[Music]
Hello everyone and Welcome to another
episode of Selling Greenville your
favorite real estate podcast here in
Greenville, South Carolina I'm your host
as always Stan McCune I am a realtor right
here in the Greenville area of South
Carolina the upstate of South Carolina
and as always you can find all my
contact information in the show notes if
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that today we are going to be talking
about the biggest ripoffs when you
are making updates to your house when
you making modifications or or when
you're doing improvements to your house
what are the things that are the biggest
ripoffs of them all because there's a
lot of them right we all when we
purchase a a home when we when we live
in a home we want to update them we want
to do things to help improve the our
home homes and to to make them better
and and to improve our lifestyle as a
result but there are all sorts of scams
all sorts of ripoffs and all sorts of
things that are good improvements that
if done the wrong way can be excessive
unnecessary or even potentially
harmful So today we're going to be
talking about five Home
Improvement we might call them five Home
Improvement ripoffs and we're going to
start number one I I kind of have these
somewhat in order it's kind of like
definitely these first few are the ones
that I think are are the biggest ripoffs
number one is solar panels now let me
start by saying this there are some
parts of the country where solar panels
are very popular and for some people the
idea of solar is a philosophical type of
thing they're trying to to be more green
they're trying to be more sustainable
and I appreciate that the problem with
solar panels right now is that they
aren't all that sustainable at the end
of the day if you do a lot of research
on them there are other ways to make
your home more sustainable with more
really more energy efficient appliances
putting in Smart Systems to ensure that
you're not your lights aren't staying
on
unnecessarily you know the ability to
be able to to remotely turn lights off
or to have them on on a timer if they're
on for too long or whatever the case may
be there's all sorts of ways to make
your home more sustainable without using
solar panels the solar technology right
now is extremely expensive and I'm not
going to get into the details on the
sustainability part of it anym than I
already have but simply from the
standpoint of the numbers very few
people end up actually saving money when
it comes to solar for starters solar
panels are very very expensive and most
people end up having to lease them well
what a lot of people don't realize is
obviously the lease is something that
you have to pay every month but then the
actual savings from the Sol it's not
like your electricity bill goes down to
zero you still have an electricity bill
it's just not as high as it would be
for those that purchase their solar
panels outright because if you lease
them
then to to me that's the biggest scam
of them all right the the solar
companies are laughing all the way to
the bank for everyone that's leasing
these panels if you purchase the
solar panels again they're extremely
expensive and you know we're we're
talking I think the last I heard I
haven't personally gotten the quote but
I I know some people that have spent $
30
$40,000 on solar panels and you know it
just kind of goes up from there again
again you're you're not reducing your
energy cost to nothing by purchasing
those those solar panels I've also seen
some concerns with regard to that
there's actually they're actually
inequitable the way they return energy
back to the grid disproportionately
hurts lowincome people there there's
a whole again I'm not going to get into
the Weeds on all of that but the bottom
line is for most people they they
from the numbers that I've seen that
I've heard most people do not actually
break even on solar panels that they
purchase until around year 12 that
they've owned them now I've seen some
people that are like we broke even at
year eight whatever the case may be it
takes a while for that investment to
actually produce anything for you
whether it's 8 years 12 years 15 years
I don't really care at the end of the
day that's not a great way to
typically to invest in your home cuz a
lot of you don't know what's going to
happen in 8 10 12 15 years and so I see
this a lot of times that people will put
solar panels on their roof and then two
years later they're moving and so
they've literally just completely wasted
all of that
money and didn't even get to the point
where they were actually basically
breaking even on on the money that they
spent additionally most people
that I deal with don't really like the
look of solar panels on their roof not
to mention that if your roof is ever
damaged by hail your insurance
company typically will not remove those
solar panels so then it's your
responsibility to remove the solar
panels if you have an insurance claim on
your roof and so there there are all
sorts of of really negative things about
solar panels and I think that solar
panels are Far and Away the number one
ripoff right now for for homeowners
that's my personal opinion
I I do think at some point that solar
will that that technology which it does
improve every year and it does get more
cost effective every year maybe 10 12 15
years from now it will be at the point
where you know you are able to buy solar
panels for you know maybe $5
$10,000 and then they will have paid for
themselves after a year or two something
like that at that point then I think it
can make more sense but the way it is
right now and the way you know people
are having to operate under the
assumption that they're going to be in a
home for a very long time it doesn't
make sense for the average household to
be purchasing solar panels and please
please do not lease the solar panels
that that's something that you will not
win on that one you will end up maybe
saving yourself I don't know
$10 a month or something like that
but then when you go to sell your house
usually what I see often is those people
that have to purchase those solar panels
from the company that they've been
leasing them from at closing they have
to pay them off at closing so there you
go there's $330,000 you have to pay off
at closing and you've been saving what
105 $20 a month after you factor in
the lease your electrical bill all of
that kind of stuff it is not you're
you're not going to win on that again
how many months would you have to save
10 20 $30 in order to make up the
$30,000 that you're going to have to to
pay back when you end up selling the
home so there there's just a lot of
things to consider and again that
technology that you have on there there
and and by the way you can look up
solar lease agreements themselves are a
scam there's all sorts of stuff that
that typical solar lease agreements put
in there that are are to me really a
scam I'm not going to get into all of
that but you can you can Google that you
can look that one up all in all I'm not
a big as you can tell I'm not a big
proponent of solar panels as they
currently are I hope that said I hope
that solar becomes more of a thing
because that would be great like in the
end I I like some of the ideas that
that Tesla and and some other companies
have been putting out there of the
possibility for solar shingles I
think that there's some potential with
some of that but the the technology
needs to improve it's not quite there
yet to make sense for the average
homeowner and unfortunately most of the
companies selling solar are very scammy
companies and so that only makes the
issue even worse all right number two on
my list and this could easily be number
one because this one could be I have
seen some really bad instances of this
mold remediation now I want to clarify
again like I did with the solar that
sometimes mold remediation is necessary
I have seen this many times I used to be
an insurance adjuster I know firsthand
that mold remediation is sometimes
necessary but here is the
problem we live with mold everywhere
mold is everywhere you cannot Escape
mold and so if you want to let's say
that someone puts a bug in your ear hey
you might have mold I've seen this
happen I've seen people be like you know
I've been sick for a while while you
know I've just been struggling with
sickness and someone says well you might
have mold in your house I knew someone
that that was really struggling with
sickness and and it turns out they had
mold in their house they didn't even
know it well guess what you can hire a
mold expert a quote unquote to come out
and to to test everything in your house
for mold and guess what they will find
it because everywhere in your house has
mold
everywhere if you go outside mold is
everywhere outside mold is
everywhere and
so you you can find it if you look for
it but mold is it has to reach dangerous
levels and and again I'm not a medical
or mold
professional dangerous
levels are different for different
people if you have asthma if you have
some specific allergies then you will
have a a heightened sensitivity to mold
and then that becomes a much bigger deal
if I have clients that tell me that they
that they have those things I make sure
you know hey we definitely need to get
an air quality test but you know I've
I've seen some people that they want to
even go beyond air quality tests and
and do all these all these crazy tests
and you know what that is it's totally
fine if you want to do that almost all
the time it's a scam and here's how the
scam works you the the company that is
doing the testing either they have a
division of their company that does the
quote unquote mold
remediation or they are in cahoots with
the company that does and so there is
this kind of backdoor type of dealing
where they again they will find mold
they will test it and they will find it
and then they will pass your business
off to a company that they're getting a
30% cut of this unnecessary mold
remediation that that company is doing
here is a general rule of thumb and
again you you still need to be careful
if you have sensitivities and if there
are indications of mold then you need
to be more careful but for most people
if you have normal inspections done and
mold is not found and there's not high
humidity levels for instance if you
get humidity typically I hear above 60%
is when people need to start being
concerned about the the potential for
for mold growth as long as your humidity
level in your house below 60% by for the
most part as long as your cross Bas
moisture is below moisture levels is
below
20% by and large you are going to to be
safe are there exceptions sure there are
exceptions but if you don't see mold Mo
mold makes itself obvious right it it's
not something that is you know
dangerous mold isn't invisible now the
the non-dangerous mold that I've said
you can't get away from yeah it it's
it's going to be invisible but mold that
is dangerous that that is going to be a
danger to most people you can see it
by and large inside of a house and most
often where mold accumulates is when
there is really high moisture it doesn't
just appear out of nowhere it's not like
oh you know we just happen to have
really dangerous levels of mold in our
house just because of the way the house
was built no again it has it comes from
moisture it thrives in moisture and so
typically
again it's either cross space moisture
is above 20% and that's something that
we test for during the inspection
process of a home indoor humidity level
above 60% or there's some kind of a
moisture Source somewhere that is
accumulating for whatever reason for
instance A Plumbing Leak but even if
you have a Plumbing Leak I I personally
and again I you need need to do what's
best for you and your family and and
consult with your homeowners
insurance and and and the professionals
that they recommend if you think that
you might have a leak that's caused a
mold problem but typically from my
experience when you have a Plumbing Leak
and then mold grows where that leak is
usually that mold is not spreading all
over the house as a result of that
usually it's just confined to where that
moisture is you solve the Plumbing Leak
typically you have to cut that mold you
know if it's sheetrock or whatever you
cut that sheetrock patch it boom call it
a day you're done now people are
going to be worried well I mean it's
been leaking Behind the Walls what what
now typically typically it just at that
point once the leak has been solved as
long as long as it hasn't been leaking
for for instance years typically if
it's only been leaking for let's say a
few days maybe even a few weeks once
you stop the the water from leaking
further then and and resolve where
where you see the mold typically it's
going to be fine Behind the Walls it's
going to it's just going to air out it's
just going to dry out more often than
not there are ways to to identify
that there are ways to test that you
could have inspectors if you're
concerned about that that can
that have little snake cameras that they
can put down and check for that kind of
stuff so there are things that can be
done but I'm just warning you guys right
now there is a time and a place for mold
remediation but if you go out if you
don't aren't aware of of any mold
problem and there you're not noticing
that that there are adverse health
related things happening in your family
that are just random that didn't happen
until you moved into your
house and
then without any evidence that there is
any mold and without any evidence that
that your family's health has changed
since you've moved in into the house
then you go out looking for problems
with mold you're going to find what you
look for you are going to find it and
you're going to spend a lot of money in
the process and so be careful now if
you are if your family is if you move
into a house and all of a sudden your
family starts have health problems
that may be evidence of a mold issue and
there can be hidden mold but I'm
telling you 99% of the time that's going
to be caught by a good home inspector
and by a an inspector that does the cl00
which is the termite and moisture
test and again we're assuming that
humidity levels and moisture levels are
where they need to be so please do not
scam yourself with some of these mold
remediation scams all right number three
on my list roofs again as a former
Insurance adjustor I know a thing or two
about roofs here is what I would say
Obviously you need a roof right and you
should have a good roof at the end of
the day I recommend architectural
shingles you don't want those you know
20year three tab shingles those things
are garbage those things flap up with
the slightest wind gust and you know
you're just there there's no reason in
my opinion to get those just upgrade to
the 30-year architectural shingle it's
going to it's such a higher quality I've
seen I've been on dozens I don't know
maybe hundreds of roofs I've seen
firsthand the difference in quality and
it's a huge difference it is absolutely
a huge difference so that is one
upsell that is good if if a roofer tells
you hey don't you know don't just save
$1,000 to get the 20-year three tab
shingle go ahead and spend the extra
th000 to get the architectural shingle
yes that's a good upsell unfortunately
roofers will try to upsell you on
everything else right they'll try to
tell you oh your fascia your safit you
know these you know are going to be
prone to to this or that they're
exposed to the elements you need to do
all these things you don't need you
probably don't need to do those things
they're going to try to upsell you
one that I saw recently was a roofing
company gave a quote to to a client
of mine that I looked through it and it
included that they had roofing felt and
Ice Water Shield all over the roof now
for the average consumer they have no
idea what that means in South Carolina
it's very unusual for a roof to have or
need ice and water Shield across the
entire roof have I seen instances where
in the Valley of the roof Ice Water
Shield is used and is there some wisdom
to that yeah there can be but roofing
felt in our area is normally adequate
that Ice Water Shield is typically more
for Northern climates that that have ice
that have a lot more ice than we have
and and as a result have need an extra
layer of of protection against water
seeping in but in South Carolina
listen if I were getting a roof repl I
wouldn't have Ice Water Shield and so
there's there's a lot of things like
that roofers will try to upsell you on
everything get a few quotes from
reliable people from roofers who
aren't going to scam you who you know at
least if you get quotes from a few of
them hopefully one of them hasn't
scammed you and then you can kind of see
the difference between the quote don't
show them the roof and quote that you
got from the other company do not do
that make them give their own quote and
make their own recommendations for what
your roof needs here's another one
that's that's not an upsell but is
something that roofers will do in order
to try to to get more money out of you
because they're claiming that they're
saving you money try to say okay so
you can't the this is particularly true
when there's metal metal roofing being
put on a house okay you're on the
border of being able to afford this or
not okay here's what we'll do why don't
we just put the new roof over top the
old shingles it doesn't hurt anything
and in fact it gives you now more
protection now you've got multiple
layers of shingles on here so even less
likelihood of water going through
here's why this is a really really bad
idea first off what keeps the the water
from on the outside of your house is not
the shingles directly the shingles offer
a layer of protection but it's really
the felt the roofing felt underneath
that is what really offers the most
protection against the water from from
coming into your house and so that
that's why you'll see when when
roofers are are doing their thing they
will sometimes leave a part of of a
house without shingles on it in rain but
it it always has the felt on it because
that is what needs to be protected so
even if it rains it's got the felt on it
it is by and large good to go if you
just put shingles over top of old
shingles you're not replacing the felt
so what good are you doing if you put a
metal roof over top of of the old of the
old shingles okay so so the metal is
offering an additional layer of
protection however you've got a whole
another issue of the weight of the roof
and this is what a lot of people don't
think about a roof is not made to
support multiple layers of shingles that
code does not require a roof to be able
to support that weight what a lot of
people do when they at when they have
multiple layers of shingles they're
actually risking their roof potentially
collapsing and and I'm not even joking
they are compromising the structural
Integrity of that roof of the rafters of
their joist all of that by by putting so
much weight on it so that's another
kind of scammy suggestion that some
roofers will make in order to just get a
job do not take that suggestion if you
can't afford for them to rip off the old
shingles and the old felt and all of
that then you need to save up some money
before you replace your
roof here's another one number four
on the list of of ripoffs as you're
doing home improvements crawl space
encapsulation so
as most people realize here in South
Carolina we have a home is supposed to
have if it has a crawl space what we
call a vapor barrier that's a a piece of
thick plastic that goes on the ground
it's almost like a tarp it goes on
the ground and it just keeps moisture
low to the ground rather than elevating
up and getting into the wood
substructure of the house that's how you
keep the moisture level where it needs
to be partially how you do it down in
your crawl space now are you still
having issues with moisture in your
crawl space well there there are usually
very simple fixes for this but there are
companies out there that will tell you
you need to do a full cross space
encapsulation do you need to do a full
cross space encapsulation I defer to the
experts but I will say this most of the
time and most and I've read a lot of
others and talked to a lot of others
that experts in the field that agree
with me most of the time it is a
complete ripoff there are cheaper ways
to lower the cross space moisture than
to fully encapsulate that's going to
cost you thousands of dollars thousands
of dollars to do a full encapsulation
down there it's not
necessary I mean maybe maybe 1% of Coss
spaces would benefit from a full
encapsulation but I doubt I think the
number is lower than 1% I think it's
like hardly any cross spaces anywhere
need to address moisture by means of
encapsulation that's there are just so
many simpler options than that but
that is a common ripoff that you will
that you will get from companies that
specialize in cross space type of
work and moisture remediation they will
try to convince you and and some of
these mold companies that we already
talked about the mold remediation
companies oftentimes they will recommend
encapsulation as part of their way of
addressing the the the mold issue that
doesn't actually exist and so now you're
just adding up the dollars they're
they're compounding on each other don't
do that make sure if someone
recommends a crawl space
encapsulation my recommendation get a
second opinion from someone else and and
have them take a look at it and see if
there are other options sump pump
dehumidifier things like that that can
reduce the the moisture levels down
there number five and last on my list
chimney
repairs this one hits close to home
for me because I had a a wood burning
fireplace at my old house that I used to
live at and eventually I came around to
think you know what I think I I want to
try to get this wood burning fireplace
functional I had a Chimney Sweep come
out and give me a quote I I just thought
you know this is going to be simple that
we just need need them to to sweep the
chimney and repair a few basic brick
related things it'll be simple we'll get
it knocked out and then we can use the
fireplace they ended up giving me a
$5,000 quote I mean they they might as
well have just ripped the chimney off
you know the side of my house and just
built a new one for the quote because
they ripped me a new one for the quote
that they gave me on on trying to
fix that chimney and guess what I've
found out since then that was years ago
that is what they always do they are
constantly their whole business model
depends on convincing you that that you
need to be upsold on more than just
sweeping your chimney more than just
basic obvious repairs that need to be
done and they can get away with it
because most people are not fireplace or
chimney experts it's similar that's a
common theme through this right the the
mold thing people aren't experts on mold
so they're able to get ripped off people
aren't experts on roof so they're able
to get ripped off people aren't experts
on crawl spaces and moisture so they're
able to get ripped off here again
with chimneys because people tend to not
be experts when it comes to chimneys and
fireplaces they are prone to getting
ripped off and so that is something
that you just need to be aware of now
again I I think that the best idea is to
try to get quotes from from a few
different companies and I certainly
out of all of these things I am the
least knowledgeable about chimneys
out out of all of these things that
we've discussed here but get a few
quotes from a few different com from a
few different companies and then talk to
people that actively use wood bur a wood
burning fireplace to say hey what do you
think this company is saying we need to
do all of these things what are your
thoughts that is your best bet talk to
someone that is knowledgeable about
their own fireplace and their own
chimney and have them give you some
advice particularly if they've been been
burning wood for a long time they can
that I have found those people to be by
far the most knowledgeable now it's
really important if you're going to burn
wood in your fireplace you got to make
sure that that fireplace is functioning
properly and you don't want to set your
house on fire you don't want to set
smoke through your house so it's really
important that you get it right and and
it's possible that the chimney sweep
gives you a list of things that need to
be done that genuinely need to be done
but just be aware that there are a
lot of ripoff artists out there in the
chimney sweep and chimney repair
industry and they're good at what they
do they're good at ripping people off
hope that was helpful for you guys let
me know if you have any questions any
feedback hopefully you're not angry
about anything that I said if you if you
sell solar I have a I have a friend on
Facebook that sells solar
that gets angry whenever I say
something negative about solar hopefully
you're not one of the people
listening right now well actually I do
hope that you're listening and I hope
that that you're willing to put a
review on there and say I disagree with
his take on solar but here's five stars
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again my contact information is in the
show notes if you need to reach out to
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have a wonderful rest of the week
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