A Realtor’s Perspective: Tips for Buying & Renting a Home When Indoor Air Quality is a Priority

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Hello, everyone. My name is Kendra Seymour, and I want to welcome you back to another Change the Year interview. Today we're going to be talking about what you need to know about buying or perhaps even renting a home with the help of our guest, Heather Rose, who's also known as the holistic realtor. Welcome, Heather.

Hi. Good morning.

So buying a house at any time, but particularly during a hot market, can be really stressful. And then you add into the mix that some individuals are trying to be really cognizant of environmental factors like mold or water damage, maybe even VOCs or EMFs. And it can be really hard, and I think sometimes it just feels impossible. So I'm so glad you're here today to shed some light on how people can maneuver the home buying process. So my first question we'll kind of jump right into it is can you tell us a little bit about what the holistic realtor is and how it came to be?

Yes. Well, thank you for having me. And I get that question a lot, believe it or not. So a lot of people think that it has something to do with, you know, feng shui or, you know, where to put your furniture and aligning energy in the home. And, you know, while that's a great concept and many people align with that, my business is more focused on holistic living and, you know, just having that community behind, know, different holistic offerings and modalities to really improve our. Our lives. And, you know, I've been practicing real estate for 10 years. Started out just general, you know, selling homes. Right. You know, we cover some topics in real estate school about environmental issues, but it's really just, you know, deferred to the inspector. It's like, talk to your inspector. Talk to your inspector. And so I feel like that's kind of a missing gap here in this industry is that, you know, we're not supposed to be specialists in that, just as we're not supposed to advise people. You know, they're supposed to get an attorney if they want legal advice and that sort of thing. But, you know, we can plant those seeds and create awareness about this and offer resources. And I feel like that's sort of lacking. So what kind of led me to start incorporating that in my business is, you know, like I said, I've just embraced this holistic lifestyle for the last 10 years. But it wasn't until I dealt with some new construction defects in my own home, and more than one actually, and unfortunately ended up down the path of litigation and just experienced a whole host of things that just made me stop and think, you know, people need to know what I know, and they need to have these. Be connected with these resources and, you know, just have a thoughtful approach to home buying. And so I branded the holistic realtor, and now that's what I do. I have a website that is sort of a directory for people that are relocating to the middle Tennessee Nashville area to where they can go on and, you know, partner with other holistic businesses and that sort of thing. So that's one side of it, and then the other side is connecting them with these resources and teaching them about, you know, a different way to approach home buying and that how air quality is such a huge piece to that because we can, you know, exercise and we can try the next, you know, fad diet and do all the things, take the supplements and. And, you know, still the missing link is there, like, why am I still feeling bad? You know, and that was, for me, a lot, because I was going through a lot with the house. I had very young children. In fact, I had a newborn the first time we dealt with mold. And it was just, you know, I'm tired, I'm fatigued, because I'm, you know, I have a baby and I'm nursing, and. And it wasn't really until I moved out of that house that I started connecting all the dots and how much, you know, air quality, I mean, mold and radon and asbestos, you know, anything really can just affect you systemically and, you know, just slow down or just disable that healing process in your body. So that. That's pretty much where the brand was born, and it's just taken off. Just. People just love it because if they don't know, they're like, tell me more. And then the people that have been affected before really love the fact that they have someone, that they have a part, a true partner in their journey toward finding a healthier home.

I absolutely love that. I think the stat, and this was pre Covid was that people spend more than 90% of their time indoors, right? That is in their home. And some of these environmental toxins and pollutants, you can't see and you can't smell. And so it's really important that we ask ourselves, what's in our air? And I love that you help your clients think about that and focus on that as part of the process. It's not about how pretty is the kitchen. I mean, that's great. But I love your kind of full package. Right? That's really. That's awesome. And I'm sorry that, you know, your experience led you here.

Well, it's that whole saying, what one man's tragedy is another man's treasure.

Yeah. So, I mean, that's why I'm here today. Neither of us woke up one day. I'm like, I want to talk about mold and indoor air quality. Right. It was. Something kind of pushed you down this path, and you, you think, well, I don't want anyone else to have to experience this. So if someone were house hunting today, I know this is a crazy time lately to be buying a house. What are some things they should be looking for in terms of finding a healthier home? Do you have any, like, deal breakers or red flags for your clients?

Yeah, well, luckily, the market has begun to shift a little bit, so we have a little tad bit and more normalcy and inspection periods are coming back. I never wrote one offer during the whole time of the whole crazy frenzy without an inspection period. I just, you know, I just told my clients, if we can't get an inspection period, it's probably just not the house. And so we were pretty successful with that. But I would say, you know, start out by kind of my approach. Like you said, a lot of people are walking in, they're looking where their furniture is going to go or, you know, if they're remodeling, what they can bust out in the kitchen or different configurations. And, you know, there are clues, sometimes subtle, sometimes very obvious, that can lead us in a direction to really stop and think, okay, you know, how healthy is this home? You know, what. What else do we need to look for? Because we just saw water stain on the wall. So that's pretty much where I start out. It's just very obvious, you know, looking up, down, left, right, looking for water stains, looking under cabinets, looking for evidence. Often I will pull property condition disclosures before we even visit a home just to get a background. And I can go in and I can pull all the sold, all the past listings, all the withdrawn. And so I'll, you know, plug in that MLS and I'll pull everything, all the data that I have on that home. And so I have actually found in certain instances where certain things were on past property condition disclosures, but they didn't make it on the current one. And so it's, you know, it leads to that conversation of, hey, did you just forget? Or what happened? You know, how. And I actually have had people contracted on homes before, and then, you know, that that very thing has stemmed a conversation around what, you know, what actually Happened, they're like, oh yeah, Serve Pro came in, it was a small leak. And you know, it was a leak that was, you know, happening over a long period of time. And it's like, that's the kind you don't want, you know, you'd rather just the pipe burst and get it over with and, you know, not have any time for anything to start brewing. But, you know, we found out and this was a renovated house. And so when you're not planning on going in and demoing things that can change the landscape. And so we found out some things that were very unfavorable and allowed us to exit the contract. And so the more due diligence you do, the more research, the more questions you ask. Sometimes that can really, you know, give you a lot more information to, to work with. And, and you know, sometimes I tell people like, there's no such thing as a mold free home. Right? I mean, you know, you're gonna kid yourself if you're gonna, you know, I get people all the time. I need to find a mold free home. It's like, well, we need to kind of set expectations here. And the idea is that, you know, you don't have colonies and of malt growing in your home. And also how many, you know, is it isolated? You know, is it a crawl space we're dealing with or is it, you know, that's just a humidity aspect of it or is it just, you know, like I said, isolated? Just a toilet had a plumbing leak a long time ago and they fixed it. But you, you know, you need to focus on that one area and tear off that one area, but then the rest of the house is fine. So you kind of have to, it's. I tell people it's like functional medicine. Like everybody's different depending on your symptoms and your exposure, what you have going on. You know, the, the strategy is going to be different. So we have to kind of take that into consideration. So again, back to your question. You know, we're looking for clues, evidence of water. We're looking outside the home, we're looking at the roof line, we're looking at the actual roof itself. We go in the attic. I can see the, the backside of the sheathing in the attic. I can see if there's stains that, you know, could have been an old leak and even, you know, a roof replacement, but they didn't take the decking out. So, you know, there are again, lots of different, you know, areas that we can look to kind of get a good feel of what's going on with that house.

I love it. You bring up such an important point. And I think it's because a lot of people I don't consider like, oh, that was a small little leak. It was no big deal. So they don't even come to the forefront of their mind when it comes time to disclose. And then if the home has had multiple owners, some of that history gets lost. And so I love that you kind of dig and, and you gave great advice. It's the same advice we give at change the air. You know, you're looking up, you're looking down, you're looking at baseboards. I love that you said you're looking under sinks. There are a lot of clues that can be found just by looking and then bringing in the right person to help, you know, inspect your home. Now, I don't want to get us on a tangent. Do you, you know, you have a home inspector? Do you also encourage your clients to bring in someone like an iep, an indoor environmental professional, or someone who's specifically trained to seek out sources of mold or water damage?

Yeah, so fortunately I work with an inspector and I have several different inspectors, but I kind of have my go tos. He is trained and identifying. He's got an environmental business on the side. So that is very helpful because if he sees something on site, he can go ahead and sample it. And then if the client wants to send it off, he, you know, he will do so. I also encourage people to, to have their own, you know, the army test, we kind of know it's a, it's a love hate thing. A lot of inspectors don't like it. They don't assign any weight to it. And, you know, they have their reasons. No test is 100%. You know, you're going to have pros and cons with everything. That's why I recommend kind of a broad, comprehensive, you know, sampling plan. But the ERMI can get you there. You know, you can walk in and have that ready to go, have it ordered, have it on hand. If you don't, you can even get a Swiffer from the store. That's what they use. And then you can get a chain of custody command off of their website and send it in if you're, you know, just having a hard time with, you know, the timing of it all. But that can be a great first step in just evaluating the whole historical perspective of the home. And we can get into that a little bit more in a minute. But the great thing is, is I try to partner with People that make it efficient, make it quick, make it simple. And I like that. You know, he, he has come to understand that I work with a lot of clients with, with these sensitivities and just kind of be empathetic toward that, you know, and just take, just, you know, listen and be able to back into their scenario and their needs, which, you know, oftentimes are a little bit more above and beyond what somebody else may want to do or what they're willing to spend.

So what a treasure I mean, to have. Because sometimes you'll see inspectors and they'll look at a water stain and be like, oh, that's old or it's dry and it's not that big of a.

Deal and it's dead.

It dead mold. Check out our, we have a whole mini class series you can go to change the year foundation.org you can check out the surface sample one and you're going to see lots of pictures of stains or things that didn't look like that big of a deal and some shocking test results. So we don't have to go down a tangent. But yes, I love that he's cognizant of that. And there's some, you know, that resource is available for your clients. Now one of the things I just saw this, somebody's like, well, build a brand new home. But there is no guarantee that a brand new home will be a healthy one. Can you talk to us about considerations if you're building a new home?

Yeah, so you're absolutely right. There is no guarantee. And in fact, you're probably going to encounter some mold because this, what is sitting, they don't treat wood like they did, you know, 20 years ago. It's, it's not, you know, the kiln dried process is completely different. It just doesn't have time to harden and really fully dry out. And so, you know, it's stored in these lumber yards and it makes it to your build side and it has growth on it. And that's just something, you know, unless you're gonna stand there and look at every single piece of wood and throw out what's not going to work, which obviously we know is not going to happen in this, you know, day and age. And these builders are not going to go for that. And so, and, and actually the only requirement for them is that the, the lumber package is below a certain humidity at the time of acceptance. Right. So it's not, you know, there's not like, oh, is there a certain percentage of mold, you know, that it's covered in mold or, you know, no mold or there's no parameters around that. So. And I don't know how many builders really do check the humidity at the time of acceptance, but probably not very many, unless you ask them to do that. But you know that, that's just one consideration. So you kind of have to work around that. And so some ways we can do that. And I will say with new construction, the very first thing is contracts, contracts, contracts. Read the contract, make sure you understand it. Read it with your agent. You know, again, your agent's not an attorney. They can't give you, um, you know, they can't give you legal advice. But, you know, I try to call attention to certain things that I see. And I see so many different contracts. And trust me when I say they are all different. All these builders have different attorneys. Some of them have gotten really smart at writing these contracts. And it's meant to protect the builder. It has zero protection for the buyer. So that's the number one thing you can do is just to make sure that you understand everything. And, you know, if you have to hire an attorney to help walk you through it, that's fine. I can't say that a lot of builders are going to, you know, want to readily negotiate their contracts, but I've been very successful at getting, you know, out of contract that didn't have an inspection period built into it at all. Or, you know, sometimes though, they'll be open to an inspection period, but not a pre drywall inspection. And they completely turn that down. It's like, well, that's kind of a big, you know, in new construction, a pre drywall inspection is a must. I know some people that don't want to have it inspected at all because it's a brand new house. And you know, it's like, no, that's your one opportunity. So a pre drywall, you know, looks at patterns of electrical, of plumbing. It looks at the thermal envelope to make sure that everything is sealed correctly. It can look at windows and flashing and, and all those sorts of things. And trust me when I say I've gone down that path. I had a home that, a spec home, new construction that had flashing there, but it was done in reverse. So if a look at those, you know, all those different components, that is your best bet. And that's the best money that you can spend. You're spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on a new construction home. Spend a couple of hundred to get a pre drywall inspection. Spend the couple of hundred with your attorney to make sure that, you know, these protections are there. I've seen builders, they're getting really crafty. They're taking out your statute of limitations, they're giving you your one year warranty. And then when the one year is up, that's it, you can't come back. And, you know, you don't have your four years for building defect. You're. You're literally signing away. And I have seen that in the last year. So it's just really important to start there and lay your expectations out in the contract. And, you know, it's. It's really hard. It depends on the builder. Some of them are larger and they're more corporatized. Some of them are smaller. They're more willing to work with you. So in every, you know, every case is going to be different. But I have a list of things that I'm looking for specifically, and I'm pointing out to clients, hey, you might want to think about this. And then we, you know, bring it up to the builder. I usually start off and say, you know, my client is super sensitive to mold. It's not an allergy, it's a toxicity. It's made them sick before they have children. And so I kind of set the groundwork from the beginning that this is going to be important to us versus just getting in the process and saying, hey, this wood has mold on it. And then they have no basis of, or history of that person's life and what they're dealing with and why it's so important. So again, it's like, hey, remember in the beginning when I told you that we were going to be paying special attention to these items, so it makes it a little easier on the back end. And I've been really successful. I've had clients, you know, all the way from doing dry ice blasting to get, you know, mold off of a lumber package that came in to. I have some builders say, well, you know, we're not going to allow another company to come in, but your client can suit up and go in and they can take care of it. And, you know, that's better than nothing, especially if it, if you have now if it's just completely, you know, filled with mold solid, that's probably something you want to consider walking away from if you can't do a deeper level of cleaning or remediation on that wood. But for areas that are, you can see and access and that are isolated and you do have the ability to get to them, and you can bring in your decon 30 or whatever product and you can take care of that. I do have many clients that do that and that they are more than happy to do that, that the builder's giving them that opportunity, but they're just saying, you know, we're not going to go above and beyond. So, again, just knowing that on the front end then allows you to make that decision, you know, that best suits you.

I love that. I've been through a building of a new home and your contract, you know, including things like how the lumber is stored on property.

Right.

Like, sometimes it's just there in the mud in the rain. So you want to be cognizant. And there are resources online available that you can follow. But that pre drywall inspection, I'm so glad you brought that up. It really is your chance to check things out. I think people forget how many trades are involved, how many components go into building a house. I think I heard once it was like, you know, over 10,000. It's a lot. You know, people are human mistakes. And you think the number of times I've heard flashing. You brought that up, being done wrong would blow your mind. It happens way more often than you think and way more often than it should. So, you know, no guarantees. And I think that's an important piece to remember. But instead of letting that fact stress you out, think about it. Go into it knowing, okay, like, I'm going to do my due diligence. I'm going to find these areas and I'm going to deal with them safely and quickly and up front so they're not bigger problems later.

Right. And new construction, I encourage people. It is a tumultuous process. It is not 100%, is not straightforward. You have humans building your house. Things are going to happen. Yeah. I would not be doing my job if I was like, oh, yeah, this is just going to be all roses and peonies. It's not, you know, things are going to happen, but the ability to pivot around that, make sure that we're doing the right inspections, make sure we're calling the right people in and trying to identify these issues. That's the whole goal, right? To do that while you're building, and you're going to have a much better outcome.

I love that.

So.

So one of the questions, you know, this is kind of more general, but what are some mistakes you just see homeowners or home buyers, I should say.

Making in general, I think probably rushing through the process, which was super difficult. You know, we just came out of that market to where you literally had five minutes. If that, you know, I worked with a lot of people that were out of state that weren't here. So it was just an extra layer on, you know, me to, to communicate with them on, you know, things that I saw with the home or why they, you know, might consider or reconsider. Right. So I guess just, yeah, that whole rushing through it and just, you know, the emotional play and tug that, you know, I've got to get the, got to get this offer in. I've got to get, have this house. It's like, let's just take a step back, let's take it all in again. Let's walk through each room and look in these areas and just kind of get a feel for what we see. And then a lot of clients, you know, they'll spend 30 minutes to an hour in the home and they'll, they'll not feel good. So that's an indicator and that's something to where like if you already don't feel good in the home, there, there may be, you know, no matter how much remediation you do, that might not ever go away. So again, that's just something that you have to consider. But I would just say yes, you know, just slow down and just kind of listen to your body, listen to the cues before jumping in, making a rash decision. And then also I feel like, you know, a lot of people like on new construction, they, they're spending all this money, they forego inspection or I see that, you know, people, you know, home buying is expensive, right? We've got furniture, we've got moving costs, we've got, you know, inspection fees, closing costs, down payment, all that stuff. But I try to encourage people to save up that money for inspections because you know, we're hiring a general inspector. And then if you want to do an ERMI, that's another 300 bucks. And then if you want to do mycotoxin testing that and then you know, sampling that the inspector might find the day of. And then I kind of broaden that out and I, I do a multi point inspection process, especially on resales. So we're looking at all different systems of the home and it, you know, some of them are complimentary, but not all of them. You have to pay for those inspections. And so that's a lot of times when people are, and they're like, well, we don't want to spend the extra money. You know, it's 200 or 175 bucks for a radon test. And it's, it's like if you can you know, budget that aside and be able to do that. It could literally bring you thousands later. I mean, I've negotiated, you know, up to $10,000 off during the, you know, resolution period on a test that maybe cost you 300 bucks or an inspection that cost you 500 bucks. You know, so that's another thing that I see buyers just not preparing for is, you know, just be prepared to make an investment in those inspections. So it could cost $1,200, you know, by the time you're all said and done. But it is completely 100% worth it to call these professionals in and just learn as much about that house as you can so that you can make a knowledgeable decision and plan going forward.

Yeah, I mean, you can save yourself tens of thousands of dollars, you know, much easier. And I know when you're buying a home, every penny counts for most of us anyway. And so you're thinking, oh, do I really need to spend that? And think about the cost of redoing that or addressing that problem later is usually exponentially more. And you kind of. You kind of got into my next question, which is about how important the inspection process is, how stressful it is, and it sounds like you kind of have some tips that you share with your clients. Is there anything else you kind of want to add to kind of wrap up the importance of the home inspection process?

Yeah, I would just say, again, be open to that process. Be open to that system. I don't know a lot of agents that really do that. So, you know, that's something if you're in a different market to research. And, you know, again, it's going to be based on the house and the systems that. That need to be inspected there. But, yeah, I mean, definitely expand on that. And I would say to build in plenty of time for that in the inspection period. You know, different states might do things differently, but, you know, here I try to budget enough time to call these inspectors in and get all these infections completed. You know, sometimes you have to send things off to labs in the army, you know, you might have to pay extra for quicker turnaround. And so we want to make sure that we get everything back, because in the state of Tennessee, once you present that repair proposal to the seller, you can't come back and be like, oh, my radon test came in and it was high. And now, so that ends the inspection period. So we want to make sure we get all those tests back. And, you know, you need to work with your agent on that. But I would say you know, don't rush that process and budget plenty of time and just, you know, have your army supplies ready. If you're planning on doing the army, there are several different offerings with mycometrics and envirobiomics. You know, you can do bacteria testing which, you know, that, that's kind of, you know, we focus on radon and mold and. But where there's mold, there's usually bacteria and that make people just as sick. So if that's something that's important to you, you know, you should definitely explore that. So again, there's a test option for that. There's a test option for mycotoxins. Just because you get the army test back doesn't mean that it, you know, does or doesn't have, it doesn't screen for mycotoxins. So again, work with your agent or your doctor or whoever in building that plan of what you want and just kind of know that going into it. So it's much smoother when you do make an offer on a house and then you're getting into that time frame, you already have those things already lined up. So I think that that's really important to, to spend a considerable amount of time on other than that, I think, you know, just again, radon is prevalent in the Tennessee area. So I always encourage, I always encourage people to have a crawl space inspection. You know, your general inspector should be accessing the crawl for you. But I go a step beyond and have an actual crawl space or mold remediation company come out that I partner with and we get inspections and we, they can kind of do things a little bit differently than an inspector would do. So you, again, you get, you know, you get two sets of eyes and two different reports that you can compare. So that's always a good thing. Fireplaces, you want to have inspected, you know, they're going to, they're going to scope the chimney, they're going to look for different water leaks or previous buyers or things like that. So again, it's a very, it's just an objective approach. Nothing is subjective here. Test, test, test, and use that inspection period as best you can.

I love that. And just for those listening, head on over to changetheirfoundation.org all those tests you mentioned, we have information on all of those, so definitely check it out. And just to add, I know we bought our first home over 10 years ago and I won't get into our story, but you know, we were first time homebuyers and we found the house and it was the nicest thing we've seen in our price range. And there was a bidding war and we won. And they had called us during the inspection period because they found mold and they ripped out this wall. And we're all standing there in the basement looking at a wall full of moles and their rail editors there and my realtors there. And I'm standing there and the person who tore open the wall is standing there. And I remember thinking, you wouldn't be standing here if this wasn't safe. And I kind of like said something. And their realtor turns to me and goes, there are two other offers who would be happy to see yours fall through. So if this is a problem, you know, it's, you know, no big deal for us. And we had already pictured bringing our future children home here and we kind of made an emotional decision and, you know, lessons learned there. But yeah, it's hard. And man, we. I wish we could clone you so that everyone who wants access to someone like you could have someone, you know, walking them through this process. So, all right, we're gonna, we're gonna get to it. So today's market, you know, is a little different. You work with clients who, you know, might be labeled at times as difficult or demanding, maybe even crazy. I hate saying that because we have these concerns and we ask these questions and we don't accept the fact, well, that's, that's old dirt or dead mold or it's not any. So if someone, because we can't clone you, was trying to find a like minded realtor like yourself, what would they look for in a realtor who would maybe, you know, be a good fit for someone who needs special attention paid to those areas?

Yeah, well, that's pretty difficult because I will say a lot of my knowledge again, you know, I, so I just, I'm a nerd about this stuff, right? You know, I've taken Cheryl Seaco, she's a literate architect, taken some of her courses. I listen to Brian Carr's podcast. I've watched my, you know, Michael Ruby all, all the, that are kind of in that functional space and really understand. And so, you know, I just feel like I'm unique in a sense that, like, I have been there and done that and then just again, you know, just try to gain as much knowledge as I can to make me a better resource for my clients. But for somebody else who hasn't quite encountered that, you know, I network with a lot of other agents and other cities and, you know, they do have that holistic Branding, and they do understand mold and they're very, you know, empathetic towards it. So that's one thing. If that's a major red flag if your agent is not empathetic toward that or they don't understand that situation, or they say, you know what, I just, I understand, but I just, I don't know what to do. And that's fair. You know, they may not, but if, you know, they need to be honest about that up front so that you can find someone that is going to have a better understanding or better fit your needs. And again, agents aren't required to have training in these areas. So I would say, number one is just to find somebody that is empathetic and will be understanding, you know, to your situation. And the people that I refer to, other agents in other cities, I actually invite them to partner together with the client. So I say, you know, I'm available anytime you can bounce questions off me. You know, I have people in other areas that say, well, here we test this way. And I'm like, well, it's really, it's kind of the same across the board. It doesn't really matter. And, you know, there are particular things you need to watch out with based on the climate zone that you're in. So, for instance, up north, you know, you're dealing with a lot, a lot more insulation, spray foam insulation up there. Completely different factors than the South. You know, we have humid climates and I mean, it's just completely different set of needs. So also someone that understands, you know what, and again, they don't have to be, you know, experts in that, but just have an understanding of the process and then just again, open to, you know, if you want to take one of Cheryl's classes or you want to hire, you know, some other expert to help you even during the build process or what have you that just that they're open. And I, and I encourage people to look for builders like that too. If, if you're doing a truly unique custom build, you know, the larger builders or chains are not going to, they're not going to be open to that. But if you're doing a unique custom build, you know, to have your agent help you screen that builder to make sure that they are open to using alternative materials or building houses with these systems already incorporated a certain way. So I help people with, you know, maintenance after the fact too. It's like, well, you know, you're going to have your home built to code more than likely. But here's what you need to do right off the bat to ensure and preserve those systems and make sure that, you know, they stay healthy. And so just again, just trying to just come up with the list of questions that you have for that person, things that are important to you, and then see how they respond and you're going to get a good feel. You know, nobody, again, is not going to be experts in anything. But if, and that's where, you know, I tell people, like, there's so many resources out there that you have access to, to start learning and just to be your own advocate. And then if you have that partner that can kind of facilitate that via, you know, writing the contracts. Right, right. You know, including specific language that is going to protect you. And then again, just if you give them your testing protocol and say, this is what I want done, find me someone who will do it. A lot of times that's the best approach. So it's, it's definitely challenging. But, you know, you'll encounter some people that will look at you like you're from another planet and you know, or they don't know what to do with it, that that's not going to be your partner in that process at all.

And that's okay. You know, much like I need a doctor or an IEP or me or anything, it just. You move on and you look for someone else. Now this is my favorite question to ask people. What are some things you do in your own home to keep it healthy?

Yeah. So in my house I focus a lot on air quality, so we actually do. So this is something that I have learned a great deal about is having spray foam insulation. We bought our current house as a spec home and it does have some spray foam insulation. So we've had to retro our house a good bit. We've had to bring up makeup air system in, which actually allows for more air exchanges, which creates a healthier environment. Again, back to the filtration. I have hospital grade a step down. I think it's like a Merv. It might be a 14 or 15, I don't remember the number. But it's a step down from hospital grade filtration and we have that on our unit. So the air passes through there before coming into our home. I'm not too big. A lot of people love the ozone and, and the photocatalytic and I just haven't quite embraced that yet. You know, I'm. I know Cheryl doesn't like it. You know, you get into a situation with ozone, it doesn't have enough dwell time. Right. So it's Kind of a false sense of security. So I don't really have any of that. I do have a blue air filtration air purifier, which captures like down to 0.01 microns, which is the size of a mycotoxin. So I do utilize that carbon filters. I have done VOC testing in my home. We bought it brand new. So I waited about a year to kind of, you know, you have to kind of give it time to off gas. If it's a new instructor, it really does no good to go in and test the day you close because there's going to be stuff that, you know you're going to freak out. There are things that you can do to expedite the process of off gassing. So, yeah, just. And then I will say, I think one of the most important things is just to really keep a clean environment. And dust, dust, dust. Because grows. It settles and grows on dust. And so if you're keeping up with your H Vac maintenance, you know, you're having these coils inspected, you can have the coils tested, which I recommend maybe doing once a year. Because even if they're cleaning them, a lot of times they're not removing them and cleaning them. They're just spraying stuff. And it's just moving dust and dirt around. It's like spraying your dishes and putting it in the dishwasher and not like really physically removing anything. So, you know, that is an area that I focus on is just really babying that H vac system and keeping that really clean and then dusting that, keeping the dust low down in the house so it doesn't give mold and opportunity to thrive. We also have several dehumidifiers. We have one in the crawl space. I have a hygrometer down there that's connected to a unit on my counter that I can see at all times what the humidity is in the crawl space. I have one in the attic because we do have spray foam in the attic. So I have a dehu there to minimize any humidity and moisture. And then we have a whole house dehumidification system too. So I can control everything and keep everything, you know, below 55%. So we have really gone above and beyond. We have a radon system. A lot of times when you're encapsulating crawl spaces, a radon system is a must because when you're enclosing that area, those gases are going to build up. And it could be there one day, or it could not be there one day and then be There another day. So, you know, being proactive with that. We have a radon system that is active, and we actually test frequently. I was under the assumption that I had a radon system and it was working. And I had a company come in and evaluate some other things, and radon testing was part of the package, and lo and behold, it came back high. So I had to do a couple of extra measures because it wasn't effectively pulling the radon out like it should. And then once I did that and retested, the numbers went completely down. So, you know, just having that maintenance program set up and they do it just doing these testing, you don't have to, you know, freak out over it. But it is a good idea just to have a general plan. Just like, you know, you do blood work every couple of years. Some people do it once a year. It's kind of the same concept, just monitoring and accessing these places. If you don't go in your crawl space, that's fine. Hire somebody that will go in your attic, you know, around. And a lot of times you can find things before they become massive problems. So we do that a lot, too.

There are so many good nuggets in what you just said there. I absolutely love it. You talked about ventilation. You talked about filtration. You talked about moisture management, specifically dehumidification. And you talked about your maintenance plan, which is so important. And I love. You mentioned going into the attic. I. I go into my attic probably once a month sometimes. More often, if you have crazy storm and pull out my ladder and I go look. And it, you know, it made me uncomfortable at first, but you get comfortable doing it. And, yeah, you invest in your home and you want to keep it healthy. And it's so much easier to catch these problems when they're small. Wait until, you know, down the road, because some of these problems can fester for years and create much larger problems. So this is so wonderful. If someone wanted to get into contact with you, how would they find you?

So I guess I have a lot of followers on Instagram because my stories are there and they're very detailed. So a lot of people can glean a lot of information, especially, like, if they're in a different market, you know, they just want to follow along. So it's the Underscore, Holistic Underscore Realtor, Underscore Tennessee or tn. I think if you start typing it in, it'll pop up. And then I have a website, the Holistic Realtor tn. And then I have just like a general real estate website nashville heather.com so I am in the middle Tennessee area. Nashville cover all of middle Tennessee. So if you're local, be happy to work with you. And then if you're in a different city, I can help with that, you know, referral process and at least find someone who's somewhat knowledgeable or you know, just embraces the holistic living lifestyle that could help out.

I love it. Thank you so much for joining us today. I feel like I want to have you back to keep picking your brain because I know this episode is going to be really helpful for people, right?

I think we could spend hours and I love that we have a smaller mission. I love partnering with. You know that's what this is all about, right? Just offering education and awareness and partnering with others who have the same goal and mission. So it's been.

I love that. Let's definitely talk about a follow up and for those listening, if you could do us a favor if this was helpful, like follow and share us on Facebook and Instagram. And if you haven't, head on over to changethe air foundation.org and sign up for our newsletter because that is the best way to get interviews and updates and great information like this directly to your inbox. Thanks so much and we'll see you next time.