Jason's Homebuying Journey

Speaker 1: [0:09] Hello, hello, and welcome to the Awesome Seattle Podcast. This week is a very special episode. We are going to interview someone who after 15 years of renting decided to buy a house. We're gonna go over that entire process. So, uh, with me today, I have the wonderful Jason Saldarriaga, as always.

Speaker 2: [0:30] You're always that bill-

Speaker 1: [0:31] You're always here. As always, yeah. Hi. Hi. I'm

Speaker 2: [0:37] Charlotte Reynolds. I also am always here.

Speaker 1: [0:39] Yes, you are.

Speaker 2: [0:40] Sarah Kate Davis.

Speaker 1: [0:41] All right. And I am Christian Nossum, and we are the Awesome Nossum Group. We are a group of real estate agents in the Seattle area. Our brokerage is at Wilson Realty Exchange, Inc.

Speaker 2: [0:50] Woo-hoo. Ding.

Speaker 1: [0:52] I don't know why I said it like that, but we did.

Speaker 2: [0:54] I didn't know we were an Inc.

Speaker 1: [0:55] Yeah. Um, so our guest today is actually Jason Saldarriaga.

Speaker 3: [1:01] As always. Hello.

Speaker 2: [1:05] Hi. Thanks for being with us today. You're

Speaker 1: [1:08] welcome. We so appreciate you. Thanks for making it all the way here. Just in time for this episode. So first off, let's congratulate Jason for buying a house. For being sweet.

Speaker 3: [1:18] I did it. I did it.

Speaker 2: [1:20] I'm a big kid now.

Speaker 1: [1:21] Yes. Yes, you are. Mommy,

Speaker 3: [1:23] wow.

Speaker 1: [1:24] Mommy, wow. Da, da, da, da, da, I'm a… Anyways, uh-

Speaker 3: [1:28] We were just playing that a few weeks ago.

Speaker 1: [1:30] We, we tried to find the- Yeah … music- Yeah … and there were some really weird-

Speaker 3: [1:34] Like,

Speaker 1: [1:35] modern

Speaker 3: [1:35] remixes … videos. With Nicki Minaj influences.

Speaker 2: [1:40] Ew.

Speaker 1: [1:40] All right. So let's start off with some questions, Jason, since you were the one that just purchased this house.

Speaker 2: [1:46] Yeah. So as Christian just mentioned, you've been, you know, obviously renting for the last 15 years. So what made you decide that purchasing a home was the right move for you?

Speaker 3: [1:55] Well, it's something I've wanted to do for a long time. In Seattle, it can be pretty tough because it's so expensive- Mm-hmm … and competitive. Obviously, I'm a real estate agent. I've been a real estate agent now for two and a half years. To get a loan or a good loan, you generally need two years in the same career field. Mm-hmm. And, uh, and so that was one of the requirements, kind of, you know, after I ch- One of the hold-ups … yeah, after I changed careers to become a real estate agent, kind of, "Oh, I have to wait now." Yeah. Mm-hmm. "I can't hit the ground running and buy a house immediately." So that was part of it, and then, um, you know, right now, interest rates are really low. Um, the Seattle market, it's just a… It seems like a good time to buy, so it was a, a perfect storm. It was time.

Speaker 1: [2:43] Mm-hmm.

Speaker 3: [2:43] It was definitely not because of my lease, that's for sure. Yeah.

Speaker 2: [2:46] We all know that.

Speaker 1: [2:47] Yeah. Well, we're definitely gonna go over that as well. Yeah, we'll

Speaker 3: [2:49] talk about that.

Speaker 1: [2:50] So what would you say the most important thing you did to pref- prepare yourself for this successful journey that you just finally accomplished?

Speaker 3: [2:59] Yeah, I think, and this is how I am with pretty much everything, and we do this as a team with our clients, it's about knowing what I'm getting myself into- Yeah my education. Um, being a real estate agent, obviously, I was very informed, but I try to get everyone that I work with on a s- you know, a- on this, an equal playing field, so you know what you're doing. I, I hate clients who trust me so much they don't wanna read the form they're sign- signing. Mm-hmm. I want them to know what they're signing, what that means. Um, and so, um, honestly, I think that is by far the most important aspect, understanding the market, understanding the process, the legal requirements, all the stuff. Um, and so I know with our clients, we give home-buying classes with them. Uh, uh, about every month we give a home-buying class, and if a client that isn't able to come to one, we still give them, like, this education. The whole spiel.

Speaker 1: [3:52] Yeah. And- And then you can find out our next class at beersandhomebuying.com.

Speaker 3: [3:56] Yeah, you can. Ooh,

Speaker 1: [3:57] plug. Plug. Um, so- Yeah. So you'd say the most important thing you did to make yourself successful is just really, uh, preparing yourself for, for the journey, understanding the process, understanding what you get for your money, um, kinda dialing in your neighborhoods, your preferred neighborhoods, and I mean, you were kinda m- like most people, you were somewhat open to the areas that you were interested in. Um-

Speaker 4: [4:23] Yeah, Jason, how did you decide what neighborhoods you wanted to look at?

Speaker 3: [4:26] Um, I have the f… My partner and I took advantage of the fact that we were renters for the last five years, and we moved pretty much every year to different neighborhoods and it, and really explored the city. Being a real estate agent, I see neighborhoods daily. Um, so I was living in Fremont. I was renting in Fremont, and I love that area of North Seattle, Fremont, Ballard, Phinney, Greenwood, Green Lake, that whole area. And so I kind of, that was where my heart was. That's where my focus was, and- Mm-hmm … um, yeah, I mean, uh, that was a little different than our clients at least because I ex- like I said, I explore neighborhoods constantly. Right. That's my job. Yeah. So, but, uh, so I kinda did, we do neighborhood tours with clients, so I kinda did my own through my clients- Mm-hmm … over the last two and a half years. Sure. But, but, uh, but yeah, North

Speaker 4: [5:20] Seattle- I'm sure moving- … is

Speaker 3: [5:21] amazing … Speaker 4: moving and exploring the different neighborhoods in that way was super helpful. Although moving is not very fun. Yeah, no. I'm sure it helped in your home buying process.

Speaker 1: [5:29] Yeah, not so much. It's actually kinda funny. We, my wife and I did a similar thing. We lived on North Beacon Hill for five years, and when we deci- after we had kids, we decided we needed to move up north, on the other side of downtown I should say, because my family lives in Lynnwood. So in order to get help with the kids, if we ever wanted it, they had to drive through downtown, and it was like every time was an hour journey. So we had to explore neighborhoods. We first rented in different neighborhoods in North Seattle to figure out which one felt right for us too. Yeah. So it's, it's a very similar, similar process, and it works really well for people. If you're, if you're looking to move, um, and you're s- you're looking to rent, start exploring neighborhoods that way. That's a, it's a great way to go about it.

Speaker 3: [6:13] Yeah, I mean, we had, my partner and I, and I had some requirements. We, the number one being we had to be able to walk to a grocery store. Mm-hmm. He doesn't drive. I try to drive as little as possible, and so that's, that was like a requirement. That limited it to like more of a central location in terms of each neighborhood. But other than that, I really, you know, the North Seattle area is just so much fun and there's so much there.

Speaker 1: [6:38] Yeah. So when you bought, you were actually in a lease.

Speaker 3: [6:43] Yeah.

Speaker 1: [6:43] And your lease had somewhat recently, if I remember correctly- Yeah, like

Speaker 3: [6:46] August- … I signed a year lease.

Speaker 1: [6:50] Yeah. And you closed in November. So how did all that pan out, and did you end up paying a big penalty, or what happened there? Can you explain?

Speaker 3: [6:58] Yeah, so I, uh, moved into this, my previous place, the, the apartment in Fremont. I moved there last year, last August. So when this August came around and we needed to renew the lease- Um, I knew by that point , you know, uh, within the next year my goal is to own a house. Um, and so I reached out to my landlord, and I went over to his place, and we talked for, like, 30 minutes, and I was just very honest. I said… You know, I, no, that's a lie. I didn't, that was a different discussion. He took us to dinner, and we actually discussed it there. Hmm. Um, and I was just- Oh, I c- I want

Speaker 2: [7:35] him to be my landlord. I know.

Speaker 3: [7:36] Yeah. He

Speaker 2: [7:36] sounds very

Speaker 3: [7:37] nice. Oh, he's very nice, very nice. But yeah, we, we discussed our goals, and I was very direct. Look, my goal is to buy a house, um, in the next year. And so m- in my head I was thinking we're gonna go month, month to month. However, he had made a comment that he was thinking of raising the rent. Um, he was willing to d- do month to month, but I did not feel great about the idea of him ra- raising the rent-

Speaker 1: [8:01] Mm-hmm

Speaker 3: [8:01] at, you know, randomly.

Speaker 1: [8:03] Yeah.

Speaker 3: [8:03] Which they can do. 'Cause at that point he

Speaker 1: [8:04] could-

Speaker 3: [8:05] Yeah … Speaker: every single month. Yep. Um, and he had said, you know, "No matter what, if you help me find somebody to cover your l- to move in and re- take over your lease, um, w- you're fine." So I basically, "All right. Well, I guess I'll, we'll sign a year lease then if that's the case." That way I protect the rental amount- Mm-hmm … for a year, and I still have the flexibility to move as long as we find somebody to replace my lease. But that's pretty easy in Seattle, and it worked out perfectly in terms of the timeframe. So-

Speaker 1: [8:34] Yeah … um-

Speaker 3: [8:35] And

Speaker 1: [8:35] that's often the case. If you just ask, even some of these big apartment buildings, if you just ask, "Hey, I'm thinking of buying a house," or, "I'm thinking of moving. How can I not have to pay a penalty?" Or, "How can I break this leas- lease early? Um, what would the penalty be? And hey, if I found the next renter to take over my lease, can I reduce, or minimize, or completely eliminate my, you know, penalty?" Whatever that would be. 'Cause you're doing their job for them. In their opinion, or it should, doesn't always work this way, but it should just really be no different. They're gonna collect… They're gonna have a new tenant in there, but they're gonna collect rent every single month.

Speaker 3: [9:16] Yeah, and he was able to raise the rent.

Speaker 1: [9:18] Exactly. Yeah.

Speaker 3: [9:19] And he raised it quite a bit, so.

Speaker 2: [9:22] Win-win for both of you. Congratulations.

Speaker 1: [9:24] Yeah. All right, let's move on to some financing questions. So with all of our clients, we always want them to get underwritten upfront, which underwritten is basically just a, a much more in-depth preapproval, just really making sure that you can actually afford what you want. So, uh, how did that process work for you, especially considering you're a commission-only, uh, real estate agent? That's a little different than a normal nine-to-five W2 employee.

Speaker 3: [9:52] Yeah, I mean, it was honestly pretty simple. I just needed to show pay stubs or my commission checks for- Mm-hmm … the recent past. Um, and they basically used that to calculate my annual income. It was fairly easy b- because I had two years of it. Mm-hmm. Um, I encountered some, uh, weirdness like we all do, and I'm not gonna go into too much specifics there, but everyone al- Uh, this is one of the reasons we always advise our clients to get pre-underwritten because you- Yep … I- There's always hiccups. There's always hiccups, and there was hiccups along the way even after I was underwritten. Mm-hmm You know, that's why a lot of times when you talk to people or if you yourself already bought, a lot of times the worst part of the experience of home buying is the financing side. Um, it's can be very stressful depending on the lender. That's why it's recommended that you listen to your real estate agent. And- Yeah … like, if they recommend certain lenders, definitely pursue that and see if they, they're a good fit because most likely there's a reason they're being recommended.

Speaker 1: [10:52] Exactly.

Speaker 3: [10:52] Uh, they make … They're honest, they're, they smooth process. Mm-hmm. They have a good track record. Because y- nine times out of 10 it's financing that causes the hiccups. And here with my journey, with my home purchase, um, the, the weird hiccups was really from that aspect, from the financing side.

Speaker 1: [11:14] So what kind of documentation other than pay stubs did you have to provide?

Speaker 3: [11:18] Oh, God, everything. Uh, actually, I, I'll be honest, less than I thought, I'll be honest. Yeah. Uh, so it's more like tax returns, um, bank statements for whatever- Period of time … accounts that you need- Yeah … that they need to know about, um, to see, like, where the money's coming from, that sort of thing. Um, you know, it, it was pretty simple. I'm very organized, and so I wanted to make this point before, um- You know, there, part of my knowledge buildup in order to prepare myself to be ready to buy a house, that it was more than just accepting and learning knowledge and, you know, data and understanding the, the process of home buying. It also was a lot of work to organize my stuff, so my assets, organize my paperwork, you know, my statements. So when the time came that I was getting ready to be underwritten and they asked for various bank statements or whatever, it was literally a five-second, like, "Here's my Dropbox folder of all of my- Yeah … financial information." Some clients, it can take them months, especially if you're working with an HR department. It, that can take a few weeks just getting certain paperwork from HR that you need for the lending aspect. So that really sped up my process, having that all organized.

Speaker 1: [12:34] Yeah. And working with a lender that can give you that list upfront before you get under contract on a house- Mm-hmm … is super helpful, so you can start gathering all of that documentation upfront.

Speaker 3: [12:45] For sure.

Speaker 1: [12:47] Um, do you wanna talk about short verified income and kinda how, how you were able to buy within a, with only actually using one year instead of two years income?

Speaker 3: [12:59] Yeah, I mean, uh, the, and this is more of a discussion with a, a lender directly who knows more specifics about those. Yeah, yeah. But basically-

Speaker 1: [13:05] From your understanding- Yeah being on that side of the process.

Speaker 3: [13:08] Yeah, I, I started this discussion saying that I needed two years of income to buy a house, and that was not necessarily true. Uh, to get the best loan, to have the most options in terms of the loan, um, uh, different loan options you can have- Mm-hmm … to have the most options, you generally need two years of income from the same career. Um, I had some weirdness with mine, like I was saying, and basically part of it was that they only looked at a year, and so that limited some of the loan programs that I would qualify for. Yeah. It was fine. I still got a great rate, but it just limited if I wanted to do something fancy or do less down, per se. Yep. It would just, uh, my hands were a little more tied than it would have been if I had two full years of- Yeah, of- … consistent income from the commission checks.

Speaker 1: [13:53] And I wanna add on a quick tip for people, too. If you didn't know this, if you were recently in school learning how to do your job- Lenders will actually qualify you based on your school history. So you don't actually have to be working for two years in order to qualify. If you went to school to be a veterinarian or whatever you are, computer scientist, anything, as long as it's the same career as you are currently employed in, they consider that as job history, work history.

Speaker 2: [14:25] Nice. I didn't know that. Me neither. Yeah. It's cool.

Speaker 1: [14:27] Yep. So everybody that's waiting to have two years after graduating and two years in their job, you don't have to. They'll consider that, so it's kind of cool. All right, let's move on to actually making offers on houses. Now, you had a somewhat, uh, somewhat of a somewhat, I don't know, probably normal, but also abnormal experience. Um, Sarah Kate, why don't you kinda go into this a little bit?

Speaker 4: [14:54] Yeah. So we know initially that you offered on a different house than the one you ended up purchasing. So tell us about the first house you made an offer on, and how that process went.

Speaker 3: [15:05] It was a great house, and I wanted to buy it, and I'm not kidding. I'm saying this because if that- You did love it … if that listing agent- I thought you loved it If

Speaker 4: [15:11] that

Speaker 3: [15:12] listing agent- I know you did … is listening to this, she probably thinks I backed out of that house because I found something else, and that is not what happened, okay? Well, you

Speaker 1: [15:18] didn't even know about this-

Speaker 3: [15:19] No until after. So I found a, a great house. I really liked it. It was significantly less than what I ended up buying, but, uh, um- Great location But yeah, a, a great location. It just needed some w- work. It was move-in ready, but, uh, you know- Per se Per se, but it needed some updates. A little TLC. But, so I put an offer on, on it, knowing that it needed some updates, but I did not know that it needed some sewer work.

Speaker 1: [15:45] Major sewer

Speaker 3: [15:46] work. Major, major sewer. Well, f- according to the three plumbers I consulted. It's possible they consulted somebody else I'm not, I don't know the deal. Who

Speaker 1: [15:52] disagreed,

Speaker 3: [15:53] but- But I consulted three plumbers during, uh, so I got the offer accepted, um, on this first house, and, um-

Speaker 1: [16:01] Had your

Speaker 3: [16:01] inspection period had, did the inspection, and during the inspection, I had a sewer scope done, which is basically when a plumber comes out and puts a camera through the, from the house to the city main to look at the pipes.

Speaker 1: [16:11] Mm-hmm.

Speaker 3: [16:12] And there was just a l- it was, like, an original line, almost 100 years old, very weathered, cracking in certain areas. Some areas the chunks of concrete had, like, fallen out. And the worst part for me as a new owner, it was underneath, like, two to three of my neighbors' houses/yards. It was shared somewhere. Shared sewer line. Yeah. Yeah. So, you know, it, all of this added up, I, you know, basically I had three plumbers. It was like, okay, this needs to get fixed, and we just could not come to, uh, an agreement, um- With the seller with the seller. Yeah. The seller basically rejected the sewer completely, basically, and just said, "No, the sewer's fine." Um, and so, um, you know, the listing agent, who I thought I had good rapport with, uh, she was on vacation, but it, it, there was just a lot of back and forth, and it did not seem that we were gonna find an, uh, a mutual understanding, so I backed out. Mm-hmm. Yep. And, uh, they got- They just closed, so- Yeah … on a, they got another offer obviously, so.

Speaker 1: [17:20] Yep.

Speaker 4: [17:20] And- Good

Speaker 1: [17:20] for them … Speaker 4: this is why it's super important to do a sewer scope as part of your- Yes … inspection process, because you can find all kinds of secrets and surprises. Mm-hmm. And it's

Speaker 2: [17:31] expensive.

Speaker 4: [17:32] Yes. To fix, yeah. Sewer lines are, do not run cheap.

Speaker 1: [17:35] Sewer scopes are, like, 200 to 250 bucks.

Speaker 2: [17:37] Yeah, it's worth it- Way

Speaker 1: [17:39] worth it … Speaker 2: every time.

Speaker 4: [17:39] Yeah. And in Seattle, you own everything up to the city main, so- Yep … there's a, there's a lot of ground to cover.

Speaker 3: [17:46] Yep. Yeah, the inspection was great. I was so excited about this house, and then the sewer happened. I was like, "Oh, crap." And honestly, I, I didn't think it was, when it, when I saw it, I didn't… I was like, "Oh, well, the sellers will d- we'll find a, a- an agreement here." Right … because they have to, we have to… It's an issue. I'm not, I'm not saying it's my opinion. You know, like, no, I had- Facts … three plumbers, like, they say, you know, and s- we just didn't come to an agreement, so it is what it is. That's

Speaker 2: [18:11] happened to me before, and sometimes they're just, like, stubborn and they don't want to… They, they think they can get somebody else and, I mean- Yep. Obviously- It happens … these people did, and it's frustrating, but, you know. Yeah. Wasn't the house.

Speaker 3: [18:23] I'm happy with w- how it ended up, though.

Speaker 1: [18:24] Yes. So with that, whenever you make an offer, within 48 hours of getting your offer accepted, you have to, uh, get your earnest money check deposited. So you had earnest money deposited. How, since you backed out, how did you get it back?

Speaker 3: [18:42] Yeah, so I got it back as a check that they mailed me. It took a couple days- Mm … after, um, we com- both parties agreed to terminate the deal. Um, and so what, like, two to three days later, I got a check in the mail. It was pretty quick.

Speaker 1: [18:58] I don't think the escrow company wants to hold on to money that's not theirs.

Speaker 3: [19:02] No, they definitely don't. Every, every, I, I know, like, they have audits, and if they have money- Yeah … in their accounts, it, it's really problematic. They need letters for every single, like- Yep … amount of monies that they have sitting there.

Speaker 1: [19:13] Okay, so let's go over the second house. This is the house you actually bought. So this is interesting, um, and it really came about in a unique way that none of us had really planned. Um, a past client of mine that I helped buy this house, I don't know, four or five years ago, three years ago, I don't really remember, they reached out, and they wanted to sell and buy another house They didn't want to sell until they found their next house, 'cause they didn't wanna have to move twice, which makes sense. So they needed to sell their house, but not move out of their new, or their… They wanted to sell their current house, not move out until after they purchased their new house, so that they can move into the new house first, and then, yeah, someone else can move into their house. So it was a very complicated process. Um, we had been looking off and on for months at this point for houses. Nothing really made a lot of sense for them. All of a sudden, they found a perfect house for them. Um, we made an offer. It was a multiple offer situation. They ended up getting the offer accepted, but they then quickly needed to get their house sold. The only way this could all work was if I found someone to buy their house. You happened to be helping me with making a website for that house, to list it, and you were like, "This house is gorgeous. Where is this?" And you learn more about it, and then you were like, "Maybe I'll buy this house." And so this was just literally days after you had backed out of the other one.

Speaker 3: [20:48] Days after, and it's the exact same house, pretty much. Yeah. It's

Speaker 1: [20:51] so funny. It's so funny. It's literally almost the same floor plan. Wow. Same vintage, different neighborhood.

Speaker 3: [20:58] And completely updated.

Speaker 1: [20:59] Yeah. Yeah. This one is 100% updated with- With a brand-new sewer line. Yeah. It's very beautiful. Yes. So, um, yeah, it was, it was an interesting process, how that all came about. Um, so I went over there to get photos done. Uh, you were putting the photos into the listing website, and you were like, "Wow, this is cool." Um…

Speaker 4: [21:26] Yeah, your, your clients had very good taste, Christian. The house is beautiful.

Speaker 1: [21:30] Yeah.

Speaker 4: [21:30] Very nice updates.

Speaker 2: [21:31] Yeah. To me, it's all, like, such an interesting turn of events, and it makes me really wonder, like, why was this the house? How did it all come together?

Speaker 3: [21:38] Mm-hmm. Ah, it's a great question. It's a great question. Uh, honestly, it was one of those things, I'm very particular. My partner and I are so obnoxious. And, uh, you know, we're not-

Speaker 2: [21:50] At least you're aware of it. Well, uh, can I just… Sorry to interrupt you. Just to point out one thing. As you've been renting, you've been renting brand-new for, for, what, the last five years? Yeah. First tenant. Mm-hmm. This house is how old?

Speaker 3: [21:59] 110 years old. But recently renovated in the last two years, and renovated in the way that I would have renovated. Mm-hmm. Um, I mean, obviously there's things here and there, but very much, like, the style, the decisions they made, so many renovations. S- almost every single renovation, you go in and there's just this large, gaping, bad decision for, like- Yes. That's all very true … a- and every, and everyone has that. Mm-hmm. Like, every buyer, you know, like, everyone's gonna have their own, like, "I can't believe they did that." Yeah. And somebody else is gonna think, "I can't believe they did that," another thing. With this renovation, I thought, "Wow, they, they did everything." I- there's nothing like that for me, which was shocking, and, uh, I mean, it's, it's just a great house, and in my dream neighborhood, so mm-hmm.

Speaker 4: [22:47] Perfect. So how did the moving process go for you? I'm assuming because you've moved five times in the last five years, you've got it down. You have a system.

Speaker 3: [22:57] I, uh, kind of, yeah. Although, I, it, it is funny with this move, my partner and I were so over, like, just not interested in- We, ugh, we did not wanna move. And so it was so easy just to, like, take it easy, not wrap things the way we normally wrap things, and, and I just kept saying, "No, we ha- this is the marathon. We are literally-" "… like, this is the last move for a lo- like-" Yeah. "… we're not moving next year." Exactly. Like, come on. And so it was-

Speaker 1: [23:25] Gotta do it right … Speaker 3: ugh. But, but yeah, I mean, we're very organized. Um, we have movers. Um-

Speaker 2: [23:32] That's

Speaker 3: [23:32] key … I did not schedule movers the day after closing. That's another key. Mm-hmm. Even though in this, it, it, uh, we could've done it pretty quickly. Um, with this deal, I didn't mention this, but in order to make it work for them, they had to close, we had to close on this deal first before they could close on their new purchase. ' Speaker: Cause they needed the funds from this sale for their down payment on the next house. Exactly.

Speaker 1: [23:54] Yep.

Speaker 3: [23:54] Not uncommon. Um, you know, that's obv- it, it's pretty common for a lot of homeowners. Mm-hmm. But, uh, to make that work, basically we did a rent back, so basically after close, for about two weeks there, I was their lo- landlord. Um, and then they were, they actually moved out really quickly, so I got possession quicker than I was expecting. But, uh, but yeah, I mean, it was a, a fun move. I moved from a three-story townhouse, so that was a lot of stairs. Lots

Speaker 4: [24:22] of stairs. Um- Good cardio. Get those steps in, Jason.

Speaker 3: [24:24] That's why I paid somebody.

Speaker 1: [24:27] I stood out there with my wine just being like, " Speaker 3: What box is that?" "That goes there."

Speaker 2: [24:34] You should have invited me over. I would have helped you with that.

Speaker 3: [24:36] No, you'd be like, "What? How much stuff do you ha- what

Speaker 2: [24:40] is this?" No, no judgment. As long as you give me wine, I'll be there.

Speaker 3: [24:42] Okay, next time. Next year.

Speaker 4: [24:47] In 10 years.

Speaker 2: [24:50] So, you know, as somebody who teaches the home buying process on a monthly basis, what do you think is the most important thing that you learned about the home buying process during this journey?

Speaker 3: [25:00] You know, it's something I knew, but you just don't really know until you go through it yourself. It's the emotional aspect. Yeah. Oh, yeah. You know, obviously buying a house is em- an emotional rollercoaster, and it should be. If it's not- You're a weirdo … most likely you have- … significant money or, or you don't view money the way maybe you should. I don't know. But, but, you know, m- it's natural for this to be, uh- An emotional rollercoaster difficult or emotional because it's such a big commitment.

Speaker 1: [25:29] Yeah.

Speaker 3: [25:29] Um, but going through it, just being reminded of that and, uh, and how easy it is to make rash decisions.

Speaker 1: [25:36] Mm-hmm.

Speaker 3: [25:36] Mm-hmm. Um, and, you know, my job as an agent is to kind of make sure that my clients keep- viewing the North Star as w- their goal and keep going towards that instead of making rash decisions, but being in the weeds doing it yourself, it's, it's easy to say that- Yeah you know? For sure. So, so that was, uh, just eye-opening. It was a good reminder, and I think it, uh, expanded my empathy for my clients.

Speaker 1: [26:01] Good. Did anything come up during this process that you weren't expecting?

Speaker 3: [26:05] Hmm. Good question. Uh, th- there was some stuff with lending, um, just weird, you know, different forms that I needed that I didn't expect to, but, you know, everyone, like I said, has their own st- journey with that- Yeah … aspect of the, the

Speaker 1: [26:22] process. It's so personal. The financing part is so personal. It's always different for everyone. It's just, yeah, that's, that's part of it. It

Speaker 2: [26:30] is what it is.

Speaker 3: [26:31] Yeah. Yeah, I mean, there were so many parts, I will say, like, little things like the moving procedure, you know, getting utilities set up- Mm-hmm … and, uh, that sort of thing. It's a little different being a homeowner versus renting. It's, it's very similar, but it, but it's a little different. And so little things like that, um, were kind of surprising. Um, this is really random, but the house had an alarm system, and, uh, kind of dealing with, seeing how that kind of transition works was interesting. Every alarm system's different, so I'm not gonna go into details. But things like that. Mm-hmm. It's just little things that you don't necessarily, as, even as an agent, our clients, we, they're generally pretty transparent and open with us, but there's even stuff that they're, "Ah, I'm not gonna tell my agent. There's no need to- Yeah … worry them ab- about this." And, and so, like, stuff like that a lot of times just kind of, they deal with. And so seeing it firsthand, it's- Mm-hmm … it's an interesting process. Well,

Speaker 1: [27:25] it makes us better agents, hearing from each of us whenever we buy a house, you know, those little things that we don't necessarily hear from our clients but do happen, so that we can better prepare our clients down the road.

Speaker 3: [27:37] Yeah, and, and, you know, again, it is a 110-year-old house. And so, you know- Yeah … like I was saying with the emotions just now and, and how easy it is to, like, make rash decisions, y- you idealize it, and then when you move in, it's still a 110-year-old house.

Speaker 1: [27:52] Mm-hmm.

Speaker 3: [27:52] You know? And so it's a great home, but there's stuff that needs to be maintained, but also may be replaced or repaired.

Speaker 1: [28:00] Yep.

Speaker 3: [28:00] And so, you know, coming from five years of brand-new, um, houses, you know, it- it's just a different type of issue. As opposed to, oh, the builders made an issue, it's like, oh, no, like, this floor needs to get repaired or refinished or replaced- Mm-hmm … something. But, you know, like, little things. Y- you wouldn't see that with a new house person. And

Speaker 4: [28:21] you're not a tenant where you would just call your landlord to fix it. Mm-hmm. Now you're in control

Speaker 1: [28:25] and you have to- And you gotta pay for

Speaker 3: [28:26] it. Yeah. The double-edged sword, good and bad in that, you know? Yeah.

Speaker 1: [28:28] Yep. So if you were gonna do it all over again, what would you do differently, if anything?

Speaker 3: [28:34] I'll be honest, I don't know if I would change really anything about how I did it. I would h- and I would hope most agents would say the same- Mm-hmm … because they have the experience Exactly. Yeah. Hopefully to, to do it the right way. But I would say, you know, I would, moving forward, the next time I buy a house, having already gone through this process, you know, I, I do understand the process much better. Mm-hmm. I see, I, I understand the rollercoaster, the ups and downs, and I can see the forest for the trees. So I, you know, I, I think just having the perspective that I have now, it, it helps. Um, you know, not every agent out there is a homeowner, and that is not necessarily a bad thing. You know, obviously the more experience they have, probably the better, but you can get experience elsewhere.

Speaker 1: [29:22] Mm-hmm.

Speaker 3: [29:23] That being said, having this experience, um, you know, is definitely, I'm already able to speak with so much more confidence about certain things that before I k- I wasn't, I, I would refer to my partners on, you know, like the lender or my team members, you know, because I didn't go through it myself, and now I can speak with bravado about it, so.

Speaker 1: [29:46] Yeah. Well, I think that's all we got. Thank you very much, Jason, for sharing your journey from renter to homeowner. Um, I hope that you, listener, got something out of that. There was a lot of gold in there, uh, that you should have really been able to learn from. So, uh, and if any of you listening are interested in, you know, chatting with us, um, uh, we make it super easy. You can just go to our website, awesomeandawesome.com/schedule. It's, uh, you can just schedule a time to meet up. There is no pressure, no obligation. We can meet you at a bar or a coffee shop or your home or anywhere, wherever you wanna meet, um, for a half hour and just kinda help you understand the home buying process. It's very, very simple, very no pressure. That's our whole style. Uh, and we're very transparent. So thank you again, Jason, for sharing your entire s- your journey. You were lovely guests. And congratulations.

Speaker 2: [30:40] Thanks, Jason.

Speaker 1: [30:41] Congratulations.

Speaker 2: [30:42] Thank you. We're so happy for you. Woo-hoo. When's the housewarming party? Pay a

Speaker 1: [30:45] mortgage. And you get tax benefits.

Speaker 2: [30:48] Yeah, when are you inviting us over?

Speaker 3: [30:49] Tonight. Yes. Woo!

Speaker 1: [30:51] Woo-hoo. All right. Well, thank you, Jason, and thank you everyone for listening.

Speaker 2: [30:54] Thanks, friends. Thank you.