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Designing and Building Mid-Illinois: Realtor segment with 1st Choice Realty Pros: The House is Easy; The neighborhood is what you are really buying · Designing and Building the Midwest One Community at a Time

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_04: Welcome to Design and Building Mid-Ellinois, one home at a time with Big Dog Construction.
• 0:04
  SPEAKER_07: The podcast you didn't know you needed.
• 0:06
  SPEAKER_04: It's Chris Hartzuck and Caitlin Morgini.
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_04: Join us as we explore the stories, expertise, and project shaping the future right here in Mid-Ellinois.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_07: Whether you're planning to build, curious about the latest trends, or just love innovative ideas, we've got insights and inspiration coming your way.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_07: And some laughs too.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_04: Let's go.
• 0:24
  unknown: Big dog!
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_06: Hey there.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_06: I'm Lisa Miller, managing broker and owner of First Choice Realty Pros.
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_06: We don't just help you find a house, we help you discover home.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_06: My team and I are passionate about taking care of your needs, making the process smooth, and ensuring you get the personalized attention you deserve.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_06: Ready for the next step?
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_06: Call us at 217-825-3999.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_06: With First Choice Realty Pros, you've got a team that's got your back.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_04: Hey, welcome back to Design Building Mid-Illinois, One Home at a Time, the podcast you didn't you know you needed, and the realtor segment you know you need to have and listen to.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_05: Absolutely.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_04: We're first choice realty pros.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_04: We're trying to get Lydia to talk for.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_04: She's so shy, badge.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_04: Look at her face now.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_06: I'm not either.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_06: She's got a lot going on in there right now.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_04: Hey, well, hey, today we are talking about something that almost every buyer overlooks.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_04: Most people spend 20 minutes touring a home, and I'm going to sneeze and I'm holding it back.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_07: Say watermelon.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_04: Watermelon crawl.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_04: Hey, what anyway, we're talking about worked.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_04: We're talking about they'll spend years living in that neighborhood.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_04: 20 minutes looking in the house, but years, decades maybe even, right?
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_04: Living in the neighborhood.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_04: A home inspection can tell you about the roof, the furnace, the electrical system, but it won't tell you what it's actually like to live every single day there, right?
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_04: So today we are sharing some advice to give your own buyers before they fall in love with a house, right?
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_04: So let's move into this now.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_04: Visit the neighborhood how many times?
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_06: More than once.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_04: Hey, Lydia spoke.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_05: She gets a gold star.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_04: Gold star for the day.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_04: So more than once.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_04: Talk to me about that.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_05: I think the first time you go look at the house, if it's a house that you know you're gonna want, of course you fall in love with it.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_05: You don't look at all the imperfections.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_05: You don't look at if there's a crack in the wall, if some of the trim is messed up, you're not really looking at the appliances too much, too hard.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_05: Um you're really just falling in love with the house.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_05: Yes, and you're just you're picturing as soon as you walk in, like, oh my gosh, this will be my kid's bedroom, this will be our bedroom, what can we do in the living room?
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_05: So I think that first time is always great.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_05: You do fall in love with it, but you need to go back again and again to be able to really see the first is the honeymoon stage.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_06: Yes, yeah, going and you ooh, and you all and you're just gonna be able to do that.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_04: Oh, you're so cute, so sweet, I love you so much.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_06: And that second date, you're looking at it with the more critical eye.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_06: Now I see this, I see this.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_06: But the most important part is to stand outside and listen.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_06: What's going on outside?
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_06: What do you hear?
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_07: Neighbors.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_06: Neighbors.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_07: Look at the traffic.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_07: I think that's a big thing.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_07: Like if you're uh if you've got little kids that you want them to play outside, if you've got animals that you know, like my cat, my orange cats all around, like I think the traffic is a big thing.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_07: Like if you're maybe if you go visit in the evening, it might not be as busy as it would be.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_07: Or maybe or officer before school.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah, yeah.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_07: So I feel like that's a big thing.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah, absolutely.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_07: Do you got a bunch of 16-year-olds driving through there like they're you know, Dale Earnhardt Jr.?
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_07: Right.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah, right.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_07: I never did that.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_04: Never, ever.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_04: I never did that.
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_04: Not once, my butt.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_04: Well, please, right.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_06: Then you know, if you go at different times and just kind of drive by at different times of the day, if uh you look and you see the neighbor's full of bigger dogs, right?
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_06: You have to say that and I have one now.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_06: Uh the neighbor has uh Rottweiler.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_06: Now it could be the softest cutting.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_06: Right.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_06: Big old teddy.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_06: Like your yeah, or it could, you know, rip your heart out.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_06: So you just gotta do that.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_07: Real estate, no matter how sweet a dog is, they're sweet with their owner.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_07: I love animals, but yeah, my son, my first son, Odin, you still cannot trust them.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_07: No matter you cannot put your full trust in an animal that's not trained to be a military canine, in my opinion.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_06: So I do think that's a valid concern for homeowners.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_06: Does that dog ever get out?
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_06: You know, is that you know, or is is my house, is the yard fenced in?
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_06: Those types of things.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_06: You want to go on a weekend to see what's going on, or is there loud music?
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_06: Right.
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_04: So you're looking beyond the house now, right?
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_04: You're looking into the neighborhood.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_04: Right.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_04: The full neighborhood.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_07: Right.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_07: I mean, neighbors could make your life.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_04: Well, I know of some I know of some neighbor neighborhoods where the house houses look great, but it's like after a certain hour, there's a house that's a chop shop.
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_04: I mean, it's like they're out there all hours of the night just sawing on metal cars, cutting out stuff, banging on stuff with hammers, or you know, making repairing motorcycles.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_07: It's by my house.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_06: It is, it's down the block.
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_04: They're working on motorcycles all hours of the night.
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_06: Well, yeah, I want to know how many times do you have to rev up an engine before you know it's good, okay?
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_06: Because that's you know, no, they like the sound of it, making it feel cool.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_04: Or rev it up to where you get the backfire.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah, yeah.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_04: It's working good now.
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_04: Like my husband has a motorcycle, he's like, Lydia's like they're meat heading us.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_06: Well, I live on the highway, and so I but my house is farther back from the highway.
• 5:47
  SPEAKER_06: Beautiful home.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_04: Beautiful home.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_04: It was.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_04: And so honked.
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_06: We put a fence in our backyard to keep our kids back there.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_06: Because I, you know, we told our kids, you get one chance.
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah, you get one chance.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_06: That's like one.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_06: She told us that there's a bit of a bit.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_06: I said, you know, you see that dead dog out there, that's one chance.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_06: Okay.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_06: So you gotta stay in the back.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_07: I'm not trying to mean you have to tell kids that like to be.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_07: And that's right around the life.
• 6:11
  SPEAKER_07: That is life or death there.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah, it is.
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_04: No, I I agree wholeheartedly.
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_07: It's just like semis come through.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_04: Kids, you see that dead dog out there, you get one chance.
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_06: That's exactly right.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_06: I mean, I I see that.
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_05: No, I I agree with you.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_06: Well, because Wes was there and I said, Where's Wes?
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_06: Is she gonna stay back here because she gets one chance?
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_05: You know, I mean, I al I'm always truthful with my kids.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_05: Like, you can't get in the road, you're gonna get hit by a car and die.
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_05: So you don't know what I'm saying.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_07: I honestly got a recording of Sheriff Ryan Dixon that I just used on my kids and be like, I called him.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_07: It's just I know I made him do that.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_07: So I'm just like, you gotta use what you gotta use with the kids.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_07: But going back, yeah, also speaking of Sheriff Ryan Dixon, you probably want to figure out if you're in a safe area.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_04: Check time rates.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah, yes.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_06: So with that, we as realtors cannot say what kind of neighborhood this is.
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_04: Why can't you?
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_06: It's just against the the regulations.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_06: We just are not allowed to talk about that because it could be my preference instead of the actual what it is.
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_06: I could just say I don't like that area, so I talk down about that area.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_06: And that's not But if you have facts, I was gonna say, could you say the crime rate here is because things change, they might have done something that I didn't know and change that.
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_06: So we say you call the local city police and find out that information.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_06: Okay.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_06: Because and I say that about a lot of because anything can change, and you never want them to come back and say, Lydia, you told me.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_06: Lise Lydia, it's Lydia's turn now.
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_06: Lyd.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_06: You told me, and then Lydia would be like, That's what it was.
• 7:50
  SPEAKER_06: You let the city talk for the city, and then that away it doesn't come back to bite you.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_04: Makes sense.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_06: Right.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_07: Because somebody could hear that you're talking about and they they're the ones that live in that neighborhood, and then that could create a whole thing, like Lisa thinks she's better than us or something.
• 8:04
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_06: And you look around and see are the homes well maintained around you?
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_06: How many have boarded up windows?
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_06: Right.
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_06: How many have burned down, don't have their lawnmower?
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah, you know, all of those things.
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_06: Now, every place has one or two, you know, in every area.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_06: Okay, they do, they do.
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_06: But but if six or eight, then you might want to consider that as possible harder to resale, you know.
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_04: Gotcha.
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_04: Well, is another thing too.
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_04: You may have some homes that you're selling or when people are buying.
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_04: Again, first choice reality pros, you guys are here to help educate buyers and sellers as well, not just in Mid-Illinois, because we reach beyond that.
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_04: So we're educating buyers and sellers everywhere.
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_04: Yes.
• 8:51
  SPEAKER_04: And so may not primarily be in our rural area that we're in now, but you may have homes that you'll sell in uh up-and-coming subdivisions, right?
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_04: And so if there's, you know, if you're the first or second house in a new subdivision, you may want to think about future development.
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_06: Oh, yeah.
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_04: Right?
• 9:09
  SPEAKER_04: Because that could cause a lot of traffic or dust or noise, right?
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_04: Is that something to consider that people should think about when they're buying a home?
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_06: Absolutely.
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_06: Okay.
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_06: Look around and see what can be built around you.
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_06: Is there a lot or uh acreage behind your home that may turn into a subdivision?
• 9:29
  SPEAKER_06: That could turn into a subdivision, could turn into, depending on the zoning, it could turn into a factory.
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_04: Hog confinement.
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_06: Or no hog confinement.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_06: So I would die.
• 9:39
  SPEAKER_07: You know, people can't do smells like that.
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_04: It one's like, ooh, new facial material.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_07: No.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_07: But you know, another thing I'm thinking of, like my parents, you know, live in a subdivision now.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_07: They, thankfully, they have huge lots.
• 9:54
  SPEAKER_07: So I mean, if somebody else is building, of course they hear it, it's annoying, but it's not as much.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_04: It's a state living, multiple.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_04: It's one acre or more, I think it's considered five.
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_07: Other subdivisions, like the one I grew up in, the bluffs.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_07: You're I mean, the houses are like we were one of the first ones there.
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_07: I mean, I'm little, I didn't care, but I think about my parents.
• 10:13
  SPEAKER_04: Right.
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah, yeah.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_04: Hey, now you're knocking on the contractors.
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_04: Come on.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_06: You're just too noisy.
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_06: Why do y'all start at 6 a.m.?
• 10:21
  SPEAKER_04: Well, we will start because it gets hot by seven.
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_04: I was already in my second change of clothes today.
• 10:26
  SPEAKER_04: I know concrete.
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_06: Why do they have to start so early?
• 10:29
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, no, I understand.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_04: Well, hey, with that, that is good to know about future and and also if you're buying a home, if you can add on to that home.
• 10:38
  SPEAKER_04: Oh, yeah, yeah.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_04: Maybe something for future development, right?
• 10:41
  SPEAKER_04: Like if there is there room on that lot to expand, or if you're in a neighborhood that may have uh HOAs.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_07: If you have HOAs, is there HOAs anywhere in Carlinville?
• 10:51
  SPEAKER_06: Oh, yes.
• 10:51
  SPEAKER_04: Yes.
• 10:51
  SPEAKER_04: Oh, yeah.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_04: Well, Lord.
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_06: There's Covenants, yeah.
• 10:55
  SPEAKER_06: Covenants.
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_06: Um, there are some HOAs, but not like where?
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
• 11:01
  SPEAKER_04: Lake Katatoga has HOA.
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_07: Lydia, Lydia, do you follow the HOA?
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_04: You they get pretty strict out there.
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_04: Lydia should be like, don't they?
• 11:07
  SPEAKER_04: They get pretty strict out there.
• 11:08
  SPEAKER_07: Look at her.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_07: They're pretty strict.
• 11:10
  SPEAKER_07: Did you get did you get written up?
• 11:11
  unknown: No.
• 11:12
  SPEAKER_04: I've done a lot of things.
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_04: You just gotta make sure you go speed limit.
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_04: We so we did a project out Lake Ketatoga.
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_04: Big, I'm not gonna say the dollar amount of the boat dock we were doing.
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_04: And so we started putting in the steel pylons we had to to put in the retaining wall.
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_04: And the HOA came out and told the owner, the landowner, uh, that's not gonna fly because that's not galvanized, and that's gonna produce rust in the water, which some people drink out of that water, blah, blah, blah, blah.
• 11:39
  SPEAKER_04: So we had to pull them out and put galvanized retaining walls in that, which added about an extra twenty thousand dollars to that project.
• 11:45
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah, because some use reverse osmosis, and so they drink out of it.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_05: And like when we were putting up our fence, I mean, it was a whole big ordeal that we had.
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_05: I mean, it was create we couldn't block the view of the lake.
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_05: I mean, it was crazy because we wanted at first we only got approved for a short fence, and I'm like, I have little kids.
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_05: I want a privacy fence, I want a tall.
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_05: Right.
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_05: I mean, it was a big thing.
• 12:05
  SPEAKER_04: We had to material time who's doing it, what setbacks are, and all of that stuff.
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_04: Wow, yeah.
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_06: Septic systems are out there.
• 12:12
  SPEAKER_06: You know, any place that you have a subdivision that has septic systems, right?
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_06: There are a lot of rules that go along with that.
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_06: I know you guys get yours checked every year.
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_06: That's what you know, catatoga.
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah, that's a lot to go through, man.
• 12:25
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_04: So if your boats come in out there, you have to have the boats clean.
• 12:29
  SPEAKER_04: They have to have been dry docked.
• 12:31
  SPEAKER_04: You can't because you can't bring in uh organisms from another lake into that lake because uh clams are not clams, what's the muscles?
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_04: It's the muscles that will build up around the drain or the water intakes for the people that are using water off the lake.
• 12:45
  SPEAKER_04: So it's crazy.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_04: I had to show and proof that my boats that were coming in and the stuff that was doing the work that had been dry docked or cleaned up.
• 12:53
  SPEAKER_04: But look, that's why it's so pretty out there.
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, exactly.
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_05: Well, and they really are trying to take care of the water now.
• 12:59
  SPEAKER_06: I sold a house to somebody who is very uh intelligent.
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_06: He did a lot of work in the water.
• 13:05
  SPEAKER_06: He's one of them.
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
• 13:07
  SPEAKER_06: And now he's on the board out there for the water because that's what they're you know, they're worried about.
• 13:13
  SPEAKER_06: And when you live next to water, you have to make sure how high does that water get?
• 13:19
  SPEAKER_06: Is there flooding?
• 13:20
  SPEAKER_04: So maybe you should drive by in a down a downpour.
• 13:23
  SPEAKER_04: Oh, absolutely.
• 13:24
  SPEAKER_04: See what's going on with water.
• 13:25
  SPEAKER_07: That is a good point, Lisa is in the rain.
• 13:27
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
• 13:27
  SPEAKER_07: It is.
• 13:28
  SPEAKER_04: I mean, really, it is.
• 13:29
  SPEAKER_05: To see if anything gets in the basement at all.
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_05: We looked at, I showed a house here in Carlimville.
• 13:35
  SPEAKER_05: And on the disclosures and everything, it said, like, not aware of any water in the basement, blah, blah, blah.
• 13:41
  SPEAKER_05: We went while it started pouring down rain.
• 13:44
  SPEAKER_05: The basement that is finished.
• 13:46
  SPEAKER_05: Carpet, everything, standing water.
• 13:48
  SPEAKER_07: That happened in my beautiful my parents' basement before.
• 13:51
  SPEAKER_06: That's I mean, and it could be a lot of things.
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_06: That's a lot of money.
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_06: Could you imagine?
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_06: Some pocket's not doing what it's supposed to have to do.
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_06: It could be, yeah.
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_06: It could be something's clogged.
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_04: It could be, you know, you you just water water management is something we talk to our clients about all the time.
• 14:09
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
• 14:09
  SPEAKER_04: And it's, you know, a a lot of the times water in the basement or foundation is just for lack of w water maintenance exterior of the home.
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_06: Yes.
• 14:17
  SPEAKER_04: Are the downspouts just like right at the foundation or are they extended away from the home?
• 14:21
  SPEAKER_04: Has the earth sunk around the house, creating the moat which allows that water to form and go straight down, and water takes the path least resistance.
• 14:29
  SPEAKER_04: If there's a small crack, it will become bigger over time because water will wear down concrete.
• 14:33
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
• 14:34
  SPEAKER_04: It does.
• 14:34
  SPEAKER_06: That's how stone is.
• 14:37
  SPEAKER_06: And that's because where is it gonna go?
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_04: Right.
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_04: It's gotta go somewhere.
• 14:41
  SPEAKER_06: It's gotta go somewhere.
• 14:42
  SPEAKER_06: Where do you go?
• 14:43
  SPEAKER_06: You don't want it in that basement.
• 14:45
  SPEAKER_06: So those are expensive fixes if you don't look at the right time and investigate and do your inspections.
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_06: And ask around.
• 14:55
  SPEAKER_06: I mean, honestly.
• 14:56
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
• 14:57
  SPEAKER_04: So one of the other things too, uh, you know, we talked about HOAs and Covenants.
• 15:01
  SPEAKER_04: You know, what's the difference between HOAs and Covenants?
• 15:04
  SPEAKER_06: Well, the HOA, there would be a charge.
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_06: I didn't know that.
• 15:07
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
• 15:07
  SPEAKER_04: They're they're they charge you because they're homeowners association.
• 15:11
  SPEAKER_04: Yes.
• 15:11
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah, they charge you to take care of the the roads.
• 15:15
  SPEAKER_04: It's usually community areas.
• 15:17
  SPEAKER_06: Community areas.
• 15:18
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
• 15:19
  SPEAKER_06: Uh the covenants is telling you it's it's like the rules and regulations.
• 15:22
  SPEAKER_06: But you can and cannot.
• 15:23
  SPEAKER_06: Yes.
• 15:24
  SPEAKER_06: You cannot have a boat sitting in your driveway for more than externality.
• 15:28
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 15:29
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
• 15:29
  SPEAKER_04: You can't have a camper in your driveway that people are living in, or can't put up a metal carport, or if you bring in a portable building, it has to be of this shape, size, and has to be set so far off the property line.
• 15:41
  SPEAKER_06: Height of fences, certain kinds of fences.
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_06: You can't have wood, you gotta have the metal gate kind.
• 15:47
  SPEAKER_06: You know, I mean it it has to be.
• 15:49
  SPEAKER_04: Those are things to those are things to think about when you're looking at a home.
• 15:52
  SPEAKER_04: Oh my god, it's a beautiful home.
• 15:54
  SPEAKER_04: You know, we don't have gated communities here.
• 15:57
  SPEAKER_04: Right.
• 15:57
  SPEAKER_04: But usually your gated communities will have covenants and HOAs.
• 16:02
  SPEAKER_04: Yes, HOAs are following the covenants.
• 16:05
  SPEAKER_07: That's how all those little gated communities are in Florida.
• 16:08
  SPEAKER_07: They have that we stay in, you know, they have all those Yeah, they're everywhere.
• 16:12
  SPEAKER_06: Rules and regulations.
• 16:13
  SPEAKER_06: And you want to make sure that you can follow those rules and regulations because your neighbors that have lived there for 20, 25 years, 30 years, they're watching.
• 16:22
  SPEAKER_06: They're watching and they want to make sure you follow.
• 16:25
  SPEAKER_04: We literally were just doing a job the end of last week here in Carloville in a subdivision, dead-end street type subdivision, right?
• 16:32
  SPEAKER_04: It's a street that that becomes a subdivision.
• 16:34
  SPEAKER_04: And uh they had covenants, and when uh the our client moved in there, the neighbor came up and said, Oh, I hear you're putting a shed in.
• 16:43
  SPEAKER_04: Well, you know, we've got covenants that you know were determined.
• 16:47
  SPEAKER_04: And my homeowner chimed in and says, Oh, yes, we have a copy of it.
• 16:49
  SPEAKER_04: We know we need to set back a few feet, so many feet from the property line.
• 16:52
  SPEAKER_04: It's like, oh yeah, but you know what?
• 16:54
  SPEAKER_04: It'll be fine.
• 16:55
  SPEAKER_04: Go ahead and put it on the property line.
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_04: So it was kind of starting that, like, well, you know, there's covenants here.
• 17:00
  SPEAKER_04: Oh, yeah, we're totally aware.
• 17:01
  SPEAKER_04: Oh, yeah, okay, great.
• 17:01
  SPEAKER_04: We're on the same page, put it wherever you want.
• 17:03
  SPEAKER_04: You know, did you check?
• 17:05
  SPEAKER_07: Well, it was because they wanted to make sure they were following the rules.
• 17:09
  SPEAKER_07: The rule followers.
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_07: Yes, the tone.
• 17:11
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
• 17:12
  SPEAKER_06: Yes, you gotta follow the rules, Lydia, if you're gonna live there.
• 17:16
  SPEAKER_07: I don't think I could follow the rules.
• 17:18
  SPEAKER_07: I I'm just saying.
• 17:20
  SPEAKER_04: Somehow I I know, I was like, Really, Caitlin?
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_04: I am so shocked.
• 17:25
  SPEAKER_07: I know.
• 17:25
  SPEAKER_04: Wow.
• 17:26
  SPEAKER_04: Never been in the principal's office a day in her life.
• 17:28
  SPEAKER_07: Man, I got stories about that.
• 17:29
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, well, that's a whole other episode.
• 17:31
  SPEAKER_04: Well, we got a bunch of episodes we gotta look back up.
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_04: Wait, another thing for buyers to think about is when we're talking about because we're talking about neighborhoods, right?
• 17:38
  SPEAKER_04: Not just the house, talking about neighborhoods.
• 17:41
  SPEAKER_04: Neighborhoods are located in communities and municipalities, right?
• 17:44
  SPEAKER_04: So should that be something they should consider and look at?
• 17:47
  SPEAKER_06: Absolutely.
• 17:48
  SPEAKER_06: Drive around that neighborhood at different times, like we said, different times of the day in the evening, on the weekend.
• 17:55
  SPEAKER_06: You gotta know your neighborhood.
• 17:57
  SPEAKER_06: Talk to the neighbors.
• 17:58
  SPEAKER_06: I was just gonna ask you.
• 17:59
  SPEAKER_06: There's certain times you're like, please don't that neighborhood.
• 18:01
  SPEAKER_06: Don't dart the back.
• 18:03
  SPEAKER_06: Please don't come over here.
• 18:04
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
• 18:04
  SPEAKER_06: And then you're there's that neighbor that comes over and says, This is the greatest community, you know, or they're bringing a pie, you know, they're oh, yeah, come to the community.
• 18:12
  SPEAKER_06: That's that's awesome.
• 18:13
  SPEAKER_06: I love my neighbors.
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_06: I love my neighbor.
• 18:15
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah, yeah.
• 18:15
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
• 18:16
  SPEAKER_06: Check with your neighbor, you know, check with the neighbors.
• 18:18
  SPEAKER_06: If they're outside, say, hey, what do you think about living here?
• 18:21
  SPEAKER_06: Or how long have you lived here?
• 18:22
  SPEAKER_06: Right.
• 18:23
  SPEAKER_06: They have a story to tell.
• 18:24
  SPEAKER_07: They do, and people like telling that story.
• 18:26
  SPEAKER_07: They feel proud about it, you know, if they've lived there for a while.
• 18:29
  SPEAKER_07: In school districts.
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_05: That's what I was gonna say.
• 18:31
  SPEAKER_05: For moms, like at least for me, school districts are moms and dads.
• 18:38
  SPEAKER_05: Moms and dads.
• 18:39
  SPEAKER_05: Look at the school districts.
• 18:40
  SPEAKER_05: It matters where your kids are gonna go, where they're gonna grow up at, where what the sports are about if your kids play sports, just anything and everything, parks.
• 18:48
  SPEAKER_04: Extra curtain.
• 18:49
  SPEAKER_05: I was gonna say like events in the local community.
• 18:52
  SPEAKER_04: Whatever, scout groups, is there church groups, is there youth organizations, YMCAs, is there, yeah, any of that.
• 18:58
  SPEAKER_06: My grandkids are homeschooled, and so they have programs here in town for homeschooled uh kids.
• 19:04
  SPEAKER_06: And you know, so you know, used to be the library, too.
• 19:07
  SPEAKER_06: Those kids are homeschooled, they're weird, no, they're out and about, they're in 4H and they're in the world.
• 19:11
  SPEAKER_07: Well, people homeschooling now is different than when it like when it used to be even when I was young.
• 19:19
  SPEAKER_06: They go to museums, they go, they go do all kinds of things with other kids.
• 19:23
  SPEAKER_06: So those those are things you want to look into to see what's available for you.
• 19:28
  SPEAKER_06: What does the town provide?
• 19:30
  SPEAKER_06: Like our farmers market and all of the things that we've talked about before.
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_06: Go festival, you know, yeah.
• 19:36
  SPEAKER_06: All the festivals, yeah.
• 19:37
  SPEAKER_06: Drive around that square at different times and see what's going on.
• 19:40
  SPEAKER_06: Right.
• 19:41
  SPEAKER_04: That's perfect.
• 19:42
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, that's perfect.
• 19:43
  SPEAKER_04: We we've shared so much information today about neighborhoods and what that looks like.
• 19:48
  SPEAKER_04: You know, buying a home is one of the biggest investments most people ever make, right?
• 19:51
  SPEAKER_04: The countertops can be replaced, the paint color can be changed, you can remodel a kitchen, finish a basement, or even add an addition we talked about today.
• 19:58
  SPEAKER_04: But you can't pick up the neighborhood and move it.
• 20:01
  SPEAKER_06: No, right, right.
• 20:02
  SPEAKER_04: So that's why we talked about today.
• 20:04
  SPEAKER_04: It's so important, right?
• 20:05
  SPEAKER_06: Right.
• 20:05
  SPEAKER_04: Um, that's why the smartest buyers don't just evaluate the house, they evaluate life there and about to how to build around that.
• 20:13
  SPEAKER_04: Take your time, ask questions, drive the neighborhood, like you said, meet the neighbors, take them a pie, right?
• 20:18
  SPEAKER_04: Maybe, you know, hey, neighborhood, do your homework.
• 20:21
  SPEAKER_04: Uh, because the goal isn't simply to buy a house, the goal is to find a place that truly feels like home.
• 20:27
  SPEAKER_04: And when you find the right house in the right community, that's when you've made the best investment of all.
• 20:33
  SPEAKER_04: Absolutely.
• 20:33
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
• 20:34
  SPEAKER_04: So, hey, let's talk about a little call of action, right?
• 20:37
  SPEAKER_04: So if you're thinking about buying or selling a home anywhere in McCopin, Montgomery, Madison, Jersey County, Central Illinois, right?
• 20:44
  SPEAKER_04: You know, I'd love for you guys to take the opportunity to give our best 10x partners we have, first choicerealtypros.com.
• 20:52
  SPEAKER_04: Give them a ring at 217-825-3939.
• 20:57
  SPEAKER_04: Or find them on that beautiful interweb at firstchoicerealtypros.com.
• 21:02
  SPEAKER_04: That's the number one ST RealtyChoice Pros.com.
• 21:05
  SPEAKER_04: Find them today.
• 21:07
  SPEAKER_04: And if today's episode gave you some value, I'd ask you to do three simple things.
• 21:11
  SPEAKER_04: Subscribe, leave us a review, and share this episode with someone who's getting ready to buy their next home to help our folks at First Choice Realty Pros help you walk you through that.
• 21:21
  SPEAKER_04: So until next time, remember, don't just buy the right house, buy the right lifestyle.
• 21:27
  SPEAKER_04: That's it.
• 21:28
  SPEAKER_04: And we will tell you, talk to you next time.
• 21:30
  SPEAKER_02: Bye.
• 21:31
  SPEAKER_00: In the military, there's no such thing as good enough.
• 21:34
  SPEAKER_00: You either do the job the right way or you don't do it at all.
• 21:37
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• 21:41
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• 21:45
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• 21:51
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• 22:05
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• 22:50
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