Hi there everyone, this is Mark Maloney, host
of the Mark Mo Show podcast, available on YouTube
and podcast platforms with new episodes every
Saturday. Special thanks goes out to WVLP station
manager, Greg Kovac, and my producer, Aidan Maloney.
I would also like to thank each and every one
of you for listening in week in and week out.
I hope you enjoy our content and please like,
share, and subscribe. This week on the Mark Mo
Show fireside chat is real estate professional
at properties Hannah Trueblood. Hannah, how are
you? Amazing. Thank you for having me. This is
so fun to be on the other side of the microphone.
I know, right? Because Hannah here at WVLP radio
in Valparaiso, Indiana, she has a show that she
does on Mondays called Conversations. And it's
a really great show. Actually, there are four
different hosts now. Is that correct? Yeah, every
Monday is a different one. Yeah, which I think
is a great concept. Yeah, it's fun. And yeah,
some of your more recent shows have been amazing.
Yeah, and I actually have my next guest. I don't
know exactly when this airs, but the next newest
episode of this is going to be actually interviewed
my managing broker. So that's awesome. So I guess
this is just like a real estate conversation
weekend for me. It really is. It really is. But
there's a lot to talk about, for sure, with everything
that is going on. But, you know, we don't have
an audience that is just rooted here in Valpo
or Northwest Indiana, which we all call the region.
This is a global audience. So why don't you introduce
yourself to the world, Hannah Trueblood? Yeah,
wow. Well, I'm Hannah Trueblood. I'm a region
rat born and raised in Valparaiso, raising my
family here. I'm a full -time real estate agent,
been full -time since, well, I started in 2017
and went full -time in 2020. Actually, that's
like a whole other story. Going full -time in
real estate, like leaving a guaranteed paycheck.
Sure. Literally the same week that they shut
the world down for COVID. Going all chips in
during COVID. It was like I went to bed. I had
put in my two weeks. I finished my final day.
I got my last paycheck. I went to bed. I woke
up the next morning and they were declaring the,
you know, the stay at home warnings and stuff.
And that I had just committed to selling houses
full time, which, you know, generally speaking,
you have to be out in the public. You can't really
do it at home. So, yeah, yeah. So I've been doing
that full time now and It's been great. Big involvement
and, you know, advocacy throughout the community.
I grew up an activist daughter, so have always
been taught, you know, to leave things better
than how they were given to me. And that's really
kind of my life's mission is just. Helping people
and doing their next best thing and just trying
to leave the world a little better than how it
was given to me So I love that that's really
my whole life philosophy. I love to have fun
I love to work hard and I love to help other
people and that's basically who I am. I think
for now And I love that, and that's a lesson
to pass on to anyone. That's just how to do it.
But we're really, really super happy to have
you here. This is our second fireside chat. The
first one we had YMCA in here talking about a
variety of things. That was a great conversation.
And then I was so excited that you agreed to
come in because the world's kind of crazy right
now, and there's a lot of different things going
on. And I was thinking the other day of how much
that is going on in Capitol Hill. It's getting
a little tariff crazy and we know what that means
trickling down into every other bit of life and
business in the country. And I thought, wow,
what a really good time to have a conversation
about real estate because this is about the time
where things really start ramping up in the industry
unless you're. Florida, you know, which that's
just a crazy hot market all the time. It's kind
of his own thing. But like for the rest of us
that actually have like a winter, so to speak,
this is kind of the ramp up. So the the first
question and that I want to ask you is home prices,
mortgage rates, they're still trending high.
And when I say high, it's In comparison to to
where it was where we were at at that time. You
went full -time Yeah, the 2 % interest rates
right and So high compared to that Do you see
any changes coming this summer? Oh That's like
kind of a loaded question because I feel like
in terms of major changes I would say no, I know
that you know, it's It's really easy to kind
of fall into the trap of like oh You know this
big event is going to occur in the market because
big events are happening everywhere else. Yeah,
but My experience and just studying markets and
just being involved in it and hearing from agents
who have been around for a really long time and
have lived through You know major recessions
or anything like that. I know that the change
is going to be kind of a slow trickle over time.
And that's already happening. So big change.
No, I'd say that par for the course of kind of
what I've been expecting to see, I guess, in
terms of market movement. Like you mentioned
in the 2020 through 2022 Period it was like a
frenzy and they dropped the interest rates the
prices skyrocketed through to the moon it was
overly saturated with buyers and under saturated
with sellers and a big part of that came from
that like All these buyers jumped on everything
and it was so competitive if you a lot of people
Right now have homes that they need to sell in
order to buy the next thing sure and so they
but they couldn't compete in that market Because
if you had a home to sell Before you could buy
the next one They wouldn't really consider your
offer because they've got people here that they
could have cash could close in two weeks You
don't have to sell something. There's less You
know hurdles to get through people waving inspections
people were paying cash over appraised value
like it was nuts It was nuts nuts nuts Like you
could not compete in that market So a lot of
people and two they would say well, I have nowhere
to go I if I list my house is gonna sell in a
day with multiple offers and then I'm having
to compete, you know putting in 16 different
offers I can't I don't know where to go. So they
didn't so they didn't even list it and so that
contributed to the problem is it was a lot of
a lot of housing inventory being held hostage
by situations of the market So although it felt
like a really dramatic, shocking, like, adjustment
when those interest rates hiked back up, and
we just shot up into, you know, six, seven, 8
% range, people were like, what in the world
is happening? And so they think, Oh, we can't
afford to buy a house in this market, we have
to wait for it to crash. And I just don't think
that that's going to happen. You know, you see
the stock market took a huge dump recently. And
so people see that and they're like, Oh, Okay,
like here we go 2008. Let's you know, the housing
market is next. But the reality is that people
are sitting on more equity than they ever have
in the market history. And the difference between
now and then is that there was a ton of predatory
lending going on. And the interest rate like
the way that people were having had negative
amortized mortgages, meaning that you were not
paying any of your principal and you were actually
like, owing more as time goes on. And so then
when they lost their job or when the banks fell
out and all that happened, all of those predatory
lending practices caused the market to go under
because people didn't have the equity to sell
the house. So that's why they had to go on fire
sale in foreclosure. But now... If your home
were to be, you know, if that was a situation
that you were in more than more likely than not,
you have at least enough equity to break even
and get out of your situation without going under
like that. So and the demand is still so high,
people are going to be willing to pay. So it's
not I wouldn't consider it a pessimistic thing.
I think it's a good thing that the stock market,
you know, that the housing market isn't going
to crash in my opinion. Sure. Because it just
allows for a more stable and fair market which
allows more like Equitable exchanges for buyers
and sellers and we want a win -win situation
for people We don't want somebody coming out
of that feeling like they got ripped off so having
a stable market with a reasonable interest rate
and a steady market like all of these things
happening is in my opinion good news for the
market. And I think we're going to see a lot
more positive changes in real estate. That was
a really long winded answer. No, that was a great
answer. No, that's awesome. I love it. And this
is kind of related to that. Do you see? Do you
see inventory increasing at all this summer and
there's a quote that I came across and this is
from a senior economist at realtor .com Joel
burner where he said the US faces a supply gap
of nearly 4 million homes and the only long term
solution to this problem is to build them. But
the implementation of these tariffs will make
it more costly to do so, putting a question mark
on whether they can be built at the lower price
points that are most undersupplied. Yeah, it's
kind of a double edged sword, you know, because
we do we need more housing, we just we don't
have enough to meet the demand. We have An affordability
crisis to sure because there are homes available
but there are certain people that are stuck in
the situations that they're in whether it be
renting living with family or Being in a home
that they already own that's too small or too
large for their needs because we don't have the
affordability like our teachers and our firefighters
like we they can't afford to buy the homes that
are available. And the entry level homes that
are maybe potentially in their budget per se
don't meet the needs of their family. Sure. So
it's kind of troubling in that sense, especially
considering the rising costs of everything. I
mean, we saw that happen with COVID. just what
happened, you know, just in terms of the cost
of building and the time it took to build because
of everything being shut down and then the price
is going up because of the demand and the supply
being low and all that. We're going to probably
see a resurgence of some of that happening, especially
new construction and just renovation in general.
This is why I'm finishing my basement right now.
This was supposed to be a summer project like
while Joe, the teacher is not in school and like,
well, This was not supposed to be happening right
now, but we saw the writing on the wall, and
we just decided, let's just do it now before
we can't buy the lumber. That's right. Yeah,
so it's an interesting thing, and that's just
a very personal connection to how the tariffs
and how the way that things are happening can
affect people. Um, but I do think that the issue
with housing is going to really be battled out,
um, locally or it should be at least because
I mean, as we see, like here, for example, we
have a couple of nonprofits like project neighbors
that, that help. try to fill the gap through
volunteer, you know, providing more affordable
housing for people. And there's some other people
around that are popping up and working on trying
to do that. I sit on the BZA, and we just approved
some, some zoning variances for a nonprofit company
that's going to make an attempt to build affordable
housing for people. Oh, great. Yep. So It's happening,
but we need in order to bridge the gap between
how much it costs to build a house, which inevitably
is going up and the affordability of what people
can actually afford to pay for certain things.
We got to meet in the middle and that comes in
the form of private part, but public private
partnerships. Um, you know, there's a lot of
access. Tech to tax incentives for developers
to come into places Valpo's I mean we love like
we're so big on giving out to like we love to
give them Yeah, and that's true in any place
that is developing or redeveloping or growing
they're throwing incentives like at these developers
and so the way that we can help make housing
more affordable is to make use of that and work
with the local, the municipalities. Those are
the people that are going to be granting the
zoning and are going to be doing all that stuff.
And a lot of that goes into the cost of the home
is like the logistics side of everything. So
I feel like we're hopefully we'll see some more
of that. As it kind of like on the federal government
like, you know, they're cutting down payment
assistance programs Like they're not really interested
in doing any of that right now. This administration
is focused on other things So the responsibility
of that is really gonna fall on the individual
municipalities in the counties To advocate for
that change within to kind of help there the
people in their neighborhood. I think we're gonna
see a lot more of that I mean, that's really
the reasonable in my opinion what we need to
do Oh, for sure. I absolutely agree with that.
And you think about the average home cost in
Valparaiso and how each and every year that goes
up. And so when you look at that, what do like
the young couple, they're 23 years old. What
options do they have? What options does the single
mom working at Target have, or the widow or that's
65 and he's working at Home Depot? And what options
do they have? And currently, it's slim and as
you said, from a federal government perspective,
a lot of those programs are going away. So it
is a concern. Yeah, I think it is. It's a big
concern and it's scary, you know? I mean, it's
people that I know personally. It's myself. It's
like I work with people like that's my job too.
So it really hits close to home and I think about
it a lot. Yeah. And I think that. The way that
like what we really have to look at is making
sure that the information that we're consuming
is correct And really like doing our best also
on the other side of that is to share the knowledge
that we do know with others Educating and being
educated are two of the biggest Superpowers and
ways to get ahead through all of this is to just
keep your head on straight Get your facts right
and plan accordingly and recognize that that's
going to look different for everybody. Every
single person that you mentioned in that example
are going to have different needs, but they all
have the same problem. Correct. And so the way
that we find the solutions to that problem is
to just be really keen on getting the right information
and preparing for that. Because there are ways
that you can buy a home with no money down. or
low money down. There are incentives out there
for now that could change that help, you know,
the costs. There are ways that you can, you don't
have to put 20 % or more down on a house that
you're going to live in. You know, you can, you
can utilize programs, lending programs that are
available to put lower down payments. And you
can, you know, you can do all kinds of different
things. I have some clients right now that they're
buying a house together and they're best friends
because it's just more, you know, it just makes
sense. Sure. Like you just buy a big enough house
for the two of you and that ends up that cost
of living ends up being less than whatever it
would have been for each of you to have your
own little place. Exactly. And so, you know,
thinking outside the box and maybe kind of like
looking at other ways to make it work. Yeah,
and then you know like for the 65 year old that
working at Home Depot big a big thing is to just
if you own a home Find out how much it's worth
because chances are a lot of people in that age
group and up Have lived in the same home for
a really long time and some of them even built
them themselves You know and and that home could
be the key to unlocking being able to do something
like and sustain yourself for longer and being
able to connect yourselves with the right tools
and the right resources and the right people
that know how to get you to those tools and resources
is is just imperative because there's always
a way it's not impossible it's difficult and
it's a scary time but I find that when you when
you when you make it like there's no other way
I'm gonna make it happen Generally will will
you'll make it happen. You'll find a way there's
always a way but you just have to be willing
to think that there is a way and That's that's
where I'm at with that now that was awesome and
At that one point where you started mentioning,
you know like your basement and doing the construction
everything now that led into this next question
which is The United States gets most of its lumber
from Canada. Mm -hmm, and we get a significant
amount of gypsum from Mexico and gypsum is the
main component of drywall. So that being the
case and the massive tariffs that are being placed
on our neighbors are lovely, wonderful neighbors
that are just being treated poorly. Different
story altogether. Will these tariffs on our neighbors
and the products coming in that are so necessary
in new construction? Is this gonna be natural?
Is it just gonna be natural and it's gonna, I've
seen rates as much as 10 and to 15 % of new home
costs going up, and then if that happens, is
that something that filters down to everything
else? Yeah, it's so hard to say, honestly. You
know, I'm not an economist and I'm only 30, so
I haven't really. uh firsthand experienced enough
yet to really like have a grasp on all of this
yeah but um i think that i have a feeling and
i could be wrong that a lot of this is for show
and that the end result is gonna fall somewhere
in the middle between where we were before and
where we are right now it feels like this is
like a very big like Weird this the way that
he does business, you know, and that is kind
of his shtick Yep, and I I just I don't know
I don't want to make any assumptions on the information
that we know today because one We don't know
all the information. We only know what they're
telling us And usually what they're telling us
is not the full story. It's not the full story,
right? And so I would be reserved to make it,
to form an opinion on what this is actually going
to do until we actually have all the facts and
we have a little bit of time in the market to
see, to kind of see like, okay, like what's going
on? You know, our price is going to go up or
are the builders just going to stop offering
incentives? Maybe. what i see a lot of is that
they have their homes you know on you know price
accordingly to the market and the builders are
offering huge buy down rates uh you know you
four point something five point one like i mean
low compared to the six point eight to seven
percent that you're getting at the on market
if you use their lender and you do their whatever
whatever the process is offering You know, huge
closing cost credits. I mean, just so much. There's
a lot. They're throwing thousands and thousands
and thousands of dollars into incentivizing people
to purchase their product. And so because of
that, that feels to me like that stuff will fall
away before they increase the prices because
that stuff can fall away and it won't be sensationalized
in the media. Sure, they raised the prices and
like, you know Yahoo finance is gonna be talking
about you know naming the builders that are jacking
up their prices and it's gonna make them look
bad and You know, it's all about optics, right?
I would I would expect if we continue along this
if we're talking about new construction Specifically
and just adding to the inventory that's available.
I would see Interest rates are probably going
to start coming down. They're going to use that
to offset the tariffs and the implications on
the economy and the affordability and stuff.
So interest rates will probably come down some
and the builder incentives that they've been
using to offset the high interest rates will
fall away and we'll continue to see just like
a more stabilization in the market. But it's
and then we're just going to see it continue
to be sensationalized in the media. And there's
going to be some places in the country that can't
accommodate new builds. And it's going to be
not good, I would assume. But then there's going
to be other areas that do have more land that
can be utilized for new construction. And they'll
be able to kind of weather the storm a little
bit longer. And then it also just depends again
on how they're partnering with the localities
and just kind of time like I think people are
just going to need to get a little bit more innovative.
Yeah, and and think outside the box on the business
side and on the consumer side. Because that's
I mean, this the the the tough spot that we're
put that we're in right now is filled with opportunity.
If you find the right avenues. And that's what
we have to do is we have to find the things that
are gonna work, because we have to, we have no
choice. Right, correct. That's true. Now, many
economists are saying that these tariffs will
also drive inflation, which has been high, was
coming down. Could end up being an issue again
and then impossible that our word that everybody
doesn't like, which is a recession, which affects
every industry. Yeah. Does this affect the consumers
purchase power? And is it possible that mortgage
rates are going to creep up as a result? Yeah,
that's a good question. I think that they're
going to again, like to my point, I think that
they're going to leverage the high interest rates
and they're going to bring them down to help
combat inflation and help also just kind of shape,
shape the narrative to be a little bit more positive,
you know, just in the same way that they did
with COVID. When the economy kind of started
to crash and all of that, you know, and industries
were struggling, they dropped those interest
rates to help offset that. So yeah, it kind of
went into like a free fall. And I think that
that caused a problem in the market, like we
talked about at the beginning. And so hopefully
they've learned the lesson and we do it a little
bit. more just kind of a trickle down just slowly
a little bit at a time you know just kind of
warm it up slowly and you know lay it down easy
so then that way we don't see a huge like reaction
to pop the bubble correct so i don't i don't
really think that interests i don't know you
know anything could change right i would have
thought that they would be lower by now already
and they hadn't you know the last couple of opportunities
they had, you know, were not what I was expecting.
So anything can change, of course. But I think
that, again, I mean, even if you look at what
happened in 2008, and closings never went to
zero, there was always property being exchanged
every single day, there were always people moving,
there were always people selling, always people
buying. Sure. And it didn't always work out for
everybody. And that's just an unfortunate reality
of these. Like it's a real world consequence.
Yes, it is. But there's ways around that. And
again, it's just back to the education and just
making sure that you're understanding the right
stuff and that you're, you know, making the right
plan that makes the most sense for you. And yeah,
just kind of equipped with the good knowledge.
It's just the misinformation is what causes all
the frenzy. Lot of times, you know people make
bad decisions when they're panicked or acting
emotionally And so the best thing that we can
do is do our best to pull the emotion out of
it and just look at you know What it is because
housing is absolutely necessary for survival.
You have to have it I believe it's a human right
to have it. Yes. That's a whole other conversation
But you know, we have to work within like what
we have a fail like, you know, so It's kind of
a double edged sword, and it sucks sometimes
to be aware. It does. Sometimes I wish I hadn't
taken that bill that Neo from Morpheus gave me
because yeah. I know. And then this is kind of
a conversation we touched on a little bit, but
as it pertained to affordable housing, it just
continues to be a problem and not just here in
Valparaiso or Northwest Indiana. It's a problem
everywhere. And what steps do we take? And I
know we discussed a little bit of this, but what
steps do we take in this economy to improve that
access to affordable housing? One story that
I was reading the other day, I think it was out
of The Post, and they were talking about how
New York City had a lottery. And they had this
lottery based on all these these new studio in
one bedroom. high -rise efficiencies and everything
that they were building and just kind of had
this lottery. And whether that was more gimmicky
than anything, who's to say, but it was kind
of their approach to a problem. And so what are
your thoughts on this? I have so many thoughts.
The first thing that I would say would be the
number one problem about affordable housing,
I think, is the term. in and of itself. Because
affordable housing is different for every person.
Sure. What a person deems to be affordable may
not be deemed affordable to the next guy sitting
next to you. Sure. And so when you say affordable
housing, like a different image comes to mind
for everybody. So when I ran for mayor, I kind
of was trying to, in my messaging, kind of rebrand
it and redirect the perspective to reasonably
priced housing. It becomes less personal and
more factual because we're not talking about
affordable to who. We're talking about what is
reasonable price for the product that we have.
And, you know, so based on what You know the
average income in the area is How do you meet
that need and how do you identify what fills
that? you know what the need is so reasonably
priced housing is In my opinion a better way
of looking at it because it takes a lot of the
opinion out of it and so and that will also help
destigmatize affordable housing because another
problem again with the just term you think if
you say affordable housing and a lot of people
think like the slums in New York right or they
think like like whatever like drug addicts and
homeless people and like all of that like quote
unquote terrible stuff that we don't want in
our backyard like why would we if you build it
they will come right so this negative connotation
that if we build housing that is affordable for
our teachers, somehow that's going to lead to
a higher level of crime and drug use in our communities.
Because that negative stereotype is attached
to it. Yes, exactly. But the reality is that
providing reasonably priced housing in your community
is going to statistically make it safer. Yes.
Because your teachers are going to be living
in the neighborhoods of the schools that they
teach. So they're going to have a more They're
going to be more invested in the students. And
the police officers that are patrolling your
neighborhoods are going to do a better job and
provide a higher level of service because it's
their neighborhood that they're patrolling, and
it's the neighbors that they know that they're
around. And so that can provide safer policing
and a better relationship with the community
and the police. Because guess what? Most police
officers Can't afford a five hundred thousand
dollar home, correct? They just can't I mean
maybe if they saved up their whole life and you
know lived in a Studio apartment for the last
15 years and just stashed their cash and never
did anything maybe maybe Yeah, but like we gotta
be you know, same thing with the fire, you know,
they're gonna know the homes They're gonna know
the neighborhoods. They're gonna know how to
get their trucks. They're faster Which is gonna
save people's lives. Yeah right? So why wouldn't
we want that in our neighborhood? And statistically
speaking, when you look at like mixed income
neighborhoods, where you have just different
kinds of people, different economic status, socioeconomic
statuses, living together, you have a more cohesive
and successful thriving life in that area. As
opposed to sticking all the rich people behind
the gate and putting all the poor people on the
other side of the tracks Yeah, it it lowers everyone's
quality of life when you do it that way It really
does so like we've got to destigmatize what housing
is and what is a deemed affordable and another
thing We have got to revisit the expectations
of like what we're providing because I'm sorry,
we don't all need five bathrooms and granite
countertops. No. You know, we, we as Americans
love having access. Access everything we go in
our stores and it's filled to the brim with food
that they throw out every single day Yeah, and
yet there's people next living outside of that
grocery store that are starving to death on the
street And it's the same thing with the housing
problem like yes, we have an expectation of what
people Think they need It and we and it cut and
it like muddies the waters of like what we think
we can build like a lot of people Say we can't
solve the affordable housing crisis. We can't
afford to build the homes But do we really need
to build these extravagant? No, we don't We can
we don't have to put granite in every house.
We don't like you can get You can even repurpose
old, you know the cabinets from a house that
maybe was demolished, but the kitchen didn't
Was still in decent shape you can save those
cabinets and put them in the next house and reuse
them And then that also helps with the environment
too Correct, you know finding ways to be resourceful
and rethink what it is that we that people need
to survive and to get by and Kind of go from
there. So I think a lot of it is mindset over
anything else. Oh, yeah for sure Yeah, I agree
with that. Yeah, there's a community that I was
reading about I think it was in either Washington
or Oregon, and this company had the idea to take
these shipping containers that were just sitting
in this yard, and nobody was using them, and
thought, you know what, we can make these into
livable spaces. It's cool. And they did, and
they're really neat. They're actually pretty
cool. Heck yeah. Yeah. I mean, tiny homes are
a thing. I really enjoyed learning about co -ops.
And land community land trusts and the models
of success in other areas in the country and
other places in the world that utilize kind of
like a co -owned almost like a condo You know
where you know the condo owner owns everything
from the drywall in and then the condo association
owns everything from the drywall out and you
all contribute to the common spaces and you pay
for common insurance and you pay you know whatever
the HOA in a in a community land trust or co
-op there's ways that you can kind of do that
where everyone kind of buys in and they help
build them sometimes. or they help, you know,
they put in hours, which helps qualify them for
the that's a habitat for humanity does that actually?
Oh, do they? Yeah. I learned that when we we
volunteered together, we did volunteer. Yeah.
So they they told me that because they're one
of the people there was the soon to be homeowner.
And she she brought her kids and like they were
all working and it was the coolest thing. They
said they taught me that, yeah, there's X amount
of hours that they need to put in to help their
build. And so that also kind of helps like Okay,
you've put in the time and that's your your sweat
equity Correct in exchange for that then we're
gonna provide this product at an affordable price
For you and so kind of leaning into that model
on a larger scale I think would be really interesting
to see especially in our area It would be. It
would be. And I can only speak for the property
that we worked on, but I know there's some other
ones here. And then I helped with a few builds
with Project Neighbors that these are really
cute little homes. They're great. They're beautiful.
Yeah. Well, I mean, and I just think about my
own experience, my first Home that I rented after
moving out of my mom's house with my daughter
and my boyfriend at the time It was a 500 square
foot two -bedroom little bungalow over on Wildwood
in Balboa and it was like the tiniest like little
shack house Yeah, but it was just enough It was
enough space and we made do. And then eventually
we outgrew it and we moved up into the next thing.
And that home, it was provided to me at an affordable
price and for what it was. And that allowed me
to establish that base and get to the next thing.
And that made me a better, more present parent,
made me a better citizen. It made me a harder
worker. It helped me advance eventually into
the career that I'm in now and I'm able to help
more people. And so I just want to really, really
push on that mindset. Like we have got to help
people because when you help people, those people
are able to help themselves. And when they help
themselves, they're able to be a better person
in general. And then they're more likely to help
the next person. And then that domino effect
of personal excellence is what makes the whole
world better. Being that more involved member
of the community. Yes. And, you know, there's
just like people on public assistance or that
receive this or that are demonized. And it is
so freaking weird to me that we Demonize people
for asking for help when they need help, right?
Yes, and that's a whole other conversation. Well,
I will not derail this show You know Hannah for
anybody that's listened to my podcast or any
of my other shows we go off the highway often
we do it we find our way back, but Organic conversations
and for me, it's kind of like whatever way the
wind blows, you know, yeah I just love the opportunity.
I think connection is missing. You know, I keep
saying this is that we communicate more as people
than we ever have in human history, but we connect
the least. And the reason that we're struggling
as a society and we are where we are on a global
scale is because of the lack of connection. And
I really, I've been learning about connection
in the last year or so and it's, I've really
kind of taken it To heart and really like committed
to wanting to be more connected and to also provide
more connection to others So this is a really
cool way to do that and I appreciate it. It is
that's awesome. Yep. I agree There was something
interesting that I was also reading about and
this is that that boomers aren't Selling their
homes, but they are pacing Millennials in buying
homes, which I found to be very interesting what
are your thoughts on this okay so one boomers
aren't selling homes for two big reasons one
because they you know are afraid a lot of them
don't have mortgage payments on those homes they've
bought them in 1968 or built them in 1975 or
whatever their situation is like we talked about
earlier and they're you know afraid if they sell
the home then like what are they gonna do where
are they gonna go right? How can they afford
right? I don't want to go into assisted living
yet. I don't want to let go of that. Or I can't
afford that or I don't want to place my burden
on the family or whatever it is. And then on
the other side of that also is I think a lot
of it is emotional. A lot of people who are in
that age group have an attachment to the physical
things, you know, like I think about my grandma.
She lived, she was a child growing up in the
great depression in southern Indiana. She didn't
have nothing. Yeah. And so then when she, you
know, they survived that and got out of it and
she went on to live her life, like she was really,
uh, like attached to like person, like physical
things, like going shopping all the time, you
know, and it wasn't like hoard, like it wasn't
like that. It was just like she didn't want to
let go of those things and she wanted to hold
on tight to them because you know what it's like
to not have any of it, right? So I think a lot
of maybe in that age group struggle maybe a little
bit with that and just the emotional, you know,
they're in their that stage of life, right? Where
they know that they have less time now than what
they have already lived. And that's a hard thing
to kind of come to terms with, I think, maybe.
And to let go of the memories that you had in
that home that you built with your own two hands.
That is something that has been lost, I think,
maybe in some of these newer generations with
our consumerism. You just like go through stuff
like that generation was it was built to last
stuff was built and you kept it forever You did
and then the wheels fell off and you replaced
the wheels and you keep it going Yeah, right.
So I think there's just like a different school
of thought It's just you know an independence
thing as well because a lot of You know, the
next step is gonna be some sort of maybe like
an apartment living situation independent living
situation or moving in with family They don't
want to give that up. That autonomy is really
important to them and we gotta do a better job
of honoring that. We are so disrespectful to
our elders. It is beside me. I can't. That's
a whole other conversation. So there's that.
They're not selling. But to your point about
how they are outpacing millennials in purchasing
homes. Two things, one, their economy was different
growing up, and so they were able to potentially,
obviously, been on planet Earth longer, so could
potentially have more money saved up than the
millennial. So that's one thing, having more
buying power. And another thing is that we see,
I come across it a lot, where parents are purchasing
homes for their children. Interesting. Yeah,
and so or even cosigning, you know, because they've
got better credit or whatever the situation might
be like it's everything is everyone's situation
is different, but I do see that often. And I
have seen it before where they've come in with
cash and they've purchased the home for their
son or their daughter or their grants, whatever
this is their aunt, their sister, whoever. And
they basically become the lender and like they
pay them back. Right. And they're like, I don't
want you to go through this system. Like I've
got the cash here, you pay me back and we'll,
we'll do it that way. Or they're just giving
it to them because you know, or there's, there's
a million reasons why there's multi -generational
living is becoming a lot more popular now. We're
seeing two and three generations purchasing property
together or moving into property. That's already
an ownership. Um, and our, our, because it's
the cost of living is high. It's high. It's high.
And so for some people, the reasonable thing
to do is to move in together and live together.
Why wouldn't you, right? Like last time out with
the two friends that are buying a house together
right now. Like if you can, why not? Why wouldn't
you? Why wouldn't you do it? So that's, I think,
part of where some of the data may be getting
a little manipulated because of that. Like maybe
they're purchasing for a millennial. Sure, yeah.
So I think that's part of it. Interesting. Yep.
The last question that I have is for those that
are selling, what advice can you give them, what
steps should they take to get their house ready?
I love this question. First, go to Hannah Trueblood's
YouTube channel and watch the five part video
series of how to sell your house in Indiana.
But when you're done with that, really, what
you want to do is, well, first of all, kind of
assess your situation and get a professional
to come in and help you understand where you're
at now and where you what you need to do to get
to where you want to be. That fact finding numero
uno, find those professionals that you know like
and trust hire that real estate agent to help
you get ready. One thing that I always recommend
to my sellers first and foremost is get a home
inspection. It is you know four to six hundred
dollars depending on the size of the location
of the home and the things that you're going
to extra things that you might get on it. But
that four to six hundred dollars is going to
put you in such a solid position in the market.
that's going to it's going to possibly save you
thousands of dollars and a lot of headache down
the line because if you get that home inspection
before you list one you can get a whole ahead
of any potential issues so you're putting out
a better a better product just right off the
bat that way if there's like a couple little
whatever little things you can fix those things
and be ahead of the game Number two, you can
get ahead of any potential deal killers. If you've
come to find out you've got mold in your basement
or come to find out you've got a problem with
your roof or you've got a termite, like something
major that would be a deal killer, you can get
ahead of that before you even take it to market.
And the thing that really helps set you apart
as a seller in that situation is that is keeping
the ball in your court. When you go in blind
and you list your home, There are a hundred things
going on that you are not aware of Because that's
just how home inspections are and that's all
houses even new construction has a 30 page report
of issues So, you know When a buyer comes in
what we're thinking about when we're representing
buyers is okay, you know We're headed into inspection
and we can renegotiate there Yeah, so we're coming
in with the expectation that we're gonna be coming
for you in that home inspection. Oh, for sure.
And we're going to use that as leverage. So when
you are a seller, what you want to do is you
want to kind of remove that leverage from the
buyer and put it in your hands because now you
can say, well, hey, I actually had this home
inspected and I fixed this, this, this, this,
this and this. Boom. Now you are appearing more
transparent. You are presenting a better product
and you're saving yourself money because usually
The cost of that of those repairs are gonna probably
be less than what you could recoup in terms of
like the negotiation with the buyer They're gonna
always ask for more because they're putting a
cushion in that request Sure, so that in case
whatever next thing right so Home inspection
numero uno like that is like my big thing, you
know that little $500 investment is going to
save you thousands down the line. And it just
helps you feel more confident going into a deal
because you know already like pretty much most
of whatever they're gonna find when they get
a home inspection. So hiring a trusted inspection
company to do that is gonna be great. And then
if you are planning on purchasing your next place,
Start looking and start working with a lender
or, you know, if you're going to pay cash and
that's a different story. But if you know you're
going to finance the next thing, talk to that
lender now and get ready. So that way in case
there's something going on that you need to make
an adjustment to be able to afford like whatever
the little things are. You want to be as prepared
as possible because it is going to be a cluster
storm when you list that home and you're going
and negotiating deals on another home and packing
and moving and Handling showings and like it
is a lot It's a lot so them as much as you can
like frontload and take off that main course
as possible It'd just make it a little smoother
and a little less stressful those are really
your big things and then three like You probably
don't turn off HGTV. Okay, I'm just gonna say
it don't watch it unfollow Because you do not
need to present a product like that to be able
to be competitive and sell in this market Like
you do not have to rehab your whole house You
don't you don't make sure the bones are good
and the home will sell Yeah, that's a great point.
Yeah Because I know a lot of people that are
just like that and they want to yes, you know
get You know stage it perfectly which I understand
staging understand how that's an important component.
There's value in that I mean you stay like I
stage every listing I don't inherently bring
in furniture and stuff, but there are ways that
you You want to present a good product? I'm not
talking about like unclean and like dirty laundry
on the floor like don't do that the love of God
Don't take cell phone pics Hire a photographer
sure Every single agent listening to this, hire
a photographer. You can afford to do that. And
if you are shopping for agents, ask them about
if they are using professional photography. Nobody
needs to be shooting on an iPhone. I know the
photos look nice, but a professional photography,
they know what they're doing and they make it
look better. That I could not agree more with
that. If you go on to the MLS and you see people
that have invested in a professional photographer,
especially one that that does work in real estate.
Yes. It's a huge difference than people that
just snap. Yes. And you can tell. And first impressions
are everything. And I'm not saying misrepresent
the house. Like we're not photoshopping these
photos, but they know how to get the angles to
make the rooms look the best to get people to
come and see the house, which is the point. That's
the point of the MLS. And the point of the photos
is to get people to want to see the house. Yeah.
So that is like one of my biggest pet peeves
in the world. Our cell phone picks, especially
when they're doing the bathroom and you can see
them in the mirror with the flash. Are you kidding?
This is a $400 ,000 house. Like, what are you
doing? I don't even care if it's a $2 ,000 house
though. I do professional photography for every
single one because everybody deserves to have
that level of service in their home. Yeah, absolutely.
Well, this has been an amazing conversation.
This has been Hannah Trueblood, a real estate
professional here in Northwest Indiana. for especially
a lot of our local listeners, although people
from outside of Indiana come in, whether it's
investment property, other stuff, they come in
and buy and sell as well. What information would
you like to give them? Oh, great. I love how
we're just ending this. Let me raging about photos.
So thanks for the. tee up to make it to end it
real nicely. I love that. I was like, Oh no,
we're ending there. Um, so, um, real in Indiana.
Yeah. If, if you are looking to buy or sell in
Indiana, go to my, go to my YouTube channel.
I got a whole video series about how to buy and
how to sell. Um, so that's, that's that. You
can find me there. You can find me on Instagram,
Hannah Trueblood dot Realtor. Um, Facebook, Hannah
Trueblood real estate broker. I'm pretty easy
to find. There's not a whole lot of Hannah Trueblood's
that are real estate brokers out there. Um, but
also, um, you know, it doesn't matter where you
live anywhere in the world. If you have a real
estate question, like get in touch with me and
I can, I can connect you to someone in your area.
I'm part of a global network. So at properties
and Christie's international is literally all
over the globe. So I'm going to France in June
and I am going to be visiting. the French, the
Paris, Christie's. That is exciting. Yeah, I'm
so excited. I really hope they'll show me a chateau
because I just would love to see one. So I will
update you on whether I get into the French chateau.
On the bucket list. I love it. That's amazing.
I might as well utilize that. I want to connect
with the Parisian realtors because why wouldn't
you? That's fun. That's awesome. I'm so excited
for you. And je parle français un peu. I speak
a little French, Duolingo. Yeah, okay, that's
good. That'll come in handy. Yes. For sure. Thank
you so much for having me. This has been fun.
Definitely. This has been fun and won't be the
last time. Hannah has her tendrils in the community
here and helps out so many so many people. Just
part of the National Organization for Women here
in northwest Indiana and marginalized communities
and affordable housing. You do it all, man. And
I have to say, as a member of this community,
we appreciate you. Oh, well, the feeling is mutual.
You guys give me a reason to. To get out of bed
every morning and and fight so yeah Well, we
all need to fight together is one thing we have
to do we all need to fight But we also need to
remember to love ourselves and love each other
and be more kind For sure everyone that's my
closing remark. Just be kind to yourself and
to others because you deserve that and so today
Life lesson right there. Hannah Trueblood, thank
you so much. This has been the Mark Mosho podcast.
You can catch it on all the podcast platforms
as well as YouTube. And if you are local, this
will be on the air several times and just hit
up the socials, either Mark Mosho podcast or
mine, Mark Maloney or Hannah Trueblood. And we'll
let you know when we're gonna be on the air.
And we appreciate each and every one of you.
Thank you for listening. Take care everybody.