Latest / Student Of Life / S2E3 | Episode 18 Is Homeownership Still the American Dream?
Transcript
- Tre: When you hear the words owning a home, what does that mean to you personally? Welcome back to Student of Life season two, where it's all about growth in all areas of life. Yes, we're talking about physical, mental, financial, and everything in between. Tonight, we're talking about something that has traditionally been considered a major part of the American dream: owning a home. But with the cost of living, interest rates, rent, home prices, and everything else That people are dealing with today is really home ownership still the American dream? We're gonna have a conversation about that. And tonight we've got the regular crew with us. We have T Muffy. Tim: Monty. Tre: We have Johnny V, the one and only. And joining us, we have a very special guest co host, Daryl. Do you want me to say your last name? Do you want me to make you feel like a veteran? Darrell: It don't it don't matter to me. Tre: mister Daryl Dinn because Daryl is a fellow Navy veteran, former Navy corpsman with a background in preventative medicine and Darrell: Correct. emergency well, preventative medicine, emergency medicine, and public health and safety. Tre: Nice. Jonny v: Dam. Tre: And our featured guest tonight is Arvanouosh from Century 21 Lotus. Arvanush works in real estate and has experience helping buyers navigate home buying process, which includes veterans using the VA home loan benefit. But I'm just gonna go ahead and ask you, hey Arvanosh, do you wanna tell everybody a little bit about yourself and what you do? Arvanoush | C21 LOTUS: Yes. Thank you so much, Trey, for having me on this podcast and inviting me to this. Veterans out there, thank you so much for your service and welcome home. yes, so my name is Arvinush. I'm a realtor with Central 21 Lotus here in the city of Downey, California. And I specialize in helping veterans become homeowners, later on invest in realestate I'm a realtor investor. And glad to be here. Tre: Nice. Now let me ask you really quick, Arvinous, how did you get into real estate yourself? Arvanoush | C21 LOTUS: That's a very interesting point. Thank you for bringing it up. Actually, I was looking into at the time I was working another job. I was working for government. So I was looking into different ways to we at the time my husband and I we owned a condo and wanted to grow our family and we wanted to see okay, what is it that we need to do next? Like, okay, we go from this house to the bigger house to raise me and let you know that my husband is an army veteran and I currently have my sister and brother-in-law also serving. so I started looking to VA benefits in general, and I found out about the VA loan and what VA loan can do for us. The more I learned, the more I, you know, dug in there. I learned that we could become, you know, we can invest in real estate and at the same time, you know, we were already homeowners, but kind of elevate and upgrade. So I decided to get my real estate license to help others become homeowners and veterans primarily. That was my focus. Tre: Nice. Well thank you very much for sharing that little tidbit. Now I do want to start this very, very simple, okay? And we're gonna go around, I'm gonna do a little quick round table. When you hear the words owning a home, what does that really mean to you personally? Arvanish, I'm start with you since you are the professional here. Arvanoush | C21 LOTUS: with me. owning a home. well owning me sounds stability and comfort. That's what it comes to for me because it's also at the same time responsibility. Tre: Okay. Tim, let me ask you. Arvanoush | C21 LOTUS: Do you want me to elaborate more or that Tre: No I mean only if you want to. Only I think that that was sufficient, but if if you would like to add a little Arvanoush | C21 LOTUS: Yeah. Tre: bit more, yeah, you're more than welcome to. Arvanoush | C21 LOTUS: I see, okay, thank you. Tre: Tim, how about Tim: I think it can kinda be scary, especially if it's your your first time buying a home and going through the process. I know for me it was it was kind of stressful just trying to navigate through the the process and make sure everything was done correctly and we had everything all lined up and and ready to go and so yeah, I think that was the the big thing for for me, you know. The first time that I did it. Tre: Nice. Hey, Daryl, let's go ahead and get you into the fold. When you hear the words owning a home, what does that mean to you personally? Darrell: personally, from my experience, I I had brought a home in South Carolina. The process for me, and I don't want anyone to take this any type of way, but the process for me was easy because I had done a lot of research beforehand and I bought my house when I was still on deployment during COVID during 2020. But I had really good credit and I had a really good realtor. And so I purchased my house. sight on scene, you know, she was sending me videos and stuff for the walkthroughs and all of that stuff. But when I was in Beaufort, I brought my house well, I was in California, San Diego, and I closed on my house in November of 20 19. And then I PCS'd to Naval Hospital Buford in D January. So my house was pretty much sitting empty. But to me, I was the first per the second person in my family to buy a home, to be a homeowner. like like our subject matter Avanush said, it's definitely an increased responsibility. you know, but it was great because I was able to build equity in a home. It was an investment. I bought my home for two hundred and nineteen thousand dollars. and within two years it, you know, it increased. not not a whole lot, but it it definitely w went up more than what it was for two hundred nineteen thousand dollars. And then, you know, obviously they start sending you emails saying you could take out a HELOC and all of those things and take out money and the equity and all of those things, which I did not. But I think that it's it's definitely a re a a great responsibility, but it's also an investment and an asset, something that you can leave to your Your kids, your loved ones, or turn it into an investment property, whatever you want to do with it. And I think veterans have a great opportunity to use the benefits that's available to them. And so I I I used to tell all of my junior sellers, hey, like if you can, obviously you gotta be smart, go take f go take a first time home buyers workshop. But if you can, try to buy a house at every duty station. And so that was my that was one of my biggest regrets, but I definitely would agree with our surgeon matter expert and say that it's a great responsibility but also a great asset to have. So Tre: So I'm gonna ask you, Daryl, can I borrow five dollars? Because yeah, you made out. If you bought your home in two thousand and nineteen, whoo. Darrell: Yeah. Interest rates was like two part three. And so like it was smooth, you know, and and my relative said, Hey, it's it's always smooth. One when you're a veteran and you got the VA loan, I'm you know, VA perk, but then also, you know, if you got decent to great credit, you know, it's super smooth. So Tre: Yeah. Hey Johnny, let me ask you. you got your ears on now. Hey Johnny, let me ask you Jonny v: Yeah, yeah. Tre: When you hear the words owning Arvanoush | C21 LOTUS: Yeah. Tre: home what comes to mind for you, brother? Jonny v: free labor for my wife are the endless projects. Yeah, so Tre: Okay. Arvanoush | C21 LOTUS: Ha ha. Jonny v: great great opportunity for projects, I guess, we could say. Tre: So so I would say for me, okay, I hear what you're saying, Johnny. Life skills. I love it. You're so I purchased a home in Ohio before my wife joined the Navy. And then we purchased again when we were in South Carolina as well, too. I've learned so many things that I had no idea about before owning a home. I never once knew anything about electrical and changing out something as small as outlets or or light switches or changing out a chandelier or you know, whatever it may be. And I learned all of these things. I built a a grill grillzebo, Tim: Z about. Tre: yes. Tim, you know about my grill zebo with power and all. Arvanoush | C21 LOTUS: Yeah. Tre: So Johnny Jonny v: This is the next project for me. Tre: Hey, well, I have some plans to give you. Jonny v: Yeah. Tre: But that's what I hear or comes to my mind when I hear owning a home is skills, you know. So this episode itself, one thing that I definitely want to preference is that we're gonna be talking about something which is financials, right? We're talking about home ownership and everything like that. My experience is my experience. My lived experience is my lived experience. If you have any questions, I would implore you to reach out to a professional who is in the field. So do not take my word for it. And I'm only representing myself. and I'm pretty sure that everyone on this panel would probably say the same thing as well, too, is that they're representing themselves in their capacity in this moment. Arvanoush | C21 LOTUS: Yes, I also wanted to mention that like Trey said, I'm also not a lender. full disclosure, I'm not a lender. I'm not here to give legal advice So I'm simply in a real estate agent in that capacity. So answer questions and if I don't know something that you know is out of my Expertise I can refer you to someone who expert in that field. Tre: There it is. And I do want to say, this episode and with all of our other episodes, what we've typically done is we try to keep the first part of the episode just the tip around twelve to fifteen minutes. This just the tip is going to be a little bit longer because I do believe that this discussion, like all of our discussions, it's it's important. But when we're talking about the matters of owning a home or having a subject matter expert like Arvinous, I believe that the masses should hear this. but as always also the full package will be on Patreon. So if you want to hear even more after this extended just the tip, head over to Patreon. It's only about nine dollars a month. Hey you can do that. cancel DoorDash. Who needs DoorDash? Tim: Okay. Jonny v: Yeah. Tre: But anyway, so getting back to home ownership and is it really still the American dream? You know, because for generations, I mean, buying a house was almost treated like part of the checklist, right? just asking, Tim, do you really think that, you know, home ownership is the American dream? Tim: think it's an American dream anymore because you look at places like out in Silicon Valley and a lot of the other major cities, a lot of people are are renting from condos and and larger places like that instead of living in the more r I don't want to say rural but more suburbia. and the same goes for I know a lot of people I don't know that live in like the DC area tend to do that as well too for easier commutes and for you know cheaper living for how much it costs in certain spaces. So I I think we it from my perspective, I don't think it's necessarily how it used to be, but I don't think it's completely gone away. Tre: Because how it used to be, right, is get a job, get married, buy a house, raise a family. Yes. Tim: White pick events, two point whatever kids and yep. Tre: But but you're you're saying that you don't see it that same way anymore for yourself. Tim: I think it's shifted a lot, especially with the population growing in a lot of the major cities and even kind of into the suburbs outside of the major cities have kind of expanded as well too. Tre: Hm. Johnny, what what do you think? Jonny v: I have to disagree. I believe people are still chasing that same American dream of owning a home. it's a lot tougher nowadays. I'm not gonna say that I had an easy way of doing it, but being a veteran does kind of give us a leg up in the situation. But I've seen and I know a lot of people that are still chasing that American dream. They wanna own a home so that way they have a roof over their head for their children and everything like that. But it's Like Tim said, it's just not the same. It's just the game is a little bit harder now in my book. Even hearing Daryl say that he bought it for so cheap, I'm just like, golly, like, damn. Good on you. I'm not hating. I can't hate, bro. But you know, that's just it, like I said, it just changed just a little bit. It's just a little bit of a harder game, I guess. Tre: Hm. What about you, Daryl? Darrell: I would have to I would say no. well in out of the veterans lens, like Johnny said it it is a lot easier for us because you know, most times we don't have to put down a down payment for closing. Now, Avenues, maybe correct me if I'm wrong. I did read something maybe a b a year and a half ago that said that I think realtors can negotiate the price now, like how much they're gonna for like at closing or how much they're gonna get paid, but The reason why I say no looking at from the civilian lens is because the average medium house like the average medium house home is like four hundred thousand dollars. I live in Louisiana, so you still can get a pretty nice home for for l for for less, but like Tim said, it's just harder with the economy and people are like the cost of living and people's wages aren't keeping up. Like I think you said, Trey or maybe Johnny that back in the day, You could work at Sears or I don't think Sears is around, but okay, you can work at Walmart. You be a Jonny v: Ha ha ha. Darrell: kind of like the daytime chef manager at Walmart, and I'm not knocking any Walmart employees at all. I'm just saying and you could buy a house, have a wife, two kids, and a dog, and two cars, and still go to Disneyland and have a house. And now you hear about a lot of people talking about being house poor. Having to sell a house at a loss because they they brought in and then they just didn't factor in the mortgage, insurance prices, HOAs, all of the things that go into buying a house, and then they have to sell at a loss. So I would just say that overall, probably if you ask a lot of people, they would say no, that's no longer the American dream. But out of the veteran lens and active duty lens, I would still say yes, because there is a lot of veteran and active duty that's buying homes at a duty at a at at their new duty station, getting married, having a dog, having a fence, having the kids playing in the yard. So from two different perspectives. but overall I probably would say no. I think people are just chasing, trying to get by these days as the as the American dream. Just trying to, you know, put food on their tables and keep a roof over their head. Tre: Yeah, and Arvinoche, I mean, hearing, you know, everyone's take on the American dream, you know, and I know that you're talking to, you know, prospective buyers and sellers and everything. I mean, are you hearing the same types of concerns? Arvanoush | C21 LOTUS: The concerns are very, very but I'm in a totally different market. So they have their own, you know, economy, right? I mean I mean I mean Los Angeles, everything is if you look at it from that lens, right? But then we also have the locality pay, other paid people. side businesses, they do side hustles, they have online businesses, they do have other sources of income. So it's not all I mean, it's not like that everywhere. But to me, Trey, American Dream is actually coming to the US. Born or you know, even raised here. So yeah, I I came to the the States when I was 14. So I went started high school here. it's very different I think all of you were probably born here. And to me just coming to the US was the American dream or still is that I'm I actually celebrated 20 years anniversary a couple of days ago. And to Tre: Congratulations. Arvanoush | C21 LOTUS: me thank you to me if American Dream is now or what I'm also seeing in my market is financial freedom. Is people who want to Tre: Mm. Arvanoush | C21 LOTUS: find ways where they can invest their money and instead of working too much they want to spend you know time with their family. So it's shifted a little bit to that way, at least in my market, in SoCal. That's what I'm I'm seeing. Tre: S so you bring up a pretty interesting point when you when you're talking about financial freedom. And so my real question is, does someone really need to own a house to start getting towards that financial freedom to be financially successful? Do or do they need to buy commercial real estate? Like like do they need to own property in some capacity to actually Get towards that financial freedom. Arvanoush | C21 LOTUS: Yes and no, because real estate is a long game. So it's not like I buy how I buy the house this year, next year I'm rich. So there's still work that needs to get into it. So I would say it's a vehicle ownership and inva looking at real estate as an investment, it's a vehicle to financial freedom. It's not necessarily like you don't have to have it. You can do different avenues, like you can go through stocks, you can own businesses, you can own other things that can get you to that financial freedom. But a lot of people choose to start with real estate because it seems to be it's the most simple one out there, and the one that has a lot more information versus other Tre: Okay. Thank you for that. And so I'm gonna do another round table real quick. And okay, we're we're talking about, you know, real estate. We're talking about home ownership. I wanna talk about social media. I wanna talk about these TV shows on HG TV. I wanna talk about these fixer upper shows and such like that. Do you think that all of these entities itself has made people really have expectations like put to the max on having the perfect their dream home right out the gate. Tim, what do you think? Tim: think if they solely base their ideas off of that, yes. so I think Tre: Or how easy it is to fix up a home. Tim: absolutely. Yeah, they they see crews in there or this couple that has their own show and they're able to handle all of these tasks because they have all of these skills that they've built over time and they make it seem within a 30 minute or 45 minute period how simple, you know, it looks when in reality, you know, it might have taken a week to film that one episode. so I I do think that people kind of go into it thinking that, I can do this. It it you know, if they're able to do it, I can do it too. and then all of a sudden they're like, well, I gotta find an electrician and a plumber now to kind of help me out with these things. So yeah, I think a lot of people I think media in general has kind of changed a lot of that stuff. Tre: Yeah. Hey Johnny, what what about you, man? Do you have any thoughts? Like so you own your home right now, correct, Johnny? Is it your dream Jonny v: Correct. Yeah. Tre: home? How long have you owned it? If you don't mind me asking, or putting it out there. Jonny v: I've had it for five years. man, you know what? Just because you brought up this topic, I'm not gonna say it's not my dream home because I it's amazing. It's a blessing, a hundred percent blessing. Like you guys know I'm very, very much into ask God and He's gonna give it to you. yeah, but I definitely bit off more than I can chew when I ask God for this house because there's a lot to do still. Even though it's not it it's a new build, but it's still a lot that we gotta put into, which is okay. Thank God for that. But yeah, I was one of those people. Back when social media was kind of picking up with those shows, I was like, and thank God that I didn't, because there were some rundown houses that I took my wife to. And they were sh there were some shady places. Man, you should have seen this one house and I if sh I I was in what is it called the blinders. I had like the blinders on. I was look at this house, we could do this, we could do this. And she's like, Yeah, you didn't see all the mold underneath that jacuzzi that you said looks so good? And I didn't. I really didn't. I I took her to some rundown place. I'm so glad she stuck with me after that. Cause God only knows they if they she seen She didn't see the dreams that I had for some of these houses, but then after she pointed out certain things, I was like, God, what was I thinking? Like I was it was it was a good price. A hundred and fifty doesn't sound bad, but a hundred and fifty for a house that needs an entire new roof, okay, that's still pretty bad. Tre: A hundred and fifty to put in a hundred and fifty in renovation. Jonny v: It would been more. It would have been more. Again, i if if it wasn't for my wife and her recruiting the help of my brother, I would have been putting it I would have been basically building from scratch. I would have been building ba a brand new home on some of these places because even my brother had seen it. And he was like, John, have you not seen what you would have to do? Like the door's missing. What are you talking about? Tre: Talk about walk through the front door. I love it. Jonny v: Ha ha Tre: But that but but that would have been your dream home after you would have put in all that that work and money. Jonny v: Yeah, two hundred thousand dollars later, yeah, definitely would have been a dream home. Tre: Yeah. Hey Daryl, so with you I mean, same question. I mean, what what's your thoughts on that? Darrell: Right now I rent my home because you know I'm in school, so I don't have I don't it's probably y'all probably gonna laugh at me. I haven't really wrapped my head around what's my dream home yet. But Tre: Mm. Darrell: I do I do think that social media and these TV shows are parsoning the well water because you gotta have a financial backing. Like like you say, you gotta be able to a roof is gonna run anywhere from 10 to 20 grand. I know here in Louisiana it was every 10 years. Now they're saying homeowners insurance is saying now every seven years. like Tim said, okay, if you buy an older house, right, the the electricity, you gotta do new re new wiring or as a fire hazard. The pipes, what type of pipes you have. appliances in a home are normally only in a home to set to run for about 25 years. You can correct me if I'm wrong, Avenues. but I think It's what I read, because I I do a lot of reading. My old realtor, she wants me to be a realtor. So I do a lot of reading about real estate and you know the appliances in a home, the AC, all of that stuff is probably meant to run for about 20 years. I think the last time I read. And when your AC go out on an older home, you're looking at another, I'm probably undershooting it, but 10 Arvanoush | C21 LOTUS: If you're lucky, yeah. Darrell: grand, 15 grand, maybe 20 grand. And so There's a gift and a curse. My house was a new bill in South Carolina, but like you said, it was beautiful. It was a cookie-cutter house, but they didn't have a back patio. They only had a concrete slab, and then you didn't have a fence. And then all the things that you want to do to the house to make it your true dream house, you start punching in the numbers. And for a guy like me that's not very good with DIY, you gotta hire you know, some contractor, and you gotta make sure the contractor is light in shirt licensed, bonded because You don't want him doing some shafty work and then your house is just all jacked up, it's not within code. It's a lot. So I do Jonny v: Yeah. Yep. Darrell: tell I do tell people all the time, man, do not, and on top of that, too, I I'm being long-winded. when these Tre: you're good. Darrell: shows when these shows come in, they have financial backing. Who TLC or whoever, they're backing these, they're backing these couples up, and they have a lot of equity behind them to hey man, you can go get these new cabinets, you can go get this. Stand the nice his and her bathroom where the wife has the nice bathtub and the husband got the stand-up shower and then they have like the nice pick and walk-in closet and stuff like that. And so it's a slippery slope. I you gotta be careful with social media because they only tell you the wins on social media. Very few people tell you the L's that they take on social media. And thank God my house in South Carolina was awesome, but I did have problems with the AC. The AC kept going out. I had a I needed a I think it was called a capacitor. The capacitor kept going out. the HVAC guy, thankfully he was a veteran. He said, Hey man, I'm not gonna charge you this. I have one of those on my truck, veteran of veteran, he was a Marine, and he he he gave it to me for free. And so I just you know I tipped him, I gave him some money. I was Man, I gotta get through you hundred bucks, you know. but he did that. Yeah, yeah. Tre: And that doesn't and that doesn't happen all the time. Like for for everyone. Darrell: Yeah. the he told me in so certain places. can go buy that part and it's like fifty dollars. But in South Carolina, you have to have a you have to be a licensed HVAC technician to go into a store and get that part. And the part is he said the part is like fifty dollars. Or sometimes you can get it for like fifteen, he said, but he was gonna have to probably charge me anywhere from one fifty to five hundred dollars. And so yeah, Tre: For labor. Darrell: so I tell people all Jonny v: Yeah. Darrell: the time like be careful with social media. Do your own research. You can go on there's plenty of websites that you can go on Investopia All of these different websites, read, read, read, read, read. Most realtors will you just send them an email like, hey, I'm not looking to buy, just let them know because they their time is valuable. So you say, Hey, I'm not looking to buy right now, but these are some questions that I have. And I'm telling you, I've hit up a lot of realtors when I moved back to Louisiana and none of them was like a lot of them took the time to send me back detailed emails and all of these things to help me out because realtors, they really do care about their job and they know that their reputation is on the line if they get somebody to buy a house that they know they probably wasn't financially fit for or it was in a shoddy neighborhood or something like that. That that goes bad on the realtor's name. So most realtors, I would say all realtors, I've worked with a l I've talked to a lot of realtors. They're passionate about their their families finding their dream home or just being able to get into a home and then go from there. So I would definitely say just be careful and a lot of those T V shows, although we all like to watch they can They can get you in a rock and a hard place if you're not if you're not doing your own research. Tre: Yes, Love It or Listed. That's one of my Jonny v: Definitely. Tre: favorite shows, honestly. Love It or List It. Yeah, you know, I'm gonna stay in the home. Hey, you did a great job, you know. no, he found me a better home. I'm gonna go, I'm gonna list it. Whatever. I love it. So Arvanush, I have a question for you. Let's assume that someone Arvanoush | C21 LOTUS: Yes. Tre: watching has never bought a home or who's listening has never bought a home. And they've got and they have a job. They're paying their bills. And one day they say, Hmm, I want to buy a home. What happens next? Arvanoush | C21 LOTUS: The next step or the first step should be to speak with a lender or if they can't find a lender, speak with a real estate who can connect them with the lender. Also, if it's a veteran, it's I cannot stress this enough to have a VA lender. So like a lender who specializes working with VAs or VA loans. Look at the structure and the veteran. It's like makes a huge but I also was gonna answer the with the dream home. So I've been Jonny v: Yeah. Tre: Yeah, yeah, Arvanoush | C21 LOTUS: through some I'm listening I'm like Tre: yeah. Arvinoosh. Yes, I'm gonna let you you you go ahead and let's answer the whole dream home situation and then I want you to come back Arvanoush | C21 LOTUS: Yeah. Tre: and walk that person all the way through the steps. Deal? Arvanoush | C21 LOTUS: Okay, so when I met my husband, right, before I return him, he bought this condo. it was a 1950s built with the piles, you know, and it was a bachelor's house, obviously veteran there, and he had all his gear and everywhere, right? So I said, I'm not moving here until this house is remodeled. So Johnny, you're lucky you're changing light bulbs. This whole house needs to, you know, change because I'm not coming here in this situation. Jonny v: Ha ha. Arvanoush | C21 LOTUS: So then we did the numbers before I become a real estate agent. So we did the numbers and our referral construction guy, GC, general contractor, he said, this is gonna be around, you know, forty, forty five thousand. Okay. So he started the project and then in the middle of the project there's always surprises like the T V shows where you know, like Tim said, you know something might take a forty five minute conversation might be throughout the whole week. So it to us for that whole renovation it took us two months. and we ended up spending fifty five thousand dollars. because when they removed some of the carpet, the ground was not leveled. And there were lots of rocks and just the pan of it was not leveled. And I was wondering, I'm like, no wonder it's a creeks all the time. Like anyway. it's feels like a haunted house. So that was our first experience. Jonny v: Ha ha ha Arvanoush | C21 LOTUS: We wanted to flip that property in a way so that we could maximize the equity. So that we could sell it and go to our dream house, right? I'm gonna do code uncode because that's what we thought we were doing. Jonny v: Yeah. Arvanoush | C21 LOTUS: Like, okay, a family going from a condo to a traditional three-bed, two bathhouse. But then once I discovered the VA loan, I said, how about we do why why can't we buy three properties for the same price as one? So we moved to we well, that whole process took two years. Okay. I want you to look at the timeline and think, okay, from the time that I thought I'm gonna sell this property all the way to purchase of the next property, about two years. because the type of property we were looking for and the qualification and everything was an instant. So it's a process. And we then purchased a triplex. So three homes, VA owner occupied property. And obviously a lot of all of a sudden going from a homeowner to a homeowner slash landlord, right? there were a lot of learning curves, a lot of expensive mistakes. and we remodeled the middle unit to have the the tenant, the new tenant coming in, right? But here's the the interesting part. Five months ago we had one of our tenants not paying rent. So we gracefully let them go. And when I say group gracefully, I meant I meant like we didn't have an eviction or anything like that. So gracefully we let them go at a loss of 15,000. So we said, okay, you know what? You know, it's not as graceful as it is in the TV shows, right? It's not selling sunset here. So we then started renovating that one, that unit. yesterday we finished it. It's been four and a half months of renovation. Why? Because once we remove the bathroom stuff. Tre: No income no income Jonny v: Dang. Tre: coming in. Okay. Jonny v: Same. Arvanoush | C21 LOTUS: No income, at least from one of the units. Yes. Yes. So that's another loss. Tre: Yes. Arvanoush | C21 LOTUS: Okay. that was the loss from the tent, not tenant not paying rent. And then another loss from vacancy rate, right? But the thing is with the renovation, like Daryl mentioned, like in the middle of the const the remodeling, water heater stopped working. So we have to change the water heater. And then the pipes were all busted. leaking in the wall in the bathroom. So the whole piping had to, you know, change. And then we're like, okay, this how come these switches are not working? So then we started rewiring the whole the whole thing. So a two you two bedroom, Jonny v: Wiring. Arvanoush | C21 LOTUS: one bath took four and a half months because of that. And then I said, okay, my I need to get in there to help to finish the project. And I was painting and I had to learn how to do those things. I never touch anything like that. But with this third renovation, or you could say third flip, however you want to word it, I learned so much, right? it's not as it is in the TVs, the T V shows or social media they make it look as it's yeah, just put this and then you're done. You know, it's not like that. And the cost and the the time and energy, everything that goes into a project like that, you know. Obviously, but here's the thing, guys, if they put something very simple in the TV of we're not gonna watch it. It has to be something dramatic. It has to be something glamorous for people to watch it. They're not gonna just Tre: Entertainment. Arvanoush | C21 LOTUS: watch a simple Jonny v: Mm-hmm. Arvanoush | C21 LOTUS: Exactly, yeah. So but a Tre: Yes, entertainment. Arvanoush | C21 LOTUS: lot goes into yeah, yeah. So the dr I'm still not in my dream home, right? but it's very much hopeful because the owning these properties and having the rental income and having all these experiences gets me to my dream home faster. Yeah. Tre: Now, so so you've been through this process of working towards your dream home. And now we're gonna get back to that person who wants to get either a home or their dream home, and they've contacted a lender. when did they start talking to an agent in that in this whole process? Arvanoush | C21 LOTUS: So usually it can go both ways. You sometimes people find the agent first and the agent finds them the lender, or they find the lender and the lender connects them to an agent they know. So it could go both ways. Tre: Okay. And the agent would then assist with helping with the home search and everything, correct? Arvanoush | C21 LOTUS: That's correct. So once the buyer gets pre-approved for a purchase price point, then the agent starts helping finding the property that fits the buyer and then submits the offer, works on the negotiation and so on, and closing and make sure the process is smooth, everyone's communicating and then going to closing and all the loan documents get signed and so on. Recording. Tre: Mm, okay. So so even with this process of finding a home, it's not an easy same way with renovating a home. It's not an easy like, you know, two day process or anything. It sounds to me like it's a multi day week long, probably month long. How how long does it usually take from them contacting a agent or a lender to closing, typically? Arvanoush | C21 LOTUS: Typically three months. Tre: Okay. Arvanoush | C21 LOTUS: That's if that's if the buyer is ready to go to make a move. Now if they're just looking or they're have they have problems with their credit that they nix they n they need to fix something or if they need to have a little bit more savings or something, then the timeline gets stretched. Tre: Hmm, okay. So if somebody was interested in buying a home, when should they call you? Sh should they call you like when they're ready next month or six months out, a year out, tomorrow? When should a person who's interested in buying a home call you? Arvanoush | C21 LOTUS: Whenever they want to. I think it all goes with what they plan to do, when they wanna move in by, what's their timeline. Like I know some families they ra it with kids, they rather move before the kids go to school or when they graduate or something like a school end, so typically summertime. You know, it just depends on individual timeline, what they what's their plan. Tre: Okay. Okay. But you don't need like a ramp up, you don't need like a lead weight or enough notice or anything like that. Whenever they're ready to start moving forward, you're ready. Is that what I'm hearing from you? Arvanoush | C21 LOTUS: Yes. Yes. Yes. Because I I'm not here to convince anyone to do something fast, right? I'm I'm working with their timeline. If they're ready pre-approved, okay, now what's the next step? Okay, let me facilitate. I facilitate the process and I and I educate my clients on what they want to do and just make sure that what what's happening is the right the best fit for the client. Because everyone's situation is very different. I mean veterans they have a whole other timeline. Tre: Mm-hmm. Arvanoush | C21 LOTUS: So especially if they have to PCS somewhere else very fast, or they're coming in from somewhere, or you know, they need to sell and buy. So all those timelines depends on the situation of the the client. Tre: Mm-hmm. Now now, off camera, before we got started, you had mentioned something as far as with the VA home loans and how the rules and regulations they they they've morphed, they've changed like over the past couple of years and such. So it sounds to me like you have your finger on the pulse when we're talking about changes in real estate itself. Do I have that correct? Arvanoush | C21 LOTUS: yes, so some lending companies have started doing 40-year mortgages instead of thirty. So they also have more competitive rates for veterans. some property taxes, sa this is more like California. I'm not sure about all other states, but I think each one should go and verify for their own states. They have property taxes and for some service connected veterans, they have applications where some some or maybe all the property taxes could be waived. So it's all individual case basis. But those have been the changes. But at the same time, buyer broker agreement has to be signed whether you're a veteran or a regular buyer. So everyone has to sign that. Even though VA mandated that veterans are not obligated to pay buyer commissions because it's not part of the VA, like as a federal umbrella. However, you know, some people still do, but usually what nine out of ten, almost 10 out of 10 buyer agents get their commission from the sellers. So things have been just little changes here and there. But overall, you know, each real estate agent, you know, they operate their business a little differently. And based on their brokerage, based on the state they're in, they operate slightly differently. Always check, always check with check Tre: Makes sense. Arvanoush | C21 LOTUS: with the lender. Tre: And if people had direct questions for you and maybe they wanted to connect with you to help them navigate through real estate, how can they find you? And I'll make sure I put it in the video here, there, somewhere. Arvanoush | C21 LOTUS: Yes, you can reach me via text, my na phone number and you can trade you can provide that and via email. It's just my name arvanush at gmail.com. very responsive on email and text. I'm also on social media and with my my name is sold by arvanush on Instagram and I'm also active on Facebook as well. Tre: There it is. All right. So this has been our extended version of just the tip. Johnny, Tim, Daryl, did e either one of you have anything else that you wanted to say or ask Arvanish before we go over to the full package? Darrell: I have a question. so Tim: Yeah. Darrell: with maybe I should ask this question offline. Tre: So so so we're gonna go Jonny v: Yeah. Tre: over to the full package where we'll Darrell: Okay. Tre: be able to you know, extend the conversation even more and everything like that. but just didn't know if you had any last minute words of advice that you wanna give to the people on YouTube or or any of our podcast platforms. Darrell: I would say definitely like to not to beat a dead hearts, but you probably should definitely do a debt to income ratio calculator and see exactly what your debt to income ratio is and then calculate, hey, this is how much I want my mortgage to be, because I you can tell your realtor what you want your mortgage to be, and they will I told my realtor what I wanted my mortgage to be. I wanted to keep it within my BH for South Carolina, and my mortgage was $1,021. So you there's like you've gotta you gotta you gotta tell the realtor what you want. Like they will work with you. Tell do a debt to income ratio. Yes, the realtor's there as a resource, but you gotta do your own research before you start sit down with you on the wife, you and the girlfriend, you and the husband, whatever, and look up, okay, this is this is I got this debt, I got this debt. Can we cut this out? Can we cut that out? And and really look into it and and and be real with yourself. you don't wanna be housebroke, you don't wanna be house poor. Like you might You gotta really look into it because you like you said, things may go like do you wanna get a new fence, you wanna have that nice garden, you wanna put the new carpet in. You gotta be, you gotta, you gotta be gotta be careful. You also gotta look like I know like here in Louisiana, like I said, every year homeowners it homeowners insurance go up because of hurricanes and our climate. And so you might have you might start off with a fifteen hundred dollar mortgage, but but within four years, you could be looking at a two thousand dollar mortgage. So I just I tell people just do your research, do your research. Yes, contact a realtor, but you also gotta be able to speak like f fluent or know what's going on. So when your realtor do ask you about this, I ask you about that, you can actually be able to hold an educated conversation with him or her. so that's all I was saying is do your research and definitely talk Arvanoush | C21 LOTUS: Totally, totally, yes. Darrell: to a realtor. Arvanoush | C21 LOTUS: No, definitely, I did a lot of research, reading, and then I approached, you know, the real estate agent and the the lender and all of that, and it was a teamwork, you know. But at the same time, you know, Daryl for veterans, especially for VA loans, they use residual income. they look at debt to income ratio, but it's mostly residual income. But at the same time, you know, it affects, you know, your monthly mortgage. Like we know when we bought the we bought the triplex, all of a sudden, you know, we got hit with property taxes that were way different than what we looked at the loans. And then it's like, well, because you have a new purchase, right? When you got a new purchase, then the the insurance came different, and then it's like, okay, but okay, now you got you have tenants now you have to have a different type of insurance, on top of the the home insurance. So it just yes, you're right. But I think everyone, you know, they have to do their own research and learn about the system, about, you know, whatever's out there and as well as, you know, consulting with the experts. Yeah. Tre: It is. Come in informed. That's what I'm hearing. And Tim, did you have anything last to add to this section? Tim: No, they've they've covered a lot of the topics that I've been thinking of and that I've thought about previously after buying. So yeah, that's great. Jonny v: No, everything was well said. I'm more of a student on this topic anyways. I'm more taking notes over here. down the line if I plan on buying another home, at least I'm well informed. Tre: Johnny, Johnny, first of all, I don't believe you. I need to see your notes. Jonny v: let me Tre: Show your notes to the camera. Let me see your notes. Arvanoush | C21 LOTUS: Mm. Jonny v: It's all on my phone, you're not gonna see nothing. It's it looks Tre: okay. Completely joking. And and so, you know, this has been phenomenal. And we're gonna go ahead and move over to the full package now. And anyone who's listening or watching, you can catch that on Patreon. It's up now. And as you also know, we're currently doing our SOL Cinema Doomsday. Yes. We're we're getting we're getting ready for doomsday. So hey, go ahead, tap into our live as well too. That's every Friday. At what time, Tim? Tim: Is that gonna be nine PM Eastern Standard Time? Tre: Nine PM Eastern Standard Time, six PM Jonny v: Yeah. Tre: Pacific Standard Time. And yeah, we hope to see you on the other side. All right. Take care, y'all. Bye.