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Redefining Careers: Cathy's Leap from Finance to Real Estate at 63 · That Home Loan Hub

• 0:10
  Speaker 1: Hello, I am joined by Cathy Myers today.
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: Cathy, thank you for coming on my show, welcome.
• 0:17
  Speaker 2: Thank you so much for having me.
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: Absolute pleasure, absolute pleasure.
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: Can you please tell our listeners about who you are and what you do at the moment?
• 0:30
  Speaker 2: Yeah, well, at the ripe old age of 63, I have totally had a U-turn in my career so 24 years in the financial services industry and I thought it was time for a change.
• 0:43
  Speaker 2: So I've taken a year off to think about where I wanted to go, and one thing I reflect on with the financial services was I loved the people, and so I missed that and I decided I think real estate would be a perfect opportunity for me, reason being I love homes and I love people.
• 1:06
  Speaker 2: So here I am with new, as I say, renewed vigor and excitement about what the future holds.
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: That's incredible.
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: So you spent 20-odd years looking after people's finances, helping them, probably, to buy houses just like what I'm doing at the moment, get on the ladder, build investment portfolios, et cetera and then you did a complete flip and it's gone into the other side.
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: Yes, that's flip.
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: Yes, and it's gone into the other side.
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: Yes, that's incredible.
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and what tipped you into real estate?
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: I mean, there's so much you could have done.
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: Why real estate?
• 1:45
  Speaker 2: Well, as I say, I really love homes and I always, whenever I go into a space, I always think about how life would be living there, what I could do with the place.
• 1:58
  Speaker 2: I always watch the programs, you know the property programs.
• 2:03
  Speaker 2: My husband and I love them, and so it just seemed like a really good fit.
• 2:09
  Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah.
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: That's really cool and, as you said, you know you love helping people, love homes, and how do you put two and two together and help people to get ahead, and I guess also with your background and with your experience, you would have a lot of tips to share.
• 2:28
  Speaker 2: Yes, Well okay, so yes.
• 2:29
  Speaker 2: So, talking about tips, I thought I'd share a story with you.
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: Oh, you've got a story for me All right, hit me with it.
• 2:36
  Speaker 2: Okay, so I've bought and sold many homes over the years and one thing I think that stands out when I reflected on all of the homes that we've bought and sold there was one time where we had 10 days to find a new home and the pressure was on and we had a reasonably young family and we did not want to be going into storage, and so we were rushing around trying to find a home.
• 3:04
  Speaker 2: We found this house, we fell in love with it.
• 3:07
  Speaker 2: We didn't do due diligence on it, unfortunately, and we made an offer and we were blown away that it got accepted.
• 3:16
  Speaker 2: Wow.
• 3:16
  Speaker 2: So we didn't do a builder's report, we didn't do anything and we made this offer.
• 3:23
  Speaker 2: It was a lowball offer and we said settle next Friday.
• 3:29
  Speaker 2: No wonder they accepted it really fast yeah yeah, well, no wonder they did, because it turned out that it was a leaky home.
• 3:35
  Speaker 2: Oh no, yeah, so, yeah, so that was um, so I've left that marriage, but he's still got the house, so it's a double win for you.
• 3:47
  Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, I always wondered how I was going to escape that house.
• 3:53
  Speaker 2: I used to say to my husband oh, don't worry about it, we'll just leave it to the kids and it can be their problem.
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: Yeah yeah, it's actually a lovely home, but unfortunately it has that it's monolithic.
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: It's multi-levels.
• 4:08
  Speaker 2: It's got decks, you know, and it floods, yeah, and it leaks, because that's one thing I always say to my buyers you know, and it floods, yeah, and it leaks.
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: Because that's one thing I always say to my buyers you know, to stay away from those monolithic properties if you can, absolutely.
• 4:20
  Speaker 1: But not many people listen and they think she'll be right.
• 4:23
  Speaker 1: Really, attitude, yeah, it's incredible, cathy, you know, and I understand if it was like an investor, you know, would have 50% deposit or even everything cash and they have enough money to reclad.
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: Not many people realise how much it actually costs for reclad yes, yes, yeah, I've just done one for my client that cost them $400,000 to do a reclad of the property, exactly, and it's a bit of a Russian roulette in a way, because you open up the house you know, get rid of that cladding, and you don't know what you'll find there, and sometimes it could be even cheaper just to demolish the place.
• 5:01
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and start again, and then start again Exactly.
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: Oh, that's a horrific experience.
• 5:05
  Speaker 2: So my message to people that are listening is do your due diligence, don't be rushed.
• 5:10
  Speaker 2: Even if you've got a short timeframe, better go into storage because in the long run, you want to make sure that you're buying a sound property.
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: Yeah, that's right.
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: That's right and especially, as you mentioned, you've got a young family right At that time.
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: Well, at that time you had a young family when you were making that decision and I think when you're in that space of oh, I've got to put a roof over my children's head, you tend to make snap decisions that don't serve you in the long run.
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and that's something I advocate a lot for my clients because they get emotionally entangled with the property and I have to be that voice of reason.
• 5:53
  Speaker 2: Yeah, that's good.
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and I wonder how you're going to feel now being a real estate agent.
• 5:58
  Speaker 1: And let's imagine you've got a monolithic type property.
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: How are you going to market that?
• 6:04
  Speaker 1: How are you going to even sell that?
• 6:06
  Speaker 2: Well, very good question Well, you do have to disclose, of course, of course, and, as you've just said, some people are up for buying those properties.
• 6:17
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 6:17
  Speaker 2: So if they go in all eyes open, knowing what they're buying, well, that's your target market because, yes, those properties will sell for a discount because of the problem.
• 6:31
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and sometimes for a massive discount.
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: Yes, we've got some beautiful ones on the coast.
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and sometimes for a massive discount.
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: Yes, I've got some beautiful ones on the coast.
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: Yes, I know Two or three storeys high and just yeah, because is that what you had?
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: You said it was two storeys.
• 6:47
  Speaker 2: It was a funny house, you know.
• 6:48
  Speaker 2: The master bedroom was up on the top floor, yeah, and down below was the lounge and the kitchen, and then below that was bedrooms and bathroom and then another level.
• 7:01
  Speaker 1: Oh, wow.
• 7:01
  Speaker 2: And then there were stairs down, two flights of stairs, to the street.
• 7:05
  Speaker 2: So sometimes I'd get all the way down to the street and think, oh no, I've forgotten something.
• 7:10
  Speaker 2: Oh no, you have to go all the way up, forget it, I'm not going back.
• 7:14
  Speaker 2: Yeah, a lot of stairs.
• 7:16
  Speaker 1: Yeah, that would be a good exercise.
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: So it's a good thing that you know that house is no longer your headache.
• 7:22
  Speaker 2: No, it's not my problem.
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: That's incredible.
• 7:26
  Speaker 1: So now you're a real estate agent, you're just starting out and you are experiencing this whole new life of doing open homes and following up with people, I guess, and finding out what they want.
• 7:43
  Speaker 1: What has been challenging so far?
• 7:46
  Speaker 2: Well, I'm only a week in.
• 7:49
  Speaker 1: A week in, Cathy, and you're already here I look at you.
• 7:53
  Speaker 2: Well, that's down to you, but I've got a very good partner, ross Vesey.
• 7:59
  Speaker 2: He's been in the industry for 17 years, so I've joined him and at the moment we have three properties on the market, so that's keeping us quite busy.
• 8:10
  Speaker 2: Yeah, so I'm learning that Sundays are no longer mine.
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, that would be a bit of an adjustment as well.
• 8:21
  Speaker 2: But I think the big thing about being in real estate is getting your name out there and there's a lot of competition and so you know you've got to think about why would somebody go for me?
• 8:33
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 8:33
  Speaker 2: And I think it's because I care.
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: I was about to say why would someone go for you, cathy?
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: Yeah?
• 8:39
  Speaker 2: I do care about people and.
• 8:41
  Speaker 2: I do like to see them succeed, and I think when you put your house on the market, you've already left the building.
• 8:49
  Speaker 2: Basically, you are wanting to get on with your life, and so I want to make that transition as fast as possible.
• 8:55
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 8:56
  Speaker 2: And I think one thing I hear a lot is the lack of communication.
• 9:01
  Speaker 2: And communication is the key Keeping people in the know about what's going on.
• 9:08
  Speaker 2: I used to find with real estate agents when we listed our house and it's such a big job to get it ready for an open home and get your kids out and get your dog off, and then you'd hold your breath, wonder how it went, and it would take ages for some agents to come back to you and let you know how many people came through.
• 9:26
  Speaker 2: What was the interest?
• 9:27
  Speaker 2: And so I think you know, having been in those shoes, I want to make sure that I get back to my vendor very quickly and give them the feedback about.
• 9:38
  Speaker 2: You know how many people came through and what was the interest.
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: Yeah, that's actually a really good thought, because I started to think about houses that I've sold in the past as well and, yeah, very similarly, where there will be some really good agents, where communication was just flowing, it was amazing, and there will be some that you know, communication was lacking, and yeah, and you sit there holding your breath excited.
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: Well, I'll tell you a funny story.
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: One time when I was selling a house, we were moving from Palms to North, to Kapiti at that time, and I was nine months pregnant with my second child and we already bought a house in Parparamumu.
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: But I haven't even seen it that's a story for another show Didn't even see the house, but bought it blindly off Trade Me.
• 10:26
  Speaker 1: You know you buy things off Trade Me, right?
• 10:27
  Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, I've heard of people doing these wild things.
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: Well, in my career path I think I bought a house off Trade Me and I bought a business off Trade Me, both times without much thinking about the consequences.
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: But in that particular one we were under a lot of pressure.
• 10:44
  Speaker 1: We needed to sell the Palmerston North one because we already bought one here and I knew the moment that baby's born we were moving across because I wanted to give birth in Palmerston North because it had a hospital and everything versus, you know, in Kapiti.
• 10:56
  Speaker 1: That's one thing we really lack.
• 10:58
  Speaker 1: We don't have a good hospital system here, so on the day, on the night, when I went into labour with him, in the evening, the agent rings me.
• 11:08
  Speaker 1: She goes oh, I've got a buyer, I've got a buyer.
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: So here I am, in labour, in labour, oh my goodness, packing my hospital bag, baby go back.
• 11:17
  Speaker 1: Yeah, literally I said okay, give me, you know, give me half an hour.
• 11:22
  Speaker 1: And there was me in labour, walking around cleaning the house, getting it ready and then heading off to the hospital was my husband.
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: I just picked him up from Christchurch because he just arrived from his work trip, still in labour, and picked up my mum because she also arrived from overseas to help me out with my two-year-old on the tow.
• 11:42
  Speaker 2: That was fun.
• 11:42
  Speaker 2: You and your stories.
• 11:43
  Speaker 2: They're amazing.
• 11:45
  Speaker 1: I completely forgot about this one until you mentioned the real estate agent and it popped into my head that we went through that experience.
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: So I ended up going into the hospital to give birth and I mean it took me to be in labour, give birth, have the baby and everything, and then only I heard from the agent what actually happened.
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: And I'm like surely if I had the chance to message you into all those things while in labour, you would have had a chance to tell me how it went, what the outcome was, what the outcome was.
• 12:14
  Speaker 1: So I absolutely agree with you and I hope this is something you can deliver for your deliver.
• 12:19
  Speaker 1: Oh, look at that, look at that play of words.
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: Yeah, very good For your clients and for your vendors, you know, in terms of the clear communications.
• 12:31
  Speaker 2: Absolutely, because even when things are going wrong as long as you know, but when you you don't hear, then you assume the worst right, yes, and you start joining the dots and maybe not getting the full picture.
• 12:43
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and I guess you, being in the financial industry yourself, you know that communication is the key.
• 12:50
  Speaker 1: You know that people need an answer, need it now, need it yesterday sometimes, even though they've just come to you now, and I think that's a superpower that you've got in your toolkit.
• 13:01
  Speaker 1: Thank you, yes, I've identified your superpower, katie.
• 13:05
  Speaker 1: Yeah, thank you that you have that experience.
• 13:09
  Speaker 1: You have it in you dealing with people and also I find in our roles we do a lot of counselling for people.
• 13:15
  Speaker 1: Right, they go through separations, they go through death in the family, and that's usually the reason why they would be selling assets for majority of the time, sometimes because the separation is happening.
• 13:28
  Speaker 1: Yes, so I think you could support them through that.
• 13:34
  Speaker 2: It's like my daughter has just sold and bought a house and had some issues.
• 13:40
  Speaker 2: She's going into real estate up in Hawke's Bay.
• 13:42
  Speaker 2: I said to her Kate, this has been a really good experience for you now, because now you know what your clients are going to experience.
• 13:52
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and let's put for a moment your financial head on, just your experience, because you're quite new in the real estate market and you probably haven't lived enough through as a real estate agent, but I know you've lived enough through as a financial person.
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: Where do you see the market heading?
• 14:08
  Speaker 1: Because you would have had a few cycles of fun.
• 14:11
  Speaker 2: Well, yeah, everything's cyclical and you can see the economy at the moment is definitely down, but it will come back up.
• 14:18
  Speaker 2: There's talk in the housing market that we're in a slump, so there's only one way to go.
• 14:24
  Speaker 2: Once you're in the bottom, there's only one way to go.
• 14:27
  Speaker 2: Now, if you're talking about stock markets, I don't know if you want to go there, but the Dow Jones, the American stock market, is going gangbusters.
• 14:36
  Speaker 2: It's quite scary because it's so high that there's probably only one way for it to go.
• 14:43
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's overpriced, overheated and you know, we've potentially got a world war on our hands with the things that are going on in Europe.
• 14:55
  Speaker 2: I've just come back from overseas.
• 15:00
  Speaker 2: Overseas and one thing that struck us was all around the world they've got the same problems lack of housing, cost of food, yeah, and a lot of social unrest.
• 15:13
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, look, I was in Turkey earlier this year and I was blown away by the interest rates.
• 15:17
  Speaker 1: So the home loan interest rates in New Zealand at that time were, let's say, 7%, yes, and Turkey was striking at 50%.
• 15:23
  Speaker 1: No way, 50% interest rate.
• 15:26
  Speaker 1: It was ridiculous.
• 15:27
  Speaker 1: I'm like who is even buying anything here?
• 15:28
  Speaker 1: The inflation was like 200%.
• 15:31
  Speaker 1: You know, it was just nuts.
• 15:32
  Speaker 1: The prices just went crazy in Turkey and I found the same, yeah, and then I went to my country of Tajikistan and it was a very similar story, you know where.
• 15:44
  Speaker 1: I don't even know how people live there or how they're able to earn money and feed their family was the prices.
• 15:51
  Speaker 2: We're very lucky to be in New Zealand.
• 15:53
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I think New Zealand is so sheltered and us living here and a lot of people complain about you, complain about cost of living and how hard it is and da, da, da, but they just have no idea how hard it is on the other side of the world and how much worse it could have been, but hopefully, as you say, we are on that interest rates are tracking down, aren't they?
• 16:15
  Speaker 1: Well, the interest rates are coming down, so that's usually good news for home buyers, for home ownership absolutely.
• 16:24
  Speaker 2: And the good thing about the property market now is it is a buyer's market.
• 16:28
  Speaker 2: You can now have conditions, whereas you know dial it back a year or so ago if you had a condition, you weren't going to get a look in.
• 16:36
  Speaker 2: If you had a house to sell?
• 16:38
  Speaker 2: Yeah, but now Remember the.
• 16:40
  Speaker 1: COVID times when things just went absolutely crazy.
• 16:43
  Speaker 2: Crazy.
• 16:43
  Speaker 1: And people were buying houses like hot pies and just couldn't keep up with the demand.
• 16:47
  Speaker 2: Yeah, the fear of missing out.
• 16:49
  Speaker 2: Yeah, that FOMO, yeah.
• 16:51
  Speaker 1: Yeah, the whole FOMO thing.
• 16:53
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I think we're a little bit too old for those sort of phrases Never too old.
• 16:58
  Speaker 1: So, cathy, tell me, what are your goals, what are your aspirations?
• 17:05
  Speaker 1: What do you want to achieve apart from providing amazing service to your clients?
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: Yes, what do you want to achieve personally and professionally?
• 17:10
  Speaker 2: Personally, professionally, I would like to be a big name in the Kapiti Coast for real estate.
• 17:17
  Speaker 2: That is my goal.
• 17:18
  Speaker 2: I want to be the next Della Randall.
• 17:22
  Speaker 1: I was about to say Should Della watch out for you.
• 17:26
  Speaker 2: I love Della.
• 17:26
  Speaker 2: She's lovely, she's amazing, she's done an awesome job and I would love to have that success.
• 17:33
  Speaker 2: Yeah, mm-hmm.
• 17:35
  Speaker 1: That's incredible.
• 17:35
  Speaker 1: So, look, there's plenty of properties being built on the Kapiti Coast as well.
• 17:40
  Speaker 1: So I think there's lots of potential.
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: And now that we've got, as you said, interest rates are coming down you know, we've got first-time buyers coming back onto the market investors might come back.
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: Oh, they're definitely coming back.
• 17:53
  Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 17:54
  Speaker 1: So everyone's sort of slowly waking up after the winter.
• 17:58
  Speaker 1: Yes, spring's here.
• 17:58
  Speaker 1: Yeah, the they're sort of slowly waking up after the winter.
• 18:00
  Speaker 1: Yes, Spring's here.
• 18:01
  Speaker 1: Yeah, the spring is here.
• 18:02
  Speaker 1: That's right, that's right.
• 18:05
  Speaker 1: So there should be more houses on the market.
• 18:07
  Speaker 1: So is that what you find normally Like?
• 18:09
  Speaker 1: Is there more houses before Christmas or after Christmas?
• 18:11
  Speaker 2: Well, as I say, I'm new, but I do know that spring people do put their houses on the market.
• 18:17
  Speaker 2: They don't like to do it over winter.
• 18:19
  Speaker 2: In fact, it's actually a good time to do it over winter, because there's less stock.
• 18:25
  Speaker 1: Yeah, that's what I thought.
• 18:26
  Speaker 2: And spring and summer.
• 18:27
  Speaker 2: A lot more stock, so a lot more competition for your house.
• 18:31
  Speaker 1: Yeah that's right.
• 18:32
  Speaker 1: So tell me a little bit more about the three houses that you have at the moment on the market.
• 18:36
  Speaker 2: Don't tell me the addresses but just what sort of buyers it may suit for.
• 18:42
  Speaker 2: Okay, so one is a first-home buyer's home, it's a do-er-upper and it's under offer at the moment.
• 18:48
  Speaker 2: So that's about to close.
• 18:49
  Speaker 2: The second one the people are moving to Hamilton They've already moved and it's a lovely home, multi-level, up on the hills in Waikanae with the most amazing view.
• 19:01
  Speaker 2: I was out there last Sunday in the sun taking photos of the South Island and, of course, kapiti Island, beautiful.
• 19:13
  Speaker 2: And then the other one is down in Aotea and that's another beautiful home, four-bedroom, single-level, great views.
• 19:22
  Speaker 2: And the people have very cleverly taken photos of the views and they've had it done as a professional photo and they've got it on the wall saying this is your sunset view their sunsets.
• 19:35
  Speaker 2: And so that's a really good home because it's sort of there's just a couple living there and you can close it off the larger part, like the three bedrooms and the other bathroom.
• 19:46
  Speaker 2: There's a sliding door where you can just sort of close that off and feel like it's a home suitable for two people.
• 19:52
  Speaker 2: Wow, yeah, it's got very high ceilings, lovely feel, a lot of light.
• 19:58
  Speaker 2: Yeah, beautiful.
• 19:59
  Speaker 1: You really just sold it to me.
• 20:00
  Speaker 1: You know, I'm like cool, I'm moving to Altair, yeah, yeah, wow, will it fit my kids?
• 20:05
  Speaker 1: Well, it would actually.
• 20:09
  Speaker 1: Yes, okay, all right, we'll have to have a look at it because you know, I'm always on the lookout.
• 20:14
  Speaker 1: I love property, I absolutely love and breathe property because through my life journey, property has been important.
• 20:23
  Speaker 1: You know, my dad passed away when I was seven.
• 20:26
  Speaker 1: My mum was left with three kids to cater for ironically the same age as I am right now.
• 20:32
  Speaker 1: So my mum was two to seven when dad passed away and he was only 44.
• 20:36
  Speaker 1: So there was a massive shock, you know, and unfortunately, back in my country there is no government support, there is no safety net and there are no regulations when it comes to property.
• 20:50
  Speaker 1: Well, it's probably better now, but back then it wasn't.
• 20:53
  Speaker 1: So we were told that that house doesn't belong to us anymore because my dad passed away and it went to his, to his family.
• 21:00
  Speaker 1: So, um, we got kicked out out of the property.
• 21:03
  Speaker 1: Um, and, lucky enough, my grandmother had an apartment to put us in at that time and for me it was a wake-up call.
• 21:12
  Speaker 1: You know, at the age of seven, I was like holy moly.
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: You know why do we have to move house?
• 21:16
  Speaker 1: Why, you know, I've just lost my dad and now I've lost my house.
• 21:20
  Speaker 1: You know how does that work and growing up, I made myself a promise not to be in that position again.
• 21:29
  Speaker 1: You know, and that has been the driving force of why I'm so passionate about the property and why I'm so passionate about helping others to get on the ladder.
• 21:39
  Speaker 1: You know, and I think, living in New Zealand and seeing that we live in a first world country versus I've come from a third world country everyone deserves to have a house you know, of course they do.
• 21:51
  Speaker 1: People should be in a house.
• 21:53
  Speaker 1: They should.
• 21:53
  Speaker 1: There's plenty of land.
• 21:55
  Speaker 1: I know Plenty of place right.
• 21:58
  Speaker 2: Yes.
• 22:03
  Speaker 1: And I feel it's unfair when people get outpriced or outbid and someone gets too emotional.
• 22:06
  Speaker 1: And that's why I try to be that voice of reason and bring people back and teach them how to negotiate and how to work, because one thing I would give you a tip on as a starting out real estate- agent maybe is, yeah, to help those buyers, you know, to identify those vulnerable buyers that maybe don't have enough experience, and especially if they don't have a mortgage advisor on their side and if they're just dealing with the bank.
• 22:33
  Speaker 1: Because we you and I know bank works 9 to 5.
• 22:35
  Speaker 1: Yes, sometimes 9 to 3 on a Friday and it's a golf day, golf afternoon.
• 22:41
  Speaker 1: Not you and I, we didn't work like that.
• 22:42
  Speaker 1: You and I have slightly, you know, different work ethics, but you know what I mean.
• 22:47
  Speaker 1: You know the bank is not going to be available on the weekend to pick up that phone call after the open home where clients go in they see the house, they absolutely fall in love and they usually call me and they go.
• 22:57
  Speaker 1: Oh, my God, what do I do next?
• 22:59
  Speaker 1: And because I work 24-7, sometimes, you know, seven days a week, I am able to answer those calls and help people.
• 23:08
  Speaker 1: So for me, as an advice to you, starting out, would be just look out for those people and, you know, give them that extra support, because they have no idea what they're doing for the first-home buyers.
• 23:20
  Speaker 1: No, and sometimes they do get those cold feet of ooh, maybe that's not the right thing.
• 23:26
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 23:26
  Speaker 2: So that's another thing, Ross, with his wisdom.
• 23:30
  Speaker 2: When he lists a house, he puts a price because it's so hard for a first-home buyer when it says, you know, I walk, or a closed tender or going to auction, it's so tough for them.
• 23:44
  Speaker 2: But when they can see, oh, this is in my price range, yeah, this is doable for me, then you know it's so much better and you're opening the market up.
• 23:53
  Speaker 2: When you go to an auction, you've actually closed off a whole lot of you.
• 23:58
  Speaker 2: You've got to be cashed up to go to auctions.
• 24:01
  Speaker 2: So you've actually turned your back on a whole lot of the market.
• 24:04
  Speaker 1: And, as a mortgage advisor, I'll tell you, banks hate auctions.
• 24:07
  Speaker 1: If clients don't have 20% deposit right, clients have to spend a lot of money up front to get themselves qualified for the auction, because when you don't have 20% deposit, you do need to have valuation done.
• 24:21
  Speaker 1: Yes, and the risk is you'll go and get valuation done, but then you don't win the auction and you just spend $1,200.
• 24:27
  Speaker 2: Yeah, exactly.
• 24:28
  Speaker 2: And that could be part of your deposit.
• 24:30
  Speaker 2: First-time buyers just haven't got that money.
• 24:33
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 24:33
  Speaker 1: So I usually say to my first-time buyers please stay away from auction.
• 24:36
  Speaker 1: And I remember a couple of real estate agents a few years ago and there was a first home buyer market sort of house and they'll put it on the auction.
• 24:43
  Speaker 1: I'm like what are you doing?
• 24:44
  Speaker 1: You're killing the huge share of the market that can't go in.
• 24:48
  Speaker 1: I mean, you can't get five buyers going out and getting valuation done so they can get pre-approved for that auction, exactly.
• 24:54
  Speaker 2: That's ridiculous.
• 24:55
  Speaker 2: It is ridiculous, yeah.
• 24:56
  Speaker 2: So please don't put places on auction.
• 24:58
  Speaker 1: No, no no, that's really good.
• 25:01
  Speaker 1: So yeah, so I mean, you know, in terms of the way houses are sold it's interesting you raised that point because I've recently had a conversation around that where it's so hard.
• 25:12
  Speaker 1: You know, overseas, normally you'll have a number.
• 25:14
  Speaker 1: You know there's an apartment and it's selling for $50,000.
• 25:18
  Speaker 1: Yes, and then you come to New Zealand and there's no prices, no prices.
• 25:21
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I recently sold a rental property and Ross sold it for me and he put a price on it.
• 25:28
  Speaker 2: And I saw a similar house around the corner being sold by another agent and they'd made it a closed tender.
• 25:35
  Speaker 2: And I said to him do you think we should be doing a closed tender?
• 25:38
  Speaker 2: And this is when he said to me no, your home is a first home buyer's home and you want them to know that they can afford it.
• 25:47
  Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, and it's sold on the first open home.
• 25:50
  Speaker 2: Wow, yeah, that's incredible To a first home buyer.
• 25:54
  Speaker 1: That's incredible.
• 25:55
  Speaker 1: Yeah because people want to know.
• 25:56
  Speaker 1: I mean nobody likes a secret, yeah, incredible.
• 25:59
  Speaker 1: Yeah, because people want to know.
• 26:00
  Speaker 1: I mean nobody likes a secret, yeah, unless it's a good secret.
• 26:02
  Speaker 1: Yeah, but most of the time people, um, and I think they deserve to know as well, because then they don't get their hopes high.
• 26:08
  Speaker 1: Yes, um, because I find, yeah, a lot of my first home buyers you know it's the first home they fall in love with that.
• 26:13
  Speaker 1: It's like that first love, you know, that sweet love and, um, you've fallen in love, and then your heart gets broken.
• 26:19
  Speaker 1: I know, I've been through that it's horrible.
• 26:23
  Speaker 1: It's a horrible feeling, right.
• 26:25
  Speaker 2: Yes, yeah, I used to get told don't show your emotions, don't show your hand that you really love a place.
• 26:33
  Speaker 1: Yeah, that's right.
• 26:34
  Speaker 1: You know you have to keep your cards close to your chest in order not to show those emotions.
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: Yeah, that's amazing.
• 26:43
  Speaker 1: So, in terms of future goals for so you've told me about that you're going to, you know, be number one on the course, very well known, et cetera but in terms of personal development, what do you do in your spare time?
• 26:58
  Speaker 1: And you know what do you do in your spare time and what are you aspiring?
• 27:00
  Speaker 2: Well, because it's all new and I crammed a six-month course into three months.
• 27:05
  Speaker 2: I just want to keep on top of the property market, keep my fingers on the pulse as to what's going on in the news in the property world, because that's really new for me, keeping a real strong focus on property, whereas I used to look at the share market and interest rates and, yes, I still keep an eye on that but now my main focus is property.
• 27:31
  Speaker 2: So I want to be well-schooled on what's come to market, what potentially could come to market Interesting.
• 27:38
  Speaker 2: You know, I found out that the average homeowner holds their home for seven years.
• 27:43
  Speaker 2: Wow, yeah, so and I guess that's true, it's true of myself when I look at it We've owned so many homes and so some of them under seven years.
• 27:57
  Speaker 1: Well, you know, it's a relationship cycle as well.
• 27:59
  Speaker 1: In psychology they say oh yeah, seven years, it's a seven-year.
• 28:02
  Speaker 2: Seven-year-old.
• 28:03
  Speaker 2: Yeah, so you probably get it with a house.
• 28:04
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 28:06
  Speaker 1: Wow, because I guess you know people get settled and then they go after a while actually, but then the family grows as well.
• 28:11
  Speaker 1: I mean, that was the case with my family.
• 28:14
  Speaker 1: You, we had first child and we had second child and we needed more space, our growing house.
• 28:18
  Speaker 2: And then surprise, we had a third and then one day you'll be looking to downsize, You'll be an empty nester and you'll be saying this is too much house for me.
• 28:27
  Speaker 2: Yeah, exactly.
• 28:29
  Speaker 1: So people go through those cycles in life.
• 28:32
  Speaker 1: You're absolutely right.
• 28:34
  Speaker 2: So yeah, that will be.
• 28:35
  Speaker 2: My focus is just keeping an eye on the property market, being fully engaged with it, so that people can trust me that I do know what I'm talking about.
• 28:46
  Speaker 2: When I started in the financial services industry, immediately I wanted to do the qualifications and actually I was told I started at AMP many years ago.
• 28:56
  Speaker 2: they said, oh don't worry about doing the qualifications and I said, no, I want to know what I'm talking about, yeah, and so I went down that path to become a certified financial planner in the early days when the industry wasn't regulated, and so I will take that same ethos through to the property market.
• 29:17
  Speaker 1: Yeah, so is the property market regulated?
• 29:19
  Speaker 1: Are you regulated by?
• 29:20
  Speaker 2: anyone yes?
• 29:22
  Speaker 1: Okay, good, good to know, Because, again, I just had a conversation with someone else.
• 29:26
  Speaker 1: You know, and did you know, that property managers are not regulated?
• 29:30
  Speaker 2: Yes, I, did hear that.
• 29:31
  Speaker 2: Yeah, isn't it scary?
• 29:34
  Speaker 2: Yes, yes, well, that'll change for sure In the years to come.
• 29:37
  Speaker 2: Yeah, well, that'll change for sure.
• 29:39
  Speaker 1: In the years to come.
• 29:40
  Speaker 2: Yeah, well, it took a while for the financial services industry, yeah, and now we're heavily regulated, yes, and that's fun in itself, yeah, but it is easing up.
• 29:51
  Speaker 1: I mean, it does have its pros and cons, you know, and I see a big pro that it did get rid of all the cowboys out there and people providing, you know, bad advice.
• 30:01
  Speaker 1: Yes, yeah, so it's just leaving, really, the good people out there.
• 30:05
  Speaker 1: That's incredible.
• 30:07
  Speaker 1: There was something I was going to ask you but absolutely skipped my mind, because I'm looking at you and I'm just in awe of you, because to go through your life and suddenly do a career change at your age of, as you've said in the beginning, 60.
• 30:23
  Speaker 2: I know I'm thinking what am I doing disclosing my age?
• 30:27
  Speaker 1: But for one you don't even look like 63.
• 30:29
  Speaker 1: I didn't know that you were 63 and I would never put a finger on it.
• 30:32
  Speaker 1: Thank you, I thought you were in your 40s, thank you.
• 30:34
  Speaker 1: Oh well, I've got that let's take 20 years of that to begin with.
• 30:37
  Speaker 1: But second, it's incredible you know to take that leap of faith at this time.
• 30:44
  Speaker 2: Well, at my time in life it's actually you get freed up.
• 30:49
  Speaker 2: My children are growing up, I've got grandchildren, I'm free and it's actually really liberating to say I'm actually working not for the money but for the love of getting out there, seeing people, helping people, putting on a nice jacket and dressing up and I think it will show through your work as well.
• 31:13
  Speaker 1: Because, same as me, when you're not money-driven, people see that.
• 31:19
  Speaker 1: People feel that whether you're selling because you have to and because you want to make as much money as possible to get that commission, et cetera, or whether you're doing right by those people.
• 31:30
  Speaker 1: So I absolutely agree with you and I think that will shine through your work.
• 31:34
  Speaker 1: Thank you?
• 31:35
  Speaker 2: I hope so.
• 31:36
  Speaker 1: I think you'll do amazing, cathy.
• 31:37
  Speaker 1: I can't wait to see.
• 31:38
  Speaker 1: I've just remembered what I was going to ask you.
• 31:39
  Speaker 1: I hope so, and I think you'll do amazing, cathy.
• 31:40
  Speaker 1: Thank you, I can't wait to see.
• 31:40
  Speaker 1: I've just remembered what I was going to ask you.
• 31:40
  Speaker 1: Can you come to my show more frequently and share that property data with me?
• 31:44
  Speaker 1: Oh yeah, I'd love to.
• 31:45
  Speaker 1: And we can, you know, share that knowledge with people, because that's the whole idea of doing this is to educate people.
• 31:50
  Speaker 1: Yes, so they can get on the ladder.
• 31:52
  Speaker 1: That it's not that, not as hard as it seems to be in the media.
• 31:57
  Speaker 1: Yes, that's what I want to say, because I think the media just overpowered everything these days, the media yeah, right, they spin their yarns.
• 32:08
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and I think we need to be that voice.
• 32:10
  Speaker 1: I think we need to change that narrative.
• 32:13
  Speaker 2: We do Because if you want to have the change you've got to be the change, absolutely, and if you can believe it, it will happen.
• 32:20
  Speaker 2: Yeah, if you can believe it.
• 32:22
  Speaker 1: I love that.
• 32:22
  Speaker 1: That's what my son says to me all the time.
• 32:24
  Speaker 2: He goes Mom, if you believe it, it will happen yeah.
• 32:27
  Speaker 1: My second son.
• 32:27
  Speaker 1: Yeah, he loves that sort of thing Because that's what I say to him but, now he throws it back to me and that's beautiful to hear that.
• 32:35
  Speaker 1: You know, if you believe it, it can happen.
• 32:37
  Speaker 2: Well, it's all about focus, isn't it?
• 32:39
  Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, that's incredible.
• 32:41
  Speaker 1: Kathy, any parting words before we wind this up?
• 32:45
  Speaker 2: No, I just want to thank you because I think you're a dynamo.
• 32:48
  Speaker 2: You're amazing.
• 32:49
  Speaker 2: I met you for lunch the other day and here we are doing a podcast, because you're a mover and a shaker and I am in awe of you.
• 33:01
  Speaker 1: So there you go, thank you.
• 33:02
  Speaker 1: Thank you so much.
• 33:02
  Speaker 1: It's an absolute pleasure to have you and I can't wait to see where your journey takes you, thank you.
• 33:05
  Speaker 1: Thank you for coming, and yours, bye, bye.