Steph Douglass 

Open it with a cough. Okay, I'll start us off. Welcome to the open house podcast where women talk real estate. I'm Steph Douglass.

 

Kristina Modares 

And I'm Kristina Modares.

 

Steph Douglass 

That was really energetic. Um, how's it going?

 

Kristina Modares 

It's, it's good I sitting in my little home office.

 

Steph Douglass 

I'm so glad I'm I'm on my way I need to make my nicer my little area's very messy right now. It's also my vanity.

 

Kristina Modares 

Where are you actually?

 

Steph Douglass 

 I'm yeah, I have a little cove in my room.

 

Kristina Modares 

Ohh, okay.

 

Steph Douglass 

It's like it is a little desk and then a mirror. It's, it's multifunctional. My house is very small.

 

Kristina Modares 

Same. We live in Tiny Homes. How, oh, speaking of tiny homes, I want to tell people about your project that you're working on.

 

Steph Douglass 

Yes! This tiny home just got delivered. So I've mentioned this before we have, we bought a property in 2019. It was a for sale by owner. And he just put a sign out. It was on the street I was living on at the time. And it was a corner house that I drove by it every single day. And I was like, Oh my gosh, this, this corner lot so cool. And the son of the guy who owned it was just like, I don't want to deal with this at all. And so we bought it and there's it's kind of a big lot split by a creek. And on one side there's a house that we kind of fixed up and the other side was just it was a giant mobile home. But it was just like it was pretty rough. Remember, did you go to it ever?

 

Kristina Modares 

Yeah, ugh, I remember that.

 

Steph Douglass 

it was it was in pretty rough shape. So, so we had to demolish it. And it was just an empty lot for a while. And we looked into all these options. We actually listed it for sale at one point and it's kind of a weird shape?

 

Kristina Modares 

The lot?

 

Steph Douglass 

 Yeah. So we decided to buy a tiny home, like a pre manufactured tiny home. And it's so cute. They have like this line of Tiny Homes that's, they're on wheels. And they are, this one's 399 square feet.

 

Kristina Modares 

They're so beautiful.

 

Steph Douglass 

It's so cute!

 

Kristina Modares 

It looks huge, too.

 

Steph Douglass 

I know! On the inside, tt looks big.

 

Kristina Modares 

Yeah, we're gonna post some pictures on our,  on Open House.

 

Steph Douglass 

Yeah.

 

Kristina Modares 

So yeah, you all can see it, but it's yeah, it looks big.

 

Steph Douglass 

I know this is it's it's really fascinating how 400 square feet seems so tiny, but there's a living room and there's a bedroom, like separated, and a bathroom and then a pretty large loft. So we, we there's a lot in Austin or code in Austin if anything above 400 square feet can't be classified as an RV. And so we're technically classifying this as an RV because it's got wheels. So we're kind of I mean, it's very legal. We had to permit the plumbing and electrical but other than that there is no permits necessary because it has wheels.

 

Kristina Modares 

Mm hmm.

 

Steph Douglass 

So underneath 400 square feet, this will be different in other cities. So before you go buy a 399 square foot tiny house without permits, I would definitely look into it but it is it's such a really good way to do it. I mean, it came with a fridge, AC, it's like fully decked out. There's also washer dryer hookups.

 

Kristina Modares 

And it was 50,000 right? Which is not that bad. If you look on like Craigslist for Tiny Homes or even air streams, they're so expensive.

 

Steph Douglass 

Yes.

 

Kristina Modares 

And this one is all done.

 

Steph Douglass 

All done. So that's like more and more exciting to me is something that's completely finished, which, at the beginning of both of our careers, we were like will buy anything.

 

Kristina Modares 

Yeah.

 

Steph Douglass 

And it's just like, Oh, I don't have to pay. I don't have to organize project manage this. It's just, they brought it. And so it was $50,000. Like, the sticker price was $50,000. And then we paid in taxes and delivery and like all that, it ended up being like $60,000 flat, maybe like a little less than that. But there's financing options. Like it's very doable for anyone.

 

Kristina Modares 

Yeah. And then you can turn it around and make some income on it.

 

Steph Douglass 

Yes. So we're gonna rent it. And it I mean, I feel like people will love it.

 

Kristina Modares 

Yeah. Yeah. It's very cute.

 

Steph Douglass 

And then other than that, tell us about your beach house.

 

Kristina Modares 

So yeah, me and my sister. Just to recap, we are trying to work under contract on a home in the panhandle of Florida. We grew going there. So, tight now, we're still like our option period was up on what's today oh my gosh, what is today? It was up a few days ago. And it's, I guess things are done differently there. Uh, I, we had to extend. So we extended our option period meaning like we have until Friday to come to an agreement. So I think we said we wanted $30,000 off the sales price additional because of what we what showed up in inspection, which I'm not too scared of, but like, the bottom part wasn't permitted. And there's just a few things here and there. So we told the seller, here's my spreadsheet of all the things that I that are wrong, and we want additional 30K off. So now in Florida, apparently, the seller has like a due diligence period as well. They have so if your option periods like you know 10 days, they get like five days or whatever. I think that's like an automatic like five days something to do their due diligence. Because I think in Florida, they technically have to, like fix a percentage of like repairs, which don't quote me on that maybe it's not everywhere, but so it's so we're in this like back and forth dance, which is a little different than it is in Austin. So I'm kind of like, oh, instead of doing all that research, the sellers are doing all this research now. And they're trying to get it permitted and do all this stuff. So essentially, we're still in the waiting game. I was hoping to, like jump on here. Like we did it, like we negotiated and we're moving forward, but it's still kind of like a dance right now.

 

Steph Douglass 

I love that you're getting to go through this experience in a different state though, because, like me and Kristina are both licensed in Texas, well our whole team is is you know, Austin, realtors. And so getting the experience of another state. It just shows how different it can be from state to state.

 

Kristina Modares 

Exactly. And we're I'm learning a lot too because we're as, as you all may know, me and Steph, we're kind of building out an online course right now and it's going to be nationwide, so we want to make sure it's relevant for everywhere. This is good research.

 

Steph Douglass 

So good. And then I also just closed on a three refinances, which is been in the works for a while, and my uncle did those loans. And he's in California. And so he keeps on saying, Oh, this is different from what how it is in California or this wouldn't happen in California. This is so it's so it's just very fascinating that it is state by state, but also I mean, the the mindset stuff is the same.

 

Kristina Modares 

Mmm, yep. Yeah, for sure. And actually, we should do a an episode on refinances and cash out refinances. I know you just did three, three refinances. And I just did a cash out refinance. So I think it would be cool to explain the differences, how we utilized those strategies to help us grow our portfolios, better our portfolios.

 

Steph Douglass 

I'm into it. Okay, cool. So this episode, we're gonna jump into talking about new builds or new construction versus resale, which is just a house that has been sitting there for a while.

 

Kristina Modares 

Yeah, it's a home that is not brand new.

 

Steph Douglass 

That is way better way to put it. It' just been sitting there. So resale is just is also, kind of a real estate term. We use a resale contract when we when we do a resale deal, as opposed to when you do a new construction deal. There's a different contract for that.

 

Kristina Modares 

Hmm, yeah. So when you're when you're making offers, you might see a different contract. And that's actually good to point out. Also, I guess we can, I guess people might know what it is. But should we just,  like a new construction means like, it was probably just built within this year.

 

Steph Douglass 

Yeah, no one else has lived in it before.

 

Kristina Modares 

No one's lived there and why we wanted to talk about the, talk about the differences. Not only because I know a lot of people kind of go back and forth on like what they want for a new home versus like, a little bit older home. But there's also different, like, there's two different processes when you're buying these homes. So like with a new construction home, when you're going through the process of buying it looks very different than when you're buying a resale home.

 

Steph Douglass 

Oh, yes, yes, it is. It's almost completely different. Which is, I mean, and there's also we're going to go through these, the pros and the cons of these, but it is a completely different process. And it is completely dependent on your preference, and like what kind of experience you want to have.

 

Kristina Modares 

So yeah, maybe we should jump into that. So you all can be on the same page. Yeah, as us. So like when you're buying a resale home, you're still, so you're when you go under contract, I think we'll talk about the main differences is when you go into contract and during that like option period, or the negotiation period or due diligence period. So you go under contract, and when, this for resale home, so when you go under contract, you typically hire an inspector and you, they're going to look at every nook and cranny of your home and tell you everything that's wrong with it. And then you're going to get that report and you're essentially going to decide you and with the help of your realtor are gonna decide if this is something you want to take on. Let's say you were like, Oh, I'm okay with buying a resale home, but I do not want to buy something that has foundation issues, you know, so you might get an inspection and they say, oh, there's it's, it's pretty bad. The foundation's like really off. So you might decide you don't want to move forward. Or you might decide, oh, I'll try to negotiate a little bit with the seller. So with a resale home, that's kind of how it goes is like you get that inspection. And then the seller is not really obligated to make all those repairs. It's more of like a negotiation process kind of like what I was talking about with the beach house that the house in Florida we're in that kind of like dance right now with the negotiations. So, after that, that, you know, both parties make a decision, you sign an agreement like okay, I'm going to fix the faucet and I'm going to the seller might say, Okay, I'll give you $1,000 credit for the damaged sink or something. Whatever they find.

 

Steph Douglass 

Really focused in the sink in that one.

 

Kristina Modares 

Did I say sink a lot?

 

Steph Douglass 

Just the faucet and the sink.

 

Kristina Modares 

Ohh, okay. Yeah, that's..

 

Steph Douglass 

but they but they there's going to be like some repairs or some some like seller credit or they're going to pay you so that you can fix it after the closing.

 

Kristina Modares 

Yes. I don't really know. I blacked out for a while. So I don't really know what I just said.

 

Steph Douglass 

But yes, that is it sounds great. No, it makes sense. So. So that's like the negotiation period that also the seller also has has the option to just say no. Like, they could say I don't. I'm selling it as is I'm not making any repairs that I'm not paying. And so it's all about the negotiation. And that's very different from a new construction.

 

Kristina Modares 

Yeah, yeah. So the new construction how that works. And a lot of people often ask if you need a realtor to walk you through new construction, because sometimes they'll go to a neighborhood and there's like a sales agent there. And they're like, oh, we'll help you. But just remember that, that person works for the builder. And as a buyer, you're not paying your realtor. Remember you as a buyer, you never pay, you're not paying your realtors. So you might as well always have someone on your side kind of like looking things over because they are on your side. The builder and the builder's sales rep is not on your side. So I would say you should always have a buyer's agent, even if you're buying a new construction.

 

Steph Douglass 

Absolutely. I mean, wholeheartedly agree, obviously. But for new construction, you do still we still recommend an inspection like we always always and and you'd be surprised at how much comes back in the inspection even in a new build. Just because people are making mistakes or they're waiting for the inspection to see what the what they have to do their punch list, which means everything a list of things they have to do. They don't want to overdo it, which is kind of lame in my opinion, but. They will you bring your inspector in and then usually the builder agrees to to fix everything on the inspection.

 

Kristina Modares 

Yeah, so that's how it's so much different than a resale home. Typically you can get that inspection done and then you send it to the builder and they will take care of it. And I think Steph you even had a client who was trying to buy a new construction, because there's different ways like to buy a new construction home you might be buying in one of those neighborhoods. Those like bigger neighborhoods.

 

Steph Douglass 

Yeah, like a  pre planned community.

 

Kristina Modares 

Yes, I don't know I can't think of, I'm off today, y'all. Or you might buy a one off home that was just built brand new in an older neighborhood, but they just maybe rebuilt from scratch. On a lot. So there's different ways of doing it. But where was I even going with this?

 

Steph Douglass 

Well, that's those are the two different types of new builds. So a lot of people right now are building like a development is a huge plot of land where developers come in, they usually sell different lots to different builders. So in a lot of developments, there's multiple builders you can choose from, in some some developments, it's only one builder. And so that that means that like if your next door neighbor and on either side usually are also new builds and they've been built in the same year as yours, as well as far as the other option where you are buying a new build, next door might be a house that was built in 1950.

 

Kristina Modares 

Yes, that's where I was going with that. So Open House recently was going through this with a client, where they were trying to buy a new construction home, right Steph?

 

Steph Douglass 

Yeah.

 

Kristina Modares 

And the inspection came back really bad. Yeah, it was really bad. And the buyers actually chose to back out yet. Oh, it's just so good due diligence to do.

 

Steph Douglass 

Yeah, and they came back and we had a big meeting about it. And we said, you know, our team was like, actually, we support your decision and backing out if there's so much wrong from just the new build inspection that's that's a red flag. So yeah, they did end up buying a new build, but they they chose a different builder. So it really it really helps to have someone on your side and and helping you through this process because it's still it's not like you're buying off the shelf that build houses are complicated and you want to be, make sure that you're buying one that's really quality. And the reason you're buying new build is so that you won't have any problems.

 

Kristina Modares 

Yeah, and that's like the main difference if you're like a super nitpicky person, and you're like, I have to buy a home that's almost perfect. Maybe you want a new build, because you can get pretty nitpicky with it, like even after. So, this is another main difference of buying a new construction home is after you go through that inspection and you give the report to the builder and they're like, okay, we'll take care of these things. There's something that you do after that called a blue tape walkthrough. So you literally take blue tape and you can walk through it's like you and your realtor, sometimes the builders there because they want to like talk through some things with you and and you get to tape little things that are wrong with the house. So like this can be cosmetic, like if there's like a chipped, chipped paint on the wall or something, you can just put a little piece of tape and they have a whole crew of people that built this house so they can just have like, what Steph was saying the punch list, so they will go through and look at this blue tape, take it off. fix the problem. So that is the main I would say like, main difference between buying, like going through the process like you don't get that option when you're buying a resale.

 

Steph Douglass 

No, no, no and, and even once you put your offer in, and you do have that negotiation period, there's no negotiating on cosmetic things because you saw that whole house before you put an offer in. So all you can negotiate on is what is found in the inspection report that you weren't aware of before. So it's so different like you, I mean, new build, we walk through like there's a tiny chip on the paint and you put a blue piece of blue tape and it's going to be fixed in a resale. It's like there could be tons and there probably are going to be tons of tiny problems that are now your problems.

 

Kristina Modares 

Exactly. So I guess I can like, lead us very, like lead us into talking about the pros and cons because I think from what we just said a lot of people might be like, Well, of course I'm going to buy a new He knows like I want to be nitpicky and like have a perfect home. But there's some cons with buying a new build as well.  Oh, yeah, I mean for me, I've never bought a new build and I really put a lot of stock into charm. And so that's something that I love a 1950s home, the house I'm sitting in right now is was built in 1927 so I I'm very into the old house aesthetic and we get that a lot like we're surprised that surprisingly we have probably like 75% of the people who who buy with Open House want resale.  Probably because probably because me and you talk mainly about resale homes. We don't want we're not hating on new homes. I think just for us like with our we have more..

 

Steph Douglass 

 We have the tools to kind of we can pay less upfront and then add equity through forced, through forced equity. By sweat equity.

 

Kristina Modares 

And I think that is the strategy that we've been looking for is like we're we've always tried to buy closer, like in more popular areas, so they're automatically going to be more expensive. So the best way to to buy something that's still an investment is buying something that is resale because you can get a little bit more affordable home.

 

Steph Douglass 

Right, right. So it was like in our budget to buy, it wouldn't have been in my budget to buy in the neighborhood that I bought to buy a new build, which doesn't definitely doesn't mean that one is better than the other, but it's all about your strategy, right?. So like the pros of resale are usually they're more affordable. You can add equity yourself, which usually kind of like multiplies the equity. So if you're adding $10,000 to a resale property that you just bought, usually the equity that you actually add is you know, $30,000 so it's kind of like if you have the time and the money and the resources to add the equity or add you know, fix something or add new tile, it's going to really increase your equity in in a multiplier way.

 

Kristina Modares 

And that's the worst is when you buy a new home and then you're like, I hate the tile in this like when it's already done for you when in those prefab neighborhoods when you're like, I love this neighborhood, I love this house. But then I don't want to, you're kind of already spending top dollar and then you're like, do I also have to change the tile? Like I don't do that.

 

Steph Douglass 

Yeah. So so i would say i don't think that a new build is, is necessarily a bad investment, though. Like, especially, especially when it we're seeing all these new builds and these up and coming areas in these areas that are being developed in kind of like the outskirts of Austin. It's like, Oh, yeah, I can pay maybe a quote unquote, top dollar right now. But in five years, this area will have appreciated so much that I mean, and that's speculation, but we're just we're kind of assuming with the trends and the history that it will continue to appreciate that I will have this really nice house that I want have had to sink much money into because there shouldn't be much, much there's going to be maintenance, but there's not going to be like something that breaks usually in the first five to 10 to 15 years. So it's definitely not a bad investment.

 

Kristina Modares 

No, and we talked, I mean, we've talked about that with a friend Steph with that, with doing that strategy of like buying a house a little further outside from the city, but new, we can rent it out to people. Yeah, we'll, you know, pay it down eventually and get some cash flow. So there's different strategies to do with real estate. We just started off in a different strategy and that was not buying new homes, but we might pivot you know, we never we're not we never exclude any, anything with no investing strategies.

 

Steph Douglass 

New builds are more and more attractive to me, just like I said, with my tiny home, it's like, actually, I would be really nice not to worry about anything, especially in a rental and especially like I probably am not going to be able to afford a new build in like the hottest neighborhood but if we're going outside the city, renting it out, bringing in income and like not having to worry about it just kind of working and functioning without having to do a lot of work. It's beautiful.

 

Kristina Modares 

Mm hmm okay, so one of the cons buying a new construction home you said charm maybe doesn't have that much usually. Another one I think is it's you're paying top dollar usually right? Like you're usually paying top dollar. And it can be hard I would say especially in this market, you know, this might be relevant for the times now. It's harder to negotiate on a new construction home. It's not always impossible, but it's definitely like we've heard again, the price is the price which is annoying, but it's hard to negotiate with the builder.

 

Steph Douglass 

Builders have inventory and they have tons of reserve, like they've planned for this. And so they're not trying, they're they don't, they're not having like these life influences that are just like okay, well, let's we just have to sell it, you know, they, they can let it sit there and they can let a buyer come. And you don't they don't care about you really.

 

Kristina Modares 

Yeah, they know, they know what their bottom line is. And they're, they're not emotional. Like, they're not a seller who's lived there for 10 years. They're not emotional about this, it's all business to them. They want top dollar.

 

Steph Douglass 

Exactly. But the the pro side of that, and we're gonna get this all organized at the end, we'll recap, because we're kind of all over the place. But the pro side of that is that they don't, they don't go into multiple offers. So a new build, you know, we're in a really tough market right now in Austin. And so we have a lot of clients, the Open House team has so much so many clients who are kind of like, well, I can't get an offer accepted because there's people going you know, 50, $60,000 over asking maybe we'll just buy a new build because there's inventory.

 

Kristina Modares 

Hmm, yeah, there's more inventory. Yeah, that's a good point.And I know you said we get it organized. I'm like, it's fine. Like this is this is a conversation right? Yeah. Look into it later and hopefully it's all organized. Okay, so I would say another one more con of a new build and then we'll move on. Maybe sorry, I just spoke for both of us.

 

Steph Douglass 

However the wind blows.

 

Kristina Modares 

Typically these new construction neighborhoods, they have HOAs so meaning like you can't be as creative with your land as you might want to. And you might not want to you might not care, but an HOA is going to restrict you from maybe building this ADU in your backyard if you want it. It it just depends and that's the thing is like no HOA is the same, like they all have their own rules and regulations and you will you get those you can definitely review those documents before you go under contract on a new construction home, but that could be one setback. If you were really set on building an ADU in your backyard or adding on to your home eventually.

 

Steph Douglass 

Absolutely. I think that's a great thing to bring out because I think we just had someone who wanted Oh, they wanted to put a pool in. And they were so excited to buy a house where they can put a pool and they found a house that had an HOA, and I was like, well, you could be able to put a pool but you have to get permission. So you have to ask, and then they could deny or you know, usually they're pretty lenient, but it definitely depends on the HOA. So it is a little bit of an extra cost, but when you're talking a house, it's like you know, $17 a month, which is not much but they do have more control of what you can do with your land.

 

Kristina Modares 

Yeah, yeah, and that's another thing I didn't even touch on right like the the cost of the HOA that can bring up your monthly payment and sometimes there Yeah, like Steph said like $17 a month, but sometimes they can be like $100 or 120 if they have amenities. Yeah. Okay. So anything else for like negatives about a new build?

 

Steph Douglass 

Negatives about? I think I mean, that covers it I think.

 

Kristina Modares 

Like the higher taxes maybe?

 

Steph Douglass 

Oh, yes, that's that's actually a really good one because they're taxing the taxing jurisdiction starts when the new build happens. So it's like the best house with the you know, the it's going to be taxed a lot higher than something that's been that's been sitting there for longer.

 

Kristina Modares 

Yeah, and we don't want to scare you. I think a lot of people are like, Oh, the taxes like at least in Texas, if y'all are somewhere else and don't live in Texas, you're probably not as worried about this, but I know Texas has higher property taxes so people are more wary of that. By it's, it's all wrapped into your monthly payment. So you'll be able to see that before you like actually purchase the home.

 

Steph Douglass 

Yeah.

 

Kristina Modares 

Um, okay, so what about some pros? I guess we talked a little bit about that. Like, well, we didn't jump into the pros of like, you're not having to fix anything yet, right? No expense there.

 

Steph Douglass 

Huge pro. I mean, most things in your house have a life of at least 15 years. And so that's cool. That's a long time. A lot of people who buy their first house, I mean, an average average length of ownership of a first time homebuyer is seven years. So it's possible that you live in this house, and then you literally have to do nothing until you sell it.

 

Kristina Modares 

Yeah, that's definitely a pro. I think a lot of people who work a lot, that's might sound really exciting to them, like, oh, I don't have to worry about that time of like, renovating or the money would cost to fix something up. But again, you're paying top dollar, but then you don't have to worry about it. So, you know, yeah.

 

Steph Douglass 

Yeah, it's all about your preference. I would say along the same vein, you are able to get more from a rental in a new build. Renters love a new build.

 

Kristina Modares 

Mm hmm, that's very true.

 

Steph Douglass 

So I mean, that's that It's not their own, so they're not as worried about charm. I think some renters in Austin really do love an old house for charm but, but like functionality of a house for a renter is huge. So that's, that is also a pro.

 

Kristina Modares 

Oh, yeah, I mean right now. I mean, I've rented some places when I was young that were, at least in Texas, like we have gross cockroaches, so I would never if I was renting for whatever reason, I would be like, I want something. I want a new place.

 

Steph Douglass 

Yes. I mean, it's it's weird how new places are just, like easier to clean and like, I don't know, it just there's something about some a new, a new house that just makes you feel good. And so when I think about, I mean, my next move or a rental property, it's really attractive to me to think about these newer builds.

 

Kristina Modares 

For sure. Okay, so we can do the pros over resale, but I think we kind of like maybe talked about Some of the pros and cons. Yeah, through that, but like, what would you say? Maybe the the cons of a resale? I mean, the obvious like, there's more expenses usually. Yes. I mean, always, but it could. You could, or you could also buy a home. That's two years old.

 

Steph Douglass 

Yeah, so resale technically.

 

Kristina Modares 

Yeah, that's a resale.

 

Steph Douglass 

And then a lot of times, like if you do love the charm, there's a lot of houses in Austin that are 1920s to 1960s that have been redone. And in those cases, that's where we're really careful and really inquisitive about the age of the systems. So there's some we call it lipstick on a pig where I don't know why. But the I guess I'm getting it now that I'm thinking of it. Like the actual houses like the inside of a house is is not great.

 

Kristina Modares 

They are saying pigs are ugly, but they're not.

 

Steph Douglass 

Yeah, it's not nice. So basically, they just like redo the cosmetics to make you fall in love with the house and then they don't, they don't renovate the systems that are actually expensive. So we're just we have to make sure that in those houses, we are doing our due diligence really hard.

 

Kristina Modares 

Mm hmm. That's when it would be good to have someone by your side who has seen a lot of different inspections. I mean, okay, realtor, but you know, like, who can walk you through that a little bit and tell and like be pointing out, oh, look at this, like the roof or look at the AC is a little older. So you can already go into it, knowing what to expect.

 

Steph Douglass 

Yeah.

 

Kristina Modares 

But there are more possibilities where you're going to have to spend a little bit more money. But I think with a resale you can do the forced appreciation. So you could definitely like buy a home like Steph and I have and add you know, make it nicer so we both bought homes that are older and put in some money and we're able to like severely. Severely? Serverely increase the increase the the value of our home.

 

Steph Douglass 

Yeah, so yeah, I mean it is it does, it can come down to affordability and it also location like there's people that are like actually just give me a jet tub and a huge house and four bedrooms and I don't care where I live or I want to live in like a more remote like what I'm going to say remote as if it's like an island. It is not that far away. But some people are okay with that, you know, living in somewhat of a suburb-y vibe. And so people want to live in a city vibe. So if you're thinking about your budget and your financial goals, it might make sense to buy a resale because they're just often priced lower.

 

Kristina Modares 

Okay, what anything else we want to talk about with resale or new build?

 

Steph Douglass 

I would say there's definitely resales, as they were talking about how newbuilds are so hands off and you don't have to do anything. There's definitely resells that fit that ticket too.

 

Kristina Modares 

Yeah. Yeah. So if we haven't confused you enough on this episode, then essentially we're saying, you know, we just want you to be aware of like, what that actually means because I think there are a lot of people who think that they have to buy a new home for it to be more hands off and or someone who thinks like they have to buy a resale home for it to be an investment. And I would say like, just like how Steph and I had different paths in our investment journey, like we, I mean, we had similar, same paths in our investment journey, but like we started with resale homes, and we probably will eventually, like, test out buying a new build for different reasons. So there's not one better option. It's just like what works for you with what you want now.

 

Steph Douglass 

Yep. I also wanted to touch on the new builds that haven't been built yet. And that's another kind of path that you can take. So maybe there's three different types of new builds you can buy one that has already been built in is ready for you, already. One that is kind of it depending on if it's a development or just like a one off in an older neighborhood, and then the option of like, where you're buying kind of the land, and then you're, the developer is going to build it and you get to pick the finishes.

 

Kristina Modares 

Yes, we did not touch on that. That is something that my partner Eric really wants to do. He wants to build his own home.

 

Steph Douglass 

Yeah but he would do it like with his own hands.

 

Kristina Modares 

I hope not. Uh, yeah, that's what he wanted our next home to be and I was like, we don't have time for that, what? But that is enticing to a lot of people I think to have I mean, it's probably gonna be more expensive but yeah, get to decide you get to like, pick out exactly how you want this home to be. And it's I mean, that's really exciting.

 

Steph Douglass 

And in most of the developments, I think people are kind of confused, like, oh, I get to pick exactly everything. And they don't really, you have options. So you go to like the design room. And then they have the standard, which is usually like builder grade. And then they have upgrades. So you can end up spending a lot more if you're upgrading. You know, there's, you know, if this is carpet, this is standard, but I actually want it to be wood floors or, you know, so that is a fun option. And that's probably on the like a spectrum of best investments to worst investments in our mind is probably like, closer to the worst. And worst investment just because you're paying, you're paying a premium to be able to choose.

 

Kristina Modares 

Mm hmm. It's true. And customizing anything. It's so expensive, which that so if you did want to do what Eric wants to do, which is like customize his own home that is the most expensive and the least attainable to us right now, so...

 

Steph Douglass 

Well once he built his coffee empire, he'll be able to foot the bill.

 

Kristina Modares 

I'm like, you can work on that. But yeah, anything else Steph?

 

Steph Douglass 

I mean, I think that was like pretty comprehensive I mean not say comprehensive because we kind of we should we recap so when I don't know we don't we know recap you guys can listen again.

 

Kristina Modares 

 You know this is just like you're having a cup of coffee and just chatting with your real estate lady friends about new construction and resale homes.

 

Steph Douglass 

Yeah, it's a conversation not a graph.

 

Kristina Modares 

There's no the five steps to buying a resale home. This is just like we're chatting and you're listening and you're getting some good tidbits here and there and you might be more confused but yeah, you know. We did it!

 

Steph Douglass 

Hoefully we feel like your friends because we think you're all of our friends.

 

Kristina Modares 

Are you ready for our workshop or, our course tonight?

 

Steph Douglass 

Oh my gosh, yes, Wednesday, so we're recording this on Wednesday, which is not normal. But we have our I think we're on week six, which is really wild to me. And it's been such a fun process.

 

Kristina Modares 

 For homebuyer course right?

 

Steph Douglass 

Yeah. Our yes our first time homebuyer course, which we're playing with the name should we help to tell them what we think the name is going to be?

 

Kristina Modares 

This is vulnerable.

 

Steph Douglass 

Okay, well if we do this, you have to email us telling us if you like it, and you only have to email only email us if you like it. Don't email us if you don't like it. No, I'm just kidding.

 

Kristina Modares 

Okay, one of our amazing teammates Celeste thought of this.

 

Steph Douglass 

Yes, that exactly. And so we're thinking of naming it Open House Homeschool.

 

Kristina Modares 

Yeah. Yes. We were like waiting for someone to reply. Yeah. give us feedback, though. Like, yeah, homeschool.

 

Steph Douglass 

Yeah. I'm very excited about it homeschool, because you're learning about homes. And there'll be like a very cute.

 

Kristina Modares 

 And you're online. You're at your home learning as well.

 

Steph Douglass 

Yes. Yeah, exactly. So email us only if you like it. All feedback is welcome. And anything else?

 

Kristina Modares 

Um, thank you all so much for the reviews. That was so amazing and congrats to Megan Talbert. She was our winner.

 

Steph Douglass 

Yes, Megan.

 

Kristina Modares 

She won some Open House swag. And $250 So, yes. I think she found our podcast through Kara Pendl from Karacotta. If you don't know who that is, she has amazing ceramics.

 

Steph Douglass 

So @Kara_cotta, I think. K-A-R-A-C-O-T-T-A. She's just a magical human.

 

Kristina Modares 

Yes, I drink coffee out of her tumblr, her coffee mugs every day.

 

Steph Douglass 

Oh my god. She's so amazing. She's also just like a local Austin, female, entrepreneur, badass and we are all over the that. We love that community here.

 

Kristina Modares 

We're all over that.

 

Steph Douglass 

Yeah. We love it. Well, it was obvious that we were a little punchy today, but we love you all and open house underscore Austin. Podcast at open house Austin co for feedback, questions. Anything.It was fun.

 

Kristina Modares 

We're drunk, okay, bye y'all!

 

Steph Douglass 

Email us, instagram us. Yeah, we're sober. It's like 2pm on a Wednesday. Anything else?

 

Kristina Modares 

Uh, no.

 

Steph Douglass 

Okay. Bon voyage!