hard earned money. Now, this is one of the biggest scams in my area. That's for sure. So much. It's been on the news and. The state attorney general has been going after certain companies. So this is not a minor issue.

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[00:16:53] Eric Goranson: And it's got the vacuum and it's got all the stuff attached to it. They use significant equipment for this, that you need to [00:17:00] make sure that they're using. And somebody that's NADCA certified, they passed the test. They've got all the certifications. They know what they're doing. The worst part is a lot of these people that come in, they do damage because they're in there ripping open flex docks because they don't know what's going on and you've got a heck of a mess going on.

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[00:17:39] Eric Goranson: But if you've had major remodeling done, I think it's great idea to take a look and see what's going on down there. Now, everybody doesn't need duck cleaning, but here's where I see that if you had an issue, if you're putting in a brand new system, I think it's a great idea to do it. If you've had significant remodeling done in the past, like you just bought a house flip, you'd be surprised what's down there.[00:18:00]

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[00:18:18] Eric Goranson: And if you've got a good filter, that does reduce a lot of the stuff. You've got a lot of pets and kids. A lot of trash can come down through those vents. Some as a homeowner, you can stick down your shop vac down there carefully and clean out at least where the boots are for your floor vents and that kind of stuff.

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[00:19:00] Eric Goranson: Hey, this is Ron Keel, the metal cowboy from Keel, the Ron Keel band and stealer. We are rocking around the house with Eric G.

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[00:19:30] Eric Goranson: If you want to get ahold of me, if you've got any questions, 833 239 4444, that's 833 239 4144. In our last few segments here, we've been talking about it. Let me give you a quick little recap. Paying for insurance you didn't need, door to door contractors, foundation companies, and duct cleaning. And I'm going to have to cruise through a bunch of these so we can get through our top 10.

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[00:20:20] Eric Goranson: But if you do anything that costs over a thousand, you have to be a licensed bonded and insured contractor to protect you, the homeowner. And you know something, I'm cool with that. And for a number of reasons, and let's talk about this for just a moment. My thing is if you hire someone to come work on your house, if they are not a licensed bond and insured contractor, they are your personal employee.

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[00:21:07] Eric Goranson: You are now paying for their health and their care for the rest of their lives if they have a good attorney where they want to go after that. And that's where homeowners get taken. Now, I'm not saying that they're doing this on purpose, but this is where you have to be careful. Now, the scam part of it comes in when you've got somebody showing up at your door, you found them on Craigslist or Facebook marketplace or even worse next door.

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[00:22:46] Eric Goranson: Now he's going to have to pay 135 bucks a ton to dispose of it. Now he's going to have to pay somebody 200, 250 thousand bucks to come in and do it right. And literally, there was not one thing that you could see in this house that was done right. The showers were toast, [00:23:00] could not be used, would not be waterproof.

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[00:23:28] Eric Goranson: And I want you to make sure that you're protecting yourself because 1, you don't want the, you don't want somebody to get hurt. Of course, but you don't want to be personally responsible for it either. So that's going to be on you to do your due diligence. And I know there's areas out there. They're like the Wild West, even though I live out in the Wild West.

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[00:24:01] Eric Goranson: And yes, most repairs don't need building permits or things like that, depending on your local area. Always follow up on that. So, that's a big one right there. One of the next ones out there that I run into, that's a huge deal. And that is pressure washing, cleaning of your roof. These are another one of those that I think ends up being a huge, massive deal.

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[00:24:38] Eric Goranson: The problem is they get up there and make it look bright and clean, but they've now taken about 15 years of the lifespan off your roof with the pressure washer. If you have a roof that is a composite three tab or architectural shingle up there, I want to see a soft wash only. And I want whoever's up there to be following the cleaning [00:25:00] directions of whatever brand shingle you have, whether it's Owens Corning or GAF or certainty or malarkey, whatever brand you're using, I want you to be following their directions on how to clean it and not one of them is a pressure washer.

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[00:25:38] Eric Goranson: And that's where things get expensive. And it gets even more expensive if you got a color on your roof that's been discontinued. Now, I had that happen in my little brother's house over in eastern Washington. He ended up hiring a company to come up and do some painting and they spilled paint all over his roof from the 2nd story to the 1st story.

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[00:26:14] Eric Goranson: So, they had to pay to reroute it because luckily they were licensed bonded insured. So they were covered by their insurance and they came in there and had to reroute his entire house because they failed the mask off the painting area. These are things you got to be really careful with and making sure that you don't have somebody up there damaging that because that's the last thing you need.

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[00:26:59] Eric Goranson: You'll give the [00:27:00] deposit. You'll go move in. And all of a sudden you got the sheriff on the door saying you're trespassing. You need to get out of here. So these are problems that we're seeing out there for people. And I see it on the news all the time. And this is those properties that have either been abandoned or maybe the bank owns them or whatever reason there's nobody in them.

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[00:27:38] Eric Goranson: They'll get the deposits. And all of a sudden that stuff. Is on the news again, and you're out thousands of dollars for the time you put your deposits down. Now, one little tip that I have for you. Is jump on the tax records and see who owns it. Usually your county or township or whatever has a tax record of who the owner is.

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[00:28:15] Eric Goranson: And that way you're good to go. And that way you're protected. Now we come back. I've got 3 more here for you. And we'll talk about that just as soon as around the house returns. Don't go anywhere.[00:29:00]

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[00:29:31] Eric Goranson: Handyman on social media on next door and Craigslist that you have to be careful of. We're talking roof pressure washing where they damage those shingles and take your money. Social media rental homes that are not theirs to rent, but they're renting them anyway. Those are what we've been talking about so far.

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[00:30:06] Eric Goranson: So we had that happen here recently. And great example, and this is something you need to be careful if you're buying a home. So homeowner bought their dream home had a hundred and something thousand dollars ready to go into escrow. They got what their mortgage company, the title company, they've been working with their realtor.

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[00:30:47] Eric Goranson: So cool. They did it. They didn't realize that the email that they had that day was a scam. Because somebody had broken into allegedly into their system and caught that was going to have to happen that day. And so [00:31:00] those scammers that had done the breach, it looks like turned around and said, Hey, we're going to send them that email early, and then we're going to take that money.

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[00:31:34] Eric Goranson: So that was in somebody's box, but those two banks were not playing well together because they were not sharing the information so they could research it. I saw in this news story, there was just a ton of issues of this homeowner who was stuck. They're trying to buy the home. The people selling the home are like, you have your escrow payment.

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[00:32:14] Eric Goranson: I need to transfer this. Does this look like everything is good? Now they're going to be able to say, okay, that's a real account here. You can get on the phone and talk to your escrow company and make sure that you've got the numbers, right? I would be much more physical in how you do this. So that way you're more protected and not just go off a link and do it online.

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[00:32:52] Eric Goranson: Now, I've talked about this many times, but this is one of the biggest scams and I call it a scam because no one is [00:33:00] out there looking for this. And there's a lot of people that are doing it and it's just been swept under the rug. And I've been waving this flag for a number of years. So I do apologize for our regular listeners that have heard me say this before, but I can't say enough for the new people out there that are tuning in.

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[00:33:37] Eric Goranson: And you're paying so much a square foot for this house, because that's part of the reason why they're, you know, figuring it out so much a square foot. Usually on the listings, you'll even see what the square footage prices. Now, the problem is you go down to your building department because you want to build a shed out back or you want to do something like that.

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[00:34:15] Eric Goranson: You lost a thousand square feet, which means maybe you were paying 350 a square foot. You just lost a ton of money. So did the bank. So here's what happens. Somebody decides one day I'm going to enclose in the porch. That's my project gets done. I'm going to finish that basement. No building permits pulled.

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[00:34:51] Eric Goranson: They see your house at 1400 square feet. So you just paid a thousand square feet that you didn't get. So that to me is a scam. [00:35:00] And so what I want to see is every time you go out and purchase a house, every time you go out there, maybe it's once or twice in your life, talk to the building department and find out what's going on with that house.

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[00:35:32] Eric Goranson: I can't tell you how many times I've seen people just about in tears because they realize that they're going to have to do some significant remodels to get. I've seen people have to pay a hundred thousand dollars to get that inspected, to get their thousand square feet back. And they have to build it.

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[00:36:06] Eric Goranson: So it's bouncy. Now you have to re engineer that, which means you're going to do the stairs different. Now they want new footings in the basement. That's finished as well. So. This can be hundreds of thousands of dollars just to get your square footage back. So please guys, do your research on that. It's a simple call or jump online to the building department and see what they say that is.

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[00:36:41] Eric Goranson: Now, here's one. The last one here on my list is for renters out there, and I've been victim to this, and sometimes you have to decide if you want to fight it or not, but landlords that don't give your deposits back now. I know how to fix things. I have had a, I had a landlord when I was in between houses when [00:37:00] I sold 1 went renting in 1 area, make sure the kids were in school and then bought another house later.

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[00:37:27] Eric Goranson: He was supposed to paint it before I moved in. He didn't. I repainted it while I was there. Asked him if we could use these colors. Everything was approved, all done by email. Everything was legit. I even did the work for free. But then when it came time to get my deposit back, guess what? I didn't really like that color.

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[00:38:05] Eric Goranson: When you get that rental, take your camera on your phone, as soon as, even before you sign it, whatever, walk through when it's empty, take a look at it, run through the house. Today's phones have the metadata on it, so you don't have to worry about trying to document that. That's easy in court. Walk around the house and film it.

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[00:38:41] Eric Goranson: And that way, you're going to be good to go. Cause the last thing I want to see you is get burned out there of not getting that deposit back. Now, if you damage stuff, I get it. Make sure that, uh, either you have it repaired with their permission or make sure that they're giving you the approximate credit because things like carpet, things [00:39:00] like paint, things of that stuff are wearable surfaces.

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[00:39:23] Eric Goranson: Thanks for tuning into around the house. We'll see you soon