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Is your dream of homeownership getting crushed by the weight of 2024 housing market news? Headlines screaming about bidding wars and soaring prices might have you convinced it’s a buyer’s apocalypse. But before you throw in the towel, listen up! This episode is here to inject a powerful dose of inspiration into your house-hunting journey.
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Interview With Yadi and Victor – Dreamed Of Homeownership And Found A Way
First-Time Home Buyers’ Real-Life Story Of How They Stopped Renting
Are you one of the people thinking about trying to buy a home in 2024 or 2025 and getting frustrated with all the news and the headlines, making it sound like it’s going to be impossible for a buyer? Hang on, gang, because this is someone who closed on a home. We’re talking the beginning of March, March 5th, 2024. Yadi and Victor closed on a $285,000 home and they didn’t think they could do it.
In fact, they started in October of 2023 and six months later, they had a home. If you are looking for inspiration, this is the interview for you, including a surprise twist ending. I’m very excited we have some homies that closed on their home. This is on March 5th, 2024. We’re recording this on March 20th, 2024. Are you guys even in your new home right now?
Yes. Last night was our first night here.
No way. I feel like I’m invading on your honeymoon. This is so awkward. Everybody, this is Yadi, also known as Yadira, and Victor. Yadi and Victor are in the Dallas area. They closed on a home for, did I get this right, $285,000?
Yes.
Did you pay cash?
No.
All right, good. I want to make sure the readers know that you didn’t go, “Here we go.” We originally talked in October of 2023. Basically, it’s about six months for you guys to close on a house. This show has been around long enough. You probably read other interviews. What’s your big tip for people out there?
Don’t Overthink
My biggest tip is don’t overthink it. Your credit score might be bad, or you may owe a lot on your credit card, but you’ll be surprised by what your support team can do for you. They give you options and they work with your financial situation.
I think the highlight of that tip, Yadi, is you’ll be surprised. People like to know. They’re like, “Seriously, I have a 520 credit score.” I’m like, “That means you’re not buying in six weeks. It might take six months or it might take a year.” More people should understand that there are people out there willing to help you early that will give you some guidance. You reached out to me in October 2023 and then we set you up with one of my unicorn teams out in Dallas. I’m actually going, “Are you guys coming? Do I get to see you in person?
Yes.
You talked to Cole in October 2023, you closed in March 2024. How much time did you spend doing the financial get-together before you actually ever went and saw homes approximately?
With the lender? Probably 2 to 3 weeks. We had some trips, and our work schedule wouldn’t let us see the lender sooner. We did wait about a week or two before seeing him. He gave us our loan options maybe a week later.
Seasonality
For anybody reading this in the future, a tip that I don’t talk about a lot is the seasonality. If you come to me in October, it’s like if you have a couple of trips planned, I’ll let you know there’s not going to be that much inventory from Thanksgiving to Christmas, for sure. You might want to plan that with your apartment or whatever. You guys closed at the beginning of March, right after New Year’s. Did you see a lot of houses for sale or did they start to pop up as January got further along?
They started to pop up more and more. It depended on the area.
Did you do homework beforehand or talk to them and say, “Is that the only neighborhood we can afford?” Were you ready for it?
We were ready for it. We knew what area. That area is where all the houses were, but we didn’t choose that area in the end.
Obviously, I can’t believe I’m talking to you guys like the second day in your house. That’s so exciting. Are you guys originally from Dallas?
Yes.
From Renter To Homeowner
Were you wrenching close to this area? Were you guys living at home? What was your story? Tell us how you got from a non-homeowner to a homeowner.
The location that we got is actually close to our parents. Everything around us, we actually were familiar with it and I would rent out the house where my dad’s at. That’s how my story started. Why would I keep paying rent when I could pay to own someday?
Especially if you’re in the same neighborhood.
Eight minutes away from them. That’s perfect. Her family’s close, too. Everybody’s around here.
We were trying to avoid this area, but the first offer we were going to make was about 20, 30 minutes away and my heart felt empty. I realized I could not move away that far from my family. My parents are getting older. We decided maybe we wanted it here after all. We got lucky.
Do you guys have kids or pets?
Just one. He has one dog. No kids.
I always tell people there is something to be said about whether it’s children or dogs and, sorry to my wife, honey, when it comes to buying a home, I have to put them in the same category. You cannot pay a full dollar value on being able to go on vacation. If you have kids or are going to have kids, the daycare costs alone. You might like the neighborhood an hour away or like in another state. There was a big article a little while ago, the number one reason that people either moved or we’re planning on moving in 2024 was to get closer to family.
I think we’ve had enough time post-COVID. During COVID, everyone wanted to get away from each other. Now there’s been enough time, everyone’s like, “I like being close to my mom and dad.” Was it ultimately the geography, it being twenty minutes away or was your decision-making process based on you saw some homes in the other area and you realized that homes in this area were comparable or worked for you economically?
The area I wanted was closer to my job, so I was familiar with that area. It looked nice. The people are so nice.
Are you saying where you live now, the people are terrible?
Sometimes, they can be. We got lucky with the neighborhood. It’s nice. Nothing but older people. They’re not terrible.
We spoke to our neighbor already.
They’re very sweet.
They’re lovely. We exchanged information already.
You guys have been there 24 hours and you’re already getting to know the neighbors?
In the past two weeks, we’ve been moving stuff, furniture and all that.
Getting appliances and couches.
It’s quiet out there.
The Crossover Period
Talk to us about the crossover period. Was that something that you discussed with Cole, your unicorn, or was that something you guys learned from the show? It sounds like you had time to move in. Was that a conscious decision?
I lived with my mom and he lived in his dad’s house, so honestly, it didn’t matter when.
We had to pretty much talk to them, like say, “We’re planning on moving out already. We got a house. You guys could come to see it. Expect us not to chip in anymore.”
Also, help out with my sisters, taking them to school and all that.
You guys are in a prime situation. You’re living with your parents. You obviously get along well with your family. What are you doing? Are you going out, changing your life, and buying a home? How old are you, guys?
We’re both 25. Same birthday, same day, same month, same year. We actually got our new license now. It’s the same address, too.
I bet the bartenders look at you funny when they’re looking at your IDs.
I tell them that she’s my twin. I throw her a kiss.
The bouncer’s like, “What is going on?”
They’re like, “You can’t come in anymore.”
Deciding To Buy A Home
Of the 50 or 60 interviews I’ve done, that’s probably my favorite story. The kissing twins. That is the greatest. Back to the house stuff. What made you guys make the decision? Was it friends? Was it family? You’re living at home, you’re doing well, you’re having great birthday parties once a year. Why did you guys decide that you were looking into buying a home instead of going out and getting an apartment together?
We never wanted to go to an apartment, and besides us getting older and wanting kids one day and knowing that the prices of houses were only going up, we knew that financially, it would be a good investment.
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I want everyone out there to know I asked them to do this interview and she took notes. I love that the things you say now are perfect little sound bites so everybody understands that you could be 25 years old, living with your family, but still being able to take this leap. What was the monthly money that you had to pay? You said you were paying your dad. What was that rent versus your new mortgage? How much more are you paying now every month?
I am probably paying about $1,000 more than I would already, including utilities and everything.
You’re paying $1,000 more, which means were you saving that $1,000 a month?
It helped out a lot because I would rent the house on my own and pay the utilities on my own because he actually stays in the house ten minutes away. He’ll pop up every so often, but I’ll take care of the bills.
You guys were prepared for this financial change, and being $1,000 more a month is comfortable. You guys are sitting in a house. Did you ever think you’d buy something for $285,000?
No.
We didn’t.
What down payment did you guys make? How much? Was it like 3%, 5%?
Yeah, it was supposed to be 3%, but we did the 2-1 buy down. We bought rate. We put $16,000 down. It could have been a lot less but we chose to buy the rate.
The 2-1 Buydown
I’ve done a couple of episodes on this. If you don’t know about the 2-1 buy-down, go look through the titles. It’s in there. I should make you explain it, Yadi, right now. Go ahead. Explain everything about a 2-1 buy-down.
For example, when we were getting the house, it was in the high 7%. We did the 2-1 buy down, which means the first year, it’s a fixed rate of 5% and then the next year, it’ll be 6% and then the next year, 7%, but you can always refinance after the third year.
Where were you when I was writing the script? My show is 30 minutes long. You explain the whole thing in 42 seconds. Great job. That’s exactly right. We’ve got some things that are happening in the news right now. I’m going to do some episodes on these lawsuits that are happening and everyone’s freaking out about stuff. When you came to me, you said that you guys had a nice chunk of money. That chunk of change gave you the option to do the buy down, correct or did I read that right? Did you have $2,500 or $25,000 when you came to me in October 2023?
I think I actually had $20,000.
You had $20,000, you got everything done for $16,000, and like you were saying, Victor, you’ve been buying appliances and things like that because you still have some cash left over.
He also did the 401(k). I feel like it was not necessary. Since October, we saved up a lot more, but we still did the 401(k) to have that extra money in case of emergencies.
The 401(k)
I talk about the 401(k) in other episodes, but the thing about it is that it’s a one-time deal. You’ve got one shot to use in your life and what’s awesome right now if you’re reading, they both nodded at me on camera. You have to do that because people are going to go, “If you didn’t need it, why’d you do it?” It’s because you do it once. You guys are 25. You’re going to be putting money into that for years and years. They allow you once if it’s for your primary residence and now you guys aren’t house poor. You can buy appliances. What’s been your favorite part since you’ve moved in? Last night was your first slumber party. Is it still sinking in?
The 401(k) is a one-time deal. You’ve got one shot to use in your life.
No, I think it has sunk in. We’ve been having fun shopping on the Facebook Marketplace.
We decided we didn’t need everything brand new. The only thing that we decided brand new would be maybe the refrigerator and the sofa for the very fact that you don’t know where the sofa’s been and the refrigerator, you don’t know the lifespan on it so it could be used or you get lucky it will last maybe seven years
Those are great, the Facebook Marketplace, and there’s tons of great places you can fill in your furniture. I have people who buy three-bedroom houses, and they don’t know what the third bedroom’s going to be. They leave it empty for a little while. It ends up being mostly the moving boxes for the first month or so.
That’s us.
We have every room.
Yeah, I think I’ve said it on the show before. I’ve had a couple of people that buy these huge houses with six bedrooms and they’re freaking out and I go, “Leave that room empty and tell people that you’re waiting to go antiquing,” and fill it with the perfect pieces of furniture. Leave it empty because they’re like, “We don’t want to have a housewarming yet. It’s not all decorated.” Don’t worry about it. Are you guys going to be the gathering place for the family now? Are they like, “Good. We’re having parties at your house now. You clean up?”
Yes. The plan was for this house to be the house where we do all the gatherings. We made sure to have a big yard. We wanted a bigger living room. We didn’t exactly get that, but that’s fine. Everything else we loved.
You came in with one of the goals, so this created your wants and needs list. Was that you were going to be the gathering house?
Yes.
What were the pieces with that big yard? You wanted a big living room, but you made the compromise. Why did you make the compromise on the big living room? What were the bonuses here that made this house worth it?
The location. Eight minutes from his parents and my parents. The garage. He needed his little man cave to work on his cars and the big yard in the back and the front. The rooms. All the other houses we looked at, the rooms were small. These are not that huge, but they’re bigger than the other 35 houses that we saw.
I tell people all the time the difference between 10 x 10 and even 12 x 11 for a second bedroom, you’d be shocked. It’s incredible. A little extra space. Thirty-five homes. Talk to us about that. Let’s pretend like we’re hanging out at the bar and you’re going, “We saw so many houses.” How was it? Was it frustrating or were you learning along the way?
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It was fun learning on the way. We had no hurry to get the house, but our realtor allowed us to go alone. First, Victor went by himself to see 5 houses and then 4 days later, I went on my day off and saw another 5 houses and then we would go together whenever we had a day off on the same day.
I did an interview. She works in the day and he works the overnights and the house they ended up buying, she went to, and he came by for two minutes on his way to work and then he left and she’s like, “We’re writing an offer.” I know what the unicorn in Dallas does there. He sends you out to look at open houses by yourself first.
He suggested that. We did it during. We finished seeing him and we’re like, “Let’s go get a snack and let’s go see some open houses.” We actually did go. We probably saw a total of four, and our first offer was actually going to be one that we liked at an open house. We went on a trip, and by the time we realized that they had beaten us.
What’s funny is that the agents for that house texted us when we had already arrived at this house. I’m glad we didn’t get it after all.
The Negotiation Process
This happens a lot. They texted you to say that whoever they selected fell through, but then you guys were buying this one. I swear it works out this way every time. I try to tell people all the time. They’ll be crushed in this market right now. We go out, and we look at 35 houses. They write their first offer, they write their second offer, and then they’re like, “The third one’s absolutely it.” I swear, every single time, whatever house you get, you like way better because you don’t write an offer on a house that’s less than something that you’ve seen. You adjust and start to make your compromises. How many offers did you guys end up writing before you got to this house? How many homes did you try for?
You don’t write an offer on a house that’s less than something that you’ve seen. You adjust and start to make your compromises.
Two.
This was number three. How difficult was the negotiation process? Were there lots of other bidders?
There was like 2 or 3 other people, I think.
Yes. Our realtor kept telling us that we were chosen as a number two. If we wanted to wait to see if they backed out, which did happen, and then we decided we didn’t want it because the houses that kept appearing on the list kept getting better.
As the inventory unfolded, you saw houses that were better and better.
There were some moments that actually got pretty sad, though, because we would go and it seemed like, “These houses aren’t cutting it. It’s like there are foundation problems or a whole bunch of little problems with it. What about this one?” “What about the yard?” We went on rainy days so we could see how it would flood. They’re like, “You’re right.”
That’s a good tip, too. Make sure you check. If you’re not there during certain times of weather, you have to look at the grounds and see how it’s going to go. This is great. In a market that was going up, you don’t feel like you had to compromise. The houses came up, and they were still within your budget.
Actually, our loan was for $275,000. I called the lender one Friday and said, “Can you give us $10,000 more?” Obviously, $10,000 more gives you a lot better. She said, “Let me enter some numbers and call you back Monday.” They did give us $10,000 more.
Sometimes, people will get the maximum loan and then look at homes less than that. Sometimes, they’ll always be looking at the maximum. That’s a great tip. Always ask.
It doesn’t hurt to ask.
If you started three months ago, maybe you paid down a credit card bill and suddenly, that changes your debt-to-income ratio and now you can afford something else. Did you guys come into this with loans and other factors?
Yes. We started with the realtor in October but didn’t get the lender until two months later. We had the realtor wait two months because Victor didn’t feel comfortable with him owing on his credit card and on his car loan.
He worked that on his own. You guys moved forward.
A little. He didn’t finish.
I didn’t finish it as much as I thought. She kept on sending me podcasts, and somewhere along the way, I caved in and started feeling a little better. I’m like, “I don’t have to knock this all out.” Not now or never. It’s simply I don’t want to wait that long because, throughout the whole process, you keep hearing it’s going to get more expensive. It’s true. She said not too long ago, “Time is money. If you wait longer, it’s going to be more expensive.”
Time is money. If you wait longer to buy a house, it’s only going to be more expensive.
Yadi, were you sending him my show?
Yes, a lot of them.
Victor, am I a trigger for you right now?
At first, it was, but at the end of the day, I know it was helping me push towards something better. The show actually helped out a lot. It’s not a trigger at all. It’s like, “This guy knows what he’s doing.”
I love to hear stories like this because good people are doing good things that are actually bad things and hurting them. It’s a logical, smart thing. You’re like, “Buying a house is a big deal. I got to take care of all this other stuff first.” That’s why I started the show in my kitchen in the middle of the night and kept doing it without trying to sell anything because I want people to understand. Eventually, you’ll understand I’m trying to show you some secrets. You can do this with loans. I’ve had doctors with $200,000 in student loans and they can still get a home loan. Instead of getting a $700,000 home loan, they get a $600,000 home loan. It doesn’t mean that you can’t do it.
For you guys, chipping away at that in those two months, the fact that when you reached out and said, “Fine.” That was Yadi’s tip right at the beginning. You’ll be surprised. I’m glad. Don’t worry, I’m not going to hunt you down and say, “I told you so,” because for every one of you, I have 100 people that read my show and they keep saving on their own. They call me and go, “Two years ago, I heard you say this. I want to buy this house. It was $300,000 last year and now it’s $450,000.” I’m glad you guys did it. I could talk about all the financial stuff. Tell us what it feels like to be sitting here. I can’t believe you scheduled this for the first day in the house. That’s so awesome.
Your story is wonderful. I’m happy for you guys. Yadi, thank you for pushing me on Victor. I love it. That’s totally cool. You guys look fantastic. Every time I see you kiss, I’m going to think that you’re twins, and it’s going to make me laugh. When I’m in Dallas, we’ll have to go out for a beer after the seminar so I can see you freak out the bouncer. That will make me laugh. Yadi’s looking at her notes. Was there anything else? Okay, go girl.
I know it’s a scary thing to do. It is the biggest purchase of your life, but once you’ve done the first step, maybe reaching out to David, the scary feeling goes away. You feel a relief and it becomes exciting. You don’t do all the work. The lender asks all the questions, and they make you feel relieved by the options that they give you.
This is the commercial for the show for the rest of my life because I’m also looking at the video. Yadi’s leaning forward and reading off her page, and Victor’s behind her, saying, “This is awesome. I’m in my house.” That was nice. That’s going to help a lot of people because you guys are 25. You guys are living with your folks. You guys didn’t buy this home, $285,000, cash. You went in with a low downpayment. You are paying $1,000 more than you were before. You’re the perfect, “You can do this,” story. I appreciate it. That’s exciting for me.
It’s worth it.
Thanks, guys. I’ll see you in Dallas.
Thank you.
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The interview’s over there, but I kept talking to them after I turned the microphone off. Did I miss the best part? What I did is I flipped the microphone back on and I said, “Yadi, you have to tell me this again. Come on, girl. Tell everybody.” Even though Yadi is super shy, she still went ahead and told me this story again. Check this out.
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As I’ve learned, I should never stop recording when I do these episodes. We’ve been talking. First of all, I found out that Victor, the second day that they had keys, was crawling under the house. You’re an industrial electrician. Did I get that right?
Yeah.
You’ve already upgraded the fuse box and all that stuff and you guys spent your first night there last night.
Yeah.
Tell everybody the story you told me about your first meal at home.
After being in the crawl space in the attic, being all dirty, and still in my work uniform, I came like, “I’m already dirty. Might as well be more dirty,” Yadi over here texted me if I’m hungry. She brought some water bottles because we didn’t have running water, but we had WiFi. We go ahead and sit down, ate some ramen noodles and that was our first meal, on the floor, looking at the possibilities of the house.
That’s the best, and 21st-century tip, WiFi first, utility second. You can bring bottled water. You’re fine. Don’t stress, but get that WiFi in there. That’s got to go. As I was saying goodbye to them, Yadi was like, “I have to tell you something.” Tell them what you told me.
Besides that, I’m very thankful for you and your show. When I read the interviews you have on your show, I would practice on my own, hoping that maybe one day, that will be me. I would answer. I was going through the process of getting the house and I’m like, “This is how I would answer.”
You practiced for the interview. No wonder you were the perfect little commercial there. That’s the best.
Thank you.
It’s a $285,000 house. Your unicorn, Cole, is not going out to buy a Bugatti tomorrow with the commission that he made from your home. Cole’s going to send me a little bit of money to work with you guys, and I’ll take my family out to dinner. It’s not going to break it, but you know what, I’m going to go home so happy. The fact that you said that you used to envision and now I’m looking at your smiling face and here you are, I love it. With you is your little dog.
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I can tell you I’m sitting here smiling ear to ear right now. I’m not egotistical. I’m not super excited that she did that because she wanted to be on my show. To me, the whole goal of this is to educate and empower; eventually, for some people, it will have to be motivated. If practicing being on the show was Yadi’s motivation, that would be awesome. That makes me so happy. I’m so glad that she forced Victor into tuning in to the show and turned me into his trigger.
I’m so glad that she brought her notes with her. She actually wrote stuff down, and some of her answers were great. You should go back to the interview again. She talked about not overthinking it. That was quite amazing. I’m honored that they allowed me to do this interview with them on their second day at home.
Of course, we learned a very important lesson there. Before you move in, hook up the WiFi. Before the water and electricity, hook up that WiFi first. Great lessons about location and being close to your family. I know that she practiced to be on the show, but I think it was so she could get herself in the mindset.
I could hear it over and over again because I don’t care about that. I care that she and Victor are now living in a home close to their family where they wanted to be and that home will be the central hub. They’ve already decided that home is where they’re all going to come and they’re all going to hang out and they’re going to get to celebrate those wonderful moments in life together. If that doesn’t inspire you, I don’t know what does.
Maybe you don’t need to practice other interviews, answering the questions for the people, but maybe you need to create a spreadsheet for yourself. Maybe you need to put little reminders on your phone every two weeks. Maybe you need to go back to the terms and definition episodes of the show to get some basics, so you feel like you’ve actually got a beginning of the understanding. Maybe there are some other podcasts out there that will inspire you with different interviews.
That whole season one, there are a whole bunch of interviews with people from all different walks of life. I’m so proud of Yadi and Victor. I’ve been saying that a lot. I’m proud of my audience. I know that sounds silly, but I am. I’m excited. I’m excited that we found a way to get this revolution going, beat the system, overcome the fear, and not overthink it, like Yadi said.
If you’ve got questions, go to HowToBuyAHome.com. Ask me a question right there, or you can even ask me directly for a unicorn. It’s right there. There’s going to be more stuff coming on the How to Buy a Home Instagram, and it’s actually @HowToBuyAHome on Instagram, How to Buy A Home on TikTok and How to Buy A Home on YouTube. Check it all out. Drop a review. Leave a comment, tell me your story and maybe go back and listen to some interviews and practice on your own while you’re in your car, driving around. One day, maybe you’ll be here telling me your story because I know you followed the steps. You can do this.
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Important Links
- @HowToBuyAHome – Instagram
- TikTok – How To Buy A Home
- YouTube – How To Buy A Home
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This podcast was started for YOU, to demystify things for first time home buyers, and help crush the confusion. After helping first timers for over 13 years, I knew there wasn’t t a lot of clear, tangible, useable information out there on the internet, so I started this podcast. Help me spread the word to other people just like you, dying for answers. Tell your friends, family, and perhaps that random neighbor you REALLY want to move out about How to Buy a Home! A really easy way is to hit the share button and text it to your friends. Go for it, help someone out. And if you’re not already a regular listener, subscribe and get constant updates on the market. If you are a regular and learned something, help me help others – give the show a quick review in Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts, or write a review on Spotify. Let’s change the way the real estate industry treats you first time buyers, one buyer at a time, starting with you – and make sure your favorite people don’t get screwed by going into this HUGE step blind and confused. Viva la Unicorn Revolution!
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