Start Here: Podcast Playlists for Buyers & Investors

Christian: [0:00] Hello, hello, and welcome to another episode of the Awesome in Seattle podcast. This is your host, Christian Nossum, with the Awesome Nossum Group at Wilson Realty Exchange, Inc, and today we are talking about all the different podcast episodes that we think you should probably listen to. We're creating a podcast playlist of sorts to get you set up. After recording 160-plus episodes, we realized that it might be a little tough to understand what the importance of listening to these should be, and which one you should listen to first and second and third and all that. So we just made it simple, and we're creating a playlist for you. So, um, if you've ever listened to our podcast before, if you've ever come to our beers and home buying class, you've watched our videos on YouTube or on social media, you know that we are pretty obsessed with education. And I'd say that education's probably the core of everything that we do.

Joanna: [0:57] Mm-hmm.

Christian: [0:58] Today, we kinda wanna pull back the curtain and explain why we operate this way, how our process as a team works, and give you a roadmap of the podcasts we think that everyone should listen to, uh, before buying a house. So- Yeah joining me today are the one, the only, Ms. Joanna Beecher.

Joanna: [1:18] Hi.

Christian: [1:19] And Mr. Varun Jain.

Varun: [1:20] Hey. Excited for this one. Yes.

Christian: [1:22] Yeah, so thank you for coming on, guys. Let's talk a little, before we go into the actual episodes, let's talk a little bit. So one thing that really sets us apart from, I think, most agents out there is that we're one of the few teams that spends as much time teaching people how to buy and sell houses than really anybody else. Yes. I don't know anybody that does a consistent monthly home buyer class and has a podcast or, and YouTube channel and social media channel that has, has as much educational content.

Joanna: [1:56] I don't either.

Christian: [1:57] Yeah. And why do we do that?

Joanna: [1:59] Um, we do that because, uh, we don't want any of our clients making one of the biggest decisions of their lives, we don't want them to regret it, right? Mm-hmm. Um, 'cause buying a home is probably one of the biggest, if not the biggest, financial decision most people will have to make.

Christian: [2:16] Yeah.

Joanna: [2:16] And we want you to understand what you're doing-

Christian: [2:18] Mm-hmm … Joanna: um, when you make that decision, um, and what your options are before you even write an offer. Yeah.

Varun: [2:25] Yeah. And it's also emotionally draining. It really is. It's a nerve-wracking experience- Yeah … to buy a home.

Christian: [2:30] Yeah.

Joanna: [2:30] It is. Throughout the entire process, so why start with no knowledge?

Varun: [2:34] Yeah.

Joanna: [2:34] Mm-hmm. That just makes it worse.

Varun: [2:36] Yeah. And the same thing applies for investors, right? Yeah. Like, we wanna make sure they are well-educated, they are informed going into the decision so that they can make the right decision based on numbers. The biggest mistake is if they feel pressured to buy something- Mm-hmm … or they end up in a deal they didn't want to buy. Mm-hmm. That's kind of the issue. A- and it kind of goes both ways. And what I'll add is I've bought homes, not with this team, again, when I moved to Seattle, and the education-first approach is very different than how I have bought homes. First time when I bought a home, I don't know, I don't think I kn- know, I knew what a down payment was.

Christian: [3:12] Yeah.

Varun: [3:13] Or I was not told. I had to do the research on my own. Mm-hmm. And it is very different than the approach we take in our class.

Joanna: [3:18] Yeah.

Varun: [3:19] Yeah.

Joanna: [3:19] That's- I mean, that's so scary. Yeah. I don't

Varun: [3:22] know. I don't even, I didn't even know the first time actually I went to an open house that I needed an agent to represent me. Mm-hmm.

Joanna: [3:27] Well, why would

Varun: [3:28] you? I just walked in, and the, the b- the agent who was doing the open house was like, "Do you have an agent?" He, no, he asked, "Do you have representation?" I'm like, "A lawyer?"

Christian: [3:37] Yeah, you're like, "What do you mean?" I mean. Yeah. Uh,

Varun: [3:38] and yeah. Yeah. That was just an eye-opener, and now looking back, what we do versus what I experienced is, like, night and day.

Joanna: [3:47] Well- And a lot of people don't know that. I remember when I first started, and honestly, you know, if you've been to the home buying class or if you listen to any of these, I started at a different agency, uh, Redfin. And, uh- … I was touring some people. This is, like, very, very beginning, and the people I was touring were adamant that they wanted the listing agent's number. And I was like, "Why, though?" I'm like, "I- y- you'll be working with me." And they didn't get it, and I didn't understand how to make them understand that that was the wrong approach. Mm-hmm. And I just hadn't been doing it for very long, I didn't know how to explain- Well, you weren't educated, either I wasn't educated- Yeah to a certain extent, either, and it was just like, "If you go to the listing agent, this isn't gonna fare well for you." Yeah. Like, that's not who you go to to buy the house. And that is just one small piece, but a huge factor of where a lot of people go wrong. Mm-hmm. They have no idea what they're doing, and how that decision alone could totally screw you over in this process.

Christian: [4:52] So true. Yeah. So true. So,

Joanna: [4:54] anyway.

Christian: [4:54] Yeah. A lot of people that have previously bought and then found us online or at our class, and start to go through the process in our process- Mm-hmm … our way, they're like, "Wait, this is not what I did before."

Joanna: [5:10] Yeah. Oh. And

Christian: [5:11] they're like, "This makes way more sense." I'm like, "Well, yeah, it does."

Joanna: [5:14] And they don't, they usually, I'm just, 'cause this happens a lot. Mm-hmm. They usually talk through what happened with their whole deal.

Christian: [5:22] Mm-hmm.

Joanna: [5:22] And where we would've definitely taken different approaches and roads. Mm-hmm. And, you know, it's all, hindsight is 20/20. But, yeah, a lot of them wish they would've made a different decision, or that they would've known about our team before- Yeah they purchased.

Christian: [5:40] Yeah. So all that to say, please follow the steps that we do, even if you don't use us. I guess we're gonna share everything anyway, so. Mm-hmm. But obviously we'd love it if you used us. Yeah. Clearly. That said, we don't care if you ever end up buying or not. If it doesn't make sense for you to buy, don't buy. Like, it's, it's pretty clear when you go through our process whether or not you can afford to do this or not, and that's the whole point of this. We want you to get all the questions answered upfront before we even really go out and even look at homes.

Varun: [6:16] Yeah.

Christian: [6:16] And that creates some of that emotional separation, because- What a lot of people do is they'll get an online, you know, pre-approval, which doesn't mean anything, but then they think that is how much they can afford, and then they go to an open house at a house that's priced at that pre-approval amount, which again doesn't mean anything, and then they're like, "Well, I wanna make an offer." And they get emotionally involved, and that is not the right way to go about it. It's, it's a way to go about it, it's not the right way in our opinion. But everybody can do what they wanna do, I guess. But, uh, this way, the way that we do things, first you come to a home buyer class. You get educated on the basics. If you don't have the ability to come on a home buyer class, just have a conversation with us one-on-one. After the class, most people realize that they need to have a strategy session. A strategy session is just a one-on-one Zoom, usually with us and a lender that we trust That lender is going to help you answer all of those financing questions, and they're just basic questions. Um, and the strategy session, we'll talk about this more later, most people don't have questions or a lot of questions going into this strategy session, 'cause they just don't know what to ask yet. That's okay. We ask you, we prompt you with the questions, 'cause we've done this for over a decade now, and we know what questions to ask to get you to start thinking through these steps. A lot of people realize that, hey, I'm a year or two or three out, and that's totally fine. We've even had investors that said that. Um, we've had home sellers that go, "We wanna sell and buy," and I go through the process with them and educate them throughout the way, and they're like, "You know what? I think maybe we don't wanna buy it. Maybe we just wanna remodel our house instead." And that's totally fine. Like, our goal is to help get your answer, or your questions answered that make sense for you. It's not to sell you a house all the time. Like, it just doesn't make sense sometimes, so.

Joanna: [8:22] So we have an education-first approach, you know- Mm-hmm which Christian just summed up a lot of that. So it starts with coming to the Beers and Home Buying class, not with touring homes. That's not step one. In a good, in a good, in the perfect world, your first step is talking or finding out what your first step should be. Yes. Right? So it's like you come to a Beers and Home Buying class, which is free, and we talk through the entire process and just how our process works. So free, no pressure, fun, relaxed environment, right?

Varun: [8:52] Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Joanna: [8:52] Varun, where do we go from there?

Varun: [8:53] And then after that, you can continue the education. You follow us on the YouTube channel or Instagram or our podcast- Mm-hmm … like this one, and learn a little bit more about, uh, specific topics. Double click on specific podcast episodes. So that'll help kind of continue the education process.

Christian: [9:08] Yep. And then eventually, people sign up for a strategy session with us, which again, is totally free. There's no commitment. Doesn't force you to do anything. It's just answering your questions. Um-

Joanna: [9:18] And if you don't have any, that's fine. You don't have to come with anything prepared. Yeah. Don't be nervous about the strategy session. I mean, feel whatever you feel, but you don't have to be. It's just, it's literally the least scary part of the process. There is still- Agreed. … no commitment required from you at that time. It's still, we're giving everything. Yep. We're giving you all of it. So- You think that when you meet an agent, that means you have to commit to buy a house. Wrong.

Christian: [9:42] Or that you have to work with them.

Joanna: [9:43] Yeah, and you don't. Yeah. No matter who you meet. Mm-hmm. Right? I mean, granted, if you do sign up for tours on Redfin, you might have to sign something, but that's-

Christian: [9:50] Yes … a whole thing which you need to be aware of.

Joanna: [9:52] Yes. Um, but just know, finding the right agent for you is important, you know? Having that first conversation, and not just, you know, signing up with whomever is at the open house.

Christian: [10:04] Mm-hmm.

Joanna: [10:04] That's- I mean, it could end up being, like, the perfect moment for you, but usually you wanna do a little more research, right?

Christian: [10:10] Mm-hmm.

Joanna: [10:11] And you wanna talk through things like, what's your timeline? Uh, what's your budget? Which we go through a lot more on the strategy session.

Christian: [10:18] Mm-hmm.

Joanna: [10:19] What type of neighborhoods interest you? What type of home interests you? Like, what are your concerns, your priorities? What are your goals? Why do you even wanna buy a house? Yeah. And if it makes sense for you after going through that conversation, cool. Let's talk about, like- Let's keep- … what that plan is … moving forward. Yes.

Christian: [10:36] Yes.

Varun: [10:37] Yeah. A- a- and if it doesn't make sense, that's fine. We'd rather tell you now- Yeah … than wait three, six, nine months and then tell you, "Oi, the, hey, this doesn't make sense." Yeah. Yeah. It's better to have kind of that education-first approach so that you can get tho- to that decision faster with all the knowledge that we can share.

Joanna: [10:53] Exactly. Right.

Varun: [10:54] Yep.

Christian: [10:55] All right, so one of the questions that we get asked all the time is, "Where should I start?" So we are creating, for the first time ever, after 160-plus episodes- Maybe we should've done this earlier. Yeah. An official Awesome in Seattle buyer playlist. So if you're thinking about buying a house, there's a few episodes we really recommend that you listen to first. You don't have to write all these down. We're gonna make the actual playlist for you. And don't feel like you have to listen to all these before you reach out or start talking to us. It's just these are some very important ones that you should listen to before you buy. So episode one.

Joanna: [11:32] Uh, it is actually episode 92. Um, and it's what to know before you go to an open house, and I think that's pretty self-explanatory. It's a good one.

Christian: [11:42] Yes, yes. The second one that you should listen to is episode 95, uh, and that is Home

Mortgages 101: [11:48] First Time Buyer's Guide. That's part two, we had a two-parter, so that's episode 95. Uh, you need to understand the financing before you understand really anything else in real estate.

Varun: [12:00] Yeah, and then you should move on to probably episode 131. Um, you'll hear… If you start talking to m- more brokers, you'll hear the term BBSA get thrown around a lot, especially here in Seattle, which is Buyer's Brokerage Services Agreement. It's a legal form that every buyer needs to sign, uh, when they're working with a broker. This has been a requirement since Jan 1, 2025? Four. Four. 2024. 2024, yeah. Yeah. So listen to that episode. It goes into a lot more detail about that.

Joanna: [12:27] Okay. Next up we've got episode 151, more financing information. Yes.

It's called Down Payments: [12:33] How to Use Gifts, 401ks, and More to Buy a Home. Uh, one of the biggest misconceptions we hear is that buyers need 20% down. Mm. Ooh, no. Um, this episode walks through several ways people are successfully purchasing homes, uh, today- Yeah … which is not with 20% down. Uh, bonus, listen to 150, S Block… Oh, episode 150- Yes … S Block, if that applies to you.

Christian: [13:01] Do you wanna explain what that is super quick?

Varun: [13:03] Yeah, super quick. S Block stands for security back line of credit. So a lot of people in, uh, Seattle are from tech. RSUs offer a form of payment, uh, or a compensation. If you don't wanna sell your stock, but you still wanna put that equity to work, you can borrow against it, very similar to a home equity line of credit. So you can take some money out and use that in kind of down payment or home renovations, however you feel-

Christian: [13:28] Yeah … Varun: you wanna use those on. That's episode 150, so check that one out if that applies to you. Uh, moving on, episode 121, Ways to Back Out of an Offer. Now, we're not saying this because we don't want you to back out of deals. We're saying this because it really teaches you how all the contingencies that you can potentially add into your offer work. Understanding the financing contingency, inspection, um, title review, uh, just all the different rights that you as a buyer could potentially add into your offer, your contract, is super important to do, and that's- that's the point. We think literally every buyer needs to listen to that, because it's super important for you to understand that.

Varun: [14:08] Agreed, agreed. Yeah. And then after that, you can listen to episode 153, Buying Property as an Unmarried Couple.

Christian: [14:15] Yeah.

Varun: [14:16] Well, even if you're married, like this episode does a great job of explaining how ownership works, planning for buying as a married or an unmarried couple, or with friends, title considerations, and just- Overall thinking about the situation of buying real estate with another person

Joanna: [14:33] Okay. So next up we have episode 161, Fixer Upper Versus Move-In Ready, Which Actually Makes You More Money. Um, this is a great episode because many buyers struggle with this exact question. Uh, do you buy something perfect-

Varun: [14:49] Doesn't exist … Joanna: uh- Yeah … or do you buy something with potential?

Christian: [14:52] Yeah.

Joanna: [14:53] Mm-hmm.

Christian: [14:53] That was a fun one. Yeah. Varun and I went deep on that one. Next up is episode 154, and this is if you already own a home and you're thinking about selling, and it's really how to buy and sell your Seattle area home at the same time without losing sleep. Obviously, if you haven't bought a home yet, this doesn't apply to you, but it could if you really wanna understand how, in the future, when you do wanna sell, how that process could work. We hope that buyers learn so much that they don't have to always ask us every single question. Obviously, we have the answers, but in this day and age, people just want to be able to look it up. Yeah. And AI does that to an extent, but as we all know, AI can hallucinate. It also can give you info that doesn't apply to our specific area, and real estate is not the same in every single county, let alone every single state, let alone the entire country. So there's a lot of differences, um, state by state specifically. So if someone listened to all of these episodes, they attended a home buyer class, and they had a strategy session with us, they are going to have an extremely deep understanding of the home-buying process.

Joanna: [16:12] They are, and it's with no pressure. It's with no obligation. It's at your own pace. Yeah. It's just information, and it will give you much more confidence.

Varun: [16:23] Yep. More information, better outcomes. Um, and the education, uh, is just allowing you to be more confident to make these decisions because these are, end of the day, your decisions. It's a big purchase, so you wanna make sure you have all the information necessary to make that.

Christian: [16:38] Mm-hmm.

Varun: [16:38] Yeah.

Christian: [16:39] Now, if you are an investor, we have another playlist for you. First up, episode 127. It's called Creating Wealth Through Real Estate. This also partners up with episode 138, which is Generational Wealth With Strategies, uh, That Every Real Estate Investor Must Know. We had a great attorney on, an estate attorney on, Julie Martinello. Those two are kind of must-listen to right off the bat.

Varun: [17:04] Next, uh, is episode 88, House Hacking, uh, How to House Hack in Seattle, and this is, again, a great starting point for a lot of investors, right? This is usually their first deal where you buy a property with m- more than one unit, live in one, rent out the other, offset some of the mortgage payment. We actually helped a client do that last year- Mm-hmm … Edwin, and did it successfully. So yeah, go listen to that one.

Christian: [17:27] And it made the front page of The Seattle Times.

Varun: [17:28] Yeah, that's just a bonus. Oh. That was cool.

Christian: [17:30] All right. The next two are all about flipping. So the first one is episode 1- 39, Flipping 101: Your Top Questions Answered. And then episode 158, which is called Live-In Flips: The Strategy That Could Make You $500,000 Tax-Free.

Varun: [17:45] The next one you should listen to is New Construction 101, episode 145. Uh, new construction has been part of the Seattle investing scene for the last few years now, and it's becoming more and more relevant. It's a great episode to listen to, and it gives you the tools to be ready for your next new construction project.

Christian: [18:04] Yes. Next up is episode 162, Big Style on a Budget: Designing Flips that Buyers Love. So this one we interviewed Fabi. Yeah. Fabi is amazing. You can follow her on Instagram. We, I think we tag her in this episode. So episode 162, we talked for over an hour all about how to find and select every single design choice in a house. So- Without

Varun: [18:28] breaking the bank … Speaker: without breaking the bank. Yeah. So even if you're just remodeling your house, you should probably listen to this one, 'cause you're gonna learn a lot. Yeah. And then the last one is How to Analyze a Deal in 10 Minutes. This is, it's a quick and dirty way to analyze a deal, figure out if that makes sense, does it cashflow, what's the appreciation, financing terms, everything. We break it down line item by line item so that you are prepared and can move quickly when the next deal comes to your table.

Christian: [18:57] Yep. And that's it. So at the end of the day, our philosophy is simple, right, Joanna?

Joanna: [19:01] Yes. We just want you guys to make informed decisions if you're buying a home or finding your first investment property. Mm-hmm. Right? But in, I guess if you're at the beginning of this journey, I think your first step is to come to a Beers and Home Buying class.

Varun: [19:17] Mm-hmm.

Joanna: [19:17] You know, unless you wanted to listen to the podcast first, but you have options here.

Varun: [19:21] Or listen to the podcast when you're driving to the Beers and Home Buying class. There you

Joanna: [19:24] go. There you go. Love it. You could just, you know, it's called multitasking, right? No, not multitasking. Anyway, that's not the point. Do those things.

Christian: [19:35] Do the things, learn the stuff, buy a house.

Joanna: [19:38] We love it. That's,

Christian: [19:38] that's the process.

Joanna: [19:39] Yeah.

Christian: [19:39] It's very simple.

Joanna: [19:39] Make your wealth, right?

Christian: [19:40] Yeah, exactly. Through real estate. Exactly. So yeah, that's, that's really it. If you have done all the listening and you've learned as much as you think you can and now you're ready for one of our free strategy sessions, again, there's no pressure at these at all, um, you can schedule those right on our website, AwesomeNossumGroup.com/schedule. That is it for this episode. We hope this is very enlightening for you. Hope that you really understand the process a lot better after this, and we will see you on the next one. Thanks. Bye. Bye. Bye.