Sydney Kohler: 5 Tips for Buying a Home

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Welcome, everyone, to the Main Street Business Podcast with Mark Kohler and Matt Sorenson. We are excited to be with you today talking about five tips when buying a home.

Okay. Now, this isn't a rental home. This is your home.

Yeah. The home you live in.

I just want to clarify. Okay. I. I'm really excited about this topic too, and I want to forewarn everybody or give you this cool perspective. We want to talk from basics and leave you with a cutting edge strategy on top of the five. So if some of you think we're getting a little too basic, deal with it. Because there's a lot of terms in buying a home that are kind of unique.

Yeah. And I think for many listening, that's like, I've never bought a home I rented. Or maybe it's like, hey, my kids looking at buying a house. This is a great episode for someone out there buying a home that needs to break down the basics. Or maybe you bought one before and you kind of screwed it up and you're like, man, what should I have thought about when I did that? You know, this could be a good little podcast for you, too.

Yeah. Well, and on top of all this, we're going to dive right into it. Matt and I are trying to be better at not just wasting time with some what we think are extremely funny and insightful comments. We're going to get right to the topic and we have a special guest which I don't think I should introduce because I want to be very. What do you call it, Bipartisan or

neutral?

Neutral.

Neutral.

I want to be neutral because I think I would probably give this. This introduction a little too much juice because I'm really proud of this special guest. Okay.

Yeah. So, I mean, we are very honored to have Sydney Kohler on today as our special guest. Sydney has been helping people buy properties in Orange County, California, where she's at. She works at Pacific Sotheby's, the Eckleberger Group. Just trying to get the names down. But. But we thought, you know, it'd be better to have someone in the trenches helping people buy in a home to answer some of these questions and give some tips out there for you looking to buy.

Yeah. Welcome to the show, Sydney.

Thank you so much. I am really glad to be here. Thank you so much for having me.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Well, you bet. Now, I have to say, I thought that introduction was a little weak. I'm gonna.

I was trying to keep it professional.

Yeah. All right. Professional. Full disclaimer.

This is my mark's, like, high powered Real estate agent.

Yeah. See, I like that. That sticks. For those that don't know, Sydney is my daughter. And Sydney, what's your earliest memory of this? And we'll get to your five tips. Sydney brought us five tips and one strategy that we're going to leave you with. That's pretty. Pretty cool. But I think I go back to almost age 12 with Sydney. I could even come up with the room I was in maybe when I said it, but I don't know what Sidney remembers when I said, sidney, you would make an awesome realtor. I almost get emotional saying that, because I knew she would.

Do you remember?

Do you remember when that happened?

Yeah, I. I definitely always recall you mentioning how great I would do in real estate growing up. So, yes, maybe you planted that seed and I made it happen with your help.

Yeah, yeah.

I mean, it was a little.

Those that don't know.

For those that don't know, Sydney, I'll just say this. Like, Sydney has Mark's charisma, you know, like Mark. Mark has. And anybody who knows this show and seen Mark speak like. Like Mark has charisma, you know, and. And Sydney got that. And that, I think, is what makes her successful. And I think in. In doing real estate.

So thank you, Matt.

A little shout out there to both of you.

Thank you. And I'm gonna cut off all of this. You can't flatter.

Okay, all right, all right. Enough, enough. What do you call it? Loves and hugs and kisses here. Okay, so, Sydney, tell us your five tips. And I love that Matt said, whether you're buying your 10th home or you're buying your first home, there's always something to learn in the strategy, because we don't do this every day. Sydney does it every day, not us.

So a lot of people don't do it every day. Obviously, people only do it, like, maybe once or twice, maybe seven times as average their whole life. So the first question we get asked is, where do you start? And so the first. First strategy I want, or tip, I'd like to say, is just start budgeting now, save now, and be honest with your agent where your price point is and how far you might be willing to stretch that to not miss out on a home. And last I'd say is just if you're planning to purchase three to six months before purchasing, don't move a lot of money around. Don't make any other large purchases.

Yeah. Don't quit your job. Let me ask, Let me ask.

Oh, go ahead, go ahead.

Okay. I just asked. Why should someone Use an agent as a buyer. Like, does it cost them money? Like if I'm like, oh, I'm gonna just do it myself on Zillow, you know, like, why should someone use an agent? And does it cost them money as a buyer?

No, as a buyer, it does not cost you anything to work with an expert in the, in the area that you're interested in purchasing. That's actually one of my second tips. So I would say.

Whoa, whoa, whoa. We're going to tip number two. I have a question.

Just let her dunk it.

Okay, all right. Okay. Number two, tip on the table. I want to come back to one. All right. Okay.

Number two, just jumping around here to answer Matt's question. As another tip that would be that I would say is just working with an agent can be a huge benefit. I just brought three to four off market properties to buyers last month and you can search on Zillow all you want. You can stay up late and with your popcorn and sh. But ultimately there are a lot of benefits working with a great team. So I would, I would find one in your area and you'd be able to reap a lot of benefits with people that are inside the market able to help you find what you were wanting. So. Okay.

All right, well I want to define what off market means and come to that team concept and what a realtor does and why work with a realtor. We can maybe unpack that in a moment, but if it's okay by co hosts, can we go back to number one? Okay.

I mean, you're okay with that?

Okay.

As you will.

So. So Sydney, when you're setting a budget, so you say I want to buy a home, first home or my 10th home, whatever it is, average is seven. I didn't know that. Average of seven homes in your life, do you get pre qualified? How early do you recommend someone go meet with their lender? Like is that should be one of their first stops just to kind of see what they could afford or what do you do? What do you say there?

A pre approval letter only lasts so long. So between three to six months, three months, I would say get pre approved and talk to your lender about what you can afford and where your credit might be as well. And then start, start working maybe in more detail. And it's very personalized at that point just on maybe your finances or saving or your credit. So then I'd say you're more prepared when time comes to be aggressive in this very aggressive market.

So okay, do you have to have a Now Matt, I want remember we're going to hit some basics here. So I'm trying to think of some basics, questions that people might ask. Should people, some people may feel like, well I want to buy a home but I got to have a cosigner. Is a co signer typical or required tell people what a cosigner is even maybe and when it may or may not be needed? What are your thoughts, Sid?

A co signer is a huge benefit to someone who's buying a first time home and hasn't ever bought a home before. I myself, you know I just called you about co signing. Yeah. Remember that?

Okay, wow, full disclosure here. I guess we're going there. Okay. What was the answer?

It'll cost that.

That would be a cosigner. Dad, you signing with me on a property, maybe even you can help with the down payment like a gift down payment that can be super helpful for any young first time homebuyers because this price, the prices have been inflated and it's just a very expensive market out there. So that can be one, one way you can have a cosigner having someone that's more qualified as far as income goes so that you can, you can qualify for a loan.

Okay.

All right. So how much does someone look as a down payment typically like how much should I have saved as a general rule of thumb, like if I'm buying a house for 500,000 or I don't know, what does that get you in in Southern California?

I mean you're buying a shack

timeshare. Is that what I got for one week?

Well, I would say 20% is a great place for down payment. But there's also so many different down payment assisting programs out there that can also help anybody that's purchasing for the first time or looking to purchase again. But I'm no lending expert here, but usually it helps putting more down so that you can decrease your monthly income payments on your.

In fact we told Sydney here before we got her on the show that we want to do a separate episodes just on qualifying for a loan. And, and we'll bring in a lending expert for that. So some of you that want us to deep dive on that, stay tuned. Maybe that'll be next week as a follow up to this. But, but I like what you said Sidney is like when you set your budget, kind of figure out what you can afford. Gosh. I had another great like basic question.

Oh yeah, let me ask this if you don't mind.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, go go about the

down payment because I think some people will be like, man, I'm trying to buy my first home. I'm in, I'm in SoCal or even here in Phoenix. I can't get anything for less than 700 that I'm willing to live in, you know. So man, you're telling me I gotta have 140 grand down on this thing. What are some options though for someone that's like I could probably throw together 50. You know, there are other loan programs though if you want to, you know, maybe have some mortgage insurance or an FHA loan. Right. Can I get away with 5% as a first time home buyer?

You can. Again, there's just those different programs out there and you'd be surprised how many there there are. There's even. You can finance a down payment out there. Even. So there's a lot of different creative ways to be able to afford a six figure down payment.

Okay, like that I was the topic, what I was trying to bring out and I don't know if there's much of a question here, I'd love to get both of your input is some people think that buying a home, I gotta do it. It's like the first thing to do. That's my first big best investment. And yes, you can typically deduct the insure the interest and property taxes on your tax return. So buying a home can be a good tax move and I can build equity and build wealth with my the value of the home. But I don't know, sometimes buying a home in your stage of life or where you live isn't a good decision. Sometimes it's cheaper to rent and maybe invest my money preparing to buy a home when I move to a new location or something like that. What are your guys thoughts on that? A lot of people say, well, they just feel forced or pressured to buy a home, like they're a loser if they don't or whatever. Do you ever come across that, Sydney, talking to people about when it's right, the right time or not the right time?

Absolutely. That's one of my other five points I wanted to mention. Don't try to time the market. It's a very personalized decision. We saw a lot of anxiety kind of this last year because people saw how great of a year it was to be a homeowner. We saw appreciation roof and everyone's just like, oh, I gotta get in, I gotta get in the market. But make sure it's the right time for you. There isn't anything wrong with renting and Making sure that you're in a better financial situation. And I'd also say don't try to also hold out and wait because you think you know something that nobody knows. No one has a crystal ball. So I would say don't try to time the market. Just focus on, like, where you're at financially and what you can or cannot do and go. Purchasing a home in the long run is a great investment. Any investment with time over the years, like, it's. It'll pay off. So even if there is going to be a little correction, I just think don't. Don't focus too much on when. Focus on, like, personalizing it.

Gosh, man, Matt, isn't she smart?

She's smart. Yeah.

That's my daughter there, Sydney. Yeah, yeah.

Proud dad moment, you know?

Yeah.

Proud dad moment.

Yeah. I got to get some dad jokes in if we're going to really do this right, but proud dad moment. Okay. Before we move on to number one, I mean, off number one, starting your price point, getting with the lender, down payment issues, timing. Well, we'll come to timing. That was number three. But, Matt, any other basic terms, or Sid or Matt, any basic terms that maybe the new home buyer may not be familiar with?

Well, let me just ask about renting, because Mark was talking about not buying, and you talk about, like, trying to time the market. I mean, I think there is times when people should rent, right? Like, like you talked Sid about, like, well, in the long run, a house is a good deal. But if you're like, yeah, I'm not really secure in this area I'm at. I want to move back home. Or maybe you're in school or there's, you know, a spouse with the job transition coming or, you know, all right, hold tight, you know. Right. It's not like you generally say, like, you want, I think maybe five years. You want to at least be at a place five years. Because there's going to be costs when you sell, right? Like, you're like, well, yeah, but my house will go up 5%. Yeah, but you have costs to sell, right?

Yeah, absolutely. I think that you kind of mentioned timing and location being so. I would say renting is great. Even though renting prices are kind of high right now. Rental prices, I would say if you're not sure about a location, rent in the location before you make a big decision to purchase, moving in or out of state and they don't know the area. Last thing you want to do is buy in a neighborhood that you don't end up Liking. Yeah, most any point. Yeah, most. Anybody can deal with imperfections in a home, maybe later on, work on investing into it and changing it up. You can't change a neighborhood, you can't change the distance to work or where your lifestyle is mostly at. So I think like that could be a huge time to rent rather than buy. Figuring out where you want to be.

Very sage advice.

Yeah. And when you're renting, you're saving up down payment money and, and working on your credit. And sometimes when you go in, I'm going to say this, and then we'll go to number two is that I like that kind of that meeting. When you go meet with your lender and you really look at your tax and sometimes you meet with your cpa, you look at your taxable income, your AGI, and you go, you know what, buying is going to be a good idea, but we need about 18 months to prep for that. I want to work on my credit, I want to save up a little bit more on my down payment. I want to pay off a couple of credit cards so you can really get lean and mean. And so I like that. Step one of really just thinking about your budget and what you can afford and what you want and is it a good time to buy? Okay, number two, working with a team. And so Sydney, tell us what off market means and what the MLS is and why a Realtor can be really, really helpful. And sometimes you can start with Zillow and all that. This is a big topic. Where would you start on this?

I'll just answer.

That was a lot. I know

off market is just simply that it's not, it's not advertised or marketed online and that it's, it's quite literally an off market opportunity that you would have to hear about through some sort of word of mouth or through an agent and through a team. And that's why I think there's a benefit working with the team because more often than not the realtors are talking to each other in your community. Community. The realtors are communicating and they're, they're keeping in touch and they all know about a possible seller next month before anybody else does and huge benefit, especially with this low inventory.

All right, so Sid, what is the difference then between like the MLS or going on Zillow? What is the difference between those?

The MLS is, it's called the multiple listing services. It's the main hub that all realtors use to advertise and market properties. It's actually what feeds the iBuying. You know, websites that you're on, like Zillow, Redfin, realtor.com, they're all sourcing that from the MLS. So it's just kind of the first, first base that all the, the homes and properties are sent to and then from there. A lot of people nowadays, thankfully, with technology, can do a lot of shopping on their own. But again, I think it, there's a benefit to at one point reaching out.

So off market is not on Zillow, it's not on the mls. Typically, it's like this is agent, like you said, word of mouth. And then if someone's working with a buyer's agent, they could be like, hey, this is kind of what you're looking for. It's in the location you're at. It's not on the market yet. You have a little head start in getting an offer on it. That would be the perk, I guess, of getting it off market from an agent.

Yeah, and there's a lot of perks for sellers not going on market too. As you mentioned, there are costs to selling a home if you don't need to, for different photos and videos and advertising, you know, resources. It's, it's a, it's convenient for sellers as well.

That's cool. Okay, now let's say I'm working with a realtor. Explain what an open house is and where. I think if I'm working with a Realtor, they're going to have more inside track on homes they can tour on a weekend or an evening. How does that work?

Yeah, absolutely. Buyers looking on Zillow and realtor.com and those places also can see when open houses will be going on on the weekends. And I highly suggest going to those open houses. It's going to help you nail down and slowly just eliminate what you're looking for in a house and what you're not looking for in a house, especially just getting to know the different neighborhoods. So if you are looking to purchase and you're not sure exactly where, open houses can be a huge, huge benefit in helping you kind of, you know, slim down. Like the maybe big area you're looking in.

Yeah. All right, so what, Sydney, is your next tip rather than.

I have one more question. Okay.

Sydney's tips are on our question.

I know. Okay, well, her third tip was don't try and time the market. And then, and then I, I will see a reveal on 4 and 5. But real quick on working with the realtor, Sydney, this is your chance. Why should people work with a realtor? Like, is it in the offer process is in the stress and anxiety. Is it in the. What is it like if you want to tell someone freaking go look at Zillow initially, but you need a realtor. Why, why would you say that?

I could go on for forever? Because there are so many things that can come up in the transaction where you're going to want a professional on your side and, and that's familiar and experienced in the real estate market and transaction process. I would say it can be a huge emotional decision for some people and you could easily leave money on the table if you're not working with someone that can help you get top dollar for your home. Whether that comes down to marketing or also there's. I think it's a great suggestion for people to just facelift their home with putting a little bit of paint here and there. I think that that can get you also more money in. In a market where you're appealing to the, the style, the current, the current interior design. But I believe working again just with an agent, people are busy with work, people are busy with their life. I think that they don't. They underestimate how much a realtor can help because that's their main priority and their main job is going out there and searching for homes. I'm door knocking tomorrow in a neighborhood for a couple. I also just, I just closed escrow on a beautiful home for a family of six that like were totally discouraged, but found this off market property through us and our team. So there really are in even a low inventory market like this, opportunities. And I think that you're in the best position if you just reach out not to a million realtors, but to one who can really in depth, get to know what you're looking for. Because if you're just playing different realtors here and there, they're not able to.

Well, I mean, if you think too. I mean, doesn't like your offer look a little better too? Like if it's coming from an agent from a legit office and this seller's got 5 other offers in and one person doesn't have an agent and their contracts a train wreck. One person's got an agent no one's heard of or from an office never heard of. Like as a buyer. I think if in a competitive market it's like, no, I want to be working with a legit office and have an agent presenting this offer. Wouldn't you think?

Absolutely. If you're in the southern Orange county area, look up the Echo Burger Group. But it does help being number One in San Clemente. Doug, Echo is rated number one in San Clemente. And we absolutely are able to kind of have that, that kind of advantage when we put an offer in on a property because people will know the Echo Burger Group. And so wherever you're at in your, in your area, in your community, there will usually be an office that everyone will know is going to make sure the transaction goes smoothly.

All right, good. Great. Good stuff. Good stuff. Now number three was don't time the market. And we may have already kind of unpacked that and done it justice. But Sid, any other thoughts on your notes of not worrying about maybe what the market's doing? I love what you said about worrying about where you're at in your stage of life and being real and don't getting sucked into the anxiety or the market and what's going on. Any other thoughts on your point of try not to time the market?

No. Besides, I'll just emphasize once again on if it's a good time for you. Get in, get into the market. Because over time any investment will ultimately I believe, pay off. And there's really so many different ways that you could maybe forecast where the market's going. But I think just again, you need to look at your personal financial decision. So I don't, I don't really have anything more to add to that, but just reemphasizing, just don't, don't worry about how much appreciation happened last year. There's still good appreciation happening this next year, but interest rates are going to probably rise a little bit, which we hope will ease up on the demand. But don't, don't focus too much on all of that. Just make sure you're in a good financial position. So like let's say if there was a little bit of a cross direction that you'd be fine and you'd be able to, you know, float right through.

Okay. And I think I would add you're buying a home, not to flip it in a year. And time will. Even if there is ups and downs in the market, you're, this is a, this is a long term purchase, so those ups and downs will play themselves out and, and you should be fine. Okay, number four then. What's our number four tip?

I was going to say, and it's so cliche, but I'll say it. Location, location, location. I just think that considering the proximity to your work, considering the proximity to downtown, your lifestyle, I think that's very important. Again, I said this, but I'll say it again. You can probably fix up any imperfection in a home. But if you don't like the neighborhood, if you don't like the neighbors, can't do anything really about that besides selling. So location is very important, and we already kind of mentioned ways to find the right location for you, so.

Yeah. So I think also schools, right? I mean, you talked about location to work and your lifestyle, but with people with kids, right. They're always gonna be looking at the schools that their kids are gonna go to and all that type of stuff.

Totally. I don't have any kids, so that wasn't my first thought.

But for your client, wait for the big reveal. Okay.

You're like, the school district sucks. You don't want to be over here. The house may look nice.

Yeah, Yeah.

I want to throw this in, too. If you're in an area that has newer development. And just consider HOAs that can add honestly up to 500, a thousand dollars per month on top of your mortgage. So you need to consider, too. Can I afford an HOA? And what are HOAs? Their homeowner association fees. Fees where they'll upkeep the area. You know, you usually are paying for some sort of amenities like a pool, a park, and in that case, consider what those fees will look like.

Yeah, I like your point, too, about the location. Even more important than the house sometimes, because people say, oh, I found this perfect house. And. But it's not, even if the location is small, bad that a house can't overcome that problem. And I've met with clients are like, oh, we found this house. I was like, why are you even looking in that area? Don't. Don't waste your time because you're going to have. It's going to waste time. It's going to create anxiety that, oh, I want this house, but it's in the wrong area. Don't just focus on the area. And that's where that team concept comes in, too, because you can tell your realtor, I want anything off market you might hear about in this area while I'm preparing. And I guess that probably means get involved with your realtor sooner than later as well. Not just your lender. Let your realtor know, hey, I might be out a year, but I want to be on your radar. And that, I guess, with the location, that goes hand in hand.

Absolutely. That takes us to number five. And I do have to get going here to a showing, so. But I wanted to end on number five, if I may, and get to work.

Girl, I love it.

Okay.

I love it.

In a crappy area, there may not be anything you can do to your property that's going to give it value. And with that said, consider resale value when you are purchasing. I can't express that enough because there's going to be. There's low inventories. There's a lot of anxiety, like, I got to buy this home. But don't get too anxious that you forget things like, is this. Does this have a view? Views will always be there, you know, and your property is always going to be appealing in the future. You know, does this. Is this on an end lot? What's the floor plan like? You know, can you basically in the future resale that? Resell for a higher price and with no. No problems? That's a, I think, a huge, A huge one to think about.

Yeah, I mean, that's a good tip. On the front end we were talking about, you know, don't try to time the market. And, and this isn't just an investment. This is going to be your home. Right. But. But at the end of the day too, I mean, you're putting a significant amount of your income into this house. Your savings are going to get depleted and we all want that back when this thing sells. Yeah, we like. I mean, and I think. Or maybe you turn this house into a rental one day, which something I've done, which we love. Talk about that strategy. Maybe another. Another podcast episode. But I love that. I think many people have found like their home to be their number one investment. We see our clients in the law firm. I just remember doing clients estate plans and like paid off their house and, you know, and then they bought another house, paid that one off. And it's just one of those things you can just really build wealth but also, you know, turn it into a home where you live too. So. Great last tip.

Yeah. And I like, I like your number 5 Sid on considering resale value. I want to put another term to it maybe. And that is be real about what's your exit strategy? Is this the home you want to raise your kids in? Is this the home you want to retire in? Is it something where you could. What. What would the rehab look like? And so all of your, you know, might be thinking fixer upper and Chip and Joanna, what would they do and how much would that rehab cost? And when could I do it? Could I afford it? And so I think being realistic about your exit strategy, I love, Matt, that you've turned several of your homes that you've owned personally into a rental afterwards. And that's been a great strategy. Yeah.

Why sell real estate once you already own it? Just keep holding it. Buy another one. Unless you have to. I mean, there's scenarios where people need to, but. Yeah, why. So if you don't need to.

Okay, now, Sid Scott, go to showing. But she was going to share one strategy. Kind of like the. This is the hack strategy that you want to. Kind of the tip Sydney saves for her special clients.

Yeah. I wanted to throw one thing, and that might be a kept secret. If you're working with a professional that's able to get aggressive with your offers, do it. And when I say aggressive with your offer on a property, I'm referring to removing some contingencies. And those contingencies are basically terms on an offer. And they can be terms like loan appraisal, a loan contingency, or an appraisal contingency or an inspection contingency. And those all basically protect you if you need to fall out or unfortunately fall out of escrow. But in a lot of scenarios, we've been seeing people remove those and not even do an inspection on the property because there's really. It's just so competitive out there that they're willing to take the property as is. And so I would. I would just throw that in there with all of those other tips and. And leave that with you and Gotta get running.

Yeah.

We do not want Sidney to lose the sale. So Matt and I will wrap up that last strategy and maybe cover some terms. Sydney, thanks so much for being with. Good luck at your showing.

I mean.

Yeah, yeah. Sydney, how do people find you?

Yeah, if you want to. Yeah, if you want to find me, you can find me@sydneycohler.com or you can find me just through the Echo burger Group. So Echo Burger.com it's E C H E L E B E R G

E R. We'll put that in the notes. But I thought. Had a nice ring to it, man.

That did. That's a good name. Yes.

Strong, powerful name. Sydney Kohler dot com.

I put that in a business.

I mean, and you know, Sydney's got connections to rental property. You know, she's. If you're looking for a home in Southern California, give Sydney a call. She'll hook you up. Sydney, you're awesome.

My whole team's amazing. I'd love to help anybody. If you're in the southern Orange county area, any price point, my phone number is 949-899-2680.

Okay. If you're a guy under age 30, I do not want you to call her. Leave her alone. She's working right now. Okay, all right. Stay away, stay away. Okay, Sydney, thank you. Okay, Matt, we're going to wrap up a couple other points, everybody. Don't go anywhere. Thank you, Sid.

Thank you. Bye, guys. Thanks so much for having me.

Now some of you may be thinking this is all a promo to just help my daughter out. I will. Matt, whose idea was this? Right? This topic.

That was my idea. I'm like, hey, let's talk about buying a house. We need to get back to the basics. Yeah, why don't we have Sydney on

so I not a self serving show. I want everybody to know. But hold it back to that strategy issue of a quality offer. Matt, why don't you explain the basic terms. What does this offer mean? And contingencies. Maybe give us another example.

Yeah, so when you're buying, you're going to have a purchase contract that's going to have the terms of what you're willing to pay when you want to close. Like Sydney was talking about an appraisal contingency or inspection contingencies. And those are the things where you say, hey, if the property doesn't appraise for the purchase price or if I do an inspection and I don't like what we see, I'm going to back out and I'm not going to buy this property. So right now, where it's so competitive with, you know, sellers right now, they can, they get 10 offers and they get to pick one out of them. I mean price is important, but they're also looking at is this person going to follow through? Are they going to really buy? I don't want the one that has every contingency checked in the contract and every reason they can get out. So by limiting your contingency is what Sidney's saying essentially on that last strategy is you're, you're looking more appetizing. You're looking like sellers can be like, this is the one we want. I feel better about this one actually going through.

Yeah, no, I love it. And, and I want to. My final point that I would love everyone to use as a big takeaway here is as you're thinking of buying maybe the fourth or fifth home of your life or your first time purchase, I really do feel strongly that the home purchase in a taxpayer's life is one of their first and best investments. And when we do our show on lending, we want to talk about pay down strategies. How can I pay down this mortgage more quickly with some strategies to help get out of that loan and use the Dave Ramsey concept of paying off our home as quickly as possible and having that equity to use as a resource for opportunities or to just simply be a little more financially stable. So I think it's something people should really take seriously and be really careful that you're buying something that has equity immediately and you've got some exit strategy that makes sense financially and not over buy. I mean, so.

Right, yeah, yeah, be careful. I mean, I think people think, well, I'm going to make more money later so I can, I'll grow into this financially. That may sound good in a few years and maybe that happens, but you're going to be in some pain and you don't want to be house poor. You know, you just don't, don't, don't stretch your limits. Be reasonable in what you're qualifying for. You know, and sometimes just because the bank will finance it for you, look at your own budget and be like, can I actually afford this based on lifestyle choices? I have other obligations that I have. Just because a mortgage lender is going to give you all that money doesn't mean you should take the maximum amount.

Yeah. And what house poor means, some of you have maybe heard that term is. You're like, I got a great house. What do you mean house poor? Well, you spent so much on the house that almost every dollar you have goes towards your house payment and you pay for groceries and a car payment or whatever, and all of a sudden you're broke. But you got a great house. And that may be wonderful the first couple months as you're moving in and the honeymoon, and you're like, oh, I love this house. And then also you're like, holy crap, I got to go out and pick up a second job just to afford my house. So I like what Cindy said. You might buy seven homes in your life. This doesn't have to be the get all end all you can upgrade.

Yeah, yeah, that was a great little stat. So, well, anything else you want to add or should we wrap it up here? I thought Sydney had some great tips. We want to keep this basic. We're going to be doing some more episodes on just some fundamental, you know, strategies we think people should know around personal finance and home ownership stuff like this. Hopefully this is helpful. And if you're like, guys, I knew all this stuff. I'm a real estate pro. Cool. Share it with your friends or family that that might be buying their first home that don't know this stuff yet. We tried to keep it on a basic level today.

Yeah. Yep. And thanks everybody for being a part of the show. We're gonna keep bringing you cutting edge content. And don't forget, for those that do have a little cryptocurrency in their portfolio, would you say about 60, what percent of people have purchased or bought cryptocurrency?

Yeah. 18% of all Americans have bought cryptocurrency. And 63% of high net worth individuals that like have, I think, I don't know what that is, 5 million or more net worth, but they have, they own crypto. Wow.

So January 29th, just coming up here in a couple weeks will be our crypto tax summit where we're gonna break down all the little inside strategies of how do I really pay for this on my tax or report it on my tax return? And ways to avoid tax or entirely. And if you're hearing this podcast after January 29th, don't stress. The recording is available@cryptotaxsummit.com and we're gonna hold a couple later this year. And at this event coming up, we'll be revealing our next location. Just a huge topic people are really excited to hear about. No one's talking about it, so we're going to break it down.

So, yeah, thanks everyone. We'll be back, of course, next week with another amazing episode of the Main Street Business podcast. Get over to mainstreetbusiness.com you can learn more about the show, see prior episodes, make sure you're subscribed like us, give us five stars. Whatever you can do, wherever you're at, it does help us feel good and warm and fuzzy inside and does help other people find the show, too.

Thanks, everyone. See you next week.