The Sky’s the Limit – The Story of The Willis Tower & Guess That Term!

This week on The Rent-ish Podcast, Patrick and Zach go way up...figuratively. They dive into Proptology with a deep look at the legendary Willis Tower, from its record-breaking height to the crazy design secrets that made it possible. Then, things get competitive with the real estate true or false segment, where Zach has to guess the real estate term before Patrick schools him on it.

Smart takes, questionable guesses, and a few sky-high laughs, don’t miss this one. 

Follow and subscribe so you never miss the latest in real estate trends, tips, and market moves. Got a question you want answered on air? Email us at questions@therentishpod.com

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Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:03

What's going on, everyone? Welcome to season two of the Rentish Podcast. I'm Zach and I'm here with my co-host Patrick.

SPEAKER_00 0:09

We're two rookies chasing the dream of real estate investing. In this podcast, we'll talk about property management, wild stories, and everything in between. We don't know at all yet.

SPEAKER_02 0:17

But that's the point. We're learning as we go, just like you. We'll bring in the experts to educate and inform us, and we'll figure it out together. So let's laugh, learn, and dive into real estate side by side.

SPEAKER_00 0:27

I'm gonna be honest, I was so close to saying what up again. I know.

SPEAKER_02 0:31

Well, I can hear it in your tone of voice because you always go, We're too rookies. And you're like, I just can't help. Frantically. Just clicking through every tab. Yeah. Where's the file?

SPEAKER_01 0:46

Where's the file?

SPEAKER_02 0:48

Um uh well, I'm glad you're here. Glad you didn't say what up, but uh you know, RIP to the what up. Yeah. Unfortunately they're professionals now. We are professionals. How's your day going?

SPEAKER_00 0:56

Uh that's good. College professor asked me to come in and speak to his uh his class, and they did not care at all.

SPEAKER_02 1:04

Yeah, really? Did they ask you to speak about property management and real estate?

SPEAKER_00 1:08

I talked about no, it wasn't specifically about that. I was just kind of like working after college and um in media, actually. And so I talked about the podcast and how I'm kind of working in media in with the podcast.

SPEAKER_01 1:18

Yeah, true media professionals over here. You're like, where's the document? I can't find the document. I work in media. Well, that's good.

SPEAKER_00 1:27

I I plugged the Rentish podcast, so maybe some juniors in college who have a portfolio. Our target demo.

SPEAKER_02 1:33

That's our target demo right there. It's like kids in kids that can't afford their buy property.

SPEAKER_00 1:37

Who knows? Maybe one of them is actually gonna listen to this episode. Hi. We'll see.

SPEAKER_02 1:40

Well, hey, thank you for listening. If you if you are listening to this episode and you were one of the kids that Patrick was teaching earlier today, feel free to email your question over to questions at the rentish pod.com. While you're doing stuff on your computer device, go ahead and follow us on your podcast platform of choice. Just search for the Rentish Pod and you'll find us there. Like us, hit the subscribe button if you can, and be there's like a little notification thing on your podcast services. Go ahead and click that so that you're notified when new episodes drop of the show. And follow us on socials at therentish pod.

SPEAKER_00 2:11

Phenomenal segues, question.

SPEAKER_02 2:14

Thank you very much. I'm nothing I'm nothing if I'm not a good segue. That's pretty much what college taught me. Alright, well, we got a jam-packed episode. We're gonna do propology and talk about the Willis Tower, but we're also gonna play a game. So we're gonna flip the script though. Patrick has a game that he's gonna play with me.

SPEAKER_00 2:30

Yeah, I wish I was the one playing, but it's okay. I'll I'll be there.

SPEAKER_02 2:34

You gotta be fair. You gotta trade off. Not ever, not ever not you can't play all the games.

SPEAKER_00 2:37

I'll be the facilitator of fun this time. I'll let you have the fun and I'll facilitate that. The fauf.

SPEAKER_02 2:42

The facilitator of fun. I'm the fauf. I love that. Well, we're gonna talk about the Willis Tower in propology. Sweet. So are you familiar with the Willis Tower? Duh. Duh?

SPEAKER_00 2:58

Yeah, I

Willis Tower

SPEAKER_00 2:59

mean, I feel like it's a pretty famous tower. Yeah, right.

SPEAKER_02 3:01

It's a pretty famous tower. Yeah. Well, some people might not even know. I mean, well, it's like we're getting, you know, I'm getting older, but like for a long time when I was a kid, it was not known as the Willis Tower. So I think if you told someone, do you know what the Willis Tower is, I bet you there's still a bunch of Americans out there, people around the world, that just don't know what it is. Still. That no, that's fair. Maybe one of the most significant building name changes in history.

SPEAKER_00 3:24

Yeah, I don't really get I was really young when that happened. I remember my mom kind of like saying, I forget if she was, I don't know if she was pissed off or what, but it was like, I just remember being a kid and being like, like, as like a little like who cares? It's the name of a building, you know.

SPEAKER_02 3:40

Yeah, it was like uh when uh Pay when uh Paul Brown Stadium became Paycore Stadium.

SPEAKER_00 3:46

That was not a big deal. I wasn't in Cincinnati at the time. Was that a big deal? Yeah, it was a big deal. It was a big deal.

SPEAKER_02 3:51

Named after the founder of the team, Paul Brown, Paul Brown Stadium. It was that that name for a long time, and then all of a sudden they bought the company bought the naming rights and named it, changed it to PayCorp. Yeah, which is just the absolute worst. By the way, no producer musse here on this episode. Instead, we have co-producer Elliot, who's hanging out, though he still doesn't have a mic, so you just have to trust that he's there. Feel his spirit. Can you feel it?

SPEAKER_00 4:17

Weren't you like upset about the HBO Max name change?

SPEAKER_02 4:20

I wasn't really upset about it, more so than I thought that it was just like just the silliest thing ever. It's like we're so HBO is our premier streaming service, and we've been called HBO Max for years. Now we're just gonna change it to Max. I was like, that is the literally the lamest name that you could possibly go with. And it was such a bad decision that they changed it back like a couple months later.

SPEAKER_00 4:44

Yeah, I recall. I remember you were wearing an HBO Max shirt, and we're like, we're so back. We're back.

SPEAKER_02 4:48

I've got I've got my HBO Max shirt.

SPEAKER_00 4:51

What are your thoughts on the Willis the Willis?

SPEAKER_02 4:55

What are my thoughts on the Willis Tower nature? Let me go ahead and give the introduction uh that's been rolling for about 10 minutes now. Oh shit. Yeah, we gotta get with it. Uh the Willis Tower, formerly known, of course, as the Sears Tower. That was that whole discussion leading up to that one sentence. Uh is one of the most iconic landmarks in Chicago and probably one of the most recognizable skyscrapers in the world. Standing tall at 1,450 feet, not including the antennas, it held the title of World's Tallest Building for nearly 25 years after its completion in 1973. Visitors today can experience Skydeck Chicago on the 103rd floor, offering breathtaking views across four states. And, if you're feeling brave, you can step onto the ledge, a glass balcony that extends 4.3 feet outside the building.

SPEAKER_00 5:40

That's very ominous.

SPEAKER_02 5:41

The ledge. The ledge. The ledge. So, Patrick, you've been to Chicago. Yes. You've seen the Willis Tower, but you've not been inside it.

SPEAKER_00 5:48

Yeah, I've seen it from the ground. I've never been up there. Yeah. What about you?

SPEAKER_02 5:53

I've been to Chicago many times. Of course, I've seen the building many times, and I went in it once. I went up to the sky deck once.

SPEAKER_00 5:59

Was it cool?

SPEAKER_02 6:01

It's a view of Chicago. I mean, uh that's I love Chicago. Yeah. Beautiful city, lots of fun stuff to do, great food, great culture. The lake is pretty. So it's like if you go up in the Willis Tower, you're gonna see a good view of a bunch of buildings, skyscrapers, the flat sprawl of the Chicagoland area, which always has been the craziest thing to me, is just like Chicago just goes on.

SPEAKER_01 6:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 6:23

Forever. Like it's like burbs and burbs and burbs, and it just like stretches on forever. Well, but it's a cool view, but it's not necessarily it's kind of like how. So I've been up in the Eiffel Tower. Yeah. You pay all this money to go up in the Eiffel Tower, and then you're looking at a view that's not really Paris's skyline is defined by the Eiffel Tower. Right. So when you're in it, it's not like you're like, oh, it's just a city.

SPEAKER_00 6:45

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 6:46

So it's like it's a cool view. You're high up there, but also kind of Chicago looks to me a very specific way, and that's like the long strip, all the big buildings. Right. Uh, and the Willis Tower is like a defining object in that skyline. So it's a cool view. Uh, I will say the ledge is uh pretty freaky.

SPEAKER_00 7:04

Uh yeah, I I definitely could not do that.

SPEAKER_02 7:06

I'm not really even that afraid of heights, like roller coasters don't bother me, skyscrapers, nothing, you know, doesn't really bother me whatsoever. But I will say that it is very unnerving stepping out onto clear glass. Yeah. Uh and like just seeing nothing below you. I was just like, I was like, I had you know, yeah, have you ever heard of the movie called Vertigo? Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 7:27

Oh, I love Vertigo. I love I dude, I saw it in 70 millimeter like film print. Oh yeah. Yeah, yeah, dude. I love that movie so much. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 7:36

I was getting real like the dolly, whatever that dolly zoom. Yeah, the dolly zoom. Yeah. When when you step on the ledge, it's like, and then your stomach starts turning a little bit. Yeah, uh, the Wills Tower. So a little bit of history facts. You want some history? I love history. The build that convinced me. The building was commissioned by Sears, Rosebuck, and Co., then at the time the world's largest retailer, who wanted a headquarters to house its 350,000 employees. Construction began in 1970, designed by architect Bruce Graham and structural engineer Foslur Raman Khan, which is a kick-ass name, of the firm Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill. Khan's revolutionary bundled tube structural system. That's like the wacky waving inflatable armplate with the two man for it or whatever. It allowed the tower to rise higher than any building before it while also using less steel than the Empire Staple.

SPEAKER_00 8:30

So it premiered like a new sort of building technique.

SPEAKER_02 8:33

Seems like it, yeah. Okay. Um and there's a lot of really cool little like facts about the about the building itself and how its structural system kind of plays into it being a really tall building.

SPEAKER_00 8:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 8:42

It officially opened in 1973 as the Sears Tower, was renamed the Willis Tower in 2009 after a London-based insurance broker, Willis Group Holdings, leased a significant portion of the building. And since uh Sears, poor Sears, poor Sears, not around anymore. Yeah. I remember Sears though. Were you old enough to remember like going to a Sears?

SPEAKER_00 9:03

I was a I was a wee lad. Uh so yeah, I I don't remember how old I I couldn't have been more than 10 the last time I went to Sears. Okay. I remember like what it what was it? It was an everything store.

SPEAKER_02 9:15

Kind of like Walmart, but it's right, but like a little bit more. It had a more of an emphasis on home goods and appliances. Appliances. So like I remember being at a Sears when I was very young, and my parents were buying the like our first like a new washing and drying machine. And so you would like walk through the aisles of like all this bright is shiny tech and like different stuff and like new home design stuff, like the cool like top of the line vacuum cleaners sucks anything in seconds. And it's like you have things like that or whatever, but it's like, yeah, they went famously went bankrupt, right? I I think the company went bankrupt, and now they're just completely gone.

SPEAKER_00 9:50

So about Kmart, that's another one, right? I think Kmart still exists. Okay, is it a is that in a similar category of Sears?

SPEAKER_02 9:58

I uh no, I Kmart I would say is more like grocery aligned, while Sears is a lot more utility aligned, I would say. Home goods, lamps, shades, fans, ceiling fans, vacuums, and then like Elliot said, like the house building kits or whatever, you could buy stuff through there. I remember like it was a joke in like The Simpsons, like, oh, are you registered at Sears? Like couples that were getting married or whatever would be like that, would be like a big registry place for folks.

SPEAKER_00 10:23

Okay. Well, so not only did Sears go go bankrupt, they also lost the their tower name.

SPEAKER_02 10:29

They also lost the tower name. It is sad. I remember that being a big news story. I mean, like 2009 must have been a slow news news year, but uh yeah, I definitely remember that being a thing. Like everyone was like, What? They're renaming that it's like it was always this Sears Tower.

SPEAKER_00 10:44

Was it yeah, was it set was it like a big deal because people were like, oh, poor Sears, they just can't catch a break.

SPEAKER_02 10:50

I think I I don't know why. Uh I think it was just like a bit, it's like a historic American fixture. Yeah. One of the most important, biggest, well-known buildings in the country suddenly gets a name change. It would be like them deciding that the Empire State Building was now called Yeah, Google. That is perfect. Oh my that would be what would be the worst company to buy the Empire State Building. Nestle Tower. Nestle Tower. That's funny. I was thinking like, like, it's gotta be like some crappy insurance company like Acrochure Tower or something like that. Like that would be really bad.

SPEAKER_00 11:25

The Rentish Tower.

SPEAKER_02 11:26

We should see if we can Well, yeah, we'll put it we'll put a bid. We're in Empire State Building. If you're looking, we're interested. But yeah, while the name change was met with uh quite a bit of backlash, many Chicagoans still affectionately call it the Sears Tower to this day. I know that for a fact. I know that there are still a lot of people that are just like out of force of habit, yeah, still refer to it as the Sears Tower. It's like Twitter and X. Yeah. Yeah, kind of. It is kind of all right. Some more fun facts about the building. It was once the tallest building in the world. From 1973 to 1998, the Sears Tower reigned as the world's tallest building until it was surpassed by the Patronus Towers in Malaysia. I thought a Patronus was the thing that you conjured to ward off the demons.

SPEAKER_00 12:06

Yeah, I'm gonna be honest, I have no idea what that word is. But Expecto Patronus. Are you sure that you're thinking are you thinking of Exorcism? I was thinking of Harry Potter.

SPEAKER_02 12:14

Oh. They cast a Patronus Charm, which is your animal that wards off the dead the Dementors. I'm not deep enough in the lore like you. I don't even know what the Patronus Towers are in Malaysia. Like I've never heard of that.

SPEAKER_00 12:25

I thought the Burj Khalifa was the tallest.

SPEAKER_02 12:27

Well, I think it was at the time in 1998 that Patronus Towers surpassed it.

SPEAKER_00 12:32

Okay, yeah, this looks pretty tall. Professional opinion looks pretty tall. I'll I'll I'll uh verify that fact. Yeah, please verify that. Based on this Google image.

SPEAKER_02 12:43

At the top of the tower, you can see four states from the top. On a clear day, visitors at the Sky Deck can see Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, and Michigan. Oh, that's crazy. Pretty cool. However, uh it you have to imagine, not that many clear, clear days in Chicago. Lake Effect City, lots of city. Call it the big old windy city. That's right. Yep. Yeah. And fun fact, you just led me right into the next bullet point, Pat. So give yourself a pat on the back. It sways in the wind. The the top of the tower can sway up to three feet in high winds. Oh man. But don't worry, it's designed for it. Skyscrapers like the Willis Tower are designed to be slightly flexible as to not break under the stress.

SPEAKER_00 13:26

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 13:27

I don't think three feet is enough that you would feel it. Okay. Like it's probably the just the most minor of like shifting going around up there, but it's like that seems feelable to me.

SPEAKER_00 13:39

Three feet, that's like this big. If I sway, I'm gonna sway three. I'm gonna sway three feet right now. I felt that.

SPEAKER_02 13:49

You just almost knocked the chair. Uh yeah, true, but like you have to imagine, like when the whole building is all connected and there's like a flat floor and support beams and stuff like that. It's like you know, the outside may like, you know, it may like move or whatever, but it's not. I don't think it also, I don't think it's like like moving like a yeah, I don't think it's wiggling. I think it's like probably like big burst of air. You could probably it would probably and then reset back to its normal.

SPEAKER_00 14:23

It's like the the earth is going around the sun at like you know hundreds of millions of miles per hour or something, but like we don't feel it. Is it like yeah? We're just chilling. Some scientific yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 14:37

I believe it. Yeah, so the elevators are also lightning fast. Some of the tower's elevators travel at speeds of 1600 feet per minute or 18 miles per hour. That's pretty crazy. I don't remember the I don't really remember the elevator ride being like that specifically speedy. Wow. Not quite like uh Tower of Terror vibes. That'd be pretty freaky. The ledge attracts thrill seekers. This was actually added in 2009. The ledge's glass boxes let you step out and look straight down. And you said you wouldn't do this.

SPEAKER_00 15:07

No, absolutely not. I'm not a fan of heights in that way. No, no, no, thank you. My legs are shaking just thinking about it. No money in the world? I mean, no, you can give me money. How much money? Like it wouldn't take that much money, actually. 50 bucks.

SPEAKER_02 15:20

Uh you have to stand there, look directly down, and face outside for five minutes.

SPEAKER_00 15:27

Uh 50 bucks. 75, we got a deal.

SPEAKER_01 15:32

Uh okay.

SPEAKER_00 15:32

75. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 15:34

We'll have to look at maybe we'll do episode episode 100 of the Rentish live from the Willis Tower. I feel like if we say that every time we talk about a building and there's no shot. We're trying to, we're trying to drum up interest.

SPEAKER_00 15:44

Oh, yeah. Oh, whoops. Yeah. Let's do that.

SPEAKER_02 15:48

Uh and uh another fun fact, it has its own zip code. The Willis Tower is so massive that it was assigned its own zip code, 60606, in case you were curious. Oh, that's crazy. Remove those zeros. Bum, bum, bum! You got a problem. And then the thing that'll probably be good for us to talk about Hollywood loves it. The tower has appeared in many, many films, probably the most famous of them being Ferris Bueller's Day Off, which is probably also the most famous Chicago movie that exists. Transformers Dark of the Moon and The Dark Knight, where it served as the Wayne Enterprises building, which is pretty cool. Yeah. You had a take about Transformers before we started.

SPEAKER_00 16:23

No, I really have a take. I was just like, yeah, seeing Transformers Dark of the Moon when I was 11 years old was awesome. And you were over here just like pooping on the Transformers movies. It's like CG action figures banging against each other. Yeah, that's it's sweet when you're 11 years old. Sweet. Yeah, the movie's probably terrible now, but I When was the last time you tried to watch them? Try I mean, again, I was very young. Oh, so you haven't revisited them? No, I mean They don't have a criterion collection of Transformers. I've seen the first Transformers more recently, like when I was in high school, I still thought it was good. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 16:54

Interesting.

SPEAKER_00 16:54

But I I do remember like because there was like a whole like 45-minute battle scene in Chicago. Yeah, I do remember him pointing out the Willis Tower, and that was probably like the first time me hearing it after knowing about the change. And I was like, oh, they're respecting the name change.

SPEAKER_02 17:08

It's like meet us at the Bumblebee, we have to meet at the Willis Tower. And it's like, well, it technically it's called it was the Sears Tower, but they they renamed it last year. So we meet at the the Willis Tower, but it used to be the Sears Tower, and you're like in the theater, like, whoa, okay. I learned so much in that short amount of time. I mean, the Dark Knight, I mean, that might be Dark Knight, yes, there's no iconic, like ver. I mean, like Wayne Enterprise is being like a staple in Gotham City. That's a pretty cool effect of you. I mean, like, if you drive around Chicago in any respect, in any area town, you can immediately notice, like, it if you watch the Nolan trilogy of Batman movies, like so much of the striking similarities in like the buildings and the tunnels and the and the bridges and the train and the tower. It's like that city does kind of feel like Gotham when you're in it.

SPEAKER_00 17:58

Yeah. Or the Dark Knight trilogy feels like Chicago in some ways. Like I mean, we're gonna we're getting way off on a different tangent here, but I think the Batman, like Gotham in the Batman, feels more like, to me, like a distinct city of Gotham.

SPEAKER_02 18:16

Right, yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, like Nolan's version of Batman is always going to be linked with the city of Chicago. Yeah. While is the re Matt Reeves version of Gotham is much more like it kind of doesn't even feel like a real Right. It's kind of like a it's like he just created this place that never existed before. And it's yeah. So I think it's on the same page. Yeah. For sure. But yeah, a couple more things here. Oh, Ferris Bueller. I mean, like what more needs to be said? Love that movie. Great movie. It's classic.

SPEAKER_00 18:44

It's not my favorite, it's not my favorite uh John Hughes movie, though. Oh, no way. What it what Breakfast Club? Plains Trains and Automobiles. Duh. Followed by It's been a while since I've seen some of them.

SPEAKER_02 18:57

That is that seems like a hot now. I might be a normie, but that seems like a hot take to me. Planes Trains and Automobiles? Be the best John Hughes movie. That movie is amazing.

SPEAKER_00 19:06

Over the Breakfast Club? Breakfast Club is great. I like Breaking Clay. 16 Candles. Yeah. I mean, I like 16 Candles myself. Like, I would say, yeah, definitely Plains Trains and Automobiles, followed by Breakfast Club or Ferris Bueller's Day Off and probably a toss-up, I would say. Wow. What else did he do? Sixteen Candles. Can't hardly wait. I didn't see that one. I haven't seen some of his, like Uncle Buck. I haven't seen that. Oh, you've never seen Uncle Buck? No, no.

SPEAKER_01 19:29

That's a good movie.

SPEAKER_02 19:30

I didn't know John. John Hughes directed Uncle Buck. Yeah, yeah. Get the hell out of here. That's hilarious. I love that movie. Uh, last couple fun trivia facts here. Speaking of your fear of heights, Patrick, base jumpers just can't resist it. In 1981 and again in the early 2000s, Thrill Seekers parachuted off the buildings. Both people were arrested shortly after landing, which I think is funny. They're like, yeah! And then they get like cupped and put in the car immediately once they hit the channel. Oh, that sounds terrifying. So you wouldn't base jump. How much money would it take you to base jump off the So much money? So have you no skydiving for you? No, I'm not no. What about bungee jumping?

SPEAKER_00 20:07

Like, what do you mean but like like jump off a bridge or something? No, I'm not doing that. I'm not one of my friends like wanted to go skydiving for his bachelor trip. And me and my buddy, me and one of my friends were like, no, everyone else is down. And then they broke up before getting him in case. That is so not what I expected you to say. Tasha pull it.

SPEAKER_02 20:29

That's really funny. Alright. Well, it's home to thousands of workers. The building's over 3.8 million square feet of office space and houses more than 100 different companies. Uh its lighting reflects the Chicago spirit. And if you're in Chicago, you'll see the tower's antennas are lit in different colors to celebrate holidays, sports victories, and causes, turning the skyline into a giant message board. And that is the Willis Tower.

SPEAKER_00 20:52

So with the with the name change, I'm assuming that the did Sears have all of their offices?

SPEAKER_02 20:58

Like, was the entire tower all Sears employees, or did they also When they built the tower originally constructed it, Sears did intend for it to be completely comprised of Sears corpse.

SPEAKER_00 21:09

Okay. And then slowly over time they had a Yeah, okay. Yep.

SPEAKER_02 21:13

Then the roller coaster dipped down.

SPEAKER_00 21:14

So I'm assuming that's how naming towers work. Then you don't you don't own everything in the tower, but you might own the naming rights if you're a majority. Majority stakeholder or something like that, sure.

SPEAKER_02 21:24

Maybe. Seems like it. Okay. Alright. Chicago. Shout out to Shy City. Love, love me some Chicago. Love the greatest. Best one of the best cities in the Midwest. Um I want a hot dog now. Yeah, me too. Italian Italian beef. Dipped Italian beef. Sweet mercy. All right. About to transition over to the real estate game that Patrick has to play for me, but hold on a second. There's an incoming transmission that I'm getting, Patrick. This just in, we interrupt your regularly scheduled programming for an urgent update on this episode of Where in the World is our producer Moussei? Reports suggest Musse was last spotted mediating a heated HOA debate over whether flamingo lawn ornaments count as structural improvements. Moments later, witnesses say he was knee-deep in a basement, trying to prove that yes, that water feature is not an amenity, it's a leak. And finally, unconfirmed rumors place him showing a studio apartment so small the tenants have to step outside just to change their minds. Oh, and insiders confirm he's also off somewhere perfecting his stand-up comedy routine. Apparently, losing the work work fantasy league last year has turned him into a punchline machine in search of redemption. And that's the latest on our missing producer. We now return you to your regularly scheduled programming. I was not expecting that.

SPEAKER_00 22:44

No. Well, now

Real Estate True or False Game

SPEAKER_00 22:49

that we're back from that, um very important news bulletin. Uh yes, this segment is called real estate true or false. That's pretty dry. We're getting we're getting lazy here with these segment names.

SPEAKER_02 23:00

Well, Musei's not here to like live pitch names on these segments. So we have real estate true or false. Real estate true or false, yes. And last episode was Listing or Lie. Listing or lying. Listing or lying.

SPEAKER_00 23:12

That one's good. That is pretty good. Real estate true or false is real estate or fake estate. That's maybe. Go ahead and ask. Okay. So two of these are true, one of them's a lie. I'm gonna give you three of these, and you can tell me if the it's if the one I read is true or if it's I've played this game before.

SPEAKER_02 23:31

I think uh I think I got it. Locked in.

SPEAKER_00 23:35

Alright. The first statement is a hard money loan is typically provided by private investors or companies instead of banks. Okay. The second one is hard money loans usually have lower interest rates than conventional mortgages. Okay. And the third statement is hard money loans are often used for short-term investments like fix and flip projects. So two truths, one lie. Do you want me to reread any of those?

SPEAKER_02 24:06

Um, no, I'm just gonna kind of talk it out. So hard money is a very like that is an aggressive sounding real estate term, which makes me think that it's it has something to do with like I don't know, this is silly, I'm just talking it out. Like the term cold hard cash, like it's literally just like get money or take money or here is money. And the third one you read was like someone providing cash up front. So my instinct wants to say number three is the truth, and the other two are the lies.

SPEAKER_00 24:35

Well, there's two truths. So you didn't know. Oh, there's two truths.

SPEAKER_02 24:38

Yeah, is that one of the truths?

SPEAKER_00 24:39

I was explaining the rules. You're like, I know this game, I play this game. Damn, I got burned. Well, I'm sorry about that. So you think the third one, hard money loans are often used for short-term investments like fix and flip projects. You think that's true?

SPEAKER_02 24:53

I think that that's one of the truths.

SPEAKER_00 24:54

Okay, so you get one other truth then between a hard money loan is typically provided by private investors or companies instead of banks. And then number two, hard money loans usually have lower interest rates than conventional mortgages.

SPEAKER_02 25:07

So I think that it would have hard money sounds like it would have a higher interest rate. So I'm going with the first one being the other truth. And then the second one being the other truth. The second one's the lie.

SPEAKER_00 25:16

All right. We do have two truths and a lie, and you are absolutely 100% correct. Yay! And yeah, you had the right. I mean, even though you kind of pieced together what a hard money loan was, but the logic was sound. A hard money loan is a short-term asset-based loan secured by real estate, typically funded by private lenders instead of traditional banks. Got it. Think of it as fast cash for investors. So again, the cold hard cash, like kind of being like a quick, quick thing. Uh, so there are gonna be higher interest rates and fees, but quicker approvals. Okay. Kind of sounds sketchy to me. Like, I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 25:50

It sounds like it's a I mean, you're taking a gamble, but or not a gamble, but like it, I mean, you're taking a higher risk of it's a higher risk loan.

SPEAKER_00 25:59

Yeah, okay, that's probably better put than me just calling a whole term sketchy. Uh I don't know, it doesn't sound right to me, boss. I don't know about this one, guys. Um but yeah, so the the loan term is usually six to twenty four months, which obviously much much faster. The interest rates are often eight percent to fifteen percent, okay, which also seems higher than a typical even higher, even a high interest rate with a bank, that's like higher than that. Yep. And then the common uses for fix and flip or bridge loans where speed matters more than than long-term cost. Bridge loan. Yeah. No, bridge loan actually is a short-term loan used until a person or company secures permanent financing or uh pays an existing obligation. So yeah, bridges you to a real loan, I guess.

SPEAKER_02 26:43

The fix and flip thing is, I think, immediately the thing that I think summarizes this very well. So you're an investor, you want to quickly purchase a distressed property to be able to fund the renovations and then pay off the short-term loan after celivating it for a profit. Yeah. So it's like, I want to buy this home, I'm gonna fix it immediately. I'm not gonna sit on it, I'm just gonna immediately buy it, immediately fix it, get the loan taken care of, and sell the property before I start accumulating the high.

SPEAKER_00 27:09

Then like, yeah, that no, that that totally makes sense. And that definitely seems like the intended use of a hard, a hard money loan. Cool. All right, you crushed that. Term number two. Oh god, there's another one. Yeah, yeah, there's more. You're not of the woods. There's actually multiple more. So uh two truths and a lie. Again, two truths, one lie.

SPEAKER_02 27:30

Can I get guess what I'm gonna guess the definition is that some guy named Ernest has a bank account. Ernest's money.

SPEAKER_00 27:39

Earnest money is a deposit a buyer makes to show they're serious about purchasing a property.

SPEAKER_03 27:46

Hmm.

unknown 27:46

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 27:47

Number two, earnest money is always refunded to the buyer no matter what. And number three, earnest money is applied toward the buyer's closing cost or down payment if the deal goes through.

SPEAKER_02 27:58

So on the last time we played this game, you made a great point where you were like, definitives are always kind of a red flag for something not necessarily being true. Not always. Oftentimes. Oftentimes. Well, tell you what, I'm going that second one is the lie.

SPEAKER_00 28:13

Yeah, you're absolutely right. And you had the right, yeah. I mean, it's it's a little too obvious of a lie when it's just like always or never, easily. So tell me what an earnest loan is. So in earnest, earnest money, you mean apostrophe, yeah. Earnest money is like a good faith deposit made when a buyer's offer is accepted. It shows commit commitment to the purchase. I was actually talking to one of my buddies who just bought a house, and he was talking about he's like a down pay, he's like, it wasn't a down payment, it was just to show that I'm serious about the house. And I didn't know what that term was. Literally last night I was FaceTiming my buddy Jack, and now I know I should had we done the podcast yesterday, I'd be like, well, Jack, it's actually not a deposit, it's earnest money.

SPEAKER_02 28:55

I've never heard of that term before.

SPEAKER_00 28:56

I haven't either. I'll um I'll add that to the to the list of terms that I should know. But yeah, the the amount of earnest money, it's not, it's not obviously as high as a as a down payment, right? Uh, but it's usually one percent to three percent of the purchase price. Okay, got it. If the deal closes, it's credited toward the down payment and closing costs, so it's not just like sunk. Like obviously, if you're intended to intending to buy the house, it's it's gonna be used toward toward costs you have to pay anyways. If the buyer backs out without a valid contingency, then the seller may keep the earnest money. So interesting. Yeah, I think it's just like a safeguard to like you know, only keep people who are serious about a property from like, you know, getting far enough in the process.

SPEAKER_02 29:36

So do you think that earnest money is included in addition to closing costs, or is it usually lumped into like I don't think it's in addition.

SPEAKER_00 29:44

I think it's the thing that you pay first, and then as long as you don't back out, it's then it's part of everything. It gets applied. Dang, I really wish I'd known that term yesterday. Literally, like twel less than 24 hours ago, I I was in a situation where he's like, What's that called? It's not closing costs.

SPEAKER_02 30:00

You could have educated your friend.

SPEAKER_00 30:01

I know. All right. Term number three is brrrr. What? That's like literally the term. It's B R R R R. Four R's. B R R R Rr. Okay. Yeah. I think Mousse's making up terms.

SPEAKER_02 30:17

Is the is this a cold property? Brrrrr.

SPEAKER_00 30:20

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 30:22

It's when you buy a house near the North Pole. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 30:25

Okay. I'll give you the three statements. Brrr. B R R R R B R R R R. Four Rs.

SPEAKER_01 30:32

R R R R R R R The Dog's Barking out here.

SPEAKER_00 30:36

B R R R R R R is a strategy where you flip a property and sell it immediately. Okay. B R R R method is designed to recycle capital so investors can acquire more properties over time. And B R R R R R stands for buy, rehab, rent, refinance, repeat. What was the first one? So Burr is a strategy where you flip a property and sell it immediately. I think that's the lie. What makes you say that?

SPEAKER_02 31:07

Because the other two have a lot more like detail about them and it's kind of like a process. The first one just doesn't that doesn't sound like you would refer to it as anything other than like a buy and flip.

SPEAKER_00 31:19

And the other two with Burr's method is designed to recycle capital so investors can acquire more properties over time. And then Burr stands for buy, rehab, rent, refinance, repeat.

SPEAKER_02 31:28

Yeah, I'm I'm down with number one being the lie.

SPEAKER_00 31:31

Yeah, okay, you're right. I was trying to I was trying to sway you away from this because you're too good. But yeah, it's an investment strategy that helps investors scale quickly by reusing the same money. So cool. Rehab, rent, refinance, repeat. Burr. So yeah, you buy a property that's often undervalued, you rehab it to increase the value, you rent it out for steady income, you refinance to pull out equity, and you repeat it with another property. So think of it as turning one stack of cash into a whole portfolio by reusing that stack of cash.

SPEAKER_02 32:04

So according to Wikipedia, in terms of BRRR real estate, so in 1960, Eisenhower signed legislation establishing a new framework for income-producing real estate investment, merging the advantages of real estate ownership with those of stock-based investments. The legislation introduced the real estate investment trust, allowing everyday Americans to access the benefits of commercial real estate investment, which had previously been limited to large financial institutions and wealthy individuals. And this, I guess this developed into this strategy. I have no idea. I've never heard of that term before. Yeah. And uh yeah, that's a lot of R's. It makes sense, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 32:44

It's not a great acronym, but Burr, I guess it kind of works. Burr, as in I'm cold, so I would love to hear like uh like professional realtors or like real estate people being like, like, I I got some brrrr to do. Yeah, burlone.

SPEAKER_02 32:59

I wonder if they just say, like, oh, it's a burlone.

SPEAKER_00 33:02

Yeah, maybe burr.

SPEAKER_02 33:04

I doubt that they I doubt that they pronounce the letters individually. That might be a problem. That might be a problem.

SPEAKER_00 33:10

All right, and then the last one he Oh god, there's another one.

SPEAKER_02 33:13

Oh my god. That's a jump scare.

SPEAKER_00 33:17

Okay, first one, an appraisal contingency. That's the word, by the way. Oh an appraisal contingency allows a buyer to renegotiate or walk away if the property is appraised lower than the purchase price. Number two is if waived, the buyer must still purchase the property at the agreed price, even if the appraisal is lower. And number three is appraisal contingency only protects the seller, not the buyer.

SPEAKER_02 33:41

Again, I'm gonna go with the extremes and say number three is the lie. Yeah, you're right. So did I get a perfect score?

SPEAKER_00 33:52

Yeah, you gotta you crushed this, you did this, you did a good job. Um yeah, so an appraisal contingency is a clause in the purchase agreement that protects buyers from overpaying. If the appraisal is less than the purchase price, then the buyer can renegotiate or back out without losing earnest money, which we now know what that means. If waived, the buyer is on the hook for the difference, often out of pocket. Uh, so think of it as a price check safeguard to make sure the home is worth what you agreed to pay. Okay. You did well.

SPEAKER_02 34:22

Good too. You done good, good. You done, yep. Now let's blow this thing and go home. All right, cool. Well, thank you for playing the game with me, Patrick. We'll see.

SPEAKER_00 34:32

I think the play, you played. I facilitated. I was the foff.

SPEAKER_02 34:35

Oh yeah. Thanks for foffing me, and uh, I appreciate you for leading that segment. And uh maybe one of these days when we get producer Musei back in the script writing scene, he's gonna give us something'll actually be a challenge. You hear that, Musei? Do you hear that? While you're off galvancing, doing all sorts of stuff and working on your stand-up routine. Okay, thank you for listening to another episode of The Rentish Pod. It's been a fun one. Thanks for hanging out with me today. Patrick, did you have a good time?

SPEAKER_00 35:05

I had so much fun.

SPEAKER_02 35:07

Oh, yeah. Clip that, put that on socials. Uh yeah, remember, follow the podcast at the Rentish Pod on social media. Email questions at the rentish pod.com. Follow us on your podcast platform of choice. Like, subscribe, hit the notification bell, and give us a review. Five stars, ten stars, a bajillion stars, whatever you'd like to do, we'd appreciate it. And uh tell your friends about the rent-ish. If you have a friend that you're like, hey, this person owns an investment property, or maybe they're like a house flipper, or they're they do this, that, or the other, or they work in real estate, and it's like they might enjoy getting a little chuckle on their morning drive to work by listening to Zach and Patrick talk about properties. And then like, these morons. All right. Thank you everyone for listening. If you've listened to this far into the show, it means a lot. We appreciate each and every one of you. And until next time, I've been Zach, that's been Patrick. I stuttered. I'm Zach, that's been Patrick, and we'll see you next time. The Rentich Podcast is recorded in Cincinnati, Ohio, hosted by Patrick Giro and me, Zach Rotello. Produced by Mousse Gabermesco and Charlene Mulcendani. Edited by Elliot Mongenis. Theme song by me, Zach Rotello.