Ask HTM – Quick Cash with eBay, Making Quarterly Estimates, & a Home Appraisal Goes Awry #1048

Summary

How to Money – Episode #1048

Ask HTM – Quick Cash with eBay, Making Quarterly Estimates, & a Home Appraisal Goes Awry
Date: October 13, 2025
Hosts: Joel & Matt (iHeartPodcasts)

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Episode Overview

In this listener-driven “Ask HTM” episode, Joel and Matt tackle questions on modern side hustles (eBay selling), the headaches of managing an inheritance and taxes, Roth IRA strategy changes, and the stormy process of selling a home when the appraisal falls short. The duo’s hallmark banter makes for an engaging but actionable personal finance show—full of real stories, frugal wisdom, and memorable analogies.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Dealing with Rental Property Insurance Notices

[02:36 – 07:25]

• Matt shares the story of receiving a "non-renewal" notice for one of his investment properties due to needed repairs (holes in trim, debris on the roof—"it looks like somebody blasted the front of the house with a shotgun" – Matt, 05:01).
• They reflect on the role of insurance companies in regularly checking property conditions and how these demands, though annoying, can prevent much higher costs from force-placed insurance.
• Matt: "I'm not gonna hold it against them... There are times where it's worked out to my benefit where I'm like, oh, that's something that needs to be fixed." (06:53)
• Joel: "The kind of stuff a renter isn't going to point out... these reminders keep you from having to pay that drastically more expensive insurance."

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2. Listener Q1 – Selling Collectibles on eBay: Still Worth It?

[09:46 – 19:52]

Is eBay a Good Place to Sell Collectibles?

• Joel & Matt give a history lesson on how eBay revolutionized private sales, comparing it to classified ads and even local swap magazines like “I Wanna.”
• eBay offers unparalleled reach, critical mass, and transparent pricing—“it just opened up a whole wide world...and made pricing more transparent for buyers and sellers.” (Matt, 12:23)
• They discuss the bidding model, which often drives up sell prices, and highlight that although the process (taking photos, writing listings, packing, shipping) can be a hassle, the financial payoff is frequently worth it.
• Joel’s anecdote: His first sale (a box of CDs sent with no padding) went poorly, leading to a scathing review: "If these CDs were a kid, the seller would be arrested for child abuse..." (Joel, 17:13)
• Downsides: 15% fees, time/effort to list and package, and hassle for certain categories/shipping.
• Alternatives: renting a booth in an antique mall, local Facebook groups, or Instagram for niche items—each with their own pros/cons.
• Matt: "So much depends on what exactly you're selling...but eBay can make sense for a wide swath of sellers."

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3. Listener Q2 – Inheritance, Interest Income, and Tax Shock

[23:12 – 34:36] Listener: Scott from Florida

How to Handle Taxes from Inherited Money and Variable Income

• Scott inherited money, placed it in CDs & preferred stock, and was surprised by a large tax bill from increased interest income and his wife’s 1099 earnings.
• Joel: “Reducing that tax bill bite—I feel like that's just what we're gonna be doing for the rest of our lives.” (25:11)
• With higher savings yields, many are shocked by big 1099-INTs (interest income forms). The hosts note: Don’t let tax considerations alone drive your investment strategy—you wouldn’t ask your boss to lower your salary just to pay less tax.
• Strategy suggestion: If you don’t need the money soon, consider allocating some to an IRA or taxable brokerage, balancing liquidity with minimizing interest income taxes.
• Matt: “You just have to bite the bullet of paying the tax on the 1099-INT, but at least think through that question critically.”
• Quarterly Estimates:
  • For variable 1099 income, calculate your effective tax rate by reviewing prior years, and send quarterly payments via EFTPS.gov (state-dependent).
  • “I've pretty much always had a highly fluctuating income… what I’ve done is look at how much tax I’ve owed relative to my income… and you hone in on a really accurate estimate in quarterly.” (Joel, 31:04)
  • Tip: It may be worth consulting a proactive tax advisor—not just a preparer, but someone who thinks about minimizing lifetime tax burden.

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4. Listener Q3 – Is the Backdoor Roth IRA Going Away?

[34:36 – 42:05] Listener: Ludaine

Will Legislation Kill the Backdoor Roth? What Happens if It Does?

• Legislation has threatened but never eliminated the backdoor Roth IRA process; as of now, it remains fully legal.
• Matt: "I think some people think of the backdoor Roth as being shady, but it is still a perfectly legal maneuver..." (35:24)
• How it works:
  • High earners contribute after-tax dollars to a traditional IRA, then convert to a Roth IRA.
  • “You’re not going to see ‘backdoor Roth’ as an option when you log in—you have to assemble it yourself, like getting the ingredients for a cheese-burger at Aldi.” (Joel, 38:04)
• If backdoor Roths are ended, existing Roth balances are safe. “The money in your account is just in there, doing its thing… the consequences of changing future allocation strategies aren't going to impact [your current Roth].” (Matt, 40:23)
• Joel: "It is like protected in a cocoon of Roth-ness."
• Final tip: Be wary of the pro-rata rule if you have existing traditional IRA balances; non-deductible contributions should be well-documented (Form 8606).

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5. Listener Q4 – Real Estate: As-Is Offers and Appraisal Disputes

[45:34 – 56:00]

A. Submitting As-Is Offers as a Buyer

Listener: Mario (via Facebook)

• As-is offers can be smart to stand out, but be sure the contract includes a due diligence period (inspection window) with an unrestricted right to terminate.
• Matt: “Even with an as-is offer… you typically will still ask for a due diligence period… [If big issues are found] you have the ability to say, hey, there are all these issues—I’m out.”
• Joel: Sometimes, even though negotiations are “technically off the table,” a post-inspection negotiation can happen, e.g., if the roof or HVAC are shot.
• Market note: Buyers have more power in 2025 than during the frenzied 2020-2022 market surge.

B. Low Appraisal Woes

Listener: Anonymous (via Facebook)

• Seller listed at $395k; appraisal came in at $380k; buyers want to pay the new lower price.
• Using a 2021 neighborhood sale as a comp is unhelpful (markets shift—use 3–6 month comps instead).
• Sellers can request a new appraisal if they have strong recent comps, but banks often won't budge unless they see compelling evidence.
• Matt: “My sister just bought a new home… the appraisal came in less… she made out like a bandit as the buyer. These things happen!”
• Options: Accept, try to meet buyers halfway, or relist (with risk of more carrying costs and possible lower sale). Understand the bank will not lend more than the appraised value, so buyers may have to bring extra cash to close.

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• On eBay’s impact:
  "Before that, the way you had to sell stuff was…think about consignment shops, Antiques Roadshow…eBay changed the whole game." (Matt, 11:14)
• On negative reviews:
  “I still remember [the buyer] saying, if these CDs were a kid, the seller would be arrested for child abuse…” (Joel, 17:13)
• On taxes:
  "You wouldn’t ask your employer to reduce your salary in order to pay less in tax." (Matt, 27:07)
• On insurance nitpicking:
  "For the most part, that feels like insurance company overreach. Come on, it's America—I should be able to paint my house whatever color I want." (Joel, 07:16)
• On the permanence of federal legislation:
  “That's the good and the bad of federal laws—it's pretty hard to undo. Even if the majority gets into power and doesn't like it, unwinding proves a lot harder than passing it in the first place.” (Matt, 41:20)
• On housing market shifts:
  “You have a lot more opportunity to negotiate as a buyer. You’ve got more power in your hands than in recent history.” (Matt, 49:49)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• [02:36] – Insurance company property inspections, force-placed coverage
• [09:46] – Is eBay still the best place for collectibles? Full pros/cons rundown
• [23:12] – Managing inheritance, interest income, withholding, and quarterly taxes
• [34:36] – The Backdoor Roth: future risks, mechanics, and legal status
• [45:34] – Buying a home as-is and protecting yourself; appraisal frustrations and remedies
• [56:07] – Beer segment: Rice Lager, palate cleansers, and the evolution of craft beer

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Structure & Tone

• The tone is friendly, informal, and often humorous, with practical advice rooted in personal experience and financial best practices.
• Hosts encourage questions—especially quirky or contentious ones—and tease “How to Money” socks for the best submissions.

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Summary Takeaways

• eBay remains the dominant platform for collectibles, but factor in both fees/hassle and the global buyer reach before listing; alternatives may sometimes fit better.
• Interest income is taxable as regular income—plan ahead, consider your investment vehicles and time horizon, and use quarterly estimates for variable income streams.
• The backdoor Roth IRA is safe for now. If ended in the future, existing Roth IRA balances are unaffected; execute with care and file the proper tax forms.
• In today’s housing market, buyers can use as-is offers to get deals, but contracts must protect their right to exit if inspections reveal big issues.
• Don’t rely on outdated comps when selling; appraisals can make or break a deal. Sellers should prepare for some negotiation, or risk relisting.
• General ethos: Be informed, adapt to changing markets, and don’t let taxes unduly dictate your entire financial strategy.

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For further resources, episode links, and the Cody Garrett interview on tax strategy, visit howtomoney.com.

Transcript

[Podcast Host (Intro/Outro)]

This is an iheart podcast.

[Matt]

Where do you see your career in ten years what are you doing now to help you get there the sooner you start enhancing your skills the sooner you'll be ready that's why aarp has reskilling courses in a variety of categories like marketing and management to help your income live as long as you do that's right.

[Joel]

Aarp has a bevy of free skill building courses for you to choose from because the steps that you choose to take today will help you to love what you do in the future and that's why the younger you are the more you need aarp learn more at aarp dot org skills hey it's joel.

[Matt]

And matt from how to money i was just in seattle matt and honestly it's one of the greatest cities in the world particularly in the summer i went on this run by the water we hopped a ferry across puget sound just an unforgettable trip that's what struck.

[Joel]

Me what seems normal to a homeowner it can be the thing that makes a guest trip really special which is.

[Matt]

Why hosting your home on airbnb makes sense right travelers are looking for those authentic memorable spaces and if you don't have time to manage all that well airbnb's co host feature makes it easy a local co host can help with everything from creating the listing to keeping your place running smooth find a co.

[Joel]

Host at airbnb dot com host fedex office understands that running a small business can feel like navigating uncharted waters and each decision a bear of a task and finding the best way to build your business it's a tough nut to.

[Matt]

Crack so let their in store team members make packing and shipping a piece of cake with on site pack and ship and roll with the punches with custom printing because helping you achieve your business goals is just another day at the office get started at office dot fedex dot com welcome to how to.

[Joel]

Money i'm joel i am matt today.

[Matt]

We'Re going to answer some of your listener questions.

[Joel]

You know a buddy happy monday to everyone out there and i'm excited to get to personal finance questions for instance a listener he is interested in making a buck with each so we'll get to talk about that i really love ebay and i think it might show a little bit when we get to that question another listener received an inheritance and now he's dealing with taxes but maybe not in the way that you might be thinking we're alluding to here we're going to talk we're going to get to some questions about buying and selling homes on both sides of the transaction maybe we can link.

[Matt]

Up both those listeners into one transaction.

[Joel]

Let me introduce you to my buddy is it mario we can talk to mario here about him in a little bit but i would love to play matchmaker in that way speaking of homes and housing joel guess what i actually received a notice from my insurance company it was a notice of non renewal from the insurance company about one of my investment properties you know what you.

[Matt]

Should do matt you should go back and listen to this podcast called how to money we interviewed someone called lisa gill from consumer reports she talked about.

[Joel]

This take them to task yeah so what i'm gonna do is i'm gonna share what to do in a situation like this first of all i'll explain what happened got a notice and they outlined in that notice of non renewal i just remember lisa was she the one she had the the trailer yeah the tiny hole she invested all of her money in pea gravel yes which can i just say if you're looking to put down rock in a little garden pea gravel it's it's more traditional it's more authentic from like an english garden standpoint like you it's always pea gravel but it's so unsatisfying to walk on because it just gives it's like you're walking on marbles as opposed to small or crushed slate which is so satisfying to walk on which is what we have in our garden you should have told lisa that well maybe we did talk about that oh maybe i can't remember that's aside from the point so the insurer said hey this is what's you know we're not going to renew in a couple months because of xyz unless you address those issues and provide proof that you have fixed those.

[Matt]

Things what they want you to do.

[Joel]

Well specifically they highlighted the fact that i had some trim some fascia board up on this old bungalow that had holes in it and i actually knew exactly what they're talking about there were some holes in it so the way it happened that's easy to remedy though yeah well okay i'll tell you the full story there's some carpenter bees got up in there and so you're like carpenter bees tiny little holes not a big deal well it wasn't the carpenter bees that caused the issue it was the fact that then a woodpecker or i don't know maybe a whole flock of woodpeckers showed up and went to town on this trim on this fashion board on this house and it's pretty unsightly we got destroyed man because those woodpeckers found out that there are like what carpenter bee eggs or larva or something up in there and it looks like somebody just like blasted the front of the house with a shotgun like.

[Matt]

Dick cheney style oh my gosh sorry to say the young listeners even get.

[Joel]

That reference probably they probably don't anyway so yes i addressed that and they also were pointing out they're like oh there's a lot of debris on the roof which that's not a big deal you know just get up there with the blower but on one hand i'm annoyed but on the other hand i think you know what i need somebody like this because these are the kind of things that a renter isn't necessarily going to point out like they're going to complain about something inside the house.

[Matt]

That'S not working properly dishwasher doesn't work.

[Joel]

Fix it yeah it's going to get fixed garbage disposal what's up with that hit the button on the bottom of the thing the little thing reset you've dealt with that before right yeah but on top of me taking care of the property like i should this obviously keeps me from having to pay the drastically more expensive insurance that the mortgage company is likely going to implement and.

[Matt]

It'S going to insure force placed insurance.

[Joel]

Force placed there you go it's like cobra health insurance that's right it's like.

[Matt]

So much more expensive yeah you can stop shopping for your own and the insurance company or the mortgage company is happy to provide it for you they'll just charge you a lot more exactly.

[Joel]

And it ensures i get to hang on to this dwelling fire policy that i did shop for or that my insurance broker that she shopped around for to ensure that i got the best coverage possible at the best rates with all the all the different limits that you want so just a little tip for folks out there who might be in a situation like this as there are more insurers out there who are i guess there's someone just driving by and they're just looking for anything that might say that would cause a homeowner to pay the pay a little more attention to the property right they're trying to ensure that this isn't going to be something that they have to eventually at some point yeah yeah exactly and.

[Matt]

I think it makes sense pay up on a claims for insurance companies to monitor the properties they're insuring and say.

[Joel]

I'M not gonna hold it against them.

[Matt]

This is a problem and there are times where it's worked out to my benefit where i'm like oh you're right like that's something that needs to be fixed so i'm not mad about it there's also times where they get real weird about stuff and you remember we had a listener who i guess their house was painted two different colors oh that's right and the insurance company was not happy about that there was like this needs to be a single color fix it or else and so sometimes they get a little like over the top but i think for the most.

[Joel]

Part that feels like insurance company overreach yeah you know like come on like we live in america here i should be able to paint my house whatever color i want to you can paint.

[Matt]

It american flag colors if you want.

[Joel]

Matt you know what i wonder if.

[Matt]

Sounds like something you would do no.

[Joel]

We just have a very plain vanilla looking house but this makes me think of our old neighborhood there was a house and they had added on like a second story addition and you might even remember the house i'm talking about over in the village and they i don't know if they ever painted the addition like the upper upper section because the lower section it was either brick or something but then the top was kind of that standard hardy plank yellow you know i'm talking about like that.

[Matt]

Just like that basic color unpainted hardy.

[Joel]

Yeah and you might be able to get away with people thinking that that's a color that you actually chose right i mean people literally paint their homes that color and so i wonder if they thought that that might be the case that literally she didn't actually paint a part of the house and it was sort of like left raw yeah did we talk about that when we talked about that listener with the two colors that could be the two two.

[Matt]

Toned home two toned home oh well all right let's quickly mention the beer we're having matt this is a rice lager from highwire which is a brewery out of asheville we'll give our thoughts on this one at the end of the episode rice lager super crisp super crisp by the way i just want to let everyone know we take your listener questions as we're going to do on this episode we would love if you have a money question for you to holler at us send us your quickly recorded in the voicemail app app of your phone your money question no matter how weird or offbeat it is actually the weirder the better we like the weird ones if you're like should i max out my roth ira that's a fine question but like let's get.

[Joel]

Weird with it people well i want to i want to settle more arguments like i want to hear more from people who spousal dispute yeah i totally want to step into it or you.

[Matt]

And your best friend are at odds over a particular money conundrum like send it our way and i don't know.

[Joel]

That sounds like fun maybe like some.

[Matt]

Of the best ones we get maybe we'll send them a free pair of how to money socks or something and if you send in an awesome question top notch top tier and they're the most comfortable that's just like above it's.

[Joel]

Like cream of the crop kind of question boom straight to the straight to the front of the line that's right.

[Matt]

That'S right yeah yeah you will get straight to the front of the line all right but so and if you want more directions about how to send submit your question howtomoney dot com ask is the url okay let's get to a question specifically about selling stuff on ebay and whether that's still the place to turn to sell collectibles good morning.

[Joel]

Joel this is joe i was wondering.

[Podcast Host (Intro/Outro)]

What do you recommend as far as.

[Matt]

Selling collectibles on ebay is this a.

[Podcast Host (Intro/Outro)]

Good idea or a bad idea thanks.

[Joel]

All right joel this one's just for you it's the shortest listener question of.

[Matt]

All time man i feel like i actually just said the exact question before we let into that i was trying to summarize it but the question was a summary in a sense as soon.

[Joel]

As i hit play i was like wait a minute you shouldn't have even set it up that way the tee up is the question yes it is.

[Matt]

Yes it is quicken to the point but i don't know maybe we should be quicken to the point and say ebay is a great place to sell.

[Joel]

Collectibles yeah i love ebay so should we end it there no let's i want to talk about how much i.

[Matt]

Love ebay well maybe we should get into just briefly the history of ebay that i mean they came on the scene decades ago now i mean ebay was like early internet right when and it was one of those like first inklings of like oh this is going to change everything i think now people are just you're grandfathered into the reality of ebay in your life whether you're buying or selling stuff and you just think it's normal well guess what it didn't used to be normal at some.

[Joel]

Point it was a game changer and.

[Matt]

Before that the way you had to sell stuff was like especially collectibles and stuff like man you remember the show antiques roadshow yeah think about consignment shop yeah and it is like if you're in one of those like doldrums and you're watching pbs on a sunday afternoon or something it's kind of fun to have antiques roadshow come on gives you.

[Joel]

Hope that that painting that you might have up in the attic like some rare monetary that was painted over and you reverse the canvas and voila it's.

[Matt]

A saison somehow but ebay just changed the whole game turned everything on its head and it just opened up a whole wide world to people who wanted to buy collectibles and to people who wanted to sell collectibles and of course this is expanded to everything like i bought my kids backpack on ebay this year because it was like far cheaper to get a brand new backpack camo he wanted camo there than it was to get it on another site so it was like a target backpack but sold on ebay and i just went there because it was less expensive but like the collectibles market was just far more localized and then ebay globalized things they also helped make pricing more transparent because it's it's easier to see what similar items have sold for which makes things more transparent for buyers and for sellers buyers kind of know where to list they found kind of an equilibrium sellers know that's overpriced i'm not paying that and in some cases that led to a realization that some items were less rare than people had thought too which led to price decreases on things that had been marked up too high in some instances it's all about price.

[Joel]

Transparency and knowledge and folks knowing what they what they have on hand i.

[Matt]

Don'T know of a specific case i can cite on that but i'm guessing like certain sports cards probably were like oh thought to be super rare and then i was like actually there's more of these than we thought that's probably true the price has gone down and it's just it's hard to overstate the role that ebay has played in the collectibles community just making it easier for buyers and sellers to link up so yeah not to blow too much smoke in ebay's direction but they're pretty cool i get why you like them i.

[Joel]

Was trying to think of the magazine where it was that i grew up that was essentially the predecessor to ebay or even craigslist which was called i wanna did you have one of those no it was maybe it was a local thing only that someone stuck together but it was like this like a book it's like a magazine it's like a newspaper like white pages style magazine it was called i wanna and i think they would publish out maybe once a week or maybe it was once a month and so you would go into like gas stations and you'd get a i wanna yeah and people would have all the different cars or just various items that they're that they're looking to sell i wasn't into collectibles as a seven year old but i'm sure.

[Matt]

They were there as well well even that was an iteration on the newspaper classified which used to be one of the big moneymakers for newspapers that's completely like they don't have any role to.

[Joel]

Play in that it was like a disgruntled newspaper employee who's just like you know what i'm gonna take all of the money making ability away from you and create my own thing right here but a few of the reasons we think it is a smart place to set up shop there in ebay particularly in the collectible space are because they have like essentially there's a critical mass there as far as the customer base so if you had gone to a local collectible shop dozens maybe of folks might see what you're selling but you know you listed there on ebay and you have access to millions of customers millions of eyeballs including the ones who are going to be most keen to buy what it is that you're selling like even international customers like there might be an obsession with your specific niche in some random part in europe that you would have no idea about like.

[Matt]

Transylvania or something like that you know and you're like i didn't realize this thing was popular there but you can reach transylvania customers on ebay it just.

[Joel]

Opens the entire world up to the goods that you're hoping to sell in a pretty unique and cool way and to ensure that you're getting top dollar.

[Matt]

For it yeah and because of ebay's bidding model you're likely going to get a better price right than you would selling anywhere else so people buying collectibles on ebay they can get frenzied which drives up the price beyond what you thought you might get and yeah you got to package that order up you got to get it shipped in a timely manner which i think some people associate with hassle but that hassle is likely worth it given the ability to sell at a higher price point and to be honest selling items locally comes with other frustrations yeah you don't have to package it up and sell it but you're talking about having to find the right place potentially pay a commission to someone else to sell it on your behalf because you don't have a storefront ebay seems like the best platform to maximize returns without too much effort but you know selling collectibles in general is just this business that requires a lot of i think enthusiasm time elbow grease if that's something that you want to do you just better realize that what comes along kind of with the whole kitten caboodle there yeah you you.

[Joel]

Buy things on ebay do you ever sell anything on ebay have you do you have a well reviewed ebay i account with the with the stars i.

[Matt]

Don'T know if i ever sold a single item on ebay dude you gotta me because i'm not really into collectibles and i guess i could sell stuff.

[Joel]

But yeah it just depends on what it is you're selling so literally it's funny so my roommate and i one of my roommates in college we were essentially in a race to get the different color stars which you not only get by buying an item and having good feedback left about you but also from selling stuff and i think this i literally think this was my first auction one of my first items i had listed was this is and i'm this is like twenty years ago man but i didn't need my cd's anymore because we were moving towards mp three s and i i saw the future joel i saw the writing on the wall and i thought man it's time to unload these cd's before they're completely worth this worthless and so i got my entire collection together all those creed cd's i did i did not own a single creed album i'll put that out there did i some collective soul i feel like collective soul was kind of they were borderline pretty pretty close to creed but it was the first time i'd ever sold anything online and so i didn't do a good job packaging it i basically took all my cd jewel cases with the cd's and just put them in a cardboard box with no padding i still remember the feedback i got from that buyer because obviously like when that box was dropped or set down the corner of the box is getting crunched which means there's jewel cases that were all completely smashed i still remember him saying that if these cd's were a baby or a kid the seller would be arrested for child abuse or negligence or something like.

[Matt]

That but internet reviews used to be so funny and good too people used to put a lot more effort into.

[Joel]

Internet reviews yeah it took me a while to kind of claw my way back from that first negative review joel but selling on ebay though does not come without some downsides aside from having to package it well like you were referencing the the hassle of getting some bubble wrap in there perhaps that i avoided in order to succeed you've got to take some good pictures you got to write a pretty thorough listing which does take time especially i'm assuming given collectibles and another potential downside like some folks out there might want to avoid ebay because of the fact that they they take a cut and is not insignificant like it depends on the item it depends on the category of item you're selling but typically you're it's going to total around fifteen percent now that's starting to feel a lot like like taxes from the government right but i still think most the time it makes sense to let ebay have its cut because of how easy they make the selling process process how likely you are to i think get a much better price by selling on their site versus whoever happens to be their local to you who might be interested in your.

[Matt]

Item yeah so i think it's frugal not cheap going ebay yeah there are other routes you could consider right but so much depends on on what exactly you're selling i think you could rent a booth at an antique mall like let's say you've got a ton of vintage comic books or something like this man i have friends who in the past who are like are super into collectibles and they have found this to be a great way to go there's an antique shop that's fifteen minutes down the street and they'd go in once a week but guess what someone else is kind of minding the store selling their product giving them the profit they.

[Joel]

Take a cut to they're paying rent.

[Matt]

Yeah they got to pay the rent that kind of stuff but that depending on what you're it just so much depends on what you're selling and how you want to sell it but i know that was like not too much of a lift to kind of maintain that presence in that antique shop but are you still reaching the number of people that you could yeah maybe it's a little bit easier because you bring all your stuff and you set it up at once you just gotta kind of take that into consideration if it's something that's incredibly heavy then you might want to lean towards selling locally because the shipping costs could get prohibitive but and there are even facebook specific groups that you might want to consider like a local vintage furniture group if that's what you're into if that's what you're selling or establish an instagram presence because you're going to be able to find people who are into the exact same thing that you are selling that you're into as well ebay it's not best the best possible thing for every seller for every product category but i think it serves a lot of folks well in this space so consider those alternatives but also i don't know ebay can it makes sense for a wide swath.

[Joel]

Of sellers you know it man we got more to get to including we are going to talk about senator william roth how that might impact your personal finances we'll get to that more right after this you probably think it's too soon to join aarp right well let's take a minute to talk about it where do you see yourself in fifteen years more specifically your career your health your social life what are you doing now to help you to get there well there are tons of ways for you to start preparing today for your future with aarp what about that dream.

[Matt]

Job you've dreamt about sign up for aarp reskilling courses to help make it a reality how about that active lifestyle you've only spoken about from the couch aarp has health tips and wellness tools to keep you moving for years to come but none of these experiences are without making friends along the way connect with your community through aarp volunteer events.

[Joel]

So it's safe to say it's never too soon to join aarp they're here to help your money your health and happiness live as long as you do that's why the younger you are the more you need aarp learn more at aarp dot org wisefriend hey y' all it's joel and matt from how to money joel you were just out in.

[Matt]

Seattle recently weren't you yeah man it was amazing i went for one of the most glorious runs of my life along the waterfront it had everything you could ask for chris bear mountain views fairies gliding across the water beautiful i.

[Joel]

Love it man yeah for us our road trip through charlottesville was a highlight we actually splurged on a custom built airbnb and it was well worth it the house had these unique touches like a poured concrete count counter there in the kitchen with a built in drying rack super functional it even inspired some.

[Matt]

Ideas for our house plus with a kitchen like that you save money eating.

[Joel]

Out yes exactly that's what struck me what seems normal to a homeowner it can be the thing that makes a.

[Matt]

Guest trip really special which is why hosting makes sense right travelers are looking for those authentic memorable spaces and if you don't have time to manage all that well airbnb's co host feature makes it easy a local co host can help with everything from creating the listing to to keeping your place running smooth.

[Joel]

Yeah so while you are off making your travel memories your home could be helping someone else make theirs find a co host at airbnb dot com host.

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[Matt]

All right.

[Joel]

We'Re back matt william roth that was a nod to former senator william roth you know what we're gonna talk about here in a little bit yeah if.

[Matt]

You'Ve listened to the show for any length of time i don't know if we've actually ever met it mentioned the senator who's responsible for the legislation that made the roth ira a reality have we not all right that makes me feel like an idiot for not having done that well we'll remedy that today.

[Joel]

Yeah there's plenty of stuff to talk about in the world of personal finance.

[Matt]

That'S right but let's talk first about inheritance and let's get to a question about what to do after inheriting money and how to make sure you're making the most of it hey guys it's.

[Scott (Listener)]

Scott in florida my wife and i inherited a little money and we decided to put it in pretty safe stuff we have some cd's earning about four percent i've got a decent amount in a preferred stock a solid utility company here in florida earning close to seven percent and our issue now is when we reached the end of the year last year we ended up having tons in interest and having a big tax bill as a result and owing money i did in my job put down to add about five hundred extra a.

[Joel]

Month.

[Scott (Listener)]

Withholding on my taxes and hopefully that's going to help matters but my wife also to top things off is now semi retired and working a ten ninety nine job so we're going to end up paying her whole tax bill at the end of the year as well so i wondered if you had any tips on reducing this tax burden or at least reducing the bite at the end of the year thanks a.

[Joel]

Lot joel reducing that tax bill bite i feel like that's just what we're gonna be doing for the rest of.

[Matt]

Our lives essentially the visual image i got was putting a jaws attack scene in reverse like rewinding trying to undo.

[Joel]

The i don't know i mean i guess to some folks the jaws tax bite feels that large i pictured just like a little annoy dog like chasing like you're you know you run a ton have you ever gotten chased by.

[Matt]

A dog no not once i don't think so sometimes i run by weird looking dogs that people there's a lot.

[Joel]

Of weird looking dogs out there and you're afraid that they might come after.

[Matt]

You no i don't usually get afraid sometimes they do get a little interested start trying to like sniff me and.

[Joel]

I'M like yeah that's fine but if there's a dog chasing anyway i just picture like a yipping like a snapping dog at your heels that's what to me that's what taxes feel like but first of all scott you mentioned that you came into possession of this money via inheritance which means that you've lost somebody you love so i'm i'm sorry to hear about that but of course having this additional money is likely accelerating you towards your financial goals and that increased tax bill that showed up there on your ten ninety nine interest form is becoming more common and you're not alone in seeing higher amounts there as saving rate savings rates and overall amounts that folks have allocated towards their savings.

[Matt]

Has increased because ooh four percent interest rate on my savings account i guess i should put more in there more.

[Joel]

Than they probably have ever had and they're saying holy cow but that is why i think a lot of folks have seen just higher line items on that ten ninety nine interest more overall.

[Matt]

Interest received which is a good thing but then the shock is the ten ninety nine int and you're like i have to pay tax on that and i have to pay it at my ordinary income rate that can be a frustrating thing and i think for some people maybe they just weren't prepared for that which meant maybe they owed more than they thought they would last year which was a rare thing not a bad thing but a rare thing because it hasn't been the case for many years for a whole lot of people because savings rates are so dang low so many people try hard to reduce taxes which can make sense and we will give you some of our thoughts while there are some tweaks that you can make here i just want to note that like you wouldn't ask your employer to reduce your salary in order to pay less in tax i just don't i don't think taxation should wag the dog but if you had less in savings and cd's and then more in investments instead you could avoid a decent chunk of that ten ninety nine int because you wouldn't have made nearly as much in those savings vehicles you would at least be punting some of those taxes down the road into future years but that would also mean taking on more risk having less liquidity and so you have to kind of decide what vehicle is this money best in for my needs and if it is in a savings vehicle then you just have to bite the bullet of paying the tax on the ten ninety nine int but you at least need to think through that question critically i think in order to make the right decision for you from a medium long term goal standpoint and then also from a short term tax standpoint yeah i think.

[Joel]

It'S really important to think through what you want to use this money for specifically when you are going to want it to be available to you when you're going to want it to be liquid because i think you should consider maybe a decent chunk of it should effectively put into maybe a workplace retirement account or not effectively but directly actually via an ira or a taxable brokerage account but it just depends on your timeline and when you want to have access to those dollars it was a smart move by the way to withhold more in taxes from your paycheck in order to reduce the shock of a higher potential tax bill but while you are likely to be less sh come april there are still other potential moves that could help you to grow this money if you've got a longer time horizon if you are willing to expose yourself to a bit more risk and by risk i don't mean doing anything crazy but just investing in the overall.

[Matt]

Stock market perhaps especially if this was like unexpected money and you're like i don't have something i want in the near term and cd just felt like maybe the safest choice i think it.

[Joel]

Probably felt like a good place to.

[Matt]

Park it yeah yeah which makes sense too because you probably don't want to make drastic moves when you get a big sum of money in your life but now you might say oh i've had a long enough time where this money's been sitting and now i'm ready to do something different with it and i'm ready to actually think through and plan the ways that this would best be put to use and on top of that matt their taxes are about to get more complicated because of that ten ninety nine job again not a bad thing i think that's the crux of question yeah it just means that then the taxes aren't withheld from the paycheck like they are in w two land which feels like easier but again i think there's a lot of like we've talked about this before some positives to being in that ten ninety nine world and actually paying your taxes on a quarterly basis because you're more aware of what you're paying in tax than you are if you live in w two land yeah and so yeah do you want to talk about quarterly estimates for a second and just because it doesn't sound like that's something they're doing with her income yet no and it.

[Joel]

Might honestly like i think it has less to do with the ten ninety nine and i wonder if it has more to do with the fact that it's variable income because if it's a you can have a ten ninety nine job and if it's steady income i would say jeff you could even ratchet up your withholdings a little bit more because this is just a simple way to not have to worry about it just have that taken out every single month or every single paycheck as opposed to this being something that you have to more manually do so some of it i think comes down to whether or not your wife's income is set to be a steady income a steady ten ninety nine or if it's going.

[Matt]

To be wildly variable like if she's getting paid the same amount every month or if it fluctuates by a third to three x exactly because if it.

[Joel]

Fluctuates a ton which is how so this is why you're asking me because i've always i've pretty much always had a very variable a highly fluctuating income and essentially the trick there is you just i mean what i've done is i've taken and i've modified this over time but you look at how much tax you've owed in previous years relative to the amount of income that you've generated and you are calculating your own effective tax rate effective tax rate yeah.

[Matt]

Exactly which is not the tax bracket you're in not the highest tax bracket you're in it's the overall effective tax rate because of the way our income tax system works even if you're in the twenty two percent bracket but effective your effective tax rate could be thirteen.

[Joel]

Fourteen percent and that's going to vary from year to year depending on charitable contributions whether or not you're itemizing whether or not you're just taking the standard deduction but everything else being equal it's something that you can over time really hone in on and to the point to where you're getting a really accurate estimate in quarterly so you asked about quarterly estimates yeah that's that's when the federal government requires you to get in there and you go to eftps dot gov which is a site that you've never been to joel up until we.

[Matt]

Started the podcast and you're like wait.

[Joel]

What what is this all about i've.

[Matt]

Gotten used to it but i remember like the first couple years of logging into that site because i only did it once a quarter and i just hated it because the website is trash it has not been updated in probably.

[Joel]

Twenty years matt well it's much much better than some of the state department of labor sites yeah but our state's.

[Matt]

Site i think is actually better than the federal government site not the dol oh yeah the department of labor site.

[Joel]

Is awful that is easily the worst government agency that i deal with on.

[Matt]

A quasi regular basis there's some bad government websites out there i think is ultimately what we're saying but this is one of those things where paying quarterly can help you to avoid penalties right and interest from not paying the tax on time and it can also help you budget out the taxes that you owe by setting aside kind of coming up with an idea of what your effective tax rate setting is aside essentially that percentage of state and federal if your state has income taxes which you can then you know set aside the percentage that you think you'll owe for both state and federal taxes scott lives in florida so no state taxes there so he's really only got a thing very nice the effective tax rate for the government so he's only got to log in and make payments just to that just towards that not towards his state which simplifies things a little bit for him also just want to say this has enough moving parts based on the inheritance based on the change in pay into ten ninety nine status maybe consulting a tax pro could make sense and not someone who just prepares your taxes but someone who helps you think about the long term implications right of how and when you pay taxes you know your your tax burden essentially over years and decades which makes you think about that recent conversation i had with cody garrett you know he's not taking on new clients but his whole mission is to help people make wise tax choices that minimize their lifetime tax burden which i think is the right mindset not to just be like save as much as possible in one given year but to think about it as a holistic from a holistic perspective and like when you're interviewing folks you want someone who has that kind of mindset so scott hope that helps hope you find somebody who can help you out with that and you know really some of this is really easily diyable as well and yeah you might even want to make some shifts in where you place your money to reduce your your tax burden also that's right joel is here.

[Joel]

From lourdain and she is wondering how the roth ira is going to be impacted by the one big beautiful bill.

[Podcast Host (Intro/Outro)]

Act hi joel and matt is it true that the opportunity for doing a backdoor roth will be changing or canceled in twenty twenty six comma what does that mean for funds we already have in a roth what's the next step if any is the new plan required if it's true thanks for all you.

[Matt]

Do ludane thank you for your question love that you put the comma in speaking it with your voice that was interesting i've never is that something the kids are doing now maybe six seven that's the only thing i know the kids are doing and because i know about it it means they're probably not doing it anymore oh my gosh no.

[Joel]

My kids are talking i'm doing it i used it the other day and i got serious props from my kids because they didn't think i knew it.

[Matt]

But you do you're a hip dad got your ear to the ground well ludaine you're not the only one worried about this about the essentially the threat of the backdoor roth going away threats have been made by legislators over the years and attempts to eliminate the backdoor roth have been made consistently but none of them have come to pass and so that was even there was talk of this matt about eliminating the backdoor roth that it would make it into the one big beautiful bill act which i hate saying but alas it did not and so this and i think some people think of the backdoor roth as being shady but it is still a perfectly legal maneuver and it is still available to folks including ludin that's.

[Joel]

Right yeah so the reason that folks opt for a backdoor roth is because they want to take advantage of tax free growth inside of a roth ira of course but their income is too high so they're barred this is a good problem to have of course but even though these individuals can't contribute directly to a roth ira they can contribute instead to a traditional ira then not take the tax deduction so it's a non deductible ira but sometimes when we.

[Matt]

Say that people are looking for in the back end of their brokerage account where's the non deductible ira i don't see it i don't see it and that's why we have to say traditional.

[Joel]

Ira but then so but then you take it and then you convert that into a roth ira and ideally this is something that you do right away to make it a clean conversion then this just minimizes earnings before converting and so it just makes the process a lot easier so for folks who might not be as familiar to the backdoor roth that's effectively how it works and.

[Matt]

It'S a solid way for intentional savers to legally get more money growing tax free for their future and so yeah just know you're not going to see backdoor roth as an option when you log into your brokerage account you're not going to see non deductible ira as an option either you got to jump through the hoops the goofy hoops of contributing to a traditional ira then moving the money over and because this is allowed again matt i just and because the contribution limits on roth iras are they've gone up a little bit right seven thousand five hundred bucks a year starting next year still i just prefer to see income limits on roth contributions done away with altogether i don't know why they exist and the sliding scale once you get into that two hundred thirty thousand dollars yeah because it's still available to you and so the fact that they kind of shut the door on people who are making a quarter million dollars or more it just doesn't make much sense to me because those people can still do the backdoor roth and you know why in another way.

[Joel]

It'S because it's easy easier to leave it as is than pass new legislation joel yeah that's right and okay so you talking about how there's not like a box to check when you log into vanguard fidelity schwab some of our favorite brokerages it's almost as if okay imagine imagine you're hungry right like imagine you're just starving i don't have to imagine are you hungry right now and what if i told you hey joel there you have the ability to get a grass fed organic cheeseburger with avocado and pepper jack at aldi and you're thinking what that sounds awesome so you drive over to aldi and you're looking around you're like where's that grass fed cheeseburger that matt was telling me about and it's like well you can get that there but it's just if you were placing an instacart order just to assemble it yourself and you are filling out your grocery pickup you're not going to see an option for that but you can get a pound of organic beef you can buy a whole avocado some cheese whatever else that you want to put on that burger and those are the hoops you have to jump through you just have to assemble it yourself it takes a little bit of manual labor on the back end so yeah it's not it's not going to be delivered to you as easily as like walking up to a fast food restaurant and choosing grass fed organic cheeseburger with avocado and pepper jack yeah and pepper jack but that doesn't mean that you can't actually get your hands on one of those as well yeah i.

[Matt]

Think that's a good analogy so what does this mean because ludaine asked what does this mean for funds that you've already got hanging out in a roth ira it doesn't mean anything because even if the backdoor roth were to go away which i don't know that it will again lots of threats it's never really happened any money you have in a roth ira currently it would not be subject to any consequences man it makes me think of peter thiel he's got five billion dollars hanging out in his roth ira from his early days when he was getting paid i guess in like stock options from ebay or something like that throw it back to ebay from earlier in this episode yeah and so he's he's loaded but the money in the account is just in there doing its thing so the consequences of changing future allocation strategies it's not going to impact his roth ira it's not going to impact lou dane's roth ira it's not going to impact yours or mine money that's inside of the roth stays in the roth it is like protected in a cocoon of roughness and so i wouldn't worry about just.

[Joel]

As senator william roth intended there you.

[Matt]

Go do you want to you want to go into any of that history of how the roth was created how justice was made i just know that.

[Joel]

He was a senator okay he assumes.

[Matt]

The one who introduced the legislature i'm.

[Joel]

Assuming he yeah assuming he was a sponsor on that bill perhaps and i know he was from the state of delaware and tip of the cap to senator william roth this has been your.

[Matt]

Personal finance history lesson for the day.

[Joel]

Oh nineteen ninety seven that's when so it was part of a bill i think it was the taxpayer relief bill.

[Matt]

Or more than you're letting on well.

[Joel]

It comes to you but which is crazy to think because it's something that we talk about all the time but it's only it's not even thirty years old man that is crazy like yeah roth ira is still gen z you know it feels like it's been around forever it's a zoomer account even though it's still pretty young i would not be concerned with it going away like this is i mean gosh i could not imagine any sort of future scenario that would mean that we didn't have.

[Matt]

Access to iraq that's the good and the bad of legislation that passes federally is it's pretty hard to undo and unwind even if the majority gets into power that doesn't like the thing that was passed undoing it proves a lot harder than pushing it through in the first place so they just try to like maim it or they just kind of forget that it exists but really it's hard to undo those sorts of things so i wouldn't worry about future tax law changes coming back to bychu last piece of advice beware of the pro rata rule we've talked about this before too this strategy is cleanest if you don't currently have any money sitting in a traditional ira if you do have money sitting in one you could be subject to paying taxes on that conversion so the backdoor roth yeah might go away at some point in the future but for now take full advantage.

[Joel]

Of it and if you do make those non deductible contributions to your ira don't forget about form eight thousand six hundred and six the irs is going to come a knocking they're going to.

[Matt]

Want that as well turn that puppy in all right let's talk about let's get to a few more questions including one about comps and how to judge the value of your home when you're putting it on the market we'll get to that and more right after this.

[Joel]

You probably think it's too soon to join aarp right well let's take a minute to talk about it where do you see yourself in fifteen years more specifically your career your health your social life what are you doing now to help you to get there well there are tons of ways for you to start preparing today for your future with.

[Matt]

Aarp what about that dream job you've dreamt about sign up for aarp reskilling courses to help make it a reality how about that active lifestyle you've only spoken about from the couch aarp has health tips and wellness tools to keep you moving for years to come but none of these experiences are without making friends along the way connect with your community through aarp volunteer events so it's.

[Joel]

Safe to say it's never too soon to join aarp they're here to help your money your health and happiness live as long as you do that's why the younger you are the more you need aarp learn more at aarp dot org wisefriends hey y' all it's joel and matt from how to money joel you were just out in seattle recently.

[Matt]

Weren'T you yeah man it was amazing i went for one of the most glorious runs of my life along the waterfront it had everything you could ask for crisp air mountain views fairies gliding.

[Joel]

Across the water beautiful i love it man yeah for us our road trip through charlottesville was a highlight we actually splurged on a custom built airbnb and it was well worth it the house had these unique touches like a poured concrete counter there in the kitchen with a built in drying rack super functional it even inspired some ideas for our.

[Matt]

House plus with a kitchen like that you save money eating out yes exactly.

[Joel]

That'S what struck me what seems normal to a homeowner it can be the thing that makes a guest trip really.

[Matt]

Special which is why hosting makes sense right travelers are looking for those authentic memorable spaces and if you don't have time to manage all that well airbnb's co host feature makes it easy a local co host can help with everything from creating the listing to keeping your place running smooth yeah so while you.

[Joel]

Are off making your travel memories your home could be helping someone else make theirs find a co host at airbnb dot com host.

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[Joel]

We are back from the break joel and it is now time for the facebook question of the week which is from mario who writes i'm looking to buy a house and my real estate agent says we can submit an as is offer and still back out if there are issues found in the inspection can anyone confirm joel you're going to confirm or deny mario okay.

[Matt]

I think i'm going to say mostly confirm let's get into although details it's all about what's in the contract so maybe first off we should talk about why someone would make an as is offering typically it's in an effort to stand out from other potential buyers yeah.

[Joel]

This guy sounds like he's hassle free yeah exactly i'm going to choose mario.

[Matt]

From the lineup exactly like it's if the home is older the seller might be worried about the post inspection demands for repairs and so an offer that looks superior might end up being in fear after all of the stuff the requests for repair that they come back with but if you're an astute home buyer and you submit an as is offering you might be able to get a better price because the buyer is more apt to deal with someone who's not going to be requesting all those repairs or the price concessions because of water in the basement it's musty down there and we want you to do an encapsulation which is like a fifteen thousand dollars job and we want you to replace the siding on the house because woodpeckers have been poking holes in it like in matt's siding those dang woodpeckers i know right this can also reduce the time it takes to get to the closing table which can also be really valuable for some sellers and so there are reasons to submit as his offers like mario is interested in and there are potential benefits to him and to buyers like him i think you just have to be careful to use the process properly so that you don't put yourself behind the eight ball.

[Joel]

Sure yeah but even with an as is offer mario you typically will still ask for a due diligence period which gives you time oftentimes like a week or ten days to get an inspection to make sure that the property is in decent condition but so like joel said what if something's up with a house if the inspection report turns up some some significant damage well that might cost you a ton of money to fix in order to what was it like mitigate right like some of the some of the issues remediation any issues that the house might have it might.

[Matt]

Be like small time stuff which is what you're hoping for if you've seen the house and you think it's in great shape but it could be bigger yeah but it could be big stuff that you just hadn't seen that's and.

[Joel]

I can sour the deal and that's when you might want to back out and so the key is to make sure that the contract has an unrestricted right that the offer has this written in that you have the unrestricted right to terminate within that due diligence period.

[Matt]

That is your protection mario yeah with the as is offer you don't have the ability to go back and say hey there are all these issues can you fix them but you do have the ability to say hey there are all these issues i'm out yeah and you have the ability to walk away.

[Joel]

And i even hate saying this because this you know it's technically called an as is offer so no negotiating but everything is kind of negotiable because what if you go to that seller and you say hey or you know that your agent is probably the one doing this and it's like well the inspection turned up the fact that it needs a new roof and the h vac is shot well guess what any buyer that is making an offer on that house is going to run into the exact same thing so it's like hey you can knock ten twenty thousand dollars off now or you can have the next guy like you're just gonna you.

[Matt]

Can relist it and hope that you find somebody who's gonna give us a better deal than we are but like.

[Joel]

The reason i chose aruf and h vac is those are like typically systems that never get overlooked when it comes to an inspection and so this is what i'm pointing out here is that if the seller or the agent's like wait a minute why why do you want to back out and you provide them a copy of the inspection they might say hey what if we go ahead and knock twenty off boom that's called negotiating and that might be an instance to where you've had your cake and gotten to eat it too right so you got the as is offer but then at the same time oh turns out that they are willing to negotiate because they see the writing on the wall they see the future which happens to include a whole lot of additional sellers making the same request or potentially backing out for the exact same.

[Matt]

Buyers right buyers making that i'm sorry yeah buyers buyers any buyer coming to the door is going to see those same things you're seeing and they're going to price or reduce the price in their minds and in their offer accordingly this just makes me think matt as there's been more equilibrium in the housing market and actually the pendulum is swinging towards buyers having a little more control it used to be you remember like three years ago and it was like better not ask for any concessions better not ask for any money off because they're just going to like laugh in your face and move on to the next buyer well you have a lot more opportunity to to go through and be a little hard nosed like you can negotiate more as the buyer so i think it's just important to mention that to anybody out there who is in that position where they're looking to buy a home you've got more power in your hands these days than you have in recent history yeah homes have.

[Joel]

Been sitting on the market for a.

[Matt]

Good bit longer yeah all right and more deals falling through as well all right let's get to another facebook question this one comes from anonymous my favorite poster who says i'm in the process of selling my house through a realtor i sold day one at three hundred ninety five thousand dollars my neighbor across the street sold their house for three hundred eighty five thousand dollars in twenty twenty one we used that as a comp our house is actually bigger and we have updates throughout the whole house the bank had the house appraised and it appraised for three hundred eighty thousand dollars the people who are buying our house said they will buy the house at the appraisal price which makes sense the person who came to the house the bank's choice was at my place for five minutes a realtor is telling us to take the cut in price but i wanted to get a second opinion she said that's how it works it's the bank's choice i think it's bs has anyone been in this situation.

[Joel]

Before yeah an appraisal that comes in too low man like there's so much to say here well first of all i'll say that using a house that sold on your street four years ago as a comp that doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me because the housing market has changed so much in that time and so use similar homes that have sold recently like i'm talking in the like the past like three to six months even if they aren't in your specific neighborhood like you got to say this because using a sale from four years ago like in my book this essentially has no bearing on what your home is worth now.

[Matt]

So it has emotional valence sure but it doesn't have in terms of like data what the banks care about what the appraisers care about what buyers care.

[Joel]

About that's the biggest red flag in this whole transaction to me they care.

[Matt]

Not one bit well your neighbor's house sold for four years ago sorry to say it but it's true but your reaction is so similar to a lot of other sellers you've seen your neighbor sell and do well and you want to get or exceed the price that they got especially if you think your house is better than theirs but sadly it just doesn't always work like that the housing market it's alive matt it's continually moving it's changing it's morphing it's shifting and houses tend to increase in value over time but not in a linear way and we are seeing price drop across more of the country we're seeing more deals fall through after this massive run up in prices and so it's it's good for buyers because it's bringing balance back but it can be tough for sellers to stomach it can be even if they're still selling pretty darn close to the high point and they're making a massive profit because they've owned the home for ten years and let's say it's tripled in value that's amazing but it's still hard that loss aversion part of us feels really bad that we made ten grand less than our neighbor sure yeah so we've talked.

[Joel]

About comps we've talked about what the market has done overall let's now talk about the appraisal because i think that can also be frustrating and they're not always spot on i want to put on your radar here that you can request another appraisal if you think that this is way off but you'd want to submit comps that prove your case we're talking again about those recently sold homes and this isn't completely irregular though because most buyers are understandably understandably going to be hesitant to pay more than what the home appraises for but i've seen buyers and sellers meet in the middle but i also get that it's tough to make less than what was previously agreed upon because of this crummy appraisal but what i'm this is at least a fifteen thousand dollars conversation here and so considering you probably don't want to fork out five hundred bucks for another appraisal but i think it could definitely it could be money well spent if we're because of how much additional money that we're talking about but they.

[Matt]

Might not even be willing to do another appraisal the bank might be like sorry this is is what stands unless you can submit proof that there are other comps we should be considering and it makes me think my my sister just bought a new home on some land and the appraisal came in so she was on the buyer side of the equation the appraisal came in less than what they had offered and agreed to and so she made out like a bandit through the buyer yeah they met in the middle and i'm sure the seller was like none too pleased to lose thousands of dollars in that transaction but she was like all right we we saved more money than we thought we were going to we were willing to pay that higher price but the appraisal kind of saved our bacon so this is not completely random this sort of stuff happens but i get i get it that it's frustrating and this is a case where i guess you know you can relist your home against your agent's wishes in hopes that you're going to make more when another buyer comes along because this was also day one they agreed to a day one offer which is in some ways a great thing because it's nice to have that offer in hand and be like great i'm super stoked but you also run the risk of that home lingering longer costing you more money and yeah i don't know check check recently sold homes on zillow on redfin have a frank conversation ask your your realtor if they think your home can truly fetch more in this environment but it's a this is a tough one matt i hate it for the seller but i also realize that this is kind of one of those parts of selling homes and it's just not as clean as you want it to be i.

[Joel]

Would be willing to relist especially given the fact that it was day one and given the fact that like it's in your realtor's best interest to go ahead and take the bird in the hand and to avoid all the additional work that might go into having to realist and reshow it or you could.

[Matt]

Go back and ask the buyer and say hey listen we know that it appraised at three hundred eighty and we had agreed at three hundred ninety five let's meet in the middle and then maybe everyone's happy but then it also.

[Joel]

Comes down to what the bank is willing to loan because that would likely mean that the seller probably has to come to the table with that additional money that's exactly right the bank's not going to be willing to these are the discussions tough spot to be in.

[Matt]

Yeah all right matt let's get back to the beer that we had this was a rice lager super crisp by high wire brewing what'd you think of.

[Joel]

It well super crisp is exactly how.

[Matt]

I describe it put a cape on.

[Joel]

This puppy it was super crisp so clean highly refreshing and dare i say i feel much more hydrated after i've enjoyed this beer which i know you love to say that that's not how it works but if that's how you.

[Matt]

Feel it works i think it counts.

[Joel]

It'S all about emotions and feelings over.

[Matt]

Facts man yeah it's all about the vibes i'm gonna say this was you dig it this was dry this was light it was effervescent it tingled on my tongue yeah in a beautiful little way so haven't had a rice lager in a while but especially when your tongue is feeling obliterated by super hazy ipas by barrel aged stouts by funky sours does this feel like a palate.

[Joel]

Cleanser it does i will say it's kind of refreshing we don't drink nearly as crazy off the wall stuff as we used to like that used to be all we ever would gravitate towards oh yeah like i mean the higher the abv the wackier the flavors the harder to say due to the exotic ingredients that were in the beers the.

[Matt]

Better well beers have gotten crazier and i think that trend is kind of relenting and we are seeing more beers like this i pulled out a kbs recently with my father in law and i was like oh yeah this is still good but man i've had some stouts that were like way stoutier you know way more robust than kbs feels a little like run of the mill these days even though it used to be one of those top notch beers that everybody sought after yeah that's right.

[Joel]

But again this was rice lager super crisp by high wire brewing out of asheville glad you and i got to enjoy this today stuff that's gonna be it for this episode i'm trying to think if we referenced anything you mentioned the conversation you had with cody garrett well we'll link to that one in the show notes along with other resources up on the website at howtomoney dot com that's going to be it buddy so until next time best friends out best friends out.

[Podcast Host (Intro/Outro)]

Sami gente it's ana.

[Matt]

Ortiz and i'm markin delicato you might.

[Podcast Host (Intro/Outro)]

Know us as hilda and justin from ugly betty welcome to our new podcast be my betty yay we're rewatching the series from start to finish and getting into all the fashions the drama and the behind the scenes moments that you've never heard before but you were still bartending i didn't know that the carpack is like is that you and i turn around and it's a commercial for betty and i was like i gotta go i quit listen to viva betty on the iheartradio app apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts this is an iheart podcast.