More Than A Mortgage; Equity Over Aesthetics, Stability Over Status

We push past pre‑approval myths to show the full cost of owning, from rising insurance and taxes to never‑ending maintenance. We share how to spot real value, avoid getting housebroke, and use a step‑up plan to build equity without chasing trends.

• pre‑approval vs comfortable monthly payment
• disappearing starter homes and status pressure
• total cost of ownership beyond the note
• maintenance that protects resale value
• systems over finishes when evaluating homes
• renting as a valid bridge to ownership
• step‑up strategy for building equity
• budgeting for schools, lifestyle and emergencies
• changing rules around buyer agreements
• home as shelter, memory and investment

MOVE Worthy Podcast with Lauren Jones & Jenny Lendle. Together we have the experience to MOVE you forward!

Transcript

Beyond Pre‑Approval: The Real Costs

SPEAKER_01 0:13

Hey, we are back with the Move Worthy podcast with myself, Jenny Linley.

SPEAKER_03 0:20

And Lauren James.

SPEAKER_01 0:21

And today we are season two, episode two. We're going to talk about more than a mortgage. What does that mean? What does that look like when you know when you think, oh, I want to buy a house, I can afford this much. It's a little bit more than just getting pre-approved for a mortgage. It's it looks like a lifetime. It looks like maintenance. It looks like things that you want to keep up with, an investment. It looks like resale. I mean, we didn't even think about that. Yeah. I mean, there's so many things. Purchasing a house is more than just getting pre-approved, going out and making an offer.

SPEAKER_03 1:03

And and what is the pre-approval and the amount you can afford really mean to you? I mean, is it all that you have? Is that all you can give?

SPEAKER_01 1:13

Right.

SPEAKER_03 1:13

Is that really where you want to be in your life? Is housebroke?

SPEAKER_01 1:17

Right. I know. I tell I tell people that. I said, look, just because you're pre-approved for $200,000 doesn't mean you want to spend $200,000. $200,000.

SPEAKER_03 1:27

Yeah. I actually stopped at my uh insurance agent's office yesterday, and we kind of briefly talked about that. And it was like she sees what we see. These first-time homebuyers, even not first-time homebuyers, um, young or old, they're going out and they're they're spending $300,000, $350,000 on their first house. It's wild. It's crazy. She's like, what happened to the starter homes? What happened to first-time buyer? Your little 1,000 square foot, you know, two-bedroom, one-bath house. What happened

The End Of Starter Homes

SPEAKER_03 2:00

to that? You don't see that anymore. And it's it's become socially acceptable. And what's crazy about that is most people think that they have to, I don't know, what's the saying, keep up with the Joneses. Yeah. Yes. Do you really?

SPEAKER_01 2:14

Do you really have to do that? So now you have these young first-time buyers thinking that they have to go buy their forever home first. First.

SPEAKER_03 2:22

Because Joe did.

SPEAKER_01 2:24

Yes. Or yes.

SPEAKER_03 2:26

And why why does it become, you know, this standard of buying your first house? Why does it, why isn't it what it used to be? You know, your first house is kind of like your footing, your your your long-term investment. And we my first house was a condo. Yeah. But we held on to that thing for years. And it was a rental property, and we made a lot of money on it, and it we had a great return on it when we sold it.

unknown 2:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 2:53

Our first house wasn't 300. Actually, our third house was 350,000. Right, right. Not our first, not our second, our third.

SPEAKER_01 3:01

Right. I haven't paid $350,000 for a house yet.

SPEAKER_03 3:05

I haven't, but you know a brand new house. I did. It was a brand new construction. So it's still we're we're sick, we have significant um equity in it. We made, you know, still made good choices. Um but yeah, I don't know where where that standard changed. And um, and do the do these buyers really understand what it is that they're getting into.

SPEAKER_01 3:30

Right. Not just it's oh, I can afford this monthly note.

SPEAKER_03 3:34

Right. Well, can you afford the five hundred dollar utility bill?

SPEAKER_01 3:38

The insurance and everything keeps increasing.

SPEAKER_03 3:42

Everything keeps increasing.

SPEAKER_01 3:43

Across the board. Your mortgage payment will stay the same, but your insurance will increase, your property taxes will increase more than likely. Um, and your utilities, I mean, nothing is going down. Down. And then you have the maintenance of the home. Like you can't let it become overgrown. You can't let it be covered in mold.

SPEAKER_03 4:02

You can't let it or you know, outside mildew or or if the gutters are uh, you know, not functioning, you have to you have trees in your yard. You have trees in your yard, you have to clean the leaves, you have to you have to keep the maintenance and the functionality of the house going because then to protect your investment. To protect your investment, because then you're losing value once it really turns into terrible shape.

SPEAKER_01 4:26

Yeah, I think that's a shame too when you see even a brand new house, um, and and we see it every day, you see a house just sell a brand new two years later, you're like, oh my goodness.

SPEAKER_03 4:36

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 4:37

And I don't know if it's you know, I don't know what it is going on. Is there a problem in the home? Is there something else going on that we can't see, or do people just not want to take care of things? I'm not sure what that is. Because like I said, we don't know what's going on in the home. It could be someone who's disabled, it could be a financial burden happening that we're not aware of. But for the most part, when you see something like that, you kind of wonder, like, man, that was a brand new house. Yeah. And now things are kind of falling apart, and you can see from the outside. Yeah. So it's definitely a bigger investment. Um, and and you have to pay attention to even resale value at some point. Like protect what you've spent.

Lifestyle Creep And “Housebroke”

SPEAKER_01 5:20

Your big you know, this big giant mortgage, the the largest payment you'll ever have in your life.

SPEAKER_03 5:26

For the longest time of your life.

SPEAKER_01 5:27

For the longest time. And then to let it go, you know, fall like that is definitely an issue. Yeah. I think we see that a lot.

SPEAKER_03 5:35

Yeah, we do. And real estate should always be an investment. Yeah. While it's don't get me wrong, it fulfills emotional, you know, spaces, but and it you you make it a home, but it's still an investment, and you still need to be able to come right side up out of it.

SPEAKER_01 5:53

Right. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 5:53

You never want to be upside down.

SPEAKER_01 5:55

Exactly. And and I guess that all that go goes back too to these new buyers. Like, what are they really investing in? Um, are they investing in looks or are they investing in something that is solid, that has new uh all the major functions have been renovated. We're talking ACs, roofs, things like that. Because a lot of times people just see the finishes, the finishes, the paint, the pretty. And then once they get in, then they start to see issues because that was a bigger appeal to them. I try to explain that to my kids. Like, hey, I know you want this brand new house and it looks it's great, or this fully remodeled house, and we flipped houses. I said, but there, like right around the corner, there is a solid built in the 90s brick home, new roof, new AC, new windows, but it lacks uh it has wallpaper or has some paneling or the paint colors don't match, or it's got some old carpet. Those are things you can change, those are easy changes, but this the shell part of that house and the major um components are all in good shape. Like I'd rather my kids move into that.

SPEAKER_03 7:06

Right.

SPEAKER_01 7:07

And slowly fix it up, build equity. Build equity.

SPEAKER_03 7:10

I was about to say, not only that, but you're not walking in paying full price for something because it looks fancy. You're going in paying a reasonable price and adding equity to it by changing the cosmetics.

SPEAKER_01 7:22

Exactly. Yes, one little by little. And they're all most of them, you can move right in. Oh, absolutely.

SPEAKER_03 7:28

Yes, definitely.

SPEAKER_01 7:29

So I see that a lot. Um, and like you mentioned, uh, there's some emotional parts to this is wanting a home, wanting that security, being able to provide for your family. Those are all definitely parts of it. But going in and having a reasonable mindset. Mindset, yeah. Yeah, yeah. On on what you need versus what you want versus the price versus your monthly payment, your lifestyle.

SPEAKER_03 7:58

Yes. I mean, you gotta take all that into consideration. You know, people you have to consider some of these young buyers have very young kids. Well, did you think about where they were gonna go to school?

unknown 8:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 8:13

Are you gonna have tuition on top of this giant more monthly mortgage payment? Yes. Are you gonna have all of their correction extracurricular activities? I think that there's, you know, there's just some things that you know I don't feel are taken into consideration. And I talk to my my first-time home buyers all the time. While you may be comfortable with that dollar figure, that dollar figure is not staying that dollar figure.

SPEAKER_01 8:38

Right. Not yeah, not

Rising Bills: Insurance, Taxes, Utilities

SPEAKER_01 8:40

next year, not next year.

SPEAKER_03 8:41

No, it's go it's steadily going up. Yes, and it'll change with economics every day.

SPEAKER_01 8:48

I had that conversation with a client a long time ago, a good a friend, and I said, It's a beautiful home. Do you really want to get yourself into this kind of mortgage payment? And maybe I was overstepping because that's none of my business. Maybe I at that moment I was a friend, um, and I I actually wasn't even the buyer agent on it. It was a for sale by owner. And I just said, like, just be sure because things will change. And sure enough, a few years later, maybe we had a storm, insurance rates rose, and there goes the note. Yeah. Like, oh wait, all of a sudden this note got a little more, uh, a little bit more uncomfortable.

SPEAKER_02 9:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 9:28

And um, I was like, God, like, gosh, like, kind of had that conversation. It's not for me to tell them, right, but as a friend, I was like, hey, just make sure you're good with this, because yeah, right. Even even when you have a lower mortgage payment, it does kind of suck a little bit to write that check every single month, just like every other bill.

SPEAKER_03 9:47

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 9:48

When that number is super high, then it's like it's even more uncomfortable. Yeah. Every single month.

SPEAKER_03 9:54

Well, and then I find that you get to a point then where you don't even really enjoy your home. It's like now you're resenting, you have resentment, you have regrets, you have all these things.

SPEAKER_01 10:03

And then maybe that's when you feel like you don't feel like keeping it up anymore. Yeah, you don't care what the landscape looks like, and if this happens, I'm shopping with a buyer right now, and um we it's this has been ongoing for a couple of years.

SPEAKER_03 10:18

I don't think she's quite ready to buy, but she is adamant about keeping her note 1,500 or less.

SPEAKER_00 10:27

Oh wow.

SPEAKER_03 10:28

Do you know how difficult that is? Yeah, in this market, in this parish, in this area, it's extremely difficult. But I envy her. She has a mission, that's what she wants, that's what she she does. She's well qualified for way more, but she doesn't want to that she doesn't want that to be her life.

SPEAKER_01 10:45

Right.

SPEAKER_03 10:46

Is you know, married to this mortgage.

SPEAKER_01 10:48

And feel like it's a burden.

SPEAKER_03 10:49

And feel like it's a burden. So, you know, we look at all different scopes of houses, obviously, lower priced houses. So most of the houses that we do see, if if they are a little newer and a little more updated, they're super tiny. Um, if there are bigger on a bigger lot, then they're super old.

SPEAKER_01 11:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 11:08

I mean, and that's kind of you know, but what she's she's adamant about it.

SPEAKER_01 11:13

What is the price point you have to be at to have that kind of mortgage?

SPEAKER_03 11:16

She has to be under 200.

SPEAKER_01 11:17

Under 200. And that's just

Maintenance Protects Value

SPEAKER_01 11:20

principal, or she wants to.

SPEAKER_03 11:21

No, that's with insurance. Yeah, we actually almost wrote an offer the other day. It it we ended up not because she had some changes in her um job status and all of that. But um, when we ran the numbers on it, she was right at 1500 with insurance.

SPEAKER_01 11:38

Dang. So it does exist.

SPEAKER_03 11:40

It does exist.

SPEAKER_01 11:41

That's good.

SPEAKER_03 11:42

You just have to shop it. I mean, it takes like I said, it's been it takes almost two years that we've been kind of looking for that. Just exploring, you know, she's not super aggressive about it, and if it comes along, it comes along. And um, you know, she's comfortable renting. That's another thing, you know. People think that they're throwing their money away when they're renting. When they're renting. Yeah. But you do have to sit back. Can I afford not to rent?

SPEAKER_01 12:07

Right. You have to have a place to live.

SPEAKER_03 12:08

You have to have a place to live.

SPEAKER_01 12:10

Yep. I had someone say that the other day. They're like, Yeah, I feel a lot of pressure from friends and family saying that I need to buy something because I'm throwing my money away. I was like, Well, are you ready to buy something right now? Right. He said, Well, no, not at this moment. I said, Well, then that's okay.

SPEAKER_03 12:23

It is.

SPEAKER_01 12:23

It's o you need a place to live. You have a family, you need a roof over your head. If today's not the right day to go outright purchase a house, then you rent. Yeah. And you, you know, you do your best to put money away for that day when you are ready to go out and buy something. I think the pressure to hurry up and buy. I mean, you and I do a ton of rentals.

SPEAKER_03 12:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 12:43

And the rental market is usually thriving.

SPEAKER_03 12:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 12:48

Uh people need places to live, and not everyone, and look, it's it's not a lot of them, but not everyone wants to buy a house.

SPEAKER_03 12:55

Some people like to rent houses and they don't like the maintenance, they don't like the keep that the you know, keeping everything up, they don't like the increases. They don't like the increases in insurance. They don't, you know, they much rather when something breaks, call their landlord, not have to pay to fix it.

SPEAKER_01 13:11

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 13:11

You know, in some way, shape, or form, that's stability.

SPEAKER_01 13:14

It is. Oh, absolutely. You don't have to worry about the an AC. Right. You know, nine thousand dollar repair.

SPEAKER_03 13:19

Nine thousand dollar repair.

SPEAKER_01 13:21

Or a roof or anything like that. Um, I think the thing I find the most in rentals little plumbing issues here and there. Yeah. Not even usually electrical, usually like little plumbing issues here and there. And I think that's just wear and tear on plumbing systems, probably.

SPEAKER_03 13:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 13:36

But um, but yeah, I I think that renting is a great option. The the person that we bought this house from, I mean, she rented. Like she, you know, she was a single lady. She rented after we sold this house, and it made sense for her. She got to live wherever she wanted to go and she enjoyed it.

SPEAKER_03 13:55

To a degree, I don't believe that that should be a long-term lifestyle.

SPEAKER_01 13:59

For right?

SPEAKER_03 14:00

I don't. I do think that real estate should be an investment, and I do think that renting for your entire lifetime gets you no investment. But I do think it's a good alternative for someone in that's not quite ready. You shouldn't feel pressured to go keep up with the Jones and spend $300,000 on a house. I mean, if you're not ready for that, you're not ready for that. You know, a note on a $300,000 house plus all the maintenance is gonna far surpass whatever it is that you're paying in rent.

SPEAKER_01 14:31

That's true.

SPEAKER_03 14:32

Period.

SPEAKER_01 14:33

A note on a $250,000 house is high.

SPEAKER_03 14:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 14:36

It is in comparison to what it used to be. Yeah. So hopefully we see that come down a little bit. Yeah, there's so many pieces to the puzzle when you're when you're thinking about purchasing a house, and um and now the rules have changed. So not only do you have to worry about your mortgage, you have to worry about buyer agencies. Uh uh. Or just recently a client from like 10 years ago ready to buy again, and they're like, hey, what's the next steps? And I was like, hey, let me call you. That's more than a text message.

SPEAKER_03 15:10

Yeah, we have a lot to talk about. Things have changed in the last 10 years. Things have changed in the last one year.

SPEAKER_01 15:15

Yes, things are changing daily. I think there's some new, they're trying to. I don't even want to really get into it.

SPEAKER_03 15:23

I was about to say, is that a whole nother podcast?

SPEAKER_01 15:25

Well, and I don't even know, I don't even know the details. I read a little bit of an article, but apparently the people who filed the plaintiffs in that lawsuit are not happy with the settlement.

SPEAKER_03 15:38

No way. Wasn't it like eight billion?

SPEAKER_01 15:40

Well, no, they're not happy with the sorry, they're not happy with the settle the settlement terms that that now we now have. Oh, oh. They're not they're not satisfied with now we have the buyer agency and you have a buyer an agreement with your buyer and you have an agreement with your seller.

SPEAKER_03 15:56

Oh my.

SPEAKER_01 15:57

They're not happy with that, apparently.

SPEAKER_03 15:59

Oh.

Invest In Systems, Not Just Finishes

SPEAKER_01 16:00

And I don't know if they're trying to overturn it or change it. Oh wow. Exactly what they want. They say that it did oh, what did I read? It's not the outcome they wanted for buyers, maybe. I have to go back and read it. Definitely, probably another podcast after I research it a little bit.

SPEAKER_03 16:18

Research that.

SPEAKER_01 16:19

But apparently they're not happy with the way it all shook out.

SPEAKER_03 16:23

Oh wow.

SPEAKER_01 16:23

And I guess even though the settlement was approved by the judge, they can appeal it.

SPEAKER_03 16:28

I don't know. I don't know. That'll be another hot mess. Yeah, that will be another hot mess. Stay tuned. Right.

SPEAKER_01 16:34

More changes in the real estate world to come. Not just mortgages and insurance rates and all that good stuff.

SPEAKER_00 16:41

Right.

SPEAKER_01 16:42

Um, so uh we we talked about ownership as security, renting, um, as freedom. I I guess I'm I'm reading. Freedom from all of the freedom from all the the extra expenses. The extra expenses. But in the long run, I think ownership, creating that generational wealth to build equity. Um, another agent we used to work with said that they were taught you buy a house and then you sell that. You use the equity from that house to buy your second house, and then you sell that one, and then you use that equity from that house to buy your maybe that third one is your forever home, or maybe it's just a step into a direction of a that's exactly what we did. Yeah, that's what we did. Yeah. Robert's first house was uh 75,000. Yeah, it was indeed a starter home.

SPEAKER_03 17:36

Mine was 89,000.

SPEAKER_01 17:37

89. Ours was three bed, one bath. Um we had Peyton there, we had Olivia there, and then we moved to our second home, sold that one, used equity, purchased a second home, and we knew that one was kind of a transition. Because at the time I had gotten pregnant for Sue, and then we still had Peyton Olivia. We now had a three-bed, two bath, um, which really we just needed that second bathroom.

SPEAKER_03 18:05

Right, right.

SPEAKER_01 18:06

Um but we knew that was a transition house. And I think we weren't even there five years, five whole years, and then we bought a lot, thought about building, decided not to build, and then found this house.

SPEAKER_03 18:20

So it was definitely a stepping stone to I feel like it should be.

SPEAKER_01 18:25

Yeah. Instead of going for the first one right away or the final one right away.

SPEAKER_03 18:29

Absolutely. Well, and I think you learn a lot too through the process.

SPEAKER_00 18:33

Correct.

SPEAKER_03 18:34

What you want, what you don't want, what you you know, just not just the money side of it, just as extra closet.

SPEAKER_01 18:42

Yes, back to back.

SPEAKER_03 18:43

As far as being a homeowner and how your family functions or how you function, even if it's just you alone. Right. Or you and a spouse.

SPEAKER_00 18:49

Yep.

SPEAKER_03 18:49

You know, how do what what is it, what does your forever home look like? Do you really know buying your first house as your forever home?

SPEAKER_01 18:59

Right. How many people that have built houses do you know that say, if I could do it over again, I would have done this. Yes.

SPEAKER_03 19:05

Yep. Because maybe the first I'm on my third house, and I would have done something different in this house than yeah than I than I would have in the last two. Correct.

SPEAKER_01 19:15

Same. I know there's one thing missing in this one for sure.

unknown 19:19

Half bath.

SPEAKER_03 19:20

A half bath.

SPEAKER_01 19:23

Third world, uh, third world, first world probably. Right. You're missing a half bath. Um, but yes, there

Wants vs Needs And Family Planning

SPEAKER_01 19:30

that I I I like that. When I think of the stepping stones as in you learn as you go, you know, maybe you start out as a single person in your home, maybe you're just a newly married couple, maybe you have one child, and then your next house is a transition from how your life is unfolding, and then your third house, and then so on. And and then you see people now, even in retirement, selling their forever home and building their new forever home, and even even leaving the state. We see a lot of people leaving the state, um, and they're building their final or buying their final.

SPEAKER_03 20:09

According to their stages in life, right, exactly.

SPEAKER_01 20:12

Yeah. So I think there's a lot of things um to really consider when you're buying a home, and it's not just the note, it's not just sure, I can afford this next monthly payment. Um I think there's so many things to it. Yeah. All right. I think we've talked about a lot of things uh already in this episode. Um, what are some of the sentimental things that you could think of? I mean, a home is a home is you know, it means a lot. It's it's security, it's where you make your memories, it's all right. It's what you bring to it too. It's what you bring to it too. In the same, in the same sense that a home is special and sentimental. A home as long as you're with your people, yeah, wherever you are, that's your home. That's your home. Because things do happen also that we can't um prepare for. Yeah. Or control. Yeah, or control. And we I didn't know if we were gonna go into it or not, and I think we decided not to, but those are the things you also think about at the different stages of your life. Um, when things don't go as planned, you might not be able to keep that home that you poured so much into, but it is it is just a place for shelter at the end of the day, and everything inside of it is what makes it home. Yeah, there's that too. Yeah, so I think um we can probably wrap this one up. We um we talked about a home, a house, a home being more than a mortgage, and making sure that you understand that there's so many facets to home ownership. It's not just, hey, I'm pre approved, let's go out and buy this house. And we've done episodes where we went through the buying process. That's also a part of it that needs to be understood. It's not just going out house shopping and making that offer. There's an entire process and money out of pocket that goes along with that. Um, and maybe this season we'll touch on first time buying again and what that looks like.

SPEAKER_03 22:19

What that looks like to closure. Start to finish. Yes. Contract to close.

SPEAKER_01 22:23

And I think we've done it before, but it changes all the time. And I think it's always something that's helpful.

SPEAKER_03 22:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:29

So with that, we'll wrap this one up. So More Than a Mortgage with myself, Jenny Lenley, and Lauren Jones. And we are the Move Worthy podcast.

SPEAKER_03 22:41

We have the experience and the knowledge to move you forward.