Buying vs. Renting with Rock Realty

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Height thirty five thirteen ten Wi b A and ask
the experts with Rock Realty in studio this morning with
Matt Heytman of Rockrealty. The website rock Wisconsin dot com.
That's rock Wisconsin dot com. A couple other things too
as we talk about being online. To keep in mind
if you're looking to buy, if you haven't checked out
Wisconsin buy your Agent dot com, definitely get there today.

(00:22):
That's Wisconsin Buyeragent dot com. It's a cool, cool way
to get to know the agent. Set up a conversation
with the agents at Rockrealty as well. And I noticed
Matt by the way, good morning, Good morning. You have
some tag team. There's Lindsay and Kyle. Yeah they do
they sell together. Do they work as a tandem. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (00:40):
I would say she does a lot of the showings,
she does all the work.

Speaker 1 (00:45):
Let's be here.

Speaker 2 (00:46):
Well, he's a remodeler. As a team, they work out great.

Speaker 1 (00:50):
So if you're going through a house and it might
need some work, oh, you can have Kyle do the work.

Speaker 2 (00:55):
And get some quotes for you, and then Lindsay will
get the contracts and get you a good deal.

Speaker 1 (00:58):
These are the things that you learn when you go
to Wisconsin buyer Agent dot com. You can get a
little profile on all the different agents. You can also
request a phone call. Again, just head on over to
the website Wisconsin Buyeragent dot com. That's all singular Wisconsin
buyer Agent dot com. In the website for Rockrealty Rock
Wisconsin dot com, that's oro Ock Wisconsin dot com. We're

(01:19):
gonna be talking about renting versus buyings. There are pros
and cons to each, and we'll kind of break down
some of those areas that you need to think about
if you're thinking about buying, if you're continuing to rent,
what you need to think about when it comes to
the pluses and minuses on that. But before we get
rolling on that conversation, one of the cool things we
do each week here is a featured listing, And this
week we've got a really really nice, really nice house

(01:44):
in Portage. We're going north to town this week, aren't we, man, Yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:46):
A little north. Yeah, that's N seven five seventy nine
Pine Ridge Circle and that's in Portage.

Speaker 1 (01:53):
It's listened for four.

Speaker 2 (01:54):
Hundred and twenty five thousand dollars and it's a it's
a beautiful setting.

Speaker 1 (01:58):
Yeah, beautiful setting.

Speaker 2 (02:00):
One point eight one acres and it's got four bedrooms
and over twenty four hundred square feet.

Speaker 1 (02:07):
And you mentioned the setting, and folks want to head
on over to rock Wisconsin dot com you can see
this firsthand yourself. Beautiful tall pine trees, a wooded area
right around the lot. It's and you think about that
is you start seeing those big tall pines and big
trees like that, mature trees, I think is what they

(02:27):
call those. Those don't come come around overnight. I mean,
those are those are things that have grown and been
cared for over the years. And uh, what a really
really cool house. Four bedrooms, three three baths Columbia County.
Columbia County has as nice taxes. Yeah, if you're if
you're somebody that's saying, you know what, I want some
cool amenities. I want a great locale and I don't

(02:48):
want to pay a ton. It is a pretty good
place to be for.

Speaker 2 (02:52):
That, I think. So it's a fairly quick interstate trip
down as well, so the commute is not too bad
to Madison.

Speaker 1 (02:58):
It's one of those split I think a lot of
folks are familiar with that kind of that that split
level home. And I did notice too, like the entry
way has got it's got a really cool when you
pull in the driveway, you kind of there's like a
little the sidewalk is got a little curve to it,
and there's some really really nice shrubbery and some landscaping there,

(03:20):
and it really makes that the home and we're talking
about very welcoming, and it kind of sets the stage
for like a really really comfortable, cozy home. Yeah, I
think so.

Speaker 2 (03:30):
And then it also helps to expose the basement so
you get some natural light down there, So it really
helps with that lower level finished square footage when you
have some natural light coming in.

Speaker 1 (03:38):
And you mentioned square footage four hundred and seventy square feet,
that's a that's a good size home for sure.

Speaker 2 (03:43):
So absolutely, Yeah, three different bathrooms as well.

Speaker 1 (03:47):
Maybe talking every show all I gotta do is called
Chad Bower. He is the featured agent on this listing.
Chad Bowers teal Phe number six so eight two seven
nine fifty nine eighty five. That's two seven nine fifty
nine eighty five. Chad, talk a little bit more about
this beautiful listing in Portage in just a moment. But Matt,
we're going to talk this week about renting versus buying,

(04:10):
and there are obviously with any decision in life, there
are some considerations, and you certainly want to want to
make sure that you work through some of this stuff.
And there are of course pros and cons specifically here
in Dane County when we talk about especially the Madison
are yeah, renting there are some unique, unique things to
all the markets, but especially Madison and the renting market.
Let's talk about some of the pros to renting here

(04:33):
in Dane County and some of the things that that
kind of benefit folks. And I guess the first thing
that I noticed on your notes was the flexibility and
the mobility of being a renter. You're not really tied down,
are you. Yeah, it's it.

Speaker 2 (04:44):
It's probably one of the number one reasons people decided
to rent versus buy. And it gives you the ability
to only be committed a verse a certain amount of time,
not I have to worry about selling your property per se.
You could rent in one location, move to another location
if the if your job warrants it, and if you
have to get relocated for some reason, and just gives

(05:04):
you a little more flexibility when you're doing that versus
home ownership.

Speaker 1 (05:07):
Is there is there something too for a market for
folks that are looking for rentals. I know we've got
like EPIC, and we've of course got a lot of professors.
A friend of mine, her and her husband, both doctors.
They had a beautiful house here in town, and I
learned when they moved that they had actually been renting.
They had rented that house because they didn't know, you know,
what their next what their next step was as we talk,

(05:30):
and I know this is probably kind of turning it
a little bit and we'll get into the benefits of
home ownership, but it's also a good market, not just
to be a renter, but it's also to be a
landlord of property owner with rental property, isn't it? Sure?

Speaker 2 (05:44):
Absolutely? And you know, proximity to larger, you know, employers
like you had mentioned like EPIC really does affect not
only you know, the rentals in the area, but it
also ends up affecting house prices as well. How much
Varna has grown since EPIC came into town, and that's
happened with both nice apartments that have been built as
well as a brand new subdivision.

Speaker 1 (06:05):
You know, there's a lot of things from I remember
as a renter that I don't miss at all as
a homeowner. One thing that I that I do kind
of miss is this next one, which is that maintenance
free lifestyle and not having there is nothing to worry
about because at the end of the day, as a renter,
that's not my problem. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (06:22):
You know, if you have anything that breaks down in
the apartment isn't working properly, whether it's plumbing or electrical,
it is the landlord's responsibility. But that doesn't mean that
you need to have a good landlord because you know
they're out there waiting for a few days to a
week to have things repaired. You know, maybe that's not
as convenient, but for the most part, yeah, you don't

(06:43):
have to worry about having anything fixed because they'll have
their maintenance guys come out and you won't need to
know how to replace that faster.

Speaker 1 (06:49):
One of the things I learned too in home ownership
is if if you don't want to worry about it,
there are plenty of people that if you give them
a little bit of money, they will come and take
care of your problems at your home.

Speaker 2 (06:57):
There you go, there you go, or back in the
day I work at home Depot. You know, they have
enough little classes and clinics they can actually you can
actually learn how to do it yourself.

Speaker 1 (07:05):
So I you know what, and this is just completely
popped into my head. You guys have closing, should should
do like a little thank you Home Depot gift card
to new homeowners, just like.

Speaker 2 (07:14):
That's typically actually what I give is though, Oh yeah.

Speaker 1 (07:17):
That's such a perfect years many years ago, when we
bought our first home, my friend Dave said, he's like,
he's like, congratulations, and he's like, I'll see you at Minard's. Yeah,
there you go.

Speaker 2 (07:29):
When I first first purchased at my first home, one
of the big purchases at the time was to get
an appliance dolly, the one that has the strap or
the appliance in It's been well twenty three years and
I still have that appliance DOLLI and I still have
friends borrowing it all the time.

Speaker 1 (07:44):
I can't believe I still have it.

Speaker 2 (07:46):
I figured they just keep it in their garage and
I never get it back one of these times.

Speaker 1 (07:49):
Yeah, exactly. Yeah, It's one of those things that it's
the fun part too. By the way, when you when
you first buy your home, and we'll talk about some
of the great pros and cons of it. It's some
of the neat little things that you can do. Since
it's your home, your property, you can do pretty much
anything you like. But real quick, before we get to
buying a couple of things. On the renting side, there
are some there are some cons and I'll say, and

(08:11):
this is me speaking here, some pretty significant cons to
renting one and this is the I think the biggest one.
You're not building equity. You're not that money is building
somebody else's equity that's paying off somebody else's mortgage, isn't it.

Speaker 2 (08:24):
Yeah, absolutely, I'm you know, in equity building, I guess
in some way it goes two different directions. One is
paying down the principle on your house, having your payments
actually go towards the equity in your home. And the
other is, you know, realizing appreciation and house value. Right,
so as you're sitting in an apartment, if the housing

(08:45):
market continues to go up like it has for so many,
well decades really at this point, that you're not taking
advantage of that to that rise in the prices of
the house.

Speaker 1 (08:56):
And the other thing is is we kind of walk
through this week with Matt Heytman of Rock Realty, Renting
versus buying here in Dane County. As we're talking about renting,
talked about some of the pros, touching on a couple
of the cons as well. With renting is Madison is
especially with Dane County and the adjacent counties. Also when
it comes to rental units, there is a shortage, which

(09:18):
means if you're looking to move or you're looking to
move in, it's a lot of work and it can
be very hard to find that right place and it
also can be hard to find one that's that's affordable.
I mean it, it can get very expensive to rent
and it can be a hard a hard competition to
find that right spot. Can'ton.

Speaker 2 (09:35):
Yeah, and there's you know, there's been just significant rent
increases as of late. And you know when when you
have a competitive market, the landlords get to be a
little more picky and they can find that person that makes,
you know, three or four times that the amount of
rent and they don't have any debt and stellar credit
rating right So it becomes harder and harder to find
a place. But I think it's I think it's important

(09:57):
with the rent increases that people realize as the cost
of housing regular houses go up, as the interest rates
go up, and such rent is going to stay ahead
of that because as someone that owns the building, you
don't want to be making less than what you have
to pay for that building. So as a mortgage, uh,
you know, costs would go up because of interest rates.

(10:19):
So with the rent and the rent has to stay
ahead of it.

Speaker 1 (10:21):
So I always say, whenever people complain about gas prices,
why they go up? I always say, because they can,
And the same it kind of holds true with especially
in a hot market like Madison, Why did my rent
go up? Because it can? Because if you're not willing
to pay that, somebody else, somebody else absolutely is. As
we're talking this week with Matt Heyman, of course, Matt
comes to us from Rockrealty Online Rock Wisconsin dot com.

(10:43):
That's roc K Wisconsin dot com. Also great website. If
you are looking to buy a home you want to
get to know the agents at Rock Realty, just head
on over to Wisconsin Buyeragent dot com. That's Wisconsin Buyeragents
dot com. You can learn more about the agents at
at Rock Realty. You can also not only read their buyos,

(11:03):
but you can also request a phone call and start
a conversation with them as well. Again that website, Wisconsin
buyeragent dot com. Let's talk about some of the pros
of buying here in Dame County. And as we're talking
with the rental side, one of the big one of
the big cons is no equity building. Let's talk about buying.
You're on the other side of that equation, now, aren't you. Yeah, exactly.

Speaker 2 (11:25):
And you know, the longer you can be in a home,
the more principle you're going to be able to pay down. Yeah,
every portion of every payment goes towards your principle. If
you round up or even make double payments, you'll be
paying off that debt even quicker. And you know, eventually
that becomes a significant amount, you know, and the spread

(11:46):
between what the house value is in the market versus
what you owe is something that can even be tapped
into as well with the home equity loan, So it's
not like the money disappears into thin air. You can
actually still gain access to that when you need it.

Speaker 1 (12:00):
Do you guys help it? And I know the answer
to this question, but I'll put it out there. I
talk to and I know for a lot of folks,
especially trying to buy their first home, they see property values,
home values they've gone up, and they're saying, how can
I get in? There are amazing things out there for folks,
first time home buyers, people looking to get into certain areas.

(12:22):
I know that there's some really advantageous mortgages with some
great rates. If you're maybe not right on the isthmus,
but some of the outlying areas. Your agents work with
folks and that may be saying, well, I don't think
I can, but let's start this conversation, work them and
find a way to get them that write home and
get them into that home.

Speaker 2 (12:40):
Well, even even if you don't think you can qualify,
it's good to know to know where you need to
go as well, Hey I need to get this car
paid off before I can afford a much larger purchase value,
right to know, Hey I need to improve my credit
just a bit more and this is how I can
do it. So regardless having them contact you know a lender,

(13:00):
and we have a preferred lender that we love working with,
and you know, getting them in touch early so that
you can have a goal and a guideline of where
you want to be. It's really important.

Speaker 1 (13:11):
And speaking of the dollars and cents, when it comes
to home ownership, thing that you suddenly discover is you
pay close attention to some of the tax benefits of
owning home. You've got something that you can start talking
about deductions and other things, don't you. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (13:27):
Usually it's when you first purchase a house that you
start itemizing your tax deduction versus just taking kind of
the standard deduction. Right. That's because you can use property
taxes and write those off. You can use the interest
you paid on your mortgage and write that off. So
not only are you building equity, but you're able to

(13:48):
kind of increase your expenses to the tax man.

Speaker 1 (13:51):
Yeah. I remember one of the big associations put out
a couple of years ago some of the benefits of homeownership,
and they talk about different things like about children performing
Like you wouldn't think this, but kids who live in
homes that are that are owned as opposed to rent
and do far better in school. You think, well, that's
that is interesting. The other thing that I saw is

(14:13):
the long term financial growth that is a significant impact
for home ownership. Folks that own homes tend to financially,
do quite, They do much better, don't they.

Speaker 2 (14:24):
Yeah, I mean over the long term, real estate is
one of the best investments you can you can put
your money in, and long term all of us look
back and say, wow, if I just kept that one house.

Speaker 1 (14:37):
Yeah, look how much it's worth.

Speaker 2 (14:39):
Now, right, I mean, you know, over the over the
longer term, yes, you'll have some downward dips, but over
the longer term it always increases and tends to, you know,
outpace inflation. So it's a great investment.

Speaker 1 (14:50):
It's a fantastic investment. It's a great time to start
that conversation you've been looking to buy a home. Rock Realty.
They've got fantastic agents for you. If you head on
over to the website Wisconsin buyeragent dot com, you can
learn more about the agents at Rock Realty. You can
also request a phone call start a conversation with them.
As we talk about you don't know what you don't know,

(15:10):
and it's a great time you've been thinking about if
you wanted to own a home, start that conversation and
they can they can definitely work with you to see
what options are available to you. As we talked this
week with Matt Heytman of Rockrealty, and there are there
are some things when at the cons of home ownership,
there are things you have to be aware of. This
first one higher upfront costs, and this is I think

(15:31):
for a lot of people that can be that that hurdle,
that that either is legitimately holding them back or at
least perceived there to hold them back.

Speaker 2 (15:40):
Yeah, yeah, I mean, you know, the costs are can
be significant. Right, You've got your down payment and that
can range between three percent and twenty percent, you know,
first time home buyers. Sometimes there's a down payment assistance
programs too, which actually you can get you into home
virtually with no down payment, but there are other costs

(16:00):
and things up front. It's important to know that you
can work some of those closing costs and prepaid items
like your homeowner's insurance and such. You can work that
into an offer so that the seller credits you for that.

Speaker 1 (16:13):
So there are ways to.

Speaker 2 (16:14):
Work around that, and our agent are very aware of
that and you can hopefully get you first time home
buyers in a house at a very low initial cost
compared to what it could be.

Speaker 1 (16:23):
I'm hearing from folks that are renting about and looking
for new places, the amount they're paying in security deposits.
At some point, I'm going it's here in front of
down payment.

Speaker 2 (16:32):
Are sure, Yeah, first month's rent, last month's rent, security deposit, Yeah,
it's it's It adds up quick.

Speaker 1 (16:37):
It can definitely add up quick. As we talked this
week with Matt Heyman. Of course, Matt comes to us
from Rockrealty the website Rockwisconsin dot com. That's oro ock
Wisconsin dot com. When you're over there, make sure you
check out this week's featured listening right at n fifty
seventy five seventy nine Pine Ridge Circle in Portage. We'll
talk a little bit more about that, but you can
see it right at Rockwisconsin dot com. So we're talking

(17:00):
about some of the pros and cons are both renting
and buying and working our way through the buying side
right now, and some of the some of the cons. Obviously,
when you buy a home, there is a there is
a commitment to that home. Is you can't just in
the middle of the night, pack up your stuff and
leave and say this is somebody else's problems. You are

(17:20):
really you are really getting into a commitment aren't you.

Speaker 2 (17:23):
Yeah, absolutely, I mean it's it's not an up and move,
you know, every every year or so kind of investment. Right,
you can do that. However, with all the costs of actually,
you know, listing, selling, and closing on a house, you
don't want to be doing it that often. Although it
used to be every seven years, we're seeing a lot
closer to three to four years. People are moving now,

(17:44):
but it is, Yeah, it is a little less flexible
than the rental market.

Speaker 1 (17:49):
And i Will says as for folks that that are
maybe apprehensive about getting into the market, one of the
cool things is, and we touched on this earlier with
some of the pro of home ownership is if you
get bored with your house, you can always change things around. Yeah,
there is nothing stopping you from putting new carbon in,

(18:09):
or putting new flooring in, or going down to it
if you're feeling a.

Speaker 2 (18:12):
Little closed in over the winter, tear down a wall,
you know, exactly exactly.

Speaker 1 (18:19):
And that's that's some of the great stuff of home ownership.
As we talked this week with our friends from Rock Realty,
Matt Heypman and Studio this morning, talking about the pros
and cons of renting versus owning, and again, if you've
been thinking about buying a home, don't ever hesitate to
start that conversation. Maybe maybe you are in a position
where now is not the perfect time, but you don't

(18:39):
know until you start that conversation and start putting a
plan in place to make it the right time to
own a home again. You can learn more online rock
Wisconsin dot com. That's r O c K Wisconsin dot com.
While we're on websites and talking about buying a home.
What a great new website you have, Matt, This Wisconsin
buyer agent dot com. It's a great tool. It's kind
of like a chance to get a get a nice

(19:02):
feel for all different agents and set up an appointment
as well to actually get a get a real conversation
with them. What kind of spurred this? What what was
kind of the thinking behind, Hey, we need this and
why doesn't everybody do this?

Speaker 2 (19:13):
Man? Yeah, it just it feels like the buyers were
kind of thrown thrown into the wild, if you will,
when they're online search of homes, they got randomly assigned
to an agent. Just felt like they didn't have any
you know, power in the transaction, especially you know lately
it's all been a listing and selling side market. But
this allows them to go through find a perfect agent

(19:36):
that's a good match for them, and say, hey, I
want you to work you know, for me in this transaction.
I want you to you know, represent me. Make sure
that you know, I don't step any potholes, make sure
that we're getting the.

Speaker 1 (19:47):
Best price, the best protection.

Speaker 2 (19:48):
And they then request, you know, an interview with the agents,
and the agents then interview with the client and they decide, hey,
this is a good fit that I'm not going to
let you know, one of the major real dot com
just assign me a random agent. I'm going to pick
the agent I want to work with.

Speaker 1 (20:04):
It's such an important and it's an important partnership and
you really want to make sure that you get that opportunity.
And I do like when we point out kind of
how traditionally folks may have done it's just a random assignment.
People go to a website and oh, there's the agent.
We're going to work with that person. It doesn't make
a good match and doesn't make it a good process.
And that's really cool thing about heading over to the

(20:25):
website Wisconsin Buyer agent dot com It's a great process,
great opportunity to get to know the agents at Rock Realty.
Also read their bios and schedule that phone call with
them as well. That all at Wisconsin Buyeragent dot com.
That's Wisconsin buyer Agent dot com. Finally, before before we
get back to our featured listing this week, I do
want to talk about some of the factors to consider

(20:47):
here in Dane County and rental market conditions. That is
a that is a big factor, especially in a college
town and a town that's no mobile, isn't it.

Speaker 2 (20:56):
Yeah, I mean it's it's remained strong for years and
as you said, it's a you know, there's just not
enough inventory for on the rental market. And you know,
surprisingly enough, you know, as far as the housing market,
we are seeing a little more balance. We are seeing
some houses sit out there for a while. So it
might be the perfect time to to get out of
the really tight rental market, maybe getting getting into your

(21:19):
first house. So I think they could be a you know,
a great time to take advantage of the kind of
balancing out of the interest rates. They're no longer going up.
Maybe they'll tick lower, but it should be pretty consistent this.

Speaker 1 (21:30):
Year what about interest rates and that and this is
this is this is the reality of home ownership. And
uh and I know sometimes people go, oh, interest rates,
they're up and they're high. It's like historically they're not.
They're really that high at all. But is that is
that something that said? Does that come up as far
as part of that conversation with folks looking to buy
a home is like I want to buy? What interest rates?

(21:52):
Or is that Is that part of a conversation that
goes on.

Speaker 2 (21:54):
Yeah, I would say that the majority of buyers that
we speak with now that's their main factor for not
kind of getting off the fence, if you will, and
making that purchase. As the interest rates and you know,
the perspectus here from everybody is that interest rates aren't
going to fall that much more, right, maybe a quarter two,
maybe a third or third point over the next year,

(22:16):
and by that time maybe other buyers have gotten off
the fence and it's gotten more competitive. So I think
getting out there right now, right before the spring market hits,
would be a perfect time for first time home are.

Speaker 1 (22:28):
Really good time to get out and it's we've had
such nice weather too, and I know today's a little chillier,
but it's still you don't have to deal with snow.
You can get a good look at the roof, you
can get a good look at the It's a great
time to be and I think the weekend forecast well perfect,
So it's a good time to get out. And one
of the houses you definitely want to check out if
you had on over to Rock Wisconsin dot com or
simply a call Chad is this house in Portage right

(22:51):
in Columbia County on Heiner Ridge Circle. And we were
talking earlier about the size, four bedroom, three three bath,
as you mentioned, and I know what you mentioned this,
but I think it needs bears repeating. Almost two acres
strung at one point eight acres of land, and you
can't go wrong with with more acreags, can you?

Speaker 2 (23:12):
Man? You can't nice flat acreage too.

Speaker 1 (23:15):
Oh that that's that's an interesting perspective there too. Is
it's not Yeah, it's not like it it's actually usable. Yeah,
you can do something. Yeah, you know, your kid's right
eyeball in a goat cart right now, riding around then
and your wife is going, you're gonna rip up my
lawn and your and your husband's saying he's gonna rip
off our lawn, so I really really Also the garage,

(23:35):
got a got a really nice attached garage, and and
I'm seeing it's it's got some depth to it, so
you can put a couple of couple few cars and
storage and other things.

Speaker 2 (23:45):
It's on the verge of three car.

Speaker 1 (23:46):
I would say, yeah, well, and I don't know about you, Matt,
but you got a couple of toys, maybe a motorbike
something like that four wheeler, four wheeler. It is also
wired if you if you want to add h It's
got the amporage in the in the and the outlets
for you're thinking about adding a EV charger or maybe
doing doing hot tub. You've got that there. Really get

(24:10):
I get a really you know Columbia County, they have
fun up there. There you go a fun bunch. So
I give Chad a call this morning. Tell for whatever
six oh eight two seven nine fifty nine eighty five.
That's six oh eight two seven nine fifty nine eighty
five for Chad Bauer with Rock Realty. Have them show
you this beautiful house in Columbia County right in Portage,
right right on Pine Ridge Circle and Portage. Can you

(24:31):
can learn more online? The website Rock Wisconsin dot com.
That's r O c K Wisconsin dot com. Matt. Time
always flies and we're hanging out. You enjoy this beautiful
day here as well.

Speaker 2 (24:40):
Thanks sir.

Speaker 1 (24:41):
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