“Most Buyers Don’t Make It to Closing… And They Don’t Know Why”

🎙️ Podcast Episode 32 – Heavy SEO Description

In Episode 32 of Real Estate UnRaked, we break down one of the BIGGEST hidden problems in today’s housing market—why so many deals are falling apart AFTER going under contract… and what’s quietly destroying buyers’ budgets in 2026.

👉 This is the episode every buyer NEEDS to hear before making a move.

Hosted by Eric, Dane, Bridget, and Jaycee, this episode dives deep into the real deal killers and budget busters happening in today’s real estate market—especially here in Florida.

We’re talking about the stuff nobody warns you about 👇

💥 Deal Killers That Are Blowing Up Contracts:

•  Insurance issues killing deals mid-contract (Florida buyers—this is HUGE) 
•  4-point inspections, older roofs, and uninsurable properties 
•  HOA and condo surprises (yes… you can get DENIED) 
•  Appraisal gaps that buyers can’t cover—and sellers won’t fix 
•  Title issues, liens, open permits, and legal nightmares 
•  Final walkthrough disasters right before closing 

💸 Hidden Costs That Are Destroying Buyer Budgets:

•  Insurance premiums and deductibles shocking buyers after closing 
•  Property tax resets increasing monthly payments year one 
•  HOA + CDD fees stacking and killing affordability 
•  Maintenance costs (roof, HVAC, appliances) buyers don’t plan for 
•  Utility costs, pool maintenance, and lifestyle expenses adding up fast 

This episode exposes the truth about what it actually costs to own a home—not just buy one.

Because here’s the reality:
 👉 Getting under contract is NOT the hard part anymore.
 👉 Getting to closing—and surviving after—is where most buyers fail.

If you're buying a home in 2026, relocating to Florida, or trying to understand why deals keep falling apart—this episode gives you the real-world insight you won’t hear anywhere else.

At The Rakers Home Group at United Real Estate Gallery, we’re here to give you the real estate experience you deserve—and that means pulling back the curtain on what’s REALLY happening in today’s market.

📲 Make sure to LIKE, SUBSCRIBE, and FOLLOW us on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and LinkedIn for weekly real estate insights, market updates, and behind-the-scenes truth.

💬 Got a question about buying, selling, or the market? Drop it in the comments or DM us—we might feature it in the next episode!

**I do not own the rights to the music or sound bites used in this episode***

Transcript

SPEAKER_04 0:00

How many buyers do you think make it all the way to contract and still do not make it to closing? Because right now deals aren't falling apart at the offer. They're dying quietly halfway through the process and worse, right before closing.

SPEAKER_00 0:15

And the scary part, most of it has nothing to do with the house itself.

SPEAKER_03 0:19

It's the stuff nobody talks about, the fine print, the hidden costs, the oh, by the way, moments.

SPEAKER_02 0:25

The things that make buyers go from excited to stressed to completely backing out.

SPEAKER_04 0:29

So today we're not only breaking it down, but we're really diving into two things that are absolutely crushing buyers right now, the deal killers nobody warns you about, and the hidden costs that are quietly destroying budgets. Because if you don't understand these, you're not just risking a bad deal, you're risking no deal at all. So grab your coffee or something stronger on this one, and let's unrank it.

SPEAKER_00 0:52

Let's do it.

SPEAKER_03 1:07

Happy Monday.

SPEAKER_00 1:08

Yeah, Monday, Monday. Yay.

SPEAKER_04 1:11

Number 32.

SPEAKER_00 1:13

Wow, we're getting up there.

SPEAKER_04 1:14

Yeah, we are.

SPEAKER_03 1:15

Well, I can't wait until we're in episode 67, and you know all the kids are like, oh we know that.

SPEAKER_04 1:21

If somebody does that in 62. Nope.

SPEAKER_03 1:24

That's not the sweet line. Yeah, no, it doesn't hit.

SPEAKER_04 1:27

I just look at my daughter when she does that now. I'm like, nope, we're not doing that.

SPEAKER_03 1:30

Can you ask her what that means for me? Yeah, my age.

SPEAKER_04 1:33

Do you know what? It's it's from a rap group. And that's just this song.

SPEAKER_03 1:38

What rap group?

SPEAKER_04 1:39

I don't know. They probably don't even rap.

SPEAKER_03 1:44

I get Kway to explain this to me.

SPEAKER_04 1:46

I'll have her explain it. We'll have to hold a class or something. Yeah, let's let's do it.

SPEAKER_00 1:51

All right, it's the usual time, dad joke time. Uh oh. And of course, I must go first, shouldn't I?

SPEAKER_03 1:58

You because you are a dad. Well, that's you should go first.

SPEAKER_00 2:01

All right. So today I started an argument with my wife while riding in an elevator. I was wrong on so many levels. Wow. Ladies.

SPEAKER_03 2:12

Okay. Okay. Okay. We'll see about this one. What do you call it if your mother is less than five foot three in height? A minimum.

SPEAKER_00 2:23

Oh wow. Jason.

SPEAKER_02 2:27

What do you call a sleeping dinosaur? Sleeposaurus. A dinosaur. Oh, that's kind of cute.

SPEAKER_04 2:36

That's nice. I like that one. You know, don't trust atoms. They make up everything. Oh, wow.

SPEAKER_03 2:44

You can't trust them. Can't trust them atom. I can't trust myself. That's the case.

SPEAKER_04 2:50

I'm not gonna lie, Dane, that deodorant joke last week. Yeah, the deodorant deodorant joke was a pretty good one. That almost topped the cross eyed teacher.

SPEAKER_03 3:00

I think cross eyed teachers might be able to do that.

SPEAKER_04 3:03

That one just hit wrong this differently, and we were just you're already in a goofy mood.

SPEAKER_00 3:08

It was just during that episode.

SPEAKER_04 3:12

Alright, so we're gonna be talking about deal killers nobody warns buyers about. And let's start off with the stuff that blows deals away. And I'm not talking about the obvious stuff, like you didn't qualify, or you know, the houses didn't qualify for the loan or whatever, but I'm talking about the things that sneak up mid-contract and completely derail everything. First of all, and this is important for people in Florida, which is it's important for people everywhere, but Florida especially, the insurance deal killers.

SPEAKER_03 3:40

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 3:41

And we're gonna talk about Florida real quick about that. So insurance can kill your deal after you're under contract.

SPEAKER_03 3:46

Yeah, and the buyers don't realize it really until it's like too late.

SPEAKER_04 3:50

Yeah. So what usually hits that? Older roofs usually is an instant red flag.

SPEAKER_03 3:55

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_04 3:56

And we see that in inception. I mean, we usually already kind of educate our clients when we're going through the process that when we even before when we write the offer, that this is gonna be something that we're gonna be asking for a concession of right four-point inspections failing. You don't know that until at least day six or seven, when you're midway through your due diligence process, right? And then there's something that needs to be done. But this we can't attack it on the repair treatment agreement request to the seller. Insurance quotes end up becoming way higher than expected. And when do you think customers are usually getting insurance quotes on a home?

SPEAKER_00 4:33

After the offer, for sure.

SPEAKER_04 4:34

After the offer, probably after inspections and repairs have been made because they they want to be able to tell the insurance company, yeah, we got a new AC, we got a new water heater, and we got a new roof. Right. So those questions are being made, and you actually have to send them the four-point, and you also want to send them the wind mitigation report because that gives them a discount on their home insurance. So you you spend the money up front, you do all this stuff, so you're probably into week two or three, right? Especially if you're asking for 15 days with a due diligence, right? So it's almost close to the end of the deal where you should be excited about working forward. The apprails are probably almost done. So you're getting these insurance quotes and they're they're way too high, and then all of a sudden you can't do it. Do you what do you think? Do you think people pull out because of that? Yeah, I think they can't.

SPEAKER_00 5:17

I mean, they can, they don't want to. It's the affordability factor. I mean, well, you know, the big A word. And you know, they have a certain down Bridget. Yeah, they have a certain mind that they want to pay, and once this insurance costs come in, it's a little bit higher than expected, and then you know, they have to make a tough decision at that point.

SPEAKER_04 5:34

They definitely do. So, yeah, I mean, look at what is at risk. You know, we do talk about affordability because people think about the mortgage payment and everything else, but look at what it is at risk. They're already capped on a minimal amount of money that they need for inspections, right, appraisal cost, all that stuff. I mean, granted, we can help them with concession money on rate buy down, closing costs, and a few dial payment, but that stuff is is the cost of buying the home flat out.

SPEAKER_01 6:03

Right.

SPEAKER_04 6:04

And if you pull out that late, even that's not a contingency.

SPEAKER_01 6:09

Right.

SPEAKER_04 6:09

So you're out your money, you're out your your binder.

SPEAKER_00 6:12

You lose that binder.

SPEAKER_04 6:13

And that's usually one percent of the total purchase price. Yeah, that that's no bueno.

SPEAKER_03 6:17

No, not at all.

SPEAKER_04 6:19

That I don't like that at all.

SPEAKER_02 6:20

And it makes it discouraging, you know, for your buyers. It's like the most exciting timeline, and then you're hearing bad news, something you should your agent should really prepare you on, else to expect.

SPEAKER_04 6:30

The next is HOA and condo association surprises.

SPEAKER_02 6:34

Surprise! This one catches a lot of people off guard all the time.

SPEAKER_04 6:38

Does yeah, HOA approval process? Yeah, yeah, you can get denied. So you you've seen that in our contracts, right? Or not the contracts, but the HOA or CDD disclosure approval. And if you need HOA approval or not, there's some people that have to submit and they go through a process. And let me ask you something. How quick is the HOA? Oh, you wish. How quick are they to respond?

SPEAKER_02 7:02

You wish. It's been 84 years.

SPEAKER_04 7:05

Yeah, no, it usually takes anywhere between 30 and 45 days. Right. Let me ask you something.

SPEAKER_03 7:09

Oh, yeah, sorry, go ahead.

SPEAKER_04 7:10

How long does it usually take to close on a house?

SPEAKER_03 7:12

30 to 45 days.

SPEAKER_04 7:14

What do you think your agent's gonna be doing if they can't get an answer within probably 20?

SPEAKER_03 7:19

I'd be panicking. I'd be like, let's stop looking. Yeah. Maybe reaching out to people. I don't care if they are the ones that approve it or not, I'd be reaching out.

SPEAKER_04 7:27

We file an extension for sure. Yeah, you're not gonna be able to do that. Oh, 100%.

SPEAKER_03 7:31

You know, it's funny. I mean, HOA is it's like love-hate relationship, I feel like, but personally, when I moved into my house, I didn't need to get an approval, but it took me about three to four months for them to realize that I was now the owner of our house. So I couldn't log in, I couldn't pay my dues, I couldn't do any of it because the paperwork. I know I'm like you guys wild. So it's love hate with HOAs. Okay.

SPEAKER_04 7:59

That is crazy. Yeah, that is.

SPEAKER_03 8:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 8:01

Here's another thing that hits hits home with this stuff. Whenever you're dealing with customers that have FHA, VA approvals, and you find this out actually a lot sooner if you have the right realtor. If it's the financing for the the condo association or the townhome association, or just any association at all, if their financials aren't meeting the lender requirements, you can't get certain government-funded loans for it or certain loans, period. So FHA and VA are a huge thing. So you always want to make sure when a customer's looking at that, or even us when we're doing listings, we want to make sure that that condo's financials are approved and they're on the Freddie, uh Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac list of approval things. If not, it takes a long time to get that done. Right. Which then turns into another extension, if need be, if you catch it in the middle and not realize it. It has happened to me early in my career, and I don't let something like that bite me more than once.

SPEAKER_00 8:57

Right.

SPEAKER_04 8:57

Next is rental restrictions, killing investor buyers. Nothing like getting into a home, not getting into a home, but finding a place that you can invest in, and you get all this way into the contract and stuff, and then you find out you can't do it because it's in a restricted area.

SPEAKER_03 9:12

This one hits home for me. I'm sure it does.

SPEAKER_04 9:15

I was thinking about it when it comes to this. So if you're a newer investor, be careful about those things.

SPEAKER_03 9:21

Definitely be careful about those things.

SPEAKER_04 9:22

Make sure it doesn't get into oh, what was that, Bridget? What was the name of that organization?

SPEAKER_03 9:28

No, it was Habitat. Yeah, Habitat Community. Beaches.

SPEAKER_04 9:31

Those those areas as well. If you're not paying attention, you can't rent those out.

SPEAKER_03 9:35

No, you can't rent those out. And we we learned that the very long hard way week before close. So definitely get yourself an agent that will make sure that that happens.

SPEAKER_04 9:48

Absolutely. Even if the listing agent says it's fine.

SPEAKER_03 9:52

Even if they say it's fine.

SPEAKER_04 9:53

And that that was one of the biggest things that we ran into was that and we did our own due diligence, and we end up calling all these people. And there was a few people that told us it was fine.

SPEAKER_03 10:03

Yeah, there was.

SPEAKER_04 10:04

Even the lender said it was fine.

SPEAKER_03 10:06

Right.

SPEAKER_04 10:07

And we're like a lot of green lights because we didn't we didn't like that.

SPEAKER_03 10:10

No.

SPEAKER_04 10:11

We end up actually calling Habitat for Humanity that was running the area, the HOA section of it. And they said, absolutely not.

SPEAKER_03 10:17

Yeah, we finally got the stoppel that Wednesday night before Thanksgiving. Yep. I remember that vividly. So they were going to be closed, could not be rented for no reason whatsoever. You know, they will kick people out. They have kicked people out before. So we went through all that and we were like five days from closing.

SPEAKER_00 10:33

Yeah, we were. Well, the good thing is you caught it before closing.

SPEAKER_03 10:36

We caught it before we ended up getting the binder back on the financial contingency. The lender was willing to work with us, denied the loan. But let me tell you, that was that was interesting.

SPEAKER_04 10:47

And it wasn't a fact that we were behind the A-ball on it. We got we actually got that information super late.

SPEAKER_03 10:53

Super, super late.

SPEAKER_04 10:54

It wasn't what would come out that you would usually see like a lean title search or anything like that. Right. Even the Astoppo. That came really late, like two weeks late. So we got past a lot of things. So it it was a fight.

SPEAKER_03 11:07

Yeah, and like everybody was ready to go. Oh, yeah, they were. Money was lined up. Like, I mean, we it was all set in stone, and uh then that came and that was just a blow up. So I had to call everybody out. Good job. But again, make sure you know, long story short.

SPEAKER_04 11:25

Yes, I mean, even special assessments. I mean, that's kind of a situation that was involved with that too, but right says special assessments that weren't obvious during up front, you know, when we're doing stuff. So that's why it's important to have that right realtor and real estate team to help you out with that. So you just don't buy the house, you're buying into rules as well with all that. So yeah, just gotta be careful, gotta be careful, and there's there's a reason why there's a due diligence period, and that's why it's such a huge part of the contract and being under contract and going through the process of closing in and during escrow and stuff.

SPEAKER_01 12:01

Right.

SPEAKER_04 12:01

Appraisal issues that don't budge. I deal with this on such a large scale. That's why I try to really, really be proactive about when I'm having discussions with the repair stuff, with the sellers, because it's all about financial contingency. Right.

SPEAKER_03 12:20

I remember we were walking a property together to list, and you were pointing out paint, right? Maybe stuff on the soffent in the roof that lenders would call out, right? So definitely also have an agent too that understands that and what lenders are looking for, so they can pick it out right away and just be like, oh yep, like let's touch this up here, or let's change this.

SPEAKER_04 12:42

Well, everybody thinks that an appraiser is just a guy that puts a number on something and is a third party. He's not that, you know, he's also the eyes and ears of the lenders, and that that's super important because they they they they get everything. And even if there's like you run into that, if you've got repairs that they won't meet, what is more than likely gonna happen for the buyer if the appraisal, the stuff that needs to be hit, don't get met? The the lender will not give the money to the buyer to get the money to buy the house, right? So that turns into what we traditionally call a financial contingency. And if the seller is unwilling to do it, even though that you're you can be smart and educated, like the our team is, where we would go in and have that discussion proactively and and and remind the listing agent and the seller hey, these are going to be financial contingency items more than likely on the appraisal. If we don't want to go down that path, which will end up having us to extend or delay the process, these are the important items that need to be taken care of. We're asking for them now. You're gonna be asked for them later if you say no here and you say no there, more than likely the buyer is not gonna be able to buy the home.

SPEAKER_03 13:58

Right.

SPEAKER_04 13:59

So that falls right in with the sellers just basically refusing or neglecting to negotiate. We we don't want that. We want to have good, clean education for our buyers and communication to the other party. Right. That way we can help lenders with like I said, those finance continues or lenders require payoff repairs, peeling paint, especially houses that are older. You guys want to hear an interesting fact about this? It's not just peeling paint on the home. If that paint falls on the ground, that's what they're more worried about.

SPEAKER_03 14:34

It just flaking off.

SPEAKER_04 14:36

Flaking off. And what do you think is gonna happen for younger kids that walk around the house and see stuff on the ground?

SPEAKER_03 14:42

Put it in their mouth. That's exactly what it is.

SPEAKER_04 14:45

100%.

SPEAKER_03 14:46

I mean, it makes sense. Kids put anything in their mouth.

SPEAKER_04 14:50

You can go and hit everything, paint everything down to make sure all the stuff that does look like it's peeling off sticks to the house. But if let's say you oh I here we go. I'm stopping for a minute.

SPEAKER_01 15:01

Here we go.

SPEAKER_04 15:03

It's my squirrel moment. Oh no, let's say that squirrel moment. Yeah, you know me. I go off on a tangent this sometimes. Yes, I do. So let let's honestly say that you're an agent, you got the repairs approved to get the peeling paint taken care of. You hire somebody to go do it, and they're out there. So you got the guys are scraping the the loose paint off the house, right? And then repaint the house looks amazing, but they don't clean up after themselves. You ask for a reinspection for the appraiser.

SPEAKER_01 15:37

Oh wow.

SPEAKER_04 15:38

They come back out. At what cost is that to, by the way? It's a cost to the buyer.

SPEAKER_03 15:43

Yeah, right.

SPEAKER_04 15:44

They go back out and the minute that they walk onto the property and see all the paint chips on the ground, they instantly can't deny it.

SPEAKER_02 15:52

Good, great, grand, wonderful.

SPEAKER_04 15:55

Wow. They call you out and say, Nope, it's not fixed.

SPEAKER_01 15:58

Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_04 15:59

What are you talking about? There's photos and everything. Nope, they need to come back and paint. They need to come back and clean it up. So, what are you gonna do as an agent? Are you gonna call the painter up and tell them, hey, you need to come back and clean this up? Are they gonna do it right away?

SPEAKER_00 16:12

No, no, whenever they find time. So you gotta do it.

SPEAKER_04 16:15

So guess what you gotta do?

SPEAKER_03 16:17

On us, we will clean up the paint flakes.

SPEAKER_04 16:20

So, yes, that that's important. Yeah, absolutely important. So, you know, like recapping real quick, you know, Leonard's gonna have those required repairs. That's gonna either be like the like you said, peeling paint, right? Because of lead-based paint, because of older homes, or safety issues, or anything like that, but you also got the other VA and FHA stricter guidelines. Yeah, we talk about that too all the time. Yeah, we really do. So obviously, having all that, it can turn into a real problem.

SPEAKER_00 16:50

It could turn into a the dream home can turn into a math problem real, real quick.

SPEAKER_04 16:54

Math problem real quick. Yes, title and legal surprises.

SPEAKER_03 16:59

This is stuff the buyers never think about until it pops up and it's a problem.

SPEAKER_04 17:04

All right, liens on property. Don't you like those? Nope.

SPEAKER_03 17:08

Yep. Well, yeah, you know what?

SPEAKER_00 17:10

Well, well, I got a story to tell you. So we're I'm I I'm in the middle of a I have a customer that has a uh contract we put in, home with solar panels. Oh, solar panels, and uh and so they're gonna take over, they can assume the loan, but in doing the transfer of the loan, we got to make sure they don't put a lien on the home because if it does, the contract will not go through. So we're gonna make sure all parties involved are aware of this. So this is one of those good fun times.

SPEAKER_03 17:39

Could you wait? Could you quickly go in depth? Because I haven't dealt with a home with solar panels.

SPEAKER_00 17:43

So if a house has it typically, let me let's start from the beginning. Yeah, this is good.

SPEAKER_03 17:48

This is this because this is like no, this is interesting because I'm I'm right.

SPEAKER_00 17:52

So typically, when you have a house with solar panels, not all solar panel loans are assumable. Okay, okay, so the seller will have to either pay it before or at closing before the home is sold. So that comes out of you know, the funds they may receive at closing or whatever to go directly to pay that loan off. However, there are some assumable solar panel loans, which and this is my first case dealing with that.

SPEAKER_01 18:19

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 18:20

So that so how that works is the seller has to initiate the transfer of the loan to the new buyer. So that is done before it even starts to before you close.

SPEAKER_01 18:31

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 18:31

So they got to get that in the process, then the buyers have to get approved for the new loan, and then you gotta look at the debt to income ratio on top of that while buying the house. So you could change your DTI, yeah. Very much and then you can't get the approved for a loan for the money.

SPEAKER_03 18:47

Is that two separate? Then so they don't put it together with the mortgage. No, so you would have a mortgage and then a solar panel mortgage technically.

SPEAKER_00 18:56

So you got to negotiate the price to help offset that.

SPEAKER_03 19:01

Solar panels, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 19:03

To me, this is what you're dealing with. Whenever I see solar panels on a home, it's an instant red flag for me.

SPEAKER_02 19:09

Like, I hope you're in that house until you're off this world. Exactly.

SPEAKER_00 19:13

Well, I expect I said if you're not planning to be here in the minimum of 10 years, this may not be the house for you. And they're like, Oh no, we're gonna keep it. I'm like, okay, there you go.

SPEAKER_03 19:23

All right, then we're diving into it. Yeah, interesting.

SPEAKER_04 19:26

And I usually ask the buyer, not the but the seller or listing agent, right up front. Yeah, is the solar panels paid off? Right, yeah, they say no, it's an assumable mortgage. So no, it's an assumable loan. I'm like, okay. I go, would the sellers be willing to negotiate having that paid off?

SPEAKER_00 19:44

Yeah, well, see, that's what that was our first offer, and they countered and they were like, no. So I had to get our mortgage in the dirt. Brian, who was on the show a couple episodes ago. Shout out, Brian. Yeah, he had to do some further research on his end to make sure the DTI was in check and all that. So it's it's a process because I could have been a deal breaker right there.

SPEAKER_04 20:03

Absolutely a deal breaker.

SPEAKER_00 20:04

Yeah, so you don't you gotta do your due diligence and make sure everything is good before you even make you know go any further with that because it can break the deal right there.

SPEAKER_03 20:14

So, what what's going on with that situation then for you, Dane?

SPEAKER_00 20:17

We're in just in the beginning stages of it. So I I reached out to the agent this morning, sent an email, and just made sure that they well, we did it last week, but I just verified yeah that hey, make sure they're in the you know, starting initiating the process to get that done.

SPEAKER_04 20:32

Yeah, you're just the beginning part of space. You haven't made to outer space.

SPEAKER_03 20:36

Outer space, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 20:37

That's right.

SPEAKER_03 20:38

Sorry we got on a tangent. I'm just curious because solar panels, it's like I feel like it's one of those things where I think that's so overlooked by people sometimes because it's like, oh, solar panels, they might be great, they're helping me with this, and it's like there's other there's a flip side to it.

SPEAKER_00 20:52

Oh yeah, oh, there is so there, yeah. But there is savings in it, I can tell you that. I mean, they're their electrical bill, and it's uh you know what a 27-inch square foot home is like $76.

SPEAKER_03 21:03

So wow, so yeah, that is big savings.

SPEAKER_04 21:06

So just put solar panels on your house after you find the house that you can live in for over 10 years, right? Right, and then just go get a loan for it. If you try to find one that already has it, thinking it's gonna save you money to do it, may not may not be exactly what you think it is. Yeah, the other thing that gets you in surprises is open permits. Yes, now there'd be there could be an open permit on something they could never ever realize that was there. The sellers forgot about it. I got one on the land right now and on a deal. I've got it extended out right now, but I we found out about it, and it was something so minute that he's like, Oh, I didn't even know I had to close that out. Because the seller is actually a builder. Right. And he's since then has moved up north, up to South Carolina, and completely forgot about it. Wow. So you got that, you could run into probate inheritance issues.

SPEAKER_03 22:00

Oh man.

SPEAKER_04 22:01

Here's the other fun one. And if you guys have net haven't dealt with this yet, this is gonna be a biggie, and we have to make sure that we're careful on this. Boundary disputes.

SPEAKER_00 22:12

Well, let me ask you a question since we're addressing this. Doesn't a survey take care of that?

SPEAKER_04 22:17

What if there's a piece of pro of a structure that is either over top of that on that survey, over top of the boundary line? Right. Who owns it?

SPEAKER_00 22:26

If it's over, I guess the gosh, I I learned that in uh you did real estate school. Yeah, and I'm trying to remember. Oh my god.

SPEAKER_03 22:34

Isn't it the person that lives there longer?

SPEAKER_04 22:36

No, it not only does it fall into it being the owner of the area, but if it falls into somebody else's property and it's been that way for a very, very long time, there's there's a process that falls into that where they could actually win and that would be theirs, and the that and that piece end of the property would be re-had to be redrawn.

SPEAKER_03 23:01

I don't remember how that process works.

SPEAKER_04 23:02

Most of the time you run into neighbors that have fences and stuff like that that are either over the boundary, this and that, and you can't really go by a fence line. You have to support on what the survey says, and most of it's okay, but there's times the title will come up and say, Hey, when the survey was done, this is the survey line. The fence is over the survey line. That needs to be signed off on and addressed with before that. So you have to get with the neighbor to make sure everything's good. There's nothing worse than getting into moving into a new home, and the neighbors next door come over and tell the new neighbors and they decide to stand their ground and say, listen, we didn't talk to the last neighbors about them because we liked them. We're telling you, new homeowner, that this you're paying for the fence to be removed. So it's just always to make sure. And there's the reason why we do this survey, so you know what you own, what you don't. Final walkthrough disasters. Oh my gosh. What do you think about that, JC?

SPEAKER_02 23:58

This one hurts. It happens right at the finish line. I had a horror story too. I was tell it. I love horror stories. It was my first closing ever. And it's 24 hours before closing, of course. Every light fixture in this house is gone. And they were higher end. Like my buyer was in love with these fixtures. They were very uniquely. Weren't they vintage? You told me this when we did our open house, right? They were like vintage. They were like vintage fixtures, like cute ones. And my buyer loved them. We walk in, and there's not a single one left.

SPEAKER_04 24:28

All gone, huh?

SPEAKER_02 24:29

My first closing ever, I'm on the phone with the other agent of Mike Listen.

SPEAKER_00 24:32

Like was it so the listing agent did not write in the contract that fixtures were not conveying with the house?

SPEAKER_02 24:39

So it was like negotiation. The sellers were really upset. Like I end up negotiating like 25 under list. They had to, I think they covered all closing costs as well. Like they were a little like ended up like last word type thing. They're like, fine, I'm taking the fixtures too.

SPEAKER_04 24:54

Oh, wow. Well, so they can't do that.

SPEAKER_02 24:57

No, I end up like they had ended up like they'd packed them up and put them in a moving truck or something. So they didn't want to bring them back until like my negotiation was okay, well, my buyer's gonna go pick out some new fixtures. I'll let you know the amount, and that needs to be given at closing. And then an electrician's gonna have to come and reinstall, and you're gonna have to pay that too. Yeah, they ended up bringing like one out of like the six that were gone, and they paid the like a Home Depot replacement for the other ones.

SPEAKER_01 25:24

Wow.

SPEAKER_02 25:24

And they paid for the electrician to come reinstall. Yeah, but it was a nightmare. 24 before that is a nightmare. I can't stand that 24 hours before closing.

SPEAKER_04 25:34

That's scary.

SPEAKER_02 25:35

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 25:36

You know how to alleviate that, right?

SPEAKER_03 25:38

What JC did.

SPEAKER_04 25:39

Yes. Make them put it all in writing. So let's let's let's take a step back because that was a great story, JC. And it makes a valid point. Rewind for a second. Let's let's talk about the whole uh concept of you start right, you end right. So on as a selling agent, as you tell your seller, and you're having that conversation, the initial contract rating for the listing agreement, Mr. Seller, what would you not like to include on this? Oh, I want all my light fixtures, I want all this stuff. Okay, fantastic. We'll make a note of that because anything that's attached to the home, it's a permanent fixture, stays with the home, including TV mounts, etc. Right. You you talk about that in the beginning because what the buyers are going to assume that it comes with a house. Why? It's attached to the home.

SPEAKER_03 26:26

Yep.

SPEAKER_04 26:27

Yep. But as a buying agent, what would you do? I would make sure that I would write it in the offer, especially appliances, stainless steel appliances. If you want to get technical, go to the seller's disclosure if it's available and write the manufacturer of each one. Because if it's just stainless steel appliances, they walk in the house and it could be the the really, really nice Samsungs. And no, they got they went to the the resale shop and got ones that just to mimic whatever, and it's just what it is. So you have to make sure that's in there. And when I'm a listing agent and I see the offer, I look for that stuff. I make sure. I'm not trying to cheat anybody, but what I'm trying to do is make sure there's anything specific that the buyer is looking for. The other thing that you can have in obviously, like you said, you know, if we do agree upon repairs, sellers don't complete the repairs at all. The property condition is changed, you know, missing wall, broken windows, etc.

SPEAKER_01 27:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 27:25

Stuff left behind, or you're the one that JC just said removed that shouldn't have been. Right. And then also damage after inspection.

SPEAKER_00 27:34

Yeah, like when they're moving out, walls get damaged. It happens.

SPEAKER_04 27:36

That's right. You know, it's nothing like walking into your new home and realizing it comes with problems, not under change. But here's the reality, guys, on that. Most buyers think the hard part is getting under contract. It's not. The real game is getting through the contract. And that's where a real estate agent and a really good team is going to make all the difference in the world. That's right. There's nothing better than when I tell somebody that when we go under contract, I said, now this is where the fun begins, and this is where you guys really get to see my value. Yeah. They're like, what are you talking about? I go, just hang on. It's gonna be fun.

SPEAKER_03 28:13

Let me do my thing.

SPEAKER_04 28:14

Let's do it. All right. Well, guess what time it is? Game time.

SPEAKER_03 28:19

Is it game time already?

SPEAKER_04 28:21

It is game time already, and I'm going to we're switching gears. And when I mean we're switching gears, I want you guys. This is gonna be like uh not really law and order, but we have a lot, we like the cop shows, right?

SPEAKER_03 28:34

I love law and order at the end.

SPEAKER_04 28:35

Like the cop shows, like the medical ones. This is called deal autopsy.

SPEAKER_03 28:39

Oh right.

SPEAKER_04 28:41

I'm it's time. This is I needed to switch it up. It's just time for a brand new segment, okay? And we're gonna take a perfectly good real estate deal and figure out exactly what killed it. Okay, okay. So time of death, somewhere between contract and closing. And today, you guys are gonna be playing the detectives. So we're gonna be doing this together. All right, you ready?

SPEAKER_03 29:03

Yeah, I should have brought my magnifying glass. I was uh I was in Charleston a a week and ago, and I was playing a murder mystery game, and I was inspector. I should have brought if he told me this, I would have brought my inspector how to technically magnifying glass.

SPEAKER_04 29:16

Hey, no, we did this as a team event where we did murder mystery and stuff. We did. I'm just gonna bring it to us because we never have time to get together. I know.

SPEAKER_01 29:23

Literally.

SPEAKER_04 29:24

All right, here we go. Okay, story number one. Ready? The mid-a the mid-contract meltdown is the name of this. So the buyer is under contract, they have a strong approval, everything looks clean. Ten days in, the deal dies. Here's what we need to know. Okay. Credit is solid, income checks out, inspection went smooth. What do you think killed the deal?

SPEAKER_03 29:53

Ten days in, right? Is what you said?

SPEAKER_00 29:56

Yep. They didn't put the bonder in. I didn't hear you say they put the uh binder in.

SPEAKER_04 30:00

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 30:01

Oh, that's a good one, Dane. That's possible.

SPEAKER_04 30:03

I'm gonna I'm gonna be hinting to you guys a little bit of stuff just so we can guide this along. Um Dane, do you think anything had to do about insurance being bound at that time frame? Possibly. Possibly, because insurance companies in Florida go faster than a bad tender day. Right?

SPEAKER_02 30:20

No, no.

SPEAKER_04 30:21

Um Bridget, what do you think? Appraisal came in too low? Seller said no.

SPEAKER_00 30:25

Well, you wouldn't have the appraisal that time in the first ten days. That's right. Nothing's faster than a number.

SPEAKER_04 30:31

Huh?

SPEAKER_02 30:31

And you said inspection went smooth?

SPEAKER_04 30:33

Yeah, I did.

SPEAKER_02 30:33

I would say 10 days could be like the repair period, but I don't know.

SPEAKER_04 30:38

JC thinks something maybe popped up with underwriting.

SPEAKER_03 30:40

Uh oh my, why is this hard?

SPEAKER_04 30:43

I know, isn't it?

SPEAKER_03 30:43

I feel like there's a few things that could have gone wrong. I'm leaning towards Dane's binder thing because that needs to be done within like three days. Three days.

SPEAKER_00 30:50

Yep, three days.

SPEAKER_04 30:51

Okay. So let me recap this just again, okay? Their credit is solid, their income checks out, inspections went smooth, okay? They had a strong approval, everything looked great. Simplistically, what do we always talk about about buyers making mistakes?

SPEAKER_00 31:06

Oh, they went and purchased something during this time.

SPEAKER_01 31:09

They bought a car. They bought a new car.

SPEAKER_04 31:11

Oh, buddy. You hit the nail in the head. Good job.

SPEAKER_00 31:14

They bought a new car.

SPEAKER_04 31:15

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_03 31:16

Don't spend while you're house hunting.

SPEAKER_04 31:18

So here's what happened. Buyer financed a $12,000 furniture package mid-contract and completely wrecked their DTI or debt to income.

SPEAKER_00 31:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 31:28

So they didn't just decorate the house, they decorated their denial letter.

SPEAKER_03 31:33

Oh right, that was a burn.

SPEAKER_04 31:36

Yeah. All right. Ready? Yep. Scenario number two. The perfect house problem, this is called. Buyer finds the house, multiple offers, they win it. Congratulations, right? We're all excited.

SPEAKER_01 31:52

Yep.

SPEAKER_04 31:52

Everything looks great. The deal dies during the inspection period. Here's what we know. The house shows amazing. Recently renovated, no major red flags up front. What do you think of the deal?

SPEAKER_00 32:06

Something behind the walls that the inspector found. Oh, yeah. Whatever, you know? Could be anything.

SPEAKER_03 32:12

Combination of all those things.

SPEAKER_04 32:14

Luminar wiring. Bridget, you would think like the inspection uncovered a bunch of hidden issues.

SPEAKER_03 32:18

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 32:19

Yeah, that fully renovated label.

SPEAKER_03 32:21

Renovated.

SPEAKER_04 32:22

May not be doing a lot.

SPEAKER_03 32:23

No, it's like a band-aid. You put makeup on a bad house.

SPEAKER_04 32:26

Yeah. There's just does maybe just does a lot of heavy lying.

SPEAKER_03 32:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 32:30

What do you think? Maybe foundation or structural issues, JC?

SPEAKER_02 32:34

I mean, if it's gonna break a deal, if it's not even hitting repair replacement deadline, it has to be structure, something massive.

SPEAKER_04 32:43

Dane, you brought up the fact of, you know, like big ticket items like roof or you know, like that wiring on that wiring. You ready? It was a flip.

SPEAKER_02 32:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 32:55

And they they covered up moisture damage of mold. Oh, God. So they didn't even treat the mold. That's right. The house wasn't renovated. It was cosmetically gaslit. Yep. Yep. Cosmetically gaslit.

SPEAKER_03 33:13

I'm just like having flashbacks. The time working with my investors with that. That was just an absolute no deal. Yeah. If there was any of that type of issue.

SPEAKER_04 33:23

All right, scenario number three. You ready? Yep. The last minute heartbreak. So we're at the finish line. Clear to close is almost there. Final walkthrough happens. Steal dies. Here's what we know. The loan is approved, the appraisal is done. Closing is scheduled. What do you guys think killed the deal? They took all the light fixtures.

SPEAKER_02 33:45

I almost had a bleep me up. I almost ended up bleep.

SPEAKER_04 33:48

I was just gonna ask JC. Hey, JC, was the repairs weren't done?

SPEAKER_02 33:52

You're gonna have to bleep me up. Either no negotiator repairs were completed or there's no light fixtures or Dane, what do you think?

SPEAKER_04 34:00

The property condition changed, maybe?

SPEAKER_00 34:01

Oh, definitely. That would definitely be an issue there.

SPEAKER_04 34:05

Bridgens, something maybe it was removed that shouldn't have been. Light fixtures.

SPEAKER_00 34:09

Light fixtures.

SPEAKER_03 34:10

We can't clean this up.

SPEAKER_04 34:12

If it's screwed in, it's apparently if it was screwed in, it was apparently negotiable, right?

SPEAKER_03 34:19

No, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 34:19

No.

SPEAKER_03 34:20

No.

SPEAKER_04 34:20

All right. But here, this is exactly the whore story that JC went through.

SPEAKER_00 34:27

Yeah, it is. It sounds just like it's ready.

SPEAKER_04 34:30

Seller moved out and took appliances pictures and left damage behind. The buyer walked in and just walked away from it. They didn't leave a home. They left up a break, they left a breakup note, is what they did on this one. Okay. Let's see what here. How many more do we got? Because I don't want to jump into this too much because I actually like this kind of game.

SPEAKER_00 34:51

Well, this is a good game. It's educational for sure. Definitely.

SPEAKER_04 34:54

Okay, we got one more.

SPEAKER_00 34:56

Let's do one more.

SPEAKER_04 34:56

We got one more. Scenario number four, the HOA nightmare. Yeah. Buyer is excited, loves the neighborhood, everything looks smooth. Then the deal dies during the HOA review. Oh. Here's what we know. Financing is good, house is solid, buyer is ready. What do you all think? Killed the deal.

SPEAKER_02 35:17

They didn't get approved. Yep. Like some type of HOA requirements or not.

SPEAKER_04 35:21

So you're thinking the HOA denied the buyer?

SPEAKER_02 35:23

Yeah.

unknown 35:24

Yep.

SPEAKER_04 35:24

Nothing like getting rejected by a neighborhood you're already emotionally moved into. And then you have a Nancy rock around there saying no.

SPEAKER_01 35:31

Sorry.

SPEAKER_04 35:32

And she's usually, and this is funny. I I, you know, I one of my buyers is listening to this. They will laugh. It's one of the neighborhood people that come around, and this lady happened to be wearing an apron.

unknown 35:47

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 35:47

Carrying cookies, and she had a mustache.

SPEAKER_01 35:49

Oh, what did he say?

SPEAKER_04 35:52

Oh.

SPEAKER_01 35:53

Wait.

SPEAKER_00 35:54

I don't leave that alone.

SPEAKER_04 35:59

Telling me everything about everything.

SPEAKER_03 36:01

I'm confusion.

SPEAKER_04 36:02

Telling my buyers about everything.

SPEAKER_01 36:09

Leave that alone.

SPEAKER_04 36:10

Oh. So Dane, do you think it was because the HOE denied the buyer? Yes. All right. Bridget, maybe rental restrictions mess things up.

SPEAKER_03 36:25

I keep thinking about a mustache. Why?

SPEAKER_04 36:27

Mustache and warm chocolate chip cookies.

SPEAKER_03 36:38

I'm not dealing with this today.

SPEAKER_04 36:41

I guess with that that that real life example, I'm just gonna go ahead and reveal what happened. Oh my goodness. You ready for this? The HOA had pending litigations against them.

SPEAKER_01 36:55

Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_04 36:56

Linda refused to approve the loan. So that basically the neighborhood just destroyed this thing.

SPEAKER_03 37:02

Someone give Jay C a tissue. She's crying over there.

SPEAKER_01 37:06

Leave that alone. Well, I'll share with you. That's so funny. Hey. That's what it is. Trying to lock the stuff. I don't know how.

SPEAKER_04 37:23

You know, during the entire game, I'm gonna be playing like the Law and Order theme song. Yeah, no doubt. All right. Well, that was the game. I hope you guys enjoyed it. Like a little murder mystery kind of situation. All right, so let's jump into hidden costs destroying buyers' budgets. So we've talked about this stuff that could cause it. Now let's talk about this stuff that really doesn't kill the deal, but actually wrecks buyers after they buy.

SPEAKER_03 37:49

Yeah, let's flip back to insurance shock. Yeah, because that is a very big deal. There's a lot that happens.

SPEAKER_04 37:57

Premiums doubling.

SPEAKER_03 37:58

Yep.

SPEAKER_04 37:59

The expectations of that happening. Deductibles buyers don't understand. Flood insurance surprises, wind mitigation importance. So let's talk about flood insurance surprises because that's big for us, Florida buyers.

SPEAKER_00 38:12

Right now, how many of y'all always I before I look at any property to show anybody? I look under FEMA, yes, and I find the flood zones and make sure that it's not. And if it is in a flood zone, I make sure they are aware of it before viewing because they will have to get flood insurance. Yeah. So I do that everybody that I look.

SPEAKER_03 38:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 38:32

Absolutely. No, I'm glad that you do that because that that's a given here in Florida.

SPEAKER_00 38:38

Right. As a matter of fact, there's prop property in Stark that I was helping a customer with, and no, no water source anywhere near there, still in a flood zone. And I'm like, wow, I'm glad I did that because I would have never thought of it.

SPEAKER_04 38:52

That is crazy. Yeah. What's another thing? Wind mitigation importance. So we talked about inspections. Wind mitigation, what does that do for you on home insurance?

SPEAKER_02 39:05

Provided.

SPEAKER_04 39:06

Right? Yes. Lower rate. It does give you a discount on your homeowner's insurance again that wind mitigation port. What is the biggest factor on that? The most common thing. Let's just talk about what's the most common thing. Age of the shingles? That. What's another thing that we have to deal with here? Obviously, hurricanes, right?

SPEAKER_01 39:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 39:27

So when I when I talk about three-tab and architectural singles, can you all tell me the difference? No.

SPEAKER_03 39:34

No.

SPEAKER_04 39:35

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 39:35

Not at all.

SPEAKER_04 39:36

That is always the first obvious thing that you look at whenever you see that. If you get a three-tab shingled roof, it's only rated for 70 mile an hour winds. Up to 70 mile an hour winds. And it's usually older. Architectural shingles, the ones that have the different shapes and sizes, right? Rated up to 140 40 miles an hour. And that's the most common, correct? It's most common. Right. Obviously, you've got metal and then you've got tile and a couple other things. However, those that's the most common thing that you do is your shingles.

SPEAKER_00 40:10

Right.

SPEAKER_04 40:11

That's the first thing that a wind mitigation port's going to look at. That's the things that I look at, because even the basic insurance is like one's a wood roof been replaced. But when you see that, more than likely it's been done in the last 10 years now. Right. So the flood insurance thing is is crazy because let's say that there's a flood. What is what is deemed as a flood, do you think? Like rushing water?

SPEAKER_00 40:35

Any any water seeping in your home out there.

SPEAKER_04 40:37

Any water damage period. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 40:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 40:40

Something could happen. They can they deem it as a flooding in the property. And if you don't have flood insurance, it doesn't cover it.

SPEAKER_00 40:46

Right.

SPEAKER_04 40:46

So your basic home coverage won't cover it, regardless if you're in an area that does have a body of water where that happens. So you just need to make sure you look at that. So your mortgage might be fine, but your insurance is what breaks you.

SPEAKER_01 40:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 40:59

And you really need to pay attention to that. The other thing is the property tax reset.

SPEAKER_02 41:05

This one gets almost every buyer at least once.

SPEAKER_04 41:08

Sure does. Taxes based on previous owner versus new purchase. That is a huge thing.

SPEAKER_00 41:15

I have to explain that to all mine because they are not aware of that. They don't realize that the property gets reassessed with a new buyer or a new owner.

SPEAKER_04 41:22

What's the other thing that you pay attention to when it comes to the taxes?

SPEAKER_00 41:25

Homestead exemption?

SPEAKER_04 41:26

Bingo.

SPEAKER_00 41:27

Yep.

SPEAKER_04 41:28

Yep. Exactly right. Homestead exemption. You can see something like, well, why is this and why is the taxes on this $5,800 a year and the one that's right down the street's only $38?

SPEAKER_01 41:40

Right.

SPEAKER_04 41:41

Right. Well, that's because somebody homesteaded it.

SPEAKER_01 41:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 41:43

And that's a huge difference for that.

SPEAKER_00 41:45

And you know it's funny, not everybody knows about you think this day and time everybody knows, but not everybody does. And I tried to make sure all of my buyers are aware of that. As a matter of fact, my first buyer years ago, a few years ago, they the house they sold was not homesteaded. And I couldn't believe it. I made sure they knew on this new property that, hey, definitely do it. I mean, I sent them reminders, alerts, everything I could so they would know to do it.

SPEAKER_04 42:13

I I am surprised as well, the homestead that nobody paid them what he knows. They kind of know about it, but really don't.

SPEAKER_00 42:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 42:21

It's an education thing.

SPEAKER_00 42:22

It is.

SPEAKER_04 42:23

Also, your monthly payment will increase after the first year, too.

unknown 42:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 42:27

Why is that? Well, it happens is just well, what's the two biggest things that that affect an escrow payment? Because you got your your interest? Your interest.

SPEAKER_00 42:38

And your principal.

SPEAKER_04 42:39

And your principal. Okay, that's your monthly payment for the home for the loan.

SPEAKER_00 42:43

Right.

SPEAKER_04 42:43

All right. What else goes into your escrow payment? We talked, we just talked about it. Taxes and insurance. Yeah, yeah, insurance and taxes. What goes up every year? Taxes always and insurance. And insurance. Okay. We are capped in here in the state of Florida that our taxes on the property will only increase a maximum of three percent a year. So we know that our payment's gonna go up roughly three percent a year, period.

SPEAKER_00 43:11

Annually.

SPEAKER_04 43:12

Annually.

SPEAKER_00 43:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 43:13

So you know that's gonna happen.

SPEAKER_00 43:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 43:16

Insurance costs are gonna go up too.

SPEAKER_00 43:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 43:18

That can actually fluctuate a payment between $200 and $600 a month. It can.

SPEAKER_00 43:25

Wow. Yeah, that payment you thought you locked in. Yeah, it had a sequel.

SPEAKER_04 43:30

Yeah, that's right. Here, here's another catch, guys. This is where people get slipper get caught slipping too is HOA and CDD stacking. You got the monthly HOA fees, if there is any. There's usually maintenance stuff. There's an annual CDD that's baked into the taxes. Multiple associations in some communities. If you want to be a part of those, you may not realize you are and you have to be. Hell, there's there's some communities in the area that you have. To be a part of the country club. That'd be interesting.

SPEAKER_00 44:03

Well, there's also some some communities that have two HOA associations. So you're double dipping in those.

SPEAKER_04 44:11

And then you gotta find out if all those fees cover what you want or they don't. You may find out that they don't. And that can pose a huge problem.

SPEAKER_01 44:18

Yep.

SPEAKER_03 44:19

Low prices don't always mean affordable.

SPEAKER_04 44:22

No, they don't. So let's let's get into the maintenance reality check a little bit here.

SPEAKER_02 44:27

Nobody budgets for this correctly.

SPEAKER_04 44:29

No, they don't. HVAC lifespan. Okay. Do we use our air conditioner year-round here in Florida?

SPEAKER_00 44:38

Year out.

SPEAKER_01 44:39

Yes, you do.

SPEAKER_00 44:41

They are overworked and underpaid for sure.

SPEAKER_04 44:44

That is very true. Roof replacement cost, water heaters, appliances. Heck, it all worked during an inspection.

SPEAKER_00 44:51

One of the main things is the age of HVAC, roof, and water heaters.

SPEAKER_03 44:57

Always look at those. You have to.

SPEAKER_00 44:59

Yeah, you got to.

SPEAKER_03 45:00

Because then at least you can let your buyer know, hey, that this down the line you're gonna maybe have to replace. Or if it needs to be replaced right now, let's use it towards and put it in the offer, right? Put some concessions towards it. So it's not only leverage, but it's also planning ahead.

SPEAKER_04 45:16

That's true. So well, owning a home isn't just a pay payment, it's a responsibility. It is. Want to hear a hack? Not really a hack. Let's do a hack. Do you know that you can service your water heater every year?

SPEAKER_03 45:29

Yes, you can.

SPEAKER_00 45:30

See, I didn't learn that. You told me that last last year.

SPEAKER_04 45:33

I would say I if I would have to guess out of all of us sitting in this room right here, the only person that probably would have understood it like me would be somebody from the north.

SPEAKER_00 45:41

Yeah. So yeah, nope.

unknown 45:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 45:43

We drain the water heater every year, don't we?

SPEAKER_03 45:45

We drain the water heater every year. I also learned my HVAC. I get two free annual services a year to clean that out. So when you do replace those, a lot of these companies have those maintenance services. Don't come, yeah. I mean, if you want more, you pay for it, but they give you a baseline. Yeah. So nice. So, yes, I knew about that. The water heater, we're gonna get that done.

SPEAKER_04 46:05

And you can actually take the heater rod that's in there and replace it. Do you know how much the replacement is if you do it annually?

SPEAKER_03 46:13

No, how much?

SPEAKER_04 46:14

$12.50. Really? Yeah, they're cheap. They can go all the way up to $25.

SPEAKER_00 46:18

Well, that's real cheap. If you got the know-how, that's the way to do it.

SPEAKER_04 46:21

What usually is causing the age of a water heater, besides age, destroying it? Is rust build up, calcium buildup, all that stuff?

SPEAKER_03 46:31

Doesn't I get sludge? Yeah, water here. Splash it out.

SPEAKER_00 46:34

Well, our water is hard water here, so it it'll probably get the toll on for sure.

SPEAKER_04 46:38

You know, the cost of a water softener does wonders for the home.

SPEAKER_03 46:42

Can I say that? Get a freaking water softener. And I'm serious. That I think when I moved down here, like maybe I grew up with like I only grew up with water softeners. I don't know. My dad was super big in water. I'm like, you're a water crazy. He has an RO system. Okay, he keeps telling me I need to get one. I'm like, I'm working on it. That is funny. Get a water softener. It can go with you if you move. Oh, I've seen that. Oh just get a water softener, too. Please. That's all I'm saying. Please. It saves your appliances, your clothes, your clothes, just you as a human and what you're putting. Just get a water softener.

SPEAKER_04 47:23

I love it. No doubt.

SPEAKER_03 47:25

Big advocate for that.

SPEAKER_04 47:26

I mean, those are the things that you need to do. I mean, it's a responsibility as a homeowner to have this stuff. So just know that that stuff's gonna come up. So be prepared for that.

SPEAKER_01 47:34

Yep.

SPEAKER_04 47:35

Let's just jump right in real quick. One last section is the utility and lifestyle costs, because that's always gonna happen.

SPEAKER_00 47:40

Yeah, bigger house, bigger everything. That's right.

SPEAKER_04 47:42

Electric bills in Florida heat, water usage, pool maintenance, lawn care, all that stuff.

SPEAKER_03 47:48

Yeah, that dream home lifestyle, it comes with a monthly subscription you gotta plan for.

SPEAKER_04 47:55

That's why when you're looking at homes, if you want all that great things, there's gonna have to pay for it, unfortunately. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_03 48:01

That's the truth.

SPEAKER_04 48:02

So when buyers say I can I afford this home, that's the wrong question. The real question is this can I afford to own this home long term? Right. So I guys, at the end of the day, if this episode hit you a little bit differently, that was the point. It's supposed to help educate you, give you the information, give you the knowledge. Knowledge is is the power.

SPEAKER_03 48:27

Knowledge is power.

SPEAKER_04 48:28

It is. Because this stuff is what nobody's telling buyers, and it's exactly why people get into trouble.

SPEAKER_03 48:34

Or why deals fall apart right when they thought they had it, or why they buy something and regret it six months later.

SPEAKER_00 48:41

So if you're thinking about buying, don't go in blind.

SPEAKER_04 48:44

Do not go in blind. We we are the all-seeing eye to help you.

SPEAKER_02 48:50

We are the all-seeing.

SPEAKER_04 48:51

Oh no, we're the wizard of oz. Oh we'll help you. Oh, we'll have answer all your questions and make all your wishes come true based on the scenario that we're dealing with, by the way. Oh, here I am. But anyway, hey, make sure that you're following us on all the social media platforms YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, whatever you wise want to listen to us on, because we're breaking this stuff down every single week. And if you've got questions, you need to call and talk to us. If you don't like talking to me, talk to Dane and talk to the ladies.

SPEAKER_00 49:23

Just get to know us.

SPEAKER_04 49:23

Yeah, just talk to us. Drop a comment, send us a message. And here's the thing we actually just talked about this that we want to do an episode for our listeners. Yes, for our followers. We are going to be posting, each of us individually be posting a video here in the next week or so, hopefully this week. We're encouraging you guys to provide us stories, questions, comments, and we're going to turn it into an episode if we get enough people to respond to us. Right. We'd like to think that we have some followers now that for sure. But reach out to us, tell us a scenario. We won't we won't include names.

SPEAKER_03 50:01

Nope.

SPEAKER_04 50:02

But what we want to do is we want to give people real life situations behind what we can teach you and share with what we see every day that get the customer's view the eye and what they've been through and what's going on. So look for that to come out. Yes. By all means, please share. The more the merrier. This is a community. But yeah, send us a message, send it, give us a call, anything that you need. I think most of us either have Linktree or Beacons AI. Right. You can schedule consultations with us. You can go and look at our buyer's guide that we have created for and sellers' guides that we created for all our customers. And then you can actually view our properties and everything we have. But I tell you what, we can't wait. And we appreciate everybody listening. And we will see you next week.

SPEAKER_03 50:44

Talk to you Monday.