Navigating the Mortgage Rollercoaster: Buy, Sell, and Thrive

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Hey

everyone and welcome back to the Always On Point podcast here with Kristin Ambos from Point Mortgage, 97.9 FM, 15.90 AM.

Hope you are enjoying your Sunday.

Thank you so much for tuning in and joining us.

And as we get started every week, gotta get you that rate update.

So this week, the Federal Reserve spoke and when they spoke, they lowered rates a quarter of a percent.

And if you've been following along with the show and the podcast, you know that that's the fed funds rate that drops the overnight rate of what banks borrow from one another.

The mortgage rates are not necessarily tied to the federal funds rate.

So typically what happens and what happened again this time for the third time is the federal reserve lowered rates on Wednesday by a quarter percent and mortgage rates went up.

So that's happened the last three times they've lowered rates and it's happened again this time.

The rates are already starting to come back around.

They're on a national average as of Friday afternoon where 6.32% on a 30 year fixed, 5.77% on a 15 year fixed.

So remember that's the national average.

That's not paying any points for that rate.

So just some, you know, food for thought there that comes from mortgage news daily.

And that's where I track.

on the national level.

So they did, you know, go up at first, then they came back down a little bit.

They're up again.

I've been saying this for months and I'm going to continue to say it.

It's realistically just going to be a little bit of a roller coaster for a while.

We're going to see a little up, little down, little up, little down.

Right now, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, the Mortgage Bankers Association, MBA, Mortgage Highway, all really reputable

you know, organizations out there that have everything to do with mortgage rates and their projections for 2026 right now are saying somewhere between 5.9 and 6.4.

So one of them is as high as 6.4.

One of them is as low as 5.9.

That tells me that they're probably going to stay somewhere between this 6.

in a quarter percent interest rate on an average.

So I project 2026 is going to be very similar to the last six months of the mortgage industry that we've been in.

You know, I think we're just going to have a repeat, like I said, of the last six months, which on all measures is a really healthy market.

We still have appreciation.

Mortgage purchase apps are up.

Applications are up high.

But the other part of this is that we have to talk about, we're going to talk about again today,

is buying homes and not having to put in massive overages, contingencies, up against 25 offers.

You know, I'm not gonna say that that's not every single price point.

You might still, if the house is price right, you might still be up against it a little bit, but as a buyer, you have some wiggle room.

And as a seller, if you're pricing your house right with your agent right now and you're really listening to them and getting their advice on where to start, you're going to sell your home.

It's when sellers still want to sell at last year's prices.

where it's difficult and they might not be selling as quickly, taking a little bit longer and things of that nature.

So today, I am honored to have Amanda Furman here.

She is with Amanda Furman Collective out of the Fox Valley area.

She does come into the Green Bay market, but she specifically is really resided in the Appleton market.

And so last week, we talked a lot about the Green Bay market.

So I was really excited to have her here to talk about the Fox Valley market because our stretch goes all the way north and all the way down to Oshkosh.

So

Amanda, welcome.

Thank you so much for being here today.

Thank you for having

me.

Yeah, you're welcome.

So let's just kind of cut to the chase as a tenured professional in the industry, top producing agent, you know, in the state.

But like we said, a lot really heavily, you know, into the Fox Valley area.

What are you seeing for homes?

You know, like, OK, let's start off.

I'm a buyer.

Let's just think buyer.

We'll talk seller in a second, but I'm a buyer.

What am I seeing in the Fox Valley for buy side as far as houses?

What do I have to look at?

What are my expectations if I'm coming into the market?

You have choices.

I love it.

I like choices.

Yes, this is the first time, and so I've been in real estate for eight years.

This is the first time that I am seeing a true market slowdown.

Yeah.

I think a lot of it is the economic uncertainty that our entire nation is facing

right now.

Rates are a part of that.

We've been promised that they would go down and they would go down and they have a little bit,

but

it's been a marathon and not so much of a sprint.

Oh gosh, you are not lying.

It has been a marathon.

That is an accurate statement.

Yeah.

So I'm really excited for our buyers right now.

Especially

those buyers like first time home price point where you're $200,000 under, maybe 250 under, you're not up against 15 other offers.

Which is such a

breath of fresh air.

Yes.

For the people listening, I'm sure you're feeling like, okay, now you've heard that in the Green Bay market, you're hearing in the Fax Valley market, like we don't have to rush and only see a house for 15 minutes and make some massive decisions.

Yes.

We might get to spend an hour.

and the house maybe see it twice?

Yeah, you might get a second.

We just did a third showing.

Oh, wow.

So

yeah.

Okay, that's promising.

It

was.

That's awesome.

And really like some true negotiations are taking place, which is fun

for me

on the agent side.

Yes.

So, you

know, tap back

into those skills.

For sure.

And it's so funny that you say that because the negotiation is big.

Like I would bet right now 30% of our buyers are not necessarily starting with a seller credit.

but ending with one because of negotiations, because they can get an inspection.

And the buyer's like, you know, that's not that big of a deal.

I can take it.

But if you give me a credit, I'll take care of it after the fact with my own money and those kinds of things.

So that's interesting to see too.

Are you seeing the same on your

end?

100%.

I have a couple of stories.

Well, we have a mutual client who

So they were looking at a very specific property that you know, there's not a massive buyer pool for so

it's a

big old Victorian house Right by downtown Nina.

Yeah, they put in a pretty aggressive offer and I can't remember you might be able to help me.

This is the Church Street property

Yep,

they had like $40,000 in equity after our negotiations were done after the appraisal took place

If it wasn't 40, it was right there.

I feel like it was just a little bit over.

I mean, wow.

Yes, in this market.

Yes.

That's amazing.

It was amazing for them.

It was.

I just had...

Sorry.

I always love getting the appraisal when I open it up and I see that that's instant equity for them.

And it just makes me so excited because you guys, for so long, we were making the phone calls that were like, yeah, appraisal came in at 200 and you're paying 240.

So where are we coming up with $40,000?

And so now it's opposite.

And instead of making those tough calls, you get to make the exciting calls saying, look it, you're buying really right.

Like this is a really great deal.

So sorry, keep going.

No, you're fine.

Yeah.

And I also just have some buyers that closed where they were looking at new construction and they were able to get $10,000 in seller's concessions.

Yes.

plus upgraded appliances, plus the lawn put in.

That's

incredible.

So, I mean, we, builders have not been negotiating at all.

Not at all.

In the past several years.

It's more so been like, I'm the builder, I have the say, you do what I say, and we're done.

Yep.

Right?

100%.

Because you couldn't hardly get into a new construction.

It was taking so much to get into one.

Yeah.

So now you can negotiate a little bit.

And I think we're in a really interesting part of the market too, Kristen, because even being in the market every single day,

I

often will feel the shift before we see it in numbers,

right?

Well,

we're finally starting to see data that supports the feeling that I started having probably in mid-September this year, where you could just feel things slowing down.

The good news on the selling side, are we ready to switch to the

selling

side?

Absolutely,

absolutely.

The good news on that is our sales price versus our list price is still close to 100%, which is shocking.

Okay, say that again.

I want

everyone to hear that again.

So the list price and the sales price are still pretty close to 100%.

Wow.

We just went over some data in our last office meeting about this.

So it's not that suddenly your house is worth, you know, 10% less overnight than it was this past summer.

It's just taking longer.

to sell and you might have to accept an offer with a home sale contingency.

You might have to accept an offer that has a home inspection.

So there's just like some more layers that are added onto the deal.

And don't get me wrong, those can end in negotiation, one of them being priced, but not always.

Not always, not always.

And if I'm a seller and I'm selling for the right reasons, I'm not really scared of an inspection, you know?

Correct.

And one of the things that I've

I've been talking about because, you know, the news is really hoopla right now.

And I think in my YouTube channel, like when I just looked through it, like three or four different things are like foreclosure alert, foreclosure doom.

And I'm like, okay, here we go again.

So let's just, let's go over that foreclosure levels are very low, especially in Northeastern Wisconsin.

Remember, that's national data and two, they don't get you to click and watch their video unless they freak you out into it and that's part of what they're doing.

Two, reminder that during the COVID era, because that's what it's basically called now, during the COVID era, rates were so low and there was so much equity in homes.

Nobody was foreclosing, they were selling, the rates were two and 3%, you know, it was so much more affordable.

Nobody could do anything.

So they weren't missing their mortgage payments because there was you didn't have a life.

Wasn't there a nationwide moratorium?

There was a moratorium.

There absolutely was.

Thank you for adding that because that's totally true.

So there's a moratorium.

So like of course foreclosure rates are going to be up right now.

Of course they are.

So even one or two percent is up.

So that's all they need is that one little piece of data.

The thing about the foreclosures though right now and why it's not going to be an epidemic is because people forget that for about 13 years after the true housing crisis, builders weren't building.

So there was 13 years nationally of very little inventory.

So we're still having inventory shortage, even though there's more houses to choose from where you get five minutes, like 10 minutes to look at them.

Like we were just,

you know,

saying, but in a roundabout way,

If they scare tactic you into that, then now you're freaked out and now you're gonna hold off and wait.

Holding off and waiting when the market is still, Amanda just said, right?

100%, sellers are selling at 100%.

It's still appreciating in our market somewhere between three and 6%, depending on what part of Appleton or Green Bay you're in, because there are some areas that sell a little bit quicker than others.

you're still appreciating, which means if you hold off and wait for that for two years, you're still gonna be paying five to 10% more for that house.

So why wouldn't you get in now, right?

Now is always the

best time.

Yeah, don't wait for the foreclosure.

There's not gonna be, and listen, if there was a foreclosure crisis, prices are not dropping like they did back in 2008 and 10.

That was an entirely different situation.

I promised you I was a loan officer during that time.

I would send the details to the bank.

I'll specifically call it out.

I remember sending a file to Bank of America.

I had all the documents in there, the client completely qualified.

Bank of America sent me the package back and said, delete, or not, well, it's delete now, but shred all of the documents, send it back.

I don't want to see a pay stub.

I don't want to see a bank statement.

Even though I had it to qualify.

So that just tells you what kind of lending we were doing at that time.

Now, find me a client that hasn't given

all of their information plus a blood sample to get that you know what I mean it what I'm saying is I know that's you know dramatic but we have to still go through the layers yeah so the housing crisis is not going to be finance related people are not going to walk away from a ton of equity and just give up they're going to sell the house pay off their debts start over seeing a lot of that right now um you know so

there's just a lot to that.

So when we come back from this break, we're going to continue to unpack all of what we just talked about.

We're here with Amanda Furman from Amanda Furman Collective on the Always On Point podcast with 97.9 FM.

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Back to the Always On Point podcast here at 97.9 FM Civic Media here at the headquarters there in Green Bay, but we're speaking with Amanda Furman from Amanda Furman Collective, who is a tenured top agent out of the Fox Valley market.

We are happy to have her here today, so thank you so much for joining us.

In this segment, we were just getting done, for those of you joining now, talking about how the foreclosure crisis of 2008 and 10 is

Not really happening, even though there are headlines talking about the foreclosures and how they're up.

Remember during COVID era, there were really, I mean, I can't say no foreclosures, but pretty close to like 0.09% or something.

I mean, it was ridiculously low.

Somebody out there will find the exact stat and call me out and that's okay.

I just don't have it in front of me, but it was really, really low.

And right now the foreclosure rate is still really low, but it's

increased because life, life still happens.

Like I have to remind people sometimes that, you know, as much as we hate it, divorce is still happening.

Medical debt still happens.

There's, you know, there's reasons why.

The one thing right now that a lot of people are not talking about or focusing on is remember during that time, I'm a seller and I'm taking every which, you know, offer on the table that didn't have an inspection.

Right, so think about nationally how many people went into a home that they either overpaid for so they put no money down or didn't have a lot of extra cash and Didn't use their their funds to overpay for the house and and I don't want to say overpay because that's what the market was driving at that point So I don't like the word overpay because that's what the market called for so you paid with the market value was You know, but in in terms to the general public, that's what they feel right is that they overpaid for it

but coming back down to it, there were a lot of really great deals that happened, but there were a lot of houses too where I had buyers buying it and I was like, oh boy, don't tell me that this seller is not dumping off their hunk of junk on this kid.

You know, and I just hated seeing it, not all the time, but it did.

But on a national level, think of how that could happen.

And now you've got a young first time home buyer, little to no money down,

not a whole lot of money to fix it up, and now they've just taken on somebody else's problem.

And I speak on this because I had a client that I met with, and actually you know them as well, and they had a home, and they, exactly that, you know, but they were told that there was, you know, the seller said, no, I just put a roof on two years ago, but the roof was now put on by somebody licensed.

So then all of a sudden the buyers had to come up with $10,000 to fix that, and then they just started opening up a can of worms.

And before they knew it, they had put $20,000 to $30,000 on credit cards fixing this house.

And now the credit cards are so high that they can't get out of it.

And now, luckily, they didn't foreclose on it, but they were close.

They felt like they were really close to doing that.

So there's a state grant program that's not a bankruptcy, but it's similar to a bankruptcy where it gets you out, but it's not as heavy.

You're still paying the debt.

but it's not chapter 13.

I'm sorry, I'm spacing it right now.

It's a...

Put it in the show notes.

I will have to.

Sorry, I'm gonna have to.

But it works a lot like a restructured bankruptcy, like a chapter 13.

And they got out of it and when I met with them, they were just devastated.

They didn't know.

They did the best they could to go in.

They went in with all the right intentions.

And you know, whether the sellers, I'm not gonna say every seller knew what they were doing.

Some just, some didn't know there was issues with houses.

They just did it.

Most don't know.

I was gonna say most don't.

Some probably, you're always gonna have that little bit in there.

But think of all the people on a national level that couldn't afford to make those payments or couldn't get the credit card to make the fixes, to then sell it and at least pay their credit cards off, right?

So of course they're gonna have to foreclose.

It happens.

But you and I were just talking about it often.

I want to bring this up because, you know, we go back to the foreclosures and everyone's like, oh my God, I'm waiting because I'm going to steal a host in the next couple of years.

Prices are falling and that's going to be my time to shine.

I'm going to time the market right.

And can you tell the audience the stat that you just read recently?

And when we in northeastern Wisconsin, when we did have the 2008 and 10 crisis?

Yeah.

So.

Exactly.

I was baited by a headline that was talking about housing crash and

you know,

whatever.

So I just did a little bit of a deep dive into what happened in Northeast Wisconsin during the 2008 crash and then the years following.

And I was shocked to find out everything that I could find in Northeast Wisconsin home prices fell nine to 11%.

Now, don't get me wrong, that's not ideal.

No homeowner wants

that.

But compared to the national average, somewhere between 40% and 50%, we are always just sort of, like right now I'll call it a snow globe.

In the Midwest specifically, our market is just sort of padded from the massive fluctuations that the markets on the East Coast, South and West

Coast see.

I do remember when I was working in that timeframe that, yes, we were down, but it recovered itself pretty quickly, like within a year or two.

And like we just got done saying, if you're appreciating 5% a year, which is a really healthy appreciation, in two years, you've made that up.

In two years, the market has corrected itself in our market.

So I just think that that was really good to share.

So people realize because sometimes I feel like if I say it over and over, you know what I'm saying?

But if a new voice says it,

It's like, oh, yeah.

Yeah, it wasn't as bad as it was.

And it really wasn't.

And we, yes, it hurt.

A lot of people were hurt.

But again, that recovery, that little snow globe bubble that we live in is really good.

We are in a very protected area.

And I think a lot of times that's forgotten.

We get so drawn up into the national headlines that have literally nothing to do with us here in Wisconsin at all.

And I'm OK being in that little bubble.

Oh my gosh, me too.

Every time I shovel snow and I

you know, angry that I'm out there shoveling snow.

I

think this is what keeps house prices affordable.

This is exactly what keeps house prices affordable.

When we come back, we've got some other stats and some other things we want to talk to you on buyers and sellers and what you need to know in this market right now.

So stick around.

I am with Amanda Furman from the Amanda Furman collective team here partnered with 97.9 FM 1590 AM and the always on point podcast.

on Point Podcast with Kristin Ambow's Chief Production Officer over at Point Mortgage.

Thank you so much for joining me on your Sunday.

We appreciate it.

Here with 97.9 FM, 15.90 AM in the Civic Media app.

So we have Amanda Furman with Amanda Furman Collective in the studio today and we're talking all things sellers, buyers.

And one thing that is definitely an issue, I'll call it an issue because it kind of is, is

sellers not wanting to sell because they're at an interest rate of two to three to 4%.

And so like right now we just got done in the beginning of the studio or beginning of the show stating that the national average was 6.2 ish percent, 6.25%.

So how do we explain to people that they really need to look at that?

Because the other stat is that I want to bring up and, you know,

Interest rates are still really low The six and a quarter percent is really a low rate.

I mean a year ago a year and a half ago We're at eight eight and a half.

So I mean we're doing really well.

They're falling But I understand that somebody who's that let's just say three percent here's six and a quarter and they're like, oh my gosh That's three and a quarter percent higher.

You know, it's almost double my interest rate.

I get it But the stat that isn't talked about enough in my opinion is the fact that

Credit card debt is through the roof.

It is and it's still on the rise.

People's incomes have not been adjusted to the life, to the inflation rate.

So they're credit card living.

I get it.

I work with people every day that, you know, and you've heard me say it before on air, bad things happen to good people and you're working your butts off right now and it just still isn't enough to get through the daily life.

So then we lean on, you know, credit card living.

or we get medical debt and then we have no way to pay that medical debt off because we're already paycheck to paycheck.

And so medical things happen and we were just kind of talking about it.

So I want your take on what they should look at.

I know it, I've got the details but I want to hear your side of it and thinking like when you talk to a seller, what does that look like?

So just specifically to credit card debt, and again, I did some research on this a couple of months ago, so this might not be exact.

But when I looked, the average American has $33,000 in credit card debt, and they are paying a credit card interest rate on average of 21%.

So over the course of a year, they're paying over $14,000 in just

credit card interest if they're making the minimum monthly payment.

I have time and time again, you know, people informally coming up to me talking about the market and just saying, yeah, but I have a 2.75 interest rate.

We're never going to see that again.

I can never move.

Well, if you're an average American or anything like the average American, if

You probably have a lot of equity in your home

as well.

The

average American, and again, this is a national stat, but has $300,000 of interest or equity.

Thank you, equity in their

home.

So if you think you want to move, but you feel like you can't move because you have this super low interest rate, what if you sold your house and let's say you have $300,000 in equity,

you paid off your credit card, you paid off medical debt, you still have this massive down payment to get yourself into a house that you actually want to be in.

And just an interest, that would be $14,000 a year that you can

put back in your pocket, if you will.

100%.

And I love that.

And I'll be honest, Amanda brought that up as a topic that we wanted to hit on today because she deals with a lot of sellers who are like, I would sell, I want to sell, but my interest rate.

Yeah.

And her and I were both admitting that we're in that realm because we've both owned our homes for a while.

We both have sub 3% interest rates.

And it's really hard to say, oh, I'm going to get rid of this interest rate.

But I have worked the numbers.

for clients doing this.

And it is a breath of fresh air.

In fact, people are doing exactly what she said, selling their home, paying off all their debt, still having, even if you did 5% down, but whatever the case may be, the, the, wow, gosh, just closed on a home with a client who did exactly this.

And I want to say it was close to $2,500 a month.

They were putting back in their pocket.

Yeah.

Because credit cards just got to the better of them.

And like I said, they're really good people.

They have good jobs, you know, but it just happened.

And now they're sleeping at night.

And I think that is a value that is hard to put a number

on.

Right.

The financial stress that.

an individual carries when you have that type of debt, that it's like, how will I ever get ahead?

How will I ever get this paid off?

I mean, how do I ever live without having a credit card to, you know,

you

cannot put a value on that piece.

I completely agree.

And now don't you love your house that much more because you're sleeping so much peaceful in.

Who cares about the rate?

And here's another topic, like I get it, but you wouldn't believe the amount of times I call a client.

And I'm like, well, let's take a look at your loan.

I'm like, do you remember what your interest rate is?

Because I have the notes on it.

And I do this on purpose because eight out of 10 times, the client's like, oh, shoot.

No, I don't even remember what rate I'm at.

So we get so hung up on interest rate.

But yet we don't even know what it is.

So we're hung up on the unknown.

We don't know what it is.

We're stressing ourselves out for something we don't know.

Get out of that.

Yeah.

Just.

Be peaceful at night.

I am telling you now, right now, if I'm a seller and I, and I like, I love my home.

So I'm not leaving, right?

Like I, we purposely bought ours though, to be like in it forever, right?

It's our forever home.

At least we think right now.

I know everything changes, but if I'm, if I'm out growing my house and I need to move, I am not sticking to that low rate.

I am getting rid of all my debt or I'm taking a part of it and even putting the rest in an investment that's making 8% right now.

I'm putting it in an investment making 8% right now, putting less money down, and I will tell you the amount of CPAs and financial planners, maybe not CPAs, financial planners, that have told clients when I'm working with them on a purchase where they would be putting 100 to $200,000 down because of the equity they had.

They call their financial planner and all of a sudden I get to call it says, Kristen.

Yeah, what's the lowest you can put down and I'll be 5%, yes you qualify.

Okay, I'm gonna stick my money over here because now my interest rate's 5.99 or 6.125 and I can go make 8% over here.

And when it stops making 8%, I can pull it out and pay it out of my house.

So the strategies that are out there to create wealth, getting rid of that credit card debt is massive.

And I do believe the stats that you said, even though they're a couple of months old,

They do fluctuate a little bit, but they've been pretty accurate.

And at one point, now the Federal Reserve has cut rates and that the credit card rate is one of them that's automatically affected from the federal cut.

So that's awesome.

We want to see that come down, makes life easier on people day to day.

But with that being said, the credit card interest rate on average was upwards of 28 to 30% at one point.

So now you've got, I mean, it's mind blowing.

even what the savings is now, could you imagine saving another 15, 16% and not having that payment because you paid that off and a 6% interest rate on your house?

Yeah.

And I mean, on top of even, you know, we're talking about credit cards and paying your credit cards off your medical debt off.

Yeah.

If you have that equity from your house, money is a tool.

Yes.

Maybe you want to go back to college.

Maybe you have a kid that's

supposed to be

in college.

Like there's so many things that money can

help you do that you want to do rather than being in a home you don't want to be in and just being fixated, well, I can't pay over a 3% interest

rate.

Right, 1,000%.

I'm so glad you brought that up because hopefully out there you're listening to this, Amanda and I are having a great conversation on blended interest rate and what it really means to save that kind of money.

And you know, in the example I just gave you where we're saving the client $2,500, at first they were like, yeah, no.

No.

And then when I really broke out for them, what that savings was, because I thought I was calling her with like, oh my God, this is amazing.

And she was like, you know, I don't think so.

I was mind blown.

Somebody told me I was going to save $2,500 a month.

Sign me up.

Where am I doing that?

Give me the details.

You know, but it took her a second to truly understand.

And then within a couple of weeks, all of a sudden she called me back and she's like, hold on a minute.

Like she had to think about it.

She had to pay a couple of those bills and stare at that interest rate to go, what am I doing?

What am I doing?

And sometimes you just have to answer that question to yourself.

Don't beat yourself up.

Don't get down about it.

But you know, we can always show you a blended calculator.

Shoot me a tax.

You can text me at 920-606-1156.

Ask for the blended rate calculator.

I will text it to you.

put in all your debts with the interest rates they're at, and it'll tell you what that rate is.

And if it is over six and a quarter percent, it's time to get the market.

It's time to buy a new house.

It's time to start over, fresh start, feel better.

Don't you think?

A house you want to be

in.

A house you want to be in is absolutely right.

So if I'm a seller, what is another keynote I should think about right now when I'm sitting down with a real estate agent like yourself to get prepped on knowing I'm pricing it right?

Yeah, I think it's really important to work with an agent that does a decent amount of production every year.

Because I'm still talking to other agents who are pricing based upon what earlier this year, six months ago looked like, right?

And if you're doing that right now, you are doing a big disservice to your sellers.

I

always think it's good to be ahead of the game.

and price it for the current market, not what your neighbor sold their house for in June, right?

We're just in

a different market now.

June's a different market.

June is an absolutely different market than it is right now.

And I think that's what also a lot of people don't understand about Wisconsin real estate is we're kind of seasonal, right?

Like we get two quarters where it's cold.

Two quarters where it's warm, bright and sunny, days are longer.

People want to go out and shop for a house a little bit more than they do in the cold and don't want to move.

It's such a perfect way to just explain it.

June is so different than it is now.

Well, even, I mean, our seasonality, our climate seasonality, absolutely affects the market.

And I mean, again, this is the first year that I have seen a true winter slowdown

in

eight years.

But every year, when spring rolls around, I feel it, right, again.

It's February first.

If we

having a mild winter where, you know, it's 20, 30 degrees, we don't have a ton of snow and ice on the ground.

If it's a cold winter and, you know, it's the snow affects it, but not as much as those like sub zero frigid temperatures.

If it's a cold winter.

the spring market starts sometime in like mid-March.

Right.

So it's just so interesting to see that and how that affects our housing market.

100%.

And I'm saying right now, if you guys are even thinking about selling, if this is the case, right now.

And let's say you're like, yeah, I want to sell probably March, April.

I'm calling Amanda right now.

I'm calling her, come over.

Let's look at it now.

The price might adjust by then a little bit here and there.

That's why you continue to run comparables.

That's why you continue to look at the market.

But I want to know what I have to do to prep my house to get top dollar for it.

I want to price it fairly.

I want to make sure I know what the anticipated proceeds are so I can start that budget because whenever you're prepared and do that, it is such an amazing experience.

When you try to just throw your ring on the hat in the last minute and throw in papers in the air and you don't know what's going on, it freaks you out.

It's emotional.

The sooner you get going, the better off you are.

Yeah.

Same thing with a buyer, right?

Yep.

The sooner you start talking to an agent, a lender about what you can afford, setting that up, that tone, right?

I have more buyers right now getting ready

for the spring market, like the March, April market that I have in years, which I love.

I love.

They're gonna be so ready to go.

They're gonna enjoy the process.

And it's gonna be awesome.

And it just gives you options, right?

Like

the

more proactive you are, the more options that you're gonna have when

you are ready.

Yes, awesome.

Thank you so much.

We'll see you here in a minute from the 97.9 FM, 1590 AM, Civic Media app with the always on point.

Be right back.

You're

listening to Civic Media.

Find the latest news, information and archives of all your favorite shows on the Civic Media website, civicmedia.us.

We always on Point Podcast here with Kristin Ambos from Point Mortgage with 97.9 FM, 1590 AM.

The Civic Media app, we are so excited to be here.

We are speaking with Amanda Furman from the Amanda Furman Collective today.

We're talking all things buyers and sellers, northeastern Wisconsin, yes, but even more into the Fox Valley.

Last week we talked to Green Bay, this week we're talking Fox Valley.

And it's just, the information is very similar.

even though the two markets can be so different from one to the other in that short 30 mile span and all the way around it.

But no, so if I am a buyer and I want to go into the market because it does sound like it's a good time to get in, I can maybe negotiate some things.

I can look around a minute.

I can feel a little bit more secure about what I'm buying.

I always say you should start obviously with the pre-approval letter.

Which I totally agree with that you agree with yeah, you're not gonna show a house to somebody who's at least doesn't have their There's you know the their ducks in a row if you will quote-unquote like

started the process

They started the process.

They know what they can afford you're showing them houses because remember you're not kicking but Sellers are leaving their house for you buyers are coming in you're leaving your family to go show this house, you know, there's a lot of

different elements that go into it.

It's not just like, oh, hey, Willie, Nilly, I want to look at some houses.

They're empty, maybe.

But there's people living in them, right?

So you want to respect that.

I get that.

If I'm pre-approved and I'm sitting with you, what can I do as a buyer to be prepared for the process of putting in an offer, understanding the negotiation, and to the accepted offer, if you will?

Well, you can call us at the Amanda Furman Collective,

and

we will schedule a free buyer meeting with you.

And what that looks like, the whole purpose of our buyer meetings is threefold.

So we want to get a really granular idea of exactly what you're looking for.

And sometimes it's, well, we're open to lots of different options, Amanda.

we would be willing to purchase land and then build with a builder, but we'd also be willing to buy pre-existing.

But you know what, there's a little part of us that really wants to own like a second home on water too.

So we wanna talk about all of those.

And it's super important as your buyer's agent that we have a good understanding of exactly what your goals are, even if you have several.

Right.

So we sit down and we just get a really good idea of what you're wanting.

And I ask questions besides, you know, beds, bath, location, I say things or I ask questions like, tell me what the perfect morning in your new house looks like.

Oh,

I love

that.

Like people buy houses for the way they make them feel, not for the number of windows and, you know, stairs that

there are.

So I really like to get like that visual, that cinematic visual

of

what they're looking for.

So we do that and then we always get our clients set up on the collaboration center.

So the collaboration center is a tool that most agents in Northeast Wisconsin use.

What happens is you give us the data, the black and white side column of what you want your house to be.

Under 300,000 has to be at least three bedrooms.

I'm open to Appleton, Kokona, Kimberly, you know, the things that your absolute must-haves.

We plug that in and then any time a house that hits the market that fits your criteria becomes available, you will get an automated email that is sent to you with a link to that listing.

Zillow does that, realtor.com does that.

What those secondary websites don't do is they don't update the statuses in real time.

So

the Collaboration Center works as an educational tool for our buyers so they can see, even though they might not be ready to buy, they can see what properties that when they're ready to buy would be their options, how quickly they're selling.

when these properties.

It's a great understanding.

So I know how fast I have to move or don't have to move as a buyer.

Exactly.

You know, it's just giving me that

update.

And you can see the market change

in real

time.

Yeah.

So maybe these, you know, December, January, it might take two, three, four weeks for property

to

accept it offer.

Well, in March, it might be two weeks.

In

April, it might be one week,

you know, so you can see the market change.

Like, oh, I better get going or I've got some time.

Yep.

You know, just, it's just that, that.

the mental piece of it, I think.

But I love that because then the one thing too that I heard, and I know you can attest to this, is when the market was fluctuating so quickly, and as an agent, you're sitting down with your buyer going, okay, I know it wasn't like this a couple months ago, but now you got to write probably 10,000 over.

And then all of a sudden they didn't believe you, because it's always you're just trying to get more money, and we know that's not true.

But now if I'm a buyer,

and I can watch that collaboration center, and I can see that everyone's offering more as they're closing and things like that.

I have a better understanding of that.

So I can prepare for that.

And we're able, on my team at least, we're able to back up what we're advising.

I look

at

myself as an advisor.

I don't

make the decisions.

I tell you what I see in the market that I work in every day.

Here's your options, you make the decisions, right?

But we're able, when we tell people, hey, houses in this price point are selling $10,000 over, we back that up with data, because we will show them our listings and the five offers that there were.

And these are what the five offers were.

Here's what the one that got accepted

looks like, right?

Smart, smart.

And it's all about data.

So that's why, and I agree with Amanda, it's so important to work with an agent who's tenured.

who understands the market and who can advise you, that's the best way to say it, who can truly advise you on what you're doing.

And if you're a newer agent, you're working with a mentor that can help you.

Or if you're using a newer agent, Amanda's got some great buyers agents on her team, right?

She's mentoring them with all of the experience she has.

So when they're working with you, they know what they're talking about.

They've learned, they're educated, they know.

So it's just so important in all of that.

So that's a great takeaway as a buyer.

Thank you for sharing that, because not often enough do we think about that piece.

We just think about, oh my God, I got pre-approved, now let's go shopping.

And it is exciting.

It is.

Don't

get me wrong.

It is.

But it's a massive purchase, and it's a commitment.

So we want to make sure you're educated, and we're educated on exactly what you're dreaming

about.

Yes, and what your goals are.

Well, Amanda, I can't thank you enough for coming in here today and chatting with us on all things in the Valley Real Estate.

For those of you listening, thank you again for tuning into the Always

podcast here with 97.9 FM, 1590 AM on the Civic Media.

We'll see you next

week.

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