Matthew Maschler:
Welcome to the Real Estate Finder podcast. I’m Matthew Maschler, real Estate broker with real estate finder.com. And the co-host of Real Estate Finder podcast,
Staci Garcia:
Stacy Garcia.
Matthew Maschler:
Hi Stacy. How are you? I’m
Staci Garcia:
Good, how
Matthew Maschler:
Are you? I’m good. You had a, uh, very busy weekend. I
Staci Garcia:
Did. I was nonstop. Um, and I took a cold shower today, so I’m on fire.
Matthew Maschler:
And it was nice because it was a long weekend. We had an extra day off, like a weird kind of, was it a day off? Was it not a day off? I’m talking about, uh, Juneteenth and not, uh, June 19th, which is the federal holiday. But because, uh, Juneteenth June 19th fell on a Sunday, uh, June 20th was Juneteenth observed. So banks were closed, post offices were closed. Some, some businesses were open. Nobody knew what to do. Um, so, uh, you know, we kind of took it as a holiday kind of, and we’ll talk about that later. Um, but it was a nice long weekend. So what did you accomplish on your nice long weekend?
Staci Garcia:
Uh, well, a lot actually. <laugh>. Yeah. Uh, I listed two properties and I mentioned them. They were coming soon. They are technically coming soon still. Uh, but I will open them up to active if I have a demand for people that really wanna see them.
Matthew Maschler:
So I just wanna, uh, I’ll, you wanna clarify, the lawyer’s gonna clarify. Okay. Um, the, uh, real estate agents have, when you’re a member of an association, there’s a difference between the being licensed as a real estate agent and being a member of an association. And if you’re licensed, you’re licensed in the whole state, the entire state, you can transact business. Um, but being a member of the voluntary Association, and there’s actually three when you join your local association. You’re also joining the Florida Association of Realtors and the National Association of Realtors. Uh, the word realtor is a trademarked word owned by the National Association of Realtors. So when you’re a licensed, uh, real estate agent, you’re not necessarily a realtor unless you join the club and you have to pay money to join the club. So you join a local association. And, um, there were actually three in Palm Beach County.
Uh, most people don’t realize that. Uh, each association has an mls, a multiple listing service, which is a database. We’ve talked about that in the past. And, um, you agree to, there’s a lot of things you agree to when you become a realtor. When you become a member of an association, uh, the first thing that you agree to is the realtor code of ethics. Uh, the second thing you agree to is all of the rules of the association. And the third thing you agree to is the rules of the mls. And in all three of those, uh, agreements, there is a spirit of cooperation. And, um, if you’re a member of an association, you have to cooperate with other realtors to show your listings. And when you, uh, so when you’re a member of an association, you’re obligated to put your listings in the multiple listing service, and you’re obligated to do that timely.
Uh, it’s usually within, uh, two days of signing a listing agreement, unless you have permission from your seller, uh, to last longer, uh, for a particular reason. Uh, very recently, uh, our mls, uh, changed, uh, in Palm Beach County, um, to, uh, form a new status called Coming Soon. And you’re allowed to, um, so instead of listing and being a new listing or an active listing, you can, uh, list your property. The real estate agent can list a property and market coming soon, which means it’s not ready to be shown yet an agent is not allowed to show property that’s under coming soon, not even to their own customers. A lot of realtors like to cheat the system and they like to show it to their own customers before it’s in the MLS or before it’s active. That way they show it to their own customers, double end the deal, or show it to their friends or show it to other people in their company.
So, um, w there was a problem that people were putting, uh, property in the multiple listing service and not showing right away because it wasn’t, uh, ready to be shown. The marketing wasn’t done, the photos weren’t done. So the multiple listen service, uh, came up with a coming soon status. You’re allowed to put the property incoming soon while you are, um, getting the property ready to show, uh, there’s a huge restriction. You are not, it’s a huge violation to show a property incoming soon status. I am not sure if coming soon status syndicates to the websites, to the Zillows and Redfins and realtors dot coms of the world. I don’t believe it does. Um, Stacy, do you happen to know, does it go to Zillow and all the other websites if you put it in Coming soon status?
Staci Garcia:
Yes. You can actually check a box that says Choose on realtor.com mm-hmm. <affirmative> do you want coming soon to appear? And also, when you change status to pending Uhhuh <affirmative>, you can check a box that says, do you want it to show us pending on realtor.com?
Matthew Maschler:
Gotcha. But on Zillow and everything else, it’s, it’s all pre-checked. You don’t have a choice. I’m not
Staci Garcia:
Sure
Matthew Maschler:
About. Yeah. So anyway, um, so Stacy put the property in under coming soon because, um, well, you put the property in coming soon, which means it’s, it’s, it’s getting ready to be, uh, shown, but it cannot be shown right now.
Staci Garcia:
Right. So the properties are on coming soon. The first one is in Fairfield, which I had mentioned on a previous episode, and it’s a 4 21. So it’s four bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a powder room with a pool that’s screened in, uh, with a Jacuzzi two car garage in a guard gate manned 24 hour community. Um, right in the middle of Boca Raton with the brand new school that’s called Blue Lake. Oh, really? And yeah. And so, and, and actually I heard through the grapevine that, um, Fairfield’s really excited to be included in the zoning for Blue Lake. Sure. So it’s brand new, even though their school, their homeschool is Verde and that my kids went to Verde. Um, and Verde has been redone, uh, the principal, Mr. Moldovan, who I wanna give a shout out to, cuz he’s awesome.
Matthew Maschler:
Shout out to principal Moldovan
Staci Garcia:
<laugh>. He follows me on Twitter too. He’s super cool. So he, um, is gonna be the principal of Blue Lake and he’s awesome. So I think, um, that’s a major selling point. Um, some, some of Addison Meisner’s new, these are, uh, kindergarten through eighth grade, and it’s really, uh,
Matthew Maschler:
Kindergarten through eighth grade. They’re lower middle school together.
Staci Garcia:
Yeah. Not just traditional elementary school. Um, these are brand new buildings. Everything’s new. It’s not like it used to be. So it’s kindergarten through eighth grade. East Boca, uh, has my Addison Meisner that just opened last year. Uh, Verde opened just before that, the year before that, as they’re all kindergarten through eighth grade. And the only one that hasn’t been Ren redone yet is North Boca, which was, um, uh, Boca Raton Elementary School. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. So they haven’t done that one yet, but I think they’re actually gonna be zoned towards Blue Lake also cuz they’re off of Spanish River. That’s where it’s located. And, um, it’ll include some of Calusa, some of, you know, it’s taking from all the areas mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And so, uh, back to Fairfield. So Fairfield’s included in the Blue Lake and elementary school, middle school, and it’s an awesome place to live.
I lived there for seven or eight years and it’s, uh, there’s basketball, tennis, racquetball, two, uh, community pools in addition to your own private pool at this house. And just a great atmosphere. And, uh, you know, kids play and it’s very family friendly and animal friendly. Pet friendly. And, um, this last street in Fairfield where my house is listed is Concrete Block. So I’m super proud to like, say it’s definitely an awesome house. Um, so it’s completely brand new from the Foundation up. The roof is actually being installed in August and, uh, it’s online and the address is 2114 Northwest eighth
Matthew Maschler:
Street. So it’s Right. It’s on off, right off military, uh, just south of Glades Road.
Staci Garcia:
Yeah. And you can walk to, um, Roos Tacos and mm-hmm. <affirmative>, there’s some restaurant in there called Rock something or Fish something.
Matthew Maschler:
Uh, copper Fish. Yeah.
Staci Garcia:
And, um, soon there’ll be Restaurant Row. So you can walk there, you can walk to Bolero
Matthew Maschler:
Restaurant Row is gonna be across the street, um mm-hmm. <affirmative>, uh, before the mall.
Staci Garcia:
Right. And it’s gonna include, uh, pub Belly Sushi and also El El Camino, um, Mexican. So
Matthew Maschler:
You’re gonna have Roos and El Camino in walking distance.
Staci Garcia:
Yeah. And, and more. I’m sure there’s gonna be more. And of course there’s Glades Plaza right there with, um, Chipotle, and there’s two Starbucks as you mentioned before, and, uh, Hooters and, and Prime Scar or whatever it’s called. Mont Crisco. Right.
Matthew Maschler:
Yeah. One time I, uh, I went to meet someone at the Starbucks on Glads military, and I had to say to them, uh, the one on glads near military, or the one on military near glads. Right. <laugh>. Exactly. You know, and
Staci Garcia:
I had to actually put it in the listing. Yeah. Because it’s the real draw that you can walk to Starbucks.
Matthew Maschler:
It is a draw, but, um, but the glades of military Starbucks issues because, um, military goes, uh, over glads. Right. Uh, so it doesn’t actually connect. So if it connected, they probably wouldn’t put a Starbucks on both corners. Right. But, because it’s almost like it’s two different
Staci Garcia:
Military goes under glads,
Matthew Maschler:
Military goes under glads. Yeah. Yep. Glads goes over military. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. So, yeah. So, so right before Glads goes over military, there’s a Starbucks right there where Brucey used to be. But then if you’re on military, right after a military goes under Glads, there’s a Starbucks on the left, uh, near where, um, Bobbe company used to be. Right.
Staci Garcia:
So,
Matthew Maschler:
And how old do you have to be to know Bombay Company?
Staci Garcia:
<laugh>
Matthew Maschler:
In, in,
Staci Garcia:
I like Bombay Company
Matthew Maschler:
In the, um, and what, what, what was that in Crocker Center? Mm-hmm. <affirmative> Crocker Center. Yep. But, uh, which is now, uh, the, the Boca Center. Bo The Bo Raton Town Center. Yeah. Or the shops at Bo Boca Town Center.
Staci Garcia:
So, um, and, and if you, I just wanna mention this as an insight, and I put it in the listing also, if you have, if you’re a resident of Fairfield, there’s a pathway, two different pathways, and, um, it’s not a circle, but you can make it one. But there’s a key and you can, uh, exit in the back or in the front of Fairfield, and you’ll be right at Boca Center. So you don’t have to walk very far all the way to the front of the gate or all the way to the back, depending on where you are, you can cut through and, um, seriously, you can get to a Boca Center in two minutes if you’re walking because the, because of the key, um, you know, to get through the gate. So the property is $979,000, and it’s absolutely stunning impact. Windows and doors, high ceilings, laminate flooring, um, marble countertops with an island that you can eat at eating kitchen, home office, which isn’t included in the four bedrooms.
It’s additional and everything is, uh, sleek and smooth and fresh and gorgeous. It actually has a coat closet, which you would never think of down here, but it has a great closet when you walk in, has a laundry room inside the house with a basin. And also, um, all of the bathrooms have floating, uh, vanities. It’s just absolutely stunning. So it’s supposed to be an open house on Saturday, and like I said, it’s coming soon until Saturday. I’ve already had people ask if they can see it, and no, you can’t see it, but I’m asking the owner if it’s possible, maybe we should make it sooner. Um, we’re deciding right now. And in addition to that one, I have another listing that’s also coming soon.
Matthew Maschler:
All right. So, so, so to be clear, we’re talking, uh, let’s talk about Fairfield. Yeah. Um, at Boca Raton, it’s, the address is 214 Northwest eighth Street. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And the asking price is $979,000. It’s a four bedroom, two and a half bathroom, uh, house. I think it’s amazing and perfect. Um, I will ask you, um, going forward when you post on social media Yeah. Uh, post find the house on the Real Estate Finder website, Uhhuh <affirmative> Drive people to the Real Estate Finder website. Oh, yeah. Okay. Instead of, instead of the, uh, instead of the MLS post. Okay, cool. Cause why not? Okay.
Staci Garcia:
Awesome. Um, so, so that’s number one. Number two also went coming soon, and it’s a three bedroom, two bathroom in West Poka, which is just west of 4 41, just south of Palmetto Park Road in the West Boca High School District. And it’s just a couple streets off of Hammock Street, which is a major, uh, north, south, just west of 4 41. So if you’re familiar with the area, there’s, uh, hammock Street Church is there, but, um, also Slam Private Charter School that’s sixth through 12th grade. That’s a, that’s a couple years new. My son goes there. It’s awesome if your kid, if your child has an issue learning because they think it’s boring. Learning is boring. Slam is, um, a school that’s promoted by Pit Bull and he’s part Oh, yeah, yeah. He’s part owner. And the whole premise behind Slam, there’s like 19 slam schools is, uh, sports leadership and marketing.
So every single question that they’ll ever ask any kids at school has some relationship to sports. So if your child is, I’m, I’m not, I’m not giving you a commercial First Lamb, but I wanna rave about it because my son didn’t get a lot of things. And, um, unless I said, you know, if a guy’s throwing a tennis ball and he throws it 20 times, you know, how many times is he gonna get it in this box? That’s probability and statistics. And then he kind of understood it better. Slam is completely like that. Every sing, every subject is related to sports. So if your kid’s sports minded, uh, this is perfect. And also they do things, they have their own radio show, they have their own, um, eSports team, and they’re very high tech and are also, they’re very, uh, locked down. There’s only one entrance and it’s, uh, recorded and only one exit. And Oh, that’s important. Yeah. It’s just like a, I wanna say it’s nothing like the way Florida schools are built, where there’s very, they’re very open.
Matthew Maschler:
So is it, is it a, is it a public school or is it
Staci Garcia:
It’s a private charter school, but it’s Free’s charter school. Yeah, it’s free.
Matthew Maschler:
So the, what a charter school means is that, um, you know, the, so the, the government has an obligation to educate students, right. Uh, K through 12, uh, that’s what we decided in America as a society, um Right. That every citizen would have free education from kindergarten through 12th grade. And so every county, every municipality provides schools for the children in the municipality, from K through 12, from K through 12. It’s actually, um, a requirement. You actually have to go to school if you don’t go to school. Right. It’s, it’s true. You’re a truant. Um, so, uh, truant, so, so, right. So the government provides free school, uh, K through 12 for all Americans, not just provides, requires, um, because population growth, sometimes outpaces school building growth. Uh, one of the things that they’ve done in, um, in Palm Beach County and other counties in Florida is create a charter school.
So it’s a private company that gets a charter from the county to relieve the county of the county’s burden, obligation to provide schooling. There’s not enough seats in the county. So they, the county contracts with a private contractor, just like they do with jails and other services. They, they, they hire a private contractor to provide, uh, service services. Um, the city of Bo Raton has their own garbage, Palm Beach County. Um, you know, some municipalities, instead of providing their own garbage services, hire a private contractor like Waste Management to provide garbage services. So, um, Palm Beach County has its own schools, but they charter a private company to provide schools, um, unlike a private school. Right. With, if someone goes to the Pinecrest or St. Andrews or American Heritages of the world, well, their, their taxes go to pay for public school. Uh, but they’re choosing to pay the tuition of a private school.
They’re opting out of the free government service. A charter school, um, is, is, is free to the student. Um, so if you start a new charter school, and, and it’s actually, you can make a lot of money in charter schools. I know the Higa family mm-hmm. <affirmative> is in the charter school space. Uh, so in the Slam Academy, um, is Pit bull is an investor. There’s a lot of money to be made, but it’s a good public service because, um, the county can’t build schools fast enough to rise with, uh, the population increases and the, the youth increases in Florida. So it’s a good public part, public private partnership. There’s lots of different kinds of schools. Um, so sometimes in real estate, we have to understand and define all them. Right. You have your, your public school that you’re zoned for. You have magnet schools.
Uh, so Magnet, what does a magnet do? It attracts people from outside of the zone to the school. Um, so like Donna Estro on military trail in Boca and, um, the, uh, the, the music academies, uh, in, in West High Beach School Yeah. Drive school. They’re magnet schools. So people can apply to those schools. They’re still public schools, but, but they’re not in a particular zone. People apply. So they’re magnets. They pull people from all over the county into these special programs. So you have, what you have schools you zoned for, you have magnet schools, you have private schools, and then you have charter schools. And, um, you know what they don’t do yet in Florida, but you, you, you, you see it coming. And if you follow politics, people talk about vouchers and Right. And the, the voucher system, it would be kind of similar to the charter system.
And the charter system. You’re paying a private company to build a school, and then the students can go to that school. Um, the voucher system is you’re, you, you is, instead of paying a private company to build a school, um, if somebody wants to go to a private school, they’re opting outta the public system. They get a voucher for X number of dollars that the county would have spent on that child’s education. And they’re using that voucher to go to a private school. A um, and a lot of times in the voucher world, in the voucher discussion, it’s a religious school. Right. Um, which is why the people are choosing to go there. They’re using their voucher. They’re saying, listen, county, I’m not gonna use your free provided services. Gimme a voucher of X number of dollars. I’ll use that to go to my, my own private school. I’ll relieve you of the burden of having to educate me for a price. Right. Um,
Staci Garcia:
It’s pretty controversial.
Matthew Maschler:
It, it’s, it’s controversial because a lot of times it, people use, the people that want the vouchers are using the vouchers to go to a religious school. Oh, yeah. Right. And so now we have this freedom of religion in the us and then we have freedom from religion. We have this whole separation of church and state. So if you’re using, um, money, right. Government money to go to a a, a, a, a religious school, is that somehow, uh, a violation of church and state? Um, so if, if you use the voucher to go to a non-religious private school, American heritage, uh, there’s no issue. But if you’re using that money to go to Spanish River Christian, then the question is are, is it some kind of violation of church and state? Uh, the way I particularly see it is if, if in the real world, there is a need, right?
If there’s overcrowding in schools and there’s a need for the, uh, county to encourage students to go out, you know, you, you just have to make a financial decision. Right. Do you build more public schools? Like, uh, what’d you say? Blue Lake? Blue Lake. Blue Lake. Blue Lake, like Blue Lake. Do you build more public schools? Do you charter a private company to build a private charter school for you? Or do you buy out the citizen to go to the private schools? I’m a very much a free market capitalist. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. So I think if it’s, if ultimately the county can save money by, by buying, you know, by buying out, you know, 10,000 students in the county who are gonna use the money to go to a private school, opening up 10,000 seats if it’s cheaper to do it through a voucher, versus building a whole new school or chartering a whole new school, you know, and the, and, and the harm is that some money went to religion. I, I don’t see religion.
Staci Garcia:
I’m not sure if it’s all religion. I think that some money, let’s say if you, if a large group of people from the community use the voucher to go to a different school than the homeschool, then the homeschool suffers because it’s left with, um,
Matthew Maschler:
Ah, if the homeschools suffering. Right. Right. That’s not the point. Like if, the point is we don’t have enough seats. Right. We, you know, to me, the voucher is a tool. Right. The, the county has a choice. Build new public schools charter and let a private company build new public schools and, and pay them. Right. Because the county’s paying the charter school all of this money. So you can pay a charter school or you can give a voucher mm-hmm. <affirmative> to, to the student and let the student choose if it’s in the financial interest of the county to provide vouchers for people to go to private schools. To me, so what if the private school they choose is a religious school? Right. Right. So it’s, it’s really, to me, it’s the county’s decision. And the county’s tool, if it’s going to hurt, um,
Staci Garcia:
The homeschool,
Matthew Maschler:
The homeschool, there’s no way the county should do it. Right. It should only do it if they want to do it, if they want to help. My problem with politics in general is I look at a problem, I look at a solution, and people try to twist the solution to their benefit. Right? Right. And, and, and benefit this, uh, a particular religious school and hurt this community. And that once you do that, that’s no good that that becomes partisan. Right. Right. Or on, on the other side, people are against vouchers because they don’t want any money to go to support religion. So once you do that, it becomes partisan. But I’m just looking at, we, we need seats for students. What’s the best way to provide the obligated education, public school, charter school voucher? These are all, um, magnet schools and these, these are all wonderful pro these are all good choices to have.
Yes. Right? Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, you, you know, it’s, it’s, it’s, it, it becomes a good thing when someone says, okay, well, what are my school options? Great. You have a lot of, you know, we, we heard schools in Florida were bad. I don’t know what it means that they’re bad. Right. But we heard schools in Florida were bad. No. You have options now, if you’re zoned for a school that maybe doesn’t perform as well as others, and you accept that you don’t look into your options, you don’t look into charter schools, you don’t look into magnet schools, you know, sometimes, uh, well, they say, um, you have to advocate for yourself.
Staci Garcia:
Oh, it’s a, it’s a, it’s, I’m not saying it’s gaming the system. Right. It’s a full, it’s basically like, it’s a full education to know before you even buy a house mm-hmm. <affirmative> what your options are before you even plant yourself down anywhere. Because I can tell you that you can apply like to, um, Don Estridge or Drey School, you can, um, you can apply, but also, um, what’s the word? You can audition and you have to be accepted. Um, and for, for Don Estrich, it’s a lottery, and you have to win the lottery. But also you can, um, if your child is gifted, and I hate to go through don the gifted stuff, but if you, if you wanna go to the oldest school in Boca, I think it is Uhhuh Del Prado is the oldest and the grimiest, but it is the best school in Boca. My school. Lower school. Yeah. My, it’s elementary school. My kids started at Del Prado, and I had them tested for gifted, and because they were, and they, uh, went from kindergarten. So
Matthew Maschler:
That’s another choice, by the way. So, um, if you’re, so the, um, part of the county’s obligation mm-hmm. <affirmative> is, uh, special needs. And special needs can go two ways. Right? Right. You, you can, somebody could be, you know, on the spectrum and have special needs one way, or someone can be gifted and have special needs the other way. So if a child is special needs, um, the county has to provide special services for them. And so let’s say we’re going into the gifted side of special needs. Uh, some schools have a gifted program. So even if the school you’re zoned for doesn’t have a gifted program, if you test into gifted, you would then go to a different school, um, that has a gifted program. So like, where I live, like Calusa Elementary has a gifted, right.
Staci Garcia:
Uh, well, Verde has a gifted too, but it was only twice a week for my now, like
Matthew Maschler:
Calusa didn’t have gifted mm-hmm. <affirmative>. So a lot of people were going somewhere else, and then Colusa made a gifted program. Right. So, so gifted is another, uh, option in the choosing a school option, uh, choosing a school, uh, conversation. So that’s another reason why it’s, it was, what’s funny is, you know, nobody knows schools as well as realtors. That’s true. Um, and, and it’s, it’s an important con consideration, you know, that when someone comes down and, uh, wants to, uh, move their family to Florida, they have to have conversations about,
Staci Garcia:
They also have a full, just like you just mentioned, they have a full thought that Florida schools suck. So compared to North, let’s say, and
Matthew Maschler:
The things, I went to Staten Island mm-hmm. <affirmative>, I went to terrible schools and Portman High School, <laugh>, um, you know, just terrible. And I’m not trying to slander Portman High School, but you know, if that’s the gold standard, if people look at the New York City education system as the gold standard, I went to terrible schools. And, um, my kids are, uh, just finished in junior year. So we’re, we’re talking about, you know, colleges and college applications and, you know, I sat, I, I’ve been thinking about my own college experience and, and you know, you know, I didn’t have someone help me with my applications and I didn’t have anyone help me with anything. And I, I’m trying to remember, like, I would, I guess I’d call the school, they’d send you the application in a folder. You’d put it in a typewriter or fill it out by pen. I probably filled out a lot of my pen, filled out the pen. Yeah. Um, I know if I wrote an essay, maybe I’d, I’d write copies of it and got, got, um, notes from my teachers. But like, I didn’t have any guidance. And there was one guidance counselor, like, I think there’s eight guidance counselors. Mm. For the,
Staci Garcia:
For just for college,
Matthew Maschler:
For at Pinecrest. Like, like each guidance counselor has like 10 kids or 12 kids. There was one guidance counselor in the whole school. And when you said for college? No. Oh, <laugh>. It wasn’t just college, it was all guidance. Right, right. If you wanted to go into whatever career you wanted to get into. And, um, but I didn’t have any help from my guidance
Staci Garcia:
Counselor. And is, I think when, when we were in school, they, they paid more attention to the Army guy that came, <laugh> guy, the army guy everybody knew about.
Matthew Maschler:
So I called my friend the other day mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Um, and uh, you know, it’s funny, like everybody I know is turning 50. Yeah. And I guess it’s because if everyone, you know, that I’m the same age with, and I’m turning 50 in November, but everyone born in 1972. So I went, I went last night to someone’s 50th birthday party. I’m like, everybody knows 2050. But it’s, I know a lot of people my age, I guess. So I, I call my friend who’s the salutatorian of the school, and, and because I’ve said to her, and I said to her, I said, of high school. And I said to her, I go, can I, I wanna ask you some. I, I texted her, I’m like, call me if you have nothing better to do. Right. <laugh>. So I was, listen, I wanted to ask you about like your college application process. Cuz since I’m going through it with my kids, I’ve been trying to remember my, my process and I, I didn’t have any guidance. And she’s like, she’s like, oh no, you know, she’s like, I spoke to the guidance counselor one time and I go, Mrs. Troutner. She goes, how do you remember her name? I go, oh. Because I used to eat lunch in her office cuz I was scared to go to the cafeteria.
Staci Garcia:
<laugh>.
Matthew Maschler:
So I ate lunch. That’s hilarious. In the guidance counselor’s office every day for probably for three years.
Staci Garcia:
<laugh>. So funny. I
Matthew Maschler:
Ate, eat my lunch in the guidance council’s office, <laugh> surrounded by books about colleges. And I never had no conversation with her about college.
Staci Garcia:
Did you ever talk to her at all?
Matthew Maschler:
I’m sure.
Staci Garcia:
Oh, <laugh>
Matthew Maschler:
Just, you know, she’s like, how’s your day? What are you doing? You know, like it was, it was casual conversation. But I sat in her office and if she needed anything, you know, I’d go and help her sharpen a pencil or something. But it was, it was a, it was a nice safe space for me with a comfortable chair and a desk for me to do my homework and, and, and be alive. Alive. If I had free time in college, it was a corner to hide in. Um, and <laugh>. But she didn’t help me with my college applications or my college search. And my college search was like, I went to like random schools. I’d go on tours with my father, he’d get distracted and we’d go, like, if we went to like, university of New England or, or New Hampshire, wherever, Connecticut or whatever he, you know, eventually he’d go, go, Hey, where can we get like, like big lobsters around here? <laugh>.
So, so he’d get distracted. And then I, I, the reason I went to Maryland, my older brother went to Maryland. I did not wanna go to Maryland. I needed to go to somewhere better than my older brother. And cause I always thought I was smarter than him. Right. Um, I still think I am, but I’m not sure. But, um, he’s so much better than me and so many other things. So, so I still want to think I’m smarter than him, but I don’t know. Um, so, uh, I want to go somewhere better than Maryland, but every school I visited, like this place sucks compared to Maryland. So I Did
Staci Garcia:
You, did you visit University of Delaware?
Matthew Maschler:
Delaware? Oh yeah.
Staci Garcia:
So I visited University of Delaware and then when people, and I thought it was pretty and everything when, but there was no town. And when people said, um, well if you go to Maryland, it’s like uni, it looks like University of Delaware times 10.
Matthew Maschler:
Yeah. And, and, and it’s a division one football team. Instead of Delaware’s division two or three. I mean, it’s just Maryland’s University of Maryland’s so much better than the University of Delaware. Everywhere I looked University of Maryland’s so much better. And then I went, um, we went down to visit my brother and it was, uh, the day of the Maryland Penn State game. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, which was played at the Warm Memorial Coliseum because it was such a popular game. They couldn’t play it on campus. They wanted to sell more tickets. And, uh, and they tied and there was celebrations afterwards. I’m like, this is a tie. You’re celebrating this much. Maryland hadn’t won, hadn’t won, uh, against Penn State for like 50 years. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. So they were celebrating the fact that we didn’t lose. Right. First time we didn’t lose. I’m like, I’m like, I’m like, like, and I’m like, game, I must have saw game day at University of Connecticut or Rutgers or something.
And I’m like, I’m like, this is a tie and it’s so much better than their wins. I mean, and so I ended up, I ended up at Maryland, um, and I, I called my friend, I go, what, uh, what made you, uh, she went to Haverford College and I’m, I’m looking on the, these lists, and I find it on the, not on the national list on the, but I found it on the national liberal arts lists, but it’s not the very top one. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, I think she got a perfect score on the s a t. So I said, um, what made you, you know, choose that one? She’s like, well, I wanted to go to school smaller than Portman, cuz I mean, when we were lost in Portman, so I wanted to go, which, which I get, but on college, like, I’m so much more open to going to a big college.
Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, small high school, but still go to a big college because it’s, I don’t know, I think it’s different. So anyway, so she felt lost at Portman and she goes, and I wanted there to be like a campus with grass. I didn’t wanna go to a city. Like I wanted grass under my feet when I played Frisbee, because like, we were growing up, like our schoolyards were concrete. We played basketball or softball or on concrete in high, in high school. It was concrete with broken glass. And I’m not like, I’m not like trying to say like, we’re walking two miles in the rain. I mean, it was just, it was literally a parking lot football field. You know, the football field might have had a little bit of grass. It was mostly dirt, but everything else was concrete and broken glass. And, and um, so she’s like, I wanted a campus with, with grass under my feet when I played softball, I wanted less students than, than port high school.
And, uh, and she goes, but she, she goes, she had no guidance. She had that big US News and World Report book. She’d flip through. She went to Haverford, she was looking at Hamilton. And then she was, then she discovered Haverford and this, and when we talked about the guidance counselor that she, she goes, this is what the guidance counselor said to me. And that’s when I was like, Mrs. Strater. She’s like, how do you know? Right. The guidance counselor’s name. How do you remember? And, uh, I, so this is what the guidance counselor says to her, you know, it doesn’t make sense for you to go there. You should go to an Ivy League school. Right. 1600 s a t. Perfect. Right. Second in your class, you should go to an Ivy League school. If you don’t want to go to an Ivy League school, you might as well just go to a Sunni.
Staci Garcia:
Oh.
Matthew Maschler:
Like, there’s nothing in between. <laugh>, nothing in between. So she’s like, so it was almost like the guidance counselor had no, um, value of college. Right. Knowledge of college. So, um, so it’s just, it’s just so weird. So, um, I wanna go back to, uh, blue Lake again. Yep. Cause we’re talking about colleges and Maryland. It’s, uh, Maryland, terrapins, Delaware. It’s the, the Blue Hens. Um, you know, the, the mascot for, uh, for Blue Lake?
Staci Garcia:
Not
Matthew Maschler:
Yet. The Gators. Is it?
Staci Garcia:
Yeah.
Matthew Maschler:
Really? The Gators weren’t used yet in, uh, in Bo Raton schools. Right. You got Spanish River Sharks and mm-hmm. <affirmative>, the Olympic Heights couples, Olympians West, spoke Bulls, Boca Bulls. That sounds good. I was in, uh, on the Bulls in Peewee football. Um, he
Staci Garcia:
Spoke of Bobcats, spoke of High Bobcats. Um,
Matthew Maschler:
So yeah, so, so the, the, um, Westlake, uh, the Gators, that’s cool. And the new, uh, the news and it’s
Staci Garcia:
Awful lake. It’s cool. Yeah. Um, it’s weird Gators, isn’t it?
Matthew Maschler:
It’s weird though that it’s called Blue Lake Elementary and well,
Staci Garcia:
It’s on Blue Lake,
Matthew Maschler:
But, but elementary, even though it’s K through eight.
Staci Garcia:
Yeah. They did the same thing with Meisner. I’m not sure.
Matthew Maschler:
Yeah. And like Verde.
Staci Garcia:
No, um, I was gonna say something. I’m trying to, um, I’ve, I was, um, I was swept away off my feet when I learned that Maryland had a Roy Rogers,
Matthew Maschler:
Roy Rogers,
Staci Garcia:
<laugh> <laugh> also had a nice upscale Italian restaurant. Umberto’s. Yes. And
Matthew Maschler:
Then, uh, because it’s like, um, right. Umberto’s.
Staci Garcia:
But when I, I, I lived basically at Roy Rogers every day.
Matthew Maschler:
So that’s kind of the same way, I guess kids now feel about Chick-fil-A Yeah. On the school. Yeah. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Um, how did you feel when Roy Rogers was converted to Hardee’s? I,
Staci Garcia:
I cried. I knew it was coming <laugh>. It was terrible. It was awful. It was terrible. But I also used to go to Beltway Plaza for the Roy Rogers there.
Matthew Maschler:
Beltway Plaza.
Staci Garcia:
Yeah. It was on the highway. No, it was not on the Beltway. It was, um, in Green Belt. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Um, and it was the mall. Yes. I don’t
Matthew Maschler:
Remember Roy Rogers Food Court.
Staci Garcia:
Uhhuh. No, I don’t, I don’t
Matthew Maschler:
Remember Roy Rogers,
Staci Garcia:
The mall court. It was like, you could go in, there was one really good pizza place. Right. And on the brothers, I thinks it
Matthew Maschler:
Was either brothers or three brothers. Three brothers.
Staci Garcia:
And then there was a Roy Rogers in there. I used to go in there. That was when I found out that I can
Matthew Maschler:
Remember the name of the pizzeria. I, I know Don
Staci Garcia:
Remember the name of, I don’t even know what I did yesterday.
Matthew Maschler:
I can remember this probably because if Roy Rogers was at the school, then I wouldn’t, uh, Roy Rogers, for those of you who don’t know, <laugh> was a, a fast food hamburger chain, uh, named after, I guess he was a movie star cowboy. Uh, his real name, not character name. The, the, the real person. There was a real person named Roy Rogers, who was a cowboy.
Staci Garcia:
God, if you don’t know this, I feel like we must be hundred people.
Matthew Maschler:
We, we, I, we didn’t know who Roy Rogers was. I did The Cowboy. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>.
Staci Garcia:
I had my own Buckoo card.
Matthew Maschler:
Buckoo. It was a, it was a TV show. Yeah. It was a TV show named Ro. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. See, I liked the Lone Ranger.
Staci Garcia:
So did I. Brother did too.
Matthew Maschler:
But anyway, a chain of hamburger restaurants. Uh, also had fried chicken, uh, on the, on the bone. Not just, um, not just chicken nuggets. <laugh>, uh, at, at a time when like, I mean, chicken nuggets weren’t as invasive as, as they are now. Um, chicken nuggets were not as popular. They existed when we were, when we were kids. As, as they’re so ubiquitous now. Uh, so at Roy chain of hamburger restaurants and, you know, everyone has to like, distinguish themselves in the hamburger market. So like, you know, the Big Mac Right. You know, everybody knows what like two beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions, flame Royal, no. Burger King was Flame Broiled. Oh yeah. But Burger King’s, um, the gimmick was that you could order a custom. Like you can’t go to, you couldn’t go to McDonald’s and like ask for a Big Mac with without pickles.
Right. Like you could, but it was just, you were a weirdo. So, but Burger King was so, because you couldn’t necessarily do that at, at, at, at McDonald’s. Burger King’s response was have it your way. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> and you could order everything customized. So people, a lot of people chose Burger King over McDonald’s because you can customize what you wanted on your sandwich. So Roy, Roy Rogers took it to the next level and they didn’t even put anything on the sandwich. And they just gave you a Fixin’s bar. Yeah. I love that. Right. So you get the burger yourself.
Staci Garcia:
Same with Wendy’s.
Matthew Maschler:
Wendy’s had a fixings part.
Staci Garcia:
They did. Because you could pump your own ketchup into the little
Matthew Maschler:
Cups. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Well, you can always, I ketchup,
Staci Garcia:
I was the queen of making a whole bunch of cups for other people I didn’t know.
Matthew Maschler:
But the Wendy’s fixings bar didn’t have like all the things that Roy Roger, some stuff didn’t have sliced tomatoes and pickles and onions and stuff. I don’t know, it just was a, cause
Staci Garcia:
I don’t eat any of
Matthew Maschler:
That. Right. It was just a condom bar.
Staci Garcia:
I just, I just know that my mom was like, stop making ketchup cups for others.
Matthew Maschler:
But the <laugh>. But the, but the Roy Rogers Fixings bar was almost a salad bar. Like you can Right. You could put a, you know, but you could put anything you want on lettuce, tomato, onions, anything you wanted you put on was on the, on the, the Fens bar. It was just so Cowboys Fens bar. So, uh, even the food court in the Staten Island Mall Right. Had the Fens Bar. Yeah. Uh, for the Roy Rogers. And then, um, so then, uh, I think the Hardy’s Company, uh, came in and they, they rebranded all the Roy Rogers as Hardee’s in the whole state of Maryland. Uh, the student union changed back to a Roy Rogers, but I think all the other Hardees in Maryland
Staci Garcia:
State, I even had to go to New Jersey a couple times to get Roy Rogers.
Matthew Maschler:
Right. But like,
Staci Garcia:
Or Virginia,
Matthew Maschler:
What I’m saying, like the student union, like the reason I asked you about Hardee’s is cuz it, they changed like one semester and it all changed back to the way Rogers. Exactly. Right. Right. But every other location in Maryland stayed at Hardee’s.
Staci Garcia:
I went into a Beltway plaza. I got chicken. Uh, well you could see they were stacked up in the lines, you know, that they’d wrapped it up and then dropped it in. So there were like, you would just take what you wanted and they didn’t have any chicken at the time. So the guy at the, I don’t know if I told you this story cause it’s actually hilarious. The guy at and I was really healthy and imperfect shape and I, not an ounce of fat on me probably weighed a hundred pounds in Maryland freshman year. I even lost freshman 10. So, um, I went into, uh, beltway Plaza. I went up to the guy, I asked for chicken cuz I ate really healthy and there was no chicken. So he said to the person behind him, drop chicken, like, just like that <laugh>. And then I saw him drop chicken into the fri french fry thing. And I’d never seen any chicken be cooked ever before. Uhhuh <affirmative>. So I didn’t know it was deep fried. Uh, and right then and there I was, uh, my mind was blown that fried chicken was actually fried. Right. I never knew it was actually fried before. I mean, I know it’s called fried chicken, but in my mind, those, those two things didn’t go together. So I thought the chicken was healthy and I ate the chicken all the time. Oh. Every day. All the time. That’s all I ate. Fried
Matthew Maschler:
Chicken. You, you were eating fried chicken. Cause everybody told you your chicken was healthy. Yeah,
Staci Garcia:
I loved it. Listen, I love a burger just like everybody else, but I’m like on a diet. So I’m eating fried chicken <laugh> <laugh>, like for the last five years. And now I see someone and they say, drop chicken. And I see it gets de fried and I’m like, oh my God. All this time I was avoiding a hamburger because it’s a hamburger and I think I’m eating healthy by eating chicken. And now I just saw it’s being de fried. I called my mom and I said, mom, I’m, I’m, I don’t even know what to do. Rory Rogers Fried chicken is actually made like the french fries. And they, they, they deep fry it. And my mother was like, um, yeah, yeah. <laugh>. And I said, uh, how am I gonna go on? And she was like, the same way you’ve been going on this whole time <laugh>.
I’m like, well now I can just eat a burger. And she’s like, yes you can. Right <laugh>. And don’t you just eat the french fries anyway. I was like, yeah, but the, but eating the chicken was my version of being, you know, healthy <laugh>. And now I’m, now I I I was so blown away that it was fried that it changed my whole life. You know, it was life changing really. Yep. So, um, so yeah, that was one reason I was still happy. I picked Marilyn because of the Roy Rogers. Once I found out there was Roy Rogers, if ever I wasn’t in my room, I was at Roy Rogers in the student union, always
Matthew Maschler:
On Roy Rogers’ website. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, they’re still open, uh, in the student union. Really? 39 72 campus drive. Oh my God. Adele. I’m shopping in the car right now in Student Union College Park, Maryland. And as as, um, as Roy Rogers. Wow. I was reading in that out.
Staci Garcia:
I know that I used to drive up north by myself and in my Mitsubishi clips just to go hang out with my friends in Maryland. And as soon as I hit Virginia, there was a Roy Rogers. I know. I knew it. As soon as I got you just passed the university, I would be like, oh my God, I’m almost there. I can almost get it to where as soon as I got to Roy Rogers, I knew I could make it to Maryland. So I’d stop at Roy Rogers, get food and drive straight to Maryland. And it was, for some reason Virginia was like a good two and a half hours, you know? Right. But I felt like I was very close by then.
Matthew Maschler:
So about four or five years ago, I was on the, um, the Jersey Turnpike. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, the Jersey Turnpike or the Atlantic City Expressway. Um, cause I was going to Atlantic City with, with the kids. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> and, uh, it was Jersey Turnpike. It was Walt Women Plaza. And uh, and the sign said Roy Rogers. And I didn’t believe that they had a Roy Rogers just like in, if you go into um, uh, Deerfield Beach on Federal Highway, um, there’s a sign that says Radio Shack. Right, right. And there’s no Radio Shack there. Right. And a couple years ago, they uncovered the, uh, ua uh, movie theater logo in the grass between glads and the mall. Right. They were like, mo they, they cleaned it up that whole median. You were like,
Staci Garcia:
Wow, you,
Matthew Maschler:
They revealed the movie Theater Design <laugh>. So someone had to remove that. But the Radio Shack sign’s still there on Federal Highway. On, on north of Hillsboro, I believe could be south of, I think its north of Hillsboro, but, um, radio Shack Sign. I know exactly where you mean, but, but I saw the um, Roy Roger sign. I said, kids we’re going to Roy Rogers. And it was south the Yeah, yeah,
Staci Garcia:
Yeah. That’s funny. Cause I live right near the Walt Mountain Bridge. They have,
Matthew Maschler:
That’s where I live. Have they have still, there’s 42 locations. Most of ’em are in Maryland. Um, there’s a few in Virginia, one in West Virginia, three in New Jersey, brick Pine Beach and the Walt Women Travel Plaza. That’s funny. Uh, one on the New York State throughway. And then a bunch in, uh, uh, Pennsylvania. But mostly on like the Pennsylvania looks like West,
Staci Garcia:
I mean, not Yeah. Turn back going West
Matthew Maschler:
Travel Plaza mostly on the Pennsylvania Turnpike. All but I think every single one something, the
Staci Garcia:
Funny thing is it never got old for me. Right, right. And yeah, my mom was always new to wake me up. If she was driving, she’d be like, we’re here. And I’m like, oh, where are we? I was half asleep. And she’d be like, we’re, we’re at Rogers. I’m like, oh good. Okay.
Matthew Maschler:
So, so the guy who was a cowboy turned into like a TV star or a movie star made like hundred movies or TV shows like Ronald Reagan, chain of restaurants. Like, oh. And, um, and the drink. There’s, there’s a Roy Rogers a drink. Oh, really? Yeah. It’s a, you know what it is? What? It’s a Shirley Temple. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. But if you’re like a 10 year old boy <laugh>, you get the Roy Rogers instead. Really? So it’s Coca-Cola instead. Instead Ginger L. Oh,
Staci Garcia:
That’s funny.
Matthew Maschler:
Yeah. But, but that way you can say Roy Rogers, sometimes it’s Buck Rogers, but <laugh>. But it’s a
Staci Garcia:
Bitty, bitty,
Matthew Maschler:
Bitty <laugh>. But, but, but that way you don’t have to Shirley Town when you’re a 10 year old boy. That’s funny.
Staci Garcia:
That’s very funny. <laugh>. Um, yeah. So, so I do Ms. Roy Rogers. People ask me, uh, what do you miss about Pennsylvania? Uhhuh,
Matthew Maschler:
Uh, Roy Rogers.
Staci Garcia:
I hate to even say it. I’m like, soft pretzels. But now Wawa is here so we can get a Philly soft pretzel. And Roy Rogers and I used to miss Friendlies a lot, but there were two Friendlys down here and both of them have closed. And, and then I missed, uh, water. Ice. And now there’s Ritas. So I don’t miss that. And, um, I can’t really think of, I mean, I know that it’s funny, I know that we have cheesecakes down here and, and so forth. I don’t, I didn’t, I never missed that.
Matthew Maschler:
Can you imagine, we were just talking about, like, talking about like colleges and macOS went to Maryland’s talking
Staci Garcia:
About my listings.
Matthew Maschler:
We went to, talked about Maryland and like you, you’re talking about Roy Rogers in the San Houston Union as if it’s Chick-Fil-A. Right. So now those of you listening out there who are like millennials and love Chick-fil-A, um, or hate Chick-fil-A. There’s, there’s another ver Anyway, politics again. But, um, now imagine the time, like 30 years from now when there’s no Chick-Fil-A’s it’s outta business. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> then. And people are like, you have to go travel for people. Talk about like how great it was. Do you remember when and Oh, there’s still one that one. Chick-fil-A
Staci Garcia:
Remember Chick-fil-A songs.
Matthew Maschler:
We were, you can
Staci Garcia:
Buy it in the supermarket.
Matthew Maschler:
We’ve been talking about Roy Rogers for a long fucking time.
Staci Garcia:
I know. I, when I worked for White Castle, this is all the White Castle. Yep. This is all
Matthew Maschler:
We You worked for White Castle.
Staci Garcia:
I worked, I was the Twitter for White Castle.
Matthew Maschler:
Really? Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Oh, do you know that? I’m friends with the one of the vice presidents. Oh really? I mean, friends we met once and we’re still in touch on Facebook. That’s
Staci Garcia:
Cool. Yeah. Uh, I know it’s a family and, um, the family was very particular still family owned
Matthew Maschler:
Understanding, still family owned.
Staci Garcia:
Um, yeah. So, uh, so should I get back to my listing? Yes. So, so, uh, the West Boca listing is a great, uh, three, two, and two car garage. Great white tile floor. And, um, like I said, it’s walkable to school. And um,
Matthew Maschler:
And it’s how much?
Staci Garcia:
It’s 525,000. That’s
Matthew Maschler:
Not a lot of monies.
Staci Garcia:
No, it’s really a very well priced, I already got a full priced verbal
Matthew Maschler:
Offer. Oh, really? Cash. So I, so, so, uh, three bedroom, two bathroom, 1400 square feet. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Um, yes, it’s a really good, had a
Staci Garcia:
Humongous Florida room and I definitely room for a pool, if you want one. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, um, in a community where it’s $33 and 33 cents for a hoa, but it’s quarterly, so it’s a hundred dollars mm-hmm. <affirmative> every quarter. And there’s, um, you know, it’s, you could bike to Publix and a bunch of, and, you know, uh, a bunch of stores and stuff. It’s very essentially located and for West Boca and, and very, I don’t wanna say affordable cause I hate when people say that and you just can’t afford it. But it’s very well priced for this house in a neighborhood where there are a lot of houses for sale and they’re more expensive and they’re smaller. So, um, uh, I expect it to be sold or under contract by Monday. Uh, what else can I tell you? So I might, I might actually change that one from coming soon to active and show it sooner earlier in the earlier in the week Uhhuh, because I do have, uh, people asking about already.
And um, so that’s what I did all weekend. And I’m trying to think if I did anything else. <laugh>. So, I mean, uh, usually I work on the weekend. So this was a busy weekend and I wa and I, and I will have, I’ll just preface it real quick. I will have a $2 million, uh, five bedroom house in Estancia South in a couple weeks for sale. Okay. It’s not listed and they don’t necessarily wanna list it, uh, if they get what they want. So, um, it’s probably gonna be at 2,000,004 and it’s a awesome house impact. Windows, brand new roof, brand new everything really, uh, with a gorgeous marble, um, counters with like a touch of blue and gray. It’s really pretty. Um, and an awesome fireplace, uh, with a home office as well. And, um, what else can I say? It’s walkable to sho And um, and then after that we’re gonna have three more listings.
One’s gonna be in, uh, Parkland and then two in West Boca. Wow. Yeah. So for summer, that wasn’t usually busy. I think we’re busy and like trying to plan a vacation for 2024 <laugh> <laugh>, like just a, maybe just a break. I just need a break. Yeah. But I don’t wanna take a break while it’s busy. But also, I, I don’t even read the news in the doom and gloom. I know that people are looking for houses, people are looking for houses and it, it doesn’t stop. So, um, yeah, it’s real estate. If you pay attention to the news and you believe that, that we’re all gonna crash, then um, just know that the people that are buying a house still are still cash buyers. The,
Matthew Maschler:
The investors are coming, well, the cash buyers are coming in because they, they don’t wanna pay the higher interest
Staci Garcia:
Rates. Right. But I, I, like I said, the people that were, um, using financing still haven’t even had a chance <laugh>. Right. So even though they, even though everyone’s freaking out over interest rates, just keep in mind that I still have only had one transaction out of seven where they even used financing. You know, everybody else is still using cash. So we ha I even maybe cuz of my price point, but I’m still even one of the price point, the only price point that I had that used financing was three 50. Uh, but everybody else has been using cash. So, um, I, somebody called me and asked me, why didn’t you put conventional mortgage? Why don’t you put that you accept a conventional mortgage for one of my listings actually. Huh? And I said, um, well I don’t necessarily think it’s a bad thing, but if you wanna get a mortgage and you’re gonna come to closing with the cash, you’re probably not gonna get a mortgage for the whole thing anyway cuz it would be based on appraisal.
And then, and the prices right now are so high that I’m doubt you’re gonna get an appraisal. And I’m not gonna make a whole thing based on ma I’m not taking the house off the market for, uh, contingent on appraisal. No way. Not in this market. So, um, that’s why that was my answer is if you wanna, if someone wants to get a mortgage for part of the, um, price and it’s still the cash offer and the person was like, I don’t really understand that, but, okay, thank you. You know, um, but I do, I do wanna say that, uh, a lot of the houses that are on the market right now that are sitting are overpriced. And I, and I, and I see the prices are dropping quickly, and they’re dropping from, with a hundred thousand dollars drop, they’re not dropping $5,000. Right? So it’s 1,000,002, it’ll be 1,000,001 they were overpriced to start out with. Mm. And if they’re dropping a hundred thousand dollars, then you know, they could afford it. You know what I mean? They, they put some ridiculous number up there. And what,
Matthew Maschler:
What, what we’re gonna see is the, the overspending, right? Someone coming in and spending, you know, too much on a property that may end, you know, but we’re not gonna see the price of housing come down right? Now if houses went from three 50 to five 50 mm-hmm. <affirmative>, and someone overspend and offered and paid five 80 or 6 25, okay? If they made a mistake, they overpaid, right? Or they overpaid on purpose because they needed housing, and it’s an immediate human need. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Um, so, so, so if the houses continue to sell at five 50, it didn’t come down or fall from the five 80 or 6 25 mistake. It’s just that housing went up from three 50 to five 50. And that’s where it is. Those are the new prices. So, you know, in that rising market, I saw it all the time when people were buying, making mistakes and selling too low.
And I was making sure that my, uh, sellers were, were getting more money that be because they were using me and I was pricing things correctly, right? So then some people are paying too much, right? So it’s easy to pe people are paying too little or paying too much in any market for anything. I mean, just like, just like the prices of, of, of airplanes and hotel rooms can be dynamic. Um, but the prices of housing went up, they will not go back down. Um, but the rapid growth, 10%, 20%, 30% in a year will stop. So everyone who’s sitting on the sideline waiting for the market to fix itself, well, the fix is, we’re not gonna have the rapid appreciation. We’re not gonna have the mistakes. But the ha the pricing will settle now at these new normal numbers,
Staci Garcia:
Right? Today, I, I saw, I get alerts for certain neighborhoods, which is pretty much everything. And today I saw an, an alert for what I would consider somewhat of a comp for the house that we just put for sale for 9 79, a 4 21, which is a four bedroom, two bathroom, and a powder room with a pool. The house is listed for 1,000,002, and it’s, um, a stones throw away from the railroad tracks in East Boca, Northeast Boca and I, and on the same street, five houses down is the exact same model house, and it’s 8 75. So, and it’s not, it’s not, um, completely renovated, like the house I’m selling, which is 9 79. So this is 1,000,002, and I screenshot it with the two comps of the neighborhood that are in it. And I look like I screenshot it. I kind of wanna send it to the, the listing agent and be like, what are you thinking?
But I also do know that people say, you can put my house on the market, and if I get what I want, then I’ll sell it and I’ll move. So I know that there’s those people also, um, who don’t care if their house first sits for 365 days or 85 days. I just don’t like it personally, and I don’t want it to be a reflecting a reflection on how I’m doing in real estate. If someone says, oh, yeah, list my house for choice what it’s worth, and if I get it, I’ll move. It makes me like, kind of look bad because the house is actually just sitting. But, um, in my opinion, so I sent that to my seller at 9 79, and I’m like, this person just, just, uh, put a ridiculous price on a house that’s so close to the railroad tracks, and it’s very similar to the house I listed, but it’s, you know, $400,000 more.
It’s crazy what people are thinking. And then there’s other people that are priced right. And I just, like I told you, I got an offer already on the first day and my phone’s ringing, or people are texting me, and I think it’s because the house is, are priced right, and it, and I’m not taking the first offer, and I don’t, I don’t, you and I feel the same. It’s not how fast I sell the house. It’s hell, um, how much I sell it for. So, um, even if my seller gets the amount that they want on the first day, well, you know what? On the second day, they might get more than they wanted. So, um, I’m not, I’m not going with the first offer. I’m going with the best offer. And it, it might not be on the first day, and the house is not even active anyway. And so I have to tell my seller, I did get an offer and it, and if I, if I send it to you, just know that the amount that you want, and it could be a cash offer with no contingencies, which is awesome, but, and you haven’t shown it, and they haven’t seen it, which is great, but we still could get more. So, um, to sit tight and see what, we’ll see what happens. So that’s what I did this weekend.
Matthew Maschler:
All right. All right. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. So, um, you know, we started the, uh, episode by talking about Juneteenth, right? And, um, and, uh, we went long. So, um, I was, you know, I’m, I, I recorded a few, uh, episodes for while I was away. Um, but we decided to, uh, drop this one this week because we came in off of Juneteenth weekend. Now I’m regretting that decision because we could have just ended here and used this one in like five weeks when I’m on, when I’m on vacation. But, um, but no, this one, uh, will go live, uh, on, uh, Wednesday, July 22nd as planned. Um, and we, we just came off the, uh, Juneteenth holiday. And for those of you who don’t know, um, Juneteenth is a holiday, uh, that celebrates the end of slavery. Um, it’s been recognized in, uh, Texas. It’s technically, it’s the end of slavery in Texas.
It’s when Union troops came into Texas to liberate the slaves. And, um, uh, you know, the Emancipation Proclamation was, uh, issued two years earlier, but obviously it didn’t, the Emancipation Proclamation didn’t have the effect of, of liberating slaves. It just, it triggered the, you know, the everything that came after the Civil War and the, and the move to, to liberate the slaves. So, um, so, uh, union Army comes into Texas in, into the Port of Galveston, and, um, and, uh, declares that, uh, there, there are no slaves in Texas. And then there’s still, there’s still fighting. Uh, cuz it is the Civil War. Um, I believe so. Um, no, like, I don’t think it had end had ended. It’s possible it had ended.
Staci Garcia:
Maybe they just didn’t tell them. Remember, they didn’t tell some people,
Matthew Maschler:
Right. Right, right.
Staci Garcia:
It’s like, whisper down the lane, you know, some people get left out.
Matthew Maschler:
Right? So, um, yeah, so it’s June 19th, 1865 when enslaved African-Americans in Galveston, Texas were told they were free. Um, and it’s been recognized in Texas, especially in Galveston, uh, but in Texas and in, and in nearby states. So for people who haven’t heard of it, well, just because you haven’t heard of something doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist, right? Right. I mean, that’s just a rule. Like, you know, you, you, you get a, you get a job and, and someone says, oh, I never heard of that company. Well, you haven’t heard of every company, right? <laugh>. So, um, so just because you never heard of something, doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. Um, it has been celebrated, um, for 200 years, but locally in Galveston. Now, does that merit a national holiday? I don’t know. I don’t make the rules. Um, I’m very much a state’s rights person. So if a state wants to have a celebration or a day of something that happened in that state’s history, I think that’s fantastic. Um, so, but there has been a movement to make it a federal holiday, just like the movement to Mother’s Day, your Father’s Day, right? Someone had to come up with this, someone had to come up with the idea and propose it and pitch it and sell it. And, um,
Staci Garcia:
For me, and that was Hallmark.
Matthew Maschler:
I don’t think it was Hallmark first. Hallmark comes in after Hallmark, didn’t push Juneteenth, but now if you go to Walmart, you see all the Juneteenth, uh, napkins and paper and paper plates, and, and they came up with an ice cream, um, which was really, yeah. But then, uh, the, they, they had to, uh, uh, re recall all the ice creams because, um, people were saying it was insensitive for Walmart to culturally appropriate. Oh, really? Um, the holiday, um, oh, like, which, look, I
Staci Garcia:
Like to commercialize it.
Matthew Maschler:
Commercialize it, right. But I’m like, you know what, you’ve been fighting for years to make it a federal holiday. This is kind of what comes with that, right? Right. You wanna make it a federal holiday. I’m gonna celebrate it. How am I gonna celebrate it with red velvet, uh, ice cream, with cheesecake frosting from Walmart? Right. Right. Because what other way to celebrate, I think what happens is people on the face, they see like red velvet, like, why did Walmart come up with red velvet? They don’t realize that in the history of Juneteenth, red velvet cakes have always been used. Oh. As, as part of the celebration. Red food was always used as part of the celebration. So Walmart didn’t make this up, and they weren’t being racist when they came up with red velvet ice cream for Juneteenth. It, it actually comes from a source, but everyone’s so quick to judge and on, on Twitter, and then Snapchat and Instagram, they’re so quick to judge and cancel that. It just becomes, I don’t know, it, it becomes, I think funny, but it’s not funny. It’s, these are, these are real issues, uh,
Staci Garcia:
Especially back in when, um, September 11th mm-hmm. <affirmative>, and they started, people that were not alive are now doing advertising and marketing. Right. They’re adults. Right. And so, um, they don’t know that September 11th is not July 4th.
Matthew Maschler:
Right. Right. It’s not Right.
Staci Garcia:
So they would be like, uh, here’s your discounted barbecue and stereo for September 11th. Right, right. And then all of a sudden you’re like, wait, what?
Matthew Maschler:
Right. And then, um, my Bar mitzvah was December 7th, 1985. Right. So that’s 40 years after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. But certainly December 7th was still significant and meaningful date on the calendar. And certainly my mom had to pause, can we make a bar Mitvah on December 7th? Right. And she chose to, and it’s fine. Right. Can you make a wedding or Baron in the future on September 11th? Yeah. Yeah. You can. And people, people do. People will, you know, there, there were in the first few years, people were afraid to even fly on September 11th.
Staci Garcia:
Oh, I never, I would never fly on September 11th.
Matthew Maschler:
Yeah. Would you fly on December 7th?
Staci Garcia:
Yeah, I’ve, that was before my time.
Matthew Maschler:
Right. So, and that’s your point, is that mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Oh. Oh, there are people that are 20 years old. Right. That were not alive on September 11th. Right, exactly. Or if they were alive, you know, there were people, you know, people older than that, that were, might have been alive, but don’t remember, because they were, they were, they, so they weren’t as affected by September 11th. So anyway, so, um, I first become, I never heard of Juneteenth until the Blackish episode. Did you ever watch Blackish? I did not. Yeah. So, um, Blackish did, did a great episode. It was, um, 2017. Uh, when, when they did, when they did the, they did a Juneteenth episode, and I thought it was fantastic. I actually thought it was all completely made up. Oh, the, the episode mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And not because I was being insensitive to the issues, it was just because I was watching a sitcom. Right. And most things on sitcoms are made up. Right. Like, I just thought they were making jokes.
Staci Garcia:
Like, you mean like, um, Festivus,
Matthew Maschler:
Like Festivus and Right. Seinfeld had Festivus. Right, right. That didn’t mean that there were such a thing as Festivus. Right. And people still wear their Festivus t-shirts. So Yes. So, um, you know, I
Staci Garcia:
Still have Celebrate Festivus for the rest
Matthew Maschler:
Of us. Yeah. And it, and it was Juneteenth cuz they didn’t know what day. They didn’t know if it was June 17th or June 18th or June 19th. They didn’t know what day it was. It was Juneteenth sometimes just like, um, was the TV show at The Goldbergs? Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, right? It was, it was, it was, it was February, 1980 something. Right. So they were Juneteenth Juneteenth, cuz they didn’t remember what day in mid-June this happened. It gets, you know, something people didn’t have iPhones back then. And then, you know, and, and, and, and, and Rolodex calendars, uh, to, to record it. And so someday in June, you know mm-hmm. <affirmative>. But they did a great episode in, in 2017. Um, and what happened for me personally was, uh, on my iPhone, um, I I subscribed to the Apple Calendar.
Staci Garcia:
Oh, did it pop up?
Matthew Maschler:
Yeah. Um, like in, um, in 2020. Oh, in 2020, um, I noticed for the first time in my iPhone on June 19th, it said Juneteenth. Okay. And I, and I didn’t think about it for three years. Like, I didn’t think about that episode Right. Of, of Blackish. I just, I saw it on my phone. I’m like, that’s from Blackish <laugh>. And, and, and my, my memory was just like the festival, imagine a festival appeared in the Apple Calendar. Uhhuh <affirmative>. And then that caused me to Google it. And, and, and really, um, and also in 2020, um, a lot of banks closed. Oh, yeah. Um, in, in 2020, a lot of banks closed in recognition of Juneteenth, which, you know, which was weird. Um, but, um, but I put this on my Facebook, um, that, uh, that scene, the bank said, notice of closing early for Juneteenth, it made me smile.
Right. Whether you celebrate it or not, Juneteenth brings you, if Juneteenth brings you or someone you know, happiness or eases pain or makes you smile in any way, um, I wanna wish you a very happy Juneteenth. Um, and, and you know, so I put that on my Facebook in 2020. 2021 was when, um, it was signed into law as the next federal holiday. Right. Um, you know, so, you know, father’s Day, Thanksgiving, 4th of July, they all started as an idea. They’re, they’re all made up. And, you know, banks had a close for the very first time on Veterans Day or on Columbus Day, even though those aren’t federal holidays, but a bank can choose to close for Veterans Day or close for Columbus Day. So, you know, if the bank choose before it was a holiday, I was like, well, if the bank chooses to close on Juneteenth, that’s great.
Just like if they choose to close for Columbus Day, that’s great. So, um, you, and I don’t know if you remember this or not, but, um, when, uh, when they made it a federal holiday last year and, and they didn’t do it with enough time for people to, um, react. Right, right. They did it like a few days before. So how do you decide if you’re gonna be open or not on June, June 19th, if they literally gave you two days notice that they made it a federal holiday. It was one thing in 2019 or 20 not to close the office in recognition of a holiday you never heard of. Or, or that was celebrated in, in a place where you don’t live. Right. But, um, but now that it was federal holiday, uh, and I saw the, the, the post office made the greatest post.
A lot of bank, a lot of banks closed, and a lot of people closed and made, they made their statements. I thought the post office statement was great, cuz they were in big trouble. They weren’t gonna close on Juneteenth. So they made a statement. They said, listen, you know, we know it’s a national holiday. We know it’s important day for a lot of people. We respect that and we will absolutely do our best in the future to honor and observe. But there are people that are relying on us to deliver mail and deliver mail timely, and we have contracts with them, and then people are expecting their mail. It would be, you know, it wouldn’t be a, it would be a disservice to our, our customers who are relying on us to all of a sudden close on Monday when they weren’t expecting it without, without ex limitation causing all these delays in the mail.
So, right. So we’re, we’re going to be open on, on Juneteenth, uh, no disrespect, but, uh, and we will, we will, we’ll then have a year two plan for, for next year. And, and I, and, and, you know, now that it’s a national holiday, you know, and, and there, you know, there are some people that are, that are upset by it, whatever, to those people, I say, listen, it’s a national holiday, like 4th of July, like Thanksgiving. Um, I’m not a hundred percent sure what you’re upset over. Um, you have to admit slavery’s bad. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, like, I love that we about slavery in America. Right. Slavery, Americans didn’t invent slavery. We inherited slavery from a different system. Right. So while Slavery’s evil, it’s not, it wasn’t a unique American evil. It’s not like America created that this country created that. We inherited that from, you know, we, there were slaves before the revolution.
So, and there were slaves in countries all over the world. But what we did, right from day one, from the Constitutional Convention, what we did was start a path to abolish and eventually abolish it. We were one of the first countries in the world to abolish it. So while slavery, horrible and evil, not unique to America and American exceptionalism ends slavery, and yes, it was with a fight. And yes, there were some horrible people that defended, uh, the, the practice of slavery. But, um, you know, as Abraham Lincoln said, if you, um, like slavery, um, that’s because you’re not part of the people that are subject to it. And I, I don’t think it was his exact, but, but it was something, it was something like that. But, oh, anyway, so going back to, you know, you and I had a conversation. How do we recognize this day?
How do we celebrate it? Is it a solemn day, like Veterans Day where, where we’re sad, respectful, trying to learn? Or is it a happy day like 4th of July where we have to celebrate? Um, you know, I still take the position that it is a happy holiday. It is a celebration holiday where we’re celebrating freedom similar to July 4th, which is coming very, very soon. Um, jubilation Day, Juneteenth Freedom Day. Um, we are celebrating the end of slavery. We are celebrating freedom of freedom in America. We’re, and, and, and it’s all good. And to those out there who, um, who don’t understand why it’s a good thing, you know, just take a moment to think about it. Right. It is a good thing that we live in America. We live in a free country. Um, had I chosen the holiday, like what holiday should rep represent this what I’ve chosen Juneteenth?
Well, maybe as a state’s rights guy, maybe I wouldn’t recognize the Texas holiday. Maybe I’d, I’d say, well, when was the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation, which didn’t end slavery, just like the F Indepe, the Declaration of Independence didn’t create independence. Right. Declaration of Independence, we stated we’re going to be independence, and then we fought a war, and then we earned our independence. Right. We didn’t get independence on July 4th. Um, just like we, slavery wasn’t abolished with the Emancipation Proclamation, it was the Declaration of Independence against slavery. So whether you, do you use the Emancipation Proclamation or do you use the Constitutional amendment ending, ending slavery, um, as a celebrated celebratory marker because there was still slavery in America after Juneteenth. Juneteenth really affected Texas, really, specifically Galveston, other states, Western territories, Indian reservations still had slavery. So if you’re gonna celebrate the end of slavery in America, does it have to be Juneteenth?
Could it have been when slavery was ended? Right. Um, when, when it was declared Emancipation Proclamation, when it was ended by the Constitution? Um, I think just, I would’ve picked one of those dates only because that way he doesn’t mess with Father’s Day and conflict so closely with the 4th of July. But it’s not up to me. I didn’t make it the law. It is now a new holiday, and therefore that’s what I said. We had the long weekend. Um, you know, I worked Monday, but it was like super casual, not that busy. I just kind of like, I took it like, like it was almost like if I worked on a Sunday, right. It was almost like, just like, like do a couple of tasks and people weren’t bothering me. Nobody was in the office. And, uh, and it was, it was a great long weekend. And congratulations on your two new listings. Thank you. I have two new, two new listings that are coming up shortly. Uh, one’s gonna be in the Bridges, the original, uh, bridges, uh, 2.1 million and the other one is going to be in, uh, west Boca off of 4 41, uh, $600,000 worth of pool. Is that one? Uh, both Isles? No. Oh no. I’ll show it to you, uh, tomorrow. Okay. Or, or having an open house Saturday. Okay. I’ll let you know. You, you’re having an open house Saturday? I am. I’m gonna have two open house Saturday.
Staci Garcia:
Yeah. I’m, I might have three. I might have the other one too. It depends on the timing.
Matthew Maschler:
Right. So hope you had a happy Juneteenth. Celebrate Freedom. Buy a house in Florida, which is the ultimate freedom. I’m leaving for California next week and I don’t want to go cuz I feel like, like I’m so past covid and masks and I feel like California is just not there yet. Oh, really? And I’m like, Ugh, I don’t wanna go to California.
Staci Garcia:
<laugh>. Are they masking up?
Matthew Maschler:
Well everyone I ask like, do you have to wear a mask? They’re like, they’re like, you don’t have to, but you can <laugh>. And I’m like, no, no, no, no. That’s the way I’m asking if you have to, I’m not asking if everybody else will be masked. I’m like, can I sit on the bus? Can I go to the park without a mask? So, uh, so yeah, they, they’re probably a year behind us, but, uh, California. But yeah, <laugh> not looking for,
Staci Garcia:
You’re living in California and you wanna be mask free, possibly catch Covid. But you know what, that’s the risk you gotta take to live in sunshine.
Matthew Maschler:
You could just, you could catch co There are more people in, in California had covid than people in Florida. Mm. Well
Staci Garcia:
There’s more people there.
Matthew Maschler:
And yeah, so you, the mass doesn’t, doesn’t stop it. It can get into the ear and the eye. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> the butt
Staci Garcia:
<laugh> on that note.
Matthew Maschler:
<laugh> <laugh>. Which is, which is why the mass strippers in 2020. I’m like, really? Like, um, yeah. Anyway, uh, thanks for joining us on the Real Estate Finder. Po uh, podcast. Celebrate Freedom. Buy a house in Florida real estate finder.com.
Speaker 3:
The future looks bright and the storms pass by the sky’s 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. Water, hands on the clock turns, hot sticks five star. I run a show. You can tell the boss center place electricity, energy, vibrate. I’m always on time. Even if I’m late, I make dreams come true. Living my life. You know, I give,
Speaker 4:
You know what’s, you know what’s, you know what it is. You know what, you know what, you know what is, you know what you know, its, you know what it is. You know what, you know what, you know what is,
Speaker 3:
You know what time it’s, you know whose time it’s, you know what time. Its Matthew Mania. The time it says, you know what time its, you know it, you knows Mania says Yeah. Got him shook, scared. Can’t look. We’re not afraid of the big bad wall. First comes the.
