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Episode 3 - Talking Real Estate with Kate Boyle



In this episode of The Money Experience, Kevin McGarry invites Kate Boyle from Keller Williams on the show to speak about purchasing real estate after retirement. They start off by discussing the state of the current market, and Kate explains why it’s always a good time to buy property. Listen for Kate’s advice on finding a mortgage lender.

Kate & Kevin have advice for both buyers & sellers in the current real estate market. If you’re thinking about buying or selling your home, purchasing an additional property, or are already in the process, this is a great episode for you. You don’t want to miss the offer Kate is giving all The Money Experience listeners.

To contact Kevin McGarry: kevin@valleyfinancial.com

To contact Kate Boyle: kboyle@kw.com

To schedule a free financial assessment, fill out the form below.

Transcription:

Episode 3 – Talking Real Estate with Kate Boyle 10:18

The money experience where experts in finance and life experience professionals, chat amongst friends, get comfortable and listen in while we un-complicate all things money, how to save it, how to invest it, and even how to spend it. Here are your hosts.

Kevin McGarry: Welcome to the Money Experience. This is your host, Kevin McGarry. Today we’re really excited. We have Kate Boyle at the team at Mary and Steppa. Did I say that right?

Kate Boyle: Morone and Steepa.

Kevin McGarry: Morone and Steppa, I apologize, at Callow Williams. Kate has over 13 years’ experience in the real estate market and she’s been a great partner of Valley Financial Group helping her clients find, their homes in retirement, their first homes, their second homes, vacations, homes. She’s been a great partner to us. So, welcome Kate.

Kate Boyle: Thank you for having me.

Kevin McGarry: Awesome. Kate, before I start firing away, questions we’ve been getting from our clients about the real estate market. The question I have for you is just tell us a little bit about your team.

Kate Boyle: So, there are four of us now on our team. We’re based out of Bluebell, Pennsylvania and Montgomery County, and we collectively work together to help buyers and sellers in Montgomery County and the surrounding counties and Philadelphia with residential real estate. So, it can be anything from first time homes investment properties and everything in between. 

Kevin McGarry: Awesome. And this environment we’re in right now has been a little different than the last like decade, huh?

Kate Boyle: Yes, it has.

Kevin McGarry: It has. And I think right now we’re seeing a lot of pressure on the real estate markets and a lot of our clients that are entering into retirement are looking to downsize and they’re nervous and we get a lot of their children are looking to be first time home buyers. In this environment, is it a good time to buy a home?

Kate Boyle: There’s never a bad time to buy a home. Right now the thing that people need to think about is using the current market as their opportunity to build their net worth through real estate. On average, two thirds of people’s net worth is through home equity and you’re not going to build wealth by running. And so no matter where you are in the home buying cycle, as a first time home buyer, if you’re moving up from your first home or downsizing or even buying an investment property, there are opportunities out there for you. You just need to be educated in the process and set your expectations for what the market is currently doing. 

Kevin McGarry: That’s awesome. And with the market, where do you see their concerns are, is it because rates have moved quickly up or is they’re not aware of what their homes or values?

Kate Boyle: It’s going to be a little bit of both. 2023, we had a slow start with real estate. The mortgage rates did increase to levels that we had not seen in a long time, and I believe that scared off buyers quite a bit. So, the increased rates obviously affect buyer’s purchasing power, so they can’t go as high in price in competing offer situations that they could have done last year. But also keep in mind that a lot of this is hyper-local. There’s still many cases where we’re seeing homes get over 10 offers. Way over asking price. People are waiving inspections and paying cash in some areas.

Kevin McGarry: So, they’re really not concerned about the interest rate environment. It seems like there’s a shortest of homes still out there and the supply issue.

Kate Boyle: Yes, absolutely. As of this morning before I came here, the inventory in Montgomery County, there’s only 540 homes available for sale, and that’s both in active status and coming soon, and that’s not including new construction. 

Kevin McGarry: So, how long are the homes staying on market?

Kate Boyle: Very short periods of time. Usually what realtors have been doing is they’ll list it before the weekend and by the end of the weekend they’re pending. 

Kevin McGarry: So, with everything going on or you’re not seeing prices come down much?

Kate Boyle: Not much. Obviously with the higher rates, some people aren’t able to go as high in price, so you’ll have a lot of times where buyers are a little more skittish on how much they can offer. But prices overall, they’re staying pretty strong and we just had one in my neighborhood that the house went for a couple hundred thousand over asking. 

Kevin McGarry: So, if I’m a buyer and I’m trying to get a mortgage, should I shop or look at different banks? Should I work with different mortgage brokers? How would you go about that?

Kate Boyle: I always think you should go with someone that’s local to the area. If you’re already working with a realtor, ask them who’s their lender that they recommend. I wouldn’t go to the big banks where you’re going to get shuffled around with different people. You want someone who you can call on a weekend, you can get a hold of when you’re writing up an offer to crunch numbers and things like that. So, I have a list of mortgage lenders that I use often that I’d be happy to recommend to anyone.

Kevin McGarry: So, your team’s working with a bunch of different providers?

Kate Boyle: Absolutely. 

Kevin McGarry: That’s awesome. So, I think the big thing for our listeners and our clients right now are in this environment where rates are higher than they were, but they’re still like historical averages that are lower than 7% and prices of homes that still remain high. What are three things if you’re looking to buy, what would you do?

Kate Boyle: First one, talk to a lender. It’s important to align yourself with a good lender. So, when you see a home that you love, you aren’t questioning if you can afford it. Buyers don’t have a lot of time to make a decision on a house. So, going into a showing and knowing that the price is within your parameters, and if you have the potential for going over asking is very key. So, definitely know where you are, know what the mortgage payment looks like with the current rates, knowing that different districts and townships have different tax brackets because that’s going to affect your payment dramatically.

Kevin McGarry: And the opposite side, if I’m a seller, what are you doing in this environment, this sell? It seems like there’s a lot of buyers out there. How do you get 200,000 over asking price?

Kate Boyle: Get a good realtor, get someone that’s experienced, don’t do for sale by owner. A lot of people think, oh, the market’s hot, I’ll just put a for sale, sign out in my front yard and I’ll get a bunch of buyers. Don’t do it. You’re going to leave money on the table. The reason you want to align yourself with the realtor is they have the experience, they’ve been through the down market, they’ve been through the upmarket and everything in between, and they’re going to market your home the way it should be. And most importantly, they’re going to price it. And when you price it right, you’re going to get that interest and you’re most likely going to get over asking. 

Kevin McGarry: That’s great. A vice pays in this situation. My last question for you. How does you and your team make it a better experience in the real estate environment we’re in today?

Kate Boyle: Well, a lot of people will access homes online because of today’s technology and everything’s accessible. So, a lot of buyers and sellers, I believe, think that they know everything about real estate because they can find it online. But as I said before, the key is to align yourself with a team like ourselves who have the experience and they understand that no two real estate transactions are the same. And so when we work with buyers and sellers, we like to have an initial consultation with them, find out their whys, why are they moving? What’s motivating them? What do they want to move into? And if the perfect house came on the market, would they be able to jump on it? Just having that initial conversation and really getting to know them helps us service them and find the perfect place for them. And same thing on the seller side, what’s motivating them to move? Have they already found a place that they’re downsizing to and they need to get into it by a certain date? Those things will help us just navigate them through the process.

Kevin McGarry: That’s awesome. And what I can tell you is the experience we had working with Kate and her team, our clients have been very happy and satisfied because she goes beyond helping them get a deal done and live in a home or sell home that they’re happy with. So, I want to thank you for that. Also, just to wrap this up, I want to thank you for joining us today.

Kate Boyle: Thank you for having me. 

Kevin McGarry: You’re welcome. And then also, Kate, she’s offered a free evaluation of your home. If you’re trying to figure out what the cost of your home is, her email and information will be on the show notes. So, look out for that. I want to thank everyone for listening, Kate, for joining us and have a great day.

Narrator: Thank you for listening to the Money Experience where we’re helping you create experiences and memories to last a lifetime. To reach out to Kevin or to learn more about how Kevin can help you start saving, please visit valley financial.com. To listen to previous episodes of the Money experience, go to valley financial.com/podcasts/the money experience.

This material is intended to be educational in nature and not as a recommendation for any particular strategy, approach, product or concept for any particular advisor or client. These materials are not intended for any form of substitute or individualized investment advice. This discussion is general in nature and therefore non-intended to recommend or endorse any asset, class, security or technical aspect of any security for the purpose of allowing a reader to use the approach on their own. Before participating in any investment program or making any investment clients, as well as all other readers are encouraged to consult with their own professional advisors, including investment advisors and tax advisors.

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