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Real Health Transformations: Inspiring Strategies & Stories for Healthy, Holistic Living
Real Health Transformations is a podcast for the woman I once was - the mother desperately seeking guidance on how to have a healthy baby and home, while also longing to create a nourishing, nurturing environment for her family. It's for the woman who knows she was made for more but feels stuck fumbling through the gap between the life she envisions and the one she’s currently struggling in.
I'm your host, Holly Jean Mullen, a Functional Wellness Practitioner and Holistic Real Estate Specialist, and I’m here to guide you as we connect the dots between your health, your home, and the transformational power of simple, effective strategies.
In this space, we’re having the conversations that matter. You know, the ones that challenge outdated ideas about health and inspire real change. Together, we’ll explore how detoxing your body and environment, calming your nervous system, and rethinking what you’ve been taught about healing can help you build a strong foundation for wellness.
Centered around the interconnectedness of health and home, we’ll uncover how these foundational pillars influence every aspect of your journey. You’ll hear powerful stories of resilience, gain practical tools for transformation, and discover how to create a life that nourishes your body, mind, and soul.
If you’re ready to embrace a new way of thinking about health and home, you’re in the right place. Tune in, get cozy, and let's create the real changes you’ve been craving.
Real Health Transformations: Inspiring Strategies & Stories for Healthy, Holistic Living
Beyond Curb Appeal: Buying a Home That Supports Your Health | Ep 32
Our homes significantly impact our health beyond visible features like marble countertops and fresh paint—the construction materials, air quality, and maintenance all affect our well-being. We explore different construction types and their health implications while providing practical guidance for identifying and avoiding properties that could compromise your health.
• Production homes offer speed and affordability but use lower quality materials with minimal health considerations
• Semi-custom homes provide more choice in materials but still have limited health-focused options
• Custom homes allow complete control over health features but require larger budgets and longer timelines
• Regular home maintenance prevents major health hazards like mold from developing
• Smart leak detection systems and proper gutter maintenance are crucial for preventing moisture problems
• Most real estate professionals don't assess health impacts when evaluating properties
• What seems like a good deal may hide serious health risks behind fresh paint and staging
• Considering factors like material quality, history of water damage, and environmental concerns is essential
• Your home should support your health and well-being rather than undermining it
If you have questions about home health, send me a DM on Instagram to book a conversation. I love helping people find homes that support their long-term well-being, and I can connect you with holistic-minded agents across the country.
Your body holds so much wisdom — stop relying on outside voices to dictate your health journey. By tuning into the signals your body is sending you, you can gain clarity and take confident steps toward healing and transformation.
I’ve created a free Body Wisdom Journal to help you do just that. Start tracking your symptoms, uncover patterns, and begin trusting your own inner guide.
Download Your Free Body Wisdom Journal Here
Remember, the answers you seek are already within you. Let’s begin this journey toward true transformation together!
© 2024 Holly Jean Mullen
Imagine buying your dream home only to realize that the brain fog, headaches, sinus issues you've been battling were never just allergies. They were coming from inside the house. Welcome back to the Real Health Transformations podcast. In this episode, I am excited to share one of my favorite topics and top FAQs. We are diving into what really makes a home healthy. We're talking beyond marble countertops and fresh paint. We'll explore different types of home construction, the hidden risks in real estate and how to avoid buying a house that could slowly make you sick. If you care about your health and the health of your family, you need to care about your home, so let's talk about how to make both work together. First, we have to understand holistic homes and holistic construction or just construction in general. A holistic home is more than just a well-built house. It's a living environment that supports your health, your longevity, your sustainability and also your lifestyle goals and priorities. The definition can vary depending on homeowner, contractor, designer, so it's important to define what a healthy home means to you before building or purchasing. Let's go over the different types of home construction, because I think that'll really just kind of help set the stage here.
Speaker 1:First you have production homes. These are built quickly, like often within six months. They are in master-planned communities. They have limited customization options. Buyers choose from a few preset floor plans and materials, making quality control and personal input as the buyer pretty minimal. Then there are semi-custom homes. This offers more choice in design and materials. These are usually built within six or, sorry, eight to nine months and buyers are able to select finishes. They can go to the design center and pick things out and kind of make it a little bit their own, but the options are still limited. Custom homes these are tailored homes that are designed from scratch. These can take a year or more to build. The homeowners work with a design team, an architect, a contractor to ensure the quality, material selection and there is oversight.
Speaker 1:Then we have renovation projects. This involves updating an existing home and it could be from minor remodels, like think of a kitchen or bathroom, to full-scale renovations. Sometimes you hear taking it down to the studs. Right. This could be like for older homes and then existing homes. This is previously owned homes that may have undergone renovations, though the quality of the past modifications might be unknown.
Speaker 1:So, healthy home construction let's kind of break down the pros and cons of each of these when it comes to creating your home from a health point, not all construction types are created equal. When we're looking at production homes, these are the fastest and most budget friendly, but because they rely on speed and standardization, materials are often lower quality. Ventilation systems are basic and you have little control over toxins like VOCs or EMFs. Semi-custom homes these offer a little bit more breathing room, literally and figuratively, since you can usually choose low toxin flooring or paint. But your options are still limited to what the builder allows. Custom homes these would be a gold standard for health conscious living, because you get to choose everything from non-toxic materials to smart wiring layouts, to water filtration, mold resistant insulation. But the downside is time. They can take longer budget. It could be more expensive depending on the customizations and decision fatigue because you're having to decide for every little thing.
Speaker 1:Renovation projects these can be a great opportunity to fix what's broken, but you're also uncovering and perhaps inheriting some unknown issues, especially when it comes to mold, asbestos or some outdated electrical Existing homes. This is all about the detective work. With the right inspections and a healthy home assessment, they can be purchased safely. But surprises do come up. They're not uncommon and retrofitting for health can get pretty pricey pretty fast. So the bottom line here is that there is no right or wrong answer here when it comes to home type, but generally speaking, when we're looking at new construction and buying an existing home, the more input and control you have during construction or remodeling, the easier it is to align your home with your health goals. So let's talk about what your health goals are, and how do you even define those. So there is no single formula for building a healthy home that is optimal for everyone. If someone is generally healthy, they will benefit from a wide array of solutions, each person with sensitivities from mild to severe. This is unique in each situation. Understanding cause of illness, if known, that can be helpful in determining areas where extraordinary caution must be exercised.
Speaker 1:And before committing to a home, it's essential to really prioritize key features based on your needs and health concerns. Some examples here would be if you're recovering from mold illness, your top priority may be water damage prevention and humidity control. If you're focused on air and water quality, you may want to prioritize filtration systems and low toxin materials. For EMF sensitivity mitigation strategies like shielding or wiring choices may take precedence. Or living a further distance, outside of town, since no home will be perfect in every category.
Speaker 1:Creating a hierarchy of needs ensures that the most critical elements are addressed first, and my approach is helping you prioritize what matters most. And this is where I believe holistic real estate becomes less of a checklist and more of an art. Every buyer has different health concerns, different budgets and different tolerances for risk. So my job isn't to hand you a perfect house with zero flaws, because that doesn't exist. My job is to help you prioritize what matters most to you and make the smartest decision for your health, your finances, your future. And some clients need EMF mitigation and water filtration. Others just need peace of mind that they're not walking into a hidden mold trap. It's not one size fits all. It is very much bio-individual. Just as being a practitioner, just like in functional medicine, the key is asking the right questions and tuning into what your body, your lifestyle and what your budget needs most. But let's kind of switch gears here a little bit.
Speaker 1:A healthy home isn't just about how it's built. It's also how well it's maintained. And just like skipping oil changes on a car, neglecting home maintenance leads to bigger, more expensive issues down the road. So larger homes they generally need more upkeep. They have more hvac maintenance, more surface area to inspect and more places for dust and moisture to collect. So this raises your risk for indoor air quality issues.
Speaker 1:Plumbing leaks are one of the biggest culprits behind hidden mold, and the EPA says the average home wastes nearly 10,000 gallons of water per year due to leaks. Even a tiny drip can lead to mold in as little as 24 to 48 hours. So installing access panels near plumbing makes routine checks simple and can prevent costly remediation later. They also have these smart leak detection systems. These are a really great tool. Some even shut off your water automatically and alert you on your phone. If you want to set it up that way, and considering that water damage is the second most common home insurance claim, averaging over $11,000, it's a smart move for both your health and your wallet.
Speaker 1:Rain gutters let's not forget gutters. Gutters are your home's drainage system, home's drainage system. Clogged gutters cause water to pool near the foundation, leading to erosion, mold, basement flooding. If you live in an area with basement, one inch of rain on a 1,000 square foot roof equals 600 gallons of water. So if it's not draining properly, that is a problem, and I like to think of gutters as your home's gut health If they are clogged, toxins or, in this case, water cannot drain properly and that is going to lead to much bigger problems.
Speaker 1:When it comes to home maintenance, these things aren't just chores. They're part of protecting your biggest investment, and regular maintenance improves air quality, prevents surprise expenses and it helps your home hold its value. And when it's time to sell a well-maintained home is one buyer's trust. I have buyers tell me all the time when, looking at maybe two homes they've liked, but one doesn't look like it's been maintained as well as the other, that can be a deciding factor, because if it looks like it hasn't been maintained, then that tells the buyer they might be running into some hidden issues. So would you rather spend a few hundred dollars now or risk losing tens of thousands in repair credits or price cuts or even a deal falling apart later on? So I'll give you an example.
Speaker 1:When you list your home, buyers will almost always request a home inspection, especially if they're working with me. I will say you need a home inspection If that report comes back with water damage. Say you need a home inspection If that report comes back with water damage, poor drainage, mold concerns, faulty HVAC, whatever. They're either going to ask for expensive repairs before closing and, depending on the market, it kind of dictates how extreme repair requests go. But they'll either send in a repair request or they'll negotiate a much lower price to account for the issues, maybe ask for some credits. They might walk away completely. If the problem just seems overwhelming or something they do not want to deal with, or if the juice is not worth the squeeze, they'll walk away, and I have had clients walk away from deals before and it's not fun for anybody, but sometimes that's just the right choice. But many deals fall apart over things that could have been prevented, like a $300 plumbing fix that has become a $15,000 mold remediation project. The home that sells the fastest and for the highest price are the ones that buyers feel confident in, and a home with a solid maintenance history is going to signal that the owner has taken care of it, which means fewer surprises and a smoother transaction.
Speaker 1:Let's continue exploring from this real estate lens as a buyer, because the number one question I get asked, besides what the heck is a holistic realtor is how much does a healthy home cost? Because, just like eating healthier food, organic food people say it costs more. Is that the same situation when it comes to a home. Does it translate? So let's pretend you're house hunting. Your real estate agent calls, super excited about a new listing. It's a fixer upper in your ideal location, price below market value.
Speaker 1:It's one of those rare finds that gets a lot of attention and you know you're going to need to move fast if you want to have a chance at it. So at first glance it sounds amazing, it's a great price, it's in your perfect spot, so what's not to love? But then you start digging into the details. The house is older, it contains lead paint, maybe asbestos insulation Not ideal, but not necessarily a deal breaker either. But these materials are serious health hazards, especially if disturbed during renovations. Again, that just kind of goes back to assessing your personal health risk scenario. But the house also sits in a floodplain, has poor drainage, so the translation there is it's a high risk for water intrusion, moisture issues, mold growth, which is a nightmare for anyone concerned about indoor air quality. Let's say it also smells musty. It shows signs of past water damage. So now we're looking at a potential hidden mold, structural decay and possible long-term contamination inside the walls. And then the cherry on top, the previous owner's diet of cancer. So, with all this information, looking at the full picture, does this still sound like a hot deal to you? Now that all depends on your health, risk tolerance and, ultimately, your budget, are you planning to gut the house and build fresh? It might not be that big of an issue, but if you're thinking you can move in and do a DIY renovation as you go, that poses a much larger health risk and a bigger financial risk. So those are the things to consider.
Speaker 1:There is the problem the real estate industry and health are a major disconnect. Health isn't a standard metric in real estate, and the building and real estate industries prioritize speed, profit, aesthetics, not air quality or materials or environmental safety. We're seeing a shift towards prioritizing sustainability, but I'll have to do a separate episode on how green building and sustainability don't necessarily equal healthy. It's a different conversation. But home design is focused on mostly amenities, finishes, conveniences. We're looking at the countertops, open floor plans, not what's inside the walls or the air that you breathe or how the home affects your long-term health. Appraisers are looking at square footage and market value. They're not looking at the quality of materials or whether the home has a history of toxic exposures. General home inspectors do not check for mold or indoor air quality. Real estate agents are trained to highlight a visual appeal we're looking at fresh paint and staged furniture and curb appeal and how well does it photograph and not whether the home is actually safe to live in.
Speaker 1:Most realtors focus on making the deal happen. They want to get you in fast, they want to get the house sold, and I focus on getting you into the right home for your long-term well-being. I recently worked with a client who almost purchased a home that seemed perfect one of those perfect on papers. We did a deeper assessment. We found moisture damage and mold issues that were not visible, and so they walked away. And we found them a healthier home that didn't come with a $80,000 future remediation bill. And this is why working with someone who understands both real estate and health is crucial, because your health is priceless.
Speaker 1:The reality is, most of what makes a home healthy isn't visible to the naked eye. We talk about mold a lot because we can see it, but you can't see EMF exposure, indoor air pollutants, vocs from building materials or those mold spores that are hidden behind the walls. So what is the takeaway here? If you are shopping for a home, you need to go beyond the listing, photos and the surface details. It's really in your best interest to do so. A great deal isn't great if it comes with long-term health consequences that you pay the price for or, even worse, your children and your loved ones have to pay the price for. Before you fall in love with your house, here's a checklist you can kind of ask yourself what's behind the walls? What materials were used? Is there a history of water damage? What's in the air? Are there signs of mold, off-gassing materials or poor ventilation? Looking at what's in the ground, is the home in a flood zone, near industrial runoff, exposed to environmental toxins?
Speaker 1:The truth is, your home is one of the biggest influences on your health. If you're investing in real estate, you need to also be investing in your well-being too, because a healthy home isn't just about location and price. It's about creating a space that supports your body, your energy and your longevity. So we'll wrap this up just by saying if you're thinking about buying or selling, let's have a conversation about how to prioritize health in the process, because, whether you're buying a production home, renovating an older house or building a custom home from scratch, defining your personal vision of a healthy home is crucial, and even if you're not in the Tulsa area, I can still help you get clarity on what a healthy home means to you, and I can connect you with a holistic-minded agent in your area, because I have connections across the country. So, establishing those clear priorities, incorporating smart design choices and committing to regular maintenance once you're in your home, that will all help ensure that your home remains a safe, supportive environment for years to come.
Speaker 1:So if you have questions about home health, just send me a DM on Instagram. I don't have a bot that answers those. That is me, and let's book a conversation. Let's talk about it. I love helping people find homes that support their long-term well-being and, at the end of the day, your home should be more than just something that looks good. It should support your health, your energy and your well-being.
Speaker 1:So, whether you're buying, building or maintaining your current home, I really hope that this episode has given you some new insights into what makes a home healthy beyond what meets the eye. And, as you start thinking about your next move, just remember your home is your foundation. It is where you rest and breathe and heal, and so the choices that you make today will shape the environment for you and your family to live in for years to come. If this episode resonated with you, please share it with a friend, a family member or anyone who's house hunting or renovating, because too often health is the last thing considered in real estate, when really it should be the first. And if you're looking for guidance on how to find or create a home that supports your wellbeing, I'd love to connect. So again, just reach out, ask any questions and learn more about working with a holistic home specialist like me. So thanks for spending this time with me. I'm glad you're here. Until next time, take care, trust your instincts and remember health starts at home.
