The Open House Origin Story
Hosted by: Kristina Modares and Steph Douglass
Produced and Edited by: Alan Galinsky
Music by: Bensound
Photo by: Chelsea Francis
Graphic by: Molly Knobloch
Key Points and Timestamps
6:30- Why our mission of making home ownership more approachable spurred the start of this podcast
24:12- Why we love working with 1st time homeowners and consider them the “the gold in this business”
29:33- Why we still love doing a DIY project during a renovation, even years into being an investor
37:55- Steph and Kristina’s personal highs and lows in the last year of Open House
48:50- What buying a house can do for your self-confidence in every area of your life
Get the full episode transcription here.
Episode 1 Summary:
In this episode, Open House founders Kristina Modares and Steph Douglass begin by discussing the current state of the world, from the COVID-19 pandemic to the policy brutality and BLM movement. They explain that now is good time for this podcast to start, because they can help change the narrative in the real estate world and give voices to a more diverse group of people - not just white men.
Next Kristina and Steph talk about how they met, and the things that brought them together. Mainly a desire to navigate the real estate world as a woman, and learn from like-minded women. Kristina discovered Steph through Instagram, and they decided to meet up to talk, which they now call “the best first date ever.”
Since then, their friendship blossomed over a love of working with the first-time buyer, and desire to show the accessibility and power of real estate investing. They soon decided to partner together, because they had similar goals and ambitions. Both of them wanted an office space to call their own, and discovered the property that is now Open House Austin, which required a lot of TLC.
From there they built Open House Austin - from finishing the space, hiring their team, and launching their business. They discuss the trials and tribulations, and the lessons they learned along the way.
Next, they discuss why they both wanted to work with first-time buyers, and a big part of that was the experiences they had buying for the first time, which was less than pleasant. They saw the importance on first-time buyer education, and noticed that there was a dire need for a business like Open House.
They talk about why Open House is as successful as it is - because they build an actual community for home buyers, and don’t just disappear after closing. People are there to help every step of the way, and they want people to feel comfortable and empowered to buy.
One big goal of this podcast is to show the potential of real estate investing, and how it can help you obtain wealth without taking over your life. It doesn’t need to be a career, you can use it as a tool to grow on the side.
They discuss how inspiring their clients are, and how many of them have really turned into incredible investors with a lot of experience that we can all learn from. This podcast will be an incredible tool to help teach people how attainable real estate is and how much you can grow by becoming a smart investor.
Kristina and Steph see now is the time to start empowering and educating more people in the real estate world, and hope this podcast will give more people voices, and inspire confidence in people looking to begin their own real estate journey - especially if you are a woman or person of color, who may have not felt represented before.
Please stay tuned for more episodes every Tuesday, and subscribe so you don’t miss them! You can find us on Spotify, Stitcher and Apple Podcasts. If you like our content, please leave a rating and review.
Email us at Podcast@OpenHouseAustin.co for questions or topics that you'd like us to cover, or people you think that we might want to interview, or if you feel like you could add something to this conversation. Please feel free to email us. Follow us at OpenHouse_Austin on Instagram.
Source links:
Kristina’s reading White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo
Our Blog: The Story of Open House Austin
Our Blog: How To Buy, Renovate, and Profit from a Commercial Property in Austin as a 20-Something
Kristina’s boyfriend Eric’s Coffee Shop on the property: LeverCraft Coffee