National Trivia Day 2017

In honor of National Trivia Day, here are some facts about homeownership that may surprise you…or at least they will provide you with trivia to use throughout the day.

  1. Is patriotism at home in your town? There are 31 places in the United States that have “liberty” in their names. Four of them are in Iowa.

  2. It’s considered bad form to give a knife as a housewarming present. The superstitious believe it will turn the recipient into your enemy.

  3. New York homeowners are required to comply with a “Ghostbusters Ruling” when listing their property for sale. This involves disclosing whether any ghosts inhabit or frequently visit the home

  4. Historically, a red door has been a symbol of protection and refuge. In Scotland, however, it signifies that the home’s owner has paid off the mortgage.

  5. Only 15 percent of Americans have home security systems, and of those who do, 54 percent don’t know how to operate them.

  6. The most common street name in the U.S. is “Second.” Oddly, “Third” comes in second place, and “First” is in third place. This just doesn’t seem to add up!

  7. Eighty-eight percent of recent homebuyers financed their purchase in 2016, and the average amount financed was 90 percent.

  8. The longest main street in the nation is 33 miles long. It’s located in Island Park, Idaho, a town incorporated in 1947 for the purpose of accommodating a liquor law. The law required all establishments selling liquor to be within a city’s limits. The businesses along U.S. 20 at the time joined together to form the town of Island Park. The town’s length is about 36 miles. Its width varies between 500 and 5,000 feet.

  9. The median size of a new home in the U.S. is 2,467 square feet, which is 61 percent larger than 40 years ago. So much for the downsizing movement!

  10. When you first enter your new house, bring bread so those in the home will never know hunger. Also, take along a new broom. Bringing an old broom into a new home is considered an invitation to bad luck.

  11. Here’s some good news if you are a germaphobe, especially one who cringes at the thought of touching door handles: Brass, copper, aluminum, iron, lead, and silver are essentially self-disinfecting materials. It’s called the oligodynamic effect and has much to do with why homes have brass doorknobs since, as an antimicrobial metal, brass leads the list of sanitizing materials. However, the reaction does take some time.

  12. In Denmark, it is considered good luck to break dishes outside your friends’ homes. The bigger the pile of porcelain shards you wake up to on New Year’s Day, the more popular you are. Although, you still clean up the mess.

  13. When Americans move, we don’t move very far. The median distance between the homes people purchased in 2016 and those they moved from was 12 miles.

  14. The concept of a housewarming party began due to the need to literally warm up the house. Guests brought firewood for the new fireplace.

  15. Even as the interest rate on 30-year mortgages rose in 2016, they still registered near the historical low end on such financings. The high was established in October 1981, when they hit an astronomical 18.45 percent.