Mastering the Real Estate Market: Expert Insights, Trends, and Advice | Will Wiard Interview

00:02.25
Bruce Anthony
On today's episode I'll be interviewing will wire. He's a former real estate agent and managing broker. We're gonna be talking about his life his history and real estate and the current real estate market. But first things first.

00:04.62
Bruce Anthony
I'm here with will wiard former real estate agent current broker. He's got a couple of different awards. He was 30 under 30 for something 40 or under 40 for something he'll break it down and explain it to us. But we're going to be talking about real estate I'm happy to have him more. He's a friend of mine. And the reason why I'm having him on is to tell a little bit about himself and also give us the rundown on real estate every time I talk to him about real estate. He knows what he's talking about so well welcome to the show I really appreciate you coming in.

00:33.79
Will Wiard
Well Bruce thank you as always for having me. It's a true honor and again, ah excited to be here.

00:36.61
Bruce Anthony
Well I mean I never had you before So you mean thank you for having you on. Not all yeah we talk about? yeah we talk about real estate all the time when I was like man I got to get you on a show to to tell people because a lot of people don't really understand what's going on.

00:42.31
Will Wiard
Yes, thanks for having me on I mean we talk about this all the time. So thank you for having me ah been yeah.

00:53.51
Bruce Anthony
Going on out there in the real estate market. But before we get into all that let's get in a little bit about your background. Ah can you share how you got into the real estate industry.

01:03.38
Will Wiard
Sure yeah, got in a real estate the summer of 2007 believe it or not I always make the joke I use really good hydrating facial lotion which keeps me looking this young but um, got in about seventeen years ago and I got my broker's license in Virginia when I turned 21

01:15.26
Bruce Anthony
Ah.

01:19.80
Will Wiard
And I managed a small family a mom and pop shop for about three or four years then moved to Arlington Virginia and ah you know sold real estate for a good while on average I think our office and our team did over. You know, 20300000000 in volume as a group. And then shortly after that I went into management in my mid 20 s so as a managing broker around 25 and I've been doing that ever since.

01:40.99
Bruce Anthony
Okay, and can you tell me a little bit about what the difference is between being a real estate agent and being a broker.

01:49.71
Will Wiard
Sure in Virginia let's just keep it simple when you get your license. Ah your licensee and then you join the and nar which is a national association of realtors and that's what makes you a realtor and that's when you make the obligation to be part of a higher code of ethics that protects you and the public's best interest. Um, and then you know if you want you can continue on your education and after 3 years of working full time in and the state of Virginia you then qualify to receive or test for your broker's license at which time you can take the test and you can stay either as an associate broker work under a firm or you can go and become. Either principal broker or if you want to ah manage you can look at other opportunities there and become a managing broker. So um, the level of ventures usually get your real estate license first and you got to work 3 years to qualify for the broker's license and then you can kind of decide which path is right or which path is best for you.

02:42.72
Bruce Anthony
So we talked about how you entered in what sparked your interests into real estate.

02:48.30
Will Wiard
Um, that's a great question Bruce ah so my father was I'd say my motivator and getting my real estate license the summer I graduated high school I was really excited to go to college and he you know being a. Former marine and military person said you know hey let's get some other things on your checklist for the summer so he made me get my real estate license and so again it was one of those things where at 18 you don't really know what you want to do in life and I didn't know if I wanted to be in real estate or not or not and luckily i. Took it as it took his advice and here I am today.

03:22.70
Bruce Anthony
So would you say that you fell in love with real estate as you got into it were you enthusiastic about entering real estate like where did that passion grow.

03:34.99
Will Wiard
Yeah I mean I would say it was a love hate relationship at first I mean you know the industry as a whole nationally I think the average age at that time was 55 so I don't even think I was considered an infant in that stage and in terms of breaking into it. Ah, but as I kind of got my legs and and learned and I moved into commercial real estate early on my career I liked that because it was mostly number base and business. You know centric which was what I was studying in college whereas residential historically is more emotional based and more emotionally driven because it's someone buying their house. So. That really you know, got me excited about it and then as I moved into you know sales and was able to achieve a few awards as you've mentioned such as like 30 under 30 um, and local accolades you know being featured in the washingtonian at a young age gave me the confidence to kind of move on so you know I got. Taft to go into management and was very excited to kind of see where that would take me after doing sales for a good 13 years and that's really where I think I fell in love with it when I got to see other people grow that came into the industry had no experience and by you know by able to train them and and show them the ropes and not have them reinvent the wheel. Really.

04:41.34
Bruce Anthony
A.

04:48.60
Will Wiard
You know, excited me even more so that's why I've stated management and continued to where I'm at today which is you know the broker for about 5 markets you know and that in itself is ah is a fun challenge. Overall.

05:00.67
Bruce Anthony
Almost two decades of being in the real estate industry. Um, what is yeah, a lot has changed but what is something that you consider a highlight a particular experience a project that is most memorable.

05:04.78
Will Wiard
Um, lot is change.

05:14.83
Bruce Anthony
Ah to you and impact is your career.

05:16.15
Will Wiard
I would say one of the most impactful elements or things that have happened in my career was when I but when I purchased my first house I was nineteen years old and I was at the courthouse steps of Fairfax County and this was you know a new venture for me and I was able to.

05:24.59
Bruce Anthony
A.

05:35.33
Will Wiard
Bid on a property had never been on a property before and secure that property as my primary residence and you know back then you know this was right after 2008 a lot of things were going on for those who remember but that in itself when I was able to see at come full circle and use the skills that I had to purchase my own property. Um I was pretty excited.

05:54.66
Bruce Anthony
That would be pretty exciting for and purchasing your first home at the age of 19 Um, so you said that you've done both commercial and private real resident residential commercial residential. But let's focus a little bit about.

06:06.79
Will Wiard
Residential. Yeah.

06:11.21
Bruce Anthony
Commercial aspects of it right now you've worked with Amazon Amazon and Nestle you said that you take the the motion for residential is in it and the motion for commercial is not what was it like working with those 2 companies.

06:28.24
Will Wiard
Ah, it was exciting I mean both companies are completely different I'll tell you from the ah for nestle as an example, the company I used to work for. We did the relocation for their North America headquarters from California here in Rosalind and so we actually moved their staff.

06:40.22
Bruce Anthony
You.

06:43.76
Will Wiard
And so a lot of my agents in my office in in the other offices and around the Northern Virginia area were tasked with helping those individuals purchase the residential property on the commercial side. We had the opportunity one of my agents represented the former Ceo of Amazon and purchasing a commercial.

06:51.98
Bruce Anthony
There.

07:03.63
Will Wiard
Building in Dc and that acquisition and that was interesting because that you know had no emotion in it. It was just purely due diligence. It was making sure the zoning codes were right and all of that and the finances were all correct so 2 big companies, 2 international companies but the approaches were different. And the and the insides of those deals were and and terms of the details of them were different. So um, again, you know the commercial side of things you're looking at dollar sense timelines acquisition costs things along those those lines whereas on the residential side. It's purely and oh hey. Need to move in the next six months or what have you from a relocation perspective and you have to look at you know the company as a whole and and how your team can assist them with not just the emotional side but also helping them learn the ropes of the market. So 1 thing for Nestle that we did is we actually had. Their staff fly in early start and we someone my agents would drive them around and show them different parts of the dmv because there's you know as you know a huge difference between Maryland Dc and Virginia so you know that was a whole new element of showing property that I I don't think anyone's really been exposed to yet. So again, it's.

08:06.26
Bruce Anthony
Yes.

08:16.38
Will Wiard
1 and the same but at the same time you know the emotional aspect always adds another level to it.

08:19.89
Bruce Anthony
Okay, so in approaching large corporations and and approaching individuals. Obviously 1 is a higher volume right? You'll make more money doing corporations and and doing commercial than you would do residential but the.

08:23.11
Will Wiard
Yeah.

08:39.40
Bruce Anthony
Pitch to get them as a client is obviously different. Can you explain the differences in pitches between commercial and residential.

08:46.94
Will Wiard
Yeah, so usually it goes through a relocation company and the relocation company will identify 1 or 2 companies usually and get a bid to represent them in order to qualify for that bid and now we're talking high level residential sales because of the volume you have to have the agent count.

08:56.48
Bruce Anthony
In here.

09:05.99
Will Wiard
And the background to fill that void. So again, we're dealing with an account of sometimes 100 plus individuals moving within a six month period some is a little bit longer. Some's a little bit shorter from the residential side you have to have the agent count. You have to have the knowledge base and when you pitch it you know fee obviously is is a part of that and how that fee structure is is. Implement it but also just making sure that you're able to represent those clients best needs and there's the inventory there for them and you're able to abide by their timeline to move. You know the human capital to the market within you know 6 to eight months so there's a lot of planning and logistics that go behind that and that's not just like hey. Sell your house or hey call us will buy your house There's a team. They know that's involved so that's on the residential side when you pitch that to to a corporation on the commercial side. It's a little bit different. Ah sometimes there's nda sign where you know the company doesn't want anyone to know that they're moving into that market. Because it might be a publicly traded company and and and they don't want ah other companies to know that their competitor might be moving into town so you might get called up by some random person who says they represent a company and say hey come meet with us sign this nda and let's see where it goes but you know again, you know we're inside the d andv. There's a lot of government. Companies. There's a lot of private sector now where there hasn't been in the past. Um and you know from the commercial side and when it's just purely commercial with the relocation thing in mind. It's usually a lot of quietness. A lot of decision making sometimes we'll call you a year will go by and that's what a lot of people don't understand sometimes is.

10:40.89
Will Wiard
Residential agents will say hey I want to get into commercial but they don't know that the timelines for either acquisitions or leases or any kind of project that's involved might take a year two years to go from start to close and a lot of things can happen in that you know and in in that timeline I mean things can fall through. Ah.

10:52.24
Bruce Anthony
A.

11:00.44
Will Wiard
Budgets can be reassessed I mean there's a lot that goes into that the exciting part of that. Obviously though is that you're able to be a part of something that not not a lot of people are part of and you have you know a little bit more of an inside understanding of the movers and shakers in a certain market on the commercial side. So that part from my perspective is pretty exciting.

11:16.40
Bruce Anthony
So personally what gives your juices revving more the thrill of landing a big contract for commercial deal or the excitement of helping people buy their first home.

11:33.00
Will Wiard
Back when I was selling real estate I would say helping someone buy their first home gave me more excitement than landing the corporate contract because you're able to see someone's life change during that transition and that to me was most fulfilling most rewarding.

11:46.67
Bruce Anthony
Um, okay, and now.

11:50.96
Will Wiard
Now I'm you know back office I deal with litigation I deal with contracts I deal with agents you know, running into issues so you know like I said my career is a lot different nowadays and I don't actively sell as the as the broker for my company but you know I get to see through. Our Partners eyes and the people that we represent and you know I work for a company called side and you know we're a white label company by design and so we bring on top producing agents and help them grow a business and support them and end their growth in doing so you know the rewarding aspect of that is I get to see. Ah, partner who might have just been solo Agent build a firm bring on new agents grow into other markets that they've never been a part of and that is kind of like a combination of everything you know the commercial side and the residential side that I get to be a part of and that to me is pretty exciting.

12:33.33
Bruce Anthony
In. So you merged the thing that you fell in love with when you were a young real estate agent with helping people and then fostered that same thing with helping people. Not only I mean they're helping people get their new homes right? But you're helping people.

12:47.20
Will Wiard
Yep.

12:56.37
Bruce Anthony
Expand their business and grow and now that and now that gives you a kick that's really dope. Um, you have all these awards I said 30 under 30 I said 40 under 40 can you explain to the people out there. What exactly that is because like I said almost two decades in the game.

12:56.43
Will Wiard
Um, yeah.

13:14.25
Will Wiard
Yeah.

13:16.30
Bruce Anthony
So you got rail skin in the game but you're still a very very young man. So can you tell us about these wars that you've gotten.

13:21.37
Will Wiard
Yeah, I'm looking forward to the day one day where you won't be considering be a young man but that's funny. Ah I know I just I just joke with you on that. Ah I had the honor and privilege of earning I guess 30 under 30 which is the national association for realtors every year puts out.

13:26.10
Bruce Anthony
Somebody older than you will always consider you a young man. A.

13:41.21
Will Wiard
You know a request to submit every single individual who's in the real estate industry and a member of the national association of realtors their you know package to be considered one of the 30 under 30 that year and you are voted ah by your peers. You're voted by other people in the industry and. You know it's a very tough competition because I think collectively over all the years they've done it. They're still under a thousand thirty under 30 so that was very you know that was ah a hard feat for me in my career to to achieve. But I'm very honored to achieve that and then most recently locally there's a group of top producers. Um, it's called nova forty under 40 and I thought hey let's give it a shot. Let's see if we can do it and and representing my company was really the motivation behind that and luckily you know I received that award as well. So. Um, the n a r one is a national recognition and then the local nova is dmv based.

14:38.61
Bruce Anthony
Okay, and for those people that are listening overseas the d andv is the district which is washington d c Maryland and Virginia um, so that's that's really dope with these awards. How did that impact your career.

14:53.21
Will Wiard
You know I would say the first award being you know again coming into the industry at a very young age connects you immediately with the nationals network of all these other people that some of them think they're you know alone in their market because you know we're talking every state in the fifty states we got North Dakota people who. You know are doing 300 transactions a year at a you know 150 k average sales price and then we have people in you know Southern California doing you know, similar business at a million dollar sales price so you have so many different people looking at things differently by coming together and really understanding that the key one of the keys in my opinion. Of why we made it or why we're a part of this network is because we take you know our client's best interest at heart and we represent and and what it really comes down to is customer service and customer care and that's really what drives us to get to where we were so when you're able to. Collaborate like you know you you know I've talked about this with other likeminded professionals across the country. Not only does it open your eyes and humbles you as an individual but also gives you new insight to way to approach a certain situation or problem and you also get a lot of good intelligence about what's going on in the market. What things to be on the lookout for so. Overall, it's just you know it's ah. A um, it's a benefit which I didn't even know to what depth it would be until I was able to achieve that so you know I would recommend anyone who's currently in the space and is under 30 to definitely approve because it will definitely make you a better operator in this industry.

16:22.22
Bruce Anthony
When that leads me to the next question and and you I guess kind of answered it a little bit but maybe we could elaborate it a little bit more of like I said almost twenty years in the game won several gotten several awards done crazy business.

16:28.67
Will Wiard
Chair.

16:40.32
Bruce Anthony
What advice would you give to young professionals thinking about entering in the field.

16:46.65
Will Wiard
So I've gotten this question a lot and I get this question worded a lot of different ways and I'll say this. Ah when I'm when I'm managing an office and in some of the past companies I've worked for I've had the privilege of managing agents that are 78 years old so actually I think I think one was eighty nine years old to 20 years older 189 years old because the youngest you can be is 18 to get into real estate in Virginia and I look at their ah you know the industry through their eyes and the older generation is all about word of mouth meeting with people. You know, really taking and building their own. Ah you know name in a market and the thing I found is a lot of them. Don't even have a website. They've never had a website. They rarely use their cell phone because they've built that you know reputation in the space and I've actually had people come up to me and say hey is that person selling your office I'd love to work with them my my. My sister's brother sister said they're the one to go with at the same end at the other end of the spectrum we have someone who's new to the game new to the real estate industry has no experience but is all over the internet right? and so they have the websites they have the social media they have the videos they have they have all of the posts they have all of that. Thing I would say is that that is all great. You gotta incorporate what the older or the more seasoned generation has utilized to grow their business and start there and for me 1 reason why I think I was very successful very early on was because I knew I didn't have I didn't have any knowledge and I didn't have any real connections I was eighteen years old

18:19.68
Will Wiard
But what I did have is I studied the contract I studied the rules of real estate in and around my market and I really made sure that if anyone tried to challenge me when I was representing a client about the terminology or some kind of negotiational aspect of a deal I knew my insides and out about that like a t. So that is really what I think that anyone getting into the real estate industry not saying everyone does miss that. But I think there's a lot more opportunity to dive deeper into that contact content and they need to really understand it and now once you get that down and get. You know you understand the insides and outs of the contract and how you know the Mls works and all the rules and regulations definitely utilize the social media and all the other things that they're great at but I see that big difference between both generations.

19:03.30
Bruce Anthony
So set the foundation before land the concrete. Yeah yeah, that sounds about right? like so young ones It's great. Yeah, yeah, that's.

19:07.47
Will Wiard
Exactly? Yes, yeah, ah really set the foundation before you lay in a down creek Don' ' think you've laid the go like really dive into it and get a good mentor because that will pay dividends so that you don't fall your you don't fall into a trap or fall into a pitfall that ah. You know someone else has done So. The other thing I'd say is find a good mentor reach out to people don't be afraid to you know, ask for help because a lot of people are in this industry that ah that are willing to help you.

19:34.83
Bruce Anthony
So I guess that leads to it and and here we go I'm about to throw you a curveball. How can you find a good mentor just because somebody does crazy business doesn't necessarily mean that they would be a good mentor. So what are some things that some of these young people that are entering in the field and I say young people So new people entering in the field.

19:52.30
Will Wiard
Young to the industry new to the industry. Yeah.

19:54.24
Bruce Anthony
What are young today. Yeah new to the industry there. You go right? there. What can some people that are new to the industry look towards is ah characteristics of a good mentor.

20:03.12
Will Wiard
I would say start with your local association look for people in and around your community that are currently doing real estate. Give them a call say hey interested in getting real estate. Do you have 5 minutes kind of take you to coffee I'm also you know happy to. Take call I've taken calls I've help mentor agents you know over my career find someone local you know and also find someone that ah you connect with. So if you find an agent who likes the same things you like and you're able to you know vibe with them and connect with um, connect with them on that then then do it but I would say at the very least. Start with your local association and your real estate school or whatever your venture or how you get started takes you um and then go from there.

20:52.80
Bruce Anthony
Now well you and I have had personal conversations is that I'm on Instagram and real estate agents are putting out information and I'm like hey what do you think about this and and you flare up a little bit because you feel like it is a little bit of disinformation. And the reason why we did the entire first segment is because I gave all of my listeners your accolades to know this guy knows what the hell he's talking about so listen to him and learn The first thing that I want to talk about is what are some of the current. And emerging real estate trends that buyers and share and share and sellers buyers and sellers should be aware of.

21:36.35
Will Wiard
Okay, so yes, you're right? Um, we are in a an evolving market. There's a lot of changes that have been going on over the last twenty two months and for anyone who's listening who has a real estate agent talk to them first. But I will try to give. Valuable information that you can use in that conversation if you are currently represented by a real estate professional. You know, historically let's let's just kind of rip the band-aid off interest rates are at the highest level. It's been in a long time and you know when you hear the media as a whole. The media likes to you know do the scare tactics of oh it's gonna go up. It's gonna go up. It's gonna go and there's not a lot of depth in terms in terms of what you hear in in the current market from at least as an overall consensus. So right now the key that I would say out of the gate is educate yourself on your. Not not everyone else your financial situation. You're purchasing power and where if you are in the purchasing side can purchase a property what your dti is what your you know debt to income ratio is that's what that Dti is.

22:44.94
Bruce Anthony
Yeah I was gonna Ray ask you? It's like you just stood it out there and didn't really get no explanation but debt did.

22:49.92
Will Wiard
Um, yeah, what kind of loan you would like to explore and again not a loan officer not making that claim but talk to a lot of loan officers before you purchase a property and find out you know what programs do you qualify va fha conventional. There's a lot of things to look at. Now that's on the purchaser side very quick syn opposites on that on the seller side we are in a different market than where we have been historically not saying that it hasn't you know, still been and and and never likes to say it's a buyer's market or it's a seller's market. I would say it depends on where you are financially and where you are when and when you purchase your property. So for example, if you purchase a property for 300000 and that's an extreme so not a lot of people did that I don't know if any really did but you paid an absorbent amount of money over what the list price was over the last twenty two months

23:26.20
Bruce Anthony
In here.

23:42.72
Will Wiard
3 years what have you? then you're gonna have to sit down and really look at what kind of lateral move if you do need to sell your house and move somewhere else you have because the cost of the money that you use to purchase that property is not the same as in our current market.

23:57.72
Bruce Anthony
Okay, when you're talking about the people that you're talking about people who are selling so they bought the home within the last two years but they paid more than the actual listen paid. Okay so they paid more than actually so we saw that a lot.

23:59.24
Will Wiard
So that's something you need to understand on the seller side.

24:12.30
Will Wiard
That's 1 example.

24:16.43
Will Wiard
Yeah, yeah.

24:17.22
Bruce Anthony
Ah, last summer people were ah spending a hundred a hundred fifty two hundred thousand dollars over asking price and what you're saying is.

24:29.63
Bruce Anthony
You have to decide what you want to do based on the numbers that are associated with where we are now as opposed to where they bought it.

24:34.89
Will Wiard
Yeah, because again, the interest rates were at a different level the cost of borrowing money was at a different level. So if you needed to move either through work or you just wanted to move because you wanted a you know different house somewhere else before you decide to sell your home. You really needed to talk to either your financial. Advisor a loan officer. What or your you know real estate agent a real estate broker to see what options you have on the table because when you do that and you have a quick turnround the equity in terms of or the market in itself in terms of appreciation. In some cases don't doesn't have time to catch up in some cases if you didn't pay too much over if you paid Atlas Price you might have a little bit of equity in the property. Every case is different but you need to really sit down and analyze that and if you're not a numbers person which is fine talk to someone who is but that is the important aspect that I wanted to bring to this is that you know. There are so many moving elements when you go either to acquire personal property or sell a property that you're not going to hear on the news that they're not just gonna tell you and you got to slow it down and really understand what you and what your ability is to either purchase or if you need to sell sell because it's not created equal for everyone else. Everyone has a different you know credit history. Everyone has a different debt to income Dti. Everyone has a different loan or or some people have paid cash I mean 1 thing to keep in mind is 40% of mortgages that were purchased in the last two years on average um or cash purchases. Historically that's never been done.

26:02.74
Bruce Anthony
So what's that mean, what does that mean.

26:06.34
Will Wiard
There's no mortgage so they took their their money and paid pure cash. So again, if you're going to sell are you going to get the rate of return that you want on that property if you either paid Atlas or above now again, it's it's up for. Ah. You know discussion. But it's things I want you to think about when when doing that analysis.

26:25.76
Bruce Anthony
So basically to break down everything that you just said so expertly it is don't pay attention to what people say the market is pay attention to you because you are determining what is in your world and what's in within your scope if if they say it's a.

26:35.92
Will Wiard
Yes.

26:45.55
Bruce Anthony
Ah, a buyers' market. But you ain't got the bread. It's not a buyer's market if they say it's a seller's market but you didn't have enough equity in it. It's not your market to sell So that's basically it's it's what don't worry about what they're saying focus on you.

26:58.70
Will Wiard
Yeah, and it's we see this a lot where someone will say hey you know my friend at the same company that I work at just purchase a house for five hundred Thousand I think I could purchase house for five hundred thousand Not realizing that that person has no credit card debt is completely. You know has. You know savings has saved every penny since he got into his career you know in his job and you on the other hand has parted up a little bit. Yeah, your credit isn't that great. You're not equal I mean that's the thing but everyone's gonna try to come up with that and not everyone I'm just saying that a lot of the narrative is oh if they did it. Oh I think I have the same ability to do so. But stay in your lane and find out and sometimes you'll be surprised what options are on the table for those that are you know military in the va There's great va loan programs out there with little to no money down. Um you know again, there's strategy behind ah trying to compete in a market with that kind of loan. But there's you know again. It's what what you and what matters to you and what you can do that is the takeaway in that and not anyone else.

28:02.86
Bruce Anthony
Okay, so I know one of the things that we we've talked about personally is you said it earlier at the top interest rates as highest as they've been in in a very very long time but I'll have people that are on my Instagram who are real estate agents.

28:07.16
Will Wiard
Sure.

28:15.50
Will Wiard
Any.

28:22.64
Bruce Anthony
Who are saying ah don't worry about the interest rates is really not that bad. You've said that's not completely true, but it's not completely a lie can you kind of explain what that means.

28:32.35
Will Wiard
Yeah, sure you got to strategize so right now and I would say this to anyone that I talked to you know, interest rates. Let's just say they're 7 % I don't know if they are today but just say they are um. And everyone's thinking. Oh I'm going to purchase when interest rates go down or whatever or maybe they need a purchase now. But 1 thing that I've always utilized in my career and 1 reason that I've tried to help you know agents think differently and and that's an important part and that's 1 reason why we brought this up when we were talking is you want to. Stay clear of what everyone else is doing in a market like what we have. So if you have a buyer or if you are a buyer and you see that interest rates are at 7 % but you found your dream home or the home that meets all of your wants and needs. This is what I would strategize to do I would. Talk to the seller see if you can get a kind of or talk with your agent to try to see if you could get any concessions on the buy side I would talk with a few lenders see if you can get a free refy with that loan so that you can then utilize a lower interest rate when rates do dip and if they do dip then you're able to lock that in at a lower rate. So. The the point I'm making here is you need to think outside the box a lot in in a market like we have today and really you know strategize going back full circle to what we're saying earlier about attacking or ah, approaching an offer scenario in our current market. But if you find that property.

30:02.40
Will Wiard
Don't don't know dismiss it utilize it. But there's other things to keep and take taken into consideration. What I'm seeing to your point is everyone's saying like hey your car loan is X your credit card is this blah blah Blah you know it's great time to buy that might not necessarily be true because what I was saying earlier is everyone's different.

30:17.13
Bruce Anthony
Right.

30:18.96
Will Wiard
But if it's something that fits your needs and it's the house that you want let's make that offer but let's see if we can make that offer where when interest rates dropped down to say 5% or 5.5% or 6 that we're able to pull the trigger and save ourselves a little bit of money. Um, by you know, getting that free refy ah by that lender that we asked for. Um, or you know getting kind of some kind of concession because the house has been on the market for more than thirty days um from the seller to off to offset um, any additional cost to us.

30:45.81
Bruce Anthony
Now there was something that you brought up as far as the refi. So can you break that down I know when we had a conversation you were like hey look you can go to was it a loan officer that you said that a part of your the agreement is hey the interest rates are high now.

30:57.36
Will Wiard
Yeah.

31:04.61
Bruce Anthony
But ask for a free refund loan. Ah break it down for me because I'm butering it.

31:05.40
Will Wiard
Yeah I was talking to I was talking to a lender and again I'm not a lender but I was talking to a lender and they they made sure to that I said this as a disclaimer make sure it's a free refy or as free as can be because there are fees any single time you.

31:18.39
Bruce Anthony
Faith.

31:22.18
Will Wiard
Reffi alone that are are incurred by all parties and some of them are hard fees but you could hypothetically um, negotiate a free reffi with your lender to help offset any additional cost when rates go down Now. You're gonna have to pay certain fees. Talk to your lender about those fees and what they might be but no, one's going to ask for that unless you know to ask for it and so that's something that I want to make everyone aware of is that you know make sure everything's and ah above board and everything's legal. But there's nothing that restricts a lender from offering that kind of um I wouldn't say discount but that that kind of incentive.

31:42.60
Bruce Anthony
Are.

31:58.12
Will Wiard
Um, you know throughout the process. Yeah.

32:00.10
Bruce Anthony
It's just ah, a sweetener to the deal look the interest rates are higher than than they have been in a very long time now that doesn't mean that they're going to continue to stay this high. Let me get that free refi so in a couple of years when interest rates go down. Um, might be paying a high mortgage now because of a high interest rate but in a couple of years when the interest rate goes down I got their free reffi I can change up my whole mortgage is that's basically what you're saying.

32:21.23
Will Wiard
Yeah, make sure they include in the loan Docs ask for it I'm sure some might be willing to offer it. Some might not be depending on you know who they are and what their restrictions are but it's a question that should at least be brought up in that conversation and exploration when looking for a lender.

32:36.70
Bruce Anthony
Okay, another thing that you talked about when in our personal conversations was assuming a loan or assuming a mortgage can you explain to the people exactly what that is.

32:42.46
Will Wiard
Sure.

32:49.26
Will Wiard
Great question so we are in a very unique market in the sense to your point rates are high low inventory. All of that there are 3 loans that can be assumed. You know the most common 3 loans that can be assumed is ah fhaj v and Usda. Now again, talk to your loan officer about this or talk to you know Ah your agent about this but in doing so you still have to meet the qualifications of the loan to be assumed but there's ah, many times that people are not aware that you can assume alone at a lower rate or under certain parameters. They think they just all have to go out and get a new loan. So again, you got to slow things down build out a strategy as ah as I've said you know throughout the podcast but that is a way to assume it or explore assumptions. The other option is seller financing and what I had said earlier about you know 40% of mortgages or excuse me properties were. Purchased without a loan you could if you found a house that was paid in cash prior and you can search this data online for the most part and it's you know's actively on the market you can inquire with the seller about seller financing. You can say hey I'm going to give you a big portion of ah you know money down. But let's work out where you are essentially the bank and I'm going to be paying you every month because you don't have a mortgage on this property and again this kind of scenario that we're talking about here takes time. There's a lot of competition for it. Um, a lot of people might not be aware that this kind of opportunity exists in the space.

34:24.19
Will Wiard
But this is just another thing you should be exploring and talking about um and bringing into your strategy if you are on the purchasing side. Um, or even if you're on the selling side and you want to net either the best and highest profit for your home on the list side or if you want to try to save as much money as possible to offset the high interest rates on the buy side.

34:40.83
Bruce Anthony
Wow I didn't even know that was an option that the the seller could actually be the bank now. Okay, there's some things that come along with that right? like if you decide to go that route if you if you want to sell your home and you want to.

34:54.97
Will Wiard
Sure.

34:58.28
Bruce Anthony
Do what? what you suggested which is essentially be the bank. What are some of the I'm trying to come up with the right adjective to to using this. What are some of the fallbacks. Yeah.

35:08.27
Will Wiard
I give you it fallbacks. Great! Great. Great idea. Um, it depends on how you do it and again I'm not an underwriter I've seen loans I'll tell I'll tell you from experience. You know you usually give a down payment to ah, an installment or down payment to the seller. And then you pay a monthly fee as you would at normal bank. Um, the seller soho holds the deed of that property. Why you're paying and if you were not to pay you know Virginia's famous saying if you don't pay you don't stay so some of those scenarios could be if you feel that you might.

35:39.24
Bruce Anthony
Um, is.

35:44.42
Will Wiard
Default on you know that kind of note that you have or deal you have with the seller that did the seller financing. There might be you know eviction. There might be other penalties involved. But again, that's why we have great. You know attorneys and that's why we have great loan officers and everyone and you know that I've that I've worked with especially here in in the Northern Virginia Dc area. Um, that can help you with that. But overall I would say you know know what you're going know what the terms are going into the transaction before you sign the deal.

36:12.84
Bruce Anthony
Okay, so I don't know if I'm getting this right in in this description but is that kind of like rent to own because you're not building equity in that particular instance, you're not building equity but you're you're paying off. Ah. The loan agreement that you have with the individual seller and and for those people out there that are trying to follow I know I'm going all over the place. But what I'm trying to do is with will give you guys a lot of options to think about when purchasing or selling a home because everybody is talking about. This is not a good market and once again like will said it's all individual. It can be a good market depending on your situation or it could be a bad market depending on your situation which is giving you options so in that.

36:52.33
Will Wiard
So the renter alone is I'm I'm renting like I'm paying a monthly fee to then at the end of my term of my lease have the option essentially to buy the property. So I'm gonna be in there and then at the end of my lease I'm I'm renting.

37:04.30
Bruce Anthony
E.

37:09.81
Will Wiard
And then I get like the first rid or refusal the option to purchase the property at the end of that lease. So I'm rent could be could not be I mean there's a lot of different deals I've seen in my careers so a bit but but that's one way to do it another way in the seller financing side and again I highly recommend anyone listening who might you know try to.

37:14.54
Bruce Anthony
And all the money that you put into that rent goes to um, Okay, okay.

37:29.46
Will Wiard
Challenge some of the terms that we're using here speak to your loan officer speak to a financial institution but you usually do a down payment or a large installment and then you work out either monthly payments and maybe an additional installment or it have you under the seller financing guidelines so you might do 1 big installment. Let's just keep it simple. You're buying a $500000 house you put $200000 down then you'd be paying monthly and then maybe every six months or every year I don't know I mean there's a lot of different ways to structure it. You're gonna do more installments and then eventually you've paid off that and it's your house but the the seller has has essentially held the note to that property until you have paid that that off.

37:59.76
Bruce Anthony
Um.

38:06.85
Will Wiard
And so they are still in control of that asset all right to a certain degree rent to own I'm renting either the rent that I'm paying is being deducted from the sales price. We've agreed to a sales price. We've entered into an agreement and therefore at the end of that term I'm going to purchase the property is another way to look at it as well.

38:08.22
Bruce Anthony
Okay, yeah, yeah.

38:24.57
Bruce Anthony
Another way to look at it. So okay, so we've gotten you can assume loans. There's different loan options out there with Fha and Usda and the v 8 okay rent to own or rent to buy. Um, ask if for free reffis. What.

38:33.87
Will Wiard
Um, V a and conventionalia.

38:42.42
Bruce Anthony
Are some other options that people can use to navigate these high interest rates.

38:50.68
Will Wiard
I mean I'm sure lenders would probably say pay down or buy down points. You know that's something that you'd want to talk about you like you have a mortgage rate. But then you could pay additional money to bring the rate down. Um, but again talk to your loan officer utilizing.

38:56.75
Bruce Anthony
What's that.

39:02.77
Bruce Anthony
Um, okay.

39:07.28
Will Wiard
Either your four zero one k or any kind of other investments that you might have if you wanted to look at ah, additional ah money in terms of a down payment but again talk to your loan office from your financial institution because 1 thing I've seen in the past is someone will come into our office and and an agent will represent them and they might have. Half a million dollars in in investments. But it's not liquid investments so on paper they have it but in order to get that liquid in order to purchase the property. It might take 60 to ninety days and if you've entered into a contract of sale and this a forty five day close uhoh we have a problem so know that like I've said at the very beginning of this.

39:31.12
Bruce Anthony
Um.

39:44.83
Will Wiard
Know your strategy build out a strategy and be transparent with your agent because it's gonna it's gonna help you out in the long run. But those are some of those you know, ah examples that I that I think is important to think about. So um.

39:57.87
Will Wiard
Looking at options and if you've never taken out of your 401 k talk to your financial institution to see if there's know what the tax and implications are and what kind of options you might be because some allow a one-time withdrawal to purchase you know your primary residence. Um, you can get gifts from family and friends. You know that's another common thing. Ah, lot of I had one client years ago who got like 30 gifts to purchase his first property and so you know again, you need. There's a paper trail there that you need to follow, but it can be done but you know like I said you got to get creative. You kind of got to get down and and do your research you know do your due diligence. Do your research. Um, but there are even with the current you know rates and the current market trends that we have going on. There are options. Sure.

40:42.53
Bruce Anthony
And I know me and you have talked about this personally and and you said you know when people find their dream home even though the interest rate is high. You know obviously like we've been saying this entire conversation. Do your due diligence and find out what's best for you. But if if you can do it.

40:57.49
Will Wiard
Yes.

41:02.20
Bruce Anthony
And you found your dream home. Don't be fearful of that high interest rate because there are ways to get what you which your dream home and deal with the high interest rate now or at a later date with the free refis if you can get that.

41:15.70
Will Wiard
Yeah, and that's the thing I think is the key takeaway here is stay in your lane know what works best for you and don't listen to the noise. There's a lot of noise in anything and everything right now but you know assess put together a plan. You know and and go from there and and that's really I think the key advice I can give anybody is is know what you want and stick to that.

41:39.69
Bruce Anthony
So so many real estate agents will post these things on Instagram and and youll out I'll show it to you and you will say that's just not right? How can how can people find because there i. And every industry there are people that are really really good at their job and there are people that are really really bad at their job so there are some really great real estate agents out there and there are some that are not so great. What are some of the qualifications that people should be looking towards or looking for in real estate agents when they were. Looking to find a real estate agent to sell or buy their home.

42:18.76
Will Wiard
Yeah, so um, a few things I would consider is the agent that you're either talking to their level of devotion to their career in real estate and what do I mean by that are they full time. Are they part time.

42:29.92
Bruce Anthony
You have give me an example.

42:35.92
Will Wiard
You know are they in the market that you're looking at to purchase do they have local market knowledge. Are they out of state. Are they a friend or family the thing I would say is if anything if you have a friend friend or family that you know personally and is a great person but you don't see yourself working with them to. Purchase your first property talk to them and maybe they can help you find somebody that will represent you better than what they can do and they might get a referral fee but you know at least have that upfront conversation with them about what you're looking to do and if they're not licensed in the state. Don't let them represent you because they can't so let's I will say can't let they get they they can't represent you okay, but maybe they can refer you to somebody that they would say hey here's an agent that I think will help you and and get you to the end you know and get you what you need and get you across the finish line. That's what I would say is the first thing.

43:15.82
Bruce Anthony
But.

43:33.15
Will Wiard
Second thing is not all agents are created equal in the sense that although some agents you might see you know on social media to your point with a ton of content. They might not have the market knowledge in the market that you're looking at even though they have a ton of content that that you need which is fine. You know, explore talk to different agents talk to different people be transparent though if you are in and you have entered into an agency agreement with somebody let the agent know because that is the biggest headache I think anyone has ever dealt with is oh well thank you for that insight I'm going to go work with this other agent I've been talking to you for the last four weeks don't do that. But at the same time not like like in any industry you know, fitness or or education or medicine. You know you got to do your due diligence. So that's what I would start? Um, in addition to that you know, ah. Ask questions inquire but be honest about it and a lot of times if an agent is a local agent and they have experience. They will sit there and listen to your questions and answer them without any kind of obligation to work with them because they want to help you and you'd be surprised how many times that happens now.

44:38.97
Bruce Anthony
You.

44:43.36
Will Wiard
Granted, hopefully at the end of the day if it's a good fit personality wise and you guys have a good vibe together. You'll work together or you'll refer them out or what have you? Um, but that's you know that's where I would start sure sure.

44:54.16
Bruce Anthony
Okay, and I guess the final question I would have for you today is we've given a lot of people a lot of information. Are there certain websites that people can go to. Ah. Certain networks or or associations that people can look into if they're looking to buy or sell a home.

45:14.73
Will Wiard
Yes, um, well you can always contact me and I'll direct you any of our partners. So that's where I will say that'll be my plug if you need anything or and want any local market knowledge. Even if it's somewhere outside of the Dmv I'm happy to try to connect you with who that is you know referral fear or not I will I just want to help you out.

45:30.46
Bruce Anthony
And by the way and and by the way ladiess and gentlemen for all of our guests. Their bios are on the website so when the show launches you'll be able to go on the website unsolicitspetives.com and click will's name and all of his information will be right there where you could contact him.

45:31.72
Will Wiard
Um, if you're on the rental side. Ah.

45:38.15
Will Wiard
At the left.

45:50.30
Bruce Anthony
To get more information on real estate but go ahead.

45:52.71
Will Wiard
There you go? yeah here to help you nonetheless. Ah, if you're on the rental side. There is one app that I actually recommend. It's called Zomper They did not pay me to say that but it's a great resource just to kind of look at apartment buildings and what's coming on and going off the market If you're looking for. You know financial insight talk with your bank first like where where you have your money like start start start plated Simple right? They start there if you know a realtortor and you're interested in in learning more on either buy or sell aside speak to them First you know, just kind of get the lay of the land.

46:12.56
Bruce Anthony
Italy Yeah, right.

46:28.55
Will Wiard
Um, and you know again I don't want to be biased for some of the things that are out there and some of the sites that are out there because everyone's different, but the 1 thing I will say is do your research spend more than 10 minutes looking online. Don't go to the first ad that you see because they're paid ads.

46:36.59
Bruce Anthony
A.

46:47.49
Will Wiard
And really dive into the market that you're looking at and at the very least if if there's anything I can do or my team or anyone in my network can help you with. We're here to help.

46:56.72
Bruce Anthony
All right that is will wired managing broker at side. Ah, what would you like to to say to the people out there to just you know at to end this in this interview.

47:06.50
Will Wiard
Well thank you for having me on. It is a true pleasure and you know again. Thank you for listening and hopefully at the end of this like 1 reason why I've been in this industry as long as I have is to give back and try to help you know the public and and people looking into real estate either from a. Career perspective or just from a buyer seller perspective and help them along the way because you know again, 1 thing we didn't get into but I've made tremendous mistakes in my career and if there's anything I can do to help offset anyone else from making those mistakes I will do my very best to do that.

47:32.96
Bruce Anthony
Right? Oh that's really dope. Well I want to thank you for coming in I Want to thank you for enlightening the people out there everybody once again, go to Unsolicit prospectives dot Com Click on will's name.

47:42.35
Will Wiard
There You are.

47:51.41
Bruce Anthony
That have his bio and all of his contact information with not all of his contact information but his his professional contact information I Want to thank you once again for coming on I think people really really learn something from this and until next time to everybody out there I holler.

47:57.82
Will Wiard
Thank you Matt.