Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Welcome to Real Estate profits. I'm Griselda and today we're taking your business from busy to brilliant. You're watching now Media Television.
Well, hello and welcome to Real Estate profits. I'm Griselda and every week we crack the code on how to turn property into wealth and prosperity. Now, if you're thinking of selling but are up late at night wondering, what if I underprice my biggest asset? Well, you're not alone. I'm actually in that same boat right now. But tonight's guest is the listing whisperer who has helped hundreds of clients squeeze every dollar and give her clients a peace of mind from a sale. Veronica Dquez is a high energy realtor with a lot of passion and a lot of corazon, I like to say, who guides investors, business professionals and luxury home clients through their smart flips or dream home investments or deals. She is also a fierce advocate of domestic violence survivors and also loves helping local small businesses. So, Veronica, welcome to the show.
[00:01:11] Speaker B: Thank you. Thank you so much for having me. I'm very grateful.
[00:01:14] Speaker A: Absolutely. And I'm so delighted that you're here because you have a lot of great topics to share and, and tips and strategies that I'm looking to learn from you myself.
So one of the topics for this segment is when you're listing a property, many of us face the what if I'm underpricing my investment?
How do I get top dollar? And it often feels like we're leaving money on the table. What would you tell people out there to help them through that and give them a peace of mind?
[00:01:45] Speaker B: Yeah, absolutely. So the first thing, honestly I recommend is to team up with an expert because there are things that the expert is going to know that you don't necessarily know. So some of the things that we're going to tell you is how to prepare your home and based on what situation you're in, based on what options we're going to provide to do for you. You can do little things that matter a lot like updating your light fixtures and changing the hardware on all cabinets and just painting the room that was red to just put it on a neutral collar. Things like that are really going to go a long way when you list your home when buyers go see your home. So it's just important to really counsel with somebody who's an expert and knows exactly what you need to do with your situation because not everybody's going to have the same situation or budget or you can take advantage of maximizing your profit when you're selling your home.
[00:02:39] Speaker A: Wonderful. So get expert advice like yourself, who's been doing it and love doing it and, or I'm sure you can connect them if they're not directly in your area. Area. But now what are some of the. So you mentioned, like how to do some little fixes here and there. What would you say are three low cost upgrades that anybody can do that add the most value to any property?
[00:03:00] Speaker B: I would say definitely invest in painting. And if you really want to keep it low cost, just put on that old T shirt, get some paint on you and start painting your house. Especially if you have strong colors. You, you have any dark colors, any fun colors. If your teenage daughter wanted to paint everything black, for example, make sure that you paint it on neutral colors. You can paint somebody, you can pay somebody to do it or you can do it yourself. That's one thing that I definitely recommend. Anything else that has to do with aesthetics. So if you have a bathroom cabinet that you can retouch a little bit and the hardware is really old, if you buy brand specific spanking new hardware and okay, there, it truly makes a world of a difference.
[00:03:43] Speaker A: Nice.
[00:03:44] Speaker B: Typically your big ticket items are going to be kitchen and bathrooms where you do renovations. There is typically what's going to give you your return on investment.
And then the third thing, to be honest with you, is staging your home. I cannot stress how important it is to stage your home, whether it's with your furniture, have a professional stager come and rearrange everything or, or let us bring staging furniture to your house because I can give you some statistics around that that is just going to blow your mind.
[00:04:12] Speaker A: Wow. Well, let's get into that topic. So some of the three low cost upgrades is between painting, focusing on accessories and hardware for your bathroom and kitchen area. And then let's talk about the staging magic. So why does it boost the perceived value? I've sold several homes before and you're right. As soon as the stager was or the, you know, home decorator comes through and does some amazing just touch ups. Why is that so important?
[00:04:41] Speaker B: It sets up psychologically what the buyers want to see. To imagine themselves living in that home, not to see a home that belongs to somebody else.
The same as if you walk in an empty house, you're just seeing an empty house. Right. And you're trying to put your furniture and you're trying it. Well, will my king size bed fit in this bedroom? I don't think so.
Once you have it staged, you really give them an idea of everything and all the possibilities that you can do in that house. And just think about it. If you walk into a model home, this is why new constructions do model homes. You walk into a model home, you want that home. If you want.
They have all the beautiful staging and everything is neutral and earth colors. And then you walk into the exact same home with no furniture.
Okay. It's a pretty home.
[00:05:29] Speaker A: It's a world of difference, right?
[00:05:31] Speaker B: Yes, it's the world of difference. And in Charlotte, specifically, because that's where I'm. Where I work most of the time.
[00:05:36] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:05:37] Speaker B: Home sells in 23 days compared to 53 days if they're not staged.
[00:05:43] Speaker A: Wow. Amazing results.
[00:05:45] Speaker B: They typically fetch 5 to 10% more, sometimes even 20% above list price. And it's an investment that's going to cost you anywhere from 25 to $5,000, but can bring you back anywhere from 25 to $50,000 if we're talking on a. On a higher price property. So it is. I can't stress this enough. Staging is one of the most magical things you can do to sell your home.
[00:06:09] Speaker A: Amazing. And it does make a difference. I bought several properties myself. And you're right. You walk in there and it's just very luxurious, very beautiful and inviting. And it's just general, neutral tones that draw any audience in. Right. Any client. So you don't want to cater to one or the other, but I think you're just generalizing the stage magic, right?
[00:06:30] Speaker B: Yes, absolutely. And again, it's. The whole purpose of it is when a buyer comes to your house, you want to make sure they feel that they can live in that house.
[00:06:38] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:06:38] Speaker B: Instead of, I'm walking through somebody else's house, I don't belong here.
[00:06:42] Speaker A: Yeah, absolutely. Now back to the listing. Like I say, I'm actually listing some property here on South Padre Island, Texas.
How do you set a list price that attracts the clients without leaving any dollar on the table?
[00:06:56] Speaker B: That's also.
[00:06:56] Speaker A: I mean, you do your comps and all, but there's also a little bit of extra that, you know as you put your passion and energy into your client. Right?
[00:07:04] Speaker B: Yes. So that's where the magic comes in. Right. And it usually when I'm going to list the house, I spend days looking at the market in that same neighborhood. It's not a one quick.
I'm not going to mention any websites estimate that you're going to go and, oh, I should list it at this price. So I'm going to study that exact neighborhood, that exact community, the zip code. I'm not only looking at the houses that sold, which is extremely important. But I'm looking at the competition is what staying on the market, what is going under contract really fast, which are expiring, meaning nobody wanted to pay that price for that home. Then I'm looking at the condition of the house on the inside. I'm comparing it to the one that you are selling to or that the price reflects the condition of your house. If it's completely renovated, then I'm looking at the columns that are completely renovated or new homes. If it's a house that needs some updating, maybe has old cabinets, old carpets that are stained, things like that, you cannot price it at the same time as a fully renovated home because you're just going to sit on the market and you're going to lose money because you're going to have to do several price reductions. Because what I'm thinking is if a buyer goes into this neighborhood, they definitely want to live there because they're looking. Okay, they see your home at this price, and they need to update the carpet and they need to paint some of the walls. But they see a home that is completely renovated, they don't have to do anything, and they're both at the same price. Which one you think they're going to go for?
[00:08:32] Speaker A: Oh, absolutely. Of course. That's an easy call, right?
[00:08:34] Speaker B: Yes. So def. It's definitely an art to make sure that you study everything that's going on in that area and in that neighborhood. And it just happened to me. I always try to list it in this market. I always try to list it either at market value or just slightly below.
[00:08:51] Speaker A: Oh, okay.
[00:08:52] Speaker B: Had a client, we listed her home at slightly below market value.
First day, we got two offers above asking price.
[00:09:01] Speaker A: Wow.
[00:09:02] Speaker B: So that is where the magic comes in. So do not overprice your listing. Please listen to your expert and make sure that you ask questions. What is expert doing? What are they looking at to recommend a price for you? Make sure they back it up with data.
And I think that's one of the most important things is you have to be a master of this art and really study it.
[00:09:23] Speaker A: Absolutely. So it's a little bit of technical data. It's a little bit of art. It's a little bit of making it look beautiful with a staging magic. Now, let's say they work with someone as good as you and they have multiple offers come in, like you mentioned, just like what you're going through, what criteria will help someone pick the best offer? That is probably not only about money, I would think, right?
[00:09:44] Speaker B: Definitely not only about money. The first thing that we have to consider is the seller's situation.
What's their situation? What are they looking to get out of this purchase? Is that an emotional one? Their parents died and they left the house for them? Is that they need to move very quickly and sell this house and buy another one. All of those factors are going to matter.
So the price definitely is important. Absolutely. But then you're looking at different things. Like was there financial stability? What does their pre approval look like? Are we calling the lenders to make sure they verified everything on that pre approval? Some lenders unfortunately don't. Are we. If it's a cash offer, are we getting a statement where it says that they have the cash available? Are we looking at closing time frame? If somebody sends an offer for a 90 day closing period, but the price is great. But wait, we have to wait three months. So you're paying whatever you're paying for your house for three more months. This other price that is lower might be better because they want to close in 25 days. We're looking at contingencies. Do they have to sell their house before they buy your house? We're looking at deposits here in North Carolina that's very specific to the state.
There are some deposits that the seller gets to keep if the buyer backs out of the contract. So we're looking at that. Is it going to be easy for them to back up the contract or is it going to be, oh, they put a lot of money into that deposit. So there's a lot of things that we look at on an offer.
[00:11:08] Speaker A: Oh, absolutely. So you need expert advice. So what's one common mistake that can cost someone thousands of dollars? What would you say is that one general common mistake?
[00:11:19] Speaker B: Oh, just getting too happy, too excited, too fast and not giving the market enough time to do its magic. We got an offer. Yes. Accept it. Go for it. Wait a minute.
If we got an offer on the first day, that means we're gonna get more offers. Let's give it at least the weekend. Let's wait.
[00:11:36] Speaker A: There you go.
[00:11:37] Speaker B: Now I have competing offers. Now I can tell the agents, hey, we have multiple.
[00:11:41] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:11:42] Speaker B: So it's a matter of not being trigger happy. I guess it's giving the market enough time to really put themselves in a position where they can maximize whatever profit. Either it's profit or the situation that they get the best situation that they wanted to get out of the sale of their house.
Wonderful.
[00:12:02] Speaker A: So, Veronica, thank you for those outstanding tips and strategies. So for anyone that's getting ready to prep a sale out there. How can they get a hold of you?
[00:12:12] Speaker B: They can go, they can call me. My cell Phone number is 561-809-1769. You can go to my website, Veronica Homes kw.com you can find me on any social media under Veronica's Homes. That's pretty easy. And if you want a free copy of my book the Clever Seller, you can go to the cleversellerinthecarolinas.com and it's completely free. I can mail it or you can download it online. You can get a copy there as well. And a lot of the information is going to be here.
[00:12:41] Speaker A: Excellent. Well, thank you so much. Many ways to get a hold of you to get your expert advice. So off to a commercial break and we'll be back with more insights with Veronica dz.
We'll be right back with more ways to optimize, scale and succeed. This is real estate profits on NOW Media Television. And we're back. I'm Griselda and this is real estate profits on NOW Media Television. Let's keep building smarter together.
Excellent. So if you love what you're watching, don't miss a moment of real estate profits or any of your favorite Now Media TV shows. You can download the free Now Media TV app on Roku TV or iOS for instant access or you can listen on the go. Just catch the podcast on www.nowmedia.tv. you can get any of your favorite shows on the go. And today's topic, we're back with Veronica Dquez and this is about small budget investing and she's an excellent coach on that topic. So welcome back to real estate Profits Veronica.
[00:13:50] Speaker B: Thank you, Grisella.
[00:13:52] Speaker A: Wonderful. And so now we're diving into one of the biggest myth in real estate that you need a ton of cash to get started, whether it's investing or just even a first time home buyer. So now let's talk about smart investing or doing it on a small budget.
That is the problem that many people face out there today. My daughter, for example, recent college graduate, is asking about how do I invest. Mom, I don't have a lot of money saved in the bank, but I still want to do some investment and make sure that I make the most out of my money. So it feels impossible to her. But I know you have a lot of tips and strategies. How can someone truly start investing with a modest budget?
[00:14:35] Speaker B: Yes. Well, that's a great question because that's how I started.
[00:14:38] Speaker A: There you go.
[00:14:39] Speaker B: I know.
[00:14:40] Speaker A: Actually I knew you back then and you've blossomed into a lot of very amazing prosperity. Congratulations.
[00:14:46] Speaker B: Thank you. Thank you. We can get creative. So I'll give you two different answers depending on the situation of the person. So if you're just getting started and you don't own a home yet and you're just what you want to get into the real estate business, I would definitely recommend buying a house yourself that you can rent out either half of the house or rent out a space. And that's going to help you get to the next level. So if you buy your first home, first of all, your down payment is only probably going to be around 3, 3 to 5, 5%. So you're not going to need that much money up front. Right. You're going to have to talk to lenders, you to make sure that you prepare to qualify for those programs. And then you're into that home. If you strategically buy maybe a duplex or you buy a house that you can divide into two, you start renting it out, then the house is pretty much paying for itself. Now you are to give it a year or two while you save some money as well. Be responsible.
[00:15:41] Speaker A: And right.
[00:15:41] Speaker B: Is the equity that your home has accumulated. And you can do several things with that equity. You can get a home equity line of credit or a heloc. You can cash out and refinance and get the cash out to invest in another house.
You can go ahead and put another renter in that house and move again into a primary home where you don't have to put the 20% again because it's going to be your primary home and you about the 3 to 5%. And now you have an investment home that you have rented to two different people. So that's a way to really get started in the real estate business is to buying your first home, but being very strategic about what you buy, where you buy it. And if you really want to get going fast, if you can rent some of that home.
[00:16:22] Speaker A: Absolutely. Absolutely. And thank you so much. I can't wait for my daughter to see this show and really learn from you in terms of how to make her first big investment.
Now. Creative funding, you mentioned some of the creative funding, seller financing, helocs. Tell us a little bit more about that. Some people kind of shy away from those creative funding strategies, but they're so simple once you get into them. Can you tell us a little bit more about that?
[00:16:45] Speaker B: Absolutely. And I was going to tell you, if you want to invest in real estate and you already own a home, this is probably the conversation for you.
Most people who've owned a home for over three to four years probably have equity accumulated on the house. Especially in the area where I am in. That's where you can really get creative. If you don't have cash on hand, you can get the cash from that equity and then use this creative funding strategies in order to buy a second home. Now we're talking about more of a 20% down payment. Right. But if you want to get into. There's two ways to get into real estate investing. Depending if you want to hold the house, meaning you want to rent it out, whether it's short term rental or long term, or renovate it, and flip a home. A lot of investors are doing that because they're trying to get cash quick from a flip. So you're doing those. You definitely need to talk to different type of lenders. One of the lending strategies is hard money loans.
This is for properties that are not in good condition that you can go in and you can renovate them, sell them and make cash out of it fairly quickly within a few months. They have different stipulations, so you definitely have to talk to them. And I would definitely recommend partnering up with a contractor who has done flips so you can do this together.
And it's just a quick way to get into the business and start getting some cash back. Now, a lot of investors, what they do is they start with one or two flips, which is what I did. I started with two flips and we had enough capital to go ahead and invest in a home that we wanted to keep. So we have a house that we rent on Airbnb.
[00:18:23] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:18:23] Speaker B: And then it just, it keeps, the scale keeps getting higher and higher and you can invest in different types of things. There are some other loans. One of them is called DSCR Loan. It's only for investment properties. If you want to buy a house and you want to rent it, the lender is only going to look at the income producing potential of that property. They're not going to look at what your income is and your taxes and all that fun stuff. It's based on the value of the property and the income that it can produce. So there's definitely different ways. I would absolutely get informed of all the different types of loan programs. There are conventional, non conventional, conforming, non conforming. And hard money loans are great ways to do it.
[00:19:07] Speaker A: Yeah. And that's why you need an expert like yourself, because there's so many creative things you can do for funding. You don't have to know it all. You can Just have to dabble into what. That's how we both got started. And after you do one deal, you learn something, you do another one, you learn some more. So before you know it, you have, you know, 20, 25, however many properties on your portfolio.
Now, location is obviously extremely, extremely critical. Neighborhood scouting for newbies. What are some of the top three data points that they should check for?
[00:19:37] Speaker B: So when we are looking at different neighborhoods, we want to watch for growth signs. So we want to watch what development, what developments are happening, what grocery stores are popping up, is there a mall? Like for example, we have an area here in Charlotte that they're building a casino in Kings Mountain.
That's going to bring a lot of people into that city. So I would say if you are getting into investing, don't look at neighborhoods that are already well established because there's not much to do there unless you want to buy and hold for professionals. That's different. But if you really want to get the maximum value in the short amount of time, look for neighborhoods that are still developing in that way, whatever you get, you can fix it little by little if it has to be fixed and then everything else around you is growing, which is going to give you a higher value in a shorter period of time.
[00:20:31] Speaker A: Okay, so you're looking for growth in that area. It's not just about the location looking beautiful at that point in time is the projection of what it's doing in the near future.
[00:20:41] Speaker B: Exactly. And I just helped a friend buy a short term rental in Charlotte and it was hilarious. We went to see the house and the house next door.
It's not very good looking, but then three houses down, it's a brand new construction, over a million dollars.
Wonderful. That's a great area because you see that it is still developing. So those are some of the best areas to invest in.
[00:21:06] Speaker A: Absolutely. What is around there and what's coming in in the next, you know, six to 12 months and or even up to two years. Now what are some of the must know numbers before saying yes, what would you recommend people to really hone in on in terms of numbers?
[00:21:23] Speaker B: Absolutely. So you really got to look at different numbers depending on the type of property that you are purchasing. And you make money when buying a property in real estate for investment. When you buy the property, you have to know your numbers, otherwise do not buy that proper property. So cash flow for sure was the cash flow that that property is going to bring you. The cap, the cap rate is really important, is the capitalization rate and it's the Net income divided by the purchase price. And then you multiply it by 100. And you want to look at a cap rate of about. Charlotte has about 5 to 8%. Those, they are the safe numbers for your cap rate. You want to make sure that you look at the vacancy rate. If it's a house that you want to rent, you want to make sure that that area for rentals. So there's, there's different things. Estimated cost repairs. If you want to invest in a house that you need to renovate, all of that needs to go into the budget. You need to calculate your taxes. You need to talk to an accountant. If it's how that you own for less than a year, the taxes are going to be hefty. If it's a house, yes, we're going to hold, then that's going to be better because it's long term capital gain. So there's a. Depending on what you want to invest in, depending on which numbers we really need to concentrate on to make sure that it's a good decision from the beginning.
[00:22:42] Speaker A: Yeah. And there's so many different data points. And that's why you need expert advice. Right. So someone like Veronica can really help you figure out exactly what are the right numbers. And once you have those numbers, what do they tell you? Are they good or bad? Right. They're speaking to you. But if you're not a, you know, real estate agent or a broker, you don't know exactly what you're looking for. But someone like Veronica or someone on her team definitely knows because they do it day in and day out with passion, with energy and over and over. There's a lot of lessons learned there. Now let's talk about safe partner agreements so that maybe an investing friends stay friends and you're also both profitable.
Tell us about those.
[00:23:23] Speaker B: All right. Put it in writing.
[00:23:25] Speaker A: Put it in writing. Write it down. Right. It's a handshake is one thing, a wink is another. But writing makes sense.
[00:23:33] Speaker B: Yes. Put it in writing and there's gonna be. It's not just a realtor that needs to help you. It's a dream team. So you have to meet with your dream team. Who's your dream team? You got to figure out your taxes in advance because you think you made a lot of money. And then Uncle Sam comes and says, oh, honey, here, give me some of that.
[00:23:52] Speaker A: Absolutely.
[00:23:53] Speaker B: Yeah. You have an accountant. You need to have somebody who is very savvy in construction. If you're going to do investing in real estate with a partner, that involves having to renovate a home, whether it is to fix it up and sell it or to fix it up and rented, you have to sure that you sit down and you figure out who is bringing what to the table and what is the fair percentage of the profit that is going to be split between the two people. One can be just a silent investor. I've done that with some of my clients. They just put the money and we have body on the ground here who does everything. They fix the house, they flip it, the investor literally just sits back. And then when the house sells, they split the profit or whatever percentage is fair for both of them.
So putting it in writing, making sure that you open a company, you do everything under a company's name, make sure you don't put it under your personal name and cover every scenario and prepare for surprises.
Sometimes there are things in a house that you can't see on plain sight or even with an inspector. And then surprises happen. You want to make sure you're both covered when you're working in a partnership so that one doesn't run out of funds and then the other one has to compensate. And that might be a problem.
[00:25:04] Speaker A: Absolutely. It's all about contingency and contingency planning. Right. Expect things to go wrong. Don't just look at the sunny side up and make sure that you're planning for everything. And you mentioned taxes right there. State taxes, county taxes, hotel occupancy tax. Right. There's all kinds of numbers that you have to be well aware of that no one expects any one client to know it all. But of course, someone like Veronica and her dream team have the right experience to help you along the way. So, Veronica, fantastic hacks. Thank you so much. So where can an aspiring investor download your starter kit or get a hold of you and your team for their journey in investing?
[00:25:42] Speaker B: Absolutely. You can again contact me directly. My cell phone number is 561-809-1769. You can go to my page, Veronica's Homes kw.com there is one. If you put that same website and you do slash resour, you'll be able to see different types of resources depending on what you want to do. There is one for investing. There are several things that I do for my investors. I have guides that I prepare for them. You can find all that information on there and it's really going to depend on how you want to invest and what you want to do. And then we can do a free initial consultation to make sure that I know what your needs are to put you in touch with the dream team because it's not just me. And to make sure we can guide you and help you and if you're not ready, prepare you to get ready.
[00:26:25] Speaker A: Absolutely. Well, thank you so much for all those tips and strategies that will help anybody. But of course they need someone like yourself to really guide them along the way, to have a full peace of mind as they invest their hard earned money. Off to a commercial break, but more with real estate profits. I'm Griselda, your host. And we'll be right back.
We'll be right back with more ways to optimize scale and succeed. This is Real Estate Profits on NOW Media Television. And we're back. I'm Griselda and this is Real Estate Profits on NOW Media Television. Let's keep building smarter together.
So great. If you love what you're watching, don't miss a moment of Real Estate profits or any of your now media favorite TV shows. You can watch in on iOS or Roku TV for instant access or at your leisure via podcast on WWW dot.
And we're back. With the market changing on us faster than we can blink or keep up with, we're back with Veronica Dicus and her expert advice on real estate profits. And she is still with us. This time we're tackling the fast moving market and the rates, the headlines, the timing, there's so much to consider.
So, Veronica, how can buyers and sellers stay steady through all of this turmoil and change?
[00:27:52] Speaker B: So the first thing that I honestly recommend is stop watching so many news.
[00:27:58] Speaker A: There you go.
Fake news. Stop it.
[00:28:02] Speaker B: Honestly, it's, it's just there's a lot of information or if you listen to your Uncle John who, you know, has a very high opinion of something, it's just, it's, it's all about the numbers, right? It's all about the facts. And real estate has been something that historically, by data that can be backed up, has proven to be a good purchase no matter what. So it's just a matter of when is the right time. Whenever is the right time for you. Whenever it's the right time for you is when we find out, you know, what's going on in the market. How was the best strategy for you? What are you trying to achieve? And that way we can find, and it may take us a few months, but we can find something that's really going to meet all of your criteria and get you where you want to be.
[00:28:47] Speaker A: Yeah, absolutely. And so I completely agree with you that you have to kind of tune it out. However it's a little hard sometimes, right? Whether you're running a business or going travels to an airport, it is everywhere. So let's talk a little bit about that headline panic, right? Just recently we had all this tariff panic. How do buyers and sellers stay level headed through it all? Because it's kind of hard to just tune it all out. How do you avoid all that panic that is out there and just stay focused on your mission, your investment, your property?
[00:29:19] Speaker B: That's it. You said the right word. It's focus. It's a hyper focus. It's. It doesn't necessarily matter what's happening to everybody else. It matters what's going to happen to you with whatever you want to achieve. So focus on your timeline, focus on your goals, make sure that you inform yourself. That is, it's extremely important.
Don't trust what you hear either other people say or what. Unfortunately what you watch on the news sometimes just make sure that you study your own situation. You have to talk to the professionals, right? You have to talk to your lenders, you have to talk to your realtors, you have to talk to your accountant to make sure that you study in focus again of on your situation. And that's how you really stay level. Because everybody has different goals for somebody right now. Even if it can be a little crazy. Like they say to sell or buy their home may be the biggest achievement that they've made and they're completely happy and they didn't lose anything or are in a negative or bad situation because of it. So it really depends on that focus on that. Hyper focus is what I would say.
[00:30:23] Speaker A: Hyper focus. Thank you for that. Absolutely. Now let's talk about being in a buyer's or a seller's market. What are three clues that reveal whether we're in one or the other?
[00:30:34] Speaker B: Absolutely. So we are Duke, looking at if you're in a buyer's or seller market, really we're looking at the months of inventory that are available. Anything that like three or four you're getting into the five, six month inventory, that's definitely a buyer's market. Meaning the house are staying on the market for a long period of time and there's enough inventory for buyers to buy the homes that are available in the market right now for the next five or six months and there's going to be enough homes. That's what that means. If you have anything less than three months of inventory is still a seller's market, believe it or not now are seeing some, you know, price reductions and things like that. Just because I think that's more of a showing us that the market is not as crazy as it used to be two, three years ago when the rates went down because there was a worldwide pandemic.
We don't want another pandemic for the rates to go down.
And people were used to that. And now that they're seeing that it's a more stable market, which is not a negative thing, it's a positive thing that the market is more stable now.
Now they were expecting the results they were getting two years ago, and they think, well, the values are going down. Not necessarily. And this doesn't apply to every single place I'm talking about market. It may be different in a different state.
I'm talking about north and South Carolina.
The values don't necessarily go down. It's just more a stable market. And the houses are sitting on the market just a little bit longer than they were before. But technically there's still not, not enough inventory for it to be a buyer's market. It's still a seller's market.
[00:32:09] Speaker A: Got it. Well, thank you so much for those tips. Now let's talk about interest rate math. You mentioned a little bit about interest rates. How does a 1% hike change monthly payment to, let's say on $400,000. Tell us more about that.
[00:32:22] Speaker B: So I'll give you, I'll give you a good rule of thumb. This is my. Where my comes out.
[00:32:29] Speaker A: There you go. I love that girl.
[00:32:32] Speaker B: Every 1% increase in a rate can mean about 100 to $200 more per $100,000 borrowed.
Great.
[00:32:44] Speaker A: Thank you for simplifying it that way. I've never really heard of simplified that way.
[00:32:47] Speaker B: Yes, that's a way to look at it. And the thing that I always say when I say that to whoever wants to buy a house, there are incentives that you can negotiate with a great real estate agent to get some seller contribution so that you can buy down your rate.
So that way when you purchase a home, you can buy down one point, a half a point for the first year, two years, or permanently.
So there are ways to definitely work around that. But that's the math.
[00:33:19] Speaker A: Absolutely. So there's a lot of strategies. Right. And no one expects everyone to know them all, but it's very specific to all of your clients situation. Right. Their financial situation, what they're buying, what they're looking at. Absolutely. So you need experts like Veronica and her dream team. Now let's talk about the myth of perfect timing.
Why can waiting cost someone more?
[00:33:43] Speaker B: Oh, I love that question.
[00:33:46] Speaker A: Yes, Time is money. Right. And so even in real estate. Absolutely. Makes a big difference. Right.
[00:33:51] Speaker B: In real estate, time is money. I have had, I will tell you true stories that whenever I started in real estate a few years ago, I've had some clients who said, I'm going to wait a year or two because I know things are going to go down. They never did.
And now they are hitting themselves in the head and saying, oh my.
Before, again, the right time is when you are ready. Statistically, historically, real estate goes up. We're talking about between 2 to 4%. In some great markets like Charlotte, it's gone up 6 to 8% every year.
[00:34:27] Speaker A: Absolutely. I've seen it. Yes.
[00:34:29] Speaker B: Yes. So when you say you want to wait, my question would be, what are you waiting for exactly? What do you really think is going to change? And of course, I don't have. I can't predict the future or anything like that, but I can look at the historical data over the past 20, 30, 50 years in real estate.
[00:34:47] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:34:47] Speaker B: And be very frank when I tell them it's probably not going to happen. So the more you wait, the more you're probably going to have to pay. Even if interest rates go down now, if you buy now and interest rates go down later, now you bought the house for a lesser price and you can refinance. And now you have the lower interest rate without having to pay 10, 20, 30,000 more or having to compete with 10 other buyers that wanted to buy the same house. Because now the rate.
[00:35:15] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:35:16] Speaker B: And now everybody wants to buy a house.
[00:35:18] Speaker A: Absolutely. So. So it's what is best for you. And obviously, if you're strategizing with your real estate broker, they'll help you every step of the way. But you're right. Time is money. And so moving quickly and focused on your goals really makes a big, big difference. Because while someone else is still waiting or playing the waiting game, you're off to your next.
Right. So you're making, multiplying your money.
Now, you mentioned some of the tools. What is your favorite tech tool or report that you rely on to track real time shifts in the market?
[00:35:50] Speaker B: So we as agents, we heavily rely on what we call the mls. It is a system that we have access to and we have different tools in there that we can look at different statistics. So that tool, I say this to say in that tool, we're going to look at averages and different comparisons, like, for example, from last year to this year, on days on market, on months of inventory, on price reductions on the listings. We're Also at expired homes, meaning houses that were on the market for a certain amount of time and they didn't sell. So the list expired. So that's what we look at. And we look at it on pretty much almost a daily basis just to make sure that we. I mean, a good broker is going to make sure that they are prepared when they're talking to their clients and knowing what's happening on the market.
But it is a combination of all that data that really gives us the full picture of what we need to look at. We can't just look at one thing and ignore the other because everything is correlated.
[00:36:48] Speaker A: Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. So expert advice is golden. So now I know obviously you help a lot in your community. You help small local businesses and you're also a very fierce advocate for domestic violence survivors.
You're a stepmom, you're a pet mom, and you wrote a book. So you're a very well published author.
Tell us more about your book and the topics and what strategies they find in your book. So tell us about your book.
[00:37:13] Speaker B: Absolutely. So the book is called the Clever Seller and it is what to expect when selling your Charlotte home. It has a lot of information that's going to prepare you as a seller on how to get your home ready, what kind of questions you need to be asking, the people that you are interviewing, the professionals that are going to help you with the sale of your home. It gives you a guide. It is co authored by Krista Masher. She's absolutely amazing.
And it's really going to open your eyes into the process of what it takes to really sell a home and maximize your profit, if that's what your goal is. And just to give you the best representation possible.
This book is for free. If you go to the cleversailorinthecarolinas.com you'll be able to download a copy digital or you can request a copy and I'll mail it to you.
And it is just going to help you answer so many questions that I know you have. And it is in a language that is simple for everybody to understand. This is not realtor lingo or anything like that. It's really just language that we want to make sure that you understand.
[00:38:15] Speaker A: Oh, absolutely. So throughout the segments, especially as we opened up and introduced, Veronica talked about her passion, her energy, and then just her willingness to help others learn about real estate and make the best with their investment dollars. And so obviously now she's published a book to make sure that you have everything you need to make the right decisions. For your turning your properties into prosperity.
Well, thank you so much, Veronica, for all of those tips and telling us about your book. We're off to another commercial break, but we'll be back with more insights with Veronica Dickus.
We'll be right back with more ways to optimize, scale and succeed. This is real estate profits on NOW Media television. And we're back. I'm Griselda and this is real estate profits on NOW Media Television. Let's keep building smarter together.
Well, hello and welcome back for one last round with Veronica Dquez. Now, for many Latino families, I obviously am one myself, dream of home ownership, but they feel like it's tangled in language barriers, fear, I don't have enough cash. But we can unpack all that and just build trust and with the right trust and guidance, open up doors and major opportunities. So now the problem with many out there is that this language or the culture or the barrier or just not having the right experience makes real estate investing scary. And it often feels like they may be taking advantage of so. But today we have Veronica Dikas, also a Latina herself. But what are some of those first steps to build trust with Spanish speaking buyers or sellers? Veronica, hi.
[00:40:00] Speaker B: Thank you for having me. Yes. So the first thing I would say is to speak their language, not only words, but culturally, just to understand what the culture behind is and be present in the community, explain things clearly, make sure that they understand the process. The process is probably totally different where they came from, which is where I came from. It's not even sort of similar to what the process is here.
So we got to make sure that we are aware of that and explain everything. And again, understand not just the language but the culture as well behind the language.
[00:40:35] Speaker A: Yeah, absolutely. And the language is there, but I mean, obviously it's the real estate language and the documentation. Right. They, they seem like hurdles, like unique hurdles that Latino families face. But you know, whether it's credit, the misconceptions, how do they go through it all to make sure that they feel comfortable, at ease, and they don't shy away from investing or getting their dream home. How do you help them get through those hurdles to earn their trust so that they come to Veronica and her dream team to make sure that they stay with their purchase of their dream home?
[00:41:08] Speaker B: Everything, I think is about explaining clarity, being informative. Whenever I hand something over to one of my clients, first of all, I have a guide in Spanish that explains to them the process of what it is to buy a home. I send it to them and I have a little video that I send as well to make sure they understand, they have an initial understanding of it. Then we do consultation. And then in the consultation, I dive deep and I make sure that they ask any questions that they have to make sure, again, that they understand what the process is here. Because even if they bought a home previously, wherever they came from, it's probably completely different than buying a house here. And before I give them any of the, you know, the agreements that we have to sign to make sure that I can represent them or the contracts, whenever they put an offer in, I summarize it for them and I make sure that I explain exactly what they're signing and I ask them to have any questions that they have, of course. And sometimes we actually do it together and I explain what it is they're signing because, I mean, we live in the US So some of the documents cannot be in Spanish. We have to make sure we produce them in English for the attorneys and everything. So it's just sure that you really inform them and have the patience and the time and understand that they're not used to this process to make sure they understand what they are doing that is so important.
[00:42:22] Speaker A: Yeah, absolutely. And as a Latina myself, obviously, like Veronica here, but the language is a little bit complicated, and let's face it, it's real estate language. Right. So it's made that way for certain reason.
But I speak Spanish and English and I still struggle reading through all those documents. Right. So don't shy away from the, hey, there's complex languages that I don't understand. It's in English. I speak English sometimes. I still don't understand. Right. So it's not meant for you to understand every single detail. That's why you have experts like Veronica and her team to go through every detailed explanation to make sure that you know exactly what you're getting into.
And obviously that they're doing the most to get you the most for your money.
[00:43:05] Speaker B: Exactly.
[00:43:06] Speaker A: Now let's talk about generational wealth through real estate, which is transformative in our Latino community. You can tell us a little bit about your story and how do you make sure that you get this generational wealth as we both have done in real estate?
[00:43:20] Speaker B: Absolutely. So for me, real estate, and not just for me, this is a fact, is one of the most amazing and safest investments that you can make because it is guaranteed over the as of historical data, of course, it is guaranteed that it is going to give you a return on your investment.
So for me to be able to See families to come here and start from zero, like I did. I came with $500 to the US and that's all I had.
Be able to put myself in a position in which I bought a home that is now allowing me to have enough value on that home to invest in more real estate. And that's something me and my husband are going to be able to leave a legacy, right, for our children. And it doesn't have to be something that you have to wait until you pass away to give it to your children.
You can take advantage of that generational wealth. Now, whenever a house accumulates equity, you can take some of that equity and pay for their college. You can buy a house for them with some of that equity. And now they get started in life with a house or even an investment house that they're renting and they're already making money. It just opens so many doors for your retirement. You can also plan it for your retirement. And it's just it. It really.
It's the land of opportunity in real estate. And it would be such a shame not to have some of our beautiful Latino people be informed on what they can do with that and invest in real estate for themselves, for their kids and for their grandkids. And forever. There are. I mean, honestly, it never stops. The generational wealth never stops.
[00:44:55] Speaker A: Yeah, absolutely. And it's just about taking that first leap of faith, right? Partnering with someone that knows the market, that knows, you know, what deals you're wanting to make. And then after your first one, you learn a ton, and then you go on to the build the next one, the next one. And before you know it, you look at your bank account and yes, you've created that generational wealth or just tremendous prosperity for yourself and your family.
And like Veronica, you can help other Latino communities and families create their own wealth and prosperity as well.
[00:45:23] Speaker B: I love that.
[00:45:23] Speaker A: So now tell us about clear language tactics and visuals that demystify the process in real estate.
[00:45:31] Speaker B: So we had to study it like you said, Right. I read it in English and I didn't understand what it was. So it's a matter of understanding. It's a matter of making sure that you understand what the most important, important parts are and to simplify them in a way that people will understand when you explain it to them. So if you try to read an offer, for example, when you're trying to put an offer on a house, you're not going to understand half of it. So it's familiar. Familiarizing myself enough with it. And whoever is representing Somebody to help a house, to be able to explain exactly what everything means, what are the deposits mean?
To make sure that you maybe like I've done, I created some guides around that that explain what the process is. So it's a matter of not just the words, but what's the message? What does this mean right here? How can you translate that message in a way that is going to be understood without confusing somebody? Like when somebody reads you a document, even in your language?
I have no idea what just happened.
It's a matter of demystifying that and simplifying it.
[00:46:36] Speaker A: Absolutely. And it may seem complex at first, but it really, really isn't. Especially when you have someone with so much pass energy and corazon like Veronica. It makes the process not only easy, but also very pleasant and welcoming. And then after you make that deal and make a lot of cash, then obviously you're off to the next one and the next one. So don't be afraid, dive right in, get someone like Veronica and you'll be well on your way. So now let's talk about some local programs or nonprofits that first generation buyers should know or be made aware of.
[00:47:08] Speaker B: Yeah. So there are different programs and that's where the dream team comes in. Right. So I work with lenders and we've helped the Latino community, community tremendously in explaining different types of programs that they can get into to buy a house. They're not necessarily all down payment assistance from your state. We have definitely helped some people with that. But there's types of programs like for example, if you have an ITIN number, you can get a loan. You don't have to have a Social Security number there you go to do that. Yes. And there's ways that you can get.
A lot of our Latino community is very hardworking and they have money set aside and they can prove that they make certain amount of money each month. If you prove that there's again different types of programs and loans that can give you the money so that you can buy a house. And some of them honestly have accumulated enough cash not knowing that they can purchase a house that they just go and buy the house cash.
So it's a matter of educating yourself and what the best way to buy a house is. Whenever you are not, you know, whenever you're a Latino and there's different types of situations, of course there's going to be some that you do have your Social Security number. You just don't know what the process is and you're afraid. Inform yourself. Right. Find somebody who is Professional who is helping the Latino community and make sure that you get all the information.
Don't stop yourself just because you think you're not going to be able to do it. There are many ways to do it. And even if you're not ready now, when you talk to professionals in the lending department in, like an agent like myself, we are going to get you ready. We are going to look at your situation and explain, okay, this is what you can do, and this is what you need to get ready.
[00:48:52] Speaker A: Yeah, absolutely. And there's so much help out there. Like we say, you don't have to have all the answers. I actually have my own book as well. From the border of South Padre Island, Texas, to the boardroom, but it's my journey from poverty to passionate purpose. Like Veronica also started with just very minimal cash. I think it was like, you know, 500 pesos, not even dollars, which is like, I don't know, 10 bucks back in the day.
[00:49:15] Speaker B: But.
[00:49:16] Speaker A: But you start with something, but you have passion, you have corazon, and you have the desire to succeed and go do something with that small amount of cash. And actually, I do believe that having that struggle makes you more resilient and you figure things out and you partner with the right people and you ask people like Veronica and her team that are very willing to help, and they help you make that, you know, big investment. And then obviously, after you learn your first deal, you learn so much more.
[00:49:42] Speaker B: Absolutely.
[00:49:43] Speaker A: So.
So, Veronica, well, thank you for serving with so much Corazon, you and your team, thank you for having all the bilingual resources and helping our Latino community.
You're giving us plenty of tips on, on how to buy, what to watch out in the market, how to know your numbers. And obviously, anybody can be prosperous in real estate. So thank you for delivering a masterclass and delivering with energy, passion, and just like your style with so Much Corazon. Greatly appreciate all of your insights. Anything else that you'd like to share with our audience before we wrap up?
[00:50:18] Speaker B: Do it. Do it. Stop waiting. Stop putting excuses. Stop saying no. It's going to get better. It is better already. Just do it. And it's going to get gooder and gooder. Like I say, there you go.
Stop doubting yourself. Inform yourself. Educate yourself.
And you. If I could do it, you can definitely do it.
[00:50:38] Speaker A: Absolutely. If we can do it, so can you. And so to our viewers, choose at least one golden nugget from all the brilliant tips that Veronica provided here today. Choose just one.
Dig into that and really partner yourself with someone that knows her stuff like Veronica and her team and then just go at it. You'll be amazed as to what you find. And before you know it, you're going to be turning that real estate property or investment in into wealth and prosperity.
Well, Veronica, thank you so much. I greatly enjoyed our conversation. And thank you for sharing all those brilliant tactics and strategies with our audience.
[00:51:15] Speaker B: Thank you so much for having me. It's been a pleasure.
[00:51:18] Speaker A: Absolutely. I'm Griselda, your host. And this is Real Estate Profits on Now Media Television. Until next time, Hasta pronto.
