News Round Up May 2026

The real estate market is always moving — and staying informed makes all the difference. In this month’s News Round Up, we’re breaking down some of the latest updates, trends, and conversations shaping the market right now.

From market shifts to industry insights, this episode highlights what’s happening and what it could mean for buyers, sellers, and anyone keeping an eye on real estate.

The living you podcast is a conversation about life, real estate, and the journey of living you.

For more updates, please follow us on:

Facebook: Living You Media

Instagram: livingyoumedia

YouTube: Living You Podcast

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:00

And we are back with another Living You Podcast broadcast on this rainy Wednesday in upstate New York.

SPEAKER_01 0:12

Yeah, Jess and Rich here, you yeah, looking at the looking at our gloomy windows, but that's okay. Gloomy days are good days to talk. Um Jess, we got a good lineup today, or at least I think it's a good lineup. We just talked off off mic about uh our discrepancies in our in our planning processes. But um uh just tell us real quick, what is what is going on in your world? How is how is life? How is business? What is what is living you like these days?

SPEAKER_02 0:36

Well, living me is kind of exciting as the weather breaks here, and obviously we're very much in the spring market, which is getting busy and uh heating up, uh pun intended. And today being rainy is good for all the fruit trees that I planted in the last week. So, yeah, part of living uh in a rural community in upstate New York is being able to plant gardens and have greenhouses and raise chickens and do all those fun little country things that you never get to do in the city. So I'm happy through rain.

SPEAKER_01 1:11

You've what, been four years upstate-ish or something like that, and you've really taken to those sort of those hobbies. I've been here my whole life in upstate New York, and I don't garden or have chickens or anything like that. But um but I was just talking about telling you about buying a bike from someone on Facebook Marketplace, and this is this is bike season. So every every season has its uh has its moments for everyone. So I find joy in uh the wind blowing through my hair on a bike, and you find joy in taking building coops for your chickens and fences and stuff.

SPEAKER_02 1:45

And planting fruit trees, which we actually did the last time we had a pretty heavy rain, we ended up planting in the which was actually one of the coolest things. We were totally covered in mud. My gloves were so saturated with water and mud from planting. We got two plum trees, a cherry tree, and a pear tree. And it we were just exhausted, we were soaked, we were covered in mud, and it was like we just came in and we were like, that was awesome.

SPEAKER_01 2:16

How big are these things? How big are these at this point? Are they uh are they several feet high? What is the are they um yeah?

SPEAKER_02 2:22

I mean, they're well, they're saplings, um, but they're yeah, they're a good eight to ten feet. Yeah. And oh, that's that's great.

SPEAKER_01 2:31

They're so they're like I feel like I tried this once with the uh the Arbor, is it the Arbor Foundation? They always send me stuff like a tree survey, and I got I've multiple times in my life I've been duped by this. Not duped, it's not fair, but they send you if you give them money, they'll give you like some stamps or something like some like some Tchaki type stationary paraphernalia. And then they send you 10 or 20 or 30 like like tree saplings, like little things, but they're like six or ten inches long, they're just like little tiny roots, and you have to go plant them. And then um I'm sure you can do this right, but I never did figure it out because I would just put them in like out in the lawn or whatever where I wanted them to be, and then I never knew how to like keep the weeds away or water them, or they just let them. I was like, if this lives, it lives, and none of them ever lived. So I failed on my Arbor Foundation free trees.

SPEAKER_02 3:22

You're on your own.

SPEAKER_01 3:25

Maybe I just some dirt, here's some sun, you got some rain.

SPEAKER_02 3:31

What else do you want from me? Yeah. Yeah. So yeah, but I I mean I've been fertilizing them, watering them, and so it's just nice to have a good hard rain so that I don't have to do any watering. Although I'll tell you one quick story and then we'll get into whatever topic you have selected for today. I uh I live on a creek, which I've mentioned before. The easiest way for me to water is to take two big watering cans, go down to the creek and fill them up, and then come back up. Well, today the creek bank is like a mudslide. So I have like stone steps we've kind of like put in. So I I'm okay. I'm not okay. So I f I slide from the top of the bank, which is significant. It's gotta be eight feet because when you stand at the bottom of the creek, you can't see out, like it's well above my head. So I slide eight feet down like a mud slide into the creek, and my dog is like, Are you okay? So that was fun. But I filled up my buckets and now I have to go back up the creek bank with two big full buckets of water. So I I did that in the rain. Yeah, so my pants I came in, I had to take my pants off, they're all covered in mud. I was like, This is this is life on the creek. So, but that's because we have a greenhouse that we have seedlings and if it rained in there, I wouldn't have to worry about it.

SPEAKER_01 5:03

Yeah. That's convenient to have that water source. You could I mean, obviously, obviously, I'm sure you guys can figure out alternate ways to do that, but you could get a little like pump and put a hose into the the creek and pump some water up.

SPEAKER_02 5:15

But yeah, we we thought about that. I like a good old-fashioned farmer's carry.

SPEAKER_01 5:20

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, it's good, it's good for you. Yeah, then that was one of your CrossFit type things, right? Isn't that a CrossFit type move? Like, yeah, yeah, world's strongest men, they do like the farmers carry hold carrying like anvils or something like that. Anyway, um they should keep it. Yeah, one of these days we will actually talk about real things at some point.

SPEAKER_02 5:37

We will, we are, we're doing that right now. A strongman competition should be going up and down the creek bank when it's raining with buckets of water, because that was not easy. And I think tomorrow I'm going to be hurt because at our age now, I don't hurt in the moment, but I definitely slid down and my arm was like when I landed, I was like, wow, that that was bad. I was like, okay, this is gonna hurt tomorrow.

SPEAKER_01 6:04

Yeah, that's one of those things where like weight, like being strong is you can be like gym strong and weights strong, and then there's like real life strong. So like balancing water jugs while climbing up a rocky slope to go feed your water your plants is different than like whatever squatting 300 pounds, right? It's just a totally different thing altogether.

SPEAKER_02 6:28

Totally different muscles.

SPEAKER_01 6:30

Well, no, I mean just the the balance involved, the coordination, you know, it's just different. Like I see these guys do these world record like deadlifts. I'm like, okay, you're standing still, you've got like 7,000 braces on your wrists, and like this guy behind you, and and this belt that like anyway. I'm like, this is very mechanical, you know. This is not exactly like when would you ever use this strength in this way?

SPEAKER_02 6:54

Right. Unless you're like lifting a Volkswagen, you know, off of one of your loved ones, then maybe that would be a thing. Or like a tree. Yeah, I know. I know. Well, that was a thing with CrossFit.

SPEAKER_01 7:08

I'll save you. I'll save you in a couple minutes. Just let me strap up.

SPEAKER_02 7:13

Yep, that was the thing with this that everyone wanted to like go heavier and go heavier, which you know, me, I I want people. So I would go because there was classes and there was such a great community, and we all, you know, helped each other, and my goal was to get to a 200-pound deadlift. That's what I wanted to do. And that's what I did. And then I stopped. And everybody there was girls doing like 289. I'm like, I'm so good. And then I got my my PR was I think it was 130 overhead, and I I just just hard pressed 130 pounds over my head, and I literally blacked out and I threw the bar forward and I fell backwards. It was fantastic, but that was as much as I'll ever do. I did 130 pounds overhead, 200 pound deadlift. Everyone's trying to squat 175. I'm like, I'm not doing that. I'm good with where I am.

SPEAKER_01 8:09

And you achieved your objective, right? That made you happy. That was the satisfaction you wanted. And then did your motivation to continue, like you like what you're I'm hearing is you saying, like, at that point, I I did what I wanted to do. I proved my point to myself or whatever, and then your your motivation goes down.

SPEAKER_02 8:26

Um I think that's well, I think to maintain it, because I liked being strong. There was in your life when you're strong, so for example, like, you know, I was in real estate at the time too, and I had a client, um, Allison, and she picked up like a five-gallon drum of paint to like, you know, she's like, Oh, I had to have the guy at Home Depot put it in my car. I was like, Oh, really? She opens the trunk, she goes, Oh, no, no, no, let's get somebody. And I lifted the five-gallon drum, put it on the ground. I was like, You want me to bring this in your apartment? So you get this sort of freedom, and then she was like, Oh my God. I'm like, yeah, I'm strong. I want to be strong in my life. It also for my own body, like I've always had a lot of back pain. It's solved, and then, oh, you're gonna hurt your back. No, I'm not actually. I strengthened my back to the point where I used to have debilitating back pain. I would be in bed for seven days, no shit. Like I have really bad sciatica. My mom has it too. And I went to all kinds of doctors, all kinds of things. They're like, eh, we there's nothing wrong. It's just your back. It's just your your discs kind of rub together. It's just you have a curve in your spine that's a little bit more dramatic than most people. So you're gonna move a certain way and you're gonna hurt stuff. So I solved for that by strengthening my back. I haven't had a back issue since I did CrossFit. So being strong in your life matters. Um you're there's, like I said, a freedom, um, and there's uh a pride. Like I don't have to wait for anybody. So, like, even these trees, like, I'm still pretty strong. So me and Joe digging holes, and I have to lift the tree up and hold it up so he can pull, you know, the bucket down so that I could put it in. It wasn't light, but I can do that, right? So now it's not not on my husband to do all of it. I can do some of the lifting as well. And I I like to be able to help and participate and be able to contribute, you know, and part of that is being strong. And I think women should be strong. You know, don't wait for a dude to do it. Come on, ladies. Lift some weights, you can do it.

SPEAKER_03 10:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 10:40

I could pull out my bar right now and show you. I'm looking at my bar right there.

SPEAKER_01 10:45

You have a weight bar right next to you.

SPEAKER_02 10:47

Oh yeah. I do, and I have weights over there. I haven't really messed with it, but yeah, I have um a 35-pound weight lifting CrossFit bar.

SPEAKER_01 10:59

I got away from all that. I did all that when I was in my in my competitive high school athletic days, and then I had I had injuries that sidelined me, and then I would I I I was in really good shape back in the day, and I I haven't done jack to like lift weights for probably 20 years. But somehow like physi everyone's physiology is different, but I still maintain like a certain structure that I'm happy with, so I don't feel like I have to do much work, but I know that I'm not as strong, but I don't think I it's funny, when I was super fit, I looked pretty much the exact same, maybe like a little like lighter, just like I'm I'm a little chubby now. But in terms of like my frame and physique, I don't look any different. I'm like, I worked so hard and I was so much in better shape, but you could look at me and you will you couldn't tell the difference.

SPEAKER_02 11:44

Yeah, no, for sure. And you don't lose it. And you're active, so you're not gonna lose it. Like if you just laid on the couch for a year and drank beer and like ate burritos, maybe it would start to you know impact. But you still ride your bike, right? You still do things, you walk land a lot.

SPEAKER_01 11:58

I've had some burrito years in my life.

SPEAKER_02 12:02

Those are the best, aren't they?

SPEAKER_01 12:03

Yeah, try to be. Um, okay, why don't we pivot into uh some stuff that people might want to know about about real estate developments in in uh recent news? So I'm the one with a little bit of the stuff in front of me. So um there's been a couple of changes recently in sort of like governmental oversight on the real estate market. Now we're in uh a democratic capitalist uh you know society, right? So we always talk about market value and and we're agents and we have clients and consumers, and and largely that's that's how it works. But at uh at certain points of certain transactions or or with certain ways properties can be bought and sold, there is government oversight of the process. So without doing a ton of defining what these entities are, I have a couple things that have been happening lately lately that I thought would be interesting to just kind of touch base on and see your thoughts, and then we can we can see what we think. So as of May 1st, 2026, which is just a few days ago now, uh, there's big changes to people that are being approved for FHA or VA loans. FHA is um federal housing authority and VA is uh the veterans of Veterans Affairs. Anyway, everyone knows VA loans and FHA loans. Well, historically, those properties, properties that would be purchased using those financing processes, which are, by the way, great for the buyer, they offer lower down payments. Um, you know, they're they're good, they're government-backed securities. They're government securities, they're government-backed loans. But as a part of that process, in order for the government to offer that that property as a viable one that the government will essentially hold the value of, then there's a pretty strict set of parameters that they will only allow certain properties to be purchased through. And in our area, what we've always run up against is these little things that are health and safety kind of protocols that a lot of houses don't quite meet the metric for. So it's it sort of sounds like little things. I'm using air quotes, but things like peeling paint on house exteriors or decks or porches, which is actually really common if you think about it. Um lots of things like missing handrails on any stairway or basement stair or external like deck or stairway or access. And then there's there's a lot of other things, but essentially anything that stands out at like uneven concrete or uneven floors can be flagged as things that are issues because the the what what it comes down to, Jess, is essentially the appraiser that we were talking about, maybe doing a podcast on defining roles and things and terms, but now I'm stealing your thunder here with with your idea. But um the appraiser is essentially a a third-party licensed appraiser who who is their job is to determine the value of a property. But when they are hired by the FHA or the VA, they get a certain they're doing an FHA or a VA appraisal. It's not just a conventional property valuation, it is specifically to go under these guidelines. And if if they're appraising a house that has peeling paint on it, they've got to kind of red flag that, and then they're gonna say this house might, you know, appraise for this value, but it's subject to uh repairing or remedying this issue, right? And so there's a list of the three or four things that are the red flags, and then the they won't they won't offer that loan unless you fix that thing, right? And that's gets tricky because then who's gonna solve it, who's gonna fix it, who's gonna pay for it, who's liable, blah, blah, blah.

SPEAKER_02 15:37

We usually can figure it out, but because a lot of times those houses are owned by you know people with lower income. They're being purchased by, and not in all cases, but what I found up here, uh, it's a little bit more common for lower income buyers and lower income sellers. So all of a sudden there's these super costly repairs, and the buyer would actually be okay moving in with peeling paint. They're gonna be okay. Like the functionality of the house still works, it's safe, you know, for the most part. So it's tough. It's definitely something that uh I'm running into even right now on a deal. So yeah.

SPEAKER_01 16:15

So's gonna fix it. It's been a great point. So it's been a yeah, you're right. The parties involved might not really care, but this is because it's a government loan. The government cares, they have their standards. So what just happened as as of May 1st is they they uh altered the strictness of these things. So for Which is a good thing. We as realtors know that 1978 is an important year because that's when we stopped selling paint with lead in it in America. So any house that is now post-1978, they the appraiser is no longer gonna flag peeling paint because it might be not pretty, but it's no longer considered a health, a health hazard to their eyes. If it is an old farmhouse or something older than 1978, they still can flag that. But again, you know, they're they might be more flexible on that to some extent. Um also critically, detached structures, so anything, uh a shed, a garage, a barn, these are very common on our properties around here. They used to be be subject to the same exact regimen, right? So you got a barn with peeling paint. Guess what? You've got a huge barn to paint. You can't buy the house. That's a that's a big deal. You can't buy the house. Now, detached structures are no longer on the on the playing field. Detached structures don't count. So it still has to probably be like structurally somewhat safe. It can't be like a death trap, but you're not gonna have to paint this barn as long as it's not gonna fall over tomorrow. Um, those are some of the uh the VA ones. The uh also um they have also changed the underwriting a little bit. Now, underwriting is a little different than the appraisal. The underwriting is the the lender themselves taking a look at the the property value given by the appraiser, also the contract of sale, also the the qualifications of the buyer. So what they're doing now is they're they're doing more automated, I don't want to say AI, but they're they're automating the approval process, the underwriting, a little bit more rather than having uh uh an employee essentially do a whole bunch of manual triple checking of things. So they are saying that this will streamline the process and probably fewer loans will be rejected because they're gonna rely more on whatever automations are being employed. So on the these two things, buy in themselves are going to be good for buyers to to have the opportunity for the home and the property that they like and want to purchase to be loanable. It doesn't mean that they're not still gonna have to compete, it doesn't mean that they're not still gonna have to make a good offer and they still have to qualify with their finances, but um, this is a generally seen as a very good thing, right? The stuff that is sort of like I don't want to call it obnoxious, but that little bit of obnoxious red tapiness of the government is being peeled back, just like the penis paint.

SPEAKER_02 19:02

Exactly. Yeah, I think you know, government less government, I've always said is probably better than more government. I understand they're backing the loan, they're actually the ones buying the house, they're gonna obviously want to guarantee, you know, the value as well as the condition. All of that is fine. And I think there is where the rubber meets the road in reality. Again, a lot of people that take advantage of these programs, again, like I said, you know, might be lower income families that can't spend $10,000 to paint a freaking house. Um, or or handrails or whatever. So unless there's some kind of what I'd like to see is some kind of remedy where perhaps there is money that's put into uh the loan. Maybe it's something that can be borrowed or worked in for repairs to be done post-closing within two months or something. Because a lot of times it's like we can't close unless $10,000 worth of stuff is remedied. No one's gonna do that. They just can't do that. So now the family that's selling can't sell. And I've already watched this happen. Um, a couple of deals fall apart because the family can't fix it and the buyer can't fix it. Because when you're looking at lower income property, again, they can barely pay for the stuff. They don't have any closing costs. They're barely gonna be able to pay their, you know, um, their attorney to represent them, let alone like get an inspection. I mean, these people are making sacrifices just to be able to move um their families. So perhaps what I hope for is I think yes, this is a step in the right direction. This is great. Um, some of the, you know, um parameters loosen loosening up. But I would like to see something like that. If there does, if it does require repairs, maybe there's a world where, hey, 60 days within closing and that money was held back in escrow, and that goes specifically to a licensed contractor, like they can control that all the way to the finish line, right? The same, the same, same as anything else. They can control that. It's their the bank's contractor and they release the funds, they can completely control the process and make sure it's completed within 60 days. That would be something that actually moves the needle for real families that are lower income. And we always talk about affordability. The only houses that are really affordable are the ones that are a little bit screwed up.

SPEAKER_03 21:34

It's true.

SPEAKER_02 21:35

So let's figure out government and all your infinite wisdom. You want to control the way this works. That's great. You want to help people get into affordable housing. I love that I'm with you. Maybe the next step is providing some kind of other means of remedy because that's where deals really fall apart and people miss out.

SPEAKER_01 21:58

Yep. No, I agree. I agree. Not a perfect change, but it is a small change and it and it should help some people.

SPEAKER_02 22:03

Right direction. It will definitely help. It will definitely help. Well, just like one of the houses we just listed, we said, like, this would be great for an FHA. This would be great for a VA buyer, except for there's peeling paint on the garage. And then all of a sudden it was like, there's no more peeling paint on the garage. That matters. It doesn't matter. Great. So now we can check the little boxes off that a VA or FHA buyer can now consider that house. I love that. It helps my seller, it helps more buyers, it gives them more inventory options. So it it is definitely going in the right direction.

SPEAKER_01 22:38

Yes. I mean, I think that's a good point at the end. So if if if you're listening and you're you're not an agent, you're in the in the consumer client space, then there's frequent conversations between agents, and it's actually one of the data entry fields that we have when we sort of enter a listing into the multiple listing service is sort of like what type of financing would this qualify for. And we check these boxes. And frankly, I've gotten in the habit of if I don't know for sure, I don't check FHA or VA because I don't want to necessarily be like responsible for saying like I'm certain that this would qualify. Um maybe agents have different takes on that, but I would obviously talk to any agent that inquired with any buyer, give everyone every chance. But the bottom line is sometimes you just know. This is like this one's super tricky, this is not gonna be very hard. But um, but what people might not know is that as agents, we inquire with each other all the time. Would this, hey, you've got 55 Main Street, would that qualify for FHA? You know, what do you think? And then I'll be like, oh, well, you know, it might have this, this, but they're small. Like that basement doesn't have a railing, but you know what? We could figure that out. Like, let's show it and see what happens, you know. So these little things being removed are just one more, you know, pulling back one more potential, you know, limitation to the buyer's ability or the pool of houses they're they're interested in. So people might not know that agents talk about this stuff kind of fairly frequently between ourselves when we're inquiring about setting up showings and whatnot.

SPEAKER_02 24:00

Also, um, yes, and one of the things that has come up to me, um, and Rich, I don't know if you've had this experience at all, but I've literally been approached by other agents have said, you know, would your seller be okay with a VA loan? And you know what? I gotta be honest, that first of all, that enrages me because it's like my seller's gonna be okay with whatever form of financing your buyer has, number one. That shouldn't even be a question, right? Is my seller okay with it? That shouldn't even be on the table as a conversation. Should would the would the property qualify is the question, right? But so what I think people have heard too, and I want to speak to the consumer base, is like, oh, you don't want someone to come via FHA because they're gonna make you do work to the house. So that's I've heard that, and that's very I hate, I hate to to even bring that up. But if you're a seller, you know, I don't want you to take that position necessarily. I want you to kind of be educated, maybe ask your agent that's listing with you, you know. So how does this house measure up for FHA or a VA if one of those, because let me let me just say one thing, especially with the VA loan, because sometimes at 0% down, like those houses really have to qualify, right? Um a veteran has this gift from the government. You can have a free for your service, for your sacrifice, you get to do a VA loan. I mean, to have these buyers be discriminated against, I hate to even use the D word, but to be discriminated against because they have a VA loan. So there's been a school of thought, and I've even had agents say it to me, like, oh, you know, I I can't stand working with VA and FHA, because wait, what? So I think we need to do a lot better. I don't know if you've heard that, but definitely in the city, we've heard that too. Like, you know, and I had uh I did a lot of co-ops too. So you couldn't even, unless you had a conventional mortgage, you really can't even buy in a co-op. So I just wanted to say that too. If anyone's listening to this, as a seller, I want you to understand that how the buyer is paying for your home should not matter. It really shouldn't. You should really, at listing, have a conversation with your agent. If they're a decent agent, talk through hey, do you think this house would be good for FHA and VA? Do you foresee any loans if we get that type of buyer? Because you don't, number one, want to limit your buyer pool. And number two, you don't want to keep a good family from being able to purchase your home just because they're taking advantage of this, you know, this offer they have to get a house for cheaper, to be able to do less down payment or no down payment. That's helpful to people. I don't know. That's my soapbox on government backed loans. I think it's an amazing opportunity, and we should be supporting it. Yeah. We should be promoting it.

SPEAKER_01 26:58

And the are they okay with yeah, they're okay with getting a big check at closing, right? They should be okay with that. Um, I mean, there are every offer is unique, every offer is different. There's always like, I don't know, I never no offer is is perfect. Um the only one thing with those VA loans, they're oftentimes 0% down, like you said, meaning it has to appraise for that full value. And sometimes you're asking for concessions on top to pay for other closing costs. So um, you know, it the property has to have the value. But if it has the value, then VA buyer, FHA buyer, good as anything.

SPEAKER_02 27:31

All day.

unknown 27:32

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 27:32

All day. So I've had two VA, two, two VA buyers already this year, and they one of them specifically was like, Do you think it's okay that I use he goes, I can go conventional, but I have an option to do VA for a lower interest rate. But do you think I can? I said a thousand percent, that's the one we're going with. I want you to have the lower interest rate, and I want you to take advantage of that opportunity for your service. He was like, Okay, let's go. And we bought a house with a VA loan.

SPEAKER_01 28:03

There's probably some math in there too. I mean, I'm not gonna say uh that you, you know, but you'd probably have to if if whatever, if they could do, you know, no one hold no one owns their house for 30 years anymore, so it's kind of a moot point. But like if you're doing a 30-year mortgage, you're actually probably paying more in the long run if you were to hold it and close it out as a proper 30-year mortgage. But again, that's probably relatively uh nonsensical in these days anyway. Um the second governmental thing, Jess, I wanted to cover, and this one speaks more nearly and dearly to my heart. I I'm not gonna say I don't work with FHA or VA often, but for whatever reason, my homes are somewhat more rurally, second home-y, more conventionally uh in general, or or they've got too much, too much weird stuff happening that they wouldn't qualify. Um, but uh but the one that is is interesting is related to to building code, energy efficiency, code, and stuff. So let me let me paint the picture for you real quick. So every couple of years, uh there's there's an international body, not just US, but international uh sort of like uniform code compliance for making sure that structures and residences are are livable and healthy and and safe, right? And that's that's a I think that's a good thing. And then we have our own uh I think we have federal building code and we certainly have state code. Um, so everyone should know your own your own state code. But essentially in 2021 was the last time that uh they they updated the international building energy efficiency code, that's an IB E C C. Um, and then that gets turned into essentially IBC, which is International Building Code, and then we have the US code, which was adopted based on that. So our uh code uh envelops and includes certain energy efficiency requirements. And I there's no secret, Jess, I'm an energy efficiency guy. It it spins my wheels. I love the thought of saving money. The problem is you save money by spending more money up front and doing things well. So here's the crux of it. What HUD, the housing and urban development department in the US, has recently been having lengthy conversations with the builders' associations of the US. The builders were being held to this uh this there was an update. I think it was an I'm not gonna, I'm gonna get my facts a little bit muddy here, and I don't want to just pull it up and take time to look at it. But anyway, I think in 2024, the decision was made that yes, new buildings, new houses in the US will have to apply this this higher, more rigorous standard. And builders were like, fine, we'll do it. And then they tried for a year and a year and a half or two years, and they're like, guess what? How these houses now to do to meet these standards are like 20 or 30 grand more expensive for us to pass that cost on to the purchaser. And they're and basically new housing is is not selling as much. So what has just recently happened is HUD has said, all right, all right, builders, we we hear you, we hear you loud and clear. You need to sell houses, you need to make money, and we as a country, we need people to be able to afford homes, right? We have a housing crisis. So the solution that they came up with was we are going to rescind the necessity for you to meet that most recent code update. So they still have to meet like some you know energy efficiency standards from the the prior generation, but they're no but they're probably like working on 10-year or more old like build science sort of like guidance, right? So what it means in essence is yes, houses can be constructed to probably a lower standard, meaning they will cost less, meaning you can buy it for less. However, the caveat that I would I would say is that that means that you're gonna have a leakier house, you're gonna have a less quality home, you're gonna spend a lot more on your utilities, your heating, your cooling. And so even though it might be less money up front, you're gonna feel it every single month when you make your utility payments, and when you make your heat heating and cooling payments, your propane, your HVAC, your all that stuff is going to, and that's and that doesn't go away. So you're you're trading a one-time lump sum for a really tight house versus the entire time you live there throwing money into utility companies. So I do think it's a solution, and I'm not anti this move at all because it's a free market, and if the builders are allowed to build to a lower code, I I kind of want to say let them do it. But I also think that they should be clearly saying this is built to a decade old, I'm not saying decade, but an older standard, right? This is not a this is a new home in name, but it's not a new home in technology. It's not a new home in standard. So I believe that I get I you know where I stand at this. I would rather build something great once and and have a five dollar electric bill. You know, I'm I'm using it, but I mean I'd rather spend a hundred bucks on electric versus three hundred every single month.

SPEAKER_02 33:02

So yeah, and then Devil's Advocate is most people don't live, at least in our in our area, most people don't live in new houses. That, you know, even even if they're building to code 10 years ago, it's more efficient than my house.

SPEAKER_03 33:16

That's a great one.

SPEAKER_02 33:17

And more more efficient than 90% of the houses that we deal with. So I think people are okay with that again, like just talking about the affordability of getting into a home. If I have to deal with keep riding my heat a little bit lower and wearing a sweater inside because my energy costs, I have to worry about that. I'd rather take that chance month to month and actually get into a house that I can afford that I feel comfortable with. Um, so yeah, I think in some markets where they are um there's a lot of new construction, I think it's it's definitely more of a conversation. And definitely for us, I mean, and we we haven't really talked about it much, but we are in the process of building a new house um up in upstate New York, and we want it to be as, you know, number one, code efficient, but as energy efficient as possible. Um and some of that cost obviously is going to get passed on. But the idea is that the person who buys that house sees value in an energy efficient brand new build that they're never gonna have to worry about. They're gonna have nice low costs and they're gonna be comfortable and they're not gonna have to wear a sweater in their house in January, like I do. Um, so I think it, you know, I think it definitely depends geographically where you are too, um, how much that's gonna impact. But us in upstate New York, the good news is is why is it good news? Um, I don't know how much it really really affects most of our buyers and sellers and and and builders. Um, if they can kind of eke by with some lower building costs and get more people into affordable housing, I think that's ultimately the bigger issue.

SPEAKER_01 35:01

Yeah. No, that's a really it's a really excellent counterpoint. I uh I value that immensely. We we happen to be in this weird pocket of upstate New York, Jess, where we just don't, we say this every time, but we just don't have like neighborhoods being built or builders building new homes for people. It's it's just not a thing. You go uh an hour or two in a couple directions to slightly more urban areas, and you do, you have neighborhoods, you have big employers. You go up two hours north of us into uh north of Syracuse, New York, there's a uh a huge manufacturing facility is is going in soon, and they're gonna be building tons of houses up there. So we're just in this weird pocket where in our everyday life we feel very insular, insulated from this concept. The concept of new homes is wild to us right here. Like you see a uh an MLS listing for a 2020 house, we're like, whoa, that's a new house.

SPEAKER_02 35:48

Yeah, there's only a handful of them, too, that you that you actually see. Yeah. And I well, I also think like part of our value here is like people like the old charm, they like the old farmhouses. So I think you know, my perfect life, which I've talked about before, is you know, living you, living Jess would be buying these old farmhouses, bringing them back to life and getting them as efficient as possible, but knowing you really, really can't get it 100% where we might be today. Um, but these old kind of drafty, they're they've got some romance and history and character, and people kind of don't mind that as much. So I I hope we don't start building like crazy. I mean, maybe we can, but I like keeping it very rural and I like keeping it, you know, kind of the way it is. Um, not having too much overbuilt because a lot of times people come here to escape that.

unknown 36:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 36:45

No, there's tons of charm. Every I mean, every place is different, but we um I'm not gonna I'm not gonna knock like suburban areas, but I do I almost have culture shock when I do travel to a like a neighborhood or a development, or I see, you know, suburbia up close. I'm like, wow, this is what I and I kind of grew up in it, but it's been a long time. And it's almost like culture shock. I'm like, wow, this is an actual cul-de-sac with you know 17 houses that look very similar. And and uh I'm just like whoa, I just we don't we don't have this. Um one thing I will say, and I didn't I didn't back this, I didn't get a chance to research this, but I saw a post on some social media from a source that I do generally trust the other day that said as of a recent uh data call, new the average new home price in the US was $387, and that is now below the average you know existing home sale, which is I think just under $400 right now. Three it was like $390 or something like that. So as of a latest data point, like you could theoretically, if you're in a a a region with new homes, it's almost 50-50 if you get a new home home or an existing home, which is is wild to me. Again, because of where we are, it's uh it's just not in keeping with what I what I see. When I when we see new homes, they're generally custom built, they're usually at a pretty high level. And if anyone does sell them after a few years, they're they're at quite a premium. But um fast, it's just fascinating stuff. Like if you think about it on the national scale, again, and maybe this is part of what these builders were pushing for to reduce this this restriction, because now they can knock their price down a little bit more, and then they can get more buyers into their product, which is what they want as builders.

SPEAKER_02 38:28

And and ultimately, I don't think that the margins are as high in our area, like when you think about it, like resale. I don't think builders can get because our average price is what 238. You know, I I don't think that builders can really come and spend 200,000, 250,000 or 300,000 on a build and and really make that much more profit. So I think that probably keeps the builders away. What I see more, and and you you probably have seen even more than me, is you know, people come up, they buy land, they build their own houses, right? And and that's the new build you see, and they live in it for a period of time, and then if they decide they're gonna sell it, that's what you're gonna see. Oh, I built this house in 2018 and I'm selling it now. You don't see builders necessarily, you just see people that, like you said, custom build that's that's what comes on the market. And I think maybe part of that is you know, because of the margins, they're not gonna make as much money, and I love that.

unknown 39:23

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 39:23

I love that absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 39:24

I'm all for fixing up our older our our existing housing stock, you know. But everything like everything has its uh things depreciate, things, things get old, they get you know, this it can we can go on forever with that. But yeah, uh you have a noble cause in your mind, and um I'm I'm here for it.

SPEAKER_02 39:40

I'm here for I want to save those beautiful houses.

SPEAKER_01 39:43

Save the houses. Yeah, yeah, I want to save the house. Well, I mean they save the people there's there's the old adage, you know, they just don't build them like they used to. It is so so true. I mean, we walk in some of these homes, and even I saw a listing today, Jess. It's one of our friends, but it's it's not something that's right in my neighborhood, but it is in relatively poor shape, but it's at a really, really attractive price, and you just can see so much character in this home. It it is like it isn't gorgeous now, but you can I can just see the gorgeousness within it, you know. Oh, it's amazing. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 40:18

I know. I love I wanted to get into that house on Main Street in Unadilla and just see. I feel like that house would be magnificent if someone just had the time, you know, the care and the money, you know, to bring it back. I would love to get a house like that and just make it shine again.

SPEAKER_01 40:37

I have one more we'll take a note here of the time, but I have one more topic that we could talk about, which is still sort of in this in this real estate news arena. Do you have can you can you push on through or do you want to um call this one uh an episode?

SPEAKER_02 40:51

I mean, we can we can do either. That's a pretty good episode at 40 minutes.

SPEAKER_01 40:56

Yeah, we're cause we're because we're good. Um we could well, you know, I don't think this will take as long as I thought. Why don't we why don't we squeeze it in here? Why don't we add it to our list? Since I'm doing real estate news, we'll we'll step away from from newsy stuff for the next couple episodes. But um so okay, this is I obviously you we can all tell who drives the train here.

SPEAKER_02 41:16

Um you think it's you?

SPEAKER_01 41:18

No, no, no. I don't mean that. I mean in terms of the like the the I don't mean like who's in control. That's not what I mean.

SPEAKER_02 41:26

I just mean no driving the train sounds like a lot of control does the prep.

SPEAKER_01 41:30

I'm saying who all here's our new our new our new uh principle should be if you want to prepare content to discuss, then we can discuss the content you prepare.

SPEAKER_02 41:40

I told you my idea. You hated it. I wanted to do real estate glossaries. You were like, that'll be boring. I'm like, great. So let's talk about come back for come back next time for terms, real estate terms that you should know.

SPEAKER_01 41:58

Actually, we'll we will do that.

SPEAKER_02 41:59

Let's uh we will do that because I think people would vote. All the people that listen would vote and go, yeah, I don't know what an abstract means. Yes, you want to know. Stay tuned to find out.

SPEAKER_01 42:11

It's an it's an abstract concept. Um okay that's right. So well, let's let's let's wrap up real estate kind of things happening, and I'll I'll I'll paint this picture for you. Okay, so agents are part of brokerages. Uh we we we hang we hang our license with a broker. We are we are independent contractors, but we uh we have to, by law, operate under the sort of the guidance or the the umbrella of a of a broker, broker of record, and they are the ones that have to make sure that you know we are trained the right way, we're we're keeping up with our continuing education and our licensors are in good shape. Anyway, um brokers can be anywhere from one person, right, and then running their own business to huge hundreds, thousands of agents. Um, it just depends on usually there's you know smaller uh groups that then might join up with a bigger brokerage, but we, you and I happen to be part of one of the bigger brokerages around. But there has been a trend in in the last six months or so for some of the biggest players in real estate nationally, in the US anyway, to consolidate. So I'll just run down what has happened recently. So I think the first one was I don't have the date in front of me, but Rocket, which is a mortgage company, but they purchased Redfin, um, which is a uh a real estate they do are they do operate as a broker, but they're also a consumer portal. And they purchased Mr. Cooper, which I don't see very often, but that's a that's a mortgage, that's uh a different sorry, that might be a title uh company. I'm actually No Mr.

SPEAKER_02 43:47

Cooper is mortgage. Mr. Cooper used to be Nation Star. Used to be Nation Star Mortgage. Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_01 43:53

Okay. So it's anyway, it's a so what this is is a a um a consolidation of a big mortgage. Several big players. This is uh a big one. But anyway, the this move is interesting because it kind of the summary that I have in my mind, and you I'll I'll hear your thoughts, but we'll compare it to these other two moves. But this was a move to kind of bring the consumer, the the purchaser of a property into the the entire sphere of the rocket kind of business, right? We're going to pre-qualify you, then we'll pre-approve you, then we'll get you into your loan, then we're gonna have you in your house, and we're probably gonna offer you homeowners insurance because we've got a guy. And and you know, and then we're gonna check up on you every six months to make sure don't you want to refinance your home or whatever. And then when it's time to to purchase or sell, we're gonna have our redfin agent contact you, and your agent is gonna help you buy a home, and then the next home you buy, you'll finance with us, and we'll have your new insurance. And and so the whole thing is a self-perpetuating, it's not control, but it's certainly they want you within that ecosystem so that at every movement you make as a real estate consumer, you're locked into their kind of profit sphere, right? Okay, it's fine, good business model. I don't I don't hate it, it's it's one thing. And then two other things happened recently. Uh, you had a large broker called Compass, and Compass, which is big by itself, but it just purchased anywhere real estate, and anywhere is a as well was already a conglomerate, which included Coldwell Banker, Century 21, uh Sotheby's International, Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate, I think a couple others, ERA real estate. There might even be a few other smaller things that were already in there. Now they are under the coverage of Compass. And Compass is in the news for a lot of reasons. They're doing a lot of things that are um, I don't know, I say contentious in the industry, but whatever. Independent thinking, I new ideas aren't bad. They they generally are pushing this like private listing network. They might be a little bit less a proponent of everyone should see everything and have access to everything. So that has its detractors. But either way, what Compass is doing is buying a bunch of agents, putting them under one umbrella, they're gonna have great tech, they're gonna have great support, and they're betting essentially on the agent to be the hub of everything. So they don't have necessarily as at least as outwardly baked in sort of like chain relationships, right? It's not like you don't have to go through our bank, you don't have to go through our insurance. Not that anyone ever has to, but they're not gonna be as strongly steered, like they're it's basically steering, is what happens with with like rocket and everything. Um and then just recently, real brokerages, which is one of the newer players in the industry, they are essentially considered a online or a cloud broker. They they pride themselves on on high degree of tech, they're integrating AI, they they almost at a certain point were kind of like mocking uh like brick and mortar old school brokerages and saying you're not the model anymore. But what they just did was they bought Remax, which is one of the most classic brick and mortar brokerage franchise entities in the US. And so they just added a ton of agents into their pool. They're up to like a hundred thousand, hundred and eighty thousand agents. And again, so it's a weird one where this cloud broker just bought a whole bunch of brick and mortars, uh uh and everyone's got their whole their take on what it means or what's what's the real play. But but on the on the highest of levels, all it really means is that these brokerages are clearly I don't know their numbers, I don't know their margins. You just talked about margins on building houses, but they clearly need to get together to make the numbers make sense for them on some level, right? So they're sharing services or sharing whatever tech and and again that one is a little bit more agent still in the middle, agents still providing value. Um, so I don't know. I just think this is interesting. It's a trend that's happening. We're at we're at in Keller Williams, we're in a big one. As far as I know, we're are we alone? We're solitary, right? But who knows what's what's around the corner. Um, I don't know if really uh I don't even know the history. It's not like Keller like absorbed a whole bunch of things in its growth. No, they grew by by recruiting hard and saying, hey, join us because we're gonna give you whatever the best agent package it was organic growth, which is nice.

SPEAKER_02 48:16

Um well so I mean there's definitely a lot to unpack there. Uh I I think that so when you just look at a brokerage at its most basic, you know, to be more profitable, you need more agents, right? Um to be more profitable. Uh I think in recent years it's not been about more agents as it's been about, like you said, keeping the consumer um into the ancillary businesses more. So they do title, they do insurance, they do mortgage. Um, so that seems to be the way this is going. So they set up these other ancillary businesses where the brokerage now gets paid on uh title insurance and mortgage, and the only way to pour some gas on that income is to get more agents. So I think it's it is really just this. They've figured out how to keep the consumer in play for life, right? Um getting the older, like Remax is a is a respected brand. Um when the Keller Williams opened in Jackson Heights, uh, they basically merged in with a with a Remax, and um that Remax office was the number one in the world. In the world. And um yes, and they decided this needs to be at Keller Williams now. So so they were able to, when that franchise agreement um came up, they were able to negotiate and get the owner of that Remax in as the one of the Keller Williams owners who's still owner today.

SPEAKER_01 49:52

That's a good point. I I got sidetracked because I went on this own little mental journey in my head. Because I have the small anecdote. When I was it was it was within the first probably months of me being a licensed agent, so we're talking seven, eight years ago now, um, I was out looking at at some land as I as I started heavily in land, and I was in this back behind someone's house, and at that time, like around here, Remax has not been a big, a big brokerage. So they did, I think, maybe have an office maybe a decade ago. I I don't I don't quite recall. But anyway, I was on this land and there was like I don't know if this person was a former agent or they had access to a bunch of signs, but there was like as I got further back, there's this clearly like this target range kind of area, which is common around here. Um, and there were all these re-max real estate signs, and they were being used as like the targets, so they just all were like these bullet holes through them and like arrows, and it was actually kind of funny. I was just like, oh sweet. Like I don't know why, but I I just found it hilarious that like why not use your old real estate signs to to blow up stuff.

SPEAKER_02 50:52

As long as I'm not on there.

SPEAKER_01 50:55

It wasn't like someone's face, it was just the general balloon thing, you know, that was a little bit more than a bit of the balloon.

SPEAKER_02 50:59

Oh, it's just the balloon. Well, I always imagine every time I pull up to one of my properties with my sign in my face that someone would have drawn a mustache on it, but that's just my own kind of mental journey. So back to this topic. Yeah, I just think that this is something that's always happened. Um I think it's just it's been flashier now, and it's been, you know, happening more and more. Obviously, things are more expensive, and there are so many more options out there from the traditional brokerage to the cloud brokerage and everything in between. People are just trying to figure out how to be a full service to an agent, capture as many clients as possible into all the other businesses as well, um, and capitalize on that. So at the end of the day, you know, our industry is not really known for integrity and being honest, and they're like used car salesmen, which is the only other thing that's worse. Um, which I feel bad for any good used car salesman out there, like I feel bad for any good agents out there. But anyway, is it all for the consumer's best interest? Probably not. Um, so my my default is always like, for example, when you mentioned what Compass was doing, they want to privatize listings, they want to feel very boutique and exclusive. And I don't think that's really what's best for the consumer at large. Now, there are definitely sellers that want to have an exclusive boutique experience, they don't want their address on the internet. I don't want people to know I'm selling my mansion. Fine, they can still do that and and choose that path. But is it okay to privatize everything and keep everything under one brokerage? I don't, I don't think that's the best thing. So I think if I don't know, I I don't know that I really have a better response than that. I I just want these brokerages to be always aware of the consumer at the end of the day. They have to live in these houses, they have to afford these houses, they have to have a good experience. As long as there is choice in the market, um, there should always be a free and fair market. Um, and like you said, are they steering them to their insurance? Are they steering them to their mortgage guy? We we have to, because of antitrust laws, give two to three options for everybody. And if it's going to be somebody you use or somebody you're affiliated with, you have to disclose that. So as long as those things stay in play and the consumer understands really what their options are, that's important for them that they always are educated. That's why I like doing this podcast, which is also a great segue to an ending, is that you should listen to people that are talking in general that don't have, I have nothing to gain from this other than just educating people and just talking about our industry and being as transparent as as possible. You always have options. Um, and I've had people tell me, like, well, the agent told me I had to use this person and that person. And yeah, I make suggestions as well. They don't have to listen to me. Um, they should understand what their choices are and they should do their own dil due diligence um and really understand, you know, what's out there and what's best for them.

SPEAKER_01 54:14

Yeah, I I like I like a lot of that. The there's two two two things I have to to conclude with. So I do I know a lot of agents, they have their their guy or their girl, or this is my, you know, this is my attorney, or this is this is the inspector you're gonna use. And I get that because you do want a good relationship. And and that I'm not even saying it's necessarily sketchy, right? Sometimes it's actually unethical, but I don't I'm not even getting onto that. Just the fact that you go to the same person time and time again, I'm not sure that that is the best thing for my client, right? Just because I know I like someone's process, it doesn't mean it's the right process for them. I still I we've said this before. I want my client to still have some autonomy in in their process. I don't want to just be like, hey, Rich, you're my agent. I don't want to think anymore. Just do it all for me or make the decisions for me. Some agents, that is their mindset, and it's fine, that's it's legal, but it's a lot of responsibility, and I'm not afraid of responsibility, but it's just a lot of like you're making the decision that you would make. I want my client to make the decision they would make. Um, and I want to inform them and give them like insight into what things to maybe look out for, pay attention to. But at the end of the day, I want your lender to be the lender that makes sense for you. I want your inspector to be the inspector that makes sense to you. And you had you had a good first phone call and you liked their process.

SPEAKER_02 55:32

And that's why we make multiple. Yeah, like, hey, this is my dream team, and here's some other names as well. Please call all of them. This is usually what I say. Please call all of them and decide who you feel the most comfortable with.

SPEAKER_03 55:45

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 55:46

Sometimes they don't call everybody, they just call like the first guy on the list. They go, Yeah, this guy's fine. But they have to know that they do have a choice and that they should explore those options completely. And I'll know by my client, really, listen, this guy might be better because he's a little bit more contracty, law, we'll be able to explain things more, or this person's a little bit more personable and can deal with your emotions. Like if you have kind of an emotional client, you know. So I used to have guide them in that way, but please talk to everybody and please make your own decision. And if you've used somebody in the past that you love, please use them. Please use them.

SPEAKER_01 56:27

Yep. And then my other, my only other point, and then I'll we'll drop this one. Um, does all that consolidation stuff we just talked about, does anyone care? Like in the sense of from the public, like when I whatever, do the processes that I do to try to find clients, to try to work with people, it very rarely, very rarely, almost never, in fact, basically never, has anyone ever said, Oh, you're with blank broker. I'm so happy to work with you, right? Or I was hoping this brokerage would be the one I'm working with. They want to work with the agent that they they're comfortable with, they trust, they like their process. I very rarely is someone like like I was hoping for a Howard Hannah agent, a compass agent, or whatever, you know what I mean? Like any of them. You know, it I'm sure that that big name brand is there, but at the end of the day, you're working with your agent on a hopefully a very personal, very localized level, and they're delivering service that makes sense for you. Uh I just think that all that consolidation at some point on the on the end of the consumer looking for a professional to help them, it's not gonna it doesn't matter who joins who, right? Is the person I'm working with looking out for me? That's what it's what it comes down to, in my opinion.

SPEAKER_02 57:39

And I yeah, I I agree with that. And then I think once you start working with somebody that you like, I have noticed that people do want to kind of look under the hood a little bit because sometimes they connect with their agent, they like their agent. I've definitely had people ask me about my brokerage. I've definitely, after the fact, have had people want to look under the hood, but again, they really at the end of the day just really care about our relationship and whether or not they're gonna be successful with me in their transaction.

SPEAKER_01 58:09

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 58:10

All right, and know that we're being honest and we're being we're not leading them where we want them to go, we're leading them to their best, you know, result.

SPEAKER_01 58:21

I mean, there's probably a reality where hopefully the the larger brokerages are offering their agents some kind of comprehensive suite of whether it's technology or tools or marketing or you know, the whole point of of us as agents having choice with where we which broker we work with is does it make sense financially? Does it make sense in terms of the the the blanket that they're that they're helping me to help people, right? Because uh it is a right uh an individual agent in the modern day anyway, is fighting against these big these big brokerages with lots of uh power and tech and everything. So anyway, I think that's more of the internal battle for an agent to choose, is what it what is the suite of things you're offering me.

SPEAKER_02 59:06

But for the public, they're helping me to help people. You said it. Helping are they helping me to help people?

SPEAKER_01 59:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 59:13

That would be what I look for.

SPEAKER_01 59:16

Cool. Well, thanks for hanging out with us as we talked about some pretty interesting stuff popping up in the the real estate news sphere in uh spring twenty twenty-six. Um that's all I got for this one, Jesse. What'd you say? I said that's all I've got for this one.

SPEAKER_02 59:34

Oh, it's all you got for this one. Yeah, so if you guys have any comments or any thoughts you want to share with us your reaction to anything or your opinion or share any questions, just go ahead and do that on all the things.

SPEAKER_01 59:46

All the things. Come back for more.

SPEAKER_02 59:49

We have like Instagram and like YouTube and like all these other things. So just do those things and like 'em and share them. All right, bye-bye.