Cellcom Celebrations and Mortgage Revelations (Hour 2)

Transcript

Cellcom Celebrations and Mortgage Revelations (Hour 2)

Maino and the Mayor · Mon Jun 30, 2025

Civic Media Announcer

You're listening to Civic Media.

You can tune into any of our live shows on any radio station across the state with the Civic Media app.

Find us in your phone's app store and listen anytime, anywhere.

Show Announcer

Coming to Northeast Wisconsin live from the Civic Media Studios, this is Mino and the Mayor.

And here are your hosts, John Minow and Jim Schmidt.

Hey,

John Minow

thank you very much.

Welcome back.

I'm the mayor here now.

Beautiful, beautiful Monday morning, 97.9 FM WGBW, 98.3, 96.5 FM WIS.

And of course, the Civic Media app joining us right now.

Kimberly Asoyer.

Hello, Kimberly.

Hello, gentlemen.

It's always good to see

Kimberly Sawyer

you.

It's

John Minow

always good to see you.

Congratulations on your...

Motherhood.

Kimberly Sawyer

Oh my thank you.

Thank you.

Yes.

Number four.

It's kind of wild.

Yeah.

My youngest is seven.

So I'm kind of doing this all over again.

It feels like, but the kids are going to be great helpers.

I feel like it'll be different this time around where it won't be like chasing all the toddlers.

They'll be able to like take a shower and they can keep the kid alive for a little while,

Jim Schmidt

right?

He'll be amazed how helpful they'll be.

Kimberly Sawyer

I think so.

Yeah.

My oldest is 12.

She just took the babysitting course.

So she's very excited.

They love babies.

They'll be great.

They are.

And I just

Jim Schmidt

remember hiring babysitters and you

Kimberly Sawyer

could always

Jim Schmidt

tell who took the

course because I remember the first time we did that and this girl comes over and you know show her in the house and everything.

Do you have any questions?

Is she allergic to anything?

Kimberly Sawyer

That's a good question.

She told me she learned how to administer an EpiPen and do all the things.

It is amazing.

They do that at the safety center here in Green Bay.

So God bless those people.

They do a really nice job.

That

Jim Schmidt

is so worth it.

And you have parents who try to teach your daughters who are going to be babysitters and everything, but some of those questions are like, wow.

Kimberly Sawyer

Yeah.

And they learn the business skills side of it too, which is really good.

Like how do you negotiate a rate and ask those questions.

So it's really good.

I think that's awesome.

Oh, that's cool.

So I'm busy.

Do you

Jim Schmidt

have built-in babysitters now?

Kimberly Sawyer

Don't you?

I do.

Yeah, well, we have such a great neighborhood, you know, and all the, you know, like sports parents and all the people you get to hang out with as you raise kids.

Like the village is strong and we are very grateful.

Congrats to you.

Congrats.

That is great.

Jim Schmidt

Thank you.

So, cell com,

Kimberly Sawyer

which is

Jim Schmidt

your, what's your title over there?

Kimberly Sawyer

I'm senior manager of external relations.

So kind of a fancy way of, you know, PR, communications.

I get to do fun things like this with you guys.

Nice.

I've been there for just over a year now, so.

Jim Schmidt

And how many employees do cell com?

They

Kimberly Sawyer

must be close to a thousand or 600.

Just

Jim Schmidt

for the record, I was their 19th employee.

Kimberly Sawyer

You said that that's so cool.

You know that

Jim Schmidt

perfect.

Well, yeah, 19, that's not too many.

Kimberly Sawyer

Well, I say that a breakthrough when I used to work for Craig Dickman.

I was employee number eight.

Jim Schmidt

When you're under 25, they tell you that when you

Kimberly Sawyer

step in.

Jim Schmidt

We expect a lot out of you

Kimberly Sawyer

because

Jim Schmidt

it.

Your job is everybody's job.

When you're under 20, then they start to maybe not silo it, but you start to segment it a little bit.

Anyway, so that's great.

And one of the things you do, we call them car care clinics.

You don't call them anymore.

What do you got going

Kimberly Sawyer

on right now?

They started as that, yes.

And Bonnie was the one who ran those for many years, incredible lady.

And so I'm trying to fill her shoes a little bit and do some other things as well.

And so obviously we went through a pretty tough month this last month with the outage and with an ongoing FBI investigation.

there's only so much you can share.

Believe me, we would love to share all the way more things than we can.

And so it's really just our opportunity to say thank you to our customers for sticking with us.

It was obviously a rough road, not just for us, but for them.

We completely understand that and also for our community.

we're doing also by not sharing too much is because these cyber incidents happen all across the country every single day, which is unfortunate, but it's the world we live in.

And the more we say, the more susceptible people in and outside of our industry are too, because that's our goal, right?

Is to like get to us and then get to other people that are probably even bigger.

In other industries.

Remember

Jim Schmidt

that happened, that happened in

Kimberly Sawyer

this community.

That happens all the time.

I don't

Jim Schmidt

know to mention the companies,

Kimberly Sawyer

but

Jim Schmidt

that's happened in food, it's happened in healthcare.

John Minow

It's not with this one, it's just because

everybody.

Kimberly Sawyer

And you use that every day.

Exactly.

It makes you really think about how often you use your technology.

And how I don't want

John Minow

to use the word how easily, but how quickly

Kimberly Sawyer

you

John Minow

can just be no

Kimberly Sawyer

communication.

Yep.

Yep.

Absolutely.

So yeah.

That's why some of

Jim Schmidt

us are a little cash conscious.

Kimberly Sawyer

Right.

Do I worry about that?

But for sure.

Jim Schmidt

I don't know.

You rebounded.

Kimberly Sawyer

Yep, we're back now.

We're back and ready to get back to business as usual.

And again, just say thank you at these celebrations.

So we have 15 left.

There were 17 total.

And they're all across the region.

So we're in Ribb Mountain and Marshfield.

So Ribb Mountain tomorrow on my birthday.

Oh, hey, happy birthday.

Thank you.

And then July 2nd.

Oh, I got a bell.

Jim Schmidt

Yeah.

Radio Producer

Thank you.

That's

Jim Schmidt

very special,

Radio Producer

especially

Jim Schmidt

from him.

Radio Producer

Also, I think that means Johnny's got to sing happy birthday later on.

Absolutely.

OK.

Much later, like

Kimberly Sawyer

next

Jim Schmidt

month.

SPEAKER_02

Oh, I

Radio Producer

can

Jim Schmidt

do it.

OK,

Radio Producer

sure.

Kimberly Sawyer

Best birthday gift

John Minow

ever.

Kimberly Sawyer

Ever.

Yeah, but then we're at Marshfield on July 2nd.

I'll be at that one.

And we've been doing some radio remotes, and it's a lot of... Okay, I gotta talk

John Minow

about something real quick here.

Go ahead.

Because Jim and I are at least favorite thing in the world, okay?

The one thing that we will absolutely turn down no matter what is a dunk tank.

Kimberly Sawyer

Oh, right.

We do

John Minow

not have that.

You were telling me about when you were in Wisconsin.

You had to go

Civic Media Announcer

to

John Minow

these little county fairs.

Kimberly Sawyer

I can't believe you did that.

Tell us.

Yeah, I did a lot of dunk tanks.

Because

Jim Schmidt

you're so, you know, your hair out.

We were mean we look

Kimberly Sawyer

terrible when we showed up right and I

Jim Schmidt

just John told me that cuz I that's something we stopped doing I just let's

get off the cell company

Kimberly Sawyer

just to say, tell me

Jim Schmidt

about the

Kimberly Sawyer

dump.

Well, and they just had Mr. Wisconsin.

We just crowned Willow our brand of Wisconsin.

She's from Racine.

Very cool.

Yes.

So I did a lot of things.

I think when you become Mr. Wisconsin, and that's why honestly, like I, I am so grateful for that experience because I wouldn't be able to do all the things I do today without that experience.

So yay for scholarship money, paid for my MBA,

Civic Media Announcer

all

Kimberly Sawyer

the good things, but it also gave me the opportunity to learn that sometimes you show up to places and you just got to kind of figure things out.

And you don't know who you're going to meet, what you're going

I mean, I was prepped a lot of times before I went, but you just don't know.

And you show up and they're like, Hey, do you mind doing this?

Do you mind doing this?

And I was a singer.

So I sang a lot too.

And

Civic Media Announcer

you

Kimberly Sawyer

speak to all different sorts of audiences.

So you kind of have to roll with the punches on that too.

But yeah, dunk tanks, parades, all the things.

And yep, there were definitely times.

I mean, I definitely wore a T-shirt over my swimsuit just to make sure there were no wardrobe malfunctions as they call it nowadays.

But didn't you say you'd

John Minow

see certain guys at the same places?

Kimberly Sawyer

Oh God, yeah.

Oh yeah.

I mean, you have to worry about those kinds of things.

Right.

tighter on security nowadays, I would say, but they always made sure I had somebody with me.

So that was good.

John Minow

I mean, people don't see that side of being Miss Wisconsin.

Kimberly Sawyer

You'd get a lot of letters and things.

And after a while, I just asked my business manager to just not share those anymore.

I was like, you know, unless it's dangerous, like, I just don't want it.

Jim Schmidt

Right.

Wow.

Kimberly Sawyer

And that's good because they

Jim Schmidt

feel good.

They wrote it.

Right.

You don't have to read it unless it's a threat.

Civic Media Announcer

Right.

So if somebody else

Jim Schmidt

read it, I'm

Civic Media Announcer

just

Jim Schmidt

surprised.

The reason that surprises me, doesn't surprise me that you would do that.

Surprised me because you're kind of, you're the kind of, you are, you're a beauty queen in that.

You would let your hair and makeup get wet.

Kimberly Sawyer

Yeah, whatever, you know.

I play sports my whole life.

I think that's great, you did that.

I was gonna say, they don't know that

John Minow

you're actually a total complete.

Kimberly Sawyer

Yes, I'm a country gal.

That's right.

You know, so I was muddin' and, you know, pickin' rocks and doin' all sorts of things up there.

Dude, did you

John Minow

not catch her in Fastpitch Softball?

Kimberly Sawyer

Yeah, I played outfield at Norbert's, which was really cool.

Like, I had never played that until I got there.

And they were like, well, the only position we have open is left field.

So if you want to play, that's what you're gonna do.

And I was like, all right, well, I'll give it a shot.

And I loved it.

It was so much

Jim Schmidt

fun.

Kimberly, did you have to do that or did you say I'll do it?

Kimberly Sawyer

Well, it was a paid appearance.

So yes, it was expected to do that.

I mean, I'm sure if I was uncomfortable with something, we would have worked for it.

I mean, that's not

John Minow

quite a status thing to have Miss Wisconsin come

Kimberly Sawyer

to your

John Minow

event.

I'm really

Kimberly Sawyer

surprised

John Minow

she

Jim Schmidt

did that.

I was like, wow.

So back

Kimberly Sawyer

to the

Jim Schmidt

cellcom and you're the, I forgot we said the external

Kimberly Sawyer

VP or whatever.

I was the ambassador in a lot of ways too, for sure.

All right.

So

Jim Schmidt

the 17 markets that year, is that all Wisconsin or are you guys in Iowa?

Kimberly Sawyer

Yep, nope, just Wisconsin.

So we go all the way, you know, west to the Red Mountain area like this week and then we'll go south to Manitowoc and up to Door County.

And the people

Jim Schmidt

are invited through...

Venues like this, but you also send postcards, right?

Kimberly Sawyer

Yeah.

Yes.

Yeah, and the deals that we have going on It's basically like black Friday in June So like if there's a time you want to stock up on something like for the hunters right now We've got crazy deals like the more you buy the more you save so we had somebody come in and get five trail cams for the price of two Which I know

Civic Media Announcer

my

Kimberly Sawyer

husband big hunter is thinking about Or if you've been thinking about getting that phone for that kid that you're like right on the fence so we can get him the phone or the watch or something Okay,

John Minow

I need to okay

This might be out of your technical.

Kimberly Sawyer

All right.

Well, that's okay.

I'll let you know.

John Minow

What I would love to have.

I got a buddy.

He can look at his, his, uh, his food plot.

Kimberly Sawyer

Yes.

John Minow

Where he has the deer cam.

Kimberly Sawyer

You have that.

That is the coolest thing.

Yeah, the Spartan Trailcams.

Is that

John Minow

what it's called?

Yep.

So how does that hook up?

Kimberly Sawyer

And we have our low cams that are more like for your house, which I just bought a house actually in August.

So we're gonna get some of those too.

Okay.

Um, but yes, absolutely.

Yeah, it's an app and then it runs right through your phone.

My husband has something very similar right now.

So I get to see all the deer all the time.

All the time just pops right up as a notification anytime movement comes.

So I've seen that one has got that

Jim Schmidt

is our buddy at over at camera corner.

He showed me that all the time Rick.

Yeah.

Oh, yeah.

Kimberly Sawyer

Yeah.

And then you don't have to go and like change the SD card out.

It just comes right here.

Wow.

And he

John Minow

loves showing

Kimberly Sawyer

that surprises

John Minow

me because you wouldn't think the guy that has a license plate says 12 point buck.

Right.

Right.

Right.

His deer.

We

Jim Schmidt

love inside.

Well, I was like hunting a zoo.

Hey, would you?

Do you have the home security systems?

I'm going to in

Kimberly Sawyer

my new house.

Oh, we do.

Yeah, for sure.

Yeah.

I didn't know that.

Yep.

I didn't either.

Yeah.

That is much done our less.

People don't think we have, but yes.

Tell me about these.

Jim Schmidt

I know.

What are they called again?

Not Parker Clinics, these.

Kimberly Sawyer

Oh, Celebrations.

And we're calling them cell ubrations.

Cell ubrations.

We're rebranding a little bit.

Because again, it's a big thank you to all the customers that stuck with us.

And hopefully some new ones will come too.

So when

Jim Schmidt

we go to that.

These are available.

We can take a look at your home security systems.

Kimberly Sawyer

Yeah, everything.

It's literally like you're walking into a retail store underneath an outdoor tent.

And then we have our care team and our tech team for like any technical question that you have.

You can get all these great deals.

And actually, if you sign up for home internet, which we also have, you can get six months for free.

So that's a pretty good deal.

So

Jim Schmidt

do you have hot dogs still?

Kimberly Sawyer

We have.

Actually, we do.

different in each location, but a lot of times it's like subs, chips, we have root beer floats, always love that.

Some, depending on where you are, like Appleton North, for instance, our store is right next to Tom's Drive-In, so they're going to do like burgers and hot dogs and stuff.

So, I mean, it just depends on where you are, but check out our website.

John Minow

Remember how disappointed I was when we went to that event and they had vegetarian.

I'm looking for the salami.

It's all vegetarian.

Kimberly Sawyer

And we do giveaways too, so if you want to come win something, and actually if you pre-register or you get a chance to win a cool Packers package.

Jim Schmidt

For the record, John wasn't.

that upset because we stopped at Burger King on the way

Kimberly Sawyer

home.

I'm sure he figured it

John Minow

out.

He always figures it out.

So tell me again, so I could come there and buy the camera.

And then all you need to do is get in.

I don't know exactly how apps work,

Kimberly Sawyer

but then somebody would install.

They are

John Minow

so

Kimberly Sawyer

customer friendly.

They'll help you with

John Minow

it.

Yeah, for sure.

And it could be.

I mean, I could have that in the U.P.

and I could watch it here.

You bet.

Okay.

How about just ballpark wise?

Kimberly Sawyer

I actually do.

That's a good question.

I don't want to say.

Yeah, yeah,

John Minow

yeah.

All right.

I would be, I'm serious about this.

Kimberly Sawyer

That's

John Minow

good.

That's a cool thing.

Kimberly Sawyer

You let me know when you're going in.

I'll give them a heads up you're coming.

You can actually make an appointment online too.

So we have a new appointment system so that you don't have to wait when you go in.

Like you could be like, I have an appointment and then you get first.

And then I wanted to retail folks cause they're amazing.

Jim Schmidt

And then I want it on my house.

Do you come over and assess my house?

Like

Kimberly Sawyer

in terms of question, I don't know if they do that part of it.

But I just know there's

Jim Schmidt

another company and they look at, well, you really need one here cause

Kimberly Sawyer

of your

Jim Schmidt

basement.

You need this in your, they tell you how many.

cameras

Kimberly Sawyer

you

Jim Schmidt

obviously need the front door, but they may be two others.

I just don't I wouldn't know where to put the camera.

Kimberly Sawyer

Right.

Our team is pretty awesome.

If you told them a little bit more about your home, they'd probably let you know about how many you would want to have.

Because

Jim Schmidt

I think, I don't know, but I live kind of close to.

a homeless shelter that shuts down for

Kimberly Sawyer

six

Jim Schmidt

months.

And it's just

Kimberly Sawyer

nice to have issues

Jim Schmidt

in the garage.

So

Kimberly Sawyer

yeah, everybody should have really have one nowadays.

I feel like, you know,

Radio Producer

gotta protect those linens.

Can't

Kimberly Sawyer

really introduce yourself

John Minow

again.

Kimberly Sawyer

Tell me who you are and what you do.

I gosh, what do I do?

Senior manager of external relations at Selcom and site is our parent company, but people are really more affiliated or, you know, know our brand well of Selcom.

So excited to share about the celebrations today, of course.

But we also have things going on and we're you know still growing as a business and it's been really cool to be a part of something that's been around for 115 years made start in Pulaski, Wisconsin with the Riordan family and it's still part of the Riordan family now and you know, it's a very Wisconsin business, right?

So

John Minow

first job pardon me.

That wasn't your first job.

Was it?

Oh, that's right

Jim Schmidt

But you're I think that's interesting how they talk about learning

a changing industry.

These guys were landline people forever.

Kimberly Sawyer

Plastic, telephone.

The year I was born was when Cellcom was created in 1987.

You're

Jim Schmidt

making me feel really old.

And

Kimberly Sawyer

then they

Jim Schmidt

were born and it went

Kimberly Sawyer

here.

1987.

88.

My kids literally say you were born in the 1900s.

They'll ask me that all

John Minow

the time.

Wow.

Hey, does your sister still have that cool place?

Yes.

Kimberly Sawyer

Yeah, the farm.

Wedding reception thing.

I just got married there in September.

They

John Minow

took their barn.

And a working bar where the cows are still walking in and out of it.

Yeah.

And turn it into such a cool place.

You bet.

Oh man.

That's awesome.

We're the Kimberly Sawyer, Inside, back

SPEAKER_06

after this.

Civic Media Announcer

You're listening to Civic Media.

Stay up to date on the latest news and information for your local community and Wisconsin by signing up for our free email newsletter.

Visit civicmedia.us slash email to get

John Minow

started.

Just a few things.

Three other kiddos are in travel forts.

And

Jim Schmidt

17 of your events.

Kimberly Sawyer

Yeah, we're busy.

What are you here?

Jim Schmidt

Like, when are you in Oshkosh, Green Bay,

Kimberly Sawyer

Appleton?

Yeah, I have it all up on my phone, actually.

So, celebrations.

Yeah, sellcom.com slash celebrate.

And it has all of them.

And like I said, if you pre-register, you can win a really cool VIP Packers.

Package and then every day we have giveaways, but yeah, we're out in Shawno on the 8th and 9th of July Then we're in Weston East to peer the week after that And then in the lots in Green Bay Luxembourg Pulaski, of course, which is where we were born Manitouac Appleton and then all the way up Sturgeon Bay and then we finish up in Annago on August 6th

Jim Schmidt

Sad news out of Annago on that horse trainer died.

He was friends with my father-in-law.

Kimberly Sawyer

Oh, really?

Yeah

Jim Schmidt

Lucas.

Yeah that guy

Anyway, that's legendary.

He was legendary.

Legendary, but yeah.

John Minow

Yeah.

Kimberly Sawyer

So,

John Minow

Kimberly, let me ask you one quick thing about about the technology right now in phones.

Kimberly Sawyer

Yeah.

John Minow

I mean, it's it's is this is it?

I mean, it's still mine.

But

Kimberly Sawyer

I mean, I can't.

John Minow

I can't do that.

But it's

Kimberly Sawyer

still my like my plan.

You're like it's still improving.

My

John Minow

granddaughters who's like seven will grab my phone and

Kimberly Sawyer

do

John Minow

like.

How did you, what do you,

Kimberly Sawyer

I mean?

They're just swiping like nobody's business as well, isn't it?

You

John Minow

know what I mean?

I mean, God bless us old type guys who we try hard.

We do.

But you talk about a whole line of technology that these kids, you know, they're born with.

What a, what a generation of future.

Kimberly Sawyer

It's wild, isn't it?

And as a parent, it's hard, right?

You want to try to protect them also as much as you can and have them be educated about those things too.

And yeah, it's not easy

Jim Schmidt

road.

Kids to look people in the eye and communicate too.

Kimberly Sawyer

for sure.

That is like the biggest thing.

Jim Schmidt

Three kids

Kimberly Sawyer

under seven.

Yes, and I worked in talent acquisition for a long time before this or recruiting.

And you can tell, you know, when you're recruiting interns, like the kids who've had parents who have taught them those things, right?

So yeah, we work on, we work on those things too.

And you just have to set boundaries with it.

You know, it's, it depends on each kid.

Each kid is, has different responsibility levels, maturity levels.

And I think there's certain things you just have to monitor.

And like my little guy, he's seven, but there's times where, man, I'd love to have one of those kids watches on him where I can

you'll see where he's going.

Like if we're at a baseball tournament and he's like around the corner doing something, it'd be nice to have.

I mean, I've seen him still watch him like a hawk, but it's like, there's really great things about it too, for sure.

You don't

Jim Schmidt

have to worry about your one granddaughter.

She's, she's, she just, she's, she needs, she belongs in theater.

Kimberly Sawyer

Are you having fun in grandpa land?

Oh yeah.

John Minow

Yeah, okay.

You forget that it's like, okay, so the last time they were here, I can tell this story.

My youngest one who's a little bit out of control.

SPEAKER_02

Okay, good.

There's always one.

She's got energy.

She's got

John Minow

energy.

Kimberly Sawyer

She'll rule the world someday.

Get a call from

John Minow

my daughter, ask her if I could meet here at 1035 at night at the emergency room, which is always a nice call for me.

Oh, shoot.

She had stuffed a marble or something up her nose.

You know, one of those kind of things.

Oh, no.

Sir, I thought doctor could not get it out, could not get it out.

The next day, take them out for lunch before we go to Bay Beach.

And of course, it comes out as we're sitting at the restaurant table.

And you forget as a grandpa.

You forget how much stress there is in being a parent.

Oh,

Kimberly Sawyer

yeah.

Oh, a lot.

You know?

Yeah, for sure.

I mean, it's

John Minow

like people don't realize that sometimes until you

Kimberly Sawyer

look

John Minow

back and it's like, holy

Kimberly Sawyer

crap.

I feel like we know too much nowadays, too.

Like there's way too much information being shoved at us all the time as parents.

And so you feel a lot more pressure than maybe like my parents did.

I know my mom's like, I'm so glad I don't have to parent through all this technology.

Because I started, I got a phone when I was like just finishing high school and it was like the big block Nokia phone where you could literally only call people.

So it's just so different now.

Yeah, it really is.

Jim Schmidt

Like you said, there's so many advantages too.

Kimberly Sawyer

Yeah, for sure.

I mean, honestly being able to like communicate with my kids and yeah, and just like they're busy kids.

So it's just nice to know what's going on.

And yeah, nowadays there's crazy things going on.

So it is nice to know where they are.

And it's

Jim Schmidt

pretty cool as these kids get even older school that, you know, people can argue AI, but it's so nice that.

You don't have to, remember, no, you're young, Johnny.

Remember when we had to do research, go to the library

Kimberly Sawyer

and get that stuff up and now it's just- I still have some days of that too for sure.

I mean, we still wrote papers in high school, like on paper.

I was telling my kids that.

They were like, what?

Well, Jim being a teacher though, this whole AI thing.

Thank God.

Well, yeah, now you gotta be careful.

I'm sure they give you some tools to hopefully work around that.

Jim Schmidt

Well, this is how you catch, this is how I catch kids.

And I'm not a big AI guy

Kimberly Sawyer

at

Jim Schmidt

all.

When they're-

write things for seven weeks, and then their final paper is this unbelievable piece.

Kimberly Sawyer

It's like, you did write that, and then you

Jim Schmidt

fail them on that, and they're like,

John Minow

I

Jim Schmidt

wrote it, it's like, no, you didn't.

John Minow

Can I tell you what Jim and I spent hours and hours doing?

Kimberly Sawyer

Asking chat GPT, they have fun things.

Besides

John Minow

that.

Watching these little kids from movies, the little kids with the fat heads,

Kimberly Sawyer

and they're like, oh god.

Oh god, we watch it all the time.

John Minow

Yes,

Kimberly Sawyer

we

Jim Schmidt

do.

John Minow

Does

Kimberly Sawyer

that make

John Minow

us

Jim Schmidt

hip or old?

We're kind of hip, aren't we?

Kimberly Sawyer

Todd, please, the fifth.

Jim Schmidt

Oh, God, it's so funny.

Oh, man.

Anyway, yes.

And Todd's like, that's AI stuff.

We're like, I'll invest.

That is so funny.

Kimberly Sawyer

Isn't it?

I know.

There is some pretty cool stuff.

Like the other day, I saw this on TikTok and I was like, I have to try it.

It was, you can ask, like, take this.

cute photo of my nephew and turn it into a coloring book page and then add like farm animals around him.

And it like, it turned out so cute.

I was like, this is cool.

Got

John Minow

a texture.

Kimberly is amazing.

Kimberly Sawyer

She is from Sarah.

Thank you, Sarah.

That's so sweet.

John Minow

We had two minutes left.

Wrap it up one more time.

Everything you got going on.

Kimberly Sawyer

Yes.

So celebrations.

We started last week.

This week we're in Ribb Mountain and we're in Marshfield tomorrow and Wednesday.

So come out again.

Tented events, sellcom.com slash celebrate has all the details on all the really cool deals.

like we were just talking about and what happens at those.

But again, it's free food, free dessert, all the fun things and giveaways.

New

Jim Schmidt

products, new

Kimberly Sawyer

promotions.

Yeah, and you can test it all out.

Do you have to be a customer?

You do not, absolutely not.

Yep.

Anyone can come.

Anyone can come.

And you can come to all of them if you want.

Take all the free food.

John Minow

So I could actually talk to a guy about what can I put on those

Kimberly Sawyer

cameras.

Oh yeah, absolutely.

They have all their computers all set up and they're doing sales as we speak in the tent.

I love

Jim Schmidt

that.

Me too.

Kimberly Sawyer

Yeah,

Jim Schmidt

that's gonna be awesome.

Thank you for doing that.

And look, we're sorry you went through that, but every

Kimberly Sawyer

company does and

Jim Schmidt

people handle it differently.

And

Kimberly Sawyer

for sure.

We appreciate the support.

Absolutely.

Yeah.

This is

Jim Schmidt

great.

All right.

Well, good.

We'll have a fun summer.

We'll see you at one of your

Kimberly Sawyer

celebrations.

I

Jim Schmidt

was going to call it.

John Minow

I've never seen you stressed

Kimberly Sawyer

in all the

John Minow

situations I've seen you

Kimberly Sawyer

in.

Let me know in a few months.

John Minow

August, they got a great spokesperson.

Person right there with you.

I'll tell you what no lie Kimberly Sawyer.

She's awesome.

You said a quick break Kristen Embo's point mortgage joins us

Radio Announcer

next

Radio Producer

If you missed part of the show or want to share it with a friend, catch every episode of Mino and the Mayor on your schedule.

Listen now at CivicMedia.us or find us on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

It's easy to take Mino and the Mayor wherever you go.

Now back to Mino and the Mayor.

Here's John Mino and Jim Schmidt.

John Minow

Hey, thank you very much.

Welcome back.

Great having Kimberly Sawyer on from N-Site and Cellcom with some fantastic things they've got going on.

Joining us now, Kristen Ambo's Point Mortgage Corporation, and of course her podcast, Always On Point.

I just wish she would bring a little bit more energy to the table.

And a little bit more

Kristen Ambos

knowledge about the

John Minow

industry.

Yeah, and I

Kristen Ambos

wish she was so

John Minow

wishy-washy about

Kristen Ambos

everything.

Try and back it

John Minow

all down.

Kristen Ambos

Yeah.

John Minow

Good morning.

Good morning.

Nice to see you.

Kristen Ambos

Good to see you guys too.

John Minow

So we were talking, okay, the area I drive in Green Bay, I'm surprised, I've mentioned this to Jim a couple of times, nice little neighborhoods, nothing wrong with them or anything, the houses look nice, I don't know if they're flips or anything, but for the first time in a very long time, I saw price reduction on a house that's available.

It's happening,

Kristen Ambos

it's happening, there's like a little bit of a tug of war.

out there right now between buyers and sellers.

And buyers are kind of putting their hands up saying, I'm not paying it anymore.

And sellers are still trying to list and get prices in last year's market.

Two years ago.

And

John Minow

neither one wants to

Kristen Ambos

give.

Neither one wants to give yet.

So it's not a buyer's market.

It's not a seller's market.

There are still a few pockets.

But here's the deal.

And I can't say it enough right now.

When you hire a realtor.

and they bring you all the evidence of all the comparables in the last six months that's sold.

And they give you advice on how to price it.

If you go $10,000, $20,000, $30,000 over that, you're going to be doing a price reduction.

That's almost exactly what we're seeing right now.

And agents don't want to undercut it because they want you to make less money.

They want to make more money too.

However, they want to move it.

they want to sell it for you.

They don't want to sit on it forever.

And then that's what's happening.

And then what happens is, is if it's sitting on the market for a week, two weeks, what's wrong with that house?

What's wrong with

Jim Schmidt

it?

And then if you do a price reduction, what's really wrong?

Kristen Ambos

Yeah.

So right now

Jim Schmidt

pricing it right in this market is huge.

And for sure the seller is going to say, wait a minute, why would I go lower than my neighbors?

Kristen Ambos

My neighbor next door, I got a buddy.

My buddy at the bar

Jim Schmidt

said, but no matter what they do, they're going to need you because, well,

Kristen Ambos

some don't,

Jim Schmidt

but

Kristen Ambos

some pay cash, but

Jim Schmidt

not, not, not a lot, a lot.

And, um, and you're seeing some stability in your business.

Are

Kristen Ambos

you not?

I am.

Yes.

Business is very good.

And I'll tell you what, I'm doing more VA loans right now, which I love to see because a couple of years ago sellers, quote unquote,

Didn't want anyone with a VA loan.

Got a lot of spin on that.

But

John Minow

I think, I think it kind of has a little bit of a bad rap.

Cause

Kristen Ambos

I remember when I first heard it's

John Minow

like, oh, if there's paint peeling, you won't get your loan.

If

Kristen Ambos

that step is in purpose, I never found that to be.

No, it's not.

If you understand lending on the VA side, you know, um, I try to let people know to my husband's veteran, our loan is a VA.

We've bought, we've sold, we've refinanced, we've bought again, you know, everything VA.

But working with somebody who really understands VA is where it lands.

I just had two people I closed last month in VA where their other lender wasn't, like they didn't have even the common knowledge of VA, but then promoting themselves as a VA expert.

And so,

It can go awry when you're working with somebody who doesn't know how to do VA or the quirks of it.

And VA is a super great opportunity for people.

And when they have that benefit to be able to use that, it's huge.

I'm working with one right now who, you know, they're selling their house from out of town coming in.

They have about $300,000 to put down, but they only really, you know, 20% and they don't even have to have 20% on VA.

They could do no money down.

But we had the conversation as we were running different price points and different down payments for them because right now what they're doing is, am I going to make more money in the market or am I going to pay more money in interest?

And so they're doing their due diligence to say, yeah, we could put $300,000 down on this, but maybe it's only really worth putting 50 and putting 250 in the market.

and making more money towards retirement.

So a lot of times they have the money, they're just choosing to put it elsewhere because they don't have to put it into their loan.

Jim Schmidt

I know people like that.

I'm not, I'm just, yeah, I meet to the house.

You know, I sleep better when I don't have debt,

SPEAKER_02

but

Jim Schmidt

some people, they leverage

Kristen Ambos

it different ways.

Jim Schmidt

Those are pretty smart people.

Kristen Ambos

They do it in a way where they could pull, if they ever got in a pinch, they could pull out of that investment and pay their house off.

So it's not a total roll of the dice

Jim Schmidt

story.

So you're not, and you would encourage that.

I mean, you're not saying, look, put as much down as you can.

Hey, look, if you want to put down 5% and put the rest in the market, God bless you.

Right,

Kristen Ambos

100%.

That's pretty good

Jim Schmidt

that you're, because I think a bank would try to get as much as they can to lower their risk.

Kristen Ambos

Oh, 100%.

Yes, absolutely, absolutely.

I like to look at all the numbers with clients.

What's the best situation for you?

What is your comfortable zone in a payment?

What do you need and where are your goals?

Because if this is like the house that they're looking at buying and they put an offer in on this weekend, I was talking to them yesterday and they were like, can you run this?

Can you run this?

We're gonna make about X, Y, and Z this amount, this amount in their investments.

So we talked about, okay, you're gonna pay this, this or this.

So which one is better for you?

And again, that was what was gonna be because they're buying their forever home.

So like now we're in it to figure out what we can do to best utilize our money for our future, whether it be pay the house off later, make more here.

Don't invest those types of things.

It's more than just a house and it's your overall financial plan and goal that I want to help you meet.

John Minow

Well, you know, I think too that we talk during the election, whatever, whatever, I think it's past the point of anybody thinking interest rates are going to go much lower, don't you?

Kristen Ambos

Yeah.

I mean, listen.

I mean,

John Minow

what do you think?

I think that's-

Kristen Ambos

I mean,

John Minow

politically, what's going-

Kristen Ambos

Yeah, right.

Right.

It's still so volatile.

We did get a little bit of a glimpse.

The 10-year treasury dropped a little bit on

Friday?

Okay.

Thursday, Friday, Friday.

The days are running together.

But the

John Minow

people that have been holding off,

Kristen Ambos

wait for a bit.

But the people that are holding off, right.

And when I say that it dropped, it dropped, rates didn't, remember mortgage rates are not directly tied to the Federal Reserve rate.

We're tied to the Treasury.

So the fact that the Treasury started to move was a big deal.

So that's really exciting as far as that part is concerned.

But listen, we're talking two more price drops this year.

We don't know if they're an eighth.

We don't know if it's a quarter.

We don't know what it is.

But the main thing is, is that

If you can buy a home for a payment you want, then it's the right time for you.

If it's not, don't rush into it.

I always, there's a reason that there's rent and a lot of times it's better for people to rent quite, until they're totally prepared.

But if you're looking to buy, look to buy and get in, but make sure you're working with a loan officer that understands all the different aspects.

of the loan process because man-o-man right now, the slop I'm seeing out there in the predatory lending is at a max.

Jim Schmidt

Talk about that a little bit.

Kristen Ambos

Yeah.

So it's really easy to say, oh, I'm going to go to this lender because they have a better interest rate.

I probably hear that once a week.

And I check my rates against everybody.

It's super competitive.

And almost every time I say, give me your loan estimate from that other lender.

Yeah, the rates lower, but they're also charging $7,000, $10,000.

One was $30,000 in points and fees.

I can give, my rate sheet is anywhere from four and a half to eight right now.

What rate do you want?

So when you call and say, what's your rate today?

Well, I have anywhere from four and a half to eight.

It all depends on, do you want to credit back at closing to pay your costs and a higher interest rate or do you want the lowest rate possible and pay as many fees as, you know, in points as you want to pay.

Everybody's different, but the thing about it is, is a lot of lenders aren't talking about that.

They're just like, oh, here you go, sign here.

And I'm telling you what the actual fees are and people are like, Whoa, wait a minute.

Why are my clothes and costs $20,000?

Well, they don't have to be in Wisconsin with your escrow set up.

They're probably around five or six.

Jim Schmidt

Yeah.

Yeah.

And they, they, they had to disclose that, but they

Kristen Ambos

don't have to talk about it.

They have to disclose it, but they don't have to, they don't have to put a

Jim Schmidt

highlighter on it.

Or they put, they, they roll those fees in and you're paying

Kristen Ambos

interest

Jim Schmidt

on those fees

Kristen Ambos

and

Jim Schmidt

it's, yeah.

Okay.

Well, that's great that you're so upfront, so honest about that.

Um, what is the,

biggest piece of advice.

And you know, when people come in,

Civic Media Announcer

I

Jim Schmidt

mean, and I think some people try to buy too much house, but then you just said these people are buying the house, they're going to be in the rest of their life.

I don't know that.

Do people really buy the house they're going to be in the rest of their life?

And we thought we did.

And now we're kind of thinking, well, I don't know.

Oh my

Kristen Ambos

gosh, my husband and I did five years ago.

And now we're like, well, maybe we should build more.

Same thing.

You know, there's different places, there's water, and I don't know.

Well, and as you grow as a human being.

And your kids move out.

Yeah, your kids move out, things change.

Right.

Like we've got two big living rooms that we never sit in.

Right.

When we entertain, it's in our kitchen.

I like I'd love my kitchen to be twice the size it is now in no living

John Minow

room.

Yeah.

You know, I dream of my home being paid off.

Kristen Ambos

Oh, hey, I dream of that as well.

Um, because just be really nice, not having a house painted and I'm always cheering and rooting for the people that can, can do that.

And that's part of theirs.

Personally, you know, my house is going to be the last thing I pay off.

It really is.

You probably have a

Jim Schmidt

really good interest rate.

Kristen Ambos

My interest rate is great.

I mean, I think we're at two and a quarter percent, you know.

Jim Schmidt

My brother who's got plenty of money, he still has them.

I'm like, what are you doing with a mortgage?

He goes, are you kidding me?

And he takes his money and invests it and makes six and seven and eight.

Some of that stuff, he's probably making 10.

I'm like, you know what?

And that happened to me a little bit.

Even my guy said, he'd look, man, that interest rate,

You better off investing it.

You know what I did?

Paid off my house.

I'm

Kristen Ambos

like, I don't

Jim Schmidt

want, I just, he goes,

Kristen Ambos

that's not a good financial

Jim Schmidt

move for you.

I'm like, you know what?

I don't really care.

Kristen Ambos

I just- Right.

Some of it, you know, honestly, Mayor, it's some of it, it's all personal preference.

It really is.

To some people, they would rather have a loan on everything else and no house payment.

And other people would rather have no loans at all.

Well, that's the

Civic Media Announcer

ultimate goal.

And

Kristen Ambos

some-

will leverage and finance everything and stick more money away in investments.

So it's personal.

I

John Minow

just got a text here from Kathy that's apropos.

I want to throw this at you.

What's worse is that my husband and I don't want to own a home anymore, but there are no condos or apartments that are affordable.

That is a true

Kristen Ambos

state.

That is.

So there are a couple, they're peaking through different, a lot of them on the waterfront.

but there are a couple of 55 plus communities.

And Kathy, I'm not saying you're 55 or plus.

I don't know how old you are, but there are a lot of people who are getting either near retirement or in retirement that no longer want the upkeep.

And so a condo is perfect for them.

John Minow

But I've seen some like over $2,000 a month rent.

Kristen Ambos

Yes.

It's crazy.

So, so buying, um, I know that actually Ben and Deanna are listing some over by the river over by the OC that are going to be in new development.

Yes.

So there are more coming because Cathy, you're not alone in that.

A lot of people want less is more for them.

And so that's where they're going with that.

And if you want to rent, great, but you can still buy those types of properties and not have to feel like all your money is just going and giving it away to rent.

You can also still own those.

So there's more pockets of that coming

John Minow

around.

Okay, let me just throw one other thing though that I would, I still think,

Property tax I don't until you own a home and you get that tax bill every year You don't realize what an that's like paying college tuition every year

Kristen Ambos

Thank you for bringing this up because that is something that people aren't paying attention to as much as they should so, Wisconsin's the eighth highest property tax state in the country so

We have some high taxes.

You're probably, it's 1.578% of the purchase price is the estimate in our area.

So just even 1.5% of the purchase price, okay?

That's what you're probably paying in taxes.

The other thing is insurance.

Insurance, we used to quote an average on insurance around like,

80 bucks a month right now the average I'm seeing is typically between 120 and 150 a month for people So that's doubling their insurance payment per month.

You know why

John Minow

those things

Kristen Ambos

are so high

John Minow

because of him Thanks, man

SPEAKER_11

Okay

You're

Civic Media Announcer

listening to Civic Media.

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

John Minow

Hey, welcome back.

We're with one of our favorite weekly guests, Kristen Ambo's Point Mortgage Corporation.

Her podcast is always on point.

I struck a little bit of a nerve when I started bringing up the property tax type thing.

Yeah.

Kristen Ambos

But

John Minow

how much people will pay during the course of a lifetime.

And for some of these young home buyers, they really need to factor that in, don't they?

Kristen Ambos

It does.

Yes.

Anybody, though.

Yeah.

And here's why.

Like, this is what we were just talking about.

So in our Green Bay Market, you could go...

I'll use my example.

My husband and I lived in Bellevue.

We lived in the last subdivision in Bellevue before it hit Ledgevue.

Because our taxes in Bellevue were $2,800 a year, and if we took our house and moved it a block over on the other side of Highway 172, they were more than double.

So it depends on where you live.

And the reason why I bring that up, especially in pre-qualifying, is I'm the lender who's going to always say,

get me the house you're interested in, I wanna run the payment.

And the reason why is because I wanna know what those taxes are.

Those taxes might increase your payment two, three, four, $500 a month depending on where they're at.

So some pockets of this city where taxes, it's not shocking to see taxes of $7,000, $8,000, $9,000, $10,000.

So you've gotta be prepared for that.

And we were saying even in my house now, when we moved in five years ago, the taxes were $4,500.

Now they're $7,000.

So I've, you know, my husband and I have had to make up the difference in that monthly payment year over year over year.

And we have to be prepared for that.

Cause they don't give you, that tax bill shows up on December 10th surprise and it's doing 20 days and you just have to figure it out and get used to it.

It's not your principal and interest.

changing, it's the taxes and insurance right now.

And I think sometimes, especially,

Jim Schmidt

they're excited to buy their house, right?

Kristen Ambos

Yes, absolutely.

And they

Jim Schmidt

hear, this is your house payment, and it's locked in for 15 years or whatever you recommend.

SPEAKER_02

Good

Jim Schmidt

to go.

And then they hear, and your taxes are gonna be $250.

And I think they hear it's locked in for 15 years.

And it's not,

Civic Media Announcer

like you

Jim Schmidt

said.

I mean, they go up 50% hours, they went up 50% in the last four or five years.

and you just got a budget, you have to get on that, but they don't hear that.

SPEAKER_02

Your

Jim Schmidt

insurance is going to be $80 a month.

And I think they think, and again, first time buyers, but you don't want to learn the hard way.

And you really need to, and you're good about cautioning them about that.

This is this month.

I'm telling you, I don't know what's going to be next year.

So, you know, yeah.

Kristen Ambos

A hundred percent.

And with the pre-approval and what lender you choose to work with, you'd be surprised at the amount of loan estimates I still see.

Cause they're like, well, Kristin, their payments less.

Okay, let me look at it, right?

And it says $350 for taxes on a $500,000 house.

Well, that's wrong.

And then $80 for insurance, I'm thinking.

This payment is probably $300 late because they're baiting and switching you because then it's easy to go.

Well, that was just a number I put in the house you decided.

So it's your fault, not me setting.

It's me, not me setting you up to fail.

I don't

John Minow

need to put down your

Kristen Ambos

industry, but it's brutal.

It is so brutal.

And right now it's, it's, it's beyond the snakiness and brutal.

It's, it really is.

And that's why I can't say it enough for people to make sure you're getting.

a first, second, or a third opinion.

If you're getting more than three, you're going to confuse yourself.

I will tell you that.

I've seen clients go, okay, now it's too much information, but definitely shop.

I would agree as long as you're one of them.

I agree with that.

But

Jim Schmidt

really, I just think it's good because you're you're not a community bank.

You're not a bank.

You're not a savings and loan, but

I mean, you really know this industry.

So I would just, I would encourage people to do that, to get a second opinion.

I don't have to get three, but as long as you're one of them, because I think what I like about you is you tell them more than you have to.

And I always think, I tell people too, when you're buying it, you had your home inspection, but the furnace goes off.

Do you really have that?

John Minow

And

Jim Schmidt

it will.

And you know, that's just it,

John Minow

you

Jim Schmidt

know?

And I mean, the roof is inspected, right?

It's good for another five, six, 10 years.

But I just remember our house, you know, like, I don't know, the chimney, that was expensive.

Kristen Ambos

Oh yeah, absolutely.

And I was seeing seller credits coming back, you know, where sellers are willing to help the buyer pay some of their costs.

So that's really nice.

But those things aren't discussed as much as they should be.

And I am seeing inspections come back.

I think inspections are up about 30% year over year from

Civic Media Announcer

last

Kristen Ambos

year.

That's stuff that makes me excited because I work with buyers, right?

So that's something that makes me really excited is because buyers are able to get an inspection on the house they're buying versus being

John Minow

surprised.

How did you frame it when you'd have a couple, especially, I hate to keep saying young couples, but I think of my daughter and whatever.

And if they said, oh, we want this house so bad, this is our dream house, we're not gonna do an inspection.

How did you

Kristen Ambos

respond?

If you can't negotiate it with the seller, I'd love for you to be able to.

But if for whatever reason you need this house and you can't.

There's two ways to go about it.

You can still get an inspection.

You just can't go back to the seller

Civic Media Announcer

and

Kristen Ambos

ask him for anything.

So just wave the contingency, but still get this inspection so you know what you're in for.

You can do that during the process.

You can do that right after you buy it, but that way you know, going into it right away.

Cause now you're setting yourself up for, okay, the furnace is okay, but I probably have one to two years on it.

So I better start saving that $6,000 up for shopping for it now.

So it's not on a day,

where I need an emergency fix, and then they're charging me more.

You know, set yourself up and prepare for all

Jim Schmidt

that.

Right, six and

Kristen Ambos

a half.

Jim Schmidt

That chimney I had to get?

Yeah.

I was negotiating with the guy.

I'm the grass, he's up there.

Because I wanted a different design on top.

He goes, what?

I want four debris sticking out.

John Minow

I can

Kristen Ambos

picture this right now.

Oh,

John Minow

you

Kristen Ambos

love

John Minow

me.

Kristen Ambos, I love everybody where they can find you and about your podcast.

Kristen Ambos

Because you bring it

John Minow

strong.

Kristen Ambos

No lie, we love

John Minow

having you

Kristen Ambos

on.

It's an important investment.

Thank you.

It is.

And you want to get it right the first time.

920-606-1156.

And my podcast always on point with Kristen Ambos is on all your podcast stations, Apple Play, Spotify.

All the, all of them, I don't know.

We're there.

All the ones we got.

All the podcasting.

Thank you guys so much.

John Minow

Like, like you even said, get three people.

Talk to three.

Yeah.

Make sure she's one of

Kristen Ambos

them.

Absolutely.

Make me one.

All right.

Thanks for being here.

John Minow

Quick break.

Back after this.

SPEAKER_09

If I had a million dollars If I had a million dollars Well I'd buy you a house I would buy you a house And if I had a million dollars If I had a million dollars

Civic Media Announcer

The national news cycle never stops But it can be hard to find news about your local community

Civic Media is dedicated to providing quality local and state news coverage across Wisconsin.

With the Civic Media app, you can get notifications about local stories that matter to you and your community.

Find the free Civic Media app in your phone's app store and choose notifications from the menu to tell us what kind of news you want to hear about.

0:00