Mortgage Wise with Mike Wise

The real estate market is “weird” right now – higher rates, high prices, and buyers and sellers stuck on the sidelines. In this episode, Mike Wise sits down with Ventura County Realtor of the Year and Real Estate Negotiation Expert, Katie Connelly, to unpack how smart agents are still winning great deals.

Katie shares what she learned managing 200+ agents, how her military relocation and VA loan expertise helps service members build long-term wealth, and why negotiation is really about personality, tactical empathy, and structure – not just price. Mike also breaks down the “all-in-one” mortgage strategy that can shave years off a home loan and save hundreds of thousands in interest.

If you’re a buyer, seller, or agent trying to navigate today’s market, this conversation gives you practical, real-world tactics you can use right now.

Timed highlights:

- 0:36 How Katie got started in real estate (and 10+ years in the business)  
- 1:36 Managing 200+ agents at a major brokerage  
- 2:09 Why Katie went back to full-time sales  
- 2:52 What top-producing agents do differently from “hobby” agents  
- 3:58 Breaking six figures during Covid while parenting  
- 4:41 Do certifications really matter to clients?  
- 5:08 Katie’s key designations explained (ABR, SRS, RENE, military relocation, forms)  
- 5:46 Serving military buyers and sellers in Ventura County  
- 6:38 Why VA loans are so powerful – and safer than people think  
- 7:42 Biggest risk with 100% financing (and relocations)  
- 8:03 Negotiation: lessons from “Never Split the Difference”  
- 8:50 Reading personalities and adapting your negotiation style  
- 9:23 Katie’s golden rule: “Both sides give more than they’re comfortable with”  
- 10:08 How Katie handles sellers who want above-market pricing  
- 10:49 Checks and balances: buyers, banks, appraisers and sellers  
- 11:28 Biggest mistake agents make at listing appointments (and commissions)  
- 11:56 The Walmart vs. Nordstrom analogy for agent value  
- 12:19 Using negotiation credentials as a listing advantage  
- 12:44 Standing firm vs. caving: what it signals to sellers  
- 13:05 Why Katie loves working with buyers and first-timers  
- 13:41 “No” is not the end of negotiations (inspection, as-is, concessions)  
- 14:13 How buyers use inspections to decide whether to walk away  
- 14:56 Emotional buyers, leverage, and not showing your hand  
- 15:29 Local hot-button negotiating issues in Ventura County (repairs, ordinances)  
- 16:05 Sewer laterals, AB-38 and wildfire hardening requirements  
- 16:10 Why experience and deep forms knowledge really matter  
- 17:23 1,800 forms and almost being “part attorney, part advisor”  
- 17:51 Where AI helps – and where it can seriously mislead clients  
- 18:27 Why you still need a human fiduciary, not just ChatGPT and Google  
- 19:06 How Katie uses AI (and why she still fact-checks everything)  
- 19:12 Explaining principal-first and the all-in-one mortgage  
- 20:22 How traditional 30-year loans front-load interest  
- 22:48 Funniest/strangest things Katie has seen in homes (guns, tarps and more)  
- 24:36 Sellers’ top objections to listing right now  
- 25:07 Interest rates vs. bidding wars: which is really worse?  
- 25:54 Why buyers actually have more options now  
- 26:26 Why rates probably aren’t dropping dramatically anytime soon  
- 27:07 Using seller credits to buy down rates instead of “waiting for later”  
- 27:38 Rent-control ordinances and why rents still keep rising  
- 28:09 30-year fixed as an “inflation buster” vs. rent increases  
- 28:41 Refinancing wins: lowering payments and “giving yourself a raise”  
- 29:22 Stretching to buy in California – and why it often pays off  
- 29:33 Lifestyle changes, raises, inheritances and long-term affordability  
- 29:51 Sellers stuck because of ultra-low rates – and how to move anyway  
- 30:19 Trading a big house for better quality of life (and using equity)  
- 31:43 How structure and creativity in lending can change the whole picture  
- 32:38 Why some listings fly and others sit for 60–90 days  
- 33:03 What’s selling now: move-in ready homes vs. projects and condos  
- 33:32 Investor behavior and buying “right” in this cycle  
- 33:50 NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun’s price projections  
- 34:36 Could median Ventura County prices hit $2M by 2050?  
- 35:06 Experiences vs. ownership: how younger buyers think  
- 35:52 Early 20s homebuyers and the return of the mall  
- 36:36 Starter homes in your 20s vs. lifestyle homes in your 40s  
- 37:23 Remote work, geography and moving to more affordable markets  
- 38:03 Introducing the All-In-One Loan concept  
- 38:17 How pairing a line of credit with your checking pays down principal faster  
- 40:42 Common borrower objections and why this loan is so different  
- 40:56 25 years of performance: no delinquencies, no foreclosures  
- 41:41 Why the 30-year fixed was created in the first place  
- 42:43 How banks make most of their money in the first 10–15 years  
- 43:11 Savvy borrowers, creative thinking and smarter structures  
- 43:26 Final takeaway: why your team (lender + agent) matters so much  
- 44:14 Where to find Katie online  
- 44:44 Outro: Mortgage Wise with Mike Wise  

Tags / hashtags:
mortgage wise, mike wise, katie connelly, ventura county real estate, VA loans, military relocation, real estate negotiation, real estate tips, home buying tips, home selling tips, all in one loan, creative financing, real estate investing, california real estate, high interest rates, first time home buyer, real estate market 2026, mortgage strategies, refinance, negotiation skills

Hashtags:
#MortgageWise #RealEstatePodcast #KatieConnelly #VALoans #HomeBuyingTips #HomeSellingTips #RealEstateNegotiation #VenturaCounty #CreativeFinancing #AllInOneLoan #RealEstateAgent #MortgageTips  

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Would you like 2–3 alternate sets of highlight timestamps focused specifically on: (1) negotiation tactics, or (2) VA/military and loan strategy segments for use as shorts/reels?

What is Mortgage Wise with Mike Wise?

Join Mike Wise, a seasoned mortgage expert, on "Mortgage Wise with Mike Wise," your go-to podcast for navigating the world of real estate financing. Whether you're a first-time homebuyer, seasoned investor, or industry professional, Mike covers everything you need to know. From in-depth discussions on various loan types and understanding market trends to timely updates on interest rates and their economic and political drivers, Mike keeps you informed and empowered in today's dynamic real estate landscape. Stay tuned for expert insights and practical advice that can make a difference in your financial decisions.

Follow along at http://www.mortgagewisewithmikewise.com

Unknown: The real estate
business is one of the most

volatile industries on the
planet today. So, it's good to

know someone on the inside,
keeping up on all the changes.

This is your go-to podcast for
navigating the world of real

estate financing, mortgage-wise,
with Mike Wise begins now.

All right, today we have a
special guest on Mortgage Wise

with Mike Wise, Katie Connelly.
Welcome to the show. Appreciate

you coming on.

Thanks, Mike. I'm glad to be
here.

Awesome, awesome. How long have
you been in the real estate

business for?

So, I started in 2013 and then I
got my license in 14, so I was

working as an office manager in
13, and with the anticipation of

getting my license, and I did.
So nice. What is that now? More

than 10 years? Yeah,

13 years, ish. You know, 1213,
years, that's a long time. So,

yes. And you were.. I read in
your bio that you were realtor

of the year in 2022 So that's a
mate, right after Covid,

yep,

so that was like a

surprise, it was amazing. Yes,
good. And then, and then I got

to announce and install, or I
guess just announce the 2023

realtor of the year, which was
also very, very rewarding. Yeah,

because you know, this is a peer
of mine and somebody I respect.

So it was,

oh, that's fun, that's good. So
you actually, you've been in for

13 years, you producing that
whole time, but you've managed

like 200 sales agents at a time.

Yep, so yeah, I was, I had the
opportunity a couple years ago

to work for a huge international
organization, real estate

organization, and we had about,
we had over 200 agents, yeah,

and I had a staff, and we had
four locations. It was, it was

crazy, but it was good.

Now, did you like doing, like,
was the, you got back in, and

now you're, are you just a sales
agent now?

Yeah,

so what do you like? What do you
like better? Do you like

managing 200 people, or do you
like just being an agent on your

own and kind of doing your own
thing?

Selling homes is just really,
really rewarding. Helping people

is rewarding, no matter how I do
it. Yeah, so I loved helping

agents, but I was helping them
grow their business and giving

them all the skills and tools,
while also doing it myself,

yeah. And then I said, "Hey, if
I, if I give this energy to my

clients, you know, I could
probably produce even more. So,

and it was, it was a good
experience, but the time, the

time to get back in the, in the
field was definitely coming, and

what, like, what were some of
the things that you, because if

you manage 200 sales people,
right? You see the people that

are winning and the people that
are not winning. What were some

of the things that you maybe
learned from that after you know

managing that many people?

Oh, there's so many different
personalities out there, of

course, and different levels of
success, and people have

different goals, you know.
Sometimes people do want to be

the number one agent countywide
within the company, or whatever,

and then other people do kind of
treat it as a hobby, and then

there's everyone in between. So,
yeah,

that's that's super hard. I've
kind of learned that just

recently, becoming, because part
of CMG, I'm now.. I used to have

my own business, and now CMG, we
have 1500 1700 sales people, and

it is very interesting to see,
like, there's the same thing,

there's some people are in it
just to do a couple deals here

and there, and other people are
in it, like this is their

career, so I know managing to
the people that have their, that

it's their career, they
understand the business more,

they understand the forms. In
fact, we'll get into it a little

bit later, but those people that
are on the fringe always like

that is not really their, it's
their hobby. Sometimes it's a

little hard to kind of train and
deal with, because they have a

lot of questions and a lot of
hand holding.

Yep, and I mean, I tell people
this story all the time. I

remember the first year that I
broke six figures, and it was

like, oh my gosh, I never
thought, and it was during

Covid, I never thought that I
would be able to be home with my

medium-sized child at the time.
She wasn't small, but she wasn't

big, yeah, and, and make money,
and still, you know, take her to

school and do all the things
that I needed to do as a mom. So

I'm like, if I can do it, and
then people can do it on an even

higher level than I'm doing,
like, you can definitely do it

if you want to do it.

Yeah, I mean, you have one
child, have one child, nice. All

right, good. Okay, so
certifications, I'm gonna, I'm

gonna go into certifications.
You have a ton of

certifications. How important is
it to have certifications?

I mean, I'm a lifelong learner,
so I love, I love learning, I

love, you know, coining in on my
skills and getting better at

what I'm doing. It adds, you
know, some sparkles to my

resume, which is fun. I'm not
sure my clients pay attention to

that or know what all the ABCs
and XYZ mean. Yeah, but I know

sitting in those classrooms that
I earned those des. Nations and

certifications, and it puts me a
step ahead of the competition,

because we do have so many
realtors here in Ventura County

for people to choose from.

Yeah, it's there's a lot out
there, and so you have, I'm,

they're up on the screen:
accredited buyers

representation, seller
representation specialist, real

estate negotiation expert, which
we're going to go into a little

bit, military relocation green
and certified forms specialist,

so yeah, the certified forms,
oh, that seems like that's those

are changing all the time,

every six months, yeah, every
six in December we get a forms

update, yeah, that's

awful, so and then the military
relocation one is that I mean

you're you're you're out in
Ventura, so you're close to the

base out there. You get a lot of
military. I do. So,

my dad is a 20 year veteran of
the Navy. He's Navy veteran, and

then he, the next 20 years of
his career, he worked as a

contractor for the US
government. So, I fortunately

didn't have to move that much
growing up. I've lived in

California since I was five. We
moved before then, but the US

government is, I think, the
largest employer in Ventura

County. So, people are moving
from all over, all over the

country, and you know, moving
out of, out of state to go

wherever they're transferred to,
and it's different. It's just a

different kind of, you know, way
to communicate with, with people

that are constantly on the move,
and looking for different things

in a home, you know, they're
looking for a place to live, of

course, but it has to be a smart
investment, because the chance

of them moving somewhere else in
three years and having to sell,

and then, yeah, maybe buy in
another state, or take that

money and do whatever they need
to do with it, has to be, it has

to make sense, and I've seen
that it does, so yeah,

it's a, it's a, the VA loan is
an important loan for current

military people that are
serving, and veterans as well,

and gets them into a house. In
fact, I was, we were talking to

a person last week about buying
a house with no money down, and

going in a little bit above the
purchase, the listing price, and

using that money to pay off debt
to be able to help them like get

into a better situation at that
point in time. So, there's a lot

of things that you can do with
the veterans.

Yep.

So, oh, go ahead. Yeah,

and it's, I mean, it's a super
safe loan, as you know, it's a

government-backed loan, even
with zero down, the job security

is there. It's really hard to
get fired from being in the

military. You have to do
something really, really bad.

Yes, so they, their jobs are
super secure. It's not the

company, well, I was gonna say
the government's not shutting

down, but that happens from here
and there. But people don't lose

their jobs usually. I think the

biggest risk would be doing 100%
financing, and then getting

relocated the next year, and
maybe having to sell your house,

but there's a lot of different
things that can happen. But

overall, super, super good loan,
super good investment for the

veterans. Okay, the negotiation
piece. Have you read the book by

Chris Voss? Read so

many books. What it's called

Never Split the Difference. Yes,

yes. Okay,

so he basically.. the whole
premise of his book is that

compromise is a losing strategy,
and the best negotiators don't

meet in the middle, right? So
it's always like working for

your clients. So I'm wondering,
like, your.. do you say Renee,

or is it just negotiation

expert? Okay, real estate
negotiation. I'm not talking

people.

You don't want to literally
exactly. So when you have that

skill, what is it that when
you're in the middle of a

transaction that sets you apart
from somebody else that doesn't

have that designation?

So it's a lot. The designation
course was a lot about

personality styles and meeting
people where they're at, and

really talking to the highly
analytical person analytically,

and talking to the highly
emotional person emotionally,

and really being able to read
people.

Yeah,

I'm a talker, I'm high energy,
and some people that are

introverts, you know, would
stand back at my natural energy.

So I have to really read the
room and listen to people, and

my what I always say in
negotiations is the best deals

happen when both parties give a
little bit more than they're

comfortable with,

yeah.

And I say that right off the
bat, and people are usually

like, oh, okay, because it's,
it's a win-win situation. Both

parties are gonna win, and
that's what we want.

So he talks about tactical
empathy, so that's like

empathizing from where, where
they're at, like really

understanding what the other
side is feeling, and he talks

about naming it out loud, like
for instance on a listing

appointment, you may think that
the value is 800 and they think

that it's the seller thinks it's
850 or $900,000 so like I really

don't want to sell my house for
eight. $100,000 you know, I

think it's worth $850,000 at
least. So, you have to kind of

empathize with them. How do you
do that?

Yep, I mean, I say we can talk
about price all day, we can set

the price, but ultimately the
market determines the price. So,

if we want the best shot at the
market, it's better to come in

at market value and then see
what that does, rather than try

to put a price tag on something,
and then have it go stale,

because often when we overprice
things, they sell for less than

market value, because they're
already going to be stale. Yeah,

so it's not like buying a car,
where you know you can just come

in, they put a high sticker
price on it, and you're just

going to talk them down. There's
so many checks and balances,

there's what a buyer's willing
to pay, what the bank's willing

to finance for through an
appraisal, and what the seller's

willing to sell for. Yeah, so
real estate's like the perfect

storm. Oh, there's a

lot of, a lot of factors going
into it, for sure. What is when,

when negotiating, when you're
going into maybe a listing

agreement, what would be the
biggest mistake for an agent

going into that listing
agreement, kind of, and giving

something up right away that
they could have, like, like,

maybe it's their commission,
right? So, whatever the

commission is, x or y, the
seller may be playing you

against another agent. What
would that look like, like, what

would be the wrong thing to just
say, "Yep, I'm doing it at X.

Yeah, then your client's gonna
walk all over you throughout the

whole transaction, you know?
They're gonna be, they're gonna

have you by the neck, and
they're gonna walk you all, walk

all over you. So you really need
to be the expert, show your

value, show your worth, and say,
'Hey, this is my job. I'm the

professional, you know? If you,
if you want to do it, you can do

it. You can find somebody else
to do it cheaper, whatever, but

it's not going to be better. I
make, like, the Walmart and

Nordstrom kind of comparison.

Target, yeah,

you can go. I go, you know, I
get stuff at Walmart when I'm,

but my feet stick to the floor.
I'm waiting in line. It takes

forever, like I get my
toothpaste, but this sucked.

Yeah, yeah, experience was not
great. Yeah, yeah. So,

and I, when I leave Nordstrom,
I'm like super happy. I spend

probably more money than I want
to, but it's a really, really

enjoyable experience. Yeah, so
being somewhere, you know,

I can imagine that this
certification that we're talking

about, the negotiation is a good
selling point at that point in

time when you're talking to
somebody about their listing,

and say, look, I, one of my
certifications is a negotiating

expert, and so I'm going to
negotiate the best deal for you

whenever that time comes, we're
going to have the best deal for

you, so having those
negotiations and seeing that

if your seller is putting you
against another agent, which

they should, you know, they
should interview multiple agents

and say, "Hey, I'm going to
stand up to you because I'm a

negotiator and because I'm
working for you, and I'm going

to do that throughout the whole
transaction. If you can walk all

over, you know, person X, and
they're going to cave, then

they're probably going to cave
throughout the process as well,

yeah, yeah,

yeah.

So now flip it to the buyer's
side.

I love buyers, you

love buyers, I do. I love

it's so rewarding,

it's fun to get them out into, I
mean, they're they're looking.

We're going to talk about the
current market in a minute here,

but I think the same thing with
me, like first time home buyers,

especially like getting them
into a house. I just closed one

last week where it was like the
guy was this the first time he's

owned a house, and he, I think
he was probably 3738 years old,

but he was super pumped to own
the house,

yep,

yep, and it's so rewarding. So,
in the book that never split the

difference, Voss, he talks about
no is not the end of the

negotiation, it's probably just
the beginning. So, when you get

a counter offer from the other
agent that says, as is no

concessions, blah blah blah. How
do you handle those things? Is

that a hard no, or is it
something that you feel like you

can still negotiate on? Yeah, so
the

buyer has the right to
investigate, you know, the

average home price, like we
talked about off camera, is

almost a million dollars, it's
like 859 50 here in Ventura

County, so the buyer has the
right to do their

investigations. They can see if
it's going to need a new roof,

$40,000 they're going to see if
it needs new electrical, all

this kind of stuff that's aside
from paint and flooring. Yep, to

see if this investment is really
going to make sense to them.

Yeah, so even if seller says no,
we're not going to do anything,

the buyer still is going to have
all the facts to determine if

this at this price and this
condition of this home is this

something I want to proceed
with, and they can say no. Yeah,

they can say no. I don't, you
know, I'm putting my entire life

savings down. I don't have the
money to do a new roof and

replumb the whole house. I can't
live here comfortably.

Yeah, it's very interesting
because there's some people that

really emotional. Emotionally,
you talked about earlier, like I

really, really want this house,
and you can't really show your

hand that early, because then
you lose a little bit of the

negotiation leverage that you
have. So, okay, so what are you

talked about some of the levers,
new roof things, the

investigations, is there any,
like, in Ventura County

specifically? Are there any kind
of hot buttons that people are

negotiating right now?

Yeah, I mean, always repairs
definitely is, you know, is

something that's important.
There's, there's some

ordinances, like the city of
Ventura has the sewer lateral

ordinance, so we need to make
sure that that's done and safe,

and I'm sure, as you remember,
that came from the foreclosure

days, when people were pouring
cement down the drains and

really damaging these houses.
And then we have the new AB 38

the fire ordinance to harden
your home against wildfires, and

we can't prevent wildfires, but
if we can do what we can to

really make the structure safer.

Yeah,

it can. It can make a huge
difference because people are

concerned about fire.

Yeah,

as they should be.

So, you can tell that Katie's
been doing this for a long time,

and she really knows all of the
negotiating skills, but the

forms, the green designation,
all these things. This goes

into, if you're selling your
house, or if you're buying a new

house, you're going to want an
agent that is experienced, that

can negotiate for you, because
it's, it's a matter of calling

Katie back later on, saying that
was amazing, you did an amazing

job, and based on the
negotiation, we got a lower

price, or we got this, or we got
that, whatever it is, you want

somebody that's been doing it
for a long time, and Katie's

been doing it for 1314, years
now. So, okay, I

had some.. I mean, I had amazing
mentors along the way too, that

were forever students, and you
know, really taught me the

importance of staying involved,
getting involved, and staying

involved, being a constant
learner, learning forms. I'm not

like a sit at your desk kind of
person, but I also don't like to

be caught off guard. So, yeah,
that's why I try to learn forms

inside and out, and there's
still new ones that pop up that

I'm like, How did I not see this
in the 1800 forms catalog. Well,

at the end of the day, when you
1800 forms, there's a lot of

forms. You're almost an attorney
at that point in time, looking

through all these, or

advisors. Yeah, yeah,

you're not an attorney for sure.
I, yeah, but there's a lot of

stuff in there that you have to
know and understand, and again,

same thing, having somebody on
your side to be able to manage

through all of that and pick the
right form at the right time

with the right wording is super
important.

And then we, we talk about AI a
lot too, right? And so I see

agents and I see clients that
are, that'll, you know, kind of

challenge. Well, AI told me that
this is what this form means,

and the internet can scour
everything, so it may be an

outdated form, it may be from
Pennsylvania, it may, it may not

be the right information. So,
really, having a person that is

liable, like I'm liable to give
the right information, I have a

fiduciary duty. I could lose my
job if I give somebody the wrong

information. Yeah,

it's.. it is in very interesting
right now that you know I have

clients that are using AI before
they call me and have their what

they think their ducks are in a
row to ask me the questions. I'm

like, are you, are you using AI
to like get all this? Yeah,

yeah. And like, well, it's not
right.

Yeah, and there's, I mean,
there's attorneys that do house

sales as well, so the internet
can scour their contracts, which

is totally different than than
our contract. There's so much

that the internet can find that
AI can find that's not accurate

and applicable to what we're
doing in a real estate

transaction, and

yet there's a whole lot of good
stuff to it, is

there is, yes, yes, so they
proof my emails, amazing, I love

that,

right, trying to figure out how
to buy with interest rates that

are not three to 4% Just
imagine, without any changes in

your spending habits, we can
help you pay off your home loan

sooner, limiting the interest
expense by 10s, if not hundreds

of 1000s of dollars, and still
have access to the equity in

your home. What if the answer
was lying right in your own

checking account, it's a
principal first mortgage that

combines your home loan and your
checking account, called the all

in one loan. Here's how it
works. Your traditional mortgage

is usually a 30 year fixed rate
and is known as a fully

amortized loan, with payments
spread evenly over the 30 year

period. To pay back interest and
the principal amount of your

loan. What most people don't
realize is that for the first 15

years, a significant portion of
each payment covers interest.

That's right, very little
principal is paid during the

first part of the loan. In
addition to that, many borrowers

either refinance or sell their
homes during these first 15

years and start the cycle all
over again, creating an almost

endless cycle of interest
payments. So, what's different

about the all in one loan? The
all in one loan combines your

mortgage account with your
checking account, currently,

when you put money into your
checking account, the bank is

using your money every day in
the form of car loans, home

loans, investments, etc. and
their reward for that is nominal

interest to you on your balance.
The money stays idle until you

pay your bills, leading to a
repetitive process of depletion

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if the all in one loan is right
for you. Yeah, I actually sent a

text to my wife the other day,
she's like, did you use AI to do

that? I'm like, yeah, so the

thought that counts, that's
right, exactly. I started it.

Okay, so 13 years, funniest,
weirdest real estate story, any

like that come to top of mind.

So, I've, I have a fear of being
asked this in podcasts before,

and I don't think that my past
clients will listen to this, but

maybe they will. So, I'll be
super vague, because I would

hate to embarrass somebody.
Yeah, but definitely, like I've

seen like personal preference
things in bedrooms, very, there

was no masking what it was, so
that was interesting. Wasn't

staged,

and I mean, in my listing
appointments, I just come off

the bat and talk about guns and
drugs, you know. Do you have any

guns in the house? Do you have
any drugs in the house? You

know, I've seen homes where
people put a tarp over their

ammo, and I'm like, if there's a
tarp on the ground, people are

gonna wonder, they're gonna lift
it up and wonder what's under

there. I had another seller who
had in his closet, he had like

vintage guns on like racks, and
he put a sheet over it. So I

said, what's behind the sheet? I
thought maybe it was a hole or

something. Yeah, and he's like,
oh no, they're, you know, you

told me to get rid of my guns,
and you know, so I just put a

sheet over them, and I said, if
I'm doing an open house and

somebody comes down the stairs,
because he's like, it's not,

they're not loaded, and I said,
but if I'm doing an open house

and somebody comes down the
stairs with a rifle, like, even

I don't know if it's loaded or
not, like, get it out of here, I

don't want that, yeah, dogs
escape, I've had dogs escape

before, and I'm allergic to
pets, and they're, you know,

they're not my favorite one of
those weirdos that just doesn't

vibe well with pets. So, chasing
someone's dog, yeah, there's

actually my other podcast host,
he's not a dog person either,

and we should have a little
club. My

wife and I, we're like, we've,
we've fostered like over 170

kids, so we're good with kids.
I'm great with pets, yeah, like

not so much. So, yeah. All
right. So, tell me about current

market. What are the things,
like, what on the seller side?

What are the most common reasons
sellers are giving, like, I

don't want to list right now,
like, what are the reasons that

they're giving you?

Yeah, so I mean, you know,
people love to talk about

interest rates, and I'm like,
well, let's remember what

happened when we had super low
interest rates, people were

paying 70 to $100,000 over list
price, like, yeah, the best time

to buy a house is always
yesterday or five years ago.

Yeah, always. Yep. So that's
definitely a concern for

sellers. We don't see too many
concerns about I don't have too

many people that are like
anti-stranger that don't want

people coming in their house.
Usually when somebody's ready to

sell their house, they're very
proud, like, "Come in, come see

it, my house is the best. Yeah,
and so, so that's pretty cool.

Yeah, things are things are
moving a little bit slower than

they were a couple years ago,
but I think it's because buyers

have more options, so they're
able to really find what they're

looking for.

Yeah, so like a lot of.. let me
talk about interest rates real

quick, right? So, interest
rates, even the Fed met last

week. The Fed is basically, for
the next year, is basically kind

of put out there like we're not
changing rates, so the I don't

see the interest rates going
down very much right now, so I

think that when we talk about
even negotiations with people

that are buying houses, I'm
talking about using seller

credits to actually buy down the
interest rate today, and if you

have to pay a little bit more to
get the interest rate down, you

can, but that's, you know, I've
heard a lot of agents say that

their clients are basically
waiting for interest rates to go

down, they're not going down,
like they're like maybe a little

bit, I just, they're gonna be
between six and 7% maybe touch

the high fives, but at the end
of the day, they're just not

going down anytime soon, and so
it's almost like, what interest

rate do you, would you buy at

today? And rental prices are
going up, you know. In the city

of Oxnard, we have a rent
ordinance where you can't raise

the rent more than 4% When that
passed, guess what happened? All

the landlords maxed it out every
year, they'll max out that 4%

every year, yeah. Because they
don't, you know, whatever, they

just do that well. So, your
rental, if you're, if you're a

first-time homebuyer and you're
renting something, your rent

payment is going to go up every
year, and you might as well just

buy something, because that's
the only way to have it go down

eventually.

Yeah, and so we, you know, the
30 year fixed rate loan is a

inflation buster, kind of,
because technically your rate

is, it's the same, your payments
the same for 30 years, and your

rent is going to go up over
time. So, yeah, and I do, I

agree with you with those
ordinances that are going in

with the rents, you know, if I
was leasing a property today, I

would put in automatic increases
at 4% every single year, so that

it just goes up every single
year. I mean, that's just,

yep. And people can, with a
mortgage, you can refinance, you

can stretch it out, you know,
and lower your payment. The

rates go down, you can lower
your payment. I had people when

rates were crazy low refi, and
they called me. Oh my gosh, this

saved me $700 a month. Yeah,
like that makes a huge

difference. My dad just paid off
his house. Yeah, I'm like, I

don't know anyone that's paid
off their house. Yeah, and he's

like, I just feel like I gave
myself a raise. And I remember,

I remember when my parents
bought that house, and it was,

it was hard. Yeah, like it was,
it was not easy. And now look

at, yeah, gave himself a raise,

and that's what I would say. We
talked about a little bit about

the, you know, how good you feel
about getting first-time

homebuyers or people into a
house, buyers, and it is

generally in California,
especially. It is a stretch to

get people into their house, and
when I'm looking at loans, the

debt ratios, they're like,
really, you know, 45 to 50% of

their gross income, and it's,
it's tough to make those

payments, but 234, years later,
their incomes go up, maybe

interest rates come down, and it
starts to feel a little bit

better at that point in time, so
lifestyles

change, people get raises,
people get married, you know,

people get inheritances from
whatever, their families, or,

you know, a cash out from stocks
or something.

Yeah, it's all over the place.
Staying

optimistic, that's

right. Exactly, there's,
there's, you know, on the buy

side, I should say this. Do you
have clients right now that

aren't moving because of their
low interest rate that they have

on their house right now?

Yes, that's definitely an
objection with sellers. And how

do you handle that objection?
Like, is there a.

Is a tough one, I mean, when we
see these big five bedroom, two

story houses for two people,
because they're empty nesters,

it's a lot of maintenance, it's
it's a big house, yeah, and so,

yeah, this is your rate's going
to be a little bit higher,

you're going to make a ton of
money on this house, yeah, you

could buy down the rate because

they have a lot of equity, they
have a

lot of equity, yeah, and just
the quality of life is gonna be

better, you know, you're gonna
have something that is easier to

maintain, it hopefully could be
newer, easier, like, like I

said, it's

there's a lot of factors out
there you had to go through, and

you have to empathize with their
situation, where they're at, a

lot of times, you know, in, for
instance, this building that

we're in right now, I own

it. Beautiful, the..

and I have a loan on it. It
just.. the interest rate just

went up 2% because it's an
adjustable rate mortgage, and it

was so.. I had it locked in for
five years, and it just went up

by 2% but my payment actually
went down because my balance

over the last five years, I kept
on paying it down, paying it

down, paying it down, and I was
aggressive in paying it down,

and so when the rate changed, it
changed on the new balance, and

the new balance is lower. Same
thing with your sellers that

have this low interest rate, but
a ton of equity, they can

probably go in and buy a house,
if not all cash, they can buy it

with a lot lower loan balance,
even with a higher interest

rate, their payment may actually
be lower, which they don't think

about all these things, and
that's why having a team of a

lender, a real estate agent that
have been doing this for a long,

long time have the ability to
kind of work through some of

those things,

and to get creative. I had my
last bar that I, that I just

closed, he did, and I'm not sure
what it's called, but where you

pay bimonthly or twice a month
payments.

Yes,

and so he had told his morgue
professional at the time, like,

hey, this is how I pay my rent,
I pay it on the first and the

15th, because this is how I get
paid, and I said I think there's

a way to do that, so it makes
the most sense for you and your

family, and they amortized it
out, it makes more sense, so

lifestyle wise it made sense for
him, and then financially it

made a lot more sense to him as
well.

Well, I'm going to try something
out on you in just a little bit

and see if you like this other
loan, and it'll be probably the

first time you heard it, but
we'll, we'll go over it and see.

So, hurdles right now for people
buying houses, it seems like the

market is, is kind of.. I've
heard it called like a weird

market, right? Yeah,

it's weird.

So, you know, you have houses
that you list, they go into

escrow right away. There's
houses that have been sitting on

the market for 3040-560, 90 days
that they just won't move. Like,

what is the, like,

the magic song?

Yeah, what is it that's
happening? Anything that you can

come to, like, comes to mind.

I mean, there's so much. Condos
used to move a lot faster. Now I

feel like condos aren't moving
as fast. Single-family homes

that are dialed in and done are
really moving, which is great. I

guess people don't want to do
the work anymore. They're,

they're back to work from being
at home, yeah, during Covid. So,

a totally redone house is

dialed in, ready to go.

Yeah, people aren't open to a
project anymore, and even

investors - I'm not seeing as
many investors really kind of

digging for projects. Yeah, it
seems like

the, you have to buy right, and
that's, you know, that's tough

to do these days. So, one of the
things that, for first-time

homebuyers that I forgot to
mention that I wanted to mention

is that Lawrence Yun, he's the
chief economist for NAR. I've

seen him speak,

he's amazing. Yeah, he's a good

guy. He says the US median home
price is again nationwide

$430,000 today, 90,000 back in
1992 He says that it's going to

be a million dollars in 2050
Okay, so in Ventura County, when

we kind of kind of extrapolate
those numbers, we're at between

900 and a million dollars, right
now, for a median price. So, in

2050 we're talking about $2
million houses as being the

median price in Ventura County.
Is that realistic? You're like,

I don't know.

Yeah, it's just crazy how
everything gets more expensive,

bread, eggs, gas prices, and
then we see salaries also going

up, minimum wage is constantly
going up. They don't necessarily

keep up with each other, but I
think there is a correlation

somewhere. $2 million is crazy
for a first-time homebuyer, but

that's how it's been in the
Silicon Valley, that's how it is

in most parts of Orange. County,
and then obviously in Ventura

County, here we, we have high
median home prices. So

it's this morning, driving to
work, listening to the news, and

they were talking about average
age of a first time home buyer,

who knows what it is, 35 to 40
years old right now, a lot of

people living with their
parents, I personally think that

there's some, you said incomes
go up, and you know your tastes

change, and so forth, all those,
these things, but at the end of

the day, is there a little bit
of younger people wanting to

have experiences, wanting to go
out to restaurants and

experience the food, vacations,
destination spots, concerts,

whatever, rather than owning a
house.

So, I feel, and we touched on
this on my other podcast, I feel

like my generation, in, you
know, my mid 40s, so like those

kind of millennials in their
late 30s, mid 40s, that was kind

of what we did, you know, we
wanted to have experiences, a

lot of my friends travel and
still, and still travel, and I

had two agents that I talked to
a couple weeks ago that both had

put buyers in their early 20s
into new homes, and I have a 17

year old, yeah, so she, I mean,
her and her friends like to go

to the mall, like bringing back
stuff, yeah, that you know was,

we thought was going to be dead,
and home ownership is also one

of those things, I think, I
think it's, yeah, and it's

important, it's important to buy
a home, and well, this is just

a perfect example of it, right,
it's like if you had an

investment that I told you that
you were gonna double in 25

years, 24 years, that's, you
know, that's pretty good. And

not only is your investment
gonna double, you're amortizing,

if you're amortizing your loan,
you're paying it off, so in 25

years you could have it, you
know, paid off, or very close to

being paid off.

And in our 20s, we have
different needs, like you could

buy so much, like you can live
in a studio apartment, or you

know, a one-bedroom without a
garage. Like, now in our 40s, we

need a garage to store the
holiday decorations. We need to

have a backyard for our pets. We
just need more things. Yeah,

that that first-time homebuyer,
who is young, in their 20s,

that's maybe coming from a
college dorm or their parents'

house, their needs are minimal.

Yeah,

you know, so they can just get
into something, hopefully keep

it for the rest of their lives
as a rental or sell it and put

it, put the money down on on a
bigger house when they're ready.

On the, the.. when I was
listening this morning to the

news, it was basically like, oh,
I work at home, and I'm like,

well, shoot, if you work at home
and you're living in Northern

California, in Silicon Valley,
where the prices are just crazy.

Could you work in Tennessee,
North Dakota, like South, like,

could you move there, still work
from home, and you know, be able

to afford a house in Riverside

County or Kern County? You know,
there's places in California

that are a lot more affordable
than Ventura County, and of

course, Silicon Valley.

Yeah, yeah, for sure. Okay, so
I'm going to give you, since you

mentioned amortized loans and
biweekly payments and all that

stuff, right? So I'm going to
talk about my all-in-one loan.

Have you heard of this?

I think so, but they all kind of
jumbled together. My friends,

that's okay. I always say this
isn't my language, and I just

receive the information. I do
this at the

end, just in case, like I
stumped you, and you're like, I

don't know, I don't really care.
So, anyways, this is the all in

one loan. The all in one loan is
a first lien line of credit,

okay? And we pair it with a
checking account, so every

deposit that you make, so in
your instance, when you get a

commission check, it goes into
your checking account at

midnight that night, when it's
deposited, it automatically goes

over without you doing anything
and pays down your line of

credit. Now there's zero in your
checking account, you've paid

your mortgage down, and this is
a daily interest loan. So, the

lower the loan balance is, the
less interest you pay. When you

need the money to pay your
utility bill, you're going to

log into your checking account.
You're going to pay your bill.

The bill comes in to get
cleared. It says there's no

money in your checking account.
It automatically goes over and

just takes that $200 out of your
all in one loan, increases it by

$200 gives the money to your
checking account, clears your

utility bill for you. Okay, so
now this is not an amortized

loan, it is a daily interest
loan, and by doing this month in

and month out, if you pay your
bills, if you stick to a budget,

I should say you'll pay it off
in half the amount of time, and

you'll save hundreds, and
especially in Ventura County,

you'll save hundreds of 1000s of
dollars in avoided interest

cost, so it is. A great loan,
especially for people that are,

you know, they're buying a
house, they're in their

high-income earning years, you
know, rather than waiting 30

years to pay it off, they're
paying it off in 15 years or 10

years and saving a lot of money
in the meantime. So I try to

tell everybody about this loan.

It is

a, you know, the guy that you
talked about with the biweekly

payments. It's very similar to
that, but you still have access

to every single dollar that
you've put paid down on your

loan. It's a line of credit,
it's a big credit card that you

can use whenever you want to, so

have you had any pushback from
borrowers on that? From I feel

like people are still
traumatized from, like, we were

like, this is the greatest idea
ever. And then, and people are

still a little untrusting of
untraditional ways. So, we've

had this loan for over 20 years,
2525 years down, zero

delinquencies, zero
foreclosures, and yes, when I

talk to people, some of them are
just like, that sounds way too

complicated for me, and I said,
would you want to save 100

$200,000 and it intrigues them,
and they're, they basically say,

well, why doesn't everybody have
this loan, and they say, well,

that's why I'm talking to you
about it right now, because I

do, I love this loan, I have
this loan, I gave it to my son,

and so forth, so it is a, it's
a, it's a different way of

thinking, but yes, the, the,
that's probably the hardest

sell, because the 30 year fixed
rate loan, do you know why that

came about.

No,

so 1930s there was, they were
doing adjustable rate mortgages

at the time, inflation like went
out of control because of the

war. Okay, so when their rates
changed on those houses or on

those loans, the rates went up
significantly, put people in

foreclosure, they lost their
houses, and so the government

put in a 30 year fixed rate
loan. The 30 year fixed rate

loan, same payment 30 years. I
know that I'm like, I wig out on

like these things, right? So the
30 year fixed rate loan, great

loan, same payment 30 years.
Back then it was, you had one

job, you bought one house, at
the end of 30 years, you

retired, you didn't have a
mortgage payment, you were all

done, people didn't refinance,
people didn't do those things to

lower the payment and get, you
know, cash out or whatever,

right, and it's front loaded
with interest, so when you're

paying on a 30 year fixed rate
loan, the bank, they make all

their money in the first 15
years, and even though it's a

great loan that I sell a lot of,
it's still like really nerdy

people that look at this and go,
oh, 90% of my payment goes to

interest during the first 989 10
years, like, yes, that's when I

get into, like, this is the
solution for this loan. So, but,

yeah,

great. And there's, I mean,
there's a ton of really smart,

savvy people out there. I feel
like the news will tell us that

people are getting dumber, but
people are really savvy,

yes,

you know, and want to think
creatively and think outside the

box and do things differently
than you know than has been done

in the past.

Yes,

so

having said all that, an
experienced real estate agent

like Katie, an experienced loan
officer like myself, it is super

important to have those people
when you are making the biggest

purchase of your life, a house
is, unless you're buying a

business, you know, that's,
that's a, you know, big

business, buying the house is
the most, the biggest purchase

of your life in most instances,
and so having that person on

your side as your team going
into this transaction is super,

super important. Thank you very
much for coming. I appreciate

it. It was great. Yes, if do you
have like a handle or like,

I mean, if you Google Katie
Connolly Realtor, I'll probably

pop up on my Instagram is Katie
dot Connolly dot Realtor, same.

My Facebook is Katie Connelly on
LinkedIn. I think I use my

grown-up named Catherine. Yeah,
the

growth, it's my same face

on all across all those
platforms. Nice,

awesome. Yeah, so if you're, if
you're missing her face, there

you go, there's her face. Yeah,
this is Mortgage Wise with Mike

Wise. Thanks for joining us,
we'll see you next time on the

next podcast.

This has been Mortgage Wise with
Mike Wise. Subscribe, follow

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Mike wise.com

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