Cryptocurrency 101 for the Pharmacy Professional

Cryptocurrency 101 for the Pharmacy Professional

The following is a guest post from Samantha Boartfield, PharmD.  Samantha Boartfield is a pharmacist in Phoenix, Arizona, who also writes for women and mother entrepreneurs (Mamapreneurs) on her site at SamanthaBrandon.com.

Disclaimer: This post is intended for general, educational purposes only. This post and the information herein is in no way meant to serve or act as a replacement for professional investment advice. Investing in cryptocurrency may be high risk with high losses and should be done at the sole risk of the investor. The following post contains affiliate links through which YFP may receive compensation.

I used to wave off cryptocurrency, thinking it was an online currency fad exclusive to techies and gamers. It seemed like one giant experiment (and I’m no gambler), but I think you could argue that we’re already in phase III of this currency trial with millions of users already testing the waters. Are we in the 1990s of the internet, and will crypto become a revolutionizing technology that changes our entire financial system? Or is this going to be the digital tulip craze 2.0?

Only time will tell, but before you get caught in the hype, it’s more important to understand the foundations behind cryptocurrency to make that determination for yourself.

Let’s start from the beginning with the history of money.

The Origins of National Currency

It’s hard to understand cryptocurrency without understanding the simple concept of money. Why do we as a society put any value into the U.S. Dollar? After all, it is a piece of paper that doesn’t serve a single human need like food or shelter (a house made of dollar bills certainly doesn’t seem very stable).

It all started in the early days of bartering. You know, I’ll give you five tomatoes in exchange for a kilo of flour. The trouble with that is you can’t grow a large society based on that type of trading system. How many tomatoes would it take to buy a house? What if you still wanted those tomatoes, but the tomato producer needed olive oil instead?

That’s where currency comes into play. It acts as a medium of exchange so that indirect transfer of goods can be made. Instead of trading direct goods, we exchange currency that has a unit of measurement. Fast-forwarding the history of a few millennia (salt, seashells, metal coins, gold, paper notes), we now find ourselves using national currencies.

Fiat Currency

No, I’m not talking about the Italian car driving down the Amalfi coast. Investopedia defines fiat currency as “government-issued currency that is not backed by a physical commodity such as gold or silver, but rather by the government that issued it.” The reason the U.S. Dollar has value (and other countries’ currencies) is because it is backed by the United States government. That’s why if you go to another country and try to spend your dollars, they may not accept it or give you a funny look. Your dollar bills aren’t worth anything in their economy since there’s no guarantee from their government that those specific paper bills will hold any value tomorrow, next week, or even next year!

Since leaving the gold standard, fiat currency has had its benefits, including being traded as a widely accepted legal tender, the relative stability for short-term and long-term investments, and a central authority to help manage the economy.

The Pitfalls of Fiat

Taking a step back, there is one crucial aspect we need to remember about the history of currencies. There has always been a transition to a newer currency because the newer currency met a need that the former did not. Gold trumped silver thanks to its scarcity of resources and its chemical stability. The gold standard gave way to fiat because it couldn’t keep up with the demand.

So what about the pitfalls of fiat money? Although it’s hard to fathom a world not operating on the dollar, I believe if you asked your parents or grandparents if they believed the majority of transactions would be done with a phone or plastic card, they would laugh at you. It would have been unfathomable to not be using physical dollars and coins.

And now we find ourselves asking if fiat currency will give way to cryptocurrency due to the pitfalls we are facing such as:

  • Inflation or Hyperinflation: This article couldn’t be timed better as we all have felt the effects of inflation. If you keep printing money, then money loses its value. Milton Friedman said it best, “Inflation is taxation without legislation.” Check out Episode 239 on the YFP Podcast where Tim and Tim talk more about inflation. 
  • Rise of the “Bubble”: Remember the mortgage crisis in 2007? Central banks weren’t able to prevent it.

This is a good time to transition to what is cryptocurrency, and if it can solve some of these problems we’ve discussed.

Step Aside Printing: It’s All About Mining and Staking.

BlockChain

Let’s first discuss the technology behind cryptocurrency, which is blockchain digital ledger technology. A digital ledger is a way to record transactions using code. When you hear people talk about “the blockchain,” they’re referring to the fact that these digital ledgers are chained together.

In simple terms, this is how it works:

A transaction is made and verified by computers in the network. The transaction is then stamped as a block and added to the end of the chain. Once it’s added to the chain, it cannot be altered or removed.

The best part about this technology is that it doesn’t require a central authority to manage or verify these transactions! So what does that mean for us?

Well, let’s say you wanted to buy your friend a coffee with cryptocurrency. The transaction would go something like this:

You and your friend’s computers would communicate that you want to make a transaction.

Your transaction is verified by the network of computers, and once it’s verified, it gets added as a block to the chain.

Your friend now has his coffee and you have your cryptocurrency. Yay!

Consensus Mechanisms

Now, all blockchains have this foundation, but they may differ slightly. One way they differ is with their consensus mechanisms, which are essentially the way that the network of computers agrees on the validity of a transaction.

The two most common consensus mechanisms are proof-of-work (POW) and proof-of-stake (POS).

Proof-of-Work (PoW)

With PoW, also known as mining, transactions are verified by computer nodes that solve complex mathematical problems. The first node to solve the problem gets to add the next block of transactions to the chain and is rewarded with cryptocurrency for their trouble! This is known as “mining” cryptocurrency.

Proof-of-Stake (PoS)

With PoS, instead of being rewarded for solving math problems, nodes are chosen randomly to verify transactions and add blocks based on how much cryptocurrency they have “staked” or put down as collateral. This system is said to be more energy-efficient than POW because there is no need for every single computer to solve the same mathematical problems as they race to be the fastest.

Which consensus mechanism is better? They both have their pros and cons.

The big thing to know is that PoW requires a lot of energy because you have thousands of computers working on the same problem. This is what makes PoS mechanisms more appealing.

Now, what exactly is Cryptocurrency?

Cryptocurrency is digital or virtual currency that uses blockchain technology. Each cryptocurrency will use a slightly different form of blockchain. A defining feature of cryptocurrencies is that they are not issued by any central authority like fiat currencies – which means they are decentralized! Cryptocurrencies are sent directly from person to person over the internet without going through a financial institution.

The Basics

We need to spend a moment discussing how to buy, sell, or trade crypto.

Where to Buy, Sell, and Trade

Cryptocurrency exchanges are websites where you can buy, sell, or trade cryptocurrencies. You’ll need to create an account on the exchange and then deposit funds into that account to buy crypto. Some popular exchanges are  Coinbase, Binance, and Kraken.

How to Store

You can definitely keep your coins on your cryptocurrency exchange. For example, if you bought some Bitcoin through Coinbase, you don’t need to do anything else. 

But seeing as the main focus of crypto is to be one hundred percent decentralized, many users want to secure their own coins. This is where you can place them in a software wallet like MetaMask or MathWallet, which has its own password called a “seed phrase.” This seed phrase is similar to a PIN for a debit card. 

How to Secure

If you have invested a lot of money into crypto, you don’t want to leave it up to hackers to steal it. Unlike a bank account, there’s no one to get you your money back if it’s stolen. That’s where “cold” wallets come in. Trezor or Ledger are the most popular, and you can think of these as a USB drive that stores your coins offline.

How to Keep Track

Once you’ve started to invest in cryptocurrency, it’s important to know how much money you’ve invested, which is easily done through a cryptocurrency portfolio tracker. 

Don’t forget that regulations have now been passed to help you easily report any income you’ve made from crypto gains. You’ll probably want to check out crypto tax reporting software as well. 

Types of Crypto

Today, there are nearly a thousand different types of cryptocurrencies out there. Let’s break them down.

Bitcoin

Bitcoin is the original cryptocurrency, and it was created in 2009 by Satoshi Nakamoto. Bitcoin is a decentralized cryptocurrency that uses PoW consensus mechanism to verify transactions.

Altcoin

Altcoin is short for “alternative coins,” AKA any coin that is not bitcoin. You can sell and buy altcoins similarly to Bitcoin. Here are the most common Altcoins:

  • Ether: Ether is used on the Ethereum network and is very popular as it’s the crypto of choice for buying and selling NFTs. It was a PoW, but will fully transition to PoS by the end of 2022.
  • Dogecoin: Dogecoin was created as a joke, but it quickly grew in popularity. Dogecoin is a decentralized, peer-to-peer digital currency that allows you to send money online.
  • Solana:  Solana is another proof-of-stake consensus coin and promises to be more scalable than other blockchains.

Stablecoin

A stablecoin is a cryptocurrency that is pegged to an asset with a stable value, such as gold or the U.S. dollar. The purpose of a stablecoin is to avoid the volatility that is common among other cryptocurrencies.

The most popular stablecoins are:

  • Tether (USDT): Tether is pegged to the U.S. dollar and it’s one of the most popular.
  • USDC: USDC is another USD-backed stablecoin, and it’s available on many different cryptocurrency exchanges.
  • DAI: DAI is a decentralized stable coin that aims to stay as close to the U.S. dollar as possible.

The Good and the Bad

Hopefully, by now, you understand why money plays a vital role in society, and our large-scale economies could not operate without it. You can understand that the tool we use as a medium for exchange also evolves as technology changes. So the question remains, could cryptocurrency play a parallel role with fiat money or could it be something that replaces it altogether?

The Crypto Advantage

Crypto has many unique advantages that can solve some of the problems we have with fiat currency.

  • Lower inflation risk: In a fiat currency, the government can print out more money. Not Bitcoin. Only 21 million can be mined and that’s it.
  • Money without borders: You can transfer Bitcoin or any other cryptocurrency to anyone in the world without paying any fees, and it will arrive in minutes.
  • Fraud prevention: Another advantage of cryptocurrency is that it can help prevent fraud. With traditional methods of payment, it is easy for someone to commit fraud by using a stolen credit card or bank account.

The Hurdles

What could stop cryptocurrency from being adopted worldwide? Well, quite a few things, as there are tons of concerns that we have seen arise. 

  • Ease of Use: There’s quite a learning curve when it comes to buying and selling crypto, so I don’t see it becoming more mainstream until this process is streamlined and people have an easier way of understanding crypto.
  • Volatility: The value of cryptocurrencies can rise and fall quite quickly, making them a huge concern for investments. Stablecoin may help with this in the future.
  • Government regulation: Government regulation will have a huge hand in dictating the future crypto. We have seen what happened with China when they banned cryptocurrency exchanges. This caused the value of bitcoin to drop by over 50%, but I don’t see the U.S. banning cryptocurrency. Recently, the U.S. has already given some guidance on how to report it, and now there’s crypto taxing software to help you.
  • Company adoption: We will need to see the market begin to accept cryptocurrency as a form of payment.

Crypto Crystal Ball

In the end, only time will tell what the future holds for cryptocurrencies. Maybe we’ll become the crypto century, or maybe not. That’s for you to evaluate.

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YFP 254: Home Buying Search: What to Do and What to Avoid


Home Buying Search: What to Do and What to Avoid

Nate Hedrick, The Real Estate RPh and co-host of the YFP Real Estate Investing Podcast, discusses evaluating online home listings, why open houses exist, how real estate agents get paid, and how the home buying concierge service he developed can help first-time homebuyers.

Episode Summary

Searching for a house to buy can be overwhelming, particularly in today’s fast-paced market. There are several tools for potential home buyers to help them navigate the process, but these can often be confusing. This week, Your Financial Pharmacist Co-Founder & CEO, Tim Ulbrich, PharmD, welcomes back Nate Hedrick, the Real Estate RPh and co-host of the YFP Real Estate Investing Podcast, to discuss what to do and what to avoid in the home buying process. Nate shares four areas you should evaluate when reviewing home listings on the MLS or various real estate sites like Redfin, Zillow, or Realtor.com. He also gives insight into the real reason for an open house, why he prefers private viewings over open houses, how agents get paid, and why it is in your best interest to have your own agent. Listeners will hear some common-sense advice for homebuyers in the current market, general advice on making an offer, the purpose of signing in when visiting an open house, and what to do when asked who your agent is during a viewing. Lastly, Nate explains how the YFP Real Estate Concierge Service works with clients from the beginning to the end of the real estate buying process for first-time buyers and investors. 

Key Points From This Episode

  • The resources that prospective buyers can use to search for homes.
  • Nate gives us an outline of the Multiple Listing Service (MLS).
  • What to look out for when viewing listings.
  • Being able to react quickly to the market to secure a purchase.
  • Steps to take when viewing a property listing.
  • The purpose of signing in when viewing a house
  • What to do when asked about an agent.
  • Advice on what to do when making an offer.
  • Rules and regulations regarding listing and buying agents.
  • The benefits of using a real estate agent when home buying.
  • A brief rundown of the YFP Real Estate Concierge Service.
  • Some of the challenges that first-time homebuyers are experiencing. 
  • The best time to start the home buying process.

Highlights

“The things that are missing can be just as evident from the things that are present. Look at those pictures, but also look at what’s not in the pictures.” — Nate Hedrick, PharmD [0:07:11]

“I recommend doing a private showing. It’s a great way to get into the house early so that you can really take things on quickly and you can take your time.” — Nate Hedrick, PharmD [0:11:32]

“I’ve seen situations where it saves the buyer thousands of dollars because a real estate agent catches something or knows how to ask for something really important.” — Nate Hedrick, PharmD [0:17:26]

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode

Episode Transcript

[INTRODUCTION]

[00:00:00] TU: Hey, everybody, Tim Ulbrich here. Thank you for listening to the YFP podcast, where each week we strive to inspire and encourage you on your path towards achieving financial freedom. This week I had a chance to welcome back a friend of the show, Nate Hedrick, the real estate and RPH and co-host of the YFP Real Estate Investing Podcast. Some of my favorite moments from the show include hearing Nate describe the four areas you should be evaluating when reviewing home listings on the MLS or various sites like Redfin, Zillow, or Realtor.com. 

The real reason open houses exist and why a private showing is preferred over an open house. How the agents get paid and why is the buyer’s in your best interest to have your own agent? How the home buying concierge service that Nate developed can help a first time homebuyer navigate the process from beginning to end? Folks can learn more about their concierge service and get connected with a local agent by visiting yourfinancialpharmacist.com, and then click on Home buying at the top of the page.

Before we jump into the show, I recognize that many listeners may not be aware of what the team at YFP Planning does in working one-on-one with more than 240 households in 40 plus states. YFP Planning offers fee only high touch financial planning that is customized for the pharmacy professional. If you’re interested in learning more about how working one-on-one with a certified financial planner may help you achieve your financial goals, you can book a free discovery call at yfpplanning.com.

Whether or not YFP Planning, financial planning services are a good fit for you, know that we appreciate your support of this podcast and our mission to help pharmacies achieve financial freedom. Okay. Here’s my interview with Nate Hedrick, the Real Estate RPH.

[INTERVIEW]

 [00:01:42] TU: Nate, welcome back to the show.

[00:01:43] NH:  Hey, Tim, always good to be here.

[00:01:45] TU: You and I both know that searching for a house can be an overwhelming process. I’ve gone through the process twice, to be honest. As exciting as it was at times, it was stressful. Not sure I really want to do it again. But here’s the thing. on one hand, we have great access to data, right? With services like Zillow, Redfin, I’m a fan, realtor.com that pulls information from the Multiple Listing Service, the MLS all over the country. But on the other hand, there’s not a lot of direction on what to do with all that information. What’s important? How do I schedule showing? When is the next open house? How do I submit an offer? So today we’re bringing you back on the show to talk and walk us through how to navigate all of this.

Before we jump in to our interview, I want to make sure to remind our listeners that there are some really important financial steps that you should be taking to make sure you’re actually ready to purchase a home, before we go down the rabbit hole that can be searching. So Nate put together a great article on how to manage buying a house despite having student loan debt. We’re going to link to that in the show notes, that was on the YFP blog. We’ve done a few podcast episodes dating way back to September 2018, where we talked through six steps to buying a home. That was a two part series. We did episode 64 and 65. Again, we’ll link to those in the show notes.

These articles, these episodes are really important that we’re laying the foundation. Are we ready before we get into the search? So Nate, let’s assume our listeners have done that up front work. They’re preapproved with a lender and now they’re actually ready to search. Of course there are sites like Zillow and Redfin, but are those the best places to search for homes?

[00:03:23] NH: Yeah. I mean those sites are fine and really great in many cases, but one of the problems with those sites is that they can be out of date, right? So what those sites do, in effect as they pull data, like you mentioned, they pull data from the Multiple Listing Service, which is really the source of truth, and it’s updated by real estate agents. Until those sites are updated the sites like Zillow and Redfin can’t pull the new data. Sometimes they do that scraping slowly and sometimes they do it more quickly. 

I have seen examples multiple, multiple times, where clients have reached out and said, “Oh, Nate, can we go look at this place? It looks gorgeous. I saw that. It just came on the market.” Three days ago it was pending, but the site, for whatever reason, didn’t grab that MLS data and update it. But as soon as I logged in, I could actually see that the information. So the sites are awesome for doing up front searches looking at history. They’re very good at looking backward at historical data of what has sold, but truthfully, if you want to get up to the minute true information, you need to get an agent who can get you access to the MLS, so that you can get that data directly.

[00:04:18] TU: Yeah. I remember Nate, I’m sure all agents do this differently, back in 2009, when Jess and I moved to northeast Ohio, working with an agent. They have an MLS portal that we could log in and review in, just seeing the differences, as you mentioned, between that and realtor.com, Redfin, where we’d be really excited about a property contingent and it was already, had been sold. Before we go further, we throw on MLS a lot. Can you just break that down a little bit further? What is the MLS? Obviously, that’s going to be an important piece of what we’re talking about here today.

[00:04:46] NH: Yeah. The MLS is, like I said, the Multiple Listing Service. What this is, is basically an agreement between the brokerage is of a particular area or a particular state. The MLS is divided inter into regions, right? So they can be the entire state, they can be just a large city area. It depends on where you’re located. Basically, the brokerages or the Real Estate Association is within that area have gotten together and said, “We agree to share data between our brokerages and the MLS is how we’re going to share that data.” So brokerages will upload information directly into this database that’s managed by an independent organization and that organization puts out that information for everyone to be able to access. Again, what that allows other real estate agents and professionals to do is to look at that information in real-time so that decisions can be made much more quickly.

[00:05:31] TU: Nate, as you mentioned, sites like Zillow, sites Redfin, sites realtor.com, those are pulling from the MLS, correct?

[00:05:38] NH: Correct. They have some agreement in place where they can, again, scrape that data from the MLS and then show it in whatever way they like to.

[00:05:44] TU: Nate, I think all of us can relate to pulling up a listing, and browsing pictures from our couch, but there are important things that people should be looking for when they’re digging through a listing. Talk about what are those things that folks should be looking for?

[00:05:58] NH: Yeah, absolutely. It’s just pulling up a patient profile before rounds, right? There’s a ton of data to sort through, and it can be important to narrow things down. Like you said, it’s really easy to sit there and just look at the pictures upfront and dream about being in that particular house, but there’s actually a lot of great data there. If you understand what’s available to you, you can glean a lot of information from it. I’ll break it down, four main categories. I think this is how we can do this. 

The first is the obvious one, right? The pictures and the video, you can use this information for a lot of things. It’s not just looking at the cosmetics, but you can also look for things like, are there obvious problems? For example, is the roof look like from the photos that it has problems or is there damage within the property that you can see in the photos? Sometimes it’s not just what’s being included, but it’s what’s excluded as well. Just like a missing lab value might tell you more than the myriad of in-range results that you get for a particular patient. 

Pictures that are missing can be really telling too. If they say they’ve got a four-bedroom, three bathhouse, but there’s only one picture of one updated bathroom, it starts to make you wonder, “Well, what’s going on with those other two?” Is one of them hidden in the basement somewhere and never been updated in the other ones full of wallpaper that totally out of date. The things that are missing can be just as evident from the things that are present.

Look at those pictures, but also look at what’s not in the pictures. Then like I mentioned before, if you’re getting access to the MLS, a lot of times you’ll see brokers or real estate agents posting video walkthroughs. A lot of times the sites like Zillow and Redfin and things like that can’t pull that data or may not have access to those videos. So asking your agent, “Hey, can you give me access or is there a video of a walkthrough?” You can get that directly to the MLS, that’s the first one. 

The next thing you want to look at is your stats, right? These are all of your basic information about that house, everything from bedroom and bathroom count like I mentioned. Things like square footage above and below grade and seeing where that information is coming from is really important too, right? Even as I go to list a property, the seller might say, “Yeah, this is four bedrooms, here are the four bedrooms, you can count them. But if the county records indicate that it’s only a three-bedroom house, or it’s been certified as a three-bedroom house through whatever past history, that fourth bedroom might either not be in the records for a very good reason, or it might actually not count as a bedroom. So again, think about that data and where it’s coming from.

The other things you’ll see is things the year that the house was built, and that can help you look at things like, okay, well if it was built before 1978 for example, there might be lead-based paint in the house. So I need to start thinking about that. If it was still before 1950s, there might be knob-and-tube wiring. So the year that it was built can tell you a lot as well. The last thing you want to look for there is things like the heating and cooling types. Some people depending on your area, this can be much more important than in certain locations, but understanding what type of heating is in that property. Does it have an air conditioner? Does it have a boiler? Does it have whatever? All that can be listed right there for you. It can provide you a lot of information. 

The next data point to look for is the government data. So these are things usually displayed by the county that is listed on these websites and through the MLS, and that’s everything from school district, the property taxes. You can actually look at property lines and the parcel itself. You should be able to determine zoning from this. You can see if it’s zoned residential or mixed-use or commercial. Then again, like I said, past sales or rent prices will be listed there as well. That’s all through usually the county website and available. 

Then that fourth piece is really the narrative. This is the, again, the physician’s notes. If it were our patient example, but it’s what’s included with the property, it’s what the seller wanted to tell you about it. It’s how they’re trying to sell it. Things disclosures from the listing description or brokers notes that can be available for the MLS again. So there’s a lot of pieces that you can look for on just what seems like a simple place to check out pictures.

[00:09:39] TU: Nate that was great stuff. You talked about for pictures and the video, the stats, the government data, the narrative. As you were talking, I was envisioning. That has to be a great way to set up a spreadsheet and record this information. My question, though, is with today’s market, analyzing all this information, really doing due diligence like things are moving quickly, though, right?

[00:09:56] NH: Yeah.

[00:09:57] TU: I think that’s one of the challenges in today’s market is making sure we have all the information, obviously, to be comfortable, to feel confident moving forward, but things are moving and getting the information that we need, but also being able to react quickly.

[00:10:09] NH: Making sure that you’re not making a mistake by reacting too quickly, right? So if you’re looking for a particular school district and it’s on the street that you’ve been looking at before, but you skip the government data and you skip the fact that it’s actually across the street, and that’s a different school district that could have huge ramifications on price and everything that goes along with it, taxes especially. So knowing where those pieces of information are upfront, so that you can move quickly is super important.

[00:10:33] TU: Nate, we dig through all of the background information. We found a house or several homes that we like want to look at. How do we go see the property? What’s the strategy here?

[00:10:42] NH: Yeah. So there’s generally two options to see a property, I guess. Three, I’ll talk to all three, but basically, the most common one that people think of, I think more often than not is an open house, right? Where you’re going to have the listing agent present, the doors are open, the house is vacant, and you’ve got the ability to walk through that with everybody else. I think the classic example of this is come by Sunday at 2:00 and there’s 30 cars in the driveway and you’re touring it with everybody else. Usually, those open houses will be again on the weekends and in the listing description or somewhere on the website you’ll be able to see when that open house or when the next open house will be.

If it’s not listed, they either might not have one or it might be not something that the data was able to be scraped on. So make sure that you ask your agent, “Is there going to be an open house?” But that’s only one way to go see the house, right? You have virtual showings as well. Or you could do private showing, where you can set up through the either listing agent or through your own agent to go see the house on your own time, and on your own terms.

Generally speaking, I recommend doing a private showing. It’s a great way to get into the house early so that you can really take things on quickly and you can take your time, right? You’re not shuffling around other people. You’re not trying to debate who else might be putting in an offer. You’re really spending the time that you need to evaluate. Is this the property for me? Again, in most cases, your agent can get that set up for a time that’s convenient for you. So rather than forcing it into Sunday at 2:00, you could do it at 8:00 at night or 7:00 at night after you’ve done the long working day. So lots of options with that.

[00:12:04] TU: Yeah. There’s nothing some pressure, right Nate? When you’re walking around open house and ten, 20 other people are looking at the house, you start to feel like, I got to act quickly –

[00:12:11] NH: Exactly, exactly. 

[00:12:12] TU: Nate, I remember going to open houses in the past and one of the first things that they would have me do is sign in and then they would ask if I have an agent. Honestly, I never really thought much about that. So tell us more about what’s going on there. What am I supposed to do? What am I supposed to say in that situation? 

[00:12:29] NH: Yeah. Your best bet is just to be honest, right? This not a test or them trying to figure out if you’re supposed to be there. If it’s an open house, you are absolutely supposed to be there, right? Even if you’re not a qualified buyer, the whole point of an open house is to come look, so that’s okay. The best thing you can do is to be honest on that and what the agent is trying to do there. It’s one of the worst kept secrets of the real estate industry, is that open houses are not actually to sell a house. I know that sounds counterintuitive, but truthfully, in age of the Internet, they get plenty of marketability by just putting it on the MLS and letting Zillow and everybody else see it, right? 

What the open house is designed to do is to drum up business for that real estate agent. So what they’re doing is they’re saying, “If you, Tim, are come into my open house and you’re ready to buy and you’re looking at houses in this area, but you don’t have an agent to work with, well, then you’re the perfect client for me,” right? “I can help you. I know clearly this area. I’m already working here and I’ve got a listing. I’d love to help you out with that.” So what we’re doing as agents when we’re holding it open house is trying to show the property, certainly, but more often than not, that agent is there to drum up their own business and try to create opportunities for themselves.

[00:13:34] TU: Nate, I go to the open house, I love the house. How do I make an offer? Well, using that listing agent save me money? Will that help in the negotiations?

[00:13:42] NH: Yeah. A lot of people assume this right, where, “I’ll use the listing agent, because then I’ll save money. I won’t have my own agent.” So there it is, but let me explain a little bit about how an agent is paid. I think that will dispel that myth. I’ll say this, there are times where that can be the case where it can save you something on commission, but the reality is not very often. So the way that the typical commission is paid is that the seller sits down with the listing agent and they agree on a price. They basically say, “Okay, I’m going to list your house for you. Here’s all the things that I’m going to do in terms of marketing, in terms of exposure, in terms of open houses. For doing all of that, when the house sells, I need you to pay me 6%.” 

That might be high. That might be low. It totally depends on your area and the property that you’re talking about and the price point and all that. Let’s just assume it’s 6%. Well, that 6% then get split between the selling agent and the buying agent. So the person that actually brings a buyer to the property. So typically it’s a 50/50 split, 3% going to the listing agent, 3% going to the buyer. So if I come as a buyer with no agent whatsoever now all of a sudden that 6% doesn’t have to be split. What happens most often is that agent that’s listing the property simply keeps the 6%. It’s already been agreed upon, it’s already been signed by the seller. They don’t have to reduce that price at all. 

You could, in theory negotiate with them to say, “Hey, if I don’t use an agent, can we get this down to 5%? Or can you take 1% off your commission or something like that?” That may work, but what you’re missing is that you don’t have an agent representing your best interest. The goal of that listing agent is to sell that property for as much as possible, because they’re representing their sellers interests. There are a lot of great real estate agents out there that will do their absolute best to split that difference between representing the buyer and the seller, but the reality is that they negotiated and worked at that seller first, and they have an obligation to treat them as best they can to get them the best price. 

It can look like a savings, because you’re taking 1% off the commission or whatever, but if you don’t have an agent advocating for you, looking for the things that that agent isn’t there to help you look for, you might miss out on something even greater than that 1%, and it’s totally not even worth it.

[00:15:47] TU: Nate, does this vary from state-to-state? I’m not sure of the rules here of whether or not I don’t know what the term is dual representation, but of where someone’s acting is both the buying and the selling. I remember signing disclosures confirming that that wasn’t happening, talk to us more about what is or is not allowed here, and whether or not that very state-to-state.

[00:16:03] NH: Yeah. There’s a couple pieces here that we can break down. The first is whether or not that agent is actually representing you. So what you’re referring to is called dual agency, where that agent is representing both the buyer and the seller in a transaction. That idea of dual agency is allowed in some states, it’s not allowed in others. Some brokerages actually have a restriction on that. The broker was saying, “Look, we will never be a dual agent and here’s why.” But it’s permissible in a lot of areas. The other option or the other more likely scenario is that you’re going to be unrepresented. So you are coming in as a customer, not a client. So the agent that is selling the property represents the seller. They are not representing you in the transaction at all. They are simply helping you through it. So you’re a customer, not a client. 

 Again, I think understanding what that relationship is, if you are going to enter into an agreement like that and knowing what that means for you in terms of, “Are you actually my agent or are you simply an agent of the seller and helping me through the transaction?”

[00:16:57] TU: Nate, it sounds like having an agent’s a win-win better representation on your end as a buyer and doesn’t cost you anything, am I reading that, right?

[00:17:04] NH: Yeah. I mean, as long as you have the right agent on your team, someone that knows the market, what to look for, knows how to represent you in negotiations. Navigating the contracts like that is somebody that is a really important asset to you. As agents, we walk through these property deals all the time. You might be a first time homebuyer and have never done this before. So having somebody on your team that knows how to navigate all those pieces, they can be dramatically important. I mean, I’ve seen situations where it saves the buyer thousands of dollars, because a real estate agent catches something or knows how to ask for something really important. 

I just had a situation come up recently with a buyer. It came back that there was a leak, it was a pretty simple leak, but it was at the water main of the house where it came in from the city. So the inspector said, “Yeah, this needs to be fixed. It’s leaking right now. It’s probably going to be a couple hundred bucks to fix it.” At first the buyer said, “Well, okay, that’s fine. I’ll just handle it myself when I buy the property.” But I said, “Well, hold on. This is a leak that is active, meaning that it has the potential to get worse. Meaning it could damage the property.” So this is something that the seller should address right away. “I’ll get this taken care of for you.” A quick phone call to the agent, and they agreed like that to say, “Oh yeah, we’ll handle that completely.” 

Only a couple hundred bucks, but something that they didn’t have to deal with after they moved in, something that protected the property from getting worse and something that, again, going unrepresented, the buyer wouldn’t have bothered messing with. So having that right agent, somebody that can really advocate for you can really make the difference. Again, not to start plugging a service, but that’s exactly why we created the concierge service, the home buying concierge, because it’s designed to get you connected with really great agents that can have your best interests in mind.

[00:18:35] TU: I would encourage folks to check out episode 160 – Nate, you did an episode navigating the home buying process through the concierge service with Shelby Bannett, and Bryce Plott. I think that service really comes alive throughout that episode and the value that it has. Walk us through briefly, what is that concierge service? What value does it provide? What can folks expect and where can they go to learn more?

[00:18:55] NH: Yeah, so this all came about, because when I bought my first property, I had no idea how to find a good real estate agent, right? I just asked a friend, I Googled around and we ended up with an okay agent. It was fine. It all worked out great, but it just felt like there should be a better process to this. Again, especially if you’re somebody that’s moving out of state or to a new area, you might not know anybody there. So how do you wade through the myriad of real estate agents in finding somebody that’s actually going to be on your team? So what we created was the real estate concierge service, the whole idea being that you can sit down with me through a 30-minute prep call to really walk through your goals, your budget, what your must haves are, and starting to figure out what property you’re looking for.

Then once I’ve got that information, we’ll go out and find a real estate agent, that’s really a good fit for you, somebody that’s going to be that has the experience you need, somebody that knows the property types that you’re looking for, somebody that again is just going to be the right fit on your team, and it takes all that guesswork out of it. So again, the process is simple. You go online, you can go to yfprealestate.com, or you can go to your financialpharmacist.com/buyahome and you can tap into the book a call with Nate, and we’ll sit down and talk about what your needs are. I’ll get you connected with an agent and then you can get off and running. You can know that you’ve got somebody on your team that’s going to help you through that process. 

The thing I really have been advocating for recently, too, is that it’s not just us handing off to an agent, right? I stay on your team through that whole process. I just had two emails this morning from a client who had a question. They didn’t feel like they were getting the full answer from their real estate agent. They said, “Can you just double check this for me, Nate? I want to have somebody else that knows what’s going on actually in answering this.” I confirm, “Yes, what the real estate agent is saying is accurate. Totally, you can believe them.” It gives that peace of mind behind the buying process with somebody that knows what they’re doing.

[00:20:38] TU: Yeah. I think especially for first time home buyers, right? It’s a big decision. We’re in this wild market that is, things are moving so quickly and I think just to have someone throughout process beginning and have a second opinion, examples you just gave would highly encourage folks to check that out. You’ve done an awesome job building this out.

[00:20:53] NH: Thanks.

 [00:20:54] TU: Agents across the country in different areas, few different ways you can get there. Nate mentioned go to yourfinancialpharmacies.com, click on buy a home. We’ll link to that in the show notes. You can get a yfprealestate.com, so it’s not just for primary residence, for those that are looking at investing in real estate and finding an investor friendly agent also really, really important. Or you can go to realestaterph.com and that will all point you to the same place, which is a conversation with Nate. We’ll link to all of those in the show notes. 

Nate, before we wrap up. Got to pick your brain every time that we talk about home buying in the last, seems since the pandemic. Each month it brings a different angle, different know, right? Here we are. Believe it or not, I seen interest rate on 30 year fixed mortgages starting to creep up closer, and closer, and closer to 5%. That is hard to believe when we look back in the middle of the pandemic, we were seeing 30 year fixed rates below 3% for a period of time. I remember back to October 2018 when we bought our home that was in the four or six ranges fixed rates on a 30 year mortgage and I thought maybe we’re not going to see that high again and here we are. 

We’ve got now continued supply and demand issues. We’ve got more buyers and there are properties that are out there, and now we’ve got rates that are creeping up, so I think this affordability of home for first time homebuyers is becoming more and more challenging. Talk to us about what you’re seeing and what are some of the challenges the folks are facing.

[00:22:16] NH: Yeah. I think there’s a lot that goes into this, right? I think the biggest thing like you said, is the affordability, because if you’re all of a sudden jumping up a percentage point in rate, that could be a couple of hundred bucks. It could be even more depending on your market. So it can really start to affect, okay, well, what house can I afford? If people are going to be offering over asking price and competing with offers 20, 30, $40,000 over asking, that is going to start to go away, I think, as these interest rates climb even further. It doesn’t mean that the houses are unaffordable, but I think you’re going to start to see a shift back down. 

I do want you to keep in mind too, in perspective, the interest rates we have today even if it is five, even 6% over the historical average, that’s still really, really low. It’s still below what inflation was in the last six months right? So historically, that’s not bad. It’s just when you compare that to the last two years, it feels like we’re in this state of, “Oh, my gosh, we’re really on these rising rates and it’s never going to end.” So put that in a little bit of historical perspective for yourself before getting too nervous. But I do think we’re going to start to see a shift in the market as a result of these changes.

[00:23:15] TU: Nate, one last question I have for you. If I’m someone listening and ready, I’m looking now versus, hey I’m thinking about this over the next three to six to 12 months. When is the right time to potentially connect with you and ultimately get connected with an agent?

[00:23:26] NH: Yeah. I think there’s never a bad time to connect with me. I think the best time is probably when you’re around six months out or sooner. I mean, it can be, you’re ready right now when you’re ready to look and we just are having look, we need a good agent or it can be again, we’re six months away, and I want to start planning ahead. If you’re before that, it’s probably a bit early to connect with an agent, but it’s a great time to start thinking about your overall finances, your budget, all the other things that we’ve talked about in the past about getting ready to buy a home. So once you get to that point where you’re in the ready state, that’s a great time to connect with me. Even if you’re not actively looking, we can start to talk through goals, objectives, things that are going to help you make that process that much easier.

[00:24:03] TU: Great stuff, Nate, as always. Really appreciate your insights to the YFP community and taking the time to come on the show. Thank you so much.

[00:24:09] NH: Yeah. Thanks for having me, Tim.

[OUTRO]

[00:24:11] TU:  As we conclude this week’s podcast and important reminder that the content on this show is provided to you for informational purposes only and is not intended provide and should not be relied on for investment or any other advice. Information to the podcasts and corresponding material should not be construed as a solicitation or offer to buy or sell any investment or related financial products. We urge listeners to consult with a financial advisor with respect to any investment. 

Furthermore, the information contained in our archived newsletters, blog posts and podcasts is not updated and may not be accurate at the time you listen to it on the podcast. Opinions and analyses expressed herein are solely those of Your Financial Pharmacist unless otherwise noted, and constitute judgments as of the dates publish. Such information may contain forward looking statements that are not intended to be guarantees of future events. Actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements. 

For more information, please visit yourfinancialpharmacists.com/disclaimer. Thank you again for your support of the Your Financial Pharmacists Podcast. Have a great rest of your week.

[END]

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