Come To Find Out

Beyond Headlines: Finding Your Path in Today's Financial Landscape

• Sarah Thress • Season 3 • Episode 7

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When financial news feels overwhelming, Brendon Bland of Neighborhood Loans joins us to make sense of it all. With his remarkable ability to translate complex economic concepts into practical advice, Brendon tackles today's most pressing financial concerns for homeowners and homebuyers alike.

The episode begins with a deep dive into the federal student loan situation affecting millions of Americans. We learn about the government's renewed efforts to collect on defaulted loans—from credit score impacts to tax refund garnishment—and Brendon provides clear steps for borrowers to take immediate action rather than avoiding the issue. His guidance offers a practical path forward for anyone struggling with student loan payments.

Moving to the housing market, Brendon unpacks how recent tariff discussions have created unusual mortgage rate volatility. Rather than getting caught up in daily rate fluctuations, he suggests focusing on payment comfort ranges and looking at the bigger picture of finding the right home. This perspective shift alone can make the homebuying process significantly less stressful in today's uncertain environment.

The conversation then explores the current spring housing market, revealing fascinating insights for both buyers and sellers. While national inventory has improved and prices continue their 21-month climb, local market conditions vary dramatically. Brendon shares creative strategies for finding opportunities even in competitive markets—from targeting homes in new construction communities to watching for local economic developments that might create buying advantages.

Throughout the episode, Brendon and I emphasize working with knowledgeable professionals who understand local conditions and can help navigate today's unique challenges. For anyone feeling overwhelmed by financial headlines or uncertain about their next move in the housing market, this conversation provides both the clarity and practical advice needed to move forward with confidence.

To connect with Brendon:
Brendon Bland
614-747-3530
bbland@neighborhoodloans.com
https://www.instagram.com/mortgagemademodern/
https://www.facebook.com/brendon.bland


Sarah Thress
614-893-5885

First Time Home Buyer course: https://sarahthress.graphy.com/
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/sarah_thress_realtor/
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/SarahThressRealtor/
https://www.youtube.com/@LIFEINCOLUMBUS

Sarah Thress:

Hi and welcome to this week's episode of Come to Find Out. This week we have Brendon Bland of Neighborhood Loans and obviously, if you have been a longtime listener, or even if you've just listened to a few, you might have heard his voice a time or two. I continue to ask him and he is so gracious to continue to come back on you to ask him, and he is so gracious to continue to come back on. But I ask him because he is really really good at taking what's going on in the outside world and making it to where we can all kind of understand. So I'm sure that you know, unless you live under a rock or, you know, have zero access to any type of social media or news or anything.

Sarah Thress:

I'm quite certain you've heard, you know all the stories that are going on out there and I swear, every day it's something different. And you know it's tariffs and it's school loans and it's interest rates and it's inflation, it's all the things. So I reached out to Brendon because, like I said, he's such a great resource of taking complex things and making it to where people can understand it, so even I can understand it. So, brendan, thank you so so much for coming on and for continuing to just give us such great information. Oh, I can't hear you.

Breandon Bland:

Can you hear me?

Sarah Thress:

Now I can. Okay, good, all right, sounds good, you think after five years with Zoom, we'd have it all figured out by now. But here we are.

Breandon Bland:

Yeah, you would think, but it's okay, all right, good, well, glad to be here.

Sarah Thress:

Yeah, well, thank you so much. Yeah, like I said, I would just love for you to kind of walk us through. You know just all the things, like you know. I know you put out an amazing video the other day. So, again, if you're not following his socials, you need to, and I'll have it in the show notes. But I digress. Um, but you did like a really great video where you were talking about like hey, um, if you have student loans and you know they're through the government, you need to. You know, here's some heads up, so, um, maybe we'll just start there if you want to talk about that, and then we'll roll into like tariffs and and all things that we're hearing on the news.

Breandon Bland:

Oh yeah, yeah, it's all fun stuff. You know that we're talking about today. So, yeah, so sometimes people ask me like about you know, hey, Brendon, on your mortgage Instagram, you know why are you talking about student loans? Well, I think because, yeah, I help people get mortgages, but ultimately, everyone's financial well-being is important, not just to them but, you know, to our economy, right? So for us, you know, for me to do my job, you know we need people to be informed about what's happening with their personal finances, because that really plays into it, and then, ultimately, what happens, you know, with one person's personal finances, like you know, individually on a macro level, can have a big impact on everybody. So so, yeah, we talked about student loans because that impacts a ton of people, including me, and so yeah.

Breandon Bland:

Sarah, right. So I mean student loans, it's like kind of. It's kind of like the weather, it's like the one thing we all have in common.

Sarah Thress:

So but yeah, covid happened, if you remember COVID.

Breandon Bland:

And during that time the administration that was in the White House at that point basically pressed pause on student loans for a long time.

Breandon Bland:

So a lot of folks haven't been making their student loan payments for a while and it made sense at the time, certainly right, like I mean, during a big portion of, like, economic uncertainty coupled with a global pandemic. Yeah, so there was a big pause for a long, long time. Administrations change, we come out of COVID, all that stuff happens and what's kind of come about since then is, I mean, for most Americans, since student loan payments did restart, they restarted at some point within the last year and for most Americans who have student loan payments, they've in some form or fashion restarted making those payments. But there's about 5.3 or 5.4 million folks, which is a big number, who are currently in default of their student loans and I would bet that most of those people are going to be folks who were not making their student loan payments post-pandemic and haven't restarted. And there's a lot of reasons why that could be. It could be like, hey, my loan service are changed and I don't know where to make my payment to.

Breandon Bland:

Or hey, life creep happens, and life creep when I talk about that it's like hey, I haven't had to make this payment in five years and my finances have changed, maybe for the good or for bad or somewhere in between. But that $100, $400, $1,000 payment does not fit into my current life. Now I cannot make that payment right. So that's a possibility too and there's reasons in between. But at any rate, or any level, the federal government has said, hey, we're going to start coming back for these folks who are in default. So what's happened and what's being reported is a couple of things. One and I've actually seen this with a few folks personally who I've been trying to work with where those late payments were not being reported to the credit bureaus, and now they are. So overnight people's credit scores are dropping like a hundred points, which obviously not great If you're, you know, if you're trying to buy a house, trying to get a car, trying to get a credit card, you're trying to get any kind of financing, get an apartment right, like the credit score matters. So overnight we saw a bunch of people saw their credit scores drop because all of a sudden, those late payments, those default payments, are now being reported to the credit bureaus. So that's a big piece. The other big piece, probably the more pressing or concerning thing for folks who are currently in the fall and pursue loans is that the federal government has said, hey, we're going to come back and get this money one way or another. We're going to come back and get this money one way or another. So they're talking about doing things like normally. Let's say, you get a few thousand bucks back during tax refund time, you might not be getting anything back, they might just pull your tax refund. They're talking even about dipping into garnishing wages, which that's not confirmed. It's not confirmed who that would be or how they exactly would do that, but that has been floated out there. So this is serious.

Breandon Bland:

I think if you're someone who has federal student loans, first thing I would say is if you're making your payments, right, if you're in some kind of repayment plan, you're making the payments, you're okay, right. So don't freak out. If you're like, oh my, my god, what? Like, I still owe money on student loans. But if you do owe money in student loans federal student loans and you know you haven't been making payments for whatever reason, like no judgment here, but the worst thing you can do is nothing. You need to take some kind of action here, whether you agree with this action or not. Like this is what's happening.

Breandon Bland:

So so the first thing I would do is figure out who your loan servicer is. If you don't know, go to studentaidgov. You'll kind of have to navigate through that website. Plug in your credentials and they'll eventually navigate you to where your loan servicer is, and that's the first place to start. From there, you can look at things like income-based payment plans, if that's something that's important to you, or just ways to get caught up, or just how to make your payments in general. But I can tell you, the worst thing you could do if you're listening to this and you're thinking to yourself crap, I haven't made my student payments the worst thing you could do is put your head in the sand and do nothing, because there are changes coming, so you need to take action. I don't want to scare anyone, but that's what's being reported, and so we just need to kind of take action based off of that.

Sarah Thress:

So yeah, really starting off on a good note, yes, Well, and if it makes anyone out there listening feel any better. I felt as if Brendon was talking to me directly, because I am one of those people that hasn't been making payments on their student loans because my processor has changed I don't know 17 times. And, um, you know, and I was like, and I kept getting stuff that said, oh, don't worry, Like we're just going to put your, your loans, over here in you know, like forbearance or whatever, and I was like cool, like keep doing that. That's great, you know, I know how to make the payment. But, um, you are correct, I've been burying my head in the sand. So, um, not that you wanted me to admit that, but I just want everyone to know that we're all human. There's no judgment.

Breandon Bland:

It don't happen. Listen, like I said, I mean it's. There's a lot of reasons why folks aren't making their student loan payments, none of which I'm judging at all. It's just listen, this is the reality of kind of the world we're walking into right now and you know, if you're listening to this, you still have time to figure something out so that you know, hopefully your credit score doesn't take a hit, hopefully you know, hey, you're not getting your tax refund pulled back or any of the number of other things that they're saying could potentially happen. Also, I will say this non-political here, but a lot of things that have been announced by the federal government in the last handful of months have been on again, off again.

Sarah Thress:

So this is all subject to change right.

Breandon Bland:

This is the latest news today, but if I was in this situation, I would work as if this is what's going to happen and that's not something to do.

Sarah Thress:

Yeah, I love that. I think that's such great advice. And you know and that's what I mean by you know, you putting out information that you know, cause if I would have just read that headline, I would have been like wait what? Like, what's going on, you know? And then, um, the way that you took it, you know, took the information and broke it down into ways to be like hey, here it is. Like, you know, take away all the judgment, take away all the shame, here's the facts, here's what to do, and you know, and then it's all good. Like you know, it's not anything to like. Be like, oh my gosh, the sky is falling over it. Just, it is what it is.

Breandon Bland:

Yeah, so, cool.

Sarah Thress:

Well, you know, our next like super feel good subject would be tariffs. You know, I know previously we talked about tariffs and how, you know, we didn't foresee them affecting the housing market quite as much because, you know, as you had mentioned previously, inflation is actually the driver of, you know, interest rates and things like that. But I know, you know, just in having a conversation with you and as you just mentioned, things keep changing every day. You know it's hard to keep up, so I'd love for you to just kind of fill us in on, as of today. You know it's hard to keep up, so I'd love for you to just kind of fill us in on, as of today, you know, are tariffs affecting us? How is it affecting us? You know all the things.

Breandon Bland:

Yeah. Well, if you listen to the podcast at all, you know we always make the joke that we don't have a crystal ball.

Breandon Bland:

So yeah, so so certainly listen inflation continues to be one of the biggest drivers of what's going on with with any kind of interest rate, but specifically mortgage rates. But tariffs have become another variable With what's happened over the last month and a half or so. Once again, there's been a lot of on-again, off-again talk we're doing tariffs, we're not doing tariffs. We're doing 145% of China, we're doing 20%. So you don't need to know much about tariffs to really understand this, which is that, listen, it's hard to operate in a space where we don't know what to expect day to day, right, Whether that's with your family, whether that's with your personal finances at work. I mean, imagine going into work every day and your boss tells you hey, this is the number one project, nothing else matters.

Sarah Thress:

And then the next day that project doesn't matter at all anymore and we've got to do this other thing.

Breandon Bland:

So that's kind of the environment that tariffs are creating in the mortgage market, in the sense that there are people who invest in mortgage bonds and in the stock market and the tariff situation has created an environment where they don't really know what to do, they don't know what's going on and because of that, because of that uncertainty, we're seeing rates kind of bing bong around, sometimes high, sometimes low, and so it's made it a little bit challenging for folks who are out trying to buy right now to know, like hey, today the interest rate is 6.75, but next week it might be a seven and a quarter, like it's just that's kind of what's been happening because of that level of uncertainty. Now, as of today, which is Thursday, april 24th, there's been some, I think, maybe some cooler heads prevailing a little bit on the tariff side, which you know, hopefully will settle things down and give us a little bit more consistency with rates. But yeah, we've just seen, we've just seen some kind of more volatile fluctuation with rates. The last month or so I did, I pulled kind of the 30 year average, you know, which is a measure of like kind of all these situations kind of combined into one, like hey for tracking rates over time kind of what's one like hey for tracking rates or for time, kind of what's happened and you can look at it day to day. So over the last 30 days the highest we've been was around and this is nationally, not me necessarily, but about a 7.2%, and the lowest we were in the last 30 days was a 6.6%. So that's a pretty big range, right.

Breandon Bland:

Like I mean, if you came to me on Monday and I said, hey, you know, today is 6.6. And then two weeks later I said it's over seven, they're going to look at me like kind of sideways and then I'll try to explain to you what I just explained. And that may stick, it may not, but this is, you know, from a buyer's perspective, this is kind of they're confused about why things are changing. But this is what's going on. You know, right now we're sitting at about a 6.9 nationally on the average and there's some other things that'll happen that'll impact mortgage rates, but the hope is that tariffs will. You know, there's going to be an element of this as long as this current administration's in office, it would seem at least. So.

Breandon Bland:

What we want to see, at least from that perspective, is just a little bit more consistency, maybe a little bit more follow through, but ultimately what they're saying, whether good or bad, or whether you agree or don't agree not here to talk about that but we just need to kind of know where what we're operating within, because you know, once again, getting back to inflation, that can have an impact on inflation, right, like if the cost of things coming into the country is higher, right, and then that higher cost gets passed along to consumers. That is inflation, inflation, bad for mortgage rates. So that still exists out there too. All of this once again sounds bad. Listen, I don't try to deal in bad and good, I just try to deal in what's going on. Ultimately, I think the biggest thing as a buyer, what you can do right now with the current environment we're in, don't try and look at rates every day. Just hey, get pre-approved when you're talking to your mortgage lender, maybe have them give you a range of options.

Breandon Bland:

You know a good mortgage lender should do that for you anyway. But ask like, hey, today's rate, is this? What happens if rates go up three-eighths of a percent? You know, let's say that's my worst case scenario. Does that payment still work for me? If not, then okay, maybe we need to pay a little bit closer attention. If it still does work for you, even if we don't love it, then I don't know, I just wouldn't look at it every day because it's going to drive me nuts. So just kind of get a range of options that you feel comfortable with in and operate in that space, and I think that's probably the best way you can kind of go about your home search and, yeah, just keep focusing on what's important, which is finding the right home for you, staying within your budget. You know rates will do kind of what they're going to do, but that's, that's kind of what's going on with tariffs, if that makes sense.

Sarah Thress:

Yeah, no, I think it does, and I think it's just. It is interesting, no-transcript, cool. I was approved for $500,000, but what does that actually mean monthly payment-wise? And then, are you comfortable with that? If you're not, tell them what you're comfortable with and then you figure out what you actually, you know, could afford, and so that number may be drastically different than what you were pre-approved for based on your gross income. And so I think it's kind of the same with this.

Sarah Thress:

You know, instead of sitting there and going, oh well, yesterday it was 6.6. I can't look for houses now, because now it's over seven, like, no, you can, you know, like it's going to be a little bit of a difference, but it's not going to be astronomically difference unless for some reason, we go from six to over 10. Then, yes, we are going to see like an astronomical difference. But you know, I think again, like you said, asking for that range, $350,000 house, because that's the payment that I'm most comfortable with, if it was at 6% or 6.2% or whatever, what would that look like versus 7.2%? What does that look like? You know?

Sarah Thress:

And then just make sure you're comfortable in that range, because we don't have a crystal ball. We can't tell you that today's the day to lock it in because it's never going to change, like, and you know, and there's always so many different variables. So you know, I think to your point, it's just, instead of sitting there and freaking out about what the interest rate is, find the perfect house for you. Find, you know, like, the location that you want, find all the things that you want, and then we'll make it work. And you know, if, for whatever reason, that interest rate makes it too high for it to work for you, great, then we'll find you something else Like no one wants you to buy a house that you can't afford, that you're going to, you know, end up defaulting on, like I know you and I don't ever want that for people.

Breandon Bland:

So yeah, a hundred percent, I think yeah. One of the things I talk to my clients about, you know, is like, once again, like we're trying to simplify things that make them more difficult. So, you know, I really try to understand like the monthly payment range they're trying to stay within. And when they're out looking at homes and they tell me hey, brendan, I'm going to look at you know one, two three main street.

Breandon Bland:

Um, you know we'll just run the scenarios and you know I'll say hey, listen guys, this is right within the range that we talked about. We got you pre-approved. Enjoy looking at it. Have fun looking at it. Just know that if we win this house, the monthly payment is going to be in that range and we'll figure out how to set it up once you get in contract.

Breandon Bland:

But that's really what we try to do, and if it's outside of that range, we have that conversation too. So I really think that's what. If I was a buyer right now, that's what I would focus on figuring out what that month of payment range is, communicating that to your lender, to your realtor, and then, when you're- out looking at a home. Hey, are we in that range? Great, then, enjoy your time looking at the house. That's what I would say.

Sarah Thress:

Yeah, I love that, I love that. And since we are deep in spring market right now, you know I would just love again no crystal balls here, so you know, but I would just love to hear kind of what you're, what you're seeing so far in spring market and maybe any advice you have and what you kind of think may happen over, you know, the rest of spring market, yeah.

Breandon Bland:

Yeah. So you know from where I sit. I mean it's definitely picking up right. I mean we're seeing a lot more activity. People are out there getting pre-approved you know mortgage loan applications for pre-approval are up. People are out looking at homes. So it's definitely picked up, which is what we would expect this time of year, regardless of kind of what other factors are impacting the market. So that's good. I mean we're in a healthy time. That's what we would expect.

Breandon Bland:

I was actually just looking at the stats, because NAR just released their most recent stat, or National Association of Realtors just released their most recent stats from March, kind of talking about what's going on there. So I think there's good news for both buyers and sellers, based on what I saw. So from a buyer's perspective, I think the really good news is that inventory of unsold existing homes jumped from month to month. So that's good. I mean there's more homes available for you to look at and try and go buy and ultimately get the contract on buy and ultimately getting the contract on. Right now we're sitting at about this is nationally right, real estate is hyper-local but nationally about four months worth of supply, which is, you know, that's good, that's better than you know, certainly, a couple of years ago we were well under a year's supply or, excuse me, well under two months supply. Right now we're over four. So right now nationally they're showing 1.3 million homes in the market. So once again, for the longest time, especially during COVID, we were well under a million homes. So from a buyer's perspective, I think that's good news.

Breandon Bland:

Now, obviously, depending on what market you're in, things can look a little bit different, right. You know, in some areas around central Ohio where Sarah and I are located, we're seeing hyper, hyper activity. You know homes going, you know multiple offers going to the mask, appraisal gaps, that whole thing, and then some areas, you know, at some price points we're seeing homes sit a little bit longer. And so it kind of depends, right, I think there's a lot of competition right now for folks who are trying to buy maybe that second home. Right, hey, we had that first time home buyer home, we have that home. Now we're trying to buy that next home. That's kind of like, hey, we're going to live here for 10 years. Right, we're going to try and raise our kids here, maybe get them through grade middle school. I'm seeing competition in that area a lot right now, whatever that looks like in your market. So I think that's something to think about.

Breandon Bland:

If that's you, what can you do to put yourself in a position to be competitive in that space? If you have a home to sell, can you do it non-contingent? If you do need to be contingent, what are some of the other things you can do to put yourself in a in a competitive situation? Um, work with a great realtor? Certainly. Work with a good lender? Um, you know, kind of know your numbers. I think that's really important. Um, and then what else? Um, yeah, I mean, I think that's the big thing. I'm just trying to take a look and see if my notes, if there's anything else I thought kind of stood out. Yeah, I mean, as we kind of get a little bit deeper into spring and early summer, I think, yeah, it's still going to be, it's going to pick back up a little bit more. So, yeah, I mean, just continue to put your investment forward as a buyer.

Breandon Bland:

Oh, as a seller here's, I think this is good news if you're a seller, because I know it's talking about buyers primarily. For the 21st month in a row, home prices have gone up month over month. So the median existing home sales price climbed 2.7% from March of 2024. So right now, across the whole country not just here in Central Ohio, but across the whole country median sales price is just under $404,000. So that's the 21st month in a row that sales price has gone up. So if you're a seller and you're thinking, oh okay, well, brendan just said homes, there's more inventory Maybe now is not a good time to sell Definitely not the case. Homes are still selling at a premium. They're still selling for higher than they ever have before. So if you're thinking about selling for any number of reasons, it's still a great time to do it.

Breandon Bland:

Obviously, springtime is one of the best times to put your house on the market. Sarah can tell you why that is. But yeah, that's what I'm seeing. Does that kind of line up with what you're seeing, sarah? Um, yeah, that's what I'm seeing. Does that kind of line up with what you're seeing, sarah, and what you're what you think?

Sarah Thress:

Yeah, absolutely, because, um, it's interesting, I have, um, I have a buyer that was able to get um into contract on a house, um, you know, in a, in an area that's not. So I'm trying to think of, like, how to like say this so there are certain areas within central Ohio that are, you know, very competitive. Everybody wants there, everybody, you know, wants in that school district with the those taxes, things like that. And I have a buyer now that was like looking at areas that were not in those areas and and he was able to get into contract for 20,000 under asking and still is able to ask for remedies of things that you know we found wrong, but it had been on, it had been on the market for a while and you know we were able to do that. So, but previously we had been looking at houses that were in highly competitive areas and and you know he kept like, he kept losing out, and so it was nice to be able to show him like, hey, if we look at homes, because he had a very, very short window of budget, and so I was like, if we look at homes that have been on the market for a little bit, you know, which is not every area here in central Ohio, but if we look at those and we find those and they fit what you're looking for, especially in that like first time home buyer price point, then you know we can get things like this. But on the flip side, I have, you know, a seller who, um, you know, we listed one day uh had 40 showings in two days, um had multiple offers and were in contract 42,000 over asking, you know, and he was like floored but you know, because he didn't expect to even get his asking price.

Sarah Thress:

But again, this is where talking with your realtor, figuring out, you know, like, what is the best plan for you, is going to be the best. And so you know any of my other people that are looking to you know list of my other people that are looking to you know list, in the spring. I'm having that same conversation with them, just like I would, no matter whether it was spring market or not. I'm always going to have that conversation of like, hey, here's what things are looking like in your neighborhood, here's all the comparable properties, here's all the things. And here's where I recommend we list to let things you know like, let the market tell us what your house is worth, let the market drive up the price. And you know, sometimes I have sellers that take me up on that and they're like, yeah, and I have others that are like, nope, we have to list at the very top point that we want to get and that's it, and occasionally that works. Most of the time it's just going to sit there and you're going to end up doing a price reduction.

Sarah Thress:

But it's interesting to me, though, in spring market there are so many buyers that are coming out because everyone wants to get into their new house before the end of the school year so that they can start If they have kids.

Sarah Thress:

They're trying to get their kids acclimated. They have the summer to make new friends. They have, you know, time to get used to this neighborhood, and if that means they're switching schools, it gives them a chance to, you know, get used to it before they start their school year, instead of just like bam, bam, bam. You know, we got to move in the middle of the year or, hey, we're moving in the fall, which means we started a new school or we started our old school and now we have to switch and we have to be the new kid, you know, like two months into the, into the school year. So a lot of times that's what I see is driving people, you know. It's just that you know making sure that they're especially in spring market, making sure they're getting in before the end of the school year so that they can make these transitions easier.

Breandon Bland:

Yeah, that was interesting what you said about pricing strategy. I heard someone maybe was used to telling me this. A lot of times, when you're setting the price at a certain level it's high as a seller you're looking for that one offer, just that one offer, and sometimes that can involve a lot of waiting, but you're waiting for that one offer.

Breandon Bland:

And if you get it great and sometimes you know that can involve a lot of waiting, but you're waiting for that one offer. And if you get it great, and then if you maybe price it a little bit lower, what you're looking for is, you know, multiple offers to kind of drive it up and maybe it gets up to that one offer level you could have been at, or maybe it doesn't. But I guess a lot of times I think, from a pricing strategy standpoint, part of it's like what your goal is right, because I'm sure you have some sellers, sarah, who are like, yeah, we'll sell if it makes sense. They're not super, super motivated to do it, but if the right person comes along, right price, they'll do it right and they can kind of set the terms where they want to do the thing. And then as a buyer you walk into that situation. You're like, okay, these people aren't super motivated. So it's like what do I got to do to get over the hump with these guys or get to where they are willing to be?

Breandon Bland:

And then you have some folks the opposite situation hey, what you just said. We have kids that are going to be in the school district. We have to sell right, so we're going to price the sell and so then as a buyer, once again you have to be ready to walk in that situation Like okay, hey, we're going to be coming up against a bunch of other people. So I think it's yeah, it's interesting from a seller's perspective, kind of how you price things, and from a buyer's perspective, when you work with your realtor, they should be able to tell you like hey guys, yeah, this house is priced pretty high and I think this is why these people aren't super motivated.

Breandon Bland:

So we're going to be competitive. We got to get ready to kind of put our best foot forward here, kind of thing. But yeah, that's interesting. A couple of things I was thinking about too. Well, if you give me another 90 seconds here, just from a buyer's perspective too, I think some things you can think about when you're out trying to find opportunities. I think if you pay attention to what's going on in your local market, maybe, like listen to the news even you might be able to pick up some opportunities. So, for example, like if you hear like hey, new employers coming to this area and it's really exciting opportunity and a lot of investment like that that could be great right If you're moving, if you live in that area, but that could also draw a lot more people to that area too and create a lot more competition.

Breandon Bland:

And if you're competitive and adverse meaning you don't really want to have a lot of competition then maybe that's not an area you're going to focus on as much or vice versa.

Breandon Bland:

Maybe you want to be in that area because you see a lot of growth. So I think if you kind of pay attention, you might be able to pick up on some things like that and communicate that to your realtor. Similarly, there's an area here in central Ohio I'm not going to get into which school district it is right now but they're kind of fighting to get a levy up right now and it had a little bit of a challenge getting that done. Just from some of the folks I've worked with in that area that you know they've talked about like hey, homes are sitting a little bit longer. And you know they've talked about like hey, homes are sitting a little bit longer. And you know, anecdotally, they think it's because people are kind of waiting to see what happens with that levy.

Breandon Bland:

Now, maybe you don't have kids and that's not a big concern for you right now, and if you know that people are kind of sitting on the fence waiting to see what happens, there might be a time period where you kind of sneak in and say, hey, these homes are sitting a little bit longer because other people are waiting, because they have kids. I don't have kids, I'm not worried about it. Now, sidebar, you should care about the school district where you are, because that has an effect on the property value of the home over time. But if we're just looking at it, hey, I'm trying to get the contract in a home that's going to fit my lifestyle. That's something you can know if we just pay attention.

Breandon Bland:

And then another tip I've kind of given to some folks is, if you're having a little bit of a difficult time getting your offer accepted, maybe look into some of the areas where new builds are happening and look for homes that are in the community that are not a new build, that are being sold again, because a lot of times what happens is other buyers who want to do a new build. They're only focused on the new builds. But if you don't necessarily care that the home isn't brand new literally the day you walk in, but it's still relatively new, it's nice, got a lot of features by the way, it's going to be priced under what the new builds are going for you might find that you're going to have a little bit less competition in that neighborhood, because most people are in that neighborhood to buy that new build not to buy that existing home that was built two years ago and you can typically negotiate with those sellers because they're selling for a reason right.

Breandon Bland:

They might need a move. Something might've happened, so I think that's another good tip, too, for a buyer right now is maybe look in some of those new build communities where an existing newer home is on the market. Maybe you can get a deal that way.

Sarah Thress:

Yeah, yeah. No, I totally agree, cause I've had situations like that where, you know I had, I had a seller last year that had purchased a brand new home and within the first year their situation changed and you know they were relocated for work to, you know, to California, so not even like close commute. They were like we got to sell, you know, and so it's. You know they're competing with the new builds which have like the lower interest rates and the you know all the things. So it is, you know, a little bit difficult for the seller, but that's a really good thing for the buyer because they can come in and they can get a house. I mean, with that one it was like, oh, it's only a year old, it still has all its warranties, okay, cool, and I don't have to wait for it to be built. Done, correct.

Breandon Bland:

Yeah, yeah, I think there's really good opportunities there. If you've been looking for existing homes and exactly what you just said, it's like, hey, there are opportunities out there like that, right now, you don't have to wait for it to be built. The sellers are motivated, right, um, which there's not many sellers that you're going to find any more, more more motivated Someone who's selling a relatively new home.

Sarah Thress:

So so yeah, I think that's a good opportunity if you're out trying to figure out you know how do I get in contract right now?

Sarah Thress:

Yeah, yeah, I love it. Hopefully this is helpful. No, it's always helpful and I love it. Uh, and I didn't think it was long-winded at all because I think that you brought so much value that, uh, it doesn't matter. Um, you know how long it took you to to say that you brought such good value that, um, I, hopefully everyone that's listening thinks the same thing. And uh knows that you know they just got a really good lesson on their car ride.

Breandon Bland:

Sweet. Well, I'm always happy to, always happy to be on and thank you again for the opportunity and hopefully, everyone's having a. It's I don't, once again, depending where you are. You know, here in central Ohio we've had some pretty had a pretty brutal spring weather wise and we finally catch some good weather. So I hope everyone had a nice Easter and is enjoying some nice weather, wherever you are.

Sarah Thress:

Yeah, I love it, me too, me too. Well, thank you so much. It's always a pleasure to have you on and you know I love that whenever I reach out and ask you if you'll you'll come share your knowledge, you're always up for it. So, thank you, I appreciate that. Yeah, yeah, and anyone that's listening just wanted to let you know also.

Sarah Thress:

Brendan and I collaborated on a first time home buyer course and it's a master class, so it is very much. It's intended to be a way for you to take the class that we've been teaching for years, but take it on your own time, it's completely free. We literally just wanted to get as much information out to people because we know that, being a first time home buyer, you're kind of an underdog in the real estate world and we all you know he and I both love supporting underdogs and wanting to sure that you feel less overwhelmed and find it easier. So in the show notes I will have a link to that course. So if that's something that resonates with you or resonates with anyone that you think, please feel free to share that. Again, it's a free resource that we just want to make sure gets in the hands of anyone that is thinking about purchasing a house. So thank you so much.

Sarah Thress:

I really appreciate you guys tuning in. If you enjoyed what you heard, please make sure that you are leaving a review. I'm trying to get as many five-star reviews as possible, because that helps to boost everything and so that more people get to hear this. But also feedback is a gift. Also, make sure that you're sharing this with others, because that is the greatest compliment that you can give Brendan and myself. Also, make sure you are following along. So hit that subscribe button so that you never miss another episode. Thanks so much and we'll see you next time on Come to Find Out.