Episode 28: Pocket Change Podcast
Dreaming of buying your own home but feeling lost in the process? In this episode of the Pocket Change Podcast, we chat with Brent Ward, CEO of CWTAR, about all things home buying. The Central West Tennessee Association of Realtors represents all realtors across nine counties in West Tennessee from river to river. Ward shares his wealth of knowledge regarding the home buying process and why finding the right realtor is crucial.
"The most important part is to find somebody that you're comfortable with. There's a lot of great, great realtors out there, and some of them are top producers. You got a lot of new ones that just started, and you need that person that's going to fit you the best. It could be one of those or somewhere in the middle. But the main thing is being able to ask questions." Ward says.
Summary
Finding the right real estate agent or realtor is an important first step in the home buying process. You need to find someone you are comfortable with that can walk you through the home buying process. The housing market has changed in our region and if it is been awhile since you have been in the market as a seller or buyer, an realtor can also help get your expectations where they need to be.
When looking for home financing, it is advantageous to check with your local bank or credit union first, and then also compare with a national mortgage company. "I will tell you now... there's nothing that's offered online that you can't go find someplace local. You see a lot of really cool-looking advertisements, and they give really cool names, and they got really slick ads and stuff. That's all great. But working with somebody local where you can actually sit down across from them like we are right now and talk to them face-to-face means a lot more than picking up the phone and calling them and hope you get the same person every time you call."
Key Takeaways
- Interview multiple realtors, at least three, to find someone you feel comfortable with, has local expertise, and communicates clearly.
- Homeownership has many benefits including building equity and helping increase your overall net worth.
- It's important to understand the current housing market and getting advice from multiple realtors and mortgage lenders including your local bank or credit union.
This episode is packed with practical insights and expert advice to guide you on your journey. Listen now and gain the confidence you need to make informed decisions and achieve your dream of owning your own home.
If you are ready to take the first step towards homeownership, reach out to one of our mortgage champions to help walk your through the process. Get pre-qualified today!
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Full Transcript
Shea:
Hey, this is Shea.
Maddie:
And this is Maddie.
Shea:
Welcome to the Pocket Change podcast.
Maddie:
Where you'll learn better ways to spend, save, and invest, and take control of your financial journey.
Shea:
Maddie on people's financial journey. Home buying may be a part of that. We're going to talk today about working with a real estate agent and why that's important.
Maddie:
Yeah, and as someone who hasn't bought a house yet, but would love to in the next couple of years, I'm really excited to talk about how important a realtor is in sharing their knowledge with a home buyer. So we're talking to an expert today on that. So we're excited to welcome our guest today, Brent Ward, who is the CEO of CWTAR here in West Tennessee. So welcome to Pocket Change, Brent.
Brent Ward:
Thank you so much. I'm happy to be here.
Maddie:
So first, just tell us a little bit about yourself and for our listeners who don't know what CWTAR stands for, can you just explain that and then also what they do for realtors here in West Tennessee?
Brent Ward:
As you pointed out, my name is Brent Ward. I'm the CEO of Central West Tennessee Association of Realtors. It is a mouthful. That's what CWTAR stands for. That's why we always condense it down to much more shorter form. We cover nine counties in the Central West Tennessee area, river to river, Tennessee River to Mississippi River. There are only four associations on the West Tennessee side of the state. Once you get to middle and East Tennessee, there's just associations everywhere. We're pretty proud of that. We get along great with the other associations. As far as myself, I have been in the business for 27 years. I started out as a licensed realtor working with my parents who started a company, and I took over that company as the broker and then eventually the owner. I owned and brokered my own company for a long time, certified instructor for the state of Tennessee. This position opened up in 2014. I hired in on January the first, 2015. I literally just started my ninth year into this spot. I love what I do. This is great because when I was a broker of my own firm, I got to help the agents in my office, and now that I get to help all the agents rather than just the ones in my firm.
Shea:
So, Brent, what would be your advice for a first-time home buyer?
Brent Ward:
Well, it's the same advice I give everybody all the time, and you'll hear me say it probably multiple times. Check with three different realtors. A lot of people are like, Well, can't you recommend anybody? No, I can't. I recommend everybody. But check with three because as a first-time home buyer, this is a huge step. A lot of times, first-time home buyers, they don't really know what they're getting into. They just know they like the idea of buying a house. They just don't know how it goes. So you need somebody that can explain that to you from start to finish and what to expect and what to look forward to. But the most important part is find somebody that you're comfortable with. There's a lot of great, great realtors out there, and some of them are top producers. You got a lot of new ones that just started, and you need that person that's going to fit you the best. It could be one of those or somewhere in the middle. But the main thing is being able to ask questions. When I used to work with my parents, I'll never forget that my father's best friend listed his property.
Brent Ward:
When his mother passed away, he listed his property with somebody else that he felt had more experience with farms. But yet he would always call my father and ask questions all the time. Eventually, my father had to tell him because as realtors, we operate under a code of ethics. I can't answer your questions. I mean, you didn't list your property with me. He's like, Well, the other agent is hard to get in touch with, and I don't like their answers, and sometimes they're a bit intimidating. I'd rather just talk to you. Of course, if you'd rather talk to him, you should have listed your property with him. It's the same thing with buyers. If you're looking to buy a house, get somebody that you're comfortable talking with and that when you ask them questions, you don't feel like that they're jumping down your throat or talking over you.
Shea:
It's a huge transaction. So you definitely want to make sure. Probably the biggest purchase most people make in their lives.
Brent Ward:
It is the biggest purchase most people make. And most of the time, the only thing they have to compare it to is buying a car, and they're totally different.
Maddie:
It's different.
Brent Ward:
Totally different.
Maddie:
That's great advice. It is important to feel safe around someone who has that much knowledge that they can give you, but they can't get that to you if you can't ask them questions.
Brent Ward:
If you can't ask them questions, that's right. It's a partnership, so it's got to be both sides.
Maddie:
Yeah. What should people look for in a realtor?
Brent Ward:
Well, like I said, somebody that you feel comfortable with. Their knowledge of the business in today's market and the way things are now, especially over the last couple of years when things were selling as fast as they could hit the market, you need somebody that's very comfortable in the market that you're looking to buy in. Like I mentioned, code of ethics. If you're dealing with an agent that's not familiar with your area, you could miss out on things. Being a local agent, which is pretty important, and being a member of the local association like us, and our MLS as well, too, which MLS stands for multiple listing service. I forget a lot of times that people don't know what MLS stands for. That's what, as agents, we look up to find properties that are for sale. And that's what we work off of. It's an agreement between brokers to share listings so that you can have a big picture of the full market.
Maddie:
And what's the difference between a realtor, real estate agent? Can you clear that up for us?
Brent Ward:
So everybody is a real estate agent in the state of Tennessee, and it varies from state to state to state. But in the state of Tennessee, you have to have a real estate license in order to practice real estate. But the next step is to become a realtor. Basically, what that means is you're a member of the National Association of Realtors, which is the nation's largest trade organization with 1.5 million members. We have a huge voice in Washington. We're the only trade association out there that is actually looking out for homeowners' property rights. There's a lot of companies out there that have real estate that they advertise on their websites, this, that, and the other. We won't say any names, but they're there to make money. NAR is a trade organization. It's not there to make money. It's there to protect the homeowner, to protect the realtor, and to make sure that our government doesn't do something crazy and put some crazy thing in place that affects homeowners. Trust me, they come up a lot, just off the wall stuff. That's the difference between the two. As I mentioned, realtors operate under a code of ethics that we have to follow, and we handle all those complaints and things internally within our organization.
Maddie:
Yeah, that's a good distinction.
Shea:
I think that's helpful for the home buyer to know that and the homeowner to know that, that that association is there to help protect their rights. Then for those that may not be a first-time home buyer, maybe a second or third-time home buyer, what are some things or your advice that you would give those families?
Brent Ward:
Well, if you're Or a second or a third home buyer and/or seller, I'll throw that one in there as well, too. If it's been a little while, you might want to definitely contact a realtor and have them come out, especially if you own a property. If you're a seller, have a realtor come out and take a look at your house and give you an estimate of where they think your house may sell for. They can't give you a value because they're not appraisers. If you want a value, you're going to have to contact an appraiser for that. Have them come out because things are a lot different now than they were just four or five years ago. I did a HELOC on my own personal house a couple of years ago to do some renovations to the inside of the house. My wife and I decided if we were going to stay there, we were going to fix it up like we wanted. So did HELOC on the house, and when I got the appraisal back, I about fell out of my chair because it was way more than I was expecting. But that's how the market has changed in the West Tennessee area.
Brent Ward:
And because of our area and the way we've lagged behind on housing prices, we finally caught up to the rest of the state. So it seems like our housing prices doubled overnight. So that's why I said, if it's been a while since you bought or sold your house, you definitely need to contact a realtor and let them re-walk you through the process and go ahead and get your expectations up where they need to be. Because if you're thinking you're going to buy a house somewhere in the $100,000 range, well, good luck because they're not out there. At least there's not a lot of them anyways. If you think you're going to, "Hey, I got this house. I paid $134, and I'll be happy if I get $175," well, you'd be ecstatic if I could get you $275. That's the difference now.
Maddie:
Really going into that process of maybe selling or buying a new home, educated and updated on what's changed is important.
Shea:
Do you have any advice for anyone in the process of financing a home? What are some next steps for that?
Brent Ward:
Absolutely. I think this will be the third time I've said it, contact three. That's what I always say. Contact three, I always tell you to check with your local bank or your local credit union first, because if you're already banking or doing business with the credit union, they like to keep your business.
Shea:
Absolutely.
Brent Ward:
I would definitely check with them first. But then also, go ahead and stretch on out and contact a actual mortgage company that that's all they do is mortgages, because really what you want to find out, there's so many options out there now. You want to make sure you're comparing apples to apples and you're getting what works best for you. Sure. Yes, you like to deal with people that are local, and you like to deal with people that you can talk to. I will tell you now, I say this all the time on my own radio show that I do, is there's nothing that's offered online that you can't go find someplace local. You see a lot of really cool-looking advertisements, and they give really cool names, and they got really slick ads and stuff.
Brent Ward:
That's all great. But working with somebody local where you can actually sit down across from them like we are right now and talk to them face-to-face means a lot more than picking up the phone and calling them and hope you get the same person every time you call.
Shea:
In some of those cases, they're making the calls back to you over and over again, trying to get your business.
Brent Ward:
Trying to get your business.
Shea:
Some of those larger national companies. But I think that's a great piece of advice. Just like you mentioned, having a conversation face-to-face like this, if that's where you're comfortable with. You want to talk to somebody about your largest transaction you'll ever make. I mean, you want to have that comfortability and that interaction with them, so.
Brent Ward:
Absolutely.
Shea:
That's helpful.
Maddie:
For people like me who, I'm young and I haven't bought a house yet, so I'm still in the renting phase of my life, what are the benefits to home owning versus renting?
Brent Ward:
Well, the number one that jumps off top of my head when you talk about renting versus buying is what is your net-worth? A lot of different times throughout your life, they're going to want to know what is your net-worth. Well, if you rent versus buying a home and you own your own home, even if it's not paid for yet, it doesn't matter, is you're missing out on a huge piece of your net-worth that's not there when you're renting. That's the first thing that jumps out. But The other part of that, too, is there's a lot of people that have rented their whole entire life, and that's fine. I get it because when you're renting a property, somebody's there to take care of something. If it happens on the inside, they're usually there to take care of all the stuff on the outside when it comes to maintenance. Really, you don't really have to do anything but make a phone call and say, "Hey, something's not working," and somebody's right out to get it fixed. There are some advantages to that. But like I said, you're also limited to what you can do, limited to where you're going to live because most of them are apartments.
Brent Ward:
Yes, there are rental houses out there. We've got some new things to our area, rental neighborhoods. That's a new thing to our area we're not familiar with, even though they've been around larger market areas for a while. But you pay for that stuff. Fenced-in community, smart homes, everything's up to date, dog walking trails, people trails to walk in. It's all cool and everything. But if you look at what it costs to do that, you can buy a house for a lot less than you can rent one. Those are your things I would tell you. You got to find out what fits you. I had a good friend of mine who bought their first house when they were like 45 years old. They always wanted a house but never could work it. They got a deal through THDA, and they bought a house. They only stayed in it for two years. Then they sold it and went back to renting because they did not like the idea of being responsible for things when they broke. They just went back to what they were comfortable with. I think you have to find that fine line in there on what you're comfortable with.
Brent Ward:
I can't say that sometimes I wouldn't mind if it's just me and my wife to go back to renting, but we're not going to.
Maddie:
Well, I would love to own a house one day, but still in the process of saving money and getting there. But hopefully in the next few years, I'll join the homeownership myself.
Brent Ward:
You can join the rest of us out there. Watch your net-worth just go right in up?
Shea:
That is a great wealth building tool. It is. It can be a very good tool for families and for generations.
Brent Ward:
You can borrow against it. Like I talked about with the HELOC, you can borrow against your home. Then once it's paid for, that's a huge tool for you in the future when your house is paid for in the future.
Shea:
Where do you see the real estate market going in the next few years, a few months, just in the future? There's been a lot of changes.
Brent Ward:
There's a lot of changes, and we're in a little bit of a different market where we are because of all the going on with Blue Oval City. For listeners that aren't familiar, and I don't know how you wouldn't be, but Blue Oval City is the Ford plant that's going in between Jackson and Memphis and the Haywood area, and all the other businesses that are coming along with it to get them to that point. I think it'll be the world's largest car manufacturing plant, if my understanding is correct. With that also brings a lot of jobs, a lot of jobs, a lot of people, and it's going to mean a lot of housing. In our Jackson market area, there are apartment complexes popping up everywhere. I mean, they're all over the place. The other neighborhood I was talking about as well, too, and it's not just Jackson, it's other areas. Of course, you can only build so many houses at one time, so builders are building them as fast as they can get the dirt turned over. I think our market area, you're not going to see a big lull in the real estate market, I don't think, anytime soon, as long as this keeps going ahead, forward.
Shea:
Because demand is going to be so high.
Brent Ward:
Demand is going to be there. We're still short on our inventory. We've been short on inventory for a long, long time. I used to have those statistics memorized, but it's been a little while since I've looked at those. But nationwide, we're something like 1.8 million houses short from where we really need to be at this point in time. I forgot how many houses they'd have to build and not stop for the next probably 10 years, just to catch up with the current demand, not to count future demand that's coming. I know interest rates, they've been up and down, left and right, all over the place, and who knows what's going to happen next. It has slowed a little bit, but it hasn't stopped. For somebody that went through the 2008 recession, when everything just did stop, that wasn't around in the '80s when there was two-digit, double-digit interest rates. But I can tell you that real estate still sold even when the interest rates were double digits in the '80s. You're just not going to stop it. It's the backbone of what makes America what we are. The dream of owning a home has always been the backbone of America.
Maddie:
Well, we have one final question for you today and it's a fun one. If you had any extra change in your pocket, what would you do with it?
Brent Ward:
Wow, extra change in my pocket. Now, are we talking about real change or we're talking about up-to-date change?
Maddie:
Whatever you think is pocket change.
Brent Ward:
We'll just say pocket change.
Shea:
Not enough to buy a house.
Brent Ward:
Yeah, well, everything's so expensive now these days. If I had any extra change in my pocket, my first results would probably think, I'm just going to go grab me a cup of coffee or something somewhere because that's what I like. But more than likely, realistically, I'd end up buying something for my kids with it. We'd either go grab something to drink or eat. My daughter would want me to take her over to Ulta. She's nine, and now she's discovered facial products. She's got a lot of that stuff. So, yeah, that's what I do with it. I probably end up buying stuff for my kids with it.
Maddie:
Yeah, that's a good answer.
Brent Ward:
Thank you.
Maddie:
Well, thanks so much for being on the podcast today, Brent. We really enjoyed having you. This is great, really helpful information for people.
Brent Ward:
Thank you so much. I enjoyed being here.
