April 5, 2024 • 31 mins
Have you ever wondered what it's like to juggle punchlines and property lines? Cari Medina stops by to share her unique blend of comedy and real estate savvy, offering a glimpse into the world where laughter meets ledger. With the ease of a seasoned comedian and the acumen of a shrewd business owner, Cari narrates the tale of acquiring her Deer Valley abode, showcasing that timing isn't just essential in comedy—it's key in making a house a home. Her story is a masterclass in materializing your goals, and a reminder that sometimes, adding a personal note can tilt the scales in a real estate negotiation. Plus, we get an aromatic twist as Cari uncovers the scents hidden behind her podcast guests' personas, proving that the devil is truly in the olfactory details.
Strap in for a session that blends the therapeutic with the comedic as Cari walks us through how improv and stand-up comedy have been pillars in her journey through sobriety and mental health. She paints a vivid picture of the highs and lows of live performances, from the electric buzz of an audience's laughter to the challenges of maintaining recovery in the nightlife scene. Cari spotlights Stir Crazy Comedy Club as a haven that nurtures talent and camaraderie, and touches upon her commitment to community upliftment through initiatives such as hygiene drives for the homeless. Our discussion also wades into the real estate waters, where Cari shares her personal insights on downsizing and maximizing living space efficiency in today's housing market.
We wrap up our session by drilling down on why owning real estate is not just a smart choice but a cornerstone of financial security, especially for those carving their own paths as self-employed individuals. Cari and I pull back the curtain on strategies for financial freedom, drawing inspiration from the likes of Dave Ramsey, and we highlight the unsung benefits of homeownership that extend beyond the tangible. From the empowerment of making your own home decisions to the fiscal boons of equity and property appreciation, we underscore the undeniable fact that for the self-employed, such as hairstylists, owning property is more than an investment—it's a declaration of independence and a blueprint for prosperity.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Hello and welcome to Arizona Laughs and Listings, the
podcast where fun, funny folksget together and talk about real
estate and comedy, twocompletely unrelated topics that
go surprisingly well together.
I'm your host, kristen LeVanway, a real estate agent here in
the Phoenix metro metro area for19 years, as well as a local
(00:23):
stand-up comedian.
My guest today is comedianbusiness owner, podcast host,
philanthropist and all-aroundnice person, Keri Medina.
Keri, how are you doing?
Speaker 2 (00:40):
this morning I'm good , how are you?
Speaker 1 (00:42):
Bright and early.
I'm so glad you made it nineinstead of eight.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
Honestly, I'm so relieved when I saw that I just
hate saying no to people and Ihad a 9 am appointment and I'm
like I want to be available andthen she ended up canceling.
I'm like, okay, so great, wecan move into nine that's so
funny how that happens, you know.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
I mean, sometimes you just have to manifest stuff, I
think, just a little time, putit out there in the universe and
it happens weird not to bespacey, but I've seen it happen
a bunch of times, right.
So inquiring minds want to know.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
Carrie, tell us a little bit about you well, I'm
gonna be 30 in a few weeks, yaywelcome 30.
Uh, I own the Crescent Salon.
I have a self-care line calledCare by Crescent.
I own Caring Comedy and I alsoam a podcast host for Cutting Up
(01:36):
with Carrie and that's hostedin my salon that's awesome.
Speaker 1 (01:40):
What does your cover?
Speaker 2 (01:43):
I bring in guests and we talk about like the highs
and lows of their life and thenwe ask like burning questions in
a segment called what are youwearing, and we talk about what
fragrance they're wearing.
Oh, wow.
Speaker 1 (01:56):
So that's an untapped market podcast.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
I just want to be nosy.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
It's just an excuse for me to be nosy, nosy, no pun,
right, yeah, um, yeah, and soit's kind of a difficult medium
to talk about fragrances thoughright in a podcast, like you
have to really present it in a Idon't know descriptive way, I
guess.
Speaker 2 (02:19):
I just ask what are you wearing?
What fragrance is that?
And I'm really offended andshocked by the straight men that
tell me they're wearing nothing.
Oh, they need to step it up.
Speaker 1 (02:30):
Yeah, okay, putting that out there yeah, I didn't
put it on.
It's something not just, notjust deodorant.
Yeah, that's, that's good,that's good community work that
you're doing, I think.
Speaker 2 (02:43):
I'm just doing the Lord's work.
Speaker 1 (02:49):
Well, I like to start off this segment with a little
talk about your first, yourfirst house and your first
comedy gig.
Okay, so go ahead, tell usabout your first.
Go ahead, tell us about yourfirst.
Speaker 2 (03:03):
So my first home I was 25 and it was it's a condo.
I still live there in DeerValley, well, north Phoenix, and
yeah, I basically wrote downeverything I wanted in a condo
and then it took, it was.
It took like six months andthen finally it popped up and I
(03:25):
it was on the market forprobably four hours and then I
put my offer in the next day andthey tried to get us all in a
bidding war, you know.
They tried to have us wait,like, oh, we're not, we're going
to let you guys know in fivedays.
And so they collected all theiroffers and I was like I wrote a
letter saying that I need tomove out of my parents house and
(03:46):
that, um, I'll go, you know,please let me move in.
And then so they accepted myoffer and then they had
appraised for less than what myoffer was, so I was able to get
them down again did you?
Speaker 1 (03:58):
did you negotiate the price down or did you have to
cover the difference?
Oh, that's good.
I know what.
The last three years two, threeyears the market was so red hot
that we were having a hard timenegotiating those, the
appraisal gaps, and so the buyerwould have to cover it, which
is so hard, especially when it'syour first house and you're
(04:19):
like getting change out of yourcouch cushions, you know, trying
to come up with the downpayment and everything, and
they're like oh well, we need,we need 5,000 more dollars.
Speaker 2 (04:28):
Yeah, I was in a really privileged position
because I had lived with myparents.
I moved back in for four yearsand I would work like six days a
week and I just savedeverything.
I didn't go out, I didn't doanything, I saved every
everything I could.
So when it came to do the downpayment, to do the earnest money
(04:52):
.
Speaker 1 (04:52):
I had everything in cash right away.
That's perfect.
And now it's paid off right,because you're sitting on some
pretty good equity after fiveyears.
Speaker 2 (04:55):
No, it's not paid off , unfortunately, but it has gone
up like $125K, I think, or$150K.
That's a pretty good returnright.
Speaker 1 (05:04):
Yeah, that's awesome.
Plus, you've probably beenlooking at rents going up for
the last five years and you'rejust laughing.
Speaker 2 (05:12):
I know it's just nuts .
I always think when littleflukes happen in the condo I'm
like, oh, I should move.
And my parents have talked tome about renting and stuff, but
it's like my mortgage is nothing.
I've been able to start threesmall businesses, not even
worrying about how I'm going topay my mortgage.
Speaker 1 (05:32):
That's yeah.
That opened the door for you todo all these other things.
Yeah, yeah, it's good.
I mean, having a having areasonable housing budget can
make everything so much easier,which is totally and it's a two
bedroom.
Speaker 2 (05:46):
I don't even use the second bedroom, but I used to
have it as a guest room and I'vehad friends that have had like
emergencies where they've had tostay with me and I'm like, come
on in.
I never use it.
Speaker 1 (05:56):
So that's nice.
No, it's nice, you can do that.
Yeah, all right, let's move onto your first comedy gig.
Speaker 2 (06:03):
My first comedy gig was with Jennifer Girolo.
It was her show at NCT.
Oh boy, probably three yearsago.
It went good.
It went really good.
Everybody that was a reallygood audience.
Danielle, or Diva, was theheadliner yeah, and she's
(06:24):
amazing.
So it was just so fun to meether for the first time.
And now we're going on boy,probably three years of a
friendship with me and Diva.
She's really awesome.
She's a really amazing person.
Speaker 1 (06:36):
That's great.
How did that first gig feel?
Speaker 2 (06:40):
I was with Corporate America for years where I had
ran stores and my staff.
At one point I took over areally bad, failing business and
I was hired by these guys tocome in and turn it over and my
staff at the time was awful.
So any meeting I would run theywere just hateful and saying
(07:02):
rude things.
I felt like I was more preparedfor a stranger to say something
to me versus like somebody Iknew and had some investment in,
you know.
So I wasn't as scary as like Iliterally had an employee named
Karen, oh gosh, who was totallya Karen and a narcissist.
(07:23):
So it was.
I was like prepared, oh, right,right.
Speaker 1 (07:26):
So no heckler can heckle you really.
They can try, but they willyeah.
Speaker 2 (07:30):
I heard a guy yell something at me one time and I
was like, come again.
And he said it again and I waslike that's okay, we can talk
after the show.
And I look like he.
Speaker 1 (07:37):
I just put the fear of God in him, your your
material is kind of spicy and Ithink you know people might
react to it sometimes.
Speaker 2 (07:48):
Are you referring to the waxing propaganda?
Speaker 1 (07:51):
I.
You know I'm not.
I'm not saying anythingspecific, but you know I'm just.
You know that's what comedy issupposed to do, right.
Speaker 2 (08:06):
Though it's supposed to make you think and challenge
people.
And well it's.
It's just like what you said,like I'm just trying to do
community service and teachthese men that they need to be
more smooth physically.
Speaker 1 (08:16):
Exactly, we'll take it better than others, you know
I don't want to rub up against aBrillo pad.
Speaker 2 (08:23):
I'll get a scratch.
Speaker 1 (08:26):
Right For all women out there and men, I'm looking
out for all women out there.
I'm looking out for everybody,Everybody, really honestly.
Speaker 2 (08:32):
I'm still thinking about your joke of the car
salesman.
Speaker 1 (08:37):
Oh my gosh.
I know I'm still working on howto get that really.
Speaker 2 (08:41):
But the way you say that it just makes me laugh so
hard.
Speaker 1 (08:44):
Yes, I love it.
I will get that joke ready forprimeetime.
But it's a happy memory.
It honestly is.
It was a different time backthen.
I couldn't comment on hiswaxing status, though it wasn't
as big of a thing back then.
Speaker 2 (09:01):
It wasn't unfortunately, it's a new day,
though.
We have more hope.
Speaker 1 (09:07):
And more products, so it's easier.
Speaker 2 (09:10):
There's really no excuse at this point not to be
waxed.
Speaker 1 (09:14):
Yeah, well, I can think of one because it kind of
hurts, but you know, if you're awussy, I think that's a good
excuse.
So first gig went well and thenthat was so three years ago is
when you started doing comedy.
Yeah, and how?
How are you feeling about itnow?
Speaker 2 (09:33):
do you.
I don't really have a hugeburning desire to do it anymore.
I'm pretty burned out from it.
Um, I more do improv now.
So I've been in improv classesfor almost the same amount of
time probably two and a halfyears so I just take improv
classes.
I'm not in a team but I justlike playing with teammates and
having fun.
(09:53):
It gets me out of the back ofmy head into the front of my
head.
Oh yeah, and that's been reallygood because I I've been in
recovery for years of fordifferent things and stand up.
There's a really good crowd andthen there's like 75 percent
where it could be a little roughin my in my experience.
So it's really been challengingto get out of, to be in
(10:16):
recovery and to still engagewith circumstances that aren't
for my best interest.
So I'm more passionate aboutlike improv now.
That's a good point.
Speaker 1 (10:26):
It can be rough, you know, depending on what kind of
shows you do and stuff, but whenyou get into like the bar shows
or even some of the rougherclubs, I I mean I don't know
that.
That's a positive experienceand right.
well, and for somebody that'sbeen in recovery for like pills,
alcohol and codependency,probably the last place I need
to be is at a bar at like 10o'clock at night and a lot of
(10:49):
comedians are, you know,struggling with different mental
illness, mental, you know stuff, headspace issues, and it takes
a lot of vulnerability to comeout there and do this and it can
be really good and reallypowerful.
It can also you got to becareful.
Speaker 2 (11:06):
You got to have a good support system.
Speaker 1 (11:07):
I think All right.
So let, and really powerful itcan.
Also, you have to be careful.
You gotta have a good supportsystem.
I think all right.
So let's move on to yourfavorite rooms.
So your favorite.
Let's start with your favoriteroom to perform where's your
favorite place, my favorite roomto perform?
Speaker 2 (11:17):
probably stir crazy.
Yeah, because they're well,that's where my show's at karen
comedy, so I'm already kind ofbiased, but also I love their
food.
Their waitstaff is always niceand it's so like luxurious and
kind of a flex to like be like,oh, I'm at stir crazy, I'm at
Westgate, and because I grew upright around the corner from
Westgate, so that was like thespot to be when I was growing up
(11:40):
.
So it's I like it, it's like Itake pride in the times that I
get to be there.
Speaker 1 (11:45):
It is a good room.
I've performed there once, Ithink, and it's nice because
it's not super big, but it feelslike when you get a reaction
from the audience it's just,it's very rich the way the room
is.
It's a lot of love coming atyou and they do fill that room.
I think most shows are sold out, from what I hear, even the mic
(12:09):
stuff yeah, they have a reallygood.
Yeah, that's just like a reallygood business in general and
then just the atmosphere itcreates for the performers is
great, and to go to an open micwhere you have an audience,
that's that's rare, don't andthey're not biased, they're not
gonna.
Speaker 2 (12:25):
They're not your friends, they're not somebody
you invited.
You know you might be inviteyour guests to see you there,
but yeah it's a lot of fun therecaring comedy.
Speaker 1 (12:34):
Do you have the next, the 2024 show booked, yet you
have an idea when it's going tobe?
Speaker 2 (12:39):
yep, it'll be october 13th at seven and then, um,
like you could find all thatstuff like on my social media.
I have the ticket link and signup for my email newsletter.
That way you can see the lineupand it'll be really.
It's a really great show, superproud of it and it benefits so
we do a hygiene drive for thehouse list because I work um
some.
(12:59):
I work at Andre house and I dohaircuts for the house list
there.
Last year I was able to donate100 haircuts and give out
hygiene products, so it was areally big success wow, that's
amazing.
Speaker 1 (13:11):
Yeah, that's amazing, so that's a great one to
support.
Have a few laughs, help a fewpeople out, that's a good one.
Speaker 2 (13:16):
Yeah, yeah, andre's house does a lot of good.
It's with the, it's through thecatholic diocese, which is kind
of its own thing in and ofitself, but I really have been
gravitated towards them becauseof the management that they have
.
They really treat their guestswith a lot of humanity and the
manager there, interestingenough, does I want to say
(13:37):
quarterly celebration of life'sservices at the White Tank
Mountains for the houseless thathave been unclaimed.
They don't know the name, theydon't have an ID, so they just
really treat them veryrespectful.
Speaker 1 (13:53):
That's really nice to hear that there's something
like that out there.
Yeah, they're awesome.
Let's talk a little bit aboutreal estate and I'm excited to
talk to you about it because youI mean, I know a lot of people
don't think they can ever buy ahouse, and you've achieved that
and you've showed how to do it.
It just takes hard work andmaybe some luck a little bit.
(14:14):
You bought your house fiveyears ago.
The market's a little differentnow.
Like, what are you hearing nowand how are you feeling about
the real estate market?
Speaker 2 (14:26):
Yeah, I would love to get out of my condo, but I'm so
torn because I don't even usethe second bedroom anymore.
It's almost like wasted space.
But when you look into onebedroom apartments that are for
sale, it really concerns me,because in Arizona there could
be a company or an independentperson that can come in and buy
(14:51):
out so many condos or apartmentsand then like legally evict you
.
Yes, so that's always kind ofbeen in the back of my head and
I've known a person who that'shappened to, which I thought was
really scary.
Speaker 1 (15:02):
I had a client that happened to and it was really
like they reached out to me.
They were one of the fewremaining condos left that were
getting bought out.
They were hold out.
And it was really like theyreached out to me.
They were one of the fewremaining condos left that were
getting bought out, they wereholdout.
And this client she is a kick.
She is absolutely the bestnegotiator I've ever seen.
She was like I think she was inher seventies at the time and
you couldn't pull anything overon her.
(15:23):
And so she reached out to me toget just a market update on
their condo, what the marketworth was.
Because she was fighting.
They were trying to undercuther and pay her less than what
it was worth.
She was like no and uh but, butthey didn't want to sell.
That was the hardest part isthey wanted to keep that condo.
So they were disappointed thatthey were going to have to move.
Speaker 2 (15:46):
well, they know I always hear, like my clients say
oh um, condos are like thething to do.
You should always have a condo,then you can take equity out
and then put it towards yournext home.
I'm like I'm.
I have no desire to own mycondo.
I really want to buy a houseand I want to have it so I can
work out of my house, but I haveno desire to keep that condo.
(16:08):
It's it's uh.
I'm so grateful that I havesomewhere to live that's
affordable, but I don't have anydesire to keep it.
If I could do it, if I couldhave a do-over, I would
definitely get a house.
Did we talk about your favorite?
Speaker 1 (16:20):
room.
I think we skipped over that.
Speaker 2 (16:22):
Yeah, no worries, I was going to like kind of nudge
you a little bit to go back yeah, okay, so my favorite room in
my house I would probably say myliving room, because I am
slowly turning into one of thosewomen who likes to wear a robe
and sit in the recliner oh no,and I just got a love seat
recliner, so I'm really excitedand I love that thing.
(16:45):
And and on Sundays I sit outand I watch Love is Blind and
talk to nobody, and it's great.
Speaker 1 (16:53):
Oh yeah, well, cause you work so much?
You work a million hours.
I've talked to you about yourschedule before, so that must be
nice to have a day off whereyou can just unplug.
For sure I love that have youdone a lot of updates to your
condo Yep.
Speaker 2 (17:07):
I have redone.
I love that.
Have you done a lot of updatesto your condo?
Yep, I have redone.
I was fortunate enough thatwhen I bought it, I so that
condo is mine.
But my parents, cause it was myfirst place they bought me a
new kitchen, cause when I movedin it was a shiplap countertop
and um cabinets, so it was justit was not in good condition
(17:32):
kitchen wise.
But, guy, I bought it from aninvestor and he did go in, thank
god, and he did new flooring,new carpet, new windows, new
appliances.
But I had to go in and do thekitchen and my parents were also
nice enough to help me with mybathroom because the toilet
wasn't properly secured.
Speaker 1 (17:47):
Was it kind of rattling on the floor like
jiggling around the caulking?
Speaker 2 (17:51):
was like completely cracked.
Oh, that's unnerving, isn't it?
It was super unnerving, yeah.
So I moved in and I could tell,okay, like this has been, this
probably didn't have a veryinsightful owner, you know,
other than the investor, to havesomebody leave it in that
condition.
You know a toilet rattlingaround and to my knowledge, the
(18:11):
previous live-in owner had afamily and I'm like how did you
survive like that?
but you said, yeah, we heartoilet now totally so like
everything is basically new, andI also did a new AC unit and a
new water heater, so it'spractically new wow, yeah,
you've done everything, that'sawesome, it's beautiful.
It's beautiful like that, yeahthat's nice.
Speaker 1 (18:33):
So until the right opportunity comes along, back to
our topic about the next houseor, you know, whatever that
might be, you don't have.
You're in a comfortable placeright now, so you can just kind
of wait till the time is right,which is great yep, yep, just.
Speaker 2 (18:46):
I'm just continuing to save money and doing the the
baby steps through the Ramseyprogram, just about the saving,
like having a savings programfrom the Dave Ramsey program.
Speaker 1 (18:57):
Is that what you're talking about?
Speaker 2 (18:59):
Yeah, they talk about saving like a thousand dollars.
Or save a thousand dollars, payoff your credit card debt and
then pay get or I'm debt, andthen save three to six months of
expenses for emergencies.
And then I also have a CD thatI'm trying to work on too.
Speaker 1 (19:18):
That's good, especially like you're
self-employed, as am I, and youneed to have a cushion, because
sometimes things just come upyou don't know when.
You don't know what your nextmonth's income is going to be.
Necessarily, you plan so thatyou think you would do, but
sometimes there's unforeseencircumstances, so it's really
comforting to have some money inthe bank to cover you.
Speaker 2 (19:40):
Yeah, and I feel like hairstylists we get a bad rep
for being like I don't know.
Sometimes I have heard likecomments that like, oh, what are
you going to do?
Is this all you do?
Are you in school?
It's like you can make aprofitable career.
You know, I know I own a house.
I paid off my car when I was 26.
It was a brand new car.
(20:02):
It took me three years to payit off, you know.
So you can do it.
You just have to be smart aboutyour money.
And oftentimes I find, like, asartistic people, yeah, we might
not have the best boundarieswith money, but if you are aware
enough to fix it, then you canfix it and save money and do the
right thing and get you knowcapital and real estate and
different things like that.
Speaker 1 (20:23):
Definitely it takes some discipline, but I think
everybody could benefit fromthat, no matter what you're
doing.
And that goes to the comedyside too.
You've probably been to themics where people just come up
and they riff.
They don't have anythingprepared and it's just another
lesson that you've got to putwork in.
(20:44):
If there's anything you want todo, that's worthwhile.
If you put work in, it's somuch more satisfying yeah, I
think everybody should own realestate.
Speaker 2 (20:55):
Like you could always get more money back from it.
You know, like my parents, theywent from really low class when
they were kids to all this.
You know they had their firsthouse and then got a bigger
house, and then got a biggerhouse and now they're downsized
and they make double payments onit and they'll be fine, right,
(21:17):
yeah, so everybody can do it.
Get out of that poor state too.
Speaker 1 (21:22):
It absolutely is.
What you're saying isabsolutely true.
I mean, I don't know of anyother way that the average
person can build wealth.
That's this easy, you know.
You can say, well, I'm justgoing to rent and I'm going to
put money into stocks, or youknow, investment or something
like that, but it's, it doesn'twork as easily.
Speaker 2 (21:41):
Exactly, and I don't trust landlords.
You know I have.
I rent a suite and a salon andevery year it goes up.
It's ridiculous what I pay, butyou have to do it somewhere.
You know what I mean.
It's like an office.
But even you know when I sowhen I hear going back to the
(22:02):
point of, when I hear people saylike they don't want to own,
they just want to be tenants,I'm like you're paying somebody
double, maybe even triple whatthey're paying and you're just
giving them money and they mightnot even be reliable.
So if you have something goingout, it might not even be
something that you can get donebecause they don't care.
You know I've rented before andI've had a termites and things
(22:25):
that never gets addressed.
Speaker 1 (22:28):
Right.
One of my friends has lived inthis town home.
She she relocated here, shejust got divorced, so she's just
renting for a year to figurethings out, and she still
doesn't have a pool key.
And as a tenant she doesn'thave any way to get a pool key.
She has to get it from thelandlord, but he just something
as simple as a pool key so shecan use the community pool.
(22:51):
She can't do it.
Speaker 2 (22:54):
She has to do it.
And when you're a homeowner youcan advocate for yourself and
blow up their telephone or dosomething.
You know what I mean.
Like I ran into that when I wasgetting my mailbox when I
bought my condo.
Nobody could find where themailbox key was, and so if that
was a landlord, who they?
What stake do they have in mylife?
(23:14):
You know, I had to go down tothe post office and basically be
like, hey, I'm not leavinguntil we figure out some, get
some sort of direction.
Speaker 1 (23:22):
So I gotta get my mail yes, but it might be harder
if you're a tenant, becausethey're not going to just give a
mailbox key to anybody.
They want to prove that youhave the right to have the mail.
So, as a homeowner, it's.
Speaker 2 (23:35):
Or when I moved in, I was getting my kitchen service
and remodeled and they said hey,it's not getting below 78.
And this was in June and I waslike what do you mean?
It's not getting below 70?
And I went in and, sure enough,like the AC unit went out and
it was a Saturday and the ACunit guy came out at 10 o'clock
(23:55):
at night and fixed it.
If I was a tenant, that wouldhave been a much different
circumstance.
Speaker 1 (24:00):
Right, You'd have to go through the hoops.
And then, of course, thelandlords don't want to spend
money, so they'll fix it thecheapest possible way, and then
things just keep breaking,whereas if you're the owner, you
can say to yourself you knowwhat, I'm just going to get a
new air conditioning unitbecause I'm going to be here for
a while, it's going to, it'sgoing to pay itself off.
(24:21):
It's just a different mentality.
But you're also, you know,socking away the equity because
home prices, I mean, they wentup a lot.
It was crazy for a couple ofyears, but every year they don't
go up 20, 30%.
We're back down to like normalappreciation.
But even at 8%, 6%, somethinglike that normal, you're going
(24:45):
to be amazed at how much yourhouse is worth in five, seven,
10 years, because the key too isto stay there, right it's.
It's harder to make money bymoving every year or two.
Speaker 2 (24:58):
Yeah, definitely the next time I move.
I I really want a family andstuff.
So the next time I move I wantit to be maybe like 20 years.
Speaker 1 (25:05):
I'll be there.
Yeah, it's, it's nice, and thenyou make the house your own.
You're part of the communityand yeah, it's a really neat
thing, especially with a family,cause once you have kids then
you know all your neighbors.
You just do you know.
Once you're going to theschools and their neighbor the
kids are running around andstuff, then yeah you definitely
get to know the neighborhood.
So you're feeling pretty goodabout the real estate market
(25:28):
then, other than the fact thatthe houses that you want aren't
really out there yet.
Speaker 2 (25:35):
Yeah, I feel okay, I know I feel more confident
knowing that my house has goneup in value, so that will help
me with my next.
My downside of it is thatbecause I'm self-employed, I'm
under three years, I just needto continue to build my
clientele and make more moneyand pay myself more money.
(25:56):
That way I can prove, when thattime comes, like, oh, I
actually can't afford this.
This is what it is.
But until that time comes, Imean I'm so grateful that my
mortgage is as low as it is,because even as a renter, that
would not have been possible,right?
Speaker 1 (26:12):
Yeah, you would never be able to rent a condo for
what you're paying, and it'skind of good too.
I mean, you don't want to findyourself in a bad spot.
So the fact that they haverules out there because for a
while they didn't, and that'show that whole crash thing
happened is people were gettingin over their head.
Now it's much more controlled.
They're much more restrictiveof who they're going to get the
(26:33):
money to, so your chances ofgetting in over your head, not
being able to make your payments, are way less.
So it's not what we want.
A lot of times you don't wantto hear it, but it's really for
the best.
Speaker 2 (26:46):
Oh yeah, because you don't want to be house poor,
Exactly.
Speaker 1 (26:49):
Yeah, that's no life.
Speaker 2 (26:53):
Yeah, that's scary.
That's a scary circumstance.
I know I lost my job before Iopened my business, three months
before I had gotten fired, andI thought, oh, what am I going
to do?
I don't know.
This is scary, but my mortgagewas low and I just had to come
up with a little bit of incomeand I was fine.
Speaker 1 (27:13):
Right, well, and the other thing is, if you were in a
spot like that and let's justsay like when the pandemic
happened, a lot of people hadtrouble making their payments If
you were a renter, you'd be outon the street.
You're going to get evicted.
Now they have the moratorium,but that's not always the case.
Yep, but if you're a homeowner,you can always work with your
lender.
They will always work with you.
Speaker 2 (27:34):
Totally, and they were even sending me letters
saying please call us if youneed anything, Like they don't.
Yeah, they definitely don'twant to see you get cut out or
get out.
They don't want your house.
They just don't they want tokeep you in there.
Speaker 1 (27:47):
So what's coming up next then for you, Carrie?
Speaker 2 (27:56):
I'm going to be in Latin Ladies on Tuesday and then
, yeah, that's going to be atWestgate or at Stir Crazy, I'm
sorry with a really good cast.
Yeah, it's produced by Lamar,so that'll be a really fun show.
And then I'm going to haveKaren comedy in October 13th at
stir crazy.
So a little ways away, but Ilike to build up the momentum
because we have a really specialcast and Saskia is going to be
(28:18):
headlining, so that'll be reallynice, oh she's awesome.
Speaker 1 (28:22):
I need to get her on this podcast.
Yeah, that would be amazing.
I'll get all the informationand I'll put it in the links and
stuff so people can reach outand and find out more about that
and also about your salon.
Might as well plug your salonbecause, yeah, get it, yeah,
save up the money for the housefor the next house?
Speaker 2 (28:42):
yeah, yeah, totally.
If anybody's in north phoenix,it's right off uh, 27th ave and
the 101.
So I specialize color cuts andeyebrows.
Oh nice.
Speaker 1 (28:50):
Yeah, perfect.
Well, thanks so much.
I really love talking with youand I really enjoyed our
conversations.
I hope to see you.
Have you been going to theMonday workshop?
I haven't been for a littlewhile, but I want to get back
there.
Speaker 2 (29:06):
Yeah, I haven't.
I'm probably gonna not do asmuch.
Stand up.
I really like hosting events,so if somebody were to engage
with me, like you know, do youwant to host this?
I would be all for it.
But I'll just focus on improvhosting if it is applicable, and
then just my show in October.
Speaker 1 (29:23):
All right, I'm gonna keep that in mind, because I
have the two shows now, and soI'm kind of hoping maybe to
share some of the hosting dutieswith somebody.
Speaker 2 (29:32):
So yeah, I love, I love hosting it's like.
I love having a like kind offake dinner party where I could
just get to get everybodyexcited.
It is true.
Speaker 1 (29:42):
It is.
Yeah, it's fun.
It does feel like a dinnerparty, doesn't it?
Make sure everybody has whatthey need, and everybody's
having a good time.
Speaker 2 (29:48):
Yep, everybody's having a good time.
Yep, everybody's having a goodtime, and it's like carrying the
energy through the whole event.
Speaker 1 (29:59):
It's a good way of looking at it.
Well, that's it for for thisone.
Thanks again for being a partof this and I'm losing my voice
there, um and sharing a lot ofreally good information, cause I
think it's.
I think you have a great story.
Speaker 2 (30:11):
Thank you, yeah, no, I appreciate you having me and I
wish you a lot of successbecause you're so calm and
even-tempered and that's reallyhelpful when you look for a real
estate agent, because you needsomebody who can negotiate but
also communicate clearly andconcise, and that's something I
really feel like.
You do a really good jobcommunicating.
Speaker 1 (30:29):
I appreciate that it is one of the harder things
people go through in life buyingand selling a home.
Speaker 2 (30:34):
So yeah, I remember signing my when the notary came
over and he said it says this isone of the most important
purchases you will ever make inyour whole life.
Speaker 1 (30:45):
It's true, yeah, be nerve wracking and stuff goes
wrong and stuff.
So yeah, but it's wonderfulwhen you get through it.
It's really one of the bestthings ever.
So totally All right, well,I'll see you around town, okay,
thanks.
My special thanks to comedianstylist and fragrance ambassador
(31:09):
, carrie Medina, for joining metoday.
That was a lot of fun.
If you're looking for a greatstylist in the North Phoenix
area, hey book an appointmentwith Carrie at the Crescent
Salon.
You'll be glad you did.
She's got tons of five-starreviews.
And add her upcoming comedyshow, caring Comedy, to your
calendar.
That's coming up October 13that Stir Crazy at Westgate.
(31:29):
Have some laughs and benefit agood cause.
We'll see you next time atArizona Laughs and Listings.
Hello and welcome to Arizona Laughs and Listings, the
podcast where fun, funny folksget together and talk about real
estate and comedy, twocompletely unrelated topics that
go surprisingly well together.
I'm your host, kristen LeVanway, a real estate agent here in
the Phoenix metro metro area for19 years, as well as a local
(00:23):
stand-up comedian.
My guest today is comedianbusiness owner, podcast host,
philanthropist and all-aroundnice person, Keri Medina.
Keri, how are you doing?
Speaker 2 (00:40):
this morning I'm good , how are you?
Speaker 1 (00:42):
Bright and early.
I'm so glad you made it nineinstead of eight.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
Honestly, I'm so relieved when I saw that I just
hate saying no to people and Ihad a 9 am appointment and I'm
like I want to be available andthen she ended up canceling.
I'm like, okay, so great, wecan move into nine that's so
funny how that happens, you know.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
I mean, sometimes you just have to manifest stuff, I
think, just a little time, putit out there in the universe and
it happens weird not to bespacey, but I've seen it happen
a bunch of times, right.
So inquiring minds want to know.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
Carrie, tell us a little bit about you well, I'm
gonna be 30 in a few weeks, yaywelcome 30.
Uh, I own the Crescent Salon.
I have a self-care line calledCare by Crescent.
I own Caring Comedy and I alsoam a podcast host for Cutting Up
(01:36):
with Carrie and that's hostedin my salon that's awesome.
Speaker 1 (01:40):
What does your cover?
Speaker 2 (01:43):
I bring in guests and we talk about like the highs
and lows of their life and thenwe ask like burning questions in
a segment called what are youwearing, and we talk about what
fragrance they're wearing.
Oh, wow.
Speaker 1 (01:56):
So that's an untapped market podcast.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
I just want to be nosy.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
It's just an excuse for me to be nosy, nosy, no pun,
right, yeah, um, yeah, and soit's kind of a difficult medium
to talk about fragrances thoughright in a podcast, like you
have to really present it in a Idon't know descriptive way, I
guess.
Speaker 2 (02:19):
I just ask what are you wearing?
What fragrance is that?
And I'm really offended andshocked by the straight men that
tell me they're wearing nothing.
Oh, they need to step it up.
Speaker 1 (02:30):
Yeah, okay, putting that out there yeah, I didn't
put it on.
It's something not just, notjust deodorant.
Yeah, that's, that's good,that's good community work that
you're doing, I think.
Speaker 2 (02:43):
I'm just doing the Lord's work.
Speaker 1 (02:49):
Well, I like to start off this segment with a little
talk about your first, yourfirst house and your first
comedy gig.
Okay, so go ahead, tell usabout your first.
Go ahead, tell us about yourfirst.
Speaker 2 (03:03):
So my first home I was 25 and it was it's a condo.
I still live there in DeerValley, well, north Phoenix, and
yeah, I basically wrote downeverything I wanted in a condo
and then it took, it was.
It took like six months andthen finally it popped up and I
(03:25):
it was on the market forprobably four hours and then I
put my offer in the next day andthey tried to get us all in a
bidding war, you know.
They tried to have us wait,like, oh, we're not, we're going
to let you guys know in fivedays.
And so they collected all theiroffers and I was like I wrote a
letter saying that I need tomove out of my parents house and
(03:46):
that, um, I'll go, you know,please let me move in.
And then so they accepted myoffer and then they had
appraised for less than what myoffer was, so I was able to get
them down again did you?
Speaker 1 (03:58):
did you negotiate the price down or did you have to
cover the difference?
Oh, that's good.
I know what.
The last three years two, threeyears the market was so red hot
that we were having a hard timenegotiating those, the
appraisal gaps, and so the buyerwould have to cover it, which
is so hard, especially when it'syour first house and you're
(04:19):
like getting change out of yourcouch cushions, you know, trying
to come up with the downpayment and everything, and
they're like oh well, we need,we need 5,000 more dollars.
Speaker 2 (04:28):
Yeah, I was in a really privileged position
because I had lived with myparents.
I moved back in for four yearsand I would work like six days a
week and I just savedeverything.
I didn't go out, I didn't doanything, I saved every
everything I could.
So when it came to do the downpayment, to do the earnest money
(04:52):
.
Speaker 1 (04:52):
I had everything in cash right away.
That's perfect.
And now it's paid off right,because you're sitting on some
pretty good equity after fiveyears.
Speaker 2 (04:55):
No, it's not paid off , unfortunately, but it has gone
up like $125K, I think, or$150K.
That's a pretty good returnright.
Speaker 1 (05:04):
Yeah, that's awesome.
Plus, you've probably beenlooking at rents going up for
the last five years and you'rejust laughing.
Speaker 2 (05:12):
I know it's just nuts .
I always think when littleflukes happen in the condo I'm
like, oh, I should move.
And my parents have talked tome about renting and stuff, but
it's like my mortgage is nothing.
I've been able to start threesmall businesses, not even
worrying about how I'm going topay my mortgage.
Speaker 1 (05:32):
That's yeah.
That opened the door for you todo all these other things.
Yeah, yeah, it's good.
I mean, having a having areasonable housing budget can
make everything so much easier,which is totally and it's a two
bedroom.
Speaker 2 (05:46):
I don't even use the second bedroom, but I used to
have it as a guest room and I'vehad friends that have had like
emergencies where they've had tostay with me and I'm like, come
on in.
I never use it.
Speaker 1 (05:56):
So that's nice.
No, it's nice, you can do that.
Yeah, all right, let's move onto your first comedy gig.
Speaker 2 (06:03):
My first comedy gig was with Jennifer Girolo.
It was her show at NCT.
Oh boy, probably three yearsago.
It went good.
It went really good.
Everybody that was a reallygood audience.
Danielle, or Diva, was theheadliner yeah, and she's
(06:24):
amazing.
So it was just so fun to meether for the first time.
And now we're going on boy,probably three years of a
friendship with me and Diva.
She's really awesome.
She's a really amazing person.
Speaker 1 (06:36):
That's great.
How did that first gig feel?
Speaker 2 (06:40):
I was with Corporate America for years where I had
ran stores and my staff.
At one point I took over areally bad, failing business and
I was hired by these guys tocome in and turn it over and my
staff at the time was awful.
So any meeting I would run theywere just hateful and saying
(07:02):
rude things.
I felt like I was more preparedfor a stranger to say something
to me versus like somebody Iknew and had some investment in,
you know.
So I wasn't as scary as like Iliterally had an employee named
Karen, oh gosh, who was totallya Karen and a narcissist.
(07:23):
So it was.
I was like prepared, oh, right,right.
Speaker 1 (07:26):
So no heckler can heckle you really.
They can try, but they willyeah.
Speaker 2 (07:30):
I heard a guy yell something at me one time and I
was like, come again.
And he said it again and I waslike that's okay, we can talk
after the show.
And I look like he.
Speaker 1 (07:37):
I just put the fear of God in him, your your
material is kind of spicy and Ithink you know people might
react to it sometimes.
Speaker 2 (07:48):
Are you referring to the waxing propaganda?
Speaker 1 (07:51):
I.
You know I'm not.
I'm not saying anythingspecific, but you know I'm just.
You know that's what comedy issupposed to do, right.
Speaker 2 (08:06):
Though it's supposed to make you think and challenge
people.
And well it's.
It's just like what you said,like I'm just trying to do
community service and teachthese men that they need to be
more smooth physically.
Speaker 1 (08:16):
Exactly, we'll take it better than others, you know
I don't want to rub up against aBrillo pad.
Speaker 2 (08:23):
I'll get a scratch.
Speaker 1 (08:26):
Right For all women out there and men, I'm looking
out for all women out there.
I'm looking out for everybody,Everybody, really honestly.
Speaker 2 (08:32):
I'm still thinking about your joke of the car
salesman.
Speaker 1 (08:37):
Oh my gosh.
I know I'm still working on howto get that really.
Speaker 2 (08:41):
But the way you say that it just makes me laugh so
hard.
Speaker 1 (08:44):
Yes, I love it.
I will get that joke ready forprimeetime.
But it's a happy memory.
It honestly is.
It was a different time backthen.
I couldn't comment on hiswaxing status, though it wasn't
as big of a thing back then.
Speaker 2 (09:01):
It wasn't unfortunately, it's a new day,
though.
We have more hope.
Speaker 1 (09:07):
And more products, so it's easier.
Speaker 2 (09:10):
There's really no excuse at this point not to be
waxed.
Speaker 1 (09:14):
Yeah, well, I can think of one because it kind of
hurts, but you know, if you're awussy, I think that's a good
excuse.
So first gig went well and thenthat was so three years ago is
when you started doing comedy.
Yeah, and how?
How are you feeling about itnow?
Speaker 2 (09:33):
do you.
I don't really have a hugeburning desire to do it anymore.
I'm pretty burned out from it.
Um, I more do improv now.
So I've been in improv classesfor almost the same amount of
time probably two and a halfyears so I just take improv
classes.
I'm not in a team but I justlike playing with teammates and
having fun.
(09:53):
It gets me out of the back ofmy head into the front of my
head.
Oh yeah, and that's been reallygood because I I've been in
recovery for years of fordifferent things and stand up.
There's a really good crowd andthen there's like 75 percent
where it could be a little roughin my in my experience.
So it's really been challengingto get out of, to be in
(10:16):
recovery and to still engagewith circumstances that aren't
for my best interest.
So I'm more passionate aboutlike improv now.
That's a good point.
Speaker 1 (10:26):
It can be rough, you know, depending on what kind of
shows you do and stuff, but whenyou get into like the bar shows
or even some of the rougherclubs, I I mean I don't know
that.
That's a positive experienceand right.
well, and for somebody that'sbeen in recovery for like pills,
alcohol and codependency,probably the last place I need
to be is at a bar at like 10o'clock at night and a lot of
(10:49):
comedians are, you know,struggling with different mental
illness, mental, you know stuff, headspace issues, and it takes
a lot of vulnerability to comeout there and do this and it can
be really good and reallypowerful.
It can also you got to becareful.
Speaker 2 (11:06):
You got to have a good support system.
Speaker 1 (11:07):
I think All right.
So let, and really powerful itcan.
Also, you have to be careful.
You gotta have a good supportsystem.
I think all right.
So let's move on to yourfavorite rooms.
So your favorite.
Let's start with your favoriteroom to perform where's your
favorite place, my favorite roomto perform?
Speaker 2 (11:17):
probably stir crazy.
Yeah, because they're well,that's where my show's at karen
comedy, so I'm already kind ofbiased, but also I love their
food.
Their waitstaff is always niceand it's so like luxurious and
kind of a flex to like be like,oh, I'm at stir crazy, I'm at
Westgate, and because I grew upright around the corner from
Westgate, so that was like thespot to be when I was growing up
(11:40):
.
So it's I like it, it's like Itake pride in the times that I
get to be there.
Speaker 1 (11:45):
It is a good room.
I've performed there once, Ithink, and it's nice because
it's not super big, but it feelslike when you get a reaction
from the audience it's just,it's very rich the way the room
is.
It's a lot of love coming atyou and they do fill that room.
I think most shows are sold out, from what I hear, even the mic
(12:09):
stuff yeah, they have a reallygood.
Yeah, that's just like a reallygood business in general and
then just the atmosphere itcreates for the performers is
great, and to go to an open micwhere you have an audience,
that's that's rare, don't andthey're not biased, they're not
gonna.
Speaker 2 (12:25):
They're not your friends, they're not somebody
you invited.
You know you might be inviteyour guests to see you there,
but yeah it's a lot of fun therecaring comedy.
Speaker 1 (12:34):
Do you have the next, the 2024 show booked, yet you
have an idea when it's going tobe?
Speaker 2 (12:39):
yep, it'll be october 13th at seven and then, um,
like you could find all thatstuff like on my social media.
I have the ticket link and signup for my email newsletter.
That way you can see the lineupand it'll be really.
It's a really great show, superproud of it and it benefits so
we do a hygiene drive for thehouse list because I work um
some.
(12:59):
I work at Andre house and I dohaircuts for the house list
there.
Last year I was able to donate100 haircuts and give out
hygiene products, so it was areally big success wow, that's
amazing.
Speaker 1 (13:11):
Yeah, that's amazing, so that's a great one to
support.
Have a few laughs, help a fewpeople out, that's a good one.
Speaker 2 (13:16):
Yeah, yeah, andre's house does a lot of good.
It's with the, it's through thecatholic diocese, which is kind
of its own thing in and ofitself, but I really have been
gravitated towards them becauseof the management that they have
.
They really treat their guestswith a lot of humanity and the
manager there, interestingenough, does I want to say
(13:37):
quarterly celebration of life'sservices at the White Tank
Mountains for the houseless thathave been unclaimed.
They don't know the name, theydon't have an ID, so they just
really treat them veryrespectful.
Speaker 1 (13:53):
That's really nice to hear that there's something
like that out there.
Yeah, they're awesome.
Let's talk a little bit aboutreal estate and I'm excited to
talk to you about it because youI mean, I know a lot of people
don't think they can ever buy ahouse, and you've achieved that
and you've showed how to do it.
It just takes hard work andmaybe some luck a little bit.
(14:14):
You bought your house fiveyears ago.
The market's a little differentnow.
Like, what are you hearing nowand how are you feeling about
the real estate market?
Speaker 2 (14:26):
Yeah, I would love to get out of my condo, but I'm so
torn because I don't even usethe second bedroom anymore.
It's almost like wasted space.
But when you look into onebedroom apartments that are for
sale, it really concerns me,because in Arizona there could
be a company or an independentperson that can come in and buy
(14:51):
out so many condos or apartmentsand then like legally evict you
.
Yes, so that's always kind ofbeen in the back of my head and
I've known a person who that'shappened to, which I thought was
really scary.
Speaker 1 (15:02):
I had a client that happened to and it was really
like they reached out to me.
They were one of the fewremaining condos left that were
getting bought out.
They were hold out.
And it was really like theyreached out to me.
They were one of the fewremaining condos left that were
getting bought out, they wereholdout.
And this client she is a kick.
She is absolutely the bestnegotiator I've ever seen.
She was like I think she was inher seventies at the time and
you couldn't pull anything overon her.
(15:23):
And so she reached out to me toget just a market update on
their condo, what the marketworth was.
Because she was fighting.
They were trying to undercuther and pay her less than what
it was worth.
She was like no and uh but, butthey didn't want to sell.
That was the hardest part isthey wanted to keep that condo.
So they were disappointed thatthey were going to have to move.
Speaker 2 (15:46):
well, they know I always hear, like my clients say
oh um, condos are like thething to do.
You should always have a condo,then you can take equity out
and then put it towards yournext home.
I'm like I'm.
I have no desire to own mycondo.
I really want to buy a houseand I want to have it so I can
work out of my house, but I haveno desire to keep that condo.
(16:08):
It's it's uh.
I'm so grateful that I havesomewhere to live that's
affordable, but I don't have anydesire to keep it.
If I could do it, if I couldhave a do-over, I would
definitely get a house.
Did we talk about your favorite?
Speaker 1 (16:20):
room.
I think we skipped over that.
Speaker 2 (16:22):
Yeah, no worries, I was going to like kind of nudge
you a little bit to go back yeah, okay, so my favorite room in
my house I would probably say myliving room, because I am
slowly turning into one of thosewomen who likes to wear a robe
and sit in the recliner oh no,and I just got a love seat
recliner, so I'm really excitedand I love that thing.
(16:45):
And and on Sundays I sit outand I watch Love is Blind and
talk to nobody, and it's great.
Speaker 1 (16:53):
Oh yeah, well, cause you work so much?
You work a million hours.
I've talked to you about yourschedule before, so that must be
nice to have a day off whereyou can just unplug.
For sure I love that have youdone a lot of updates to your
condo Yep.
Speaker 2 (17:07):
I have redone.
I love that.
Have you done a lot of updatesto your condo?
Yep, I have redone.
I was fortunate enough thatwhen I bought it, I so that
condo is mine.
But my parents, cause it was myfirst place they bought me a
new kitchen, cause when I movedin it was a shiplap countertop
and um cabinets, so it was justit was not in good condition
(17:32):
kitchen wise.
But, guy, I bought it from aninvestor and he did go in, thank
god, and he did new flooring,new carpet, new windows, new
appliances.
But I had to go in and do thekitchen and my parents were also
nice enough to help me with mybathroom because the toilet
wasn't properly secured.
Speaker 1 (17:47):
Was it kind of rattling on the floor like
jiggling around the caulking?
Speaker 2 (17:51):
was like completely cracked.
Oh, that's unnerving, isn't it?
It was super unnerving, yeah.
So I moved in and I could tell,okay, like this has been, this
probably didn't have a veryinsightful owner, you know,
other than the investor, to havesomebody leave it in that
condition.
You know a toilet rattlingaround and to my knowledge, the
(18:11):
previous live-in owner had afamily and I'm like how did you
survive like that?
but you said, yeah, we heartoilet now totally so like
everything is basically new, andI also did a new AC unit and a
new water heater, so it'spractically new wow, yeah,
you've done everything, that'sawesome, it's beautiful.
It's beautiful like that, yeahthat's nice.
Speaker 1 (18:33):
So until the right opportunity comes along, back to
our topic about the next houseor, you know, whatever that
might be, you don't have.
You're in a comfortable placeright now, so you can just kind
of wait till the time is right,which is great yep, yep, just.
Speaker 2 (18:46):
I'm just continuing to save money and doing the the
baby steps through the Ramseyprogram, just about the saving,
like having a savings programfrom the Dave Ramsey program.
Speaker 1 (18:57):
Is that what you're talking about?
Speaker 2 (18:59):
Yeah, they talk about saving like a thousand dollars.
Or save a thousand dollars, payoff your credit card debt and
then pay get or I'm debt, andthen save three to six months of
expenses for emergencies.
And then I also have a CD thatI'm trying to work on too.
Speaker 1 (19:18):
That's good, especially like you're
self-employed, as am I, and youneed to have a cushion, because
sometimes things just come upyou don't know when.
You don't know what your nextmonth's income is going to be.
Necessarily, you plan so thatyou think you would do, but
sometimes there's unforeseencircumstances, so it's really
comforting to have some money inthe bank to cover you.
Speaker 2 (19:40):
Yeah, and I feel like hairstylists we get a bad rep
for being like I don't know.
Sometimes I have heard likecomments that like, oh, what are
you going to do?
Is this all you do?
Are you in school?
It's like you can make aprofitable career.
You know, I know I own a house.
I paid off my car when I was 26.
It was a brand new car.
(20:02):
It took me three years to payit off, you know.
So you can do it.
You just have to be smart aboutyour money.
And oftentimes I find, like, asartistic people, yeah, we might
not have the best boundarieswith money, but if you are aware
enough to fix it, then you canfix it and save money and do the
right thing and get you knowcapital and real estate and
different things like that.
Speaker 1 (20:23):
Definitely it takes some discipline, but I think
everybody could benefit fromthat, no matter what you're
doing.
And that goes to the comedyside too.
You've probably been to themics where people just come up
and they riff.
They don't have anythingprepared and it's just another
lesson that you've got to putwork in.
(20:44):
If there's anything you want todo, that's worthwhile.
If you put work in, it's somuch more satisfying yeah, I
think everybody should own realestate.
Speaker 2 (20:55):
Like you could always get more money back from it.
You know, like my parents, theywent from really low class when
they were kids to all this.
You know they had their firsthouse and then got a bigger
house, and then got a biggerhouse and now they're downsized
and they make double payments onit and they'll be fine, right,
(21:17):
yeah, so everybody can do it.
Get out of that poor state too.
Speaker 1 (21:22):
It absolutely is.
What you're saying isabsolutely true.
I mean, I don't know of anyother way that the average
person can build wealth.
That's this easy, you know.
You can say, well, I'm justgoing to rent and I'm going to
put money into stocks, or youknow, investment or something
like that, but it's, it doesn'twork as easily.
Speaker 2 (21:41):
Exactly, and I don't trust landlords.
You know I have.
I rent a suite and a salon andevery year it goes up.
It's ridiculous what I pay, butyou have to do it somewhere.
You know what I mean.
It's like an office.
But even you know when I sowhen I hear going back to the
(22:02):
point of, when I hear people saylike they don't want to own,
they just want to be tenants,I'm like you're paying somebody
double, maybe even triple whatthey're paying and you're just
giving them money and they mightnot even be reliable.
So if you have something goingout, it might not even be
something that you can get donebecause they don't care.
You know I've rented before andI've had a termites and things
(22:25):
that never gets addressed.
Speaker 1 (22:28):
Right.
One of my friends has lived inthis town home.
She she relocated here, shejust got divorced, so she's just
renting for a year to figurethings out, and she still
doesn't have a pool key.
And as a tenant she doesn'thave any way to get a pool key.
She has to get it from thelandlord, but he just something
as simple as a pool key so shecan use the community pool.
(22:51):
She can't do it.
Speaker 2 (22:54):
She has to do it.
And when you're a homeowner youcan advocate for yourself and
blow up their telephone or dosomething.
You know what I mean.
Like I ran into that when I wasgetting my mailbox when I
bought my condo.
Nobody could find where themailbox key was, and so if that
was a landlord, who they?
What stake do they have in mylife?
(23:14):
You know, I had to go down tothe post office and basically be
like, hey, I'm not leavinguntil we figure out some, get
some sort of direction.
Speaker 1 (23:22):
So I gotta get my mail yes, but it might be harder
if you're a tenant, becausethey're not going to just give a
mailbox key to anybody.
They want to prove that youhave the right to have the mail.
So, as a homeowner, it's.
Speaker 2 (23:35):
Or when I moved in, I was getting my kitchen service
and remodeled and they said hey,it's not getting below 78.
And this was in June and I waslike what do you mean?
It's not getting below 70?
And I went in and, sure enough,like the AC unit went out and
it was a Saturday and the ACunit guy came out at 10 o'clock
(23:55):
at night and fixed it.
If I was a tenant, that wouldhave been a much different
circumstance.
Speaker 1 (24:00):
Right, You'd have to go through the hoops.
And then, of course, thelandlords don't want to spend
money, so they'll fix it thecheapest possible way, and then
things just keep breaking,whereas if you're the owner, you
can say to yourself you knowwhat, I'm just going to get a
new air conditioning unitbecause I'm going to be here for
a while, it's going to, it'sgoing to pay itself off.
(24:21):
It's just a different mentality.
But you're also, you know,socking away the equity because
home prices, I mean, they wentup a lot.
It was crazy for a couple ofyears, but every year they don't
go up 20, 30%.
We're back down to like normalappreciation.
But even at 8%, 6%, somethinglike that normal, you're going
(24:45):
to be amazed at how much yourhouse is worth in five, seven,
10 years, because the key too isto stay there, right it's.
It's harder to make money bymoving every year or two.
Speaker 2 (24:58):
Yeah, definitely the next time I move.
I I really want a family andstuff.
So the next time I move I wantit to be maybe like 20 years.
Speaker 1 (25:05):
I'll be there.
Yeah, it's, it's nice, and thenyou make the house your own.
You're part of the communityand yeah, it's a really neat
thing, especially with a family,cause once you have kids then
you know all your neighbors.
You just do you know.
Once you're going to theschools and their neighbor the
kids are running around andstuff, then yeah you definitely
get to know the neighborhood.
So you're feeling pretty goodabout the real estate market
(25:28):
then, other than the fact thatthe houses that you want aren't
really out there yet.
Speaker 2 (25:35):
Yeah, I feel okay, I know I feel more confident
knowing that my house has goneup in value, so that will help
me with my next.
My downside of it is thatbecause I'm self-employed, I'm
under three years, I just needto continue to build my
clientele and make more moneyand pay myself more money.
(25:56):
That way I can prove, when thattime comes, like, oh, I
actually can't afford this.
This is what it is.
But until that time comes, Imean I'm so grateful that my
mortgage is as low as it is,because even as a renter, that
would not have been possible,right?
Speaker 1 (26:12):
Yeah, you would never be able to rent a condo for
what you're paying, and it'skind of good too.
I mean, you don't want to findyourself in a bad spot.
So the fact that they haverules out there because for a
while they didn't, and that'show that whole crash thing
happened is people were gettingin over their head.
Now it's much more controlled.
They're much more restrictiveof who they're going to get the
(26:33):
money to, so your chances ofgetting in over your head, not
being able to make your payments, are way less.
So it's not what we want.
A lot of times you don't wantto hear it, but it's really for
the best.
Speaker 2 (26:46):
Oh yeah, because you don't want to be house poor,
Exactly.
Speaker 1 (26:49):
Yeah, that's no life.
Speaker 2 (26:53):
Yeah, that's scary.
That's a scary circumstance.
I know I lost my job before Iopened my business, three months
before I had gotten fired, andI thought, oh, what am I going
to do?
I don't know.
This is scary, but my mortgagewas low and I just had to come
up with a little bit of incomeand I was fine.
Speaker 1 (27:13):
Right, well, and the other thing is, if you were in a
spot like that and let's justsay like when the pandemic
happened, a lot of people hadtrouble making their payments If
you were a renter, you'd be outon the street.
You're going to get evicted.
Now they have the moratorium,but that's not always the case.
Yep, but if you're a homeowner,you can always work with your
lender.
They will always work with you.
Speaker 2 (27:34):
Totally, and they were even sending me letters
saying please call us if youneed anything, Like they don't.
Yeah, they definitely don'twant to see you get cut out or
get out.
They don't want your house.
They just don't they want tokeep you in there.
Speaker 1 (27:47):
So what's coming up next then for you, Carrie?
Speaker 2 (27:56):
I'm going to be in Latin Ladies on Tuesday and then
, yeah, that's going to be atWestgate or at Stir Crazy, I'm
sorry with a really good cast.
Yeah, it's produced by Lamar,so that'll be a really fun show.
And then I'm going to haveKaren comedy in October 13th at
stir crazy.
So a little ways away, but Ilike to build up the momentum
because we have a really specialcast and Saskia is going to be
(28:18):
headlining, so that'll be reallynice, oh she's awesome.
Speaker 1 (28:22):
I need to get her on this podcast.
Yeah, that would be amazing.
I'll get all the informationand I'll put it in the links and
stuff so people can reach outand and find out more about that
and also about your salon.
Might as well plug your salonbecause, yeah, get it, yeah,
save up the money for the housefor the next house?
Speaker 2 (28:42):
yeah, yeah, totally.
If anybody's in north phoenix,it's right off uh, 27th ave and
the 101.
So I specialize color cuts andeyebrows.
Oh nice.
Speaker 1 (28:50):
Yeah, perfect.
Well, thanks so much.
I really love talking with youand I really enjoyed our
conversations.
I hope to see you.
Have you been going to theMonday workshop?
I haven't been for a littlewhile, but I want to get back
there.
Speaker 2 (29:06):
Yeah, I haven't.
I'm probably gonna not do asmuch.
Stand up.
I really like hosting events,so if somebody were to engage
with me, like you know, do youwant to host this?
I would be all for it.
But I'll just focus on improvhosting if it is applicable, and
then just my show in October.
Speaker 1 (29:23):
All right, I'm gonna keep that in mind, because I
have the two shows now, and soI'm kind of hoping maybe to
share some of the hosting dutieswith somebody.
Speaker 2 (29:32):
So yeah, I love, I love hosting it's like.
I love having a like kind offake dinner party where I could
just get to get everybodyexcited.
It is true.
Speaker 1 (29:42):
It is.
Yeah, it's fun.
It does feel like a dinnerparty, doesn't it?
Make sure everybody has whatthey need, and everybody's
having a good time.
Speaker 2 (29:48):
Yep, everybody's having a good time.
Yep, everybody's having a goodtime, and it's like carrying the
energy through the whole event.
Speaker 1 (29:59):
It's a good way of looking at it.
Well, that's it for for thisone.
Thanks again for being a partof this and I'm losing my voice
there, um and sharing a lot ofreally good information, cause I
think it's.
I think you have a great story.
Speaker 2 (30:11):
Thank you, yeah, no, I appreciate you having me and I
wish you a lot of successbecause you're so calm and
even-tempered and that's reallyhelpful when you look for a real
estate agent, because you needsomebody who can negotiate but
also communicate clearly andconcise, and that's something I
really feel like.
You do a really good jobcommunicating.
Speaker 1 (30:29):
I appreciate that it is one of the harder things
people go through in life buyingand selling a home.
Speaker 2 (30:34):
So yeah, I remember signing my when the notary came
over and he said it says this isone of the most important
purchases you will ever make inyour whole life.
Speaker 1 (30:45):
It's true, yeah, be nerve wracking and stuff goes
wrong and stuff.
So yeah, but it's wonderfulwhen you get through it.
It's really one of the bestthings ever.
So totally All right, well,I'll see you around town, okay,
thanks.
My special thanks to comedianstylist and fragrance ambassador
(31:09):
, carrie Medina, for joining metoday.
That was a lot of fun.
If you're looking for a greatstylist in the North Phoenix
area, hey book an appointmentwith Carrie at the Crescent
Salon.
You'll be glad you did.
She's got tons of five-starreviews.
And add her upcoming comedyshow, caring Comedy, to your
calendar.
That's coming up October 13that Stir Crazy at Westgate.
(31:29):
Have some laughs and benefit agood cause.
We'll see you next time atArizona Laughs and Listings.
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