Buying A Home: Lessons Learned

[00:00:00] You're listening to Casual Talk Radio, where common sense is still the norm. Whether you're a new or

[00:00:11] longtime listener, we appreciate you joining us today. Visit us at CasualTalkRadio.net. And now,

[00:00:18] here's your host, Lyster. Welcome or welcome back. Thank you for dialing in again, Casual Talk Radio.

[00:00:25] My name is Lyster. I am your host, and today's episode has a bit of personal update. It also

[00:00:32] has a bit of informational pieces, and I suspect that the demographic listening to the show may

[00:00:38] have already gone through this. Some may not have. Some might have considered it. Some might be in

[00:00:43] the process of considering it. The hope is that the information is beneficial or helpful, but if

[00:00:48] you've gone through the process, I would love to hear from you. CasualTalkRadio.net. Hit the

[00:00:52] contact form and let me know if you've gone through this process in your experience and how it

[00:00:57] compares to what I'm about to share for today's episode. So, I am in the process of buying a

[00:01:02] home, and when I say home, I'm referring to an actual house, not a condo townhome. And the

[00:01:08] primary reason that I decided to pull the trigger now is my current lease. So, I was

[00:01:13] here, I had done this lease January 2023, believe it or not. I didn't get here until

[00:01:19] September because so much was going on. I had signed the lease, I needed to buy another car.

[00:01:24] There's a long story that I won't bore you with, but the point is I need to buy another

[00:01:27] car. That was a fiasco. I finally got a car that had another fiasco. Then I bought a

[00:01:33] different car. That was another fiasco. I caught shingles. That was a different fiasco. My

[00:01:38] brother passed away. That was another fiasco. There was fiasco after fiasco after fiasco

[00:01:42] that negated my ability to uproot. Then I had an incident happen at the house that I was

[00:01:48] renting where a rat ultimately convinced me that it was time for me to leave. And I

[00:01:53] literally mean a rat. I don't mean a person. I mean, literally a rat. He basically

[00:01:58] was convincing me it was time for me to go. So, I wasn't really ready to go yet

[00:02:03] in terms of all the faculties, but I had the money, I had everything and I went

[00:02:06] and uprooted, drove over Labor Day weekend, got to the new location. But the point

[00:02:13] is I had signed the lease I'm in right now in January 2023. So I basically nine

[00:02:18] months were burned and not having any benefit from it paying for it, you know,

[00:02:24] to the tune of 1800 bucks a month for that period of time and no benefit from it

[00:02:28] till I was dual paying rent. That was that. I finally got away from the dual

[00:02:32] paying effective October. But the lease is now due because I had signed it

[00:02:37] apparently for 18 months. I'd forgotten but I'd signed it for 18 months. Lease

[00:02:41] is coming due July. I have to tell them by May what I'm going to do. Am I going

[00:02:45] to go? Am I going to stay? It's a song. I decided I didn't want to be here. All

[00:02:51] the attractive women are the only real benefit of this place. Everything else

[00:02:54] sucks. I am honest. I mean, it's a visually nice place. But in terms of

[00:02:59] benefit, there's only one benefit and that's the attractive women walking

[00:03:04] around. I'm at an age where that's less relevant. And so I figured it was

[00:03:08] time for me to get the hell out of here. Now, the county that I live in is a

[00:03:13] terrible county for the purposes of buying a home. I'm not a, I'm a first

[00:03:17] time home buyer in the sense that it's been over a decade since I bought

[00:03:21] a home, but I've gone through the process before. So I know what to

[00:03:24] expect. That's going to be my episode today is to share. There were one,

[00:03:30] two, three, primarily three situations where I went through it and I wanted

[00:03:36] to share at least a bit snippet of all of those situations and then talk about my

[00:03:40] current one. And then some things to keep in mind in case you were going

[00:03:43] through this. So the very first time that I ever considered buying

[00:03:47] something, I'm talking not renting, but actually purchasing something.

[00:03:51] I was working at a company out in this is San Diego area, California.

[00:03:56] I was working at a company Rancho Bernardo area. They had a apartment

[00:04:02] complex. It was right up the way and something Hills. Don't remember.

[00:04:07] I went there. It was really nice. Looked what I wanted, you know,

[00:04:11] town home style. I didn't have garages, but I was whatever I go in

[00:04:15] and they're telling me they're doing a condo conversion. Now I didn't,

[00:04:19] I wasn't familiar with this concept, but for those that also are not

[00:04:22] account of condo conversion in the United States, mostly the West coast,

[00:04:27] what we call a condo is nothing more than a glorified apartment that's

[00:04:31] been fixed up. You know, they'll add granite countertops. They'll get

[00:04:34] rid of the carpet. They'll put down vinyl. That's about it. Right.

[00:04:39] And they'll sell it to people. So you have an ownership interest.

[00:04:42] They'll put a HOA, which is a homeowners association around it to

[00:04:46] manage it. But it's, it's a glorified apartment. You have the

[00:04:49] same noise issues. In fact, it's worse, but it's a glorified

[00:04:53] apartment. I learned that in the Midwest and two parts of the

[00:04:57] East, what they call a condo is basically the same thing as what we

[00:05:01] think of when I say we are referring to West coast folks as like a

[00:05:05] co-op or a multi building or a town home or something where it's a,

[00:05:11] you have a full garage on the first floor and you're just a joined

[00:05:15] building with your neighbor. And they'll call those condos and they

[00:05:17] charge single family price for those. You just don't have a lot

[00:05:22] of your own. You don't only land, you own the building. You don't

[00:05:25] own the land. Essentially you're renting the land. Everything else is

[00:05:28] the same. But when you think about that structure of it's actually a

[00:05:32] house, that's just connected to another house, there's more benefit

[00:05:35] to this to you as a homeowner. You don't have people above you.

[00:05:39] You don't have people beneath you. And there's only really one

[00:05:43] neighbor shared wall. You might have other buildings next, but

[00:05:45] I'm talking shared wall. So that's how it is not in the West. In

[00:05:50] the West, it's a glorified apartment. So I see this thing. I

[00:05:53] liked it, but I was struggling with it. I decided, okay, well,

[00:05:58] let's give it a shot. They wanted me to use chase as their

[00:06:01] preferred lender, the builder. This conversion hadn't happened

[00:06:04] yet. So they wanted me to use chase if I wanted to go

[00:06:06] forward. I said, can I just rent? They said you could,

[00:06:09] but you're going to get kicked out at some point. We

[00:06:11] don't know when. And so if you want to move forward, we

[00:06:14] recommend going do the purchase process and get approved now

[00:06:17] because at some point it's going to be converted. So okay. And

[00:06:20] you get first right of refusal if you're already in it. Okay. So

[00:06:24] this means I have to commit to the purchase and then do the

[00:06:28] renting. And then I get first right of refusal, but I'm

[00:06:31] already approved. So then I can negotiate the rate that

[00:06:33] the death of the, okay, fine. So I contact chase. It was a

[00:06:37] pretty slick, easy process. Although I think chase sucks

[00:06:40] generally, it was a pretty easy process. I remember where

[00:06:42] I was. I was in a Taco Bell parking lot when they called

[00:06:45] me and basically said, yep, you're approved. Go ahead and

[00:06:47] you know, move with the process, contact the builder

[00:06:49] and get it done. Well, that was easy. And I wasn't making a

[00:06:52] lot of money at the time. I was only making, you know, like

[00:06:55] 45 grand, 50 grand a year. I wasn't making a lot of money.

[00:06:59] And this would have been like a $200,000 condo. So I

[00:07:02] contact, I've contacted the builder. Then it was okay.

[00:07:06] Well, we need this money and this money and this down and

[00:07:08] this that. And then I said, you know, I'm not sure this

[00:07:11] is worth this. And I backed out of it. So I didn't go

[00:07:14] forward and I wasn't, I didn't work with a realtor. I

[00:07:16] didn't work with anybody. It was just literally me talking

[00:07:19] to the bank and the builder. And then I backed down because

[00:07:21] I didn't see it was worth it. Fast forward. And I'm now

[00:07:25] living in Escondido area, same, it's a different county,

[00:07:29] but San Diego area, Escondido, the city. And I'm my

[00:07:35] rent's about to be up. I think I was there from 2004

[00:07:38] to 2007 ish. And this would have been sometime 2006

[00:07:42] maybe. And I decide, okay, let's try this again. My lease

[00:07:46] is about to be up. I don't want to be here. It's a

[00:07:48] fricking slum. I don't like this. Come on, man. It's just

[00:07:51] music, man. Idiot up above me. So let's figure out what

[00:07:54] we're going to do. Okay. So I start shopping. I literally

[00:07:58] remember I drove by there's a remax building and I just

[00:08:02] stopped in there and said, I'm looking, I need some help

[00:08:04] buying a home. Didn't know what to do. Didn't know I

[00:08:06] was going to go realtor comes out. It says, yes, I

[00:08:09] help you out. He refers me to a mortgage broker. Okay.

[00:08:14] No problem. I'll work with your guy. Sure. And we're

[00:08:17] shopping for homes and there was, I remember one, we

[00:08:20] did a scene and it was all green. When I say green, I'm

[00:08:23] talking Emerald green. The flooring was green. The

[00:08:25] carpets were green. The walls were green. Everything

[00:08:28] was Emerald green. Don't get me wrong. When I was

[00:08:30] younger, green was my favorite color, but I'm not

[00:08:32] sure I would want my entire house to be green. The

[00:08:36] lawns one thing, but not the house. Okay. So, and

[00:08:39] it's in a slummy area, you know, so I don't do

[00:08:43] that when I find a house, it's out in Vista,

[00:08:46] California. And from the outside, it's a stucco

[00:08:49] home from the outside. It looks like there was

[00:08:51] some construction done under the two windows

[00:08:53] that were on the front. So, and they didn't paint

[00:08:56] it. So it looked like it was crying in the front

[00:08:58] of the home, but inside, you know, low ceilings.

[00:09:00] It wasn't all that pretty, but it was, you

[00:09:02] know, it was enough. My commute to work would have

[00:09:04] been a pain. It would have been about an hour

[00:09:06] and a half, but I didn't care because my lease

[00:09:08] was up and I needed to get something and get out

[00:09:11] of where I was. And I suspected a Vista was going

[00:09:13] to skyrocket. Now in hindsight, it was so close

[00:09:16] to Camp Pendleton that I probably dodged a bullet.

[00:09:20] Regardless, I went ahead with the process. Okay.

[00:09:22] We're about to do this. I'm working with this

[00:09:24] mortgage broker. He sends me paperwork to get

[00:09:27] the process done. And you know, I did the

[00:09:28] earnest money with the realtor. So the

[00:09:30] mortgage broker sent him paperwork to get the

[00:09:32] thing done. The paperwork straight up says,

[00:09:35] if these fields are not filled in, we're

[00:09:37] talking commission fields. So what the broker

[00:09:40] and everybody gets paid. He's like the form

[00:09:42] says, if these are empty, do not sign this.

[00:09:44] It straight says it on the document. He sends

[00:09:46] it to me. There's no commission. Nothing

[00:09:48] filled it. I send it back to him and said,

[00:09:51] I need you to fill in the commission

[00:09:52] information. Why? It straight says on the

[00:09:55] form, you need to have the commission

[00:09:56] filled in or don't sign it. I'm telling

[00:09:59] you to fill in the commission. I'm

[00:10:00] following the form says, well, we're

[00:10:02] filling out that deep, deep. No, no, no,

[00:10:03] no. The form says you need to have it

[00:10:06] filled in when you send it to me. So he

[00:10:10] sends me the forms. Okay. It's all filled

[00:10:11] in. All right, fine. So I go and sign

[00:10:14] this. Then something came back and I

[00:10:16] don't know if it was the appraisal or

[00:10:18] the inspection. Something came back

[00:10:19] and it ended up skyrocketing something

[00:10:21] and I forgot what it was, but it was

[00:10:23] money related. And so now he's coming

[00:10:25] back saying he needs more money. The

[00:10:27] broker, he needs more money from me.

[00:10:29] Why? And I, I'm new to the process.

[00:10:33] I don't know what the heck he's

[00:10:34] talking about. So I told him to kick

[00:10:35] rocks. Never heard back from the

[00:10:37] realtor. He just ghosted me. And so

[00:10:40] I think I dodged a bullet with that

[00:10:41] broker because I didn't understand why

[00:10:43] he's asking more money and he's not

[00:10:45] explaining it. And they're all being

[00:10:46] jerks. Okay. So I don't move forward

[00:10:48] on that one. And again, I probably

[00:10:49] dodged a bullet. I relocated from

[00:10:53] California up to Washington state.

[00:10:56] When I got to Washington state, I

[00:10:57] was renting a townhome, BRE

[00:10:59] properties. They're no longer in

[00:11:00] existence, but they were great for

[00:11:01] this, but I was able to move up

[00:11:02] there. And then I decided to buy a

[00:11:04] home because they decided to raise the

[00:11:06] rent from it was 1525 a month at the

[00:11:09] time. And they were proposing going

[00:11:11] to like $2,200 on the Redo. And

[00:11:14] I'm like, okay, that's not going

[00:11:15] to work for me, brother. And so

[00:11:16] I said, I might as well buy a

[00:11:18] house. I bought a new car that

[00:11:20] was asked to Marcus that I never

[00:11:22] should have sold. So I bought the

[00:11:24] new car that was in 2013 because

[00:11:27] I needed to get that upgraded. And

[00:11:29] then I decided to buy the home.

[00:11:31] And unfortunately, as seems to be

[00:11:35] the case, I was working for a

[00:11:36] company who refused to let people

[00:11:37] work from home who refused to let

[00:11:39] you let you even work from us. You

[00:11:40] couldn't work from a satellite

[00:11:41] office. They just, they forced

[00:11:43] you to come into the downtown of

[00:11:45] in this case, Seattle, which is

[00:11:47] one of the worst traffic cores

[00:11:49] in the nation. You're spending

[00:11:50] an hour and a half of which

[00:11:52] probably an hour of it is sitting

[00:11:54] in traffic before you even get

[00:11:56] to Seattle. And then they didn't

[00:11:57] have free parking to boot. You

[00:11:59] had to pay for the parking on

[00:12:01] in their building. So it was

[00:12:03] not desirable to be there. Now I

[00:12:05] had gotten a raise out there

[00:12:07] compared to where I was. I was

[00:12:08] making a little bit more money.

[00:12:10] That's how I was able to afford

[00:12:11] the home. The state had a

[00:12:12] program and I forget what it

[00:12:15] was called, but it was for

[00:12:16] first time home buyers, which

[00:12:17] I was and the way it worked

[00:12:19] is as long as your income

[00:12:21] wasn't beneath the threshold

[00:12:22] and as long as you purchased

[00:12:23] in certain counties, they gave

[00:12:26] you what's referred to as a

[00:12:27] mortgage certificate. The mortgage

[00:12:28] certificate gives you a credit

[00:12:31] against your taxes. So a credit

[00:12:33] is literally cash to you. So you

[00:12:36] would say, I got this credit

[00:12:37] for 3000 bucks. If your tax

[00:12:39] bill was 3000 bucks, you have

[00:12:40] no tax bill straight over easy

[00:12:43] and this you would get every

[00:12:44] year for the life of the

[00:12:45] loan. That's how it was sold

[00:12:47] to me. And all you were asked

[00:12:49] to do was again, income

[00:12:50] limit, certain County. You

[00:12:52] had to go through a program

[00:12:54] for first time home buyer.

[00:12:55] It's a bunch of PowerPoint

[00:12:56] slides. You take an online

[00:12:58] something and you work with a

[00:13:00] certain lender and a certain

[00:13:01] mortgage banker. No problem.

[00:13:04] So I go through this whole

[00:13:05] rigmarole seems like it's

[00:13:06] working pretty clean. We

[00:13:08] settle on two homes and I'm,

[00:13:11] I regret the home I chose.

[00:13:12] I don't regret the process,

[00:13:14] but the home I chose it's,

[00:13:17] it looked nice and outside.

[00:13:18] It's 2,600 square feet.

[00:13:20] It's sitting on 9,600

[00:13:22] square foot of a plot.

[00:13:23] So about one, you know,

[00:13:24] 0.1, 2.15 or whatever of

[00:13:27] an acre. It's a lot of

[00:13:28] land. The other one had

[00:13:31] less land. It wasn't as

[00:13:32] nice of a home, but I should

[00:13:36] have chosen the other one.

[00:13:37] I'll tell you why in a second.

[00:13:38] The point is the one I

[00:13:40] didn't choose, they disclosed

[00:13:42] there was a roofing issue and

[00:13:43] they said we'll offer a

[00:13:45] discount off of the price

[00:13:47] because of the roof,

[00:13:47] cause you're going to need

[00:13:48] to fix it. They were open

[00:13:49] and disclose this without me

[00:13:51] asking the one I chose.

[00:13:53] They said, no, it's nothing

[00:13:53] wrong with it. It's all good.

[00:13:55] And it's, it's all clean.

[00:13:57] I chose that one, the one

[00:13:59] I eventually purchased

[00:14:00] based on, I had seen it.

[00:14:02] My mistake is I went there

[00:14:04] on a weekend.

[00:14:05] I went down to Saturday

[00:14:06] and that was a mistake.

[00:14:07] Tell you why in a second.

[00:14:09] I do the walkthrough.

[00:14:10] It's a beautiful home.

[00:14:11] It doesn't have air

[00:14:11] conditioning, but it's a

[00:14:12] really nice house.

[00:14:14] Um, it's still there.

[00:14:16] Uh, somebody else went in it,

[00:14:17] but it's a really nice

[00:14:19] house, really large,

[00:14:20] almost too large, but it

[00:14:21] had an office that I had

[00:14:23] and it was really good.

[00:14:24] So, okay, cool.

[00:14:25] I'm ready to put something

[00:14:27] forward.

[00:14:28] I had the inspection done.

[00:14:29] I was there with the inspector.

[00:14:30] He calls out all sorts of stuff.

[00:14:32] Now I'm new to the process,

[00:14:33] so I don't understand,

[00:14:34] but I'm listening because I

[00:14:35] want to understand what

[00:14:36] he's looking for.

[00:14:37] So next time I look for this,

[00:14:40] he's like, yeah, it looks

[00:14:41] like there was some

[00:14:41] foundation issues because of

[00:14:44] what looks like an earthquake.

[00:14:45] So it had settled in one

[00:14:46] corner of the home near the

[00:14:48] street and that was, and I

[00:14:50] saw it once he pointed it

[00:14:51] out, but I hadn't seen it

[00:14:52] up front, but basically in the

[00:14:54] front, there's a dual window

[00:14:56] and he noticed in the sill how

[00:14:58] it's separated from the window.

[00:14:59] And the only way that could

[00:15:00] happen is at the base, the

[00:15:02] foundation had settled a

[00:15:03] little bit.

[00:15:04] He said, yeah, the, the

[00:15:05] crawl space because it didn't

[00:15:07] have a finished basement.

[00:15:07] That was okay.

[00:15:08] But the crawl space is a

[00:15:09] nightmare and it truly was,

[00:15:11] it was horrible, but I knew

[00:15:14] that, but he said, yeah,

[00:15:14] you're going to need to

[00:15:15] replace the vapor barrier

[00:15:16] down there.

[00:15:16] That's a problem for

[00:15:18] multiple reasons related to,

[00:15:20] you know, we're in a rainy

[00:15:21] area.

[00:15:23] He called out that some of

[00:15:24] the windows were compromised,

[00:15:25] which I saw that, but I

[00:15:27] didn't think about the

[00:15:27] impact.

[00:15:28] And he's describing it to

[00:15:29] me of, you have compromised

[00:15:30] windows.

[00:15:31] Number one, they're not going

[00:15:32] to suppress noise.

[00:15:32] Number two, they're not

[00:15:33] going to suppress any sort

[00:15:34] of weather when there's

[00:15:35] inclement weather conditions.

[00:15:37] So I saw it, but now

[00:15:39] that he's explaining it,

[00:15:39] I'm like, okay, that

[00:15:40] means there, what they're

[00:15:41] asking is not going to

[00:15:42] work this place.

[00:15:43] I want to say it had

[00:15:44] like 26 windows and

[00:15:47] pretty much all of them

[00:15:48] were jacked.

[00:15:49] So now from a cost

[00:15:50] perspective, I'm, I'm, it's

[00:15:52] like a cast redder change,

[00:15:54] change, change in my, in my

[00:15:55] mind.

[00:15:56] Then the bad one, he

[00:15:58] goes outside and he's

[00:16:00] talking to me about the

[00:16:01] siding.

[00:16:02] So if you're on the

[00:16:03] West coast, you may not

[00:16:04] know what I'm talking

[00:16:04] about.

[00:16:05] Siding is they're like

[00:16:07] planks and they overlap

[00:16:08] instead of like brick or

[00:16:10] stucco for covering the

[00:16:12] home.

[00:16:13] And depending on the

[00:16:14] siding, you might have

[00:16:16] like vinyl siding.

[00:16:17] It could be wood siding.

[00:16:18] There's different types

[00:16:19] of siding.

[00:16:19] This had basically a

[00:16:21] wood plank type siding.

[00:16:23] And it was from a

[00:16:23] well-known company.

[00:16:24] I want to say it was

[00:16:25] Hardy Fiber Cement.

[00:16:27] I want to say, but he's

[00:16:28] describing, he's pointing

[00:16:29] out where there's some

[00:16:31] rot underneath some of the

[00:16:33] planks.

[00:16:34] And he said, yep, that's

[00:16:35] an old issue.

[00:16:36] And he's telling me

[00:16:36] about this company, this

[00:16:38] fiber siding company

[00:16:40] where apparently they were

[00:16:41] selling all these homes

[00:16:43] on their siding as being

[00:16:44] the best thing since

[00:16:45] sliced bread back in the

[00:16:46] eighties.

[00:16:47] This home was built in

[00:16:48] the eighties.

[00:16:48] So this has been right

[00:16:49] when it was first

[00:16:50] constructed.

[00:16:51] And he said that there

[00:16:52] was a whole big

[00:16:53] settlement.

[00:16:54] And I looked it up and

[00:16:54] there indeed was, there

[00:16:55] was a settlement.

[00:16:57] They got sued out of

[00:16:58] their, out of their

[00:16:58] tail and was swore almost

[00:16:59] out of their tail.

[00:17:01] And then they paid each

[00:17:02] of the homeowners like

[00:17:03] 15 grand to, for the

[00:17:06] issue.

[00:17:07] But the siding is still

[00:17:09] rotting.

[00:17:09] So what he's saying is

[00:17:10] a lot of these people,

[00:17:12] they took the money

[00:17:13] and either went on

[00:17:13] some vacation or like

[00:17:15] in this case, it looks

[00:17:16] like they pay to upgrade

[00:17:18] the roofing and the

[00:17:20] furnace because the

[00:17:21] furnace was brand new,

[00:17:22] spanking new and

[00:17:23] possibly the roughing.

[00:17:24] So they didn't

[00:17:26] replace the siding.

[00:17:26] You're going to need

[00:17:27] to do it because this

[00:17:28] is a, you know,

[00:17:29] it's mold and all

[00:17:29] sorts of issues on

[00:17:30] this.

[00:17:30] There's termites.

[00:17:32] There's all sorts of

[00:17:32] problems that I see.

[00:17:34] And it's just a

[00:17:35] matter of time before

[00:17:36] this siding causes

[00:17:37] you major issues.

[00:17:38] There was also issues

[00:17:39] like the drain gutters

[00:17:41] and downspouts and

[00:17:43] all sorts of stuff.

[00:17:44] And then stuff he

[00:17:45] didn't see that I

[00:17:46] caught later drainage

[00:17:48] issues in the backyard,

[00:17:50] that all sorts of

[00:17:50] other problems that

[00:17:51] I didn't see.

[00:17:52] But with the stuff

[00:17:53] that he saw, I was

[00:17:54] able to negotiate them

[00:17:55] down and I think I

[00:17:57] got him down like

[00:17:58] two and a 50,

[00:17:58] 240 grand or whatever.

[00:18:00] And so we made a deal.

[00:18:02] But again, I regret

[00:18:03] doing that instead

[00:18:04] of just going with

[00:18:05] the other home because

[00:18:06] with the other home,

[00:18:07] they were transparent

[00:18:08] about the issue.

[00:18:09] The main issue,

[00:18:10] which was the roof's

[00:18:11] not good.

[00:18:12] You're going to need

[00:18:13] to do something with it.

[00:18:14] We'll come down

[00:18:15] off the price for it,

[00:18:16] but we're telling you

[00:18:17] upfront the risk

[00:18:18] going to be a problem.

[00:18:18] And I should have

[00:18:19] gone with that.

[00:18:20] The other reason that

[00:18:22] I regret getting the

[00:18:23] one that I did.

[00:18:24] So again, I went up

[00:18:25] there on a Saturday

[00:18:26] when I first saw it

[00:18:27] before the inspector

[00:18:29] and I noticed in

[00:18:31] the paperwork,

[00:18:31] it's got an H.O.A.

[00:18:32] and it's 75 bucks a year

[00:18:33] and we're like, OK,

[00:18:34] that's kind of cool.

[00:18:35] I hate H.O.A.s

[00:18:36] and if you're in a place

[00:18:37] that does not have H.O.A.s

[00:18:39] and H.O.A.

[00:18:40] is essentially a group

[00:18:41] of people, their regular

[00:18:42] people, regular home

[00:18:44] owners in the neighborhood

[00:18:45] who have been assigned.

[00:18:46] I don't say voted in,

[00:18:48] but they've been assigned

[00:18:49] to kind of oversee

[00:18:50] the neighborhood.

[00:18:51] And this would have been

[00:18:51] when the thing was built.

[00:18:53] So you'll see H.O.A.s

[00:18:54] in condo neighborhoods.

[00:18:56] You'll see it in

[00:18:56] town hall neighborhoods,

[00:18:58] single home neighborhoods.

[00:18:59] It's highly unusual

[00:19:01] to see H.O.A.s

[00:19:03] on homes built prior

[00:19:04] to like 1990.

[00:19:06] So this is weird.

[00:19:07] It was like one of the very

[00:19:07] first H.O.A.s ever

[00:19:09] to exist, apparently.

[00:19:11] So when I got there,

[00:19:12] I knew that there was an H.O.A.

[00:19:13] I suspected because I looked

[00:19:15] at the maps and I saw

[00:19:16] there was an H.O.A.

[00:19:17] building right at the street.

[00:19:19] So I go up there

[00:19:21] thinking I'll check in

[00:19:22] and just get the information

[00:19:23] and understand it.

[00:19:24] It's a really nice building,

[00:19:25] really nice people,

[00:19:27] perfectly manicured grass.

[00:19:29] It looks like it's totally

[00:19:30] uppercrossed that go in.

[00:19:31] And I'm saying I just

[00:19:32] I'm considering this house

[00:19:34] and like the information

[00:19:34] is like, oh, you need that

[00:19:36] other H.O.A.

[00:19:37] Do you think what are you

[00:19:38] talking about?

[00:19:39] Other H.O.A.

[00:19:40] And so apparently

[00:19:42] the H.O.A.

[00:19:43] I was at was for a

[00:19:44] was for a neighboring complex

[00:19:46] and sort of different homes.

[00:19:48] The one that I'm looking for

[00:19:50] it's one old lady

[00:19:51] that's that's still alive.

[00:19:53] All the other ones had died

[00:19:55] and she lived down

[00:19:56] the way somewhere.

[00:19:57] There was no building.

[00:19:58] It's just one lady

[00:19:59] sitting off in the corner.

[00:20:01] I do some background.

[00:20:03] Turns out this H.O.A.

[00:20:04] apparently had contracted

[00:20:06] with some accountant

[00:20:07] or somebody that ripped them off,

[00:20:09] took all the money,

[00:20:11] all the dues

[00:20:12] that they had collected

[00:20:13] from all the homeowners.

[00:20:14] So they were broke.

[00:20:14] They were flat broke.

[00:20:16] So as a result,

[00:20:16] they couldn't do

[00:20:17] because normally the H.O.A.

[00:20:18] supposed to do like home

[00:20:19] or not home, but like street

[00:20:20] improvements and pay for services.

[00:20:24] They pay for that maintenance.

[00:20:26] They couldn't because

[00:20:27] they got jacked up, stolen.

[00:20:29] All the money stolen.

[00:20:31] So number one,

[00:20:32] I've got this old lady

[00:20:33] I've got to answer to

[00:20:34] if I want to even paint my house.

[00:20:36] And number two,

[00:20:37] they don't have any money to fix

[00:20:39] things like broken streets.

[00:20:40] So what am I paying for?

[00:20:41] It's only 75 a year,

[00:20:42] but still it's a

[00:20:44] I consider the problem.

[00:20:46] So I made a mistake and said,

[00:20:48] OK, it's 75

[00:20:49] bucks a year.

[00:20:50] It's one old lady.

[00:20:51] She probably won't live that long.

[00:20:53] And at that point,

[00:20:54] the H.O.A. is toast

[00:20:54] because nobody seems to care.

[00:20:56] So fine, let's go ahead and do it

[00:20:58] because I'll still

[00:20:59] get the mortgage certificate.

[00:21:00] We're talking three thousand

[00:21:01] bucks credit every year

[00:21:02] against taxes.

[00:21:03] My tax bill had never

[00:21:05] at that point exceeded three

[00:21:06] thousand dollars.

[00:21:07] So that meant I would never

[00:21:08] have any taxes.

[00:21:09] So I go through all the process.

[00:21:12] The mortgage banker

[00:21:13] and my realtor are all working

[00:21:16] hot and heavy.

[00:21:16] They're getting all the stuff done.

[00:21:17] Get to the closing

[00:21:19] and the closing took place

[00:21:20] in a courtroom.

[00:21:21] Pretty sure it was a court

[00:21:22] or courthouse rather

[00:21:23] in one of the conference rooms.

[00:21:25] We go in,

[00:21:26] they got the paperwork laid out.

[00:21:27] OK, I'm ready to sign

[00:21:28] because here we are.

[00:21:29] It is what it is.

[00:21:31] I'm signing paperwork

[00:21:32] and there's I noticed

[00:21:33] the mortgage certificate form.

[00:21:34] It's all filled out.

[00:21:36] Guy says,

[00:21:36] and I think he was from the

[00:21:38] I think it's from the buyer,

[00:21:39] from the my agent side, I think.

[00:21:42] You can't sign that one.

[00:21:43] They do.

[00:21:43] What are you talking about?

[00:21:45] You're not qualified.

[00:21:46] What are you talking about?

[00:21:47] What do you mean I'm not qualified?

[00:21:48] I was qualified when we signed up.

[00:21:50] That was a whole sell point

[00:21:51] of this business.

[00:21:53] What happens is

[00:21:53] there's an income limit

[00:21:55] I talked about

[00:21:56] for the mortgage certificate

[00:21:57] for this benefit.

[00:21:59] The way that they finagle it

[00:22:01] is they're assuming

[00:22:03] that you'll always qualify it.

[00:22:05] For example,

[00:22:07] if the income limit

[00:22:08] and I forget what it was,

[00:22:09] I want to say it was like

[00:22:10] 90 grand or something.

[00:22:12] If the income limits 90 grand,

[00:22:14] they're assuming

[00:22:15] you'll never make more than 90

[00:22:17] grand.

[00:22:18] And if you do,

[00:22:19] you're going to tell them, right?

[00:22:21] And so then they'll

[00:22:21] take away the benefit.

[00:22:23] So when they sold me

[00:22:24] that she'll get this great

[00:22:25] benefit year over year,

[00:22:28] the year over year

[00:22:29] is for every year

[00:22:30] that you still qualify

[00:22:31] from an income perspective.

[00:22:33] So if you go over it,

[00:22:35] you're supposed to tell them

[00:22:36] and they yank the benefit.

[00:22:37] Well, that's not how it was sold.

[00:22:39] How it was sold is

[00:22:40] you qualify once

[00:22:41] you get it for the life of the loan.

[00:22:43] Period.

[00:22:44] Just to encourage

[00:22:45] the sell of the home,

[00:22:46] because why do you care

[00:22:47] to the fact instead it's

[00:22:49] well, you'll qualify until you don't.

[00:22:51] And then it's kind of an honor system.

[00:22:53] The person I was working under

[00:22:54] because I was working

[00:22:55] full time for a company

[00:22:57] at the time he was lobbying

[00:22:58] to get me a raise

[00:23:00] because I was he felt

[00:23:01] I was underpaid.

[00:23:02] I was only making,

[00:23:03] you know, just over

[00:23:04] $80,000 a year or something.

[00:23:05] It was still higher than what it was.

[00:23:07] But in his mind,

[00:23:08] I was underpaid

[00:23:08] because at that point

[00:23:10] I was running the shop

[00:23:11] in terms of development work.

[00:23:13] So he fought and fought

[00:23:14] and fought and fought

[00:23:15] and fought and got me this raise

[00:23:16] up to $6,000.

[00:23:18] So I'm at $86,000.

[00:23:19] So then what happened is

[00:23:22] when I got to the final

[00:23:23] because you have to give

[00:23:24] all this paperwork

[00:23:24] in income and pay stubs

[00:23:26] and all that, and they noticed,

[00:23:28] OK, well, your income just went up

[00:23:30] and now you're really

[00:23:31] close to the threshold.

[00:23:32] The income increase

[00:23:34] was $6,000 a year.

[00:23:36] So you could

[00:23:38] get that same $6,000

[00:23:39] next year, which would put you

[00:23:41] over the threshold.

[00:23:42] And since you could

[00:23:44] get another raise,

[00:23:45] we'll just disqualify you now

[00:23:47] and not waste your time.

[00:23:48] And I'm like, that's not right, bro.

[00:23:50] I'm qualified now.

[00:23:51] Number one.

[00:23:51] Number two.

[00:23:52] It was sold that it's

[00:23:54] for the life of the loan.

[00:23:55] Where's this condition coming from?

[00:23:57] And then three,

[00:23:59] I even offered to have HR.

[00:24:00] HR was willing to write

[00:24:02] a letter saying

[00:24:03] raises are not guaranteed.

[00:24:05] It's discretionary.

[00:24:06] It's selective.

[00:24:07] And the amount of the raise

[00:24:08] in this situation was abnormal.

[00:24:10] It's basically a true up.

[00:24:11] Normal raises

[00:24:12] are just like a 1%.

[00:24:13] Well, 1% for me,

[00:24:15] right, is like $800.

[00:24:16] So it's not going to be the $6,000.

[00:24:17] So at minimum,

[00:24:18] I'd still be good

[00:24:19] for years on years.

[00:24:21] They wouldn't take it.

[00:24:22] They wouldn't take any of that stuff

[00:24:23] and they disqualify me for this.

[00:24:25] So then now

[00:24:26] I don't have access

[00:24:27] to this mortgage certificate,

[00:24:28] which was the whole sell point

[00:24:30] really of doing the home

[00:24:31] at that point.

[00:24:33] Well, the other problem is

[00:24:34] I put less than this

[00:24:35] is part of the lessons

[00:24:36] that I want to talk about

[00:24:37] with my new that I'm doing now.

[00:24:41] For that home in Washington's 2014,

[00:24:43] I put less than 20% down.

[00:24:45] I want to say I gave

[00:24:47] probably like 8% down

[00:24:49] or 9% down.

[00:24:50] It was a it was a different number.

[00:24:52] I certainly didn't do 20.

[00:24:54] And then I did a down payment

[00:24:55] assistance program

[00:24:57] for the state

[00:24:58] to shore up the rest.

[00:24:59] That was a mistake.

[00:25:00] This was an FHA loan.

[00:25:02] It has loan to value requirements.

[00:25:04] And if you do less than 20%,

[00:25:06] you're required to do

[00:25:07] mortgage insurance,

[00:25:07] in this case, MIP,

[00:25:08] it's called MIP.

[00:25:10] And the mortgage insurance

[00:25:11] is for the life of the loan.

[00:25:13] And it's like it's like 300 bucks

[00:25:14] or 400 bucks or whatever extra.

[00:25:16] And you're required to use escrow

[00:25:18] for paying your taxes,

[00:25:20] for paying home insurance,

[00:25:22] in addition to the mortgage.

[00:25:23] So the mortgage, as stated,

[00:25:25] was supposed to be like,

[00:25:26] you know, 1,500 bucks

[00:25:28] or something very reasonable.

[00:25:29] But because they bulked in

[00:25:31] all this other stuff,

[00:25:32] my monthly was like $2,300.

[00:25:35] I wasn't making anywhere

[00:25:36] near what I make now.

[00:25:38] That's like a third

[00:25:39] what I make now.

[00:25:39] So $2,300 was a significant hit

[00:25:42] at that point.

[00:25:43] I might as well just done

[00:25:44] the town home because

[00:25:45] I didn't save any money.

[00:25:46] I didn't build any equity

[00:25:48] in the home because again,

[00:25:50] it was just enough

[00:25:51] to be able to pay this.

[00:25:54] Fast forward now.

[00:25:55] So I already had bought the home.

[00:25:56] I should have walked away.

[00:25:58] I didn't because I have my lease

[00:26:00] I had to deal with.

[00:26:01] So I bought the home.

[00:26:02] I moved forward.

[00:26:03] Then it comes to find out

[00:26:05] number one, there's a train

[00:26:06] right down the hill

[00:26:07] that I thought was inactive.

[00:26:09] It was active and believe me,

[00:26:10] I heard it every single evening

[00:26:12] loud because the windows

[00:26:14] are compromised.

[00:26:15] So they're not doing

[00:26:16] any sound suppression.

[00:26:17] So I had to spend $6,000

[00:26:20] to get all new high

[00:26:22] sound suppressing windows

[00:26:24] on the master just so

[00:26:25] I could frickin sleep that

[00:26:27] and that's just the master

[00:26:28] now come to find out

[00:26:30] that just Washington

[00:26:31] rips you off on windows.

[00:26:32] That's a separate matter.

[00:26:34] I also got another updated

[00:26:35] window for that office

[00:26:36] because I need quiet

[00:26:37] to be able to work from home

[00:26:39] on this business.

[00:26:40] So I spent, you know, high side

[00:26:42] of 8000 bucks on new windows

[00:26:45] just to be able to sleep

[00:26:46] in this thing.

[00:26:47] I got ripped off

[00:26:48] in the mortgage certificate stuff.

[00:26:49] I had to spend thousands

[00:26:51] of dollars to renovate the lawn

[00:26:52] because it was in horrible,

[00:26:53] horrible shape

[00:26:54] and then clean off the roof

[00:26:56] of this business.

[00:26:57] I had to do this.

[00:26:59] And it turns out

[00:27:01] this road that it was on

[00:27:03] is a major throughfare.

[00:27:04] It's a major central street.

[00:27:06] So any parent taking

[00:27:08] their kids to school

[00:27:09] because none of them

[00:27:09] bleed in buses.

[00:27:11] All these cars are backed up

[00:27:12] on the road in the early morning.

[00:27:14] You're talking like an hour,

[00:27:15] possibly two hours

[00:27:16] because there were two schools.

[00:27:17] There's a middle school

[00:27:18] and an elementary school

[00:27:20] right past the HOA

[00:27:21] that's right off the hill.

[00:27:22] I had seen them,

[00:27:24] but I assumed that,

[00:27:25] you know, like normal parents,

[00:27:26] you're going to send your kid

[00:27:27] to the bus

[00:27:27] and take the kid to the bus

[00:27:29] or have your kid frickin walk.

[00:27:30] I mean, jeez,

[00:27:31] I walked much further than this.

[00:27:33] I didn't expect them all

[00:27:34] to be driving their kid

[00:27:36] to the school every morning.

[00:27:38] And of course,

[00:27:38] it was summertime.

[00:27:39] So now I'm in this home.

[00:27:42] I got the train nonsense.

[00:27:43] I'm not happy about this.

[00:27:44] Oh, and then by the way,

[00:27:46] they had frickin

[00:27:47] carpet in the bathroom.

[00:27:48] I can't stand that garbage

[00:27:49] like seriously.

[00:27:50] So I had to redo

[00:27:51] the flooring in the bathroom.

[00:27:54] Anyway, so

[00:27:56] so I got a house

[00:27:57] I'm dumping money

[00:27:58] like crazy in that I can't really

[00:27:59] I like the house itself,

[00:28:01] but I don't like where it is

[00:28:02] and I don't like what's happened.

[00:28:04] The HOA is a nightmare.

[00:28:06] The frickin traffic

[00:28:07] thing's a nightmare.

[00:28:08] The train thing's a nightmare.

[00:28:09] Everything is just not fun.

[00:28:12] And it's far away

[00:28:12] from goods and services.

[00:28:14] The closest taco shop was a joke.

[00:28:16] You might as well go to frickin

[00:28:17] Taco Bell for all I care.

[00:28:19] I couldn't stand it.

[00:28:20] This is why I said

[00:28:21] I should have bought the other one

[00:28:22] that was disclosed about the roof

[00:28:23] and I didn't.

[00:28:25] But I I learned about the process.

[00:28:27] I learned.

[00:28:28] All right, this is how I

[00:28:30] this is how the earnest money

[00:28:31] really should work.

[00:28:32] Here's how I need to understand

[00:28:34] the person I'm working with

[00:28:35] for the finance side.

[00:28:37] Here's how I need to understand

[00:28:38] the person I work for,

[00:28:39] the real estate agent

[00:28:40] and the kind of real estate

[00:28:41] agent I'm looking for,

[00:28:43] which is somebody who's going to engage

[00:28:45] and be honest and transparent.

[00:28:46] And most important two things.

[00:28:48] One, I need to stay away

[00:28:49] from these damn state programs

[00:28:51] because they're all a scam.

[00:28:52] They're a trap to

[00:28:54] the importance of the down payment,

[00:28:56] which it was always talked about.

[00:28:58] You hear adult people

[00:29:00] talk about the importance

[00:29:01] of down payment

[00:29:02] and maximizing down payment.

[00:29:05] I never appreciated the value

[00:29:07] of doing a higher down payment.

[00:29:08] Obviously, the state program

[00:29:10] notwithstanding,

[00:29:11] but I never understood

[00:29:12] the value of a stronger down payment.

[00:29:14] Now let me talk about

[00:29:15] my current situation here.

[00:29:16] So I get to the new place

[00:29:19] where I'm at now.

[00:29:20] My lease is about to be up.

[00:29:22] I have to tell them

[00:29:23] what I'm going to do by May.

[00:29:25] I don't have to be out by May.

[00:29:26] I just have to tell them

[00:29:27] what's the plan.

[00:29:28] So I start the process

[00:29:30] in roughly the first

[00:29:31] or second week of April.

[00:29:33] I go down and I want to get the loan

[00:29:36] and I have a local bank out here

[00:29:38] and I just dumped

[00:29:39] a lot of my money into it,

[00:29:40] redirected my business income to it.

[00:29:42] So that bank, the local bank,

[00:29:44] is where my primary stuff

[00:29:46] is coming from.

[00:29:47] I still have my other two bank accounts,

[00:29:49] but they're really for personal spends,

[00:29:51] you know, food or whatnot

[00:29:52] and then cash on hand.

[00:29:54] And I stacked,

[00:29:55] I stacked and stacked and stacked.

[00:29:56] I then prepaid

[00:29:58] two months of rent

[00:29:59] so I don't have to worry

[00:30:00] about these jokers

[00:30:01] while I was starting this process.

[00:30:04] They I hadn't even looked

[00:30:05] at my credit.

[00:30:05] I just for disclosure,

[00:30:07] do not have credit cards

[00:30:08] because I know they're a scam.

[00:30:09] I don't have any personal loans.

[00:30:11] I had one tiny personal loan

[00:30:12] for like $100

[00:30:13] just for building credit.

[00:30:14] Other than that, nothing

[00:30:16] because it's a scam.

[00:30:17] I know it's a scam.

[00:30:18] I worked in the business.

[00:30:19] So I talked to him

[00:30:20] and tell him straight up.

[00:30:21] This is where my money comes from.

[00:30:23] I own my own business.

[00:30:24] The business makes a lot of money

[00:30:26] between that and my personal account,

[00:30:28] which the vast majority

[00:30:30] of what's there

[00:30:31] comes from having sold

[00:30:33] investment stuff.

[00:30:34] So I had a lot of money built up

[00:30:36] ready to do 20 percent.

[00:30:38] And I purposely targeted

[00:30:39] having enough to pay 20 percent

[00:30:41] this time around

[00:30:42] because I didn't want to deal

[00:30:43] with the other garbage.

[00:30:44] She's like, not a problem.

[00:30:46] I'll go and run the numbers.

[00:30:47] She ran the numbers.

[00:30:48] It came back, said,

[00:30:49] yeah, I can do you this.

[00:30:50] The rate's slightly high,

[00:30:51] but it's not crazy high.

[00:30:53] It's slightly high,

[00:30:54] but not too bad.

[00:30:55] And the monthly is not

[00:30:57] that big of a deal

[00:30:58] because I'm doing the 20 percent down.

[00:30:59] OK, now I initially targeted

[00:31:01] 200 grand for the home

[00:31:03] because I felt like, OK,

[00:31:04] I should be able to find

[00:31:05] something with 200 grand.

[00:31:06] Even when I was in California,

[00:31:07] I could easily find a decent

[00:31:09] something with 200 grand.

[00:31:10] I get out here.

[00:31:12] The condos are actually

[00:31:13] in nicer condition

[00:31:14] than the fricking houses.

[00:31:16] The condos are higher

[00:31:18] and more expensive quality

[00:31:20] than the houses, the houses.

[00:31:22] The vast majority of them,

[00:31:23] it's like people just didn't know

[00:31:24] what they were doing

[00:31:25] and let them go to crap

[00:31:26] or they're like dirt old,

[00:31:28] like say they're in the 20s.

[00:31:30] And from the wartime,

[00:31:31] they'll have like a

[00:31:32] standalone toilet

[00:31:33] in the middle of nowhere.

[00:31:35] And apparently this is a known thing

[00:31:36] and people just whatever.

[00:31:38] So my message,

[00:31:40] number one to anybody listening,

[00:31:41] if you plan to purchase

[00:31:43] a home in the Midwest,

[00:31:45] unless it's what you prefer,

[00:31:47] I'm going to strongly recommend

[00:31:49] that you target a home

[00:31:50] that was built at least

[00:31:52] in the 50s, if not greater.

[00:31:54] The reason is because

[00:31:55] after that point,

[00:31:57] you're getting away

[00:31:58] from a lot of the old school.

[00:31:59] What happens is

[00:32:00] during the war,

[00:32:02] they would have these rooms

[00:32:03] or the separate parts

[00:32:04] that were in the basement.

[00:32:06] Your workers

[00:32:07] or the people coming home

[00:32:08] from the war

[00:32:09] would go in through there,

[00:32:10] use that to wash up

[00:32:11] before going into the main house.

[00:32:13] It makes sense,

[00:32:14] but we're not in those times anymore.

[00:32:16] You know, we don't have the coal mines

[00:32:18] and all these other things

[00:32:19] where you need that stuff.

[00:32:20] And it just looks ghetto.

[00:32:21] I'm sorry to see that now again.

[00:32:24] It may be your flavor.

[00:32:25] Maybe you're OK with it.

[00:32:26] I'm saying if you're not,

[00:32:28] that's a culture shock,

[00:32:29] at least to me,

[00:32:30] and it may be a culture shot to you.

[00:32:32] But it's a standard.

[00:32:33] It's a real thing. So.

[00:32:35] I would recommend at least the 50s

[00:32:38] when you're doing the search.

[00:32:40] Once you get past that,

[00:32:41] you'll find that in the vast majority

[00:32:43] of the Midwest,

[00:32:44] from what I saw,

[00:32:46] the target is to have

[00:32:47] a finished basement.

[00:32:48] In some cases,

[00:32:49] that finished basement

[00:32:51] is essentially nothing

[00:32:52] but a crawl space,

[00:32:52] because if you have to duck down,

[00:32:54] it's essentially a crawl space.

[00:32:55] Right.

[00:32:56] If you can stand up full tall

[00:32:59] with some room,

[00:33:00] I would consider it

[00:33:00] a finished basement.

[00:33:01] I've seen the vast spread

[00:33:04] of what that is.

[00:33:05] In some cases, it's like, yeah,

[00:33:07] that's definitely a full

[00:33:08] finished basement.

[00:33:09] They've got a pool table

[00:33:11] and sometimes there's a flat screen

[00:33:13] and no problem.

[00:33:15] And then sometimes it's just

[00:33:16] people just toss stuff down there

[00:33:18] for storage.

[00:33:18] And you're like, OK, this is

[00:33:20] this is nothing more than a crawl space

[00:33:22] for all intents and purposes.

[00:33:24] This whole laundry shoot business,

[00:33:26] which I'm not used to,

[00:33:28] but the laundry shoot is,

[00:33:29] you know, you toss the laundry down there

[00:33:30] and it goes down to the basement

[00:33:32] where the washer dryer is.

[00:33:34] Sounds good.

[00:33:35] Makes sense.

[00:33:36] But it's a new concept for me.

[00:33:38] But as I was doing

[00:33:40] then the search beyond that,

[00:33:42] the obvious stuff, right?

[00:33:44] The basements, the crawl spaces,

[00:33:45] the all this,

[00:33:47] the concept of a water softener

[00:33:48] that was new for me.

[00:33:49] Right.

[00:33:50] I I understand what it does.

[00:33:52] I don't like that

[00:33:52] some of them are rented,

[00:33:53] but I understand.

[00:33:54] But I get it

[00:33:56] because the water out here sucks.

[00:33:57] But the water sucks everywhere.

[00:33:59] So it was still a new concept.

[00:34:01] I would expect it to be everywhere,

[00:34:02] and it certainly was not in California.

[00:34:04] It was not in Colorado.

[00:34:05] Even in the home I rented in Colorado,

[00:34:07] there was no water softener there.

[00:34:08] So that was a new concept.

[00:34:10] It's something to keep in mind

[00:34:11] because you're going to have to maintain it.

[00:34:12] And then that's cost.

[00:34:14] I believe the one that I chose

[00:34:17] has a humidifier for when

[00:34:20] it's when it's cold.

[00:34:22] Right.

[00:34:22] So when the heater comes on,

[00:34:24] it humidifies the air.

[00:34:26] I believe it's got

[00:34:27] I believe it's that one.

[00:34:28] I'm having a hard time remembering,

[00:34:29] so I was looking at two homes

[00:34:30] and I settled on the one

[00:34:33] because the other one,

[00:34:34] they weren't they had more offers.

[00:34:36] So whole home humidifiers,

[00:34:38] the one I rented in Colorado

[00:34:40] is a townhome.

[00:34:40] It had that.

[00:34:41] I didn't see any benefit of it, frankly,

[00:34:45] but it's something to maintain.

[00:34:46] It's something to keep in mind

[00:34:47] that you may need to maintain.

[00:34:49] Then I debated,

[00:34:51] do I do a tankless water heater?

[00:34:53] And I've had mixed responses.

[00:34:55] Some people said no,

[00:34:56] because it takes longer to heat up the water.

[00:34:59] Some people said absolutely,

[00:35:01] because you don't have to

[00:35:02] maintain the water heater

[00:35:03] because you have to maintain

[00:35:03] the water heater no matter what.

[00:35:05] I don't know.

[00:35:06] I got to think about that one.

[00:35:07] I have to think right now

[00:35:08] it's a natural gas based home,

[00:35:10] which I don't want.

[00:35:11] I want an electrified quote home,

[00:35:14] including solar.

[00:35:16] So that's cost, right?

[00:35:17] You have to think about what that takes.

[00:35:19] I have to upgrade the panel

[00:35:20] because I do plan to put

[00:35:21] an EV charger in the garage.

[00:35:23] There's all that to think about for this.

[00:35:26] So as I watched it, I'm like, OK.

[00:35:29] I'm cool buying this home

[00:35:32] other than what I called out

[00:35:33] of things I didn't know.

[00:35:35] It's actually very nice.

[00:35:37] You know, the layout,

[00:35:38] it's quality,

[00:35:39] it feels like quality.

[00:35:40] Noise was suppressed really nicely.

[00:35:42] The windows are in good shape

[00:35:43] from what I saw.

[00:35:45] And the irony, right?

[00:35:48] So the living,

[00:35:49] this home was built in 59, I believe.

[00:35:52] The living room,

[00:35:53] when you walk into it,

[00:35:54] it's got like these saloon doors,

[00:35:56] which is kind of odd.

[00:35:58] But and I literally mean saloon doors.

[00:36:00] That's a little what they are.

[00:36:01] You walk in and the

[00:36:04] the first thing that goes to my mind

[00:36:06] when in my grandparents house

[00:36:08] on my mother's side,

[00:36:09] my grandparents house,

[00:36:10] they when you walk in the door

[00:36:12] right to the right

[00:36:13] is a set of French doors,

[00:36:14] glass French doors.

[00:36:16] And they would always be locked,

[00:36:18] which didn't make any sense,

[00:36:19] but it was always be locked.

[00:36:19] And inside there,

[00:36:20] it had like a red carpet.

[00:36:22] And she had a bunch of these little

[00:36:23] like porcelain things up on a

[00:36:27] stand and some nice chairs.

[00:36:29] It was like a it looked like a large

[00:36:32] version of a dollhouse inside of this.

[00:36:33] Kind of it was kind of creepy.

[00:36:35] You could get in there, though,

[00:36:37] from the kitchen and the dining room.

[00:36:39] That's why I didn't make any sense.

[00:36:41] But that's what it reminded me

[00:36:43] when I walked in the carpet,

[00:36:44] the way the carpet felt under feet.

[00:36:47] It had that same plush feeling.

[00:36:49] It had that same quiet,

[00:36:51] you know, where the air is still

[00:36:53] and the height of the ceiling

[00:36:54] was about the same.

[00:36:55] And it just had nice chairs

[00:36:57] just like it in the fire.

[00:36:59] Everything felt very similar to that room.

[00:37:02] Very, very similar upstairs.

[00:37:04] Then you had two bedrooms upstairs.

[00:37:08] There's one bedroom on the base,

[00:37:10] but there's two bedrooms upstairs.

[00:37:12] They both had kind of throwback carpet

[00:37:15] and the throwback carpet

[00:37:16] reminded me very closely

[00:37:19] of carpet that I remembered

[00:37:22] from visiting somebody's house

[00:37:24] from like when I was a kid.

[00:37:25] Like it's like a

[00:37:27] it's like a burgundy type

[00:37:28] of color with the design.

[00:37:30] I can't describe it beyond that,

[00:37:31] but I liked it.

[00:37:32] I thought it was really good.

[00:37:34] And then the other one had like a pinkish

[00:37:36] that was kind of in,

[00:37:36] but I don't mind it.

[00:37:38] But just to throw back home

[00:37:40] in very good condition,

[00:37:41] it was really, really good condition.

[00:37:43] I didn't see anything

[00:37:45] I didn't like about it.

[00:37:47] You know, I did see that

[00:37:48] there was drainage issues

[00:37:49] on the back in the back lawn,

[00:37:51] but I know how to fix it

[00:37:52] because I dealt with it

[00:37:53] in the Washington place.

[00:37:55] So I put an offer in

[00:37:57] on it for full price,

[00:37:58] knowing that, you know,

[00:37:59] we're going to do the inspection

[00:38:00] that may adjust something

[00:38:02] and the appraisal

[00:38:02] may adjust something.

[00:38:04] But what I noticed

[00:38:05] after I did the offer.

[00:38:07] So again, I'm going in 20% down.

[00:38:09] I was the first to put an offer.

[00:38:11] They accepted my offer straight over

[00:38:13] because I'm coming

[00:38:14] with the best offer

[00:38:15] possible at this point.

[00:38:17] After what after what goes on,

[00:38:19] you know, in the process,

[00:38:20] appraisal inspecting

[00:38:22] and if the number adjusts,

[00:38:24] what the what your lender

[00:38:26] is going to be considering

[00:38:27] then is loaned to value.

[00:38:28] So with a conventional loan,

[00:38:30] usually that's 95% ish of whatever it is.

[00:38:34] So let's say your appraisal

[00:38:35] comes back and it turns out

[00:38:37] that the home appraise

[00:38:38] is lower than the price

[00:38:40] that the purchase price

[00:38:41] that's proposed.

[00:38:42] What they expect you to do.

[00:38:45] Most people are coming in

[00:38:46] for like 5% down or whatever,

[00:38:48] and then they'll go up.

[00:38:50] Which is perfectly fine.

[00:38:51] But when you do that,

[00:38:53] they're going to charge you

[00:38:54] higher rates does the lender.

[00:38:56] So in terms of points,

[00:38:58] so you can do that if you want.

[00:39:00] Just understand

[00:39:01] you're going to get nailed

[00:39:02] for doing so.

[00:39:04] But if it turns out

[00:39:04] the appraisal is out of whack,

[00:39:06] you may be required

[00:39:07] to pay more out of front anyway,

[00:39:09] or you have to figure out

[00:39:10] the seller convincing them

[00:39:12] to come down on the price,

[00:39:13] which they may not be willing to do

[00:39:15] because they're not required to do it.

[00:39:17] For the inspection,

[00:39:18] it's a bit different

[00:39:18] because if there's something

[00:39:19] that needs to be fixed,

[00:39:20] that the fundamental issue

[00:39:21] that wasn't disclosed,

[00:39:23] either they need to fix it

[00:39:25] and they usually would have

[00:39:26] the right to cure it.

[00:39:28] And that's fine.

[00:39:29] Laws, they fix it

[00:39:29] or they need to come down

[00:39:31] on the price

[00:39:31] and we have to agree.

[00:39:33] All right, you got to fix

[00:39:34] that nonsense

[00:39:35] or you're going to come down

[00:39:36] the price of the business.

[00:39:37] That's going to affect what that

[00:39:38] that loan value is going to be.

[00:39:40] So the point is

[00:39:42] the 20%,

[00:39:44] the value that I didn't understand

[00:39:46] way back when I did this

[00:39:47] in Washington

[00:39:49] of the 20%

[00:39:50] is buffer.

[00:39:51] It's padding, it's buffer.

[00:39:53] It's not even just

[00:39:55] minimizing how long you get

[00:39:56] to pay for the home.

[00:39:57] That's part of it.

[00:39:59] But it's also just

[00:40:00] buffer and control

[00:40:02] of the situation.

[00:40:03] It keeps it in your control

[00:40:05] so that you have the power

[00:40:06] when you go in on the offer.

[00:40:08] If you go in

[00:40:09] with a lower down payment

[00:40:11] and something is found,

[00:40:13] your bank is not going

[00:40:14] to cut you a break,

[00:40:15] you know, your lender.

[00:40:16] So you're going to need

[00:40:17] to come up with money later anyway,

[00:40:19] but they're going to nail you on points.

[00:40:20] They're going to nail you on the rate.

[00:40:23] If you come in

[00:40:24] with a higher down upfront

[00:40:26] and you say

[00:40:27] I'm committed to doing 20%,

[00:40:29] period.

[00:40:30] The 20% gets factored in

[00:40:33] to the loan.

[00:40:34] Their job, your lender,

[00:40:35] is to then find

[00:40:36] the lowest possible rate for you,

[00:40:38] which is usually going to be

[00:40:39] a shorter term

[00:40:41] than the 30.

[00:40:42] And it may raise,

[00:40:43] it'll raise your monthly for sure,

[00:40:44] but what it does

[00:40:45] is that also assures

[00:40:47] you're not going to be forced to do

[00:40:48] escrow if you don't want to.

[00:40:50] I think the vast majority of states

[00:40:52] waive the need for escrow

[00:40:53] if you do 20% down.

[00:40:55] You're not going to do

[00:40:56] mortgage insurance

[00:40:57] because it's 20% down.

[00:40:59] That's the threshold for those

[00:41:00] in the vast majority of situations.

[00:41:03] If something happens

[00:41:04] on the appraisal,

[00:41:04] you're already covered on the 20%.

[00:41:06] And if that goes down,

[00:41:08] let's say that it appraises for lower,

[00:41:10] so the loan's going to be lower.

[00:41:11] You can negotiate that down

[00:41:13] possibly with the seller.

[00:41:15] And say, hey, it appraised for,

[00:41:18] you know, 20,000 lower.

[00:41:19] Can we come down off of it

[00:41:20] and match the appraisal

[00:41:21] so everything's going good?

[00:41:22] And then that's less money

[00:41:23] that you need down.

[00:41:24] Or if they're holding fast

[00:41:27] to what that price is,

[00:41:29] you can choose to walk away

[00:41:30] and you have the power,

[00:41:32] but the 20% protects you

[00:41:34] because you could also move forward.

[00:41:35] Let's say it's a home

[00:41:36] you really want.

[00:41:37] You're in control.

[00:41:38] The bank can no longer hold you back,

[00:41:41] you know, unless it's the extreme, right?

[00:41:42] If it's home is 300 grand

[00:41:45] and it appraises for 225,

[00:41:47] you're probably screwed.

[00:41:47] But, you know, I'm talking situations

[00:41:49] where it's just home is 300 grand

[00:41:51] and appraises for 280, right?

[00:41:53] You got a little fluff room

[00:41:55] for your 20% to control the situation

[00:41:58] as the buyer.

[00:41:59] And you can't know,

[00:42:01] you could think it's a buyer's market.

[00:42:02] Like right now,

[00:42:03] homes are closing in like two or three days.

[00:42:06] So the assumption is

[00:42:06] that's a buyer's market.

[00:42:08] But the vast majority of them

[00:42:09] are closing at the purchase price.

[00:42:11] If they're closing at the purchase price

[00:42:13] and not significantly above it,

[00:42:15] can I honestly say it's a buyer's market?

[00:42:17] Probably not.

[00:42:18] It just happens to be that

[00:42:19] most sellers are giving it

[00:42:21] and I do see a lot of inspection waivers,

[00:42:24] which that really I don't know why

[00:42:26] and I would tell you not to do that.

[00:42:28] But okay,

[00:42:29] that's what you choose to do.

[00:42:30] That's not what I'm going to do.

[00:42:32] So my lessons learned

[00:42:33] going through this recent process

[00:42:35] compared to what I did before,

[00:42:37] hopefully of help

[00:42:39] and the reason behind the value

[00:42:41] of the 20%

[00:42:42] and I know it's hard to accumulate 20%.

[00:42:44] I know that.

[00:42:45] Trust me, I feel it.

[00:42:46] But the reason and the value of the 20%,

[00:42:50] it puts you in my opinion

[00:42:52] as the buyer in control.

[00:42:54] If there's fluctuation

[00:42:56] of the final purchase price

[00:42:57] or the assessed price,

[00:42:59] you're still in control.

[00:43:01] You can always walk away.

[00:43:03] I'm talking about

[00:43:04] in terms of negotiation leverage

[00:43:06] because if you're coming in

[00:43:07] with that much money on hand,

[00:43:10] you come across as a stronger buyer

[00:43:12] to the seller

[00:43:13] compared to somebody

[00:43:14] that's only got 5% down,

[00:43:16] that's only got limited skin of the game.

[00:43:18] You're still competing

[00:43:19] with the cash only people, obviously.

[00:43:22] But I'm talking in terms of

[00:43:23] people who are taking out loans.

[00:43:25] You look more appealing

[00:43:26] if you got that much money

[00:43:27] coming into the process.

[00:43:29] It means that you're insulated

[00:43:31] from a lot of that shift

[00:43:33] and they're going to look at you

[00:43:34] and say, all right,

[00:43:35] this is somebody that we know

[00:43:37] they're going to get approved

[00:43:39] because the vast majority of lenders,

[00:43:41] they're almost guaranteed

[00:43:42] to approve you

[00:43:43] if you're coming in with 20% down,

[00:43:44] long as your credit is at least 620.

[00:43:47] And even if it's 600, let's say,

[00:43:49] the FHA is almost guaranteed to do it too.

[00:43:52] So to me,

[00:43:54] as a personal opinion

[00:43:55] and a lessons learned,

[00:43:57] the 20% is extremely difficult

[00:44:00] to accumulate,

[00:44:01] especially when you have to pay rent

[00:44:03] and rent is sky high

[00:44:04] and salaries are jacked up low

[00:44:06] despite what the Biden administration says.

[00:44:09] I agree with every single part of this

[00:44:11] and what people are thinking in their mind

[00:44:13] about the reality of collecting it.

[00:44:15] I was one,

[00:44:16] I was one who was adamantly opposed

[00:44:18] to the concept of a 20% down

[00:44:20] until I went in without 20% down

[00:44:23] and went on these sketchy programs,

[00:44:25] although state sanctioned

[00:44:27] and essentially got ripped off

[00:44:28] from my troubles.

[00:44:30] This time coming in with 20%

[00:44:33] gave me more power.

[00:44:34] I feel more in control

[00:44:35] as the lender is coming back

[00:44:37] and saying I need this document,

[00:44:38] need this document.

[00:44:39] It's an easier process.

[00:44:40] I'm not having to fight it.

[00:44:42] Now we still have to get past the appraisal.

[00:44:45] This home, the comps are very well

[00:44:47] within reach of what it is.

[00:44:49] To the point I suspect

[00:44:51] it may actually even appraise

[00:44:52] higher than the purchase price.

[00:44:54] If that happens,

[00:44:55] which is what you want,

[00:44:56] but it's rare,

[00:44:57] but if that happens,

[00:44:59] it means I have some equity

[00:45:00] fresh out the gate.

[00:45:01] The equity of my down payment

[00:45:03] plus the equity of whatever overage

[00:45:05] of equity fresh out the gate,

[00:45:06] should I choose to use it?

[00:45:08] Would I choose to use it?

[00:45:10] Maybe because there's certain enhancements

[00:45:11] and improvements I would want to do

[00:45:13] to the home.

[00:45:14] I like to have that ability

[00:45:15] and the flexibility.

[00:45:16] It's not that I would necessarily do it.

[00:45:18] It's I like to have the ability

[00:45:20] and flexibility to do so.

[00:45:22] How did I get to 20% down then

[00:45:24] is my last question

[00:45:25] I'll answer for you

[00:45:26] that you may have been curious about.

[00:45:28] First of all, my endeavor pays me a lot.

[00:45:31] Setting that aside,

[00:45:32] I ultimately just stacked.

[00:45:34] I stacked and stacked and stacked.

[00:45:35] I set aside what I could.

[00:45:37] I don't do monthly payments

[00:45:39] on hardly anything.

[00:45:40] I pay in advance.

[00:45:41] So if I get extra money,

[00:45:42] which I got extra money

[00:45:44] in Q3 of 2023

[00:45:46] because I was working

[00:45:47] a very difficult transition

[00:45:48] for my client

[00:45:50] to the point I was getting paid double

[00:45:52] because I was putting in so many hours.

[00:45:54] I took the extra money that I made

[00:45:56] putting in more work

[00:45:57] and I stacked it.

[00:45:58] I just stashed it, stashed it, stashed it.

[00:46:01] I had to spend some money to move here.

[00:46:03] Van, rental, storage.

[00:46:06] I had to pay some money for this.

[00:46:07] But once I got here,

[00:46:09] I took some of the other money

[00:46:10] and I paid a year.

[00:46:11] So like my storage unit,

[00:46:13] I paid it all the way up to July.

[00:46:15] So I don't have to pay monthly

[00:46:16] because I can't guarantee monthly

[00:46:18] is going to be the same amount.

[00:46:19] It could fluctuate, right?

[00:46:20] If there's holidays or something.

[00:46:22] So if I can pay it for a year,

[00:46:24] I pay it for a year with money I have now.

[00:46:26] That way I don't have to worry about monthly.

[00:46:28] That puts a little bit less burden

[00:46:30] on the monthly inflows.

[00:46:31] I get paid roughly every 14 days

[00:46:33] from my client

[00:46:34] and then my business pays me once a week.

[00:46:37] But that's the thing

[00:46:39] take and I overpay essentially,

[00:46:41] so I don't have to pay every month.

[00:46:43] Paying month to month to month

[00:46:44] was the worst decision I ever made

[00:46:47] when I was making less money.

[00:46:49] Because there were always these spikes

[00:46:50] where I would have,

[00:46:51] let's say 30,000 bucks in a bulk.

[00:46:54] And what I should have done

[00:46:56] is just pay something off for a year

[00:46:58] so I don't have the monthly

[00:47:00] because it's harder to accumulate

[00:47:02] when you're paying every single month.

[00:47:03] I know it sounds weird,

[00:47:05] but that's just how I perceived it.

[00:47:09] My insurance for my cars,

[00:47:11] I pay it per quarter.

[00:47:12] I don't pay it per month.

[00:47:13] It's just paid per quarter

[00:47:14] and then paid off

[00:47:15] and not to worry about it till next year.

[00:47:17] I do everything I can to overpay

[00:47:18] so that I can stack month to month

[00:47:20] to month, month, month.

[00:47:21] And I find it easier at that.

[00:47:23] The other piece I do

[00:47:24] is I pay for cash where I can.

[00:47:27] Cash is king.

[00:47:28] When you're paying off a debit card

[00:47:30] or a credit card,

[00:47:31] you'd be surprised how much more you spend

[00:47:34] versus if you're pulling out cash

[00:47:36] and you can only spend what you have on hand.

[00:47:38] It's a measure of control

[00:47:39] of the money you spend.

[00:47:41] I know for the young people,

[00:47:42] cash is not what you like to do.

[00:47:44] I'm just sharing what,

[00:47:45] in case somebody does care,

[00:47:46] some of these techniques that I did.

[00:47:48] Between all of that,

[00:47:50] then there's the other car that I have

[00:47:53] and I put a lot of money into it.

[00:47:55] I can always sell it

[00:47:56] because I own it straight out

[00:47:57] and I'm pretty sure

[00:47:58] I could get at least nine grand for it.

[00:47:59] So that's another nine grand

[00:48:01] in money of value.

[00:48:03] My primary car,

[00:48:04] I'm pretty sure I could sell it

[00:48:05] for 12 grand if I tried.

[00:48:07] Okay, so minimum 20 grand for two cars.

[00:48:10] If I needed to,

[00:48:11] I owned them both.

[00:48:12] I paid cash for them.

[00:48:14] I don't do loans for it.

[00:48:16] You know, the home is a different thing.

[00:48:18] Here, I wanted to own the cars free and clear

[00:48:22] to have no monthly anything.

[00:48:24] That was the key.

[00:48:25] No monthly anything.

[00:48:26] Just everything is paid off for a year

[00:48:28] or it's paid off total.

[00:48:30] So that monthly I can accumulate

[00:48:32] and accumulate and accumulate

[00:48:33] and set aside

[00:48:34] and then some investment stuff

[00:48:35] and everything else.

[00:48:37] But the monthly was a scam.

[00:48:38] I covered that on another episode.

[00:48:41] If this goes through,

[00:48:42] I don't see a reason it shouldn't

[00:48:43] but if this goes through,

[00:48:44] it'll create a loan.

[00:48:45] It'll create a mortgage for me

[00:48:47] and that's a monthly expense.

[00:48:49] I still plan to overpay it.

[00:48:51] So let's say it goes to 2,000 bucks a month.

[00:48:55] That's $2,000 a month

[00:48:56] that goes towards equity

[00:48:57] that's really benefiting me.

[00:48:59] It's going to the bank

[00:49:00] but it's equity.

[00:49:00] It's going towards me

[00:49:01] and benefiting me.

[00:49:03] My plan is to overpay it

[00:49:04] and try to toss like 5,000 bucks a month at it

[00:49:07] or something because I make so much

[00:49:09] because I want to pay it off sooner.

[00:49:10] The loan term is 15 years.

[00:49:13] I don't want to be paying 15 years.

[00:49:14] I'm not even sure I'll be here for 15 years.

[00:49:17] I want to pay it off as quick as I can.

[00:49:19] That's the summary of what I'm saying

[00:49:21] is I shifted to paying stuff off

[00:49:23] as quick as I could

[00:49:25] paying for a year

[00:49:26] not month by month

[00:49:27] if there's something that only offers

[00:49:29] month by month.

[00:49:29] I say screw you bro

[00:49:32] and then stack

[00:49:33] and take the money that I get

[00:49:34] and stack and stack and stack as much as I can.

[00:49:37] And that's how I got to 20%.

[00:49:39] In my situation, yes

[00:49:40] I make a lot of money

[00:49:41] until I was able to do it quicker.

[00:49:43] For some it may take a lot longer to stack it.

[00:49:46] I'm not suggesting it's easy.

[00:49:48] I'm recommending if you can

[00:49:50] and you're in a position to do so

[00:49:51] consider it if you're going to purchase something

[00:49:54] consider the 20%.

[00:49:56] It's peace of mind.

[00:49:57] It's a buffer.

[00:49:58] You are not required to

[00:49:59] most programs they'll work with you for 5% say

[00:50:03] FHA I think has 3.5%

[00:50:05] so it's not that you're required to do higher

[00:50:08] I just think it behooves you to do higher.

[00:50:10] You're going to end up saving more money in the long run.

[00:50:13] You're going to end up having an easier time

[00:50:15] in my opinion through the process.

[00:50:17] Most important when you

[00:50:19] if and when you go through this whole business

[00:50:21] make sure it's a realtor

[00:50:22] that has your best interests at heart not theirs.

[00:50:25] They get paid by the seller not by you

[00:50:27] so they're going to get paid no matter what.

[00:50:29] So make sure it's a good realtor

[00:50:31] that cares about what you need.

[00:50:32] Not trying to push you into something

[00:50:34] that's not going to work for you.

[00:50:36] The home that you choose

[00:50:37] and maybe I'll say that for another episode

[00:50:39] the home that you choose needs to work for your needs

[00:50:42] and you need to really put some thought into it

[00:50:44] because you're putting a large investment into it.

[00:50:47] That investment needs to go to value

[00:50:49] for you and your family.

[00:50:51] Don't get tempted to go on the first one that you find.

[00:50:55] There's tons out there.

[00:50:57] Make sure you don't get trapped

[00:50:59] simply because it looks nice on the outside

[00:51:02] or it's a nice realtor.

[00:51:03] It's a tricky bit.

[00:51:05] Once you do it once or twice

[00:51:06] go into the process you start seeing patterns

[00:51:09] and how the whole thing works

[00:51:10] and it gets easier as you do it.

[00:51:12] The assumption of the business

[00:51:14] is that you have done it at least once.

[00:51:15] Most people haven't.

[00:51:16] Most people stay renting.

[00:51:18] It's fine to stay renting.

[00:51:19] I would warn you though

[00:51:21] median rents are increasing

[00:51:23] and they're not going down

[00:51:25] and we're getting to a point now very soon

[00:51:27] where it's expected that interest rates

[00:51:29] may go up for things

[00:51:30] so it may get actually more expensive

[00:51:32] to purchase things.

[00:51:33] With inflation where it is, it's possible.

[00:51:37] Price appreciation becomes a factor.

[00:51:39] When I tell the story about the house

[00:51:41] right of finding the right house

[00:51:43] and choosing it then I may give some background

[00:51:46] into some data I found

[00:51:48] about houses from my childhood

[00:51:50] because it may be interesting

[00:51:52] when thinking over time

[00:51:54] over decades of decisions and thoughts

[00:51:56] and the kinds of things

[00:51:57] you're up against now versus then

[00:52:00] and what you may consider

[00:52:01] especially if you have the means to do so.

[00:52:04] Summary though, the down payment

[00:52:07] its primary value is to give you power

[00:52:11] as the buyer.

[00:52:13] It benefits you.

[00:52:14] It doesn't.

[00:52:15] It benefits the bank

[00:52:16] because they're less risk.

[00:52:17] You got skin of the game.

[00:52:18] It benefits the seller

[00:52:19] because they have confidence in you

[00:52:21] but it also benefits you

[00:52:22] because it's a buffer.

[00:52:23] It's control.

[00:52:24] It gives you more fluff

[00:52:26] for these things that you cannot control

[00:52:28] and I strongly recommend considering doing so

[00:52:31] if you have the means to do it.