19 Year Old Buys Home By Himself In 2022 - How'd He Do It??? How to Buy a Home Episode 85

19. This dude bought his first home at 19 after only having a job for five months. And this guy's never ever gonna pay rent a single day of his entire life. Why? Well, because he had just a little bit of guidance and then he had a plan. Also because he knew that he would have the dopest pad around for parties. How did he do it? Now, that's what I'm sure you're waiting for. Well, that's what we're about to find out. This episode, it has a lot of laughs. I do goof off with this dude quite a bit, but make sure you listen real close, even if you're, I don't know, five years, 10 years, 20 years older than this dude. There is a lot to learn from this incredible story. So if you want to keep getting stories like this, hit the, like, smash the subscribe, ring that notification bell and you'll hear stories about first time homebuyers every single week. Well, ladies and gentlemen, here he is. This is Cortland, and I think he is. Is. Let's see, how old are you, buddy?

I actually just turned 20, so he just turned 6.

March. What?

March 6th.

Oh, well, I turned 52 March 8th, so screw you. But it's awesome because we were chatting before I flipped on the microphone here. I found Cortland on TikTok because he had a video that has how many views now?

It's at 14.3 million as of tonight.

14.3 million. Courtland, what's your handle? Let's get all my listeners out to you. Where are you?

It's Cortland's home on pretty much TikTok, Instagram, Pinterest, all that.

Cortland's home. C O U R T L A N D S Home. Yes, Cortland's home. Now, the reason why I reached out to him and God, I love social media. I just like instantly messaged him and was like, dude, who are you? And then he's like, this is me. Who are you? And I'm like, I have a podcast. Come on. He's like, cool. So tell everyone the story that. Because these are people who are listening. The people who find. Obviously the name of the podcast is how to Buy a Home. So what's your deal, man? You bought a home when you were 19. How did you get this idea?

The biggest idea, I guess came from my parents because they didn't obviously want me to stay in the home forever. This weird thing, they're like, if you're not going to school and you're not Obviously like a student then you can't just like live at home forever. I was like, all right, that's fine. And I was in school and then I got a really good job and then I was like, now I don't really see the purpose in school. So I moved back home and I had a full time job. And so then they're like, you can't stay here forever. I was like, I either get an apartment or I get a house. And I was like, I've been getting myself. I've been pruning for a house since I turned 18, so I'll just do it.

Okay, well, this is where I'm curious now. A lot of 18 year olds are, you know, if they go to college, they're, you know, undeclared. No idea what they're doing with the rest of your life. What, what do you think it was that before you were 18 even, you were like, I want a house?

Well, it wasn't necessarily that I was like, I knew that I wanted a house. It was more so like, I know that I'm going to want one someday and that someday future me will be very happy with myself if I get everything ready now.

So what's it the. So are you saying that like 16 year old, you like just got your driver's license all freaked out like you already understood the financial value of owning a home or you were just like, dude, apartments are shabby?

Gosh, no. I mean it was driven in my head that a home is the best asset from like day one. You know, that's that classic which I actually have some devil's advocate things to say about that later down in the road.

But that's okay.

Just from my experience.

No, that's okay. We want to hear it all. But I will say this. How far do you live in the same neighborhood as your parents?

I live like 15 minutes from my parents.

Okay, so when we're done with this podcast, drive over and high five them for me. Because if you had this driven in your, in your head, that means you had some good raisin fella. So yeah, okay, so home, full time job. Did they already explained to you that financially because you had the full time job, you figured it out or what were your next steps? Figuring out the financial part.

I think the biggest thing with at least like getting yourself ready for buying a house. Because a lot of people come, I think they come to the conclusion of I want a home long before they start thinking about what do I need to do, like leading up to that to be able to actually get a home.

And I, bro, that's why I started a podcast.

And when I was like maybe anywhere from 15 to 16, I just started watching the classic YouTube videos and stuff. You know, just like, oh, it started off as get rich quick schemes. Like, I was just researching. And then you slowly come to realize those aren't really real. And you get into finances more and more and you realize I'm going to need credit when I want to go to buy a house. And so I'm like researching how to build credit and stuff. And then the day I turned 18, I went out and got two credit cards. I was like, I'm set, I'm doing it. And everyone, like, all my friends, I was crazy. They're like, credit is the way to like go into debt and whatever. I'm just like, no, dude, just don't be dumb.

Make a T shirt. Make a T shirt. Credit is the way, bro. Just don't be dumb. Oh my God. I just. I'm going to bottle that whole last 45 seconds of what you said. Because, I mean, not, not just the credit part, but, but the, the fact that you had the get. The get rich quick stuff. I mean, that's why I started the podcast and it kind of blew up because most realtors don't want to help first time home buyers. So everything that people. And they're so old they don't understand, dude, everyone starts on the Internet and no one was giving them anything. So that's. And you're. You see, you got to be a bright guy, though. You figured out it was get rich quick and then you researched the credit. You got the credit together. So then did your parents give you a referral to talk to someone to get your pre approval or did you find that online also?

Yeah, they, they had been working with this guy they used to refinance and stuff in the past. And it was, it's called like Diamond Residential. I don't know if they're local or anything, but yeah, they just recommended me to him. I literally just hit him up. I said, hey, I'm their son. I want to buy a house. He was like, I think I remember them. Yeah. And so he started, he told me to send him over. Like, he started telling me to send him over info and stuff like that. And, and I think I had this, man, my bank statements and like all that faster than he's ever gotten them before. Like, I was ready. I downloaded it all within like two hours and got it all to him.

Okay, so there you go. Tip Number one, from Cortlandt, I mean, obviously, like I'm going to take this and turn it into like a PDF and say, this is what Cortland did. Follow this man. So, number one, get your bank statements, every single page. Two, they want like every single page of the bank statement. So in the old days, gang, we used to get them in the mail. You have to go to your thing, download it, put it in a PDF, slam them all together. You need two. Well, you need two years. Tax returns and then sometimes. Which? Dude, you were 19, you didn't even have that. So then, great segue. Next question. How long did you have a full time job before you got an approval for a loan? Because that's why most 18 year olds don't even call me.

So this is the craziest part that no one believes. And I think I actually did something not a lot of people do. But. Well, to start with, I was there for five months when I started looking for a house. And then by the time I had gotten the house, it was six or seven because I was looking for a while. But um, and the other crazy part is I was only making like 35k a year, like not that much. And almost half of that was commission. So they were really skeptical about counting that as like, oh, as pay, pay whatever they say. So your base.

So your base was like half of that?

My base was like 20. I think so.

So you. So did you have a contract or is that what got you that? Did you have an offer letter or a contract or something that you showed the bank? How did the bank. How did the lender say, yeah, you're approved without. Because the usual is you need two years?

Yeah, no, I didn't have a contract or anything. The. I had them. I just went to my manager, I said, hey, can you write me a letter that says that we really like Cortland and his employment here is favored continually? And he wrote the letter, no problem because he liked me. And I gave it to the underwriter. And then this is the crazy part, they pre approved me for 130,000. I want to say 120 something, I don't remember. Yeah, and I went to them because obviously my house was like 1:57. So I went to them and I said, no, this isn't enough, I want more. And they're like, okay. And I was like, let me talk to my boss. So I talked to my boss and he had the GM write a letter that the commission that I got was not necessarily the subject to that much change because I was working in parts. So the commission was pretty much always on average the same for like the last five years for the same people in my position. So that's exactly what he put in the letter. He wrote the people in his position last five years have gotten this on average. And the underwriter said that they could count it as, I want to say beneficial standing or something like that. So then they brought me up to like 140 and I was like, no, I need more than this. I was like bartering with the underwriter. I was like, no, I need pre approved for more.

Everyone out there listening, that's not normal.

I didn't know. I was just like.

Because winning that battle is not normal.

They said, is this okay? And I was like, no, no, it's not okay. Like realistically. And I was like formal about it, you know, it's like, of course I need to be around this number. And they were just like. And like in his head he's probably going like, what the heck? This kid?

Who is this kid? Yeah, but they were probably at the same time though, I mean, I think your GM and your, and your, your manager and your boss there, that they're like, you know, if you're in a commission sales job and you're hustling in like, like this, it's like, dude, we gotta keep this guy around, you know, so, so the under. So they just kind of tink. See, that's the problem. I have so many people that they'll go on, they'll hit a stupid app on their phone and they'll go to Rocket Mortgage or something and it'll tell em this is what you're approved for and it's 50 grand less than the neighborhood they want. And then they sign another lease and call me 12 months later and say, okay, I saved up enough. But everything's changed in 12 months. If you don't dig deep with a real lender, you never figure it out. You went back and then they gave it to you. And then how long was the shopping process?

I only looked at one other house. There's one. Because I knew what I wanted. I could pretty much know just off seeing it. And my mom, she's been interior design for like 20 years. And my dad's been an electrician for like 20 something. So they've already remodeled like three houses by themselves. So I will admit I had that under me and that not everybody has that kind of a thing. So I, I put all my offers in as is because I was like, whatever, like we can make it work.

See, but that's huge. See, everybody has something like you had 157. Somebody else maybe has three years of a job. Let's say some, some 21 year old. Maybe they've got three years of job. Maybe they've got a couple bumps in salary, but maybe they know their parents can't fix their place for them, you know, and help them out, but now they can get a higher approval. Or maybe someone's got a $10,000 savings bond from grandma somewhere. Everybody's got something that. Because you have to compromise when you buy. And that's. That was what your video that blew up because it was like, dude, I'm 19. I bought a house. Here's how I did it. And then it was like. And now it's just been constant. Your TikTok is just. God, my HGTV loving listeners are going to be all over your feed, man, because the stuff that you're doing, like you took something and just turned it into your own little masterpiece. So that's pretty amazing. Um, okay, so you knew, you know, you knew you had the team behind you. So how was the. Everyone else is freaking out about the. The market. When did you close on the home?

I closed like November 17, which I think was. I put the offer in. And the crazy thing with this market right now, I. The house was on the market at like 7am I went and looked at it at 9am and put my offer in an hour after. And I knew by 9pm that night whether or not I had it. They had. I want to say it was like more than seven offers or something in the first day. And my Realtor told me there was actually an offer higher than mine, and I had offered 8,000 over asking. Like, it was listed at 1. 49. I put in my offer at like 157. 5 and they said there was an offer that was higher than mine, but it wasn't as is. So the seller went with my offer. So that was kind of crazy, too.

We just found each other. And you didn't have to listen to my podcast to do this, but I have been dropping twice a week. This is what's going on in 2022. 25,000 over 50,000 over 48 offers on this house. But there is something to be said about the speed factor, too. The fact that you got in there quick as is. There's a whole bunch of reading between the lines. The other realtor looked at that and went, okay, this guy knows what he's doing. He was here in the first hour. And he wrote it as is. That tells me this offer and this realtor understand this market. Because what'll happen for me is I'll get something on the market on Friday, have open houses Saturday and Sunday. If an offer comes in Sunday night at 10 o' clock and they're asking the moon, the seller has to pay for everything. I'm like, okay, this realtor's a joke. Because they don't understand what's even going on in the market.

They're like vetoed.

So how did you. Was the realtor a referral for mom and dad too, or just Google it?

Yeah, he was just my neighbor. He happened to be a realtor.

So sweet. Yeah, that's awesome.

I'm like a third of the way done getting my license because that's kind of what I want to do. I like the idea of no boss or anything like that.

It's pretty fun, man. It's pretty fun, let me tell you. Well, there's good training. Just listen to the podcast. It'll help you figure out how to work with first time home buyers. Get your butt some decent training. Because there's a bunch of other people on TikTok that are selling being a realtor and they're spending more time producing their stupid videos than they are learning how to work the contract.

So I believe it.

You can separate yourself pretty quick, man. Pretty quick. And then you know what'll be awesome? In like two or three years, I'll be sending you podcast listeners and you can help them buy their first house.

That would be epic.

That would be epic.

I know. I, my, my realtor told me the first month he was a realtor, he's handed out business cards to everybody at Drive Thru Windows, Walmart, whatever.

Yeah, yeah.

All right. That's what I'm going to do too.

Oh yeah, it's. It will. It's it. The.

I.

That is a conversation I could have for hours. And we'll have that off air, but so tell us more. Okay, so we, we got all the good, we got all the positive. The reason why people like my podcast and they're still here listening is because I tell them the truth. You can buy a house in 22, but suck it up. It's going to suck. So what were your things that about the home buying process that surprised you? Concerned you or you would like to warn other people about? Because I got the gist. You were thinking not everything was awesome.

Yeah, I mean, I obviously didn't put only an offer on this house. I was outbid on two other houses I put offers on. And yeah, they just, I just got outbid, flat out. What it was, they. People could put 10k more and it was all cash. And it's just crazy. I'm like, how do people have 200k in cash? Like, where the heck are they getting.

Yeah, it's. I, I have, I have people out here that, in Southern California, where I am, that, you know, they got a, they got a $500,000 gift from grandma. They were out. We were going out buying $900,000 houses because around here, 400ish if you got a regular job is like what you could afford, which is crazy. And we were getting outbid by $150,000 because people at 950 were coming in and going, we'll go one, one cash. Insane. So what else, man? Tell us. Tell everyone about the whole home buying process, like the, the negotiations, the inspections, all that stuff. What did you learn?

I mean, the realtor is pretty great about laying everything out. They're pretty specific. They'll tell you what they want from you and stuff, if they're good. I, you know, I can't speak to the validity of all realtors, but I.

Think I tell everyone. Most of them suck. Yeah, the whole thing on my podcast is, is, is come find a unicorn realtor. I've got good people around the country that. But it's not as many. It's just the first time buyers get the raw end of the stick. So. Okay, so, so you got. So you were following your lead and you had trusted people and you felt good about that.

Yeah, I trusted him. I feel like he was looking out for me because, you know, he's, he was my dad's friend for a little while, but you can find good people out there.

I mean, but they also. He also understands working with someone like you. Like, this is, this is a. A smart dude who's got his game together. And if you have friends, guess what you're going to do. You know, that's why, that's why my unicorns work so hard for me, is because I, I tell them, here's, Here's a great client. They researched it, they found my podcast, now run with it. So, yeah, okay, so loan, you were cool on closing costs and you were ready for all that. Your lender got you prepared.

Not at all. Okay, I'm glad you remind me because.

I saw your eyes, man.

Bad things. So they had originally pre approved me at a 3% interest rate, which, and I kind of think that they might do this to A lot of people. But when I was at closing, sitting down, the paper said 3.25. So they just, like, completely went above what they said. And I think they do that because they know people aren't going to not sign it when they're sitting down there with 500 pages in front of them. Oh, you got to reprint all these because they're. I feel like they're kind of pulling a quick one on me, but I was like, it's whatever. I did what everyone else would probably do, and I just signed anyway. And then.

Well, the interesting thing about that is they have changed the laws a bit. A little bit. So you're supposed to get a closing disclosure, and you're supposed to have three days to review it before they send you the full documents to sign. The problem with that is that's three days before you close on the house. And for the last 27 days, your email has been flooded with all this gigantic paperwork, and you've been signing, signing, signings, reading, reading. And by the time you get that, you're like. And then some people miss that.

That's exactly what happened to me. And I was just kind of like, whoa, what is this? But I was like, I don't know that I can even really do anything about it. So I don't know. I don't know how it works, but. And then also the closing costs. I mean, my down payment, I think it was, like, technically supposed to be like six grand, and closing costs was 12 after everything. Yeah, it was. I was not expecting it. I had to, like, pull money out of savings and stuff for it.

Yeah, it's. It's something that. That. I'm glad. Really glad you brought it up. We're trying to help people understand. We're trying to help people pair. It shouldn't be that much more. So you were doing six on 150?

Yeah, well, I had to put 2,500 over because I was only approved for 1:55. So I just offered more.

Yeah.

From cash savings.

So, yeah, see that. The closing costs. The problem with the closing costs is half of its fees. And then a bunch of other stuff is like, prepayment. You're prepaying taxes and you're prepaying insurance, and you're prepaying your mortgage. Yeah, it's like if you close on the 5th, you have to prepay, like, 25 days of that month, and that's like, you know, almost an entire mortgage payment. And suddenly you're like, whoa. And it gets huge on you.

Yeah. Oh, I Paid more than a mortgage payment before I even got the first day.

Yeah, well, see, that's the thing. It's. You get. You get some pieces, you know, the underwriters worked it for you. The lender said, sure, you just had a job for five months. And then they went, we got to get some money on the back end on this kid. And then bam.

So they did.

Let's go into this, because the inspection you did as is. So were you just going in there thinking, I'm just looking to see if there's, you know, some giant problem?

Yeah, pretty much. I mean, the inspector was thorough. Like, I mean, he would tell you if the microwave wasn't working, and, like, they look at everything. I got a PDF. And he'd be like, oh, yeah, the pain is dripping in this spot. I'm like, dude, that's. That's crazy. I could never do that job. My attention to detail is terrible.

Well, you definitely seem like a global thinker, so I. I'm with you on that, bro. But, yeah, I tell people all the time before the inspection comes, I'm like, okay, remember this? This is their job. They're supposed to find stuff wrong. And the number two person sued in real estate transactions because guess who's number one? All the realtors. But number two is the home inspector.

Really?

So they're going to list anything that even is a little bit off so you can't come back and go, dude, you said this house was fine. So that PDF was scary. That's good. That's a big warning for everybody because for the next year or two, they're going to have to probably buy as is also. Yeah, so. So let me ask you this. If you didn't have a dad who was an electrician. Was. Were you. Would you still. Would have been. Would you have still felt cool enough about this house to think, I can just hire a handyman or a contractor to fix this? Fix this stuff? Nothing's major.

Yeah. With this house, it didn't have anything major that needed done. We had the water heater get looked at for, like, 200 bucks, and the guy just fixed a little part in it. And that. That was the only crazy thing. I mean, yeah. Everything else was chill. And the inspector didn't say that much about electricity, but when my dad got up there in the attic, he was like, holy crap. He was like, dude, if this wasn't your house, I wouldn't work on it. He's like, I could get shocked by standing on the wood. Everything's grounded to everything.

Oh, My gosh.

Yeah. And they had, like, extension cords running actually outside, like on the wall for, like, lights in the closet and stuff. They weren't wired in the wall. They were just little. And they were those little extension cords that you can't put in houses anymore because they're, like, prone to catch fire. Like those little, like, two prong.

Yep. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

I could cut them down and stuff. And I'm like, what is this, man?

I can guarantee you every home inspection, I go in. You know, in California here, where we have attics, I'm like, I'm just. No, right now the inspector is going to tell you that the wiring in the attic is wrong. You know, if it's hidden, like, they won't cover junction boxes. They'll have spliced wires that are just sticking out, which always makes me laugh because it's an exposed wire right next to foam insulation. Like, your TikTok is amazing. So you've been documenting your whole journey.

And so just with my phone.

Just with your phone, man.

I've been the one videoing all the time. My. My mom has done it a few times. And I go back and I look and she wasn't recording. And I'm like.

You have like a. You have the a one second still of, like, right before or after you were supposed to be talking.

Well, then I would have my sister record me doing the work. And everyone, like, there'd be tons of people that would comment like, she. Or like, whatever they thought that the person posting the TikTok was the person behind the camera. Like, they were like, oh, your brother's so helpful. And I'm like, it's me. I. The account's me.

It's my house. That's the story here. I'm 19, man. It's mine. So understanding that you are a global thinker was the whole fix up just because you're like, if I'm going to be a total baller and have a house that have my friends have be totally jealous of me. I want it to be a sweet place. Or are you thinking sell down the line?

Everything that I did modernized the house in terms of, like, price. But I did way more than I needed to. I changed every surface that you could see in the house because I'm a really cosmetic person. Every door and trim was painted, every socket changed, every handle. All the walls were painted, the ceilings, floors, anything you could see when you walked into the house. Different surface now. So I just did a fresh everything. And we did it all ourselves. Like, I was Painting walls for hours.

And well, I got to tell you something. There's a, this is a really interesting thing about housing. The real estate markets just, they're dumb, they're behind, they're not up that people see, buyers see that there's. The real estate market's going to be 10 years behind. Whatever trend is happening. Flipping houses is the big thing. Guess what every buyer is saying right now. If they go into a house that is modernized right next to yours. But it's a flip. They know. They totally know. They're like, I've had people say, I saw some girl on TikTok. I don't want to flip. I don't want to flip. I could tell this was the buyer's or the seller's house and they really loved it. You know, like when I go into your house and I see all that love, I'm not going to be freaking out that my inspector has to go check the attic. I know at some point you've checked out the electrical. You know, I know you've checked it out. So that is going to, you're. You're going to increase your home more in value than a just a flip company because in five years buyers are going to be so savvy, have watched so much hgtv they're going to know, you know, this is not a flip. This dude lived here and this guy knows his stuff. Now here's the big one. Mom's an interior designer. Did you even let her talk to you about design or you're like, my house, my thing.

I totally, I was like, you can advise me, mom, but at the end of the day, it's my pick. I chose every color and I okayed everything and I did some things she didn't agree with. But hey, it's my house, so.

Heck yeah, baby.

I know I didn't include it in the video, but it actually has an in ground pool in the backyard because I don't know why I forgot to include a picture of it. But so when we, like when we were getting it, that was huge for me because I was like, dude, pool parties. Like what?

Oh my God.

Yeah, it's got like a diving board and everything and which it's broken off right now, but so that. And it needs like a new pump and everything. So that still has work to be done. So I'll probably make a whole tick tock on like just the outside side of my house. But. But I remember that'll be cool.

On how to, how to, how to get your pool ready.

Yeah, Stuff like that, you know, obviously, like market lights out there and all that. It'll. It'll be epic. But when I was. I remember when I was remodeling it, I was thinking to myself, if I was flipping this, like, I would just list it over what the realtor recommended, because I know some young couple would come along and be like, it's perfect. And they'd be like, offer as much as we can.

They totally would, man.

Just because of, like, it would check some of their boxes. They'd be like, pool, modern walls. Like, it's the stupid stuff that people love. You know, you could. There could be like a $10,000 roof problem. And I feel like some people will see like painted walls and they'll be.

Like, yes, dude, please. Okay, everyone, wherever you're listening to this, unless you're on the treadmill, stop the treadmill. Everyone else, press rewind real fast. I know it's a 15 second button. Just push it. Don't look at the cosmetics, man. It's all about, you know, it's not as hard as you think. And. And absolutely. It's the intangibles, it's the location, it's the lot size, it's the layout. But even the layout, it's just drywall, gang. If you don't like that, it just doesn't have an open feel. Cool sledgehammer, that wall. Boom. And you're all set. But you're right in. I think I might have said this on the podcast before. For a while there was a trend, if you painted the front door red, like instantly sold in California, it had something to do with the Midwest people thinking it had like a barn door feel and a kind of a country cozy. Because in the. Where we are, everything's a track home. I mean, track, track, track, track, track, track. And it was like, like they, they built a bunch of homes and they went, abc, repeat, abc, repeat, abc.

You know that you say that because I painted my red door black. I hate. I. I'm like a little bit sensitive to certain colors. Just stuff. But okay, like, I hate red. I can't stand it. There's nothing red in my house. I swear I could pan the phone around, you wouldn't see anything red or, oh my God, shades of orange. So I had the red shutters and the red door. I was like, they're going black. And my mom kept yelling at me, she was like, we can do that later. You can do that in the spring. And I was like, I ain't walking up to a house with A red door. I was like.

I gotta walk up. See that every night. Because you walk in twitching right when you come in. I'm not comfy, man. I'm not comfy.

Yeah.

I would ask this question, but the answer, I think is going to come later on when first of all, it warms up because you're going to be so extra, like inviting your friends over and like, they're going to go, you want to come over and game and you're like, in your little one bedroom apartment. Nah, bro, come over here. So.

But you get that weekend.

So what's been the best part of being a homeowner now for a few months?

Being able to pick everything and just clean anything that I want because I'm a clean freak. Like, you walk into this house and you wouldn't think that a teenage boy owned it ever. You'd be like, no, my mom, she'll pick things up. I'll mop every day. Every day. Like, I just, I'm a clean freak. And I like it too, because there's no one else to be able to like, mess the house up. Which I do live with my best friend, but he's. I can clean up after him pretty easily.

Well, best friends kind of tend to know each other's things. It's like, you know, mine would on purpose, when we live together, open a can of tuna because he knew I hated the smell.

So that's the little. It's the little thing.

It's the little things. What kind of flooring did you go with?

Actually, I went against a lot of my advisors and I went with peel and stick. But that was only because the difference between a laminate snap in and peel and stick was like an extra couple thousand. And I was not only on a budget, I was dumping my entire paychecks, like into the house. Like, I had no money. I was just like, ah, we'll, we'll get it done. Next paycheck, I'll just, I'll be ready. I. It's crazy. When you really want something, you find a way to find money.

Well, okay, but see, that is, that is great. I'm not telling everyone out there to buy a home so that you have no savings left so that you have to get a paycheck. But, but the point is, what can you live with? You know, it's like, red door. No, everything else, fine. I can save for a couple months, or in your case, week to week. And then, you know, when I feel like it. But that's the point. You're. You're at a stage. Like, I don't have a bunch of responsibilities. I can start my 401k next year and I'll still make a bazillion dollars because they run all the charts. If you started this by 25, you're like, Bro, just turn 20. So you're fine. The reason I asked about the floor was number one. I wanted everyone to hear that and understand. But I also wanted to know, since you're a mop crazy, do you have a Roomba or are you a mop dude?

Well, the reason I mop is because I put. I also went against what my mom said and put glossy marble looking kitchen flooring. And because I was like. I was like, mom, yes, I could do like flat tile, but who do you know where you walk into their house and it's instantly just like glossy flooring. Like, that's badass.

Yeah.

And then, yeah, now I have to mop it every day because you can see water, you can see anything of dirt just like glistens. And I knew I would have to do it too.

But see, but you bring up such a great point. It's hysterical. Doing the podcast over the years, I've been following the research of people's reasons for wanting to buy a house. This whole DIY HGTV thing. The number two reason, besides your number three, there was like, space, we have to, pregnant, whatever. And then there was financial security. Because when they did this interview, they keep saying that people are waiting longer to buy a house. And the stats don't really back that up. But I get it. There are a lot of millennials who are. You're Gen Z, but the dudes right above you are like, they want to be able to travel and do stuff. But the number three thing, which blew my mind was I want to do what I want to my house. Because it's like if you were apartment living at this new job, you could get your paycheck and want to change it, but you can't rip floors up, you know, so that's. That's cool that that's been the most exciting part for you is to be able to actually do what you want. Have you, have you done anything really crazy? I know mom thinks the marble flooring is crazy. I think it sounds dope.

But the island countertop is a closet door, and it's in the video. You can't tell. It's wrapped in sticker that looks like marble because we put IKEA countertops on the rest because they were like 200 bucks for the Entire counters, they're laminate. They look like marble. And granted, I don't like how they feel at all. And I wish I had like dense cold marble, but it's a difference of $200 and seven grand for actual granite countertops. So I was like, okay, well, it's a deal breaker. I see. But they didn't have that size in stock at ikea, and we're actually still waiting on it. So it's just a door. It's literally a closet door. I ripped off and put stickers on. You can't even tell, but from far away.

That's awesome. So are your friends jealous or did they just not have a clue? Or are you like king of the neighborhood now?

Of the. Of the house?

Yeah, yeah. The fact that. The fact that. No, of your sweet door. No, yeah, no, the house, man.

I mean, yeah, I try not to, you know, I try to be humble. I don't like boast about it.

Good man.

Like that. But they appreciate that we have a party space now. So that's what I. Instead of being like, haha, guys, like, you don't have a house. I'm like, hey, we can use this space down. Everyone's like, yeah, yes.

Oh, see, I have so much data and nerd knowledge that I put on my podcast, but this is the kind of stuff that I want to say, but I don't say as often as I should. Houses are sexy, people think it's cool and you can have a place to party and there's no worries about a landlord. Now if I said that, just that and you would think I was doing a get rich quick scheme. But I. This is a big part of why I love helping first time homebuyers, man. You can get. You know, I also do it because people call me and say, you know, we have one baby, we're having another one. We live in a one bedroom apartment. I love to be able to help them get a nursery, you know, let's get two bedroom condo at least, you know, but if you're. Especially now, if everyone's getting married later, wouldn't it be just way better to have a house to have all those fun parties at in your 20s because.

And you best believe that prenups coming.

You got to protect your wealth, baby.

I was like, yeah, ain't no way a girl's taking this from me. I did this with my family.

Well, you know, that's a whole nother podcast on how to take title and how to keep title pool. What's next? What's the next project in the house. What do you. What, what you will be looking for on TikTok since you've done all the. The building that everyone's going to be excited to follow. Are you, when are you going to post the party?

A little sneak peek?

Oh, sneak peek.

Okay. So the, the next thing is the cabinet doors are almost done being cut for, for the kitchen. They're gonna be flush mounted like self closing doors so that I'll show that off a little bit. And then obviously have to get the actual island on which will be waterfall edges. That will be kind of cool. And then I'm hoping to be able to build a bar in my living room. Such a, such a bachelor pad thing to do. But I'm just gonna. Whatever.

And then this is what I tell people all the time. I had one when I lived in Hollywood that was. We actually were driving down and someone like put it out on the street to throw away. And like my roommate and I went back and found our friend with a truck and one of us stood there. So no one.

Go watch the bar.

Exactly. I just stood there by the bar. I was like, do, do. And then it's not that it's someone like you who's gone through the process. I always tell people, keep in mind, think of the fun things too. Because if you put it in and if you ever want to sell the place, if you know how it went in, you know how to take it out and turn it back into a regular living room, you can turn your living room into the jungle safari if you want to. When you sell it, you just got to take it down and go neutral. That's awesome. Oh my God. I just realized we talked about you building a bar and you just turned 20. So you built a bar for your friend or your roommate's 21, right?

Something like that? Yeah, yeah. No, it's for my friends that come over who are of age.

I mean, fantastic. Well, you could still stock it with soda, but you know, look for plumbing if you can. That's always a fun thing. Like when people have bars that we buy houses that have bars in them. If you can plummet and get a sink back there.

Yeah, that would be nice.

Or a kegerator little and then tap it.

But.

See, talking to you now, I feel 20 again. Except I didn't own. I just rented house to house and I had to go pick my bars up from the trash area.

Well, it's SoCal, man, not everybody. You know, it's true. The wages here can do a lot more than in SoCal.

Yes, yes. Well, and that's smart because you know, the progress, what you're going to be able to do right now, like, your doors are open. Like, you can you start your savings account, start your retirement funds, you know, if you want to ball out and retire at 35, you can do what you did for the last year in other parts of your life in financial stuff. But you know what else you can do? You can sit back and just chill. If the market goes up and goes down, great. When you're 30, this house will be worth more than it is today, no matter what. I don't care if there's a big correction, because it's going to change, you know. But the universe brought you, you were 19 years old, 10 years into a run. You know, it's like, well, I can hang out and wait for it to crash and go down, but then I rent for eight years and blow all.

My money and I'm not going to sell during a housing market crash. I'm not. I'm not an idiot. So. But it's funny you should say about the 35 thing because. So I don't know if you're ready to get into this yet. Future plans and everything.

Yeah, go.

Okay, so right now the current state is. I'm kind of house hacking. I like. Yeah, I do. So my best friend, he pays like $400 a month.

That's total house hack.

Yeah. And. And then I've got someone else. I'm planning to move in in about a year. They're going to probably pay another 400, so that'll. That'll be almost most of the mortgage rate. Yeah, I'll just have utilities left. And then around that time, or maybe a few months after that, since I did the remodel, I've. I've all. I'm very close, if not over 20% equity, depending on how much they would reappraise for. But I'm going to refinance, use the money as a down payment for a second house in about a year or so, rent that house out. And after renting it out for a little bit, um, refinance that one and just keep going down the line until I have whatever, how many houses. And so I'm hoping that I can get that done.

So here's my tip. For anybody out there who wants to be build an empire like Cortland, keep that relationship with your realtor. And the hardest thing about the plan that you have, which is totally right, is the best time to have done that. Would have been 2012. One a year. What's going to be the most difficult thing for you? And there's this entrepreneur I listen to named Gary Vaynerchuk, and he talks about patience. You can do that for the next couple years, but you got to have a great relationship with your realtor and work so that they can tell you, okay, remember when you bought your house and they were like, and we couldn't get a house and we kept getting outbid. Well, now my buyers are going out to buy houses, and we're the only offer after three weeks. That's when you're going to realize that the value is going to go down. And so that's when you get your maximum refinance, pull it out and stay in that house, and then watch the market go down, because your refinance is never going to get any bigger than that moment. So if you go, well, you know what? No. I'm going to say, so if your realtor is. If you have a good communication with someone, or if you're doing this and you and I are doing virtual training and you're working for the how to buy a home, and you're helping all my buyers in your area buy houses, then someone's going to be on top of you going, boom. Okay, this feels like the top, because the data that tells you this, the top is six months behind. But a realtor who goes, There were 25 offers last week. Ooh, there were only 10 offers this week. And then a month from there, they're like, there's no offers after two weeks.

They're like, start getting ready.

Yeah, it's starting. And then that's when you pull all the money out, and then you just chill. And then you work other financial angles and you work your savings, and then you watch the prices, and then that's when you come back and go, okay, now it's time to start going.

Now that it's low. Now we can just dump money in.

Yeah, because what might. Because then your plan actually, it'll stop. Because as the market goes down, you can't buy a house and refinance in a couple years because you might lose 2, 3, 5% in your equity. So when the market's going down, that's when you got to chill. And so that's one of the things you can do at that point is remodel some of the other old ones. Or that's when you call me and I'll explain to you. You'll do it in your area. I'll explain to you a 1031 exchange, which is where you take multiple properties, put them into an apartment and you don't pay taxes on it.

Interesting.

Yeah, I heard that. Long term stuff. Long term stuff. But because the, the investors say get as many doors as you can. If you can take your first two properties and combine them into a fourplex or a small eight unit apartment over 20 years that thing's going to make you way more money. And the turnover is a lot easier than turning over a single family home.

I believe in your area everybody goes from single family homes to just multi unit. I mean all the big ones I've seen Kris Kron, Grant Cardone, they all end up getting into 50 unit apartment buildings and.

Yeah, and it's, and it's just because the single family home, there's a, there's a big property management aspect to it and you know, it's, it's just eventually you get there and the margins are higher.

There's a limit to scaling single family homes. You can scale them a lot but you do hit a limit and it's a couple million, but it's a. Yeah.

Well that's the thing you're going to be able to. But this is the growth that you need. And at some point you might have three. You might sell one to get all the capital and take the other two and put them into a 1031, into a multi like an 8 unit, 10 unit, 20 unit place because you're going to need the capital from that one sale to manage it for the first couple years and then run with it. So. Wow. I can't believe the dude who's done well. Of course that's stupid. I was going to say I can't believe I'm getting into heavy real estate stuff with a 19 year old. But of course I am. The other 19 year. You're 20 now. I know, but you're 19 when you bought the place. Other 19 year olds out there trying to figure out how dope of rims they can put on their car and you're sitting in the house you own. So that's pretty bitching.

I also do like the chrome rims however, I chose to drive an $800 car for the fact that I knew that in a few years that will be a lot more.

It will, it will. And you know, I. Everyone has to make their choices. I'm not saying, you know, I'm definitely not like a, you know, save everything. I mean I'm, I'm anti Dave Ramsey. Like you were talking about the people who Say don't do any credit and only do it with 20% down if you're not. As you said. I can't remember if you said stupid or dumb, but with credit cards.

But if you're.

If you're smart with your credit cards and you manage it, unfortunately, the world looks. Your credit score is part of your life, man. You have to have it. So that's killer. Okay, Anything else you want to say? Because this is. This podcast will go up. I just had someone today that said, I just started listening to your podcast and I binged them all, and the first one was three years ago. So somebody's going to listen to this in three years and want a Cortland update. So anything else you want to say to all the people out there who are thinking about buying a home besides the fact that it's awesome because you're the party house?

I don't know. That was going to be my main point.

And take my jokes, bro. I've been doing this longer than you.

The only other thing I would say to consider, I think that overall, because of what I'll be doing with the refinancing and then getting another and just building that momentum train, I think this will have been a better option. But for some, I think that a lot of people also don't realize that there's a lot that goes in the first year or two especially, you know, there's all the furnishing, all the things that you're going to want to buy, have to buy and forget that you have to buy. Like, I had a list of stuff that I thought I would need, and it was like five times that list. And it was a big list. It was like 130 things. It was, you know, like toilet paper and kitchen utensils and bowls and cups. And it was, I swear, five times that amount. Like, you just run into things. You're like, oh, wait, I don't have, like, Neosporin, because I usually just went to my mom's.

Okay, so here's the cool thing about that. First of all, you brought up. The first thing you said was, it's understanding the real essentials to someone's life. Like, you know, you immediately said, you know, it's my place, it's here. And, you know, it's probably different than other people. You're right. There's a balance between finances and quality of life. Most people out. Yeah, most people out there aren't you.

So most people aren't willing to take a dip in quality of life in the name of Finances. They think that they can do both at one time. But what it really is is the people who are millionaires in their 20s were driving $500 cars for five years. And people just. Some people aren't willing to do that. And that's okay. But you have to understand, you may not get to that point that those other people were at.

I think after I started following you, my for you page started figuring out my algorithm, there was some girl behind that came up on just my fyp, and it was like, I sold my Benz so I could buy my house as a picture with her. And it looked like a freaking Instagram influencer with this awesome car. And she's all. So I pulled up in my sweet used Toyota Corolla and got the keys to my house because she's like, she made the sacrifice. But the cool thing is, most people aren't like you, which means that a lot of people don't start thinking about this till they've been renting for a little while. So, yeah, they lost some money, but one of the things they can at least think about, that they're happy about is they have Neosporin in their apartment. They have bowls. So the extras that you had on your list because you came straight from mom's, they have a bunch of that stuff in their apartment.

Yeah, the apartment. It's a whole different story. You've already had that experience.

And, like, dude, this has been amazing. This has been so inspirational. And I can't wait. You're going to get, like, TikTok messages in, like, nine months when people hear this for the first time. Because podcasts live forever, unlike stories on Instagram or TikTok videos, so.

Definitely true.

This is amazing. So, ladies and gentlemen, once again, what's the. What's the tick tock and Instagram @cortlandshome?

Cortland's home.

Yeah, Cortland's home. Add him, folks. Tell them you heard him on the how to Buy a Home podcast. If you see something that says, I'm a how to buy a homie, that's my crew. That's what they all are now. Awesome. Thanks so much. Talk to you later, buddy. I don't know what to say. He did that at 19. I think everything needed to be said was said in the interview. Follow Cortland on all the socials at Cortland's home. That's Cortland with an S home. And make sure to check out his TikTok video that blew up with 14 million. Or where they. Whatever it is. It's, it's pretty insane at Cortlandshome. And while you're there on TikTok, check out at how to Buy a Home. That's me. Start some conversations, ask some questions. You know, I'm thinking about maybe even doing some lives. And if you're listening to this in 2026, TikTok lives was a thing we did back in 2022.

Cool.

Do me a favor. Rate the podcast Review the podcast. Share this episode of this dude's story. Share it to your younger brother or your younger sister or your friends. Let's start the revolution. I am so sick of the landlords ripping you off. Screw them. Let's get everyone out there who's 19, 20, 21, 22 to figure out they can take a path to buy a home. You know, I say this every single week. And if Cortland at 19 can figure out a way to finagle his way into a home with only five months of an actual job, dude, you can do this.