Matthew Maschler:
Welcome to the Real Estate Finder podcast. I’m Matthew Maschler, realestate finder@realestatefinder.com. And I’m
Staci Garcia:
Stacy Garcia. And I’m Jill Glanzer.
Matthew Maschler:
Hi, Jill. How are you? Good,
Staci Garcia:
How are you?
Matthew Maschler:
Good. So this week, um, we wanted to just, uh, you know, we didn’t really, uh, know what our topic was. I just wanted to talk about some open issues and things that are, uh, going on. Um, and I had an interesting, uh, listener question that I wanted to bring up, uh, to you. And, uh, the listener question goes like this, uh, dear Matt, my seller thinks it would be a good idea to have the property inspected before we list it and put it on the market. What do you think? Is this a good idea, bad idea, or is there any risks?
Staci Garcia:
That’s interesting.
Matthew Maschler:
So, have you ever had a situation where the seller wanted to get the property inspected before they listed it? Yes. Yeah, I have. What do you think?
Staci Garcia:
It could be great. Um, there’s reasons why it’s good and it’s bad. I think it can be great. Then they’ll know everything that’s a problem with their house prior to, and they’ll, they’ll know what to expect when a buyer does an inspection or they could fix everything prior to and be able to show that they, that everything’s perfect. I think that that’s a plus.
Matthew Maschler:
So, and that was my response. Um, if the seller is willing to make the fixes, um, then that’s good. But if the seller’s not willing to do the work that’s involved, what would the point be?
Staci Garcia:
Yeah. Because then you would know everything that’s wrong with your house, and you ha don’t either don’t have the money or don’t choose to fix it all, and you still wanna sell it. But it’s kind of like you have all this information, now you’re just closing it. It’s, it’s, it’s not great. Yeah,
Matthew Maschler:
I, I’ve had situations not so much in the seller’s market, uh, specifically my father, uh, who, who would, would always like that idea. He’d get the property inspected, um, and then disclose it, put it, put the inspection in the mls. Or when somebody comes to see the house, you have the showing sheets, all the information, and you say, here’s the property inspection. Please review it before you make an offer. And that way they, they, they’re not, um, making an offer. And then, uh, they’re, they’re not surprised when, um, when the inspection, uh, reveals something because it’s already, the house has already been inspected. Um, while I don’t think that plan is actually effective, and the reason why is if you are using an As-is contract, um, the buyer can cancel for any reason. So even if the buyer sees everything in the, in the pre, in the, in the pre-inspection, they bring their own inspection, there’s nothing new, uh, the buyer can still cancel for any reason.
So I think it’s important for the seller, um, to understand that, to understand that even if everything is revealed and disclosed, uh, the buyer can, um, can still cancel, uh, during the inspection period. Uh, so that’s the, um, that’s the risk involved in, in having the house pre inspected. But if you are willing to, uh, make the fixes, uh, anyway, and that way the, um, buyer isn’t, uh, weirded out or freaked out, that’s probably the biggest reason why. Uh, so there’s no surprises later. Uh, all the small things, you, if you could fix all the small things and then the seller’s not too nitpicky, and when the buyer gets their inspection, they’re very, very pleased with the result. And if there’s a big issue that’s discovered that the seller doesn’t know about, they could either address it or disclose it. And that way, um, when the buyer comes and the buyer makes their offer, they know they made the offer. They, they made the offer knowing that it needed a new roof or a foundation or, or some kind of, um, attention was needed. And it’s not, um, a surprise to the buyer at the end. So there is good and bad
Staci Garcia:
About, I I think it’s also great cuz in this crazy multiple offer situation, if you’re a seller and you wanna encourage somebody to have the best contract, if you have that, that inspection report and showing that it, all those repairs have been made, I think it would encourage a buyer to possibly have zero inspection days on their contract. And maybe it, the zero contingencies is gonna make you happy because that’s what you want. You don’t wanna take your property off the market for like 10 days for an inspection period. Now you’re encouraging them, Hey, listen, I have this inspection. It’s all been done, everything’s been taken care of, and people will make an offer with zero inspection days.
Matthew Maschler:
Uh, and one of the things I like about this format where we get to talk about this, I think you, you hit the nail on the head. It’s something I didn’t even realize. When you have, um, you know, multiple offer situations, um, and, and you’re juggling a lot of interest, uh, being able to say to these buyers, listen, here’s the inspection report. Please review it before you make the offer. Now the buyers can make their highest and best offers being confident that they know the, the condition of the property. A lot of times in this market, in, in 2021 and especially the beginning of 20 2022, buyers have felt very, very rushed. Um, and they’re jumping in and they’re, they’re, you know, offering above ask. And, and they’re not used to that. So, uh, being able to see the inspection report and know that even if there’s deficiencies in the house, being able to, to read the the inspection report, uh, may give them some, some confidence, um, when they’re, uh, trying to, uh, participate in a bidding war.
Um, uh, which bidding wars are slowing down a little bit, a little bit because of the summer, um, a little bit because of, um, you know, the, the news and people are a little bit freaked out, but I, but I still, um, I’m very, very bullish on, on, uh, on the markets here. It’s just that, um, our, our sellers do have to understand they’re not gonna get the bidding orders that they, that, that, that we saw in February. Uh, but the houses will still, will still sell quickly. Um, but that’s another interesting reason to, uh, to get the, uh, inspection report. I like that. Stacy, any thoughts?
Speaker 3:
No, I, I completely agree with Jill. As a matter of fact, if you had already gone under contract with someone else and they dropped, um, out of the, uh, transaction because of the inspection, and they didn’t say why, and they actually sent you the inspection, which has happened, me in order to, you know, say, I don’t know why, like, cuz I wouldn’t share it anyway. But if they sent it to
Matthew Maschler:
You, dear Mr. Seller, here’s the inspection report we’re canceling. Yes,
Staci Garcia:
Yes. That happens a lot.
Matthew Maschler:
Yeah. Now I have
Speaker 3:
It. Now I have it, and I can now I can use it, you know, in the future of, of course, like you said, now, you know, if there’s something wrong with the house and you have to disclose it, but on the other hand, now you can share it with potential buyer and say, here’s what’s up. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, I’m giving you the inspection. I’m also saving you the money that it costs to inspect the house. Someone just had it done and they were very thorough. They were here for five hours, they did all of this stuff. Here’s a legitimate 50 page inspection. And, um, maybe that’ll help you remove your inspection period or shorten it. Shorten it, or it’ll make it more valuable. Then another buyer.
Matthew Maschler:
Jill, what do you think if, if you were buying a house and the seller said, listen, you know, we, we, we already had the house inspected, here’s the inspection report. Do you think you would still go ahead and hire your own inspector to see the condition of the house? Or do you think you’d rely on that inspection report?
Staci Garcia:
It depends on the market. If I really love this house and I knew there were a hundred people waiting, and if I, in order to get the house, I had to,
Matthew Maschler:
No, let’s say you were under contract.
Staci Garcia:
Under contract. Under contract. I would, I would get my own
Matthew Maschler:
Inspection. And you have, you have a seven day inspection. Here’s a perfectly good inspection report that was done two weeks ago.
Staci Garcia:
I would, I would still get my own inspection. You’d still get your own. Yeah. I mean, if I had to make an offer with zero inspection days, and that was Oh, my only choice. No, that’s something
Matthew Maschler:
Different. Nom I’m talking about you’re under contract, um, you can get the house inspected. Yeah. But there’s a perfectly good inspection, um, that that’s produced to you by the seller. The seller either had it pre inspected or another buyer fell through and they hand you the inspection report, Hey, if you wanna save a couple of hundred dollars, here’s the inspection report.
Staci Garcia:
I would still do my own inspection. And if it happened to one of my buyers, I would still encourage them to get their own inspection, even if it’s a very short period. And you could get an inspector in the next day. We have, we know enough inspectors, and I know Sure. I’m
Matthew Maschler:
Just, I’m just talking about it’s great trying to save money. Yeah,
Speaker 3:
No, I would save money. I don’t
Staci Garcia:
Think money. It’s enough. But you know what though, I’m gonna argue that. And respectfully, I don’t think it’s enough. I, I, I, it’s, it’s not enough money to save money. I mean, it’s $400 and you’re buying a $500,000 house. Like, I’d rather spend the money on the report just like, I’d rather there’s a whole other subject. I’d rather hire an attorney for $2,000 too. But that’s me. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, because I also know the things that can go wrong. And I like if I’m gonna make that kind of investment in my family, I would like to have as mo as much protection as I can. And I would like to know I did everything possible to know about this house prior to.
Matthew Maschler:
Okay. All right. Um, so changing subjects a little bit, uh, we have a, we have a new listing, uh, getting ready to go.
Staci Garcia:
Yep. We have a listing coming up
Matthew Maschler:
In, uh, Villa San Remo.
Staci Garcia:
Yes. It’s an awesome townhouse. Three, two and a half with a pool just under 2000 square feet. Really nice.
Matthew Maschler:
All right. So we, the, um, the pictures are gonna be done this week and it should be up on realestate finder.com, uh, next week. And on the mls. So if anyone out there is looking for, tell me again. It’s a 3, 2 3, 2
Staci Garcia:
And a half.
Matthew Maschler:
Three bedrooms, two and a half bathrooms, two and half bath, two car garage.
Staci Garcia:
Two car garage. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>
Matthew Maschler:
Pool. Nice.
Staci Garcia:
And just under 2000 square feet. And what’s great is it’s so little maintenance. Like if you were only wanting a single family home, I encourage you to look at this house cuz it really feels like a single family, but it’s less maintenance. The landscaping is included with the hoa. I think the HOA is a couple hundred dollars. I need to verify that it’s not expensive and everything is taken care of for you. And that’s why these people purchased their home several years ago. That, and they told me the reason they love the house is they were looking for a single family and this just has less maintenance for them. So it was all included and it was easy for them. It’s a low to
Matthew Maschler:
Live. It’s a low maintenance, maintenance, uh, HOA community with landscaping and everything’s included. The pool service they have to do on their own. The
Staci Garcia:
Pool service they have to do on their own, the landscaping and the front and the back. Um, they have to, they, the, the HOA takes care of. Plus there’s also, it’s a gated community, so you can feel safe.
Speaker 3:
And it’s right off the lions.
Staci Garcia:
It’s gonna be just under 700,
Matthew Maschler:
$700,000.
Staci Garcia:
I believe we’re doing like 6 75. Right. A
Matthew Maschler:
Bargain. A bargain. Yeah. Yeah. It’s, it’s hard to find, uh, find, um, housing. It’s at that price point. So, uh, $675,000 for a 32 in, in Central Boca right off of, it’s off Lions Road.
Staci Garcia:
Right off, right off of Lions
Matthew Maschler:
Road. Lions Road near, uh, Olympic Heights High School.
Staci Garcia:
Yep. Great location. Amazing schools.
Matthew Maschler:
Great schools. So if you would like to, uh, see, uh, see the, see this house, if you’re in the market to buy a house or if you’re a real estate agent and you’re looking for a great home, a three, two and a half with a two car garage and a pool for under 700. Uh, we looked on, um, on the mls, uh, to see what our competition is. And then, and there really isn’t.
Staci Garcia:
No, because really the only other there was, there was one for three, two, and, uh, three, two and a half with a pool in a neighborhood that’s not as great. Definitely not as nice as nowhere near as nice, not gated. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And it was like over 600. So I feel like this is an amazing deal.
Matthew Maschler:
Uh, Stacy, do you have anything coming to
Speaker 3:
Martin? I do. I’m gonna have a Palmetto Pines, which is just west of Glad, uh, sorry, just west of 4 41, just south of Palmetto. And that’s gonna be about probably like in two weeks or less. Uhhuh. And it’s a three, two, no pool, but a big corner. You could build a, a pool and two car garage. Very low Hoa, I think it’s a hundred bucks a quarter and it’s probably gonna be about 525,000 Great school districts. West Boca and, um, go Bowls and also after Go Bowls. Yeah. West Boca Bowls.
Matthew Maschler:
The West Boca High School is the Bowls. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, not Bulldog. That’s a bull. Yeah. I don’t think I knew that.
Speaker 3:
Well, now you do. Okay. And then also I’m gonna have Fairfield at Boca. Fairfield at Boca
Matthew Maschler:
Love Fairfield.
Speaker 3:
Fairfield Rocks. Um, we’re, it’s a single family home. It’s gonna be a four, two and a half completely redone with a pool and a jacuzzi. And it’s, uh, it’s concrete blocks, so it’s not one of the wood homes. And it’s gonna be about a million bucks and it’ll be probably in two weeks. Not this weekend, but next weekend, open house. Um, so contact me if you’re interested. It’s a super place to live. Fairfield’s right next to Rockos Tacos near a town center. You can walk to the upcoming new restaurant row, uh, which is coming soon.
Matthew Maschler:
Restaurant Row. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And that’s gonna be where, um, where Nippers and, and not strikes, but Jackal used to be,
Speaker 3:
Although that was on, um, what was it called? The Olympiad, but then it was called something else, and then it was Bally’s. No, it’s gonna be further back closer to the mall. As you make the turn where the bank is, there’s gonna be five restaurants right there. Uhhuh,
Matthew Maschler:
<affirmative> and No, no, no, no, no shops or, or off or offices.
Speaker 3:
No, just restaurant
Matthew Maschler:
Row, five restaurants in a row. So
Speaker 3:
You could walk, you could live in Fairfield, in your guard gated community for $150 a month, I believe it is. And then just walk to dinner and every night of the week eat at a different restaurant because you could easily go at a restaurant row. It’s gonna be five new restaurants Plus, um, one is El Camino.
Matthew Maschler:
Oh, the Mexican restaurant for Uhhuh <affirmative>. That’s in like Delray. Yeah. When
Speaker 3:
It’s gonna be sushi, it can be very diverse. And then you could switch it out with whatever’s in Boca Center, um mm-hmm. <affirmative>, and then never cook and be totally happy <laugh>. But there is an awesome brand new kitchen in the house.
Matthew Maschler:
Okay. So, um, so yeah. And it’s, uh, pub Belly is the sushi restaurant, I believe. Yeah, that’s right. That’s going into Restaurant Row. Do we know any other restaurants going in there? Just
Speaker 3:
El Camino and Pub Belly. I think the sign’s up for those two, but mm-hmm. <affirmative>, I’m not sure about the other three.
Matthew Maschler:
And if you want to eat out every night of the week and not go to restaurant Row, I believe, um, I I I’ve been meaning to find out, I know Meat Market was supposed to go into that Renaissance Hotel right there. Oh, I don’t know what’s going on with that. And then Gallagher’s across the street, uh, next to, uh, Burton’s not, uh, bur the, not Burton’s the old, um, Madison space. So, uh, oh,
Speaker 3:
I didn’t, that’s great. Yeah. I didn’t know that.
Matthew Maschler:
And then there’s two Starbucks on Glades and military mm-hmm. <affirmative>. So, um, it’s weird to have one corner that has two Starbucks cleans and military. I
Speaker 3:
Haven’t really thought about it, but you’re right. One and a Chipotle,
Matthew Maschler:
One on Glades and one on military <laugh>. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Uh, so Fairfield’s a Fairfield’s
Speaker 3:
A super place to live. And eventually, um, Boca, the city of Boca, will get it a little bit together and put something in the, in place of where Sears is. And it’s, Boca supposed to be a walking community right there. It’s called, it was called Midtown, but it didn’t happen.
Matthew Maschler:
It’s did not gonna prove.
Speaker 3:
So eventually it will. And if you’re living in Fairfield, you’ll be right in the center of it all. And, uh, it’s a great investment and an awesome place to live. I lived there for seven years. You couldn’t beat it. Brand new schools. Um, excellent place to live.
Matthew Maschler:
All right. I have a, I have a another question about, uh, Joe, what do you think about if you have a listing and, um, and hasn’t sold yet mm-hmm. <affirmative> and it’s, uh, it’s, it’s coming to, it’s coming to be June, um, kids are away in summer camp and people tend to travel. Um, what do you think of, uh, taking it off the market and then putting it back up? Uh, you know, in the fall when, uh, when, when people, when more people are in town?
Staci Garcia:
I think it could work. I think it just depends on what your goals are. You know, when do you need to sell by? What are your future plans? Um, I do believe that it is a great time, even though it is the summer and people are on, on vacation and it’s slowed down a bit. There are still families looking for homes to, to start school before August 10th, which is when Palm Beach County schools
Matthew Maschler:
Start. When, when do Palm Beach County,
Staci Garcia:
I think it’s August 10th.
Matthew Maschler:
August 10th, mm-hmm.
Staci Garcia:
<affirmative>. Yep. So I feel that Why would you, I don’t know about taking it off the market. It just depends on what you’re trying to accomplish, right? Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, let’s say you have a couple things. You, let’s say your showings haven’t been great and your feedback has been that it’s cluttered. They can’t see, I mean, something like that. Like, if I think you should take it off, make it better, do new pictures in the fall and then re-list it and remarket it could be a great option if you’re not getting good feedback. And if you haven’t gotten an offer, if you’re getting showings and they’re a little slow, you have to ask yourself why you’re doing that. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, because I still think people, there’s going to be a certain number of people needing to move prior to school starting.
Speaker 3:
I agree too. Plus you’re gonna need time to close.
Staci Garcia:
Exactly.
Speaker 3:
Right. And move, and school starts really early here. And, uh, people up north, if you’re listening, we have, we start early, you start late <laugh>, so you have to move earlier than you would think,
Matthew Maschler:
Right? Yeah. Cuz if you need to be here for August 15th mm-hmm. <affirmative>, that’s coming up soon.
Speaker 3:
Yeah. So I, I used to go to summer camp, come here and miss the first day of school, Uhhuh <affirmative>, and it really sucked. And I didn’t wanna miss the last, the color war and all of the last of camp. Yeah. But if you are moving here, my mom moved here while I was in summer camp, and then I came here and I missed the first day and started Spanish River the second day. Uhhuh <affirmative>.
Matthew Maschler:
Yeah. So it’s, um, when, uh, I know when, uh, when David and Lindsay were little, um, you know, there was, there was a, a little bit of conflict between the, uh, the camp calendar and the school calendar still that way it got worse. They moved the, the, the school calendar, uh, earlier mm-hmm. <affirmative>. So I’m not sure what’s gonna happen to, with some of those northern, uh, camps. The camp, uh, David’s gonna be a counselor this year at Camp Towanda. And, uh, and, and all the Palm Beach County kids are coming, you know, there’s a flight and a week, one week early, uh, for the, for Palm Beach County schools
Speaker 3:
Oh, to come back early. Yeah.
Matthew Maschler:
For Palm Beach
Speaker 3:
County schools. That’s, well, hopefully now they know and they can move out all the cool stuff up that comes in the last week of camp. Yeah. But it does, it does ruin things a bit.
Matthew Maschler:
All right. All right. So what else is, uh, what else is going on? We have, uh, so we have a couple new listings coming.
Staci Garcia:
Yeah. We have an exciting new listing too. That’s not residential that’s coming up.
Matthew Maschler:
Oh, yeah. A commercial listing.
Staci Garcia:
Yeah. It’s gonna be amazing. It’s, um, half an acre with a hundred feet of frontage across from the ocean. Not on the ocean, but half
Matthew Maschler:
An an acre on a one A in Deerfield Beach.
Staci Garcia:
Yep. Amazing. Um, under 5 million. And it’s gonna be, it’s a great piece of land to build multifamily mm-hmm. <affirmative>, um, beautiful luxury multifamily in Deerfield Beach.
Matthew Maschler:
Right. So we’re gonna have to reach out to our investor network, our developer network. Um, we hired, uh, we hired a great, um, drone photographer to take aerials and, uh, and we’re gonna market that. So that should be an interesting project for us for, uh, for the summer.
Staci Garcia:
Absolutely. I’m super excited about
Matthew Maschler:
That. Very excited to be working on, on that project.
Staci Garcia:
And then, did we talk about our possible we do have a possible new listing in a really nice gated community that might be coming up soon too. It’s not, we haven’t gotten it yet, but we’re hoping we’re keeping our fingers crossed.
Matthew Maschler:
Did we even go on the listing
Staci Garcia:
Appointment? No, we didn’t go on the appointment yet. We
Matthew Maschler:
Don’t even have the listing
Staci Garcia:
Appointment. I know, but it’s vague booking, and I’m not gonna say, and I’m not gonna say, but it’s in a very, um, desirable community, GL homes. So, you know, a, we already have a beautiful listing, a GL Homes listing right now in Seven Bridges that is absolutely stunning for 5 million. Oh yeah. And, um, those are very popular communities with people wanting to move here from up north. And also people looking to upgrade in South Florida from an older home. So, uh, we’re super excited about that new listing coming up as well.
Matthew Maschler:
Yeah. So that’s, um, we are actually showing that, uh, later this afternoon. So hopefully by the time, uh, this episode is, uh, is heard, uh, that that one should be, uh, should be sold and we’ll move on to the next one. But, um, but yeah, so it’s very excited. Um, you know, you know, there’s an old, there’s an old adage, uh, story. I don’t know who told me this. I don’t know if it was my fa I don’t think it was my father. It was about a car salesman. And, uh, he started work, uh, at a new car dealer, uh, in August. And, uh, and he sold a, you know, on his first day he sold a car and first week sold about five cars. And by the end of the month, he sold 20, 25 cars. He outsold every other, um, every other, uh, salesman.
And, uh, everybody was congratulating him. And, and what they were saying was, it’s, it’s amazing that he sold so many cars because nobody buys cars in August. And, uh, and uh, and, and how did he do it? Um, and he said he just, you know, did everything that the managers told him, did all, all the traditional sales responded to every customer inquiry, treated customers great. Like, like all the others, others. And everybody was puzzled. This guy sold 25 cars and the other salesman didn’t sell any cars, and he got an award for this. And, and, and, and the manager says, and everybody knows, uh, you can’t sell car in August. Um, and here, here is this new rookie salesman comes in and outsold everybody. So a year later, August rolls around and he doesn’t sell any cars. Nobody sells any cars. And the, and the manager says to him, what happened last year? You sold tons of cars. Um, you, you have a year of experience and now you’re not selling any cars. What, what, what changed? And the salesman says, last year, I didn’t know that you couldn’t sell a car in August. Now I know
Staci Garcia:
<laugh>. That is so true. It’s
Matthew Maschler:
Mindset. It’s a, it’s a mindset.
Staci Garcia:
It’s mindset. You come in with fresh eyes and no expectations. Yeah. And you just, you just do
Matthew Maschler:
It. So here I am thinking that it’s a summer and there’s gonna be a slowdown for the summer, which usually there’s a slowdown for the summer. But obviously the summer of, uh, 20 was crazy. And it was crazy for me cuz I was out showing a lot of my agents didn’t wanna show because of, you know, there was the beginning of Covid and, and, and people were wearing, you know, uh, masks and, and full body containment suits. And so, you know, I’m the type of person who I’d never asked an employee to do something I wouldn’t do. So I was out showing the summer of 20 a lot, um, because nobody else would. And then 21, we were super, super busy. And so here I am thinking we’re about to get into this new normal and have a, a regular, uh, selling season. And, and, and, and, and here we are talking about a couple of new listings, listing appointments, uh, residential, uh, development properties down in Deerfield Beach, where’re.
I’m thinking we’re gonna take a little bit of time and, and rest up this summer. And here we are firing on all cylinders. Um, it’s interesting, you know, the news says that the sky is falling. Um, but you know, a lot of that is to sell newspapers. Yes. Yes. You know, a couple of, a couple months ago, someone said the word recession on the, on the, on the, on this podcast. And I was like, I, I thought he made a mistake. I thought he was saying inflation. So we’re in hyper hyperinflation. Um, and, you know, people are worried about recession, people are worried about a lot of things. And obviously the stock market’s not as strong as, uh, as it was, uh, last year. But, um, but real estate is still strong and people still need, uh, places to live and people are still moving to Florida from other, other, uh, other parts of the country. You know, there is some buyer fatigue. A lot of buyers who lost bidding wars either said, all right, I’m not gonna buy, or I’ll wait, or I’ll buy somewhere else. Well, if they didn’t buy yet, they’ll be back.
Staci Garcia:
Right? But I think they’re also being replaced with people who didn’t participate in all that mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And now they’re excited that the market’s evening out for their are going down maybe. But I don’t think it’s really going down here, but maybe in other parts of the country. And I think people are like, okay, this is my turn now. So they’re sort of being replaced with that audience.
Matthew Maschler:
Right. One of the reasons why, you know, a lot of the statistics say that like, real estate sales are down, uh, year over year or month after month, but there’s not a lot of inventory. So there’s not a lot of houses for sale. So if you say there are less sales this month than last month, or less sales, um, in May of 22 compared to May of 21, well, there’s a lot of, there’s a lot less houses for sales. So of course there’s less sales. So, you know, while there’s some doom and gloom, um, in the news, um, you, you have to take that with a grain of salt. Um, people, um, the news has to, uh, feed headlines and they have to constantly be relevant and be paid attention to. Um, but, but people are still, people are still coming. And, you know, I said it last year, I’ll say it again.
If we have a mild summer, uh, with no major hurricane followed by a, uh, a bad winter anywhere up north, we’re going to, uh, get into this vicious cycle again. Um, people will start buying up properties here in Florida. Um, I think people are, you know, the people who put their search on hold or got a little bit of frustrated, um, they’ll start coming back. Um, they’ll, they’ll start coming back. So I I, I’m, I’m very excited about, um, this summer and this fall, uh, being a Florida realtor. That’s why I said, I think in the, in the, in the last episode that we, that we need realtors. So if you’re thinking about becoming a realtor, if you wanna get your real estate license, uh, you can go to signature RSVP and sign up for the signature real estate schools. We would love to, uh, teach you, um, and get you licensed.
And if you are licensed and wanna join the team, we are looking for new agents, not just here in Boca, but all over, uh, the state of Florida. Um, and I, and I think that real estate, um, has a long way to go. And, uh, and the things you’re hearing in the news will, um, some will, will come to pass, some won’t. But at the end of the day, in any market, people, uh, need a place to live and people want to live in Florida. So, um, I think that we are going to be all right down here as real estate agents and as real estate owners and real estate investors. Um, again, we won’t see people blindly throwing money just at anything. Um, but we will still see a strong, uh, strong demand. And, and I try to think of, you know, where, where the inventory’s gonna come from.
Like, you know, where I live, where there’s very few houses on the market, you know, nobody wants to leave. No. Right. There’s nowhere else to go. Nobody wants to leave anyone who wanted to that didn’t sell in 21 and didn’t sell yet in 22. They’re not selling anytime soon. So where are we gonna get inventory? Where are the next 20 homes in my neighborhood coming from? I, you, it could be, it could be years instead of months, uh, before there’s, uh, before there’s any, uh, any good inventory in, uh, in my neighborhood or other neighborhoods. So I still think, um, I’m still very bullish about, uh, Florida while, while yes, we may not sell in bidding war in a day, uh, these next few listings that we’re talking about, uh, I I’m pretty sure that they will, that they will sell.
Speaker 3:
Absolutely.
Matthew Maschler:
So, uh, so what else do we wanna talk about here on the Real Estate Fund
Speaker 3:
Podcast? Money,
Matthew Maschler:
Money,
Speaker 3:
<laugh>? I think everybody should, um, definitely consider investing in real estate for one reason. It’s still, in my opinion, going to be here mm-hmm. <affirmative>, whereas, uh, other forms of currency might not be here. So if you’re panicking on a Black Monday uhhuh, or if you are thinking, um, perhaps I should invest in something, then, um, think about real estate. Everybody else has, right? For the last, it’s it’s million years.
Matthew Maschler:
It’s a great driver of wealth. So it’s a great place to invest. Um, you know, something we didn’t talk about was, uh, homeowner’s insurance, you know? Mm-hmm. Lot of people were saying,
Speaker 3:
Oh yeah, we did it on the, on the buyer, on the buyer side, right? Ho
Matthew Maschler:
Homeowner’s insurance rates are, are up. And, uh, and, and rightfully so. Um, what people don’t realize is that, you know, the, how the cost of everything is up, you know, so windows, doors, roofs,
Speaker 3:
Lumber’s going down
Matthew Maschler:
Though. Oh, is it? Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, but it’s still hard to get everybody’s backlog. Sure. You know, people in the window companies and the roofing companies are, are all backlogged. So the insurance is going up because the things that make up your house have gone up in value. Maybe not lumber, but, but things are going up in value. And, um, and the cost of, of repairs are going up. So naturally the, um, cost of, um, replacing the house and making, uh, repairs has gone up. And it’s a reason why insurance, uh, is going up. And, and you have to be very, very careful if your rates are going up. You don’t wanna lower your coverage in response because, um, you, you may find, uh, that if you have to, uh, replace a roof or replace damage, um, it, it’s more expensive than you think it is.
So, um, you know, if rates weren’t going up, I would tell you to check your, check your, um, check your insurance. Cause I think most people are underinsured now in this market. Um, and, uh, with rates going up, you, you, you may still be underinsured. So it’s, it’s a problem, uh, increasing the amount of insurance you have in this market. So you definitely wanna shop insurance rates, uh, but you really do want to double check, um, how much you’re insured for. You know, I, you know, some of my investment properties that I bought at 185,000 might be insured for 150,000. Well, those properties are, are worth 300, $400,000 now. Um, and it’s okay with me, um, because it, I have no attachment to them if they’re damaged. Right? Right. I mean, but, um, but if you’re, you know, if you’re displaced, if a hurricane displaces you and you need to replace that unit, it’s not a gonna be $175,000 to find another, um, house. It could be twice as much. Um, or if you need temporary housing, uh, the amount, uh, the per diems that your insurance covers to put you in a, in a temporary residence, uh, just may not be enough, uh, in this market. So I, I think it’s incumbent on all homeowners, uh, right now to, to to review your, uh, homeowners insurance and, uh, and come up with a good plan. Um,
So, uh, I think that’s a, that’s a pretty good, uh, pretty good piece of advice.
Staci Garcia:
That’s, that’s all I have nothing to talk about.
Matthew Maschler:
All right.
Staci Garcia:
I mean, something interesting that we could talk about is when you first get a loan and you buy a home and you’re having to pay private mortgage insurance, right? And then let’s say the, the, that your house, the value of your house goes up now mm-hmm. <affirmative>, right? So your loan to value is what, less than 80% or more
Matthew Maschler:
Your loan to value is, is
Staci Garcia:
Less, yeah. Is less than 80%. You actually could lobby talk to your mortgage company and see if they can remove the private mortgage insurance. And sometimes that could be like two, that could be like $200. So
Matthew Maschler:
Let’s, let’s rewind for a little bit. A traditionally, banks will lend 80% of the value of the house. Yes. Um, if you’re in a situation where, uh, you’re, you’re financing, you’re gonna borrow more than 80% of the value of the house. Uh, the lender will require a pmi, private mortgage insurance, and, um, do not think that that benefits you as a buyer or a homeowner. Pmi private mortgage insurance does not benefit you at all as a homeowner. It benefits the bank and it helps out the bank if you, uh, if you default on your loan and, uh, and the bank has to foreclose, the PMI protects the bank. Um, if you want, if you actually want real mortgage insurance, uh, we had CAR D, uh, on, uh, a few months ago. Um, and CAR D can tell you it’s really life insurance, right? If you have a 30 year mortgage, you get a, uh, life insurance policy for a term policy for the 30 years of your mortgage in the amount of your mortgage.
And that way, if something happens to you, um, your mortgage is paid, right? If you’re the breadwinner of the family and your wife and kids, uh, rely on your income, uh, to pay the mortgage, you get a life insurance policy, um, to replace that income. Uh, if something should happen to you, uh, that is not what PMI is. PMI protects the bank. So if you’re borrowing more than 80% of the value, you have pmi, but when you make mortgage payments, your principle goes down or in a rapidly, um, increased, uh, real estate market, uh, the value of your house, uh, goes up. Uh, now you, uh, should, uh, you don’t qualify for PMI anymore. Um, you, you don’t need the PMI anymore. A lot of banks, uh, leave it on there. Yeah. Because it’s really easy. They, they don’t have the button, the remove PMI requirement button. Uh, so it may cost, it may, uh, make sense for you to refinance. Uh, even with the rates a little bit higher, the, uh, re the, the new mortgage payment to, uh, without the PMI might, um, might still make sense to you, uh, to refinance, to get rid of that pmi.
Staci Garcia:
Yes. I have a great story because I wanted to remove the PMI on mine and I emailed them. And of course it takes them weeks to get back to you. Cuz like Matt said, there’s really no mechanism for them to just remove it or they just don’t have the motivation to remove it. Why would they go and revalue a bunch of homes and say, oh, you, you now the value of your house has gone up, so now you don’t have to pay PMI anymore. They just don’t really feel like it’s, it’s not a motivation for them to do that. So I actually reached out to my mortgage company and they were like, you know, they took them two weeks to get back to me and they said, sorry, we can’t remove it. And I said, why? Because my house went up and houses in my neighborhood are now selling for 300,000 more than I bought it.
And so then they said, well, actually we could do it, but you have to order an appraisal. I made sure to keep following up with them. I didn’t take no for an answer. It took them weeks at a time to get back to me. And what I did is I said, you know, I actually have an appraisal because I was also at simultaneously trying to get my house refinanced. I figured I’d do both. Why not try to get the PMI removed from my current mortgage and at the same time try to refinance? So I was working on them both, and I said, listen, I have an appraisal. It shows this new value. Can I send it to you? Would you use it ab Absolutely send it to us. So I sent it, they got it, and it took them a couple of weeks to respond and they actually removed the pmi.
Wow. Oh wow. So it, but it took a, a couple of months and just constant, just, just being on them and constantly following up, constantly emailing back and not forgetting about it and knowing that it’s important to me to not have to pay that extra $200. That’s a lot of money. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, you know? Absolutely. So I think that if you buy a home and you, and you only put 5% down and that’s what you could afford, that’s fantastic. But if the value of your house goes up, look at, look at what you’re paying for your private mortgage insurance. Pay attention to that. Cuz that’s a big part of your budget. That could be your electric bill.
Matthew Maschler:
Absolutely. Absolutely. So, um, so what do you recommend if someone has PMI first contact their bank, try to get them to remove it. Yes. And if, if need be, uh, contact a lender and try to, uh, refinance. Um, and we have good lenders here, um, at the signature real estate companies. We work with, uh, signature Mortgage, um, and, uh, and we have other lenders. Um, but, but shout out to Signature Mortgage. Um, and, uh, and we can try to, uh, refinance you, um, into a loan product that, uh, that doesn’t have that pmi.
Staci Garcia:
Absolutely.
Matthew Maschler:
All right. Well, thank you for joining us on the Real Estate Finder podcast. I’m Matthew Ashler. Together here with Stacy Garcia and, uh, Jill. Jill Glanzer. Um, it is the, when it is the middle of June, we are getting ready for our summer plans. Jill, you have, you have summer plans you’re taking off next week?
Staci Garcia:
Yeah, I’m actually take, my daughter just graduated from high school, so I’m taking her to New York City for the first time since 2019. I’m super excited to go to the city and see what it’s like now. Um, staying with a cousin Uhhuh, and I’ll be there from Friday to Monday. So we’re going to check out all the cool places in New York.
Matthew Maschler:
Your cousin lives in Manhattan? Yes.
Staci Garcia:
Oh, she actually was wor it’s funny, she was working remotely living in Hawaii for a while, and she just came back Uhhuh to Manhattan with a sweet apartment on the Upper West side off of Central Fark West. Nice. So, um, we’re gonna go stay with her and explore the city for a couple of days. Just a girls’ trip. Just a girls’ trip. Sweet.
Matthew Maschler:
Oh, that sounds fantastic. All right. So have a good time. Enjoy, uh, New York City. Uh, bring back, uh, no, don’t need anything. <laugh>.
Staci Garcia:
I bring back some buyers. I’m,
Matthew Maschler:
I, uh, you know, I like, I grew up in, uh, in Staten Island. I grew up in New York City. Um, and while I miss it, I think I miss like more like time. Like there’s nothing there now. Yeah. For me it’s just the old a time period in my life. Yeah. Are you seeing a Broadway show? Yes. What are you
Staci Garcia:
Seeing? I’m actually seeing an older show, Chicago. Oh, that’s good. And I’ve seen Chicago on Broadway before and I love it. And Lily wanted to see it live. She’s never seen it, so I’m taking her to see Chicago Saturday night.
Matthew Maschler:
Saturday night. All right. Well, if you have another night free, go see the music, man.
Staci Garcia:
I know you told me about it. Yeah. I’m gonna look into that. Did you
Matthew Maschler:
Watch the Tony’s?
Staci Garcia:
I didn’t.
Matthew Maschler:
Um, my wife and daughter and I were Watch, watch The Tony’s Sunday night. It was, uh, it was, it was spectacular. Yeah. It, it kind of always is. All right. Well, thank you for joining us on the Real Estate Finder podcast. I’m Matthew ler realestate finder.com, and you will see you next week.
Speaker 4:
The future looks bright and the storms pass by the sky dark blue when it’s almost that time. Light shows cameras flash when I pass. Living in the moment, forget about the past. They saved the best for last Matthew Mania. We about to make a splash. Life is a marathon full of sharp turns, gotta keep pace while the hands on the clock turns high stakes. Five star run estate. I run a show, you can tell the boss, play electricity, energy, vibrate. I’m always on time. Even if I’m, I make dreams come true living my life. Hope the same. You know whose time it’s, you know what time its mania. The says, you know what time its, you know whose, its, you know what, its yeah. Scared. We’re not afraid. Big bad wolf first comes the right.
