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Hi, I'm Ella Gurfinkel, your host of the AskElla Show and senior loan officer at Fairway Independent Mortgage. On my podcast, I cut through the noise to bring you honest conversations about real estate, mortgages, and financial planning.
I interview industry experts to tackle everything from homebuying basics to complex topics like reverse mortgages, trusts, and market trends. With decades of experience, I'm passionate about dispelling myths and providing clear, actionable advice.
Whether you're buying your first home, refinancing, or planning for retirement, I'm here to help you make informed decisions. Join me for straightforward talk about real estate and beyond!
That was honestly the shocker of my life. That's great. I love that. I'm taking that. The best time to buy was 10 years ago and today. My daughter refuses to rent because she knows that her interest rate on a rental would be 100%. Not six or seven. It instills the sense of hopelessness in the younger generation. There's never been a 10-year term where real estate has gone down. The values of the homes are never going down. They're only going up. We had a little over 26,000 homes on the market. But if you take what is affordable, that 26,000 homes goes down to 5,000 homes. That's less than a quarter. My home is valued at 515,000, but I also have $100,000 of phantom equity sitting inside of my home. I wouldn't call it an investment. We'll cut that. Yep. But 10% of the agents make 90% of the money for a reason, right? How much do you want to hear me scream? If somebody is really looking to dip their toes in the water, what can somebody find, let's say, for under 400 and where?
Welcome to another installment of Ask Ella Show. And today I have an amazing guest with me, Steven West. And we're going to talk about the local markets here in the Phoenix area. What's hot, what's not, and what is affordable. The affordability seems to be a huge thing right now. Okay, not seems. It really is. So, we're going to talk about what really is affordable and what affordable means in today's market, in today's words. So, Stephen, tell everybody a little bit about yourself first. Sure. And then we'll dive right in. That's great. Yeah. Thank you so much for having me first off, Ella. Really appreciate it being here. It's great. Uh, so I am one half of what we call the mother son team. Okay. M. And I love that about you. Thank you so much. Yes. My mother, uh, Angela Horge, she's been in the industry for well over 20 years. She actually started as an appraiser for 10 years before she became an agent, which gives her an amazing insight into the markets and pricing the homes. Absolutely. Especially when we have listing appointments. That's why I love having her along. I could look at a property, look at comps, and say 5 to 550, she's going to walk in there and say, "Okay, this is exactly where where we should market it based on her experience." Um, and about 8 years ago, I came on board. She went to all of her kids, said, "Somebody has to get their license." Uh, so I did, and you know, we've been in partnership ever since. So, it's been really, really incredible. And you two have truly an amazing dynamic because I've seen you two together and it's something that's rarely seen in familial teams. Yeah. Over the years. So, that is something that is just priceless in my opinion. Yes, very much so. She what I've learned in 8 years, I probably would not have learned in 15 years of being an agent on my own. So for all the agents out there that are struggling to figure out what works, go find someone and copy exactly what they're doing that's doing it on a high level. That is an amazing advice actually and it while it's segueing in a completely different direction that actually speaks to your generous nature because a lot of agents who have struggled learn things. Yeah. They tend to keep it close to the vest, right? And I refer to it as a scarcity or even poverty mentality where it's all mine. What I've learned it's mine. Nobody can copy it because somehow I will get less business. And I've always tended to look at things as there's plenty of business for the taking for all of us. Absolutely. And frankly, sharing the knowledge and sharing the expertise, i.e. finding a mentor or finding somebody to team up with or finding somebody to learn from is invaluable because it really does propel you to the next level and lets you scale up as opposed to continuing to struggle on your own as I often refer to it. Try to open a closed door with your forehead. That's great. I love that. I'm taking that steal away. But in reality again being there's plenty of us in the industry who are more than willing to share the knowledge and share the wealth. Absolutely. And there's plenty of those who are close-minded to it. So the suggestion that you just made for anybody who's struggling should actually find somebody to learn from and not well I guess learn from somebody else's mistakes instead of their own. Oh yeah. That shortens that learning curve exponentially. 100%. Thank you for saying that out of the gate. I love it. Of course. Yeah. Thank you. Totally. So, Phoenix market, I know it's incredibly different. Not just zip code by zip code and municipality by municipality, but even within each zip zip code, it's entirely different. There are pockets that are high-end. There are pockets that are decently priced. Yeah. And then there is the affordable pockets, right? So, if somebody is really looking to dip their toes in the water Mhm. or let's say they're relocating here from another state. Yeah. What is the typical expectation for different price points that people look at? So what can somebody find let's say for under 400 and where and then from there you know where else can you take where else can they look? Okay. So the first thing that I would recommend to anybody that's looking to purchase at any point in time would be to talk to you. Right. That's the first absolutely you have to get pre-qualified. Make sure that we could turn your dream into a reality. That's number one. You are speaking my language right now, my friend. Because there's numerous videos that I've done over the last few years on the first step is knowing what you can buy. Exactly. Meaning how much, what the payment is, what is actually a comfortable payment, what can you afford, right? Not necessarily. You find the house first and they have your dreams completely shattered because you don't qualify. You can't afford it. The payment is too much. And now you're comparing everything else to that dream home that just completely flipped on its head. Yes. Very, very big on underpromise and overd deliver. And you know you Ella, you can tell these people exactly what this property at this cost is going to be monthly, what their taxes are, their HOA, all those fun things. So then they understand, okay, this is the expectation. This is what I need to be looking at. Now, when it comes to affordability across the board, if you looked at the MLS today, we had a little over 26,000 homes on the market. But if you take what is affordable, which I believe if you took normal expectation, let's say three-bedroom, two bath, two-car garage, uh, single family residential home, let's just say $500,000. Well, that 26,000 homes goes down to 5,000 homes. That's incredible. 26,000. That's less than a quarter. It is less than a quarter. Exactly. Everything else is more. And surprisingly, Arizona is one of the more affordable uh markets in comparison to the rest of the country. I would say uh especially when it comes to property taxes, as you and I know. That was honestly the shocker of my life when we bought the house here. Yeah. Because where I came from in the Pacific Northwest, even with a slightly lower property taxes than Portland proper, let's say, Yeah. I was still paying more than three times in property taxes that I'm paying on a comparable home here. Exactly. Which is completely insane to me. It is insane. I'm from Jersey. I'm from the East Coast, too. Uh average, you know, pro well, I shouldn't say average, but property taxes out there were definitely five to six times more than what we're spending out here. I remember my uncle was spending over $50,000 on his property and property taxes per year out there. So yeah, to spend two, four, $6,000 a year right here, that's quite affordable in comparison to other areas in the country. Which speaking to affordability, and that's what most people don't understand, it's not just the price point they need to be looking at, right? They really do need to be looking at the property taxes. Yes. And the homeowner's insurance, because those two roll up into the total monthly payment. I'm going to get on a high horse here for a second. These do. Yes. Because your payment typically monthly is your principal and interest, taxes, insurance, mortgage insurance. if it's required and HOAs which actually are technically not a part of the monthly mortgage payment but they're a part of the housing expense so we have to account for them. Yes. And if you're looking at a 500k home here with a property taxes at what? $200 a month or less. Sure. Versus a $500,000 home elsewhere and property taxes are 500 a month. Mhm. that $300 difference in property taxes now can actually push you up to a 600k home instead of a 500k home, which is huge. Huge. It really is. It's It's kind of um similar to the conversation that I have when people are asking about single family residentials versus condominions and town homes. It really depends on where you want to spend your money, right? If you like the apartment type of style feel, you know, where people are taking care of the maintenance and then your roof and your exterior home and everything is taken care of, then great. But understand that your HOA is going to cost you four to five times more than what an HOA would be on a single family residential home where the majority of your money is going towards the principal and the interest of the property instead of towards the HOA. This is exactly a conversation I have with the majority of buyers who are looking at condos. Yeah. Like, have you considered buying an actual single family home? Because that $500 a month for the HOA for a condo and I'm pulling that number out of thin air. Yeah, like no specific references, but it's numbers like that. That's easily another 90K in price that you can add to the purchase price and go look at a home. Yes. Yeah. Absolutely. Um areas, I guess, if we were to talk about affordability, uh I've been looking all over the place lately. As you know, I have a 19-year-old daughter that's at home. And the pence up um the pence up demand, if you will, for more than likely 25 to 35 year olds across the board that are still living at home with mom or have roommates right now or are paying someone else's mortgage through rent. The demand is insane. It really, really is. It is crazy. But I also think there is a misunderstanding that they can't afford it, right? Which in many cases actually they can if they were educated on it. Yes, I agree. Um, I I really try to tell people all the time when you're buying a home, you are investing into yourself through home ownership instead of paying somebody else's mortgage. If you look at the interest rates, that's one of the reasons why people talk about affordability right now, right? People think it's unaffordable because our interest rates are in the sixes, 6.25 maybe somewhere around there, but that's pretty much not that that much higher above the norm, right, of roughly five and a half over the last 30 years. Exactly. Yeah. Five and a half to six over the last 50 years is the has been the average. Absolutely. It's uh incredible how we've been a little spoiled over the last five or six years. You know, we saw those twos and threes in the 2020 2021 which was a complete black swan event. It absolutely was. Yeah. I don't think we're going to see it again. I honestly blame the the fear porn on the media. Okay. Yeah. Because the media promotes this crazy idea that the rates are super high. Well, eight that we saw, right? Yes. That got high. That became difficult because Yes. I in my 30 years in business, I haven't seen the eights or above eight more than a couple times. Sure. Back in the 90s and then back again, I want to say in the 2000s, that was it. Yeah. So eight. Yes. But dipping back into the sixes, especially low sixes, that's really more of the norm. But if you listen to the likes of Susie Warman who are constantly bashing the home ownership, saying that it's not affordable, that it's terrible, the sky is falling. Yeah. chicken little much, right? That instills that fear and that
I don't know. It's not even the fear. It instills the sense of hopelessness. Yeah. In the younger generation. Sure. Where in fact, yes, there is there there is and there are opportunities to buy. Absolutely. And I think it really just comes down to education more than anything. My daughter is still at home at 19 years old because she refuses to rent. She refuses to rent because she knows that her interest rate on a rental would be 100%. Not six or seven. So then you think about how you're investing your money. We both know that there's never been a 10-year term where real estate has gone down. You could look at 2008 to 2018. It's gotten better. It got even better than what it was in 2008. Correct. So I would say that real estate would be a long-term investment more so than a short two or three. And that's what I keep telling people. It's like the values of the homes are never going down. They're only going up, right? There are a lot of people who are still expecting for the housing crash because look what happened in ' 07, right? That was another Black Swan event. And frankly, the prior one in the last 100 years, there's only been two black swan events like the housing crashes, 2007 through 2010 roughly, and then the one in the 80s due to oil and gas crisis, right? And that's it. But if you look at all of the stats and all the data going back over 100 years at this point, the housing prices have only gone up and up and up. And I use my own home in Oregon for an example. I I understand that, you know, some states had more of a crash than others. Arizona being one of the sand states had a bigger crash. The Pacific Northwest didn't. But even using my own home, we rolled back about 30% of value after the 07 crash because I did have the house appraised at the end of '06 because I was actually refinancing it back then. And yeah, we lost about 30% of value, but guess what? Within 5 years, the value shot through the roof again. Exactly. So, we never really saw the roll back necessarily. Yeah. I use my house as an example for my clients all the time when it comes to is it because the number one question I'm always asked Ella is is it a good time to buy. If you haven't purchased, if you're renting, it's a good time to buy. That's my personal opinion. I usually counter that with the best time to buy was 10 years ago and today. I love that. So, I I purchased my home in 2016. Let's just say hypothetically my number uh for my mortgage was $1,500 a month. Now, I've been in my home for 10 years. That's $180,000, right? Over the course of 10 years, that $180,000 I would have paid to a landlord if I was renting and I would never see it. Zero to show for it. With zero to show for it, I'd never see that money ever again. Assuming that rent never went up. Exactly. Right. Which it usually does at what about 5% a year? Normally 3 to 5% a year. Yes. Absolutely. On the high end, 5% a year, which we're seeing. We are um So it's not really 180 that you would have paid out. It's more like 250 to 300. Really? Exactly. Now, for numbers sake, only because my math is pretty good. I bought my house for 225. Thank you. No, I love it. Uh I I bought my house for 225. So, if you take the 225 and add the 180, that means that my home needs to be worth $45,000 in order for me to recoup every dollar I've thrown into what would have been a rental, right? Well, the CAS right now, the comparable market analysises right now say that my home is valued at $515,000. So, you've already exceeded that. Not only in 10 years have I gotten all recouped all of my money that I would have thrown in into a rental, but I also have $100,000 of phantom equity sitting inside of my home. Right? So, it just shows you truly are investing in yourself through home ownership. I think that it's important to get in front of the right people that care about the relationships, care about helping people more so than selling people. It's not about a transaction, it's about a relationship. That's the most important piece. Absolutely. I know that. That's exactly why I'm sitting here with you, you know, because I truly value having the right people inside of my circle. I know that you do as well. That's why we're here together. And the educated buyer is the best kind of buyer to work with. Yes. And I'm not saying that we will turn somebody away who's uneducated. It's not a higher education that we're looking for. It's somebody who's not just educated about buying a home, but somebody who actually wants to learn and is not going to fall for the fear porn or for the hype that you can find on Tik Tok, on the social media, on the regular media. Somebody who's open-minded about buying a home and wanting to learn the ins and outs. Yes, that is the perfect client that we love to work with. I'm speaking for the both of us. I agree. because we can share the data, we can share the information, we can tell you about the market so you make the best decision and it's not just oh my god the sky is falling. Yes. Exactly. Uh when I have a professional come to my house for any circumstance whether it's pest control or it's HVAC or hot water anything I'm not the professional. Right. So I That's why we pay somebody else to do what they know. So let us do what we know. That's right. I want you to educate me on your business. I want to understand the ins and outs and and be as educated as you can possibly make me, right? Because it's only going to help me. And that's exactly what we're trying to do for every single one of our clients is just help educate them to the best of our ability to make sure that we set them up for success. Absolutely. So, back to affordability. Yeah. Where would somebody find some certain pockets some certain pockets? Where would somebody find something that is under 500? Cuz yes, I'm seeing some even in the 300s. Sure. So, would you agree, Ella, that the affordability happens the more we do this? Hell yes. Okay. Unequivocally. Unequivocally. So, yeah, I would absolutely say on the outskirts of town, we have a lot of building. We But we also have a lot of influx happening in the state as well. Over 100,000 people a year are moving here with That's also insane. It's insane. We have very very And we have a housing shortage of about 110,000 homes. And I've to be honest too, I've never lived in a place or been to a place where there's so much construction, both residential and commercial, going on on any given day in any given part of town. It is mind-blowing. It's crazy cuz construction hasn't kept up in the last probably 15 years. Uh and now we're finally updating our infrastructure, which we haven't updated in what, 50 years, probably if not more. The infrastructure here actually is eons better. Yes. Than again anything I've seen on the West Coast. Of course. Yeah. I mean, we're we're a newer state. Yeah. So, absolutely. I mean, love those six lane freeways. Absolutely. Yeah. But as you can see, uh where we have a lot of chip plants, TMC, TSMC, excuse me, everything else that are Exactly. Intel that are building out there. So, I would say when you get towards the Surprises, the Buckeyes, the Arlington, I'm not talking about Arlington, Texas. I'm talking about Arlington, Arizona. There is one. It's a little further on the way to San Diego, but we actually just uh we have one under contract out there right now because you can find new builds that are affordable for people um in that three even in the high twos, you know, you can find them out there. That's pretty incredible. Um it really really is. But I would also say when it comes to affordability, um, some people are looking at the new builds because they can offer concessions and stuff, but I also highly recommend when you find something that is already built with someone that has already lived in there for 10 to 15 years, they know the home. I think it's it is so valuable to be able to walk into somewhere and have somebody explain to your buyers exactly what they're walking into. Not just a stick that was put up that, you know, that year that they can say, "Okay, it's brand new right now and this is ours and whatever happens happens." There's experience that comes with new homes. I love selling new homes. You're making a very interesting point and the reason I was looking at you and grinning from year to year, Yeah. is because I've done multiple videos on the risk associated with buying a new build. Mhm. So, your point is actually an entirely different viewpoint on the house, buying a house that's been lived in where the seller pretty much knows everything there is to know about the house, right, versus the new build. And this is not even about the quality. That's like a whole other thing. I've been screaming from the rooftops about the shoddy quality of new construction that's been going in since like the early 2000s when the housing boom exploded and the construction exploded because literally everything that was built prior to was actually built with the the pride of craftsmanship of course and then you the materials were better. The density of the wood was better. The the labor quality was better. anything that went on, the mass construction of the early 2000s kind of started that downslide in my opinion where crap materials, rushed labor, rushed labor, cheap labor, all contributed to the quality of homes being what they are is that there is an old expression older homes have better bones. That still stands and probably even more so true today than it was even, you know, 10 or 15 years ago, right? Because the new construction has typically more issues quality-wise. But that's not even what the biggest concern I have is about the new builds. It's yes, they offer a ton of incentives, but guess what? There is no freebies and those incentives are not free. So when you're paying, let's say, 500 for a new build, that new build could actually be worth only about 450. Mhm. because of the incentives that the builder threw in to get you in the door instead of lowering the price and it's going to take you five maybe more years to recoup that upcharge of course. So if you need to sell a new build in less than two years or in two years to three years you may find yourself upside down. You can you absolutely can. And it's the experience not just here in in Phoenix, but it's been the experience also in the Pacific Northwest where I spent most of my adult life. that any new build doesn't appreciate as much because it's already priced above the market, right? So now you kind of bought yourself the new car smell. Yeah. But you also bought yourself a money trap, right? Speaking of new car smell, that's funny. I was going to use an analogy because I think of when I go and buy cars because obviously the vehicle or I'm sorry, the house is going to be the biggest ticket item in most cases that anybody ever invests into. Uh the next would probably be the vehicle. Some people invest probably as much money into a vehicle as some others do into a house. Call it an investment. It depends. Probably depreciating asset versus an appreciating asset. Everyone listen to that. If you want to understand the difference, call Ella or me. We'd love to help you. Absolutely. Because you know the moment you drive it off the lot, you lost 25% of value or more. That's right. But I find value in people that can give me information about the vehicle that I'm buying. Right. So that's super super helpful. I actually walked into um and it wasn't a new build. The home was built in 2007. It had been refurbished in 2020 in Mesa. Over a 5,000t home that I was showing my client that lives in Canada. So, we're doing a video tour. And we're with the homeowner. And the homeowner that has been there for 4 years knows every nook and cranny of the home. Nice. How valuable do you think that is to my client that's all the way in Canada that's on a phone with me trying to understand exactly what kind of property he's going to be buying in a different state? It is beyond valuable. Huge. That you can't put a price tag to it. Exactly. Yeah. So, I think that's that's uh super helpful when it when it comes to buying things that have already been built. Absolutely. And and for the record, I did buy brand new twice in the past. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So, I am speaking from experience. That's great. Where the quality piece does come from personal experience. Yeah. You see it. I mean, there's inspectors nowadays that are going online and pointing these things out for a reason. You know, we didn't see inspectors jumping online and pointing these things out 10 years ago, right? Um, and you know, actually what I preach about, uh, is new build, you're not really recouping your money. Is exactly what happened to us on the first new build that we bought. It was a town home and we essentially broke even on the sale when we sold it, but we and it was actually pre- crash even, right? Uh, but we had to sell. We had one child already and we had another one on the way and the town home was not conducive to having two kids back to back. So I ended up in that same money trap effectively, but we needed a bigger space. We needed a house. So I was happy that we recouped, but so many people nowadays can't even say that right after 2 years. Yeah. No, I I agree with you. Um really I think what people need to do is understand how important it is to start investing into themselves through home ownership because if you're going to do so with banks with APY, you know, when it comes to gaining a yield at the end of the year instead of letting your money just sit inside of a savings account, it's it's kind of the same thing in a different fold, if you will. Um if you're renting, it's 100% interest. If you purchase, then you're actually paying a dividend of that back to yourself over time and getting a tax deduction. And getting a tax deduction. Absolutely. So, not a CPA, not giving you financial advice. Disclaimer, disclosure. Yes. But I think it's important for people to educate themselves and that just comes down to having a conversation. It totally does. So, let's say somebody is looking at more mid-priced 500 600k homes. Where would they be looking at to land? Not just for price, but also for the amenities they get. Okay. So, tricky question, right? It it can be because now we're asking for my personal opinion, which I love. I love giving. This is what it's all about. You're right. My personal opinion, and we can verify this based on where I live, okay? Um I I think the amenities in certain cities like Anthem are fantastic. Um they have a country club that you can live in, but you're going to pay a $550 HOA versus a $95 or $103 HOA in Park View, which just doesn't have the gate, right? the gated community. Um, but you still have the community center, right? So, you're going to have um the trains, the parks, the tennis courts, the every single activity that you could think of for all the kids. Uh, it's it's very very much so a family community. Personally, as amicable as my parents were as I was growing up, they divorced when I was 1 and a half years old. But I have pictures from 10 years ago, you know, when my father was still with us, where I have my dad right here, my mom right here. They were super amicable, very very very got along well. But I traveled I I I um moved six times a year from New Jersey to Arizona. So I never really got to have a constant. That was very important for me to give that to my kids. So that's why we moved to Anthem so early in life. In 2012, we were renting and then in 2016, we bought a house on the street that we were renting on because the renters wouldn't sell to us. But we finally got this one. Uh I think Anthem's fantastic. It's affordable when it comes to single family residential, like firsttime uh new buyers, you know, that are looking for a starter home, if you will. You could find them under 500. Absolutely. You could be in the force. Um other areas that I would say come with uh a decent amount of incentive, but under 500,000, that's so tough right now. Like we we mentioned earlier, Poria, Glendale, Poria, Glendale, sure. Um Glendale, yes, Glendale. Yes, there's definitely a lot of amenities out in Glendale, especially when you get off the 101, you get closer to Westgate area. Um, absolutely. And then obviously if you go further out to Buckeye, you'll find your new builds where there there's still going to be a lot of expansion. There's still going to be a lot of growth. The one thing that comes up, and this is completely in a different direction, but the one thing that comes up in conversations often, especially when I talk to our friends in the Pacific Northwest, we're like, "Well, aren't you guys going to run out of water?" Yeah. And often times the question floores me. I know there is some stuff online about the lack of water and I understand that Bakai could have been one of the cities mentioned, right? What is the situation with that if you're able to talk to it? You know, I'm very big on under promise and overd deliver and I know a little bit when it comes to this. I know where our water comes from and how we have had some problems. You mentioned Buckeye. Um, I would actually mention very close to Scottsdale. You have Oh my gosh, my brain just went blink. Rio Verie. Yes, Rio Vvery was hauling in water from Scottsdale for a long time. I actually had a a client of mine. We sold their property. He purchased an acre in Rio and he was going to build his own house, but they were having to haul the water in from Scottsdale non-stop. So, water has been an issue. Uh I'm not sure exactly how big of an issue it's going to be for us uh and and what the length of time is, you know, for that to become an issue, but uh are we talking, you know, the fear porn once again? I think so. Amazing. That's pretty much what I was getting at because where we're at here mostly in Scottsdale. Yeah. Not a problem. The friends that we've made in Glendale, Poria, uh Desert Ridge, not a problem. No. So there's plenty. or even, you know, Mesa, uh, Trune, etc., right? Never heard anybody actually mention that as a problem. So, to all those thinking that we're going to run out of water here, nah, I think we're going to be okay. I think we're going to be okay. Yeah, I think not in our lifetime, unless something catastrophic happens. We'll see. Who knows? No one has a crystal ball, as we always say in this industry, right? Yeah. I'm all out of fairy dust, and my fairy dust dealer has been locked up. So, so if somebody's looking at coming here from out of state, what do they need to know? Because that's one of the things that is turning into recurring conversations with so many people moving here. And like you mentioned, there's over 100K moving here every year. And even this last year, I'm seeing the insane amount of Washington license plates. Not diving into the political reasons, right? But there is a lot of Washington plates that I haven't seen in the prior three years. So there is definitely an influx. Um California license plates galore. You can always tell by the license plates where people coming from and absolutely. Yeah. What do people need to look for when they're coming down here resettling um and trying to start a new life? So I won't get into the political platform either. I'll try not to. Not this time. Right. Not this time. we could have a different conversation. I'm always open to have that conversation. Um, but you're right, you do see an influx of certain license plates coming into Arizona and I'm not a shy individual. So, when I have somebody call me from out of state and you know, they say that they're moving here, that's my first direct question. Why are you moving here? I'm just curious. Why are you moving here? you know, whether it's for family, if it's for a reposition inside of a job or a corporation, or if it's because they're unhappy with where they were and they want to come somewhere where they feel a little bit more. That is such an amazing question to ask because the first question I usually ask when I get on the phone with uh somebody who is not a family or friend referral that I know of, the my first question is why now? Yeah. But this takes it a step further. Yeah. As to why are you considering moving in the first place? And I think even more like to continue down that road. Um I view it to really pull away from the transactional talk and it's more about the relationship. I'm understanding exactly who you are, what you do, why you do it, why you're coming to my home state and what you're looking for. Yeah. I need to be educated on who you are. I care about who you are. I care about helping you to the best of my ability. And that means getting to know you instead of just, oh, you want to move here? What's your price point? Right. I mean, it's um it it takes the conversation entirely different direction. But by getting to know you, our clients, our buyers, it helps us Yes. actually help you better. Yeah. And most people don't understand that. They think that we're just making small talk, right? Uh no. I'm actually when I'm talking to a new client, like I said, who's not a family friend referral and even those two, I'm asking a lot of questions and I'm taking a lot of notes. I'm scribbling in the background. And it makes a difference because as we get to know you, as we get to know what you're looking for, what your long-term, short-term, medium-term plans are. Yeah. That help us provide you with the best advice and insight. Yeah. an insight and put you in the best location when it comes to real estate or put you in the best mortgage product in my case because there is no one sizefits-all, right? And the price it may be important, but the wrong location and the right price is a bad combo. Just like a low interest rate and the wrong mortgage type, that's right, is bad combo. So, this really leads up to where do you need to be? Right. Right. and what fits your lifestyle. Also, if I'm getting to know who you are and I find out that you're mid30s, married for 10 years, two kids with a third on the way, you know, and these are the type of activities that we'd like to do. I can pretty much circumn across Arizona and say, "Okay, this is going to fit their lifestyle. This is where they want to be." If you're an entrepreneur and you're a single man that likes skyrise buildings and, you know, you like going out in town on the weekends, something that I really like to do when I was in my early 20s, you know, then fantastic. I know exactly where we're going to put you geographically. So, it definitely helps us. Yeah. If you're, you know, single and you'd love to have fun. Perfect. There's plenty of condos in or around Oldtown. Yes. Actually reasonably priced. Yeah. Yeah. That are affordable. There's affordability piece again with the night life, the restaurant life, the everything life. Shopping uh and still close enough to go take hikes on Camel Back or even McDow. Right. Everything is within 20 30 minute drive which is absolutely absolutely amazing. Yeah. And some areas too, like in Scottdale down in Oldtown, you know, everything is within walking distance. And some people would rather throw their money into a high-rise condo and into their night life instead of into a vehicle. And in that case, you don't normally need one. You know, you're you're right there anyway. All the restaurants, all the cond or all the nightlife uh clubs and everything else, they're they're within walking distance, right? And if you do need a ride, I mean, there is, you know, the the Whimos. The Whimos. Yeah. My Tesla does what that does. Now, I'm still terrified to actually take a ride in the Whimo. Uh, has to do with being a control freak, I guess. I hate being a passenger in the car to start with. And to be a passenger in a self-driving car, that is just something abso freakingly terrifying to me. So, so baby steps. So, Ella, we're going to have you get into my Tesla and I'll drive it first and then later I'm going to put it on full self-driving, but at least I'm still there. So, if you look at me and say, "Steve, take over. Take over. Take over." I will take over right away. I promise. How much do you want to hear me scream? Because all the self-driving features in my car, whenever my husband uses that and I'm a passenger, that's pretty much what happens. Losing it. Uh-huh.
Like I said, control freak. I'm not right. I prefer to be behind the wheel myself. I get it. I love it. Being a passenger is already tough enough. On a serious note though, yeah, what else would you like to tell those who don't know the local areas and the local markets, especially if they're looking at moving to Arizona? What is your top advice or top three advice that you want everybody to know that you're not shy about importing? You're not shy. I'm not shy at all. No. Uh I would say one very very important thing it would be to uh pay attention to the agent that you're going to be working with here. There's 55,000 of us, but 10% of the agents make 90% of the money for a reason, right? You want to make sure that you're working with someone that's very educated on the area inside the market that's going to have your best interest in mind. And again, I'm very, very big on helping people, not selling people. It's the most important thing. I can't have my best interest in mind when I'm helping somebody. I truly have to think about you before I think about myself. Um, and as an example very quickly, like on Mother's Day, I spent five hours at that home in Mesa doing a video call, you know, taking time away. And don't worry, I made steak and lobster for the wife when I got home, you know, but which makes you an amazing husband. Thank you so much. Thank you. I appreciate that. Thank you. Um, teach my husband to do that, please. But, uh, it's it's really important that you value your client, right? Yep. So again, education when it comes to the agent that you're working with, education when it comes to what you can afford. Okay? I think most people get themselves in trouble when they don't educate themselves on finances. And that's truly where you come in, right? I think that the number one thing when it comes to somebody calling me and saying, "Hey, I'm thinking about relocating." I compartmentalize everything because, as you know, there's a lot of moving pieces inside of this business. The first thing I want to do is let me see if we can turn the dream into a reality. let's have you talk to Ella really fast and verify that we can get this done for you. So that would be number two. Number three, think about your lifestyle, right? You're going to be here. You want to know that you're going to be around things that your family actively enjoys doing. Whether that's church, if it's kaying, if it's whatever it is, do your due diligence on uh the area that you're going to be in. Yeah. And I guess number four, enjoy it. Absolutely. I mean, house hunting can be a very daunting job. Yeah, it is a job. It is not easy. And you do want to surround yourself with the right professionals. And you do want somebody who will not try to sell you just to make a commission. We refer to those agents as commission breath on my side of the fence. Not shy about that. That's okay. But as Steve has said, not all agents are created equal, just like not all lenders are created equal. Not everybody will have your best interest at heart, but more importantly, not everybody has the knowledge and expertise. And I'm not knocking the part-time agents. And I know it has been extremely hard for a lot of real estate agents and lenders in the last couple of years, especially in the elevated interest rate environment, uh the lack of inventory environment, etc. But you want a professional who's doing a fair volume of business because it means they're experienced and it means they're active. Yes. And that's important to me. Like I said, I'm not knocking the part-time people. Absolutely not. But unfortunately, a lot of the part-time people by virtue of being part-time don't have enough bandwidth to actually carry a lot of the transactions. Yeah. It's very tough. as best as needs to be, right? We're learning things every day. You know, the there are not two deals that are the same. No, no matter how much they look the same on the surface, there's always a zing. Yes. To each one. So, it's a daily learning experience. That we just build on again on a daily basis. That's right. Yeah. And then you just grab that new new information, you throw it inside your arsenal, and now you uh you just continue moving forward. Exactly. Yeah. Exactly. Steve, thank you so much for sharing the convo, sharing the knowledge. I appreciate that. I appreciate you. Thank you. And I will see you all on the next one. More amazing guests coming up. Stay tuned. Subscribe. Talk to you soon.