Rage-Baiting Ourselves With America’s Shocking Home Prices

Summary

Smart Money Happy Hour (Ramsey Network)

Episode Summary: "Rage-Baiting Ourselves With America’s Shocking Home Prices"

Date: May 28, 2026
Hosts: Rachel Cruze, George Kamel
Guest: Winston Cruze

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Overview

In this lively, game-filled episode, two money experts (Rachel and George) and special guest Winston Cruze (Rachel’s husband and longtime real estate professional) take listeners on a wild ride through the jaw-dropping range of American home prices. Blending humor with hard-won expertise, they play a real estate guessing game—think "Price is Right" and "House Hunters"—to reveal the extremes and surprises of today’s housing market. Along the way, they offer practical advice for buyers, sellers, and investors, and riff on what makes a home truly valuable beyond the sticker price.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Real Estate Game Show: Guess the Price and Location

• Episode Format:

  • George acts as game show host, presenting Rachel and Winston with eight mystery houses. Each receives only a photo and the state—no other info up front.
  • Their challenge: Guess the city and the house price. Three hints per house allowed.
  • The segment is packed with friendly competition—a hallmark of Rachel’s on-air persona.
  • Lots of banter, city mixups, and price shocks ensue, giving listeners a "reality check" on just how wild home prices can be across the US.

  Notable Quotes:

  • "We’re basically doing this triple feature of Price is Right meets Newlywed Game meets House Hunters." —George [04:05]
  • "My gut is usually right. It’s called intuition, fellas." —Rachel [04:02]

Examples of Surprising Home Prices:

• Seven-bed historic home in Charleston, SC: $4 million
  • Winston guessed $1.1 million; Rachel guessed $600,000 (also misidentified city as Wilmington, SC, which doesn’t exist) [09:09].
  • "Can I tell you, when I saw the red knobs on the oven, I went, this is at least a $2 million house." —George [09:22]
• $99,000 house in Saginaw, MI: Five beds, 1.5 baths, ~2,000 sq ft
  • Both shocked at the low price—another reminder of regional price swings [14:24].
• Underground Las Vegas fallout shelter with pool and “fake outdoors”: $5.9 million
  • "That looks like an average house in the first picture, but there is a full on fallout shelter with a separate house and fake outdoor space below ground. It was built in the 70s, which tracks as a Cold War bunker." —George [21:03]
  • Rachel references ‘Blast From the Past’, connecting the house to pop culture [21:07].

Big Takeaway:

• "Everyone thinks like where I am, that is the housing market. But the range of $100,000 to $5 million…location, location, location."_ —George [30:19–30:22]

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2. Advice for First-Time Homebuyers

Main Points:

• Don’t buy a house out of desperation or treat it as a “magic solution”—the newness wears off quickly.
• "This house isn’t the answer to all your problems. Honestly, after a year or two years, it’s just another house. There will be spaghetti on the floor and holes in the wall." —Winston [33:11]
• Get an inspection—don’t waive it, even in a competitive market.
• Trust your gut: “If something feels off or too rushed, walk away.” —Winston [34:54]

Red Flags/Deal Breakers:

• Issues with numbers not making sense
• Rushed timeline or pressured deals
• Hidden or undisclosed structural issues, especially foundation or water problems

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3. DIY Upgrades & When to Renovate vs Move

Easy, Value-Adding Upgrades:

• Paint, curb appeal, landscaping
• Cabinet and door hardware
• Light fixtures (“Paint goes a long way. Curb appeal will make you feel a lot better.” —Winston [38:05])
• Basic electrical tasks—if comfortable (“If you know how to turn a breaker off, you can figure it out.” —Winston to George, [38:42])

What to Look for in a New Build:

• Avoid getting distracted by “lipstick” finishes; focus on structure and quality.
• "Structure is everything. Rachel looks at the lipstick, and lipstick is cheap." —Winston [45:27]
• Check builder quality, crawl spaces, insulation, HVAC, and trim (“Trim is a big deal. The trim makes the man.” —Winston/George [49:46–49:53])

When to Upgrade vs Move:

• If you’re fighting the house (layout, structural issues) and upgrades won’t make it liveable, it’s time to move.
• For updates, start with a list of annoyances; calculate what’s feasible or cost-efficient to change [44:05].

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4. Real Estate Investing 101

When Are You Ready?

• Don’t carry consumer debt.
• Investment property should not exceed 25-50% of net worth (excluding your home).
• Pay cash—never take out a mortgage for investment property.
  • "If you're worth a million bucks, don't go any more than $250K on an investment property, obviously paying cash." —George [50:38–50:44]
  • "The best deals are the most boring deals." —Winston [51:33]

The Numbers:

• Buy under market value and be ready for repairs; “make money on the buy, not the rent.”
• "Always buy flights on the actual website…Find the deal, but then book it directly through the airline." —Winston [58:47] (Generalizes to all major purchases: go direct; discount deals often have hidden costs.)

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5. Highlights, Humor, and Personal Anecdotes

Notable Quotes & Moments:

• Rachel confusing US cities: "In Armadillo, Texas, we have Katrina... (meant Amarillo)" [07:29]
• Baseboards banter: "Would you say you like the trim package? You like big baseboards and you cannot lie..." —George [49:29, 00:20]
• George’s glee over bargain home prices: “Never seen someone so excited to be almost half right” [11:21]
• Winston’s war stories from house flipping: “If you see varmint, you’re like, great, we got the right house…Hoarding houses are pretty alarming…years of fast food, on the bed.” —Winston [39:33–40:10]

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Opening & Introductions: [00:05–01:32]
• Real Estate Guessing Game: [04:05–30:19]
  • Charleston, SC $4M shock: [09:07]
  • Saginaw, MI $99K surprise: [14:24]
  • Las Vegas fallout shelter: [20:43]
• Reflections on Home Prices ("Location, Location, Location"): [30:19–31:10]
• Advice for First-Time Homebuyers: [33:00–36:40]
• Deal Breakers & Inspections: [34:54–37:18]
• DIY Upgrades & What Adds Value: [37:39–39:00]
• Flipping Houses: Horror Stories: [39:33–41:20]
• Renovate vs Move: [42:26–44:55]
• Quality in New Builds: [45:05–49:46]
• Real Estate Investing Fundamentals: [50:03–52:24]
• Wrap-up, Drink Review & Guilty As Charged Segment: [52:43–59:16]

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Memorable Quotes

"My gut is usually right. It’s called intuition, fellas."
— Rachel Cruze [04:02]

"The new home is not going to fix all your life’s problems...after a year or two it’s just another house."
— Winston Cruze [33:11]

"If something feels off or the deal feels rushed...walk away."
— Winston Cruze [34:54]

"The best deals are the most boring deals."
— Winston Cruze [51:33]

"Location, location, location."
— Collective wisdom, repeated throughout

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Tone & Style

• Lighthearted, playful, competitive, and nostalgic—with real technical expertise beneath the surface.
• Frequent inside jokes, with Rachel self-deprecating about U.S. geography, George quipping about details, and Winston gently poking fun while dropping “pro tips.”

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Practical Takeaways

• Prices for homes can swing massively by region, city, and even small details or history.
• Emotional detachment and practical inspections are crucial for buyers.
• Upgrades that improve quality of life (not just resale value) are worth considering.
• For investing, caution is crucial: no debt, cash purchases, and buy under market value.
• Don't get fooled by "discounts" or third-party deals (whether on flights or houses).

---

Conclusion

This episode is equal parts fun, educational, and eye-opening for anyone curious (or frustrated) about American real estate in 2026. The mix of game show antics, family chemistry, and candid pro tips makes it one of the most engaging—and useful—installments for new buyers, homeowners, and would-be investors alike.

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“You win at real estate by knowing your market, not falling in love at first sight. And if you see baseboards that match the house, that’s a cherry on top.”
— George Kamel & Winston Cruze (paraphrased)

Transcript

[A]

If you love House Hunters, the Price is Right or Winston Cruz, you're gonna love today's episode if you love all three Chef's Kiss. I've turned a breaker off or two in my day. Flip on. Flip on.

[B]

Yeah, yeah.

[C]

Flip a breaker.

[B]

Would you say you like the trim package? Has to do.

[A]

You like big baseboards? And you cannot lie if it matches the house. Is that something you would say?

[C]

Hey, guys, I'm rachel cru.

[A]

I'm george camel.

[B]

And I'm winston cruz.

[C]

And this is smart money happy hour. Cheers.

[A]

Cheers.

[B]

Oh, sorry, I wasn't ready.

[C]

Did you forget get the cut?

[A]

Have you never seen the show, winston?

[C]

Cheers.

[A]

I just. That's fine.

[B]

Yeah, I have.

[A]

I know you consume a lot of content.

[C]

No pressure. No pressure. Well, this is the show where two friends who happen to be money experts talk about what you're talking about. Everything from pop culture, current events, and money.

[A]

Let's talk about what we're sipping on. I believe this was a Winston Cruz request.

[C]

Yes.

[A]

We let him choose the drink today.

[C]

I texted you. I said what I did.

[B]

So a long list of sugar frees.

[C]

Sugar free cocktails.

[A]

And we landed on one of my favorites. Great taste, my friend. A ranch water. It's a great cocktail.

[B]

A classic.

[A]

Very clean. We're gonna give you our rating and reveal the cost per glass at the end of the episode. So stick around for that. All right. It only made sense to have the real estate king himself join us today. This is your life, all right? Whether you wanted it to be this way or not. You've been in the real estate game for how long?

[B]

15 years.

[A]

Amazing. And for a long time, and partially now you handle Dave Ramsey's real estate.

[B]

Right?

[A]

That's pretty impressive. And now you've been doing it on your own and even getting some house flipping. Is that right?

[B]

Yep. Doing a little house flipping. Still doing some development and property management.

[A]

Do you actually swing? Like a sledgehammer to drywall?

[B]

Is that just for me? Yeah, I did until I realized they could do it in a day and it would take me weeks to do the demo.

[A]

So with, like, equipment or just. They're stronger than you.

[B]

They're just more efficient.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

Just more efficient.

[A]

You're more haphazard with it.

[C]

You did get a sledgehammer, which I

[B]

did for Christmas, actually.

[A]

That's pretty good.

[B]

I got a crowbar. And then I watched. And then I watched them do it.

[A]

Where do you buy a crowbar without them, like, giving you a look?

[B]

There's a. Do you have a Home Depot I

[A]

do, but if I went for a crowbar, there'd be police outside being like, what does this guy need a crowbar for? He clearly doesn't know what to do with it, other than break into a car.

[B]

You'd be surprised when you hold it all of a sudden, you just know.

[A]

You transform.

[B]

You will try.

[C]

The spirit takes over.

[A]

Well, for those of you who don't know, Winston is Rachel's husband, Cruz. Same last name. Same last name, relation.

[C]

Thanks for coming, babe.

[B]

No, thank you all for being here.

[C]

Yeah, we wanted to.

[B]

Thanks for doing this show.

[C]

Yeah, you're welcome.

[A]

Well, honestly, every time you're on, it juices the numbers. So we're like, let's get Winston back on, Bab.

[B]

I know. My rate just went way up. Thanks for telling me.

[A]

You got paid for this.

[B]

No.

[A]

Okay, good.

[C]

But we did. We talked about doing a real estate episode and knowing that you're in the market a lot, whether it's the development side, residential side. And so we were like, okay, let's have some fun with this. And we love a game. You know? I love games.

[B]

Oh, yeah.

[A]

Because she's competitive and has a need to win constantly. Is that fair?

[B]

Yeah. You'll. Yeah. Yes. I was going to say you'll see, but you completely. No. There's whiteboards.

[C]

Here we are, ready for the game.

[A]

Luckily, I'm just the game show host today. It's you two against me. I know.

[B]

And the pressure's on me because you introduced me with the title of a real estate king.

[A]

Guru. Is that a better term? I practice, you know, your baseboards.

[B]

I practice real estate. That's what.

[A]

That's why they call it, you know, your crown molding.

[C]

You know your baseboards, don't you?

[A]

I do. I like a man who knows his baseboard.

[B]

So, anyways, the pressure's on because, you know, Rachel, she might.

[C]

I'm pretty good, too.

[B]

Yeah, she's pretty good.

[C]

I'm pretty good, too.

[A]

Yeah, she's a good guesser.

[C]

I'm not as detailed.

[B]

She just goes straight from the gut.

[A]

But her gut is usually right. I like it.

[C]

Well, it's called intuition, fellas.

[A]

If you've watched Game Show Network HGTV in the early 2000s, we're basically doing this triple feature of Price is Right meets Newlywed Game meets House Hunters.

[C]

This is fun.

[A]

You win.

[B]

I'm here.

[A]

Stakes are high.

[B]

You're not going back now.

[C]

All right, what's the game? George, how are you?

[A]

Our team found eight house listings, and I have the price in the location. You Two do not. And you two have pictures of each house. That's all you are going off of, is pictures of the house. You got to guess where those homes are in the country and how much they're going for.

[C]

Okay. I think not to be the boss of this. I think we get the same. Isn't that correct?

[B]

Okay, can you give us a.

[C]

You tell us the state, we do the city and the state.

[A]

I'll give you the state. Yeah, I'll do that. All right. Eight rounds. You can ask for three hints, and I will reveal a clue to help you build context. So there's a little bit of a phone, a friend.

[C]

Okay.

[A]

I don't want to see you struggle. They do. The audience. But I would never.

[C]

No, you're so generous, George.

[B]

Yeah, you're so kind.

[A]

All right, let's get to it. Our first house, should we say the state. Shall we? Is in South Carolina.

[C]

Okay. I need you to give. There's pictures. You tell me which house you're talking about.

[A]

Am I giving it to you?

[C]

Okay. Perfect. Is this it?

[A]

You can handle the cards?

[B]

Oh, they're written.

[C]

Okay, Here we go.

[A]

I don't think I need to hand you the cards.

[C]

Okay.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

They're in order. The team did all the work for you.

[C]

Beautiful.

[A]

You just sit there. Enjoy yourself.

[C]

Be the podcast princess that I am.

[A]

Hello. So the audience. We've got the picture up on the screen for the audience. This home is in South Carolina. You have to guess the city.

[C]

That's pretty.

[A]

And the price.

[C]

Okay.

[B]

Oh, no.

[A]

I'm a fan of Speller.

[B]

I did kind of want to grade on spelling, but.

[C]

No, don't. Okay. And I'm gonna say, wow, it looks rendered. Isn't that fun? Is it the spelling? Hold on.

[B]

No, no, it's the city, babies. It spells. I would never have thought of that.

[C]

Well. Cause I think it's gonna be obscure. I'm like, I could go Charleston, but I think that's, like, too obvious. So I'm gonna go, like, a little different.

[A]

Okay.

[C]

Different routes.

[B]

Interesting psychology.

[C]

Okay. And I'm gonna go. All right, y', all, I know nothing about real estate as I'm doing this. Okay, I got it.

[A]

All right.

[B]

Can we do closes without going over?

[C]

Can I ask how many bedrooms?

[A]

You may.

[C]

Okay.

[A]

This is one of your clues.

[C]

Okay.

[A]

Seven. Oh, good.

[C]

Crap.

[A]

Don't judge a book by its cover.

[C]

All right, all right.

[A]

Just erase her answer.

[C]

Okay.

[A]

Winston, I feel like you should get a hint since she got one.

[B]

Does it have, like, year built?

[A]

Yeah, built in the 1830s.

[C]

Oh, historic, historic, historic.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

That is a part of history.

[C]

Obviously. Renovated, obviously.

[A]

I mean, you see the beautiful kitchen?

[B]

Let's do it, y'.

[C]

All.

[A]

All right, let's see your guesses for this beautiful home in South Carolina. What's the cost?

[C]

Okay, you went.

[A]

1.1 million. Charleston.

[C]

Okay.

[A]

Rachel.

[C]

Wilmington, South Carolina, 600.

[A]

Wow.

[C]

Seven bedrooms is big.

[B]

I did change.

[A]

You think you can get a seven bedroom house for $600,000 in Wilmington?

[C]

I do.

[A]

Okay.

[C]

That's true.

[A]

Well, the winner for this round. What? North Carolina? Yeah. I didn't want to say anything, but there is no Wilmington, South Carolina.

[B]

This is great. This is getting better.

[A]

I didn't want to kick her while she was down. She was already so far off.

[B]

I don't know how this is going to get better. This is going to be. This is going to be rad.

[A]

To be fair, on the Ramsey show this week, she said, all right.

[C]

In Armadillo, Texas, we have Katrina on Armadillo.

[A]

And I went. It says Amarillo. Amari, Armadillo. There was no D in there. How'd she get so just. I want to make. It's actually a point to Rachel. She's just not good with cities. So I don't dog her for Wilmington, South Carolina. You don't get a negative point for that, dad Gummet.

[C]

Y', all, I thought. I'm really going big here. Dad Gummet, South Carolina. Okay, stop. Okay. How about changing your answer? I'm changing my city. Yes. Because it doesn't exist.

[A]

Okay, how about this? What if I told you.

[C]

Stop. I got it. I got it.

[A]

Oh, you do. She's got it.

[C]

I got it.

[A]

I thought you wanted another hint.

[C]

I got it.

[A]

That might help.

[B]

We get three hints per house.

[C]

How about this?

[A]

Millions per house. They're making up the rules as they go.

[B]

What is this?

[C]

Greenville.

[B]

Oh.

[C]

Oh.

[A]

That is in South Carolina. You're right.

[B]

Good job.

[C]

Perfect. This feels right.

[A]

I'm gonna unpack.

[B]

Shout out to Greenville.

[C]

Okay.

[B]

I think there's an E in between the.

[C]

Thank you.

[A]

I didn't wanna say anything.

[C]

Okay. I got really G, R, E, E,

[A]

N, E. You know what? I don't think there's any. I think that was right on the side.

[C]

That looks off. Thank you. Okay, spelling negative.

[A]

One point for Winston.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Minus one.

[C]

Okay. Got it. Okay.

[B]

This has been the longest round.

[A]

Wow. We're going to be here all day.

[C]

All right, I got it, I got it, I got it.

[A]

Okay, here we go.

[C]

Okay.

[A]

Still wrong, but love the effort.

[C]

Okay. Is it Charleston? It is, dad Gummet.

[A]

So Charleston is correct. Winston wins. He wins this round. He is way off on the price. Multiply that by about four.

[B]

Oh, my gosh.

[A]

$4 million for this beautiful historic home in Charleston, South Carolina. Coming in at seven beds, seven baths, 4,400 square feet. It's got a carriage house and a pool.

[C]

Oh, good night, house.

[A]

Can I tell you, when I saw the red knobs on the oven, I went, this is at least a $2 million house.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Oh, didn't see those. Well done.

[A]

You got to focus in on the details, guys. To be fair, we're looking at tiny, like, printed off art crafts.

[B]

Really well done, though.

[A]

1 megapixel photos. Couldn't have given them an iPad or something to zoom in around?

[C]

We're low budget here. We gotta pay Winston's fee. We gotta save money on this episode.

[B]

That's right.

[A]

It's fine.

[C]

Okay, what's our next one?

[B]

My show has a lot better quality.

[C]

Jesus. All right, next up.

[B]

Oh, boy.

[A]

We're headed to Kentucky.

[C]

We got Kentucky. How many bedrooms?

[A]

Four beds. Okay, can I see the picture now?

[C]

I like the red door.

[A]

Yeah, that's accurate. Okay.

[B]

I mean, like, the gutters are falling off.

[C]

Well, see, details, babe. You got it now?

[B]

Yeah. George's got me thinking now.

[C]

Okay, I'm gonna see the doors are

[B]

falling off the gutters.

[A]

Oh, see, that's the kind of detail Winston brings to the show.

[B]

George, stop.

[A]

How do you even see that on this tiny image? And it's got a little basement. All right, clearly they got some new fixtures in there.

[C]

I'm gonna change this. I'm gonna change the location. Oh, I like this.

[A]

Let me say this. You will never guess the location.

[C]

Well, maybe. Maybe what's closest to it wins. Whoever's closest to the other.

[A]

I'll pull up my Google Maps.

[C]

Yeah, do it.

[B]

We will never guess it.

[A]

I don't know every single city in Kentucky memorized by proximity.

[C]

Okay.

[A]

All right, you guys ready?

[C]

Yep.

[A]

What do you got?

[C]

Oh, my gosh. Babe.

[A]

We have the same Lexington, Kentucky. Rachel said 300k. Winston said 550k. Correct answer. Not in Lexington. It's in Danville, Kentucky. Okay, coming in at 275,000.

[B]

Well done.

[A]

I did it. Never seen someone so excited to be almost half right. This is a beautiful four bed, two bath home coming in at just over 2,000 square feet.

[C]

Okay.

[A]

Clearly renovated. I can see by the fixtures there. And the kitchen, you can see it's got some newer appliances.

[B]

It's, like, kind of renovated. Yeah, I mean, like, they did, like, 10 years ago.

[A]

Appliances and light fixtures. Maybe some flooring. I can tell the basement has some new flooring. Would you agree?

[B]

I don't know. I put it down.

[A]

That looks like a more modern Floyd. You think that's engineered LVT?

[B]

Yeah, definitely. It's $200,000.

[A]

275 in Danville, which, as the crow flies.

[C]

Yeah. How far is that?

[A]

South of Lexington?

[C]

Okay, not bad. 60 miles.

[A]

Not even. Okay, 36 miles. So less than an hour drive.

[C]

Okay, I think we could say Lexington.

[A]

And that's a. I mean, that's a nice house. Like 275 to sure have a four bedroom.

[C]

Raise that family.

[A]

Because people always go, well, Rachel, I mean, medium home price is over 400,000. Can't get anything for that.

[C]

Not in Danville.

[B]

Not in Danville.

[A]

Move to Danville.

[B]

Or Wilmington, South Carolina.

[A]

A new city coming to you. To be fair, we don't know that there isn't a Wilmington, South Carolina.

[C]

There might be.

[A]

Well, you never know. No, there isn't. There's a Massachusetts, Illinois, Delaware, Ohio, Vermont. You could have guessed any of those.

[C]

I know. All right, next up.

[A]

Up next, we're headed to Michigan.

[C]

We're going to Michigan.

[A]

A ways away.

[C]

Okay, this is an interesting.

[A]

This looks like a little hobbit home.

[C]

Mm.

[A]

It's giving shier.

[C]

It's cute.

[B]

I had a joke.

[A]

What do you call that? Winston? That kind of low slant, like a George home. Okay, you know what? It was my idea to have you on the show, and it'll be my idea next time to not have it.

[B]

Joe, you can cut it. Cut it. I don't know. It's fine.

[A]

No, it's fine. I do like that it looks a little more my size.

[B]

It is cute, though.

[C]

It is cute, though.

[A]

Interesting. Chicken.

[B]

The Keebler door's about to pop out.

[A]

It does give Keebler. You're right.

[C]

It's giving Keebler.

[B]

It's giving Keebler.

[C]

It's a Keebler.

[B]

The city is the hardest part.

[C]

I know.

[B]

It changes everything.

[A]

Yeah. Again. You're not going to guess later?

[B]

Okay.

[A]

It's one of those cities where I'm like, yeah, I remember. That exists. But it would never have thought about it.

[C]

Yeah, then it's probably not this one. Okay, I'm going to go.

[A]

I'm giving you that free hint. That one's on me.

[B]

I'll just go with the biggest city in Michigan.

[C]

We went two different ones, babe. Okay, ready?

[A]

You going? State capital.

[B]

All right.

[A]

All right. Wow. Almost the same price point.

[C]

Oh, really?

[A]

Rachel? Said Grand Rapids, 300. 300 grand, Winston. Said Detroit 305 grand. Very price is right of you. You're both wrong. It is in Saginaw, Michigan.

[C]

Wow. Was that closer to Grand Rapids or.

[A]

Again, you're making me do all the work. Why not just see where the heck is Saginaw?

[C]

Yeah, see where that is.

[A]

And then if you live in Saginaw, are watching this right now, shout out

[C]

and how much is it?

[A]

The price point is $99,000. No less than 100 grand.

[C]

Stop it.

[A]

And this can't. Am I looking at the right house? Five bed, one and a half bath. Just under 2,000 square feet.

[C]

One and a half bath and five bedrooms.

[A]

Can you agree, Winston, that five bedrooms in a 2,000 square foot home is criminal?

[B]

I. I don't see any bedrooms. It's like, unless they're sleeping in the living room.

[A]

They did you dirty on that one to not show you any of the bedrooms?

[C]

Well, sometimes how a bedroom is like tin. You know what I mean?

[A]

Like, it's like a 10x10.

[C]

Yeah, like a small, little.

[A]

What is an. I mean, 10x10 is a pretty small room.

[B]

That's small.

[A]

Yeah, that's like my childhood home, I think was a 10x10 situation.

[C]

$99,000.

[A]

There you go.

[B]

Apparently.

[C]

Wow. Okay, where is it geographically?

[A]

Saginaw.

[B]

I missed it by five. $5,000. I'm losing 500,000. $5,000.

[A]

Oh, 5,000.

[B]

Yeah. It's two to one.

[A]

Rachel's technically closer.

[C]

Oh, because I was closer based on price you went over?

[A]

Yeah, I wasn't keeping score. That's not my style, but I'm glad someone is. Oh, Saginaw is about an hour, 42 minutes. About 100 miles away from Detroit if you go north.

[C]

Okay, so Grand. Further. Grand Rapids is further.

[A]

Yep.

[C]

Okay. That's okay.

[A]

There we go.

[C]

All right, next up.

[A]

That was a tough one.

[C]

Number four, California. Oh, this is beautiful.

[A]

All right, let's check out.

[C]

Okay, I got this one. Gosh. I'm going.

[A]

Wow. Okay, this is really. That's a nice.

[C]

That's beautiful. A frame.

[A]

Yeah, we love an A frame.

[C]

We love an A frame.

[A]

My OCD is very calmed by a nice, you know, symmetrical A frame. Huh.

[C]

Oh, my gosh. So pretty.

[A]

All right, you ready?

[C]

Yep.

[A]

Again, not a city you would have guessed, but let's see how close going? Redding Reading. Yeah, Interesting choice.

[C]

And I'm going three million.

[A]

Three million in Redding. Winston said Sacramento. 1.8 million. Wow. All right. It's in Crestline, California. It's $669,000.

[C]

Wow.

[A]

Three bed, three baths. A little over 1800 square feet. Okay, that's a shocking one. Now, let me see where Crestline is.

[C]

Is that Northern?

[A]

Crestline, California. Let me see how far it is from Reading.

[C]

Yes.

[A]

Thank you, Rachel. For ladies first, 9 hours and 28 minutes from reading.

[B]

It's a big state.

[C]

California's a big state.

[B]

It's a big state.

[A]

It's long. Wow. Okay. Crestline is actually pretty close to la, near Riverside area, Southern California.

[C]

It's only. How much?

[A]

It's $669,000. I mean, it looks like it's in the woods. I don't know how close it is to civilization.

[C]

Really nice.

[A]

Winston said Sacramento, which, again, is on the opposite side here. That is seven hours and two minutes. So technically, Winston's closer, Winston's closer, but who had the right. You had the lower price.

[C]

Yeah, you got that one.

[A]

That was a good one for you, crushing it.

[B]

Wait, what?

[A]

I don't know how you were closer on proximity and price.

[C]

Price and proximity.

[B]

Oh, we're doing. We're grading both location and price.

[C]

Sure. We're making it up.

[A]

Sure.

[B]

Okay.

[C]

I feel like we should.

[A]

All right, next up, Nevada.

[C]

Look at this house.

[A]

Are you into it?

[C]

No. It kind of is freaking me out a little bit.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

Okay, whoever lives here, look at the safe room. And is this, like, in the safe room? That whole thing? Look at that. Y'.

[A]

All. Have you ever seen. Y'?

[B]

All.

[C]

This is a house in a house. All of that is underneath the house.

[B]

I don't know what's happening in this house.

[C]

That is sketchy.

[A]

You ever seen the movie Parasite?

[C]

No.

[A]

Okay. Kind of reminds me.

[C]

Do you remember the. Who's the guy? Okay, follow, follow, follow me. Okay. Who's the guy that. He was in a caveman movie when we were kids. He was a caveman, and then he gained a ton of weight for a new role and then, like, got and won an Oscar for it. Who's that actor? Brendan Fraser.

[A]

Yes, Brendan Fraser.

[C]

Brendan Fraser was in a movie.

[A]

Was Tarzan a caveman?

[C]

No, no, no, no, no. Encino Man. That's it. Encino Man. He was a caveman that they, like, brought back from. Like, have y' all seen Encino Man? Oh, that's a good one. That's a 90s. But he was also in a movie that they went underground because they thought an atomic bomb had, like, exploded, so they lived underground. And then he came back up as an adult. Have y' all seen that? And he, like, do what? This is that. This Is that movie or no? No, this is like this situation. That's what I'm saying. Yeah. It's like. It's like a. When the world is gone, you can live under here and you live in a whole world. Like your home.

[B]

You think that pool's underground?

[C]

I do. Look at the roof. Yes. I genuinely think it's a. It's an entire.

[A]

Yeah, that makes sense.

[C]

So I gotta think of how much that cost for the sell of this house in Nevada.

[B]

I'm not buying it.

[C]

Buying the idea or buying the house.

[B]

I'm not buying the price. Like, that's just a. That's like a pink elephant that you're trying to sell.

[C]

That is true.

[B]

That's gonna be.

[C]

That's your real estate.

[A]

It's made for a very specific person.

[C]

Yeah, apparent very specific.

[A]

I'm shocked you went with Encino Man. I was thinking the Mummy. Bedazzled.

[C]

Yeah. Encino Man. Do you remember that, though?

[A]

No, I never saw Encino Man, y'.

[C]

All.

[A]

I was more bedazzled.

[C]

Tyler and me have seen it. I mean, did you ever see it, babe? It's one of those movies you watched as a kid that I was like, I probably shouldn't have watched it, but I did. He, like, went to high school and like, yeah, it's a great 90s movie.

[B]

I do think out of all, like, the acting roles, that would have been pretty easy to do. You just like, come out of the dirt and you're just like, ugh.

[A]

You can do it. Prove it. See you do it.

[C]

That's how he was.

[B]

Maybe. Maybe she had me back.

[A]

All right, we got this house in Nevada. What's the price point? Where is it?

[C]

Okay, I'm going Vegas, 1.3 million. Just because of the elaborateness of what's happening.

[A]

Okay, I don't know if that's a word, but we'll take it. Winston said Las Vegas, 950. Rachel said Vegas, 1.3 million. Rachel wins this round. It is Las Vegas. Yeah, but you way underestimated the price.

[C]

Is it 3 million?

[A]

$5.9 million? No way.

[B]

What is this thing?

[A]

So here's the deal. It looks like an average house in the first picture, but there is a full on fallout shelter with a separate house and fake outdoor space below ground. It was built in the 70s, which tracks as a Cold War bunker later used from the set of Blast from the Past with Brendan Fraser.

[C]

That's it. That's the movie I'm talking about. Shut the front door.

[B]

So this is the house, y'.

[C]

All that is the movie I was trying to figure out.

[A]

Your nostalgia really helped you on this one.

[B]

You should be a real estate broker.

[C]

That's familiar.

[A]

It is five beds, six baths, some above ground, some below. And it is over 14,000 square feet.

[B]

That's crazy.

[C]

That's nuts. Oh, my gosh.

[A]

That's a wild one.

[C]

That's amazing. Love it.

[A]

Would not want to live there.

[C]

Besides loving real estate, George, you know what else I'm loving?

[A]

What's that?

[C]

All my Cozy Earth products.

[A]

Perfect.

[C]

They're amazing. I mean, I am in my home, AKA real estate, but in the most cozy, wonderful clothes. And honestly, it's like the socks, the clothes, the sheets, the bedding, PJ sets. You know what else is great is the towels.

[A]

Oh, yeah.

[C]

It's like these, like, velvety feeling. They're unbelievable.

[A]

When I, like, run out of those and I have to go back to my other towels, I'm like, this is so sad.

[C]

Why are we commoners? You know?

[A]

You know what it feels like? It's like every day is a spa day.

[C]

Yes.

[A]

It feels like I'm at the nicest hotel when I use code.

[C]

Yes. Because I wear their big robes, too. The cozy Earth robe. I got that for Christmas. Winston got that for me, and I do. Everything about it is just. You can tell the quality. That's what I love about Cozy Earth, that you can wash things. They keep it. They keep their shape, they keep the material. And so it is. There's something just so amazing about it.

[A]

So go to cozyearth.com smart money and use promo code smart money at checkout to get up to 20% off. You're going to love it. All right, we're headed to Vermont.

[B]

This is not good.

[C]

Oh, look at those animals.

[A]

I'm from New England. I've never heard of this town of Vermont, so don't feel bad.

[C]

I don't know if I know it.

[B]

Do you have a town maybe?

[A]

Do I have a town? You just want a town in Vermont?

[B]

Yep.

[C]

Please.

[A]

What's a good town that you would like? Like trying to think, like, when go. Where's the ski town I used to go to?

[C]

We just give me a town.

[B]

What's the capital? Richmond.

[A]

Nope. That's not. No, no.

[C]

Richmond. Virginia. Right?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Gosh. Remember they taught us this stuff in school? Thinking like, guys, this is going to be really helpful.

[C]

The capital of Vermont is Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas.

[A]

Wait for it. It's not Montpelier, is it?

[B]

Boom. That's a great one.

[C]

Give me one.

[A]

Burlington, Vermont's the. The. A Class, Stowe is also in Burlington.

[C]

I like that. Stowe. Like S, S, T, O, W. Stowe. I'm going with an E.

[B]

It's got

[C]

an e. It has an e at the end.

[A]

Yeah, yeah. S T, O, W is what the host said.

[C]

You're tricking me.

[A]

It's okay. You're wrong. Anyway, so who cares about the spelling?

[C]

Okay. Yeah, yeah. Okay. Vermont. Okay, I'm going. I'm going.

[B]

You've never heard of this town, George?

[A]

No.

[B]

How many square feet?

[A]

Oh, you want the hint on this one? Look at you using your hints, struggling. It is 3,700 square feet.

[C]

Oh, okay, I got one.

[A]

Okay, let's see where this is in proximity. It's pretty close to Canada.

[C]

Oh, that's fun.

[A]

All right, let's see what you got. Montpelier and Stowe. Okay. Rachel said 225 in Stowe. Winston said 675.

[B]

I don't know about Vermont. Who knows?

[A]

This is a wild one. It is in Irisburg.

[C]

All right.

[A]

I don't know how if that's pronounced correctly. I don't think it's a Rasberg. That sounds crazy. So I'm gonna go with Irisburg, Vermont.

[C]

How much is it?

[A]

$539,900. So Winston is closer.

[C]

Oh, man. I went real low. You know, some of these houses, you're like. Like the 99,000. You're like, wait, what?

[A]

It is an hour and eight minutes from Montpelier. Let's see how far it is from stowe.

[B]

Not the won.

[A]

15 minutes from stowe. Technically, Stowe. Slightly closer. I think Winston takes the cake.

[C]

Okay, Winston can take it.

[A]

All right, ready? We're off to Missouri. Oh,

[C]

look at this. Wow. Hmm.

[A]

Yeah. You ever been to Missouri? You have St. Louis.

[C]

Missouri. Right.

[A]

Can she whisper a. You can't cheat, but do you want a hint? Does a hint can count for city? Right? Or does that give a wave, Gives away one of the answers? It's fine. You know what? The producer's giving up on you, so.

[C]

It is.

[A]

You're right. I'll give you that hint. It is in St. Louis.

[C]

St. Louis. Okay, that's okay.

[A]

Since you already cheated, we'll give you that.

[C]

St. Louis. All right, I'm gonna go.

[A]

He's really studying this thing.

[B]

We should be getting faster by this point.

[C]

What? In St. Louis? Babe, I don't know.

[A]

I mean, he does local real estate. How many.

[C]

How many bedrooms?

[A]

It is seven bedrooms.

[C]

Holy golly, babe, you're going big for St. Louis.

[B]

You don't.

[A]

All right, what do you think St.

[B]

Louis is like a little Podunk?

[C]

Not podong, but it's not a big, big, big, big city.

[A]

All right, Rachel said St. Louis, $718,000.

[B]

This is our biggest gap.

[A]

St. Louis, 4.5 million. Okay.

[C]

In St. Louis. Babe.

[B]

I don't know.

[A]

Winston clearly has never been to St. Louis. Rachel wins this round. It comes in at $650,000. Oh, my God.

[C]

That was so close.

[A]

Now it's built in the 1890s. Features original stained glass and stone work. Seven beds, seven bedrooms, three baths, 4,700 square feet. That's it. That feels like a deal, though. In St. Louis.

[B]

Yeah. They shouldn't have put that much money into that bedroom, into all the bedrooms.

[A]

What looks expensive about it to you?

[C]

It's the backyard that threw me off.

[B]

Well, I saw the brick coming through like it's. They're, like, protecting some of the historic value. Got the mosaic front porch.

[A]

It does seem like that would be at least a million I thought we

[B]

were gonna get for a seven bedroom house.

[A]

That's.

[B]

I thought we were gonna get Charleston on this one.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

Charleston really, really wounds you at the beginning of this.

[A]

But Charleston.

[B]

This is a roller coaster, guys. Tough.

[A]

All right, we're on to our last one.

[B]

Oh, gosh.

[A]

And currently we are at a tie. No. 4, 3, 4, 3, 4, 3.

[B]

Sure.

[A]

Because this is our eighth round. So Rachel can tie it up.

[C]

Okay.

[A]

In which case, we do not have a tiebreaker. So they created producers.

[C]

All right, what's a Michigan? All right, we're back to Michigan.

[B]

What's a town in Michigan? On the lake.

[A]

I was gonna give you this hint. It is. It starts with lake. I don't know many of the lakes, but there's a lot of lakes. I mean, it's the land of lakes.

[C]

It is. No, it's Minnesota, isn't it?

[A]

Yes.

[B]

Your lake.

[A]

I lied, but I feel like Michigan people are so Michigan.

[C]

They have all the Great Lakes.

[B]

Have you heard of this town?

[C]

They've got the great Lakes.

[A]

Yeah, but I'm not a big lake guy, so I don't know.

[B]

You've heard of the. It's a town, though.

[A]

It sounds like a plausible town. Okay, town versus what?

[C]

Michigan Lake City.

[A]

I don't know what it starts with the word lake. That's the first.

[C]

Oh. Oh, it starts. Yeah.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

Okay. Is this pool underground?

[A]

Let's find out. Whoa.

[B]

That's a four season pool.

[A]

That's an indoor pool.

[C]

Yeah, yeah, this is.

[B]

They like coke.

[A]

Oh, they got a full on diner in there.

[C]

Yeah. All right.

[A]

Again, a very specific house that someone was like, who cares about resale value? Put a diner in there.

[C]

Put that diner in there.

[A]

All right, all right. It's about 40 minutes outside of Detroit, if that makes you feel any better.

[B]

I didn't finish this.

[A]

Okay, Lake Michigan for the city.

[B]

I said lake minus one.

[A]

I don't know, lake negative one. Rachel said 2.3 million.

[C]

I just made it up 2.3, 2.3.

[A]

Winston said 3.8. Winston. Lake Orion. $4.9 million for the pleasure of living in this estate.

[C]

In that estate.

[A]

It has a 270 degree view of Lake Orion.

[C]

Well, that's pretty. That's a fun.

[A]

Very specific amount of degrees.

[B]

It must be way out there. So I thought you were gonna say like you're not surrounded almost on an island.

[A]

That would be 360. So it's as close as you can get.

[C]

And it was, what, what is it, two, six, Would you say there's like

[B]

a driveway there and that's it.

[A]

Seven beds, eight baths, almost 13,000 square feet.

[C]

Oh, wow.

[A]

Yeah, 4.9 million. That's a full on diner and indoor pool. And it looks like a driving range.

[B]

St. Louis should take notes.

[C]

Not a driving range. It's a golf simulator.

[A]

Oh, that's what that is. I didn't look closely enough at this one megapixel picture. Okay, those alone are like 15 grand, aren't they?

[C]

The golf simulators?

[A]

10 grand? I don't know, 20 grand.

[C]

What would they be?

[B]

I think it's a big range.

[A]

Yeah, you can get like a cheaper one.

[B]

That one looks really.

[A]

And then fancy. Yeah, that's probably a high.

[B]

I mean, they made you think that it was a real golf course for $5 million.

[A]

It's a top of the line golf

[C]

simulator all the way. All the way.

[A]

I thought they had an actual like golf course for $5 million. Give me a real golf course.

[C]

To be honest, at least nine holes.

[A]

Well, that was fun, guys. Thanks for playing. And it just goes to show you the range. The range of $100,000 to $5 million. Everyone thinks like where I am. That is the housing market.

[C]

You know that what they say in real estate, George.

[A]

Location, location, location.

[B]

Well done, guys.

[C]

It does.

[A]

We learned that. I don't know who taught us that it matters. Drill that into our head in school.

[C]

Apparently it matters even though we don't know the capital, Vermont.

[A]

Would you say that's still true today? Winston, can you verify?

[B]

Yeah, we can't come up with prices because we don't know the city like it could be Danville. Right. Or it could be. Where was Danville?

[C]

Charles.

[A]

Kentucky.

[B]

Kentucky. Or it could be Lexington or Charleston. So you move Columbia or Nashville.

[A]

Yeah. You got to think about what the lifestyle is like around that city, the schools. Like, there's a lot of factors that play into what makes something desirable.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

But we know if it's on the water.

[B]

But if you, if you want to buy a house, you can buy a house.

[A]

Yeah. You might have to move somewhere you didn't plan on.

[B]

If you just. If that's your thing, you can do it.

[A]

If you desperately want to be a homeowner, it can happen.

[B]

I wouldn't be desperate, but yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So you can find affordable houses.

[A]

Well, let's get into that. I've got some from the city.

[B]

Well, it's not gonna be in LA. Yeah, maybe it's in St. Louis.

[C]

Go to St. Louis. So, George, I've been getting this question a lot on, especially social media. People are asking where to get a great High Yield Savings account.

[A]

That's probably the number one question that

[C]

I get that a lot. And I always tell them Fairwinds Credit Union, because not only are they great to bank with because you'll get a checking account with them, but their High Yield Savings account is amazing. And the interface between the two, what's in your checking, what's in the high yield, it's.

[A]

So that's rare because usually your checkings at a brick and mortar bank and then High Yield Savings is way over here. So I love being able to transfer in case I need to use those savings for an emergency or for a sinking fund. Makes it super convenient. You can even have up to 10 savings accounts.

[C]

Yes.

[A]

Within it.

[C]

It's amazing.

[A]

They built this thing for our fans.

[C]

I know. And when we actually, when Winston, I signed up for Fair Ones, I'll be honest, I was a little bit like, oh, gosh, signing up for a new bank account, it's just a lot of hassle, feels overwhelming.

[A]

You're like, yes.

[C]

And I was on my computer and it was so quick. I downloaded the app on my phone, put my username in. It was so fast. So it was incredible. The team is amazing, the interface is amazing. And so Fairwinds Credit Union check out the Smart Bundle. You get a no fee checking account, High Yield Savings, and the Ramsey B weird debit card added to the banking mix.

[A]

Go check it out. Fairwinds.org Ramsey is the place to go.

[C]

Okay, so we have some rapid Fire questions for you.

[A]

Okay, you know what? Rapid fire Means.

[B]

Yep.

[A]

All right, I'll make sure.

[B]

Yeah, yeah. What's the opposite of that? Just like a. Just, I don't know, slow winded, slow wind.

[A]

Slow winded, slow round instead of lightning round?

[B]

Something like that.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

Okay, so we're talking first time home buyers. What question should everyone be asking before they sign on the dotted line? You're a first time home buyer. What are things you should be thinking

[B]

about if you're a first time home buyer? What I see most of the time is like what I would call the emotional positioning of the house. So what I would make sure of is that this house isn't the answer to what we were just talking about. You're just like desperately trying to get a house so that you can have a family there and do all these things. So if you're about to sign on the dotted line and you're expecting that house to fix all your stuff and make all your dreams come true, then it's backwards. Honestly, after a year or two years, it's just another house. There will be spaghetti on the floor and holes in the wall and you'll have utility bills coming. And it's just another thing to keep up with. So I would say it doesn't need to be like on this pedestal. If you're like signing that thing, thinking like this, finally, finally, we've arrived. Don't sign the body line. So just, I would say position it appropriately.

[C]

That's good.

[A]

We talk about this, Rachel, that you go with you like you think the new home is going to solve all of your life problems.

[C]

If I could just not be a renter and just be a homeowner suddenly, like, everything's going to be.

[A]

The kids are going to be well behaved. There will be no family dysfunction. You're like, no. Just in a bigger house now we have the same problem.

[B]

It's still a toilet. It's still a sink.

[A]

Yeah. And you get used to it very quickly to your point where, like, things that are so special, you're like, it's kind of like buying a car where it's like, I've had it for six months now. It's got Cheerios on the floorboard like any other well.

[C]

And it's just another car. Like, I'm just used to it. The newness is worn off. So don't let the emotions.

[A]

That's a humanity problem is we get so used to the level we're at and then become hungry for more.

[C]

Yep, that's right.

[A]

All right, what about deal breakers? What are the things where you go, you got to walk away from this thing no matter what.

[B]

Usually if the. If the numbers don't make sense, obviously, and then there's, like, this intuition that if something felt off or there's things that don't. Something just doesn't feel right, or if the deal feels, like, rushed or pressured or you're pressured or like, we got to get this one, or it'll. It'll. It's the only one, and it'll. We'll never find it again. Just walk away. Like, that is not the position you want to be in when you're making that level of commitment, Is it because

[A]

the agent or seller wants to rush you so you don't think about it too hard?

[B]

It could be that they're hiding stuff or they're not answering questions or just trying to. Whatever. But your buyer's agent should ask the right questions that meet your questions. Like, these are the things that would give me peace about moving forward with this.

[A]

What about structurally? Like, when there's a foundation issue, I always go, oh, boy, that feels expensive.

[B]

Yeah. Water issues, foundation issues. Things that aren't disclosed that they thought maybe you should have. Yeah. If it's got a backyard that slopes into your porch, you know, like, stuff like that, and it's. And it's older, and they got to give you $20,000 during contract to fix the crawl space, like, it's just probably not worth it.

[A]

So.

[B]

But you can use that to leverage the. The price, too, if you're up for it. But I would say, unless you're just, like, at peace about it, then I would. I would totally walk away.

[A]

I like that. So that's the gut feeling. And always inspection. Some people are, like, waving inspection, and that's kind of one of these things that you had to get when the real estate market was hot. People were like, well, we won't even do the inspection. We'll just take it.

[B]

Now, on the investment part, I would go as is, no inspection, but it's going to be a embarrassingly low offer.

[A]

So it's not your primary home.

[B]

Most people right now are making offers and doing an inspection in order to just have all of that fixed or get more money off of the price because it's a buyer's market, so they're

[A]

gonna go, hey, it needs 50 grand worth of repairs. Take that off the price.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And we have a deal.

[B]

Yeah, they want it's replaced. I mean, like, that light bulb needs to be fixed. It's a very demanding buyer's market right now. We're they're very spoiled. Picky, picky. But yes, do the inspection if you are the buyer and learn, like, what you're getting into.

[A]

Yeah. And even then, sometimes the inspection doesn't pick everything up. The things you can't just.

[C]

That's what's hard.

[A]

We get the calls where it's like, well, the house is filled with black mold and inspection didn't catch it, and now we have to remediate and spend 50 grand. Those are tough.

[C]

That's crazy. That's wild. What upgrades would you say anyone can do? Like, when they walk into a house? Like, what are the things you're like, you could fix that later.

[B]

Don't, like, work on their own.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

I think people take this too far because I think what they're trying to do is just make it livable and make it like a reflection of them. And you don't have to do a whole kitchen renovation to scratch that itch. So paint goes a long way. Like, go to Home Depot.

[A]

You know, I've been there for pointing that out.

[B]

Crowbar, you've been a lot. And do some paint. I would say curb appeal will make you feel a lot better. And people don't want to mulch their own yard. So, like, go do some landscaping. Like, clean the place up from the front. That automatically increases your value. And you can do that pretty easily.

[C]

Like, hardware you can replace.

[B]

Yeah, you can do cabinet hardware, door hardware.

[A]

What about, like.

[B]

And then light fans, light fixtures.

[A]

That really changes the place.

[B]

Changes it. And it's. And it's cheap. You can get on Wayfair and get endless amounts of light fixtures to change the look of the room. And it categorizes it for you, filters it in way too many ways. And, you know, if you know how to turn a breaker off, you can figure it out.

[A]

Why'd you look at me like that when you said it?

[B]

Well, cause I'm on the show. I'm on your show. I guess I'll tell Rachel I've turned

[A]

a breaker off or two in my day.

[C]

Have you really?

[A]

Flip on. Flip off a breaker.

[B]

Sorry, I didn't mean to look at you. No, it's fine if you know how to flip a breaker.

[A]

Gazed into my eyes. Well, you've flipped some homes now. So what are the things that you go in when you're doing the flip to go, okay, I'm going to make these things very strategically. Repair, renovate without overdoing it. Is it flooring?

[B]

Is it, like, get trashier the better

[A]

so you get a better deal.

[B]

Yeah. The more. The more hoarding house, the. The better. The.

[A]

If you see varmint, you're like, great, we got the right house.

[B]

Yeah. We've flea bombed. We've exterminated. We've. Rats. I had rats in the carpet.

[A]

What's the craziest thing you've seen when you step into one of those houses?

[B]

Hoarding houses are pretty. They're pretty alarming.

[A]

Just.

[B]

They're very disturbing.

[A]

Just stuff stacked to the ceilings and,

[B]

like, years of fast food. Oh, like on the bed. You asked for it.

[A]

On the bed.

[B]

Yeah. Yeah, it's. It's tough. It's tough.

[A]

What happened to those people there?

[B]

I didn't ask.

[A]

The people aren't there.

[B]

I didn't ask. It's usually a foreclosure. It's a transition or an estate or somebody's trying.

[A]

So mom was a hoarder. She passed away. The kids go and sell the house, and they're done.

[C]

They don't want anything.

[B]

I mean, I've seen needles. I've seen it all.

[A]

I've seen fire. I've seen rain. All right, that's helpful.

[C]

But you get those for what?

[B]

But you were asking your question. I mean, we demo the whole thing all the way to the walls, down

[A]

to the studs, as they say in the biz.

[B]

Well, we leave the drywall unless we're moving a wall.

[A]

I wanted to say down to the studs.

[B]

Thank you.

[A]

You've never done down in the studs?

[B]

Just in rooms that have, like, that old wooden paneling.

[A]

Oh, yeah, like the shiny one.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Naughty Pine, I think is what it's called. Naughty Pine. Google it.

[B]

You use your crowbar and you use

[A]

K, N, O, T, T, Y. Naughty Pine. Thanks for spelling, because we had that in our house growing up.

[C]

And popcorn on the ceiling.

[B]

Yeah. Popcorn, ceilings, scraper moss.

[A]

Those are not fun to scrape off.

[B]

Yeah. Yeah.

[A]

Not that I've tried.

[B]

No.

[A]

But you couldn't pay me enough to do it.

[B]

Yeah. You need a mask.

[A]

A mask. Oh, because of all. It's all coming down.

[B]

It's bad.

[A]

Rachel, we're talking about homes today. And what's crazy is that so much of people's personal information, their address, their phone numbers, their emails, are just floating around the interwebs unchecked because of these data broker sites. And so I love Delete Me, a sponsor of today's show, because they scour hundreds of these data broker sites to remove your personal info, which helps protect you against scams, phishing, fraud, spam, you name it.

[C]

Yes. Yeah, those data Broker sites. It's kind of scary, actually, how much information they can collect about you. I mean, it's your kids names, email addresses, phone numbers, like you said, your home address, like, all of it. And they live there. And I hate this part, too, that they will sell your data. They're making money off of it.

[A]

They don't care.

[C]

And then your data spreads even more across the Internet. So being able to go into these data broker sites and removing your data is everything. And real people are doing it on their team, and they are amazing. So delete me as a subscription that Winston and I have and we love.

[A]

Yeah. And they'll even send you a customer report every few months showing you what they removed and how much time they saved you. So go check it out. And get 20% off their annual [e-mail] smart money. Let's move into seasoned.

[C]

Let's go seasons. Okay. For seasoned homeowners, like Zestimate.

[A]

What? Very zesty. What's worth zesty homeowners?

[C]

What's worth spending and upgrades before you should just move to the next place?

[A]

Oh, that's a good one.

[C]

Like, if you want a newer home,

[A]

what are things you're looking for that new home? But like, hey, before you go, it

[C]

be worth just doing this and you can stay in the house.

[A]

See if this transforms your home.

[B]

Oh, okay. Okay. And this again, this is going to be personal preference intuition. You want to make the house work for you. If you, if you feel like, you know what, I can never get around this dishwasher when I'm loading it and somebody's trying to get to the oven or whatever. Like, if it's not working for you, then it's. It's worth you making the upgrades because you're living there. Right. So don't think about, am I gonna get my money back? This or that. The first thing is make it livable. And then if you start doing things where you're like, I'm putting so much money into this house and you feel like you're fighting the house instead of making it work for you, and it's. And it's complying with what you're trying to do with the renovations or the new siding or whatever is if you're fighting the house, it's time to go. Let somebody else fight it. You know, you're. You are going to get frustrated and put money into it that you're probably not going to get c out of it because you're going to want to make it yours and somebody else is Going to want to do something different. Right. So. So it's kind of like a balance there.

[A]

So would you say, like, make a list of all the things that frustrate you that you wish you could change about? Okay. What would it cost to change that, if it even is possible?

[B]

That's right.

[A]

Maybe knock down this wall. I want it to be open. We can change the flooring. And then if you're like, hey, there's not enough we could even do to make this thing a place I still want to live.

[C]

Yeah. My sister did this. Their house was probably 30 years old or so, and they were like, oh, we kind of wanted some updated looks to it. But then shopping around the market, it was like it was going to cost a lot more to go buy that versus, like, what you could put into a Renault. You know what I mean? And doing it right, they.

[B]

Yeah, like, we have a house right now that we're trying to sell, and we've done as much as we can with it to make it marketable. But the staircase, you walk in, and the staircase is right in the middle of the whole floor plan. So the kitchen's over here, and the whole house rotates around the stairs. You just can't do anything else with it that's structural fighting you back. So it's, like, time to get rid of it. And then the primary is upstairs.

[A]

Is it on the market right now? All right, let's mark. Let's see if we can sell this thing on the show right now. But a Zillow 20,000, that's great.

[C]

Oh, okay. So when you walk into a new build for you. This was my question.

[B]

Oh, this was yours.

[C]

What are you critiquing?

[A]

User submitted.

[C]

Because we have walked through new houses, and I'm like, it's so pretty great. And we leave, and you start rattling off things, and I'm like, never would I have ever.

[A]

Yeah. What are your eyes drawn to?

[C]

You guys.

[B]

You have to get past all the pretty finishes.

[C]

I know. That's what I always like. So pretty.

[B]

Look at the Rachel looks at the lipstick, and lipstick is cheap. Structure is everything. Oh, like, it is. It's fine. Like, okay. You know, a contractor, of course, is going to put the glitzy glitter, whatever's in that makes it look Pinteresty, like a water.

[C]

Like a waterfall edge.

[B]

Did they build it?

[A]

I do love a waterfall edge.

[C]

Pretty.

[B]

So pretty.

[C]

So pretty.

[A]

And Rachel's, like, done. I love it.

[B]

And then I would take. But look, it's all crazy. I would take a 1970s rancher that's built like a ship and make a waterfall edge rather than buy a waterfall edge. And the insulation is half done. The H Vac is cheap with fiberboard. And structurally it's like it was poorly.

[A]

It was built put together, it was

[B]

built as fast as possible, not as not quality. So the builder has to be focused on quality that rancher is going to

[A]

outlast, would you say? Because I've heard Dave Ramsey talk about this, people think well those old homes, they're built different.

[B]

They are.

[A]

But then I've heard also that some of those old homes you're like gosh, the, the electrical work was a nightmare. Like it's not always the case.

[B]

I agree.

[A]

And some of these new homes, that's

[B]

why I'm going 70s.

[A]

If you COD standards and all that will come a long way with materials.

[B]

Totally. But it's, it's the costs for builders are they are trying to keep it as cheap as possible.

[C]

Builder grade and go as fast as possible.

[A]

I hear builder, I have to upgrade that.

[B]

So you really got to beat around on it. Go under going the crawl space. Look at how they, how they did it. Did they. Are the lines straight, are the doors closing or are they like have they done a punch list?

[A]

So you want me to go in the crawl space, check out the caulk line? That's what you're asking?

[B]

No caulk in. There's probably no caulking.

[A]

That's what you said. You said head in the crawl space, check the caulk line.

[B]

Well is it like, is it encapsulated? Is it not? Is it clean?

[A]

Yeah, that's what I'm saying.

[B]

Or did they just like leave junk?

[A]

I want the inspector to send them the photo. Hey, you got to re caulk this thing.

[B]

You can just read it from your desk.

[A]

I do like to go through the PDF because I pay good money. You know, you pay $700. Like I'm reading this thing like a novel.

[B]

Just because it's slowly and just because it's new doesn't mean you don't need to look at the inspection. That is like cuz we have a

[A]

new build and the inspection report was, I mean tons of stuff. Yeah.

[B]

And you go back to that builder while you still have them and say you get fix these things and they will.

[A]

And that's the nice thing about a new build I will say is number one, you have time to save cuz you don't have to have the full amount until the house is done at closing and you have A one year warranty in generally with a new build.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

So that's nice.

[B]

Use it.

[A]

And so, yeah, the stuff they found was. It wasn't like anything major. It's just, I was like, hey, we got to recock this. Fix this. This door isn't, you know.

[B]

Yeah, yeah.

[A]

Swinging the right way.

[B]

Did that make sense?

[C]

Sure. Yeah.

[B]

All your pretty finishes.

[C]

I. Yeah. Yes. But you also, you know where people go cheap, like.

[B]

Yeah. If it's a. If you got a waterfall edge. But then the house doesn't. Cool. I don't want to live there.

[C]

Doesn't have good air conditioning.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

You know, but you don't see this about baseboards though.

[A]

Babe.

[C]

You've said that.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

We walked out. You're like, why do they put small baseboards in that large.

[B]

Yeah, yeah. Would you say the trim package has

[A]

to you like big baseboards and you

[B]

cannot lie if it matches the house.

[A]

Is that something you would say?

[B]

Absolutely. Bigger the better.

[A]

How thick are we talking?

[B]

Like, it depends on the house.

[A]

Okay. It's got to be tall ceilings. If you have.

[B]

If it's a 12 foot ceiling, you need at least like 10. 10 inches on the first floor.

[A]

Oh, wow.

[B]

Second floor, it doesn't matter as much.

[A]

10 inches of baseboard, you know, but

[B]

if you have an 8 foot 1970s rancher, then just go with your 4 or 5 inch normal stuff.

[A]

What about crown molding?

[B]

If you take your cabinets in the kitchen and you don't run them all the way to the ceiling, then you're missing out on this whole like mind blowing experience that a buyer has. And they don't know why, but we built a house in Columbia and the contractor just put 36 uppers and then like a 12 inch on top. And then there was this gap to

[A]

the ceiling where people put like random artwork on TJ masks.

[B]

Yeah. Like a rooster. And I told him, okay, just put a fake piece of wood up there and a piece of crown to like tie it all in so it goes all the way. It takes your eyes up, makes the ceiling look bigger, makes the kitchen look bigger. So that's why I'm like, yeah, yeah, you gotta. The trim is a big deal.

[C]

Trim is a big deal.

[A]

Focus on the trim. People skimp out on the trim because they go, I'd rather have these features. But then the trim makes the man.

[B]

It's kind of cool.

[C]

It's the subconsciousness that you never know. All right. Paid off. Two studs to the studs. Paid off.

[B]

Should be whenever you have time.

[C]

Paid off. Homeowners ready. Last section. If you want to invest in real estate, what must first be true? So you're. So your primary home's paid off. Your baby step seven.

[B]

I'm talking to y'.

[C]

All, baby step seven. What's the next.

[B]

Yeah, So y' all already know the answer.

[C]

What must be true. You have the money for it.

[B]

No, no, no. Consumer debt. But my thought is, like, if you're looking for your first investment property, take a look at your net worth first in retirement. And I would not want that first property to be more than 25 to 50% of. Of your net worth.

[A]

So if you're worth a million bucks, don't go any more than 250 on an investment property, obviously paying cash.

[B]

Yeah. And I wouldn't include. But I would not include your personal residence in that net worth. It's true investment. So your investment net worth, I guess 25.

[A]

Your investable assets outside of your home equity.

[B]

So if you're. If you have 500,000 in retirement, then you're looking at $100,000 house in Danville up to like, no offense to Danville, the good people of Danville, up to 250 in cash. As is close next Friday, 70% under market.

[A]

Okay. And if you're going to rent it out, do you have a percentage in mind of like, hey, if you want to go at least 1% of this in rent, it doesn't work like that anymore.

[B]

But if you get a house at 70% of market value, then it's going to take care of itself. I'm not as worried about the roi. Honestly, the best deals are the most boring deals.

[A]

Oh, that's a good line. We'll quote that. Put that in the show notes.

[C]

I'm just like, it's not that good.

[B]

Yeah, they're just.

[A]

Dave Ramsey's always said that the deal, you make the money on the buy at the table.

[B]

That's true. And then most people overpay.

[A]

They get full market price for that

[C]

investment and they put a renter in there.

[B]

It doesn't. Yeah, it doesn't. Your rent usually isn't going to make that. What is it like 10% of your 10 rent should be 10% of the total cost of the house. That's a tough rule. I like the make money at the beginning because you're, because you're going as is. You're not doing inspections. You need room for problems unexpected.

[A]

So it's really on resale is when you realize the money.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Gonna buy and hold it.

[B]

Yeah. The equity is already built. In when you buy it, and then you start cash flowing it.

[A]

And it cash flows sweetly when there's no payment on it. So it's the.

[C]

It doesn't be.

[A]

As long as you're in a good location, more peace location.

[B]

Make sure you can rent it.

[C]

All right. So good.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

All the real estate knowledge.

[A]

Yeah, it was for the episode. And helpful.

[C]

Good and helpful.

[B]

I hope so.

[A]

Total thing to do here.

[C]

Well, before we spill the tea on our guilty as charged segments, let's talk about the drink details. George.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

This is a ranch water cocktail. I would say I'm about done with the drink. How did Winston do halfsies?

[C]

Oh, no, he went halfies.

[A]

Well, he was honestly busy carrying this episode on his broad shoulders, talking.

[B]

Whatever.

[C]

Talking through.

[A]

I feel like that's fair. My rating is a 10 out of 10 on this drink.

[C]

I know. I think I'm going 9 out of 10.

[B]

I'm going 10 for fun because it's so good. It's, like, really well balanced.

[A]

It's hard to beat for how little is in it.

[C]

I know. You got a what? Topo Chico. Lime and tequila.

[B]

That's it.

[C]

That's it. That's a ransom.

[A]

You want to go.

[B]

I mean, but the lime is, like, perfect, though.

[C]

Yes, it's a good amount of lime.

[A]

You want a good amount of lime where it punches through, but it's not super overpowering. The Topo Chico, to me is a must, but if you have to use a club soda, that's your business. So we got two 10 out of tens and a nine out of 10 from right now.

[C]

Why? I went nine out of 10.

[A]

Hard to impress. Well, you know, it's not that complex. You may have wanted more than one.

[C]

Okay. You know what I mean? Yeah. But still, great one to try.

[A]

It comes out to $3.25. I assume because Topo Chico is hard to find right now. There's a. There's an outage as they redo their plant, so I'm told. But I think it's worth it. Every penny. Every penny worth it. And a very low calorie, low sugar drink, too. So if you're like, you don't want to be drinking your calories. This is a great one to make at home. If you're of age, get the recipe in the show notes. Give it a try this weekend. Especially if you're keto. I didn't know this was a keto drink. Is that true? What makes something keto?

[B]

No sugar, no carbs.

[A]

No sugar, no carbs.

[B]

I don't know what kind of tequila it is, but added ins free.

[C]

Clean.

[A]

Sure it's clean.

[C]

I'm sure it's great. We only do top shelf around here.

[A]

Only top shelf.

[C]

Classy. That's how we roll. That's how we roll.

[B]

Nine out of ten.

[C]

All right. So good. Well, now it's time for guilty as charged.

[A]

Are you judging us?

[C]

No. He's gonna laugh. This is where we ask each other a guilty as charged question every week. And if we're guilty, we take a sip.

[B]

Oh, George is out.

[A]

The question is, I'll eat the lime whole.

[C]

Have you ever. Have you ever thought you were getting a major discount on something, but it turned out too good to be true?

[A]

Yeah, I'll go. I'll go. I'll bite. I. You know, there's a list with Southwest. This was back when Southwest was a great airline. Oh, you know what I mean. They're not a sponsor. It's fine. I was boarding group 5 last time I flew, so. You know what?

[B]

Yeah. Get out of here.

[C]

Give a pinky. Just give a seat.

[A]

They're so annoying.

[B]

They caved.

[A]

Why give me a seat. But then I have to go all the way to the back to store my carry on.

[C]

George. You know what?

[A]

But I fight my way upstream at the end of the flight to go get my carry on.

[C]

Like, sir, sir, could you get my. Yeah, it's that one.

[B]

And they're all like, get out of here.

[A]

Yeah. Why even fly anymore? Zone five.

[C]

I'm with you.

[A]

But there was, like. I saw a thing someone posted in a Facebook group in my neighborhood that was like, hey, you can get a list by just, like, doing this little hack where you pay, like, 40 bucks, and you basically can redeem it for a list.

[C]

Oh.

[A]

So I did it thinking, like, this is going to be easy. I'll pay the 40 bucks. That's worth it. Because I fly a lot to get a list for the whole year. Turns out you had to, like, fly three times within three months or something stupid in order to actually get. And that was buried in the fine print.

[C]

Oh, that's hurtful. And 40 bucks gone.

[A]

40 bucks gone. And so I. I think I maybe had a list for three months, but then it.

[C]

And then it disappears. If you don't fly within the basically

[A]

renews for a whole year.

[C]

That's fair.

[A]

That's if you fly.

[C]

You know, mine's a Southwest one. What? Yes. I was booking with points one of our trips.

[B]

This airline.

[C]

I know, I know, but I was booking with points, and I was short, and I can't remember, say 5,000 points or something. Right. Like, but you can go buy points. But you can. But the points I needed, I had to buy more points than what I needed to make it work. Because they group them, you know, you can't just like buy a specific point.

[A]

It's like 50,000 points. You need 52,000.

[C]

Yes. Yeah. And you can't just buy 2,000. You gotta buy 5,000. Like the way they group them. So I go ahead and buy those and then I go back to book it and the price went up. So I buy the points and now

[A]

you don't have enough points.

[C]

Then I don't have enough points. Then I'm like, oh my gosh, am I gonna go buy more? And is the price gonna continue? It just stressed me out and I just said, okay, we'll eventually get a flight with this points, but I'm gonna just pay for it now.

[A]

Wow. So I totally kept gouging every turn.

[C]

It was tough.

[A]

No, but go ahead, defend Southwest.

[C]

I know, I just love them. But it is different.

[B]

I have a flight. Guilty as charged. Oh, I just trip to Montana for my 40th birthday. I went on chat GPT to run the numbers on like all the flights that can get like direct from Nashville to Bozeman. I clicked through on the links that chat gave me and I was like, great, there's a deal on Allegiant. Hey, it's Allegiant. It was cheap, but it's. It'll get you there.

[A]

That's their tagline.

[B]

And then it took me to a third party website that I didn't realize I was on to book the tickets. Have you ever booked a flight on a third party website? Yes, called Flight Network.

[A]

Nope. That sounds sketchy.

[C]

But you didn't even know you were on it. I didn't even know you thought you were on Allegiant.com?

[B]

yeah, I wasn't paying attention. Yeah, but I booked it. And then I'm trying to have it show up on Allegiance app and they're not. They don't communicate. So I'm like, I think I just got screwed. So I call Flight Network and they're like, he's definitely not in the United States. Yeah, and that tracks. He's like, yeah, we can't do anything for you. We're not allowed to do any allegiant stuff for you. So I had to call Allegiant and I booked a flight for one of my friends and I tried to get that one canceled because when I clicked like, buy the tickets. It didn't work, so I went through and bought it again. So I bought three tickets for one.

[A]

Ended up charging me three times.

[B]

Yeah, it, like, timed out on you. It timed out three times, but it actually charged me three times.

[A]

So was Flight Network a chance?

[B]

Always buy flights on the actual website. Yeah.

[A]

Find the deal, but then book it directly through the airline. That's the trick.

[C]

Through the airline. Yes. So I was thinking of your dc.

[B]

It charges you. It's scammy.

[A]

It's scammy.

[B]

It's not scammy. It charges you, like, an extra 100 bucks for their fee when you could just go direct to Allegiant.

[A]

Wow. Okay.

[C]

I was thinking about your dc, how you're about to.

[B]

Yeah, I thought about that one, too. Y' all went. Y' all went Southwest on me, so.

[C]

So you went.

[B]

Yeah, Double guilty.

[A]

Thank you for sharing.

[C]

Oh, so good.

[A]

I'll cheers to that.

[C]

Well, if you have a fun guilty charge question for us, make sure to DM us at Rachel Cruz and eorgeCamel. We love them. We get them and appreciate it. And if you enjoyed this episode, stay tuned because the next episode you're gonna love, and that is spilling the financial tea with our better halves, which includes Winston. Winston's on that one. And sweet Whitney. We love Whitney. Yes. So that is coming up next. Oh, yeah. And thanks for being on, babe. Appreciate it.

[B]

Yeah, yeah.

[A]

Thanks for watching.

[B]

I guess I'm coming back too.

[C]

It's fun. No, no, it was an episode you already recorded.

[B]

Oh, okay.

[A]

You already did it. It's like, oh, it's coming up. Winston's coming back.

[B]

I was like, whitney hadn't said anything.

[C]

Yeah, no, no. Yeah, yeah.

[A]

It's more of a rerun situation. Yeah.

[B]

Okay. Well, thanks for having me.

[C]

Thanks for coming.

[B]

This was fun.

[A]

Appreciate your knowledge.

[C]

Appreciate it. And, yeah, make sure to subscribe. And we'll see you guys next Thursday on an all new episode of Smart Money Happy Hour.