Overcoming Real Estate Myths: 30 Years of Phoenix Market Insight with Will Carter

[00:00] Bryan Hyde: Welcome to the Phoenix Business Brief podcast. I'm Brian Hyde, and today I'm joined by Will Carter, welcoming him back to the program. Will is a real estate broker with the Will Carter Team. And Will, we've had you on before, but I know there are folks who are meeting you for the first time. Could you take a moment to tell us a little bit about who you are and what you do? [00:17] Will Carter: Yeah, sure. Thank you again for, for having me on. I appreciate it. Um, yes, I'm Will Carter with the Will Carter Team at Real Broker. This is my 30th year in the real estate business, which mostly just means I'm old, but hopefully I've got some experience that's come with that. But yeah, we help buyers and sellers and investors make hopefully a great decision in the real estate market and help them achieve some goals. [00:44] Bryan Hyde: So when it comes to real estate, I'll have to tell you, this is— and this is because I was just recently in the real estate market looking to buy a home— I heard so many conflicting takes on what the market is really doing. And so I guess the first question I have for you is, how can a person know that the information they're getting about what the market is doing is actually solid? [01:04] Will Carter: Yeah, I mean, the most important thing is they're getting good information. And like you said, we're seeing on the news all kinds of conflicting— hey, it's a great time to buy. Hey, it's a terrible time to buy. Hey, the interest rates are too high. We should wait. Hey, we're going to crash. There's so many things out there. But, but really, the key is finding a professional that you trust and that can give you real information that's specific to the market that you're in. Because so many times the news is telling you, hey, this is what's going on, but they're telling you on a broad— in the state or in the country or whatever, where really it comes down to each specific neighborhood in each specific city. And so you just got to make sure that you're getting really good specific information for your area and your specific situation. [01:49] Bryan Hyde: Now, you mentioned you've been doing this for 3 decades. And so in that time, I imagine you have probably seen a thing or two. Talk to me a little bit about how the real estate market operates. I mean, I'm thinking back, you know, not quite 20 years ago, things, things took a pretty crazy turn, but it didn't stay there forever. [02:11] Will Carter: Sure. Yeah, 2008 was, in my amount of time in real estate, 2008 was like the bottom of the barrel. The market crashed. Some people lost 70% of their home values. I mean, it was a very bleak time to own real estate. Looking back, it was a great time to buy real estate in that 2008 market crash. But even the people that weathered the storm, didn't do a short sale, didn't get their home foreclosed on, they kept their home even though it lost so much value. If you look, if you still own that home today, you're way past where it was. So not only did it recover and get their equity back, it continued to grow and they have more equity from that. [02:53] Bryan Hyde: How has your experience having gone through that cycle as well as what you've experienced over 30 years, how does that help you when you sit down with a client, be it a buyer or a seller or an investor? Talk to me a little bit about how you can draw from that broad experience to best meet their needs? [03:11] Will Carter: Yeah, sure. So, full transparency, back in 2007, 2008, when the market crashed, I lost everything. We lost several houses. It was a very bleak time for me and my family. But what I learned from that was some really valuable lessons about investing in real estate, the way to do it, the way not to do it, but also how to help people make really good decisions for very sound decisions for their financial situation and not take unnecessary risks as I did. And so that, that helped me a lot moving forward. And I went from more of a transaction-based business to more of a relationship-based business because now I realize at that time, like, relationships are the most important thing. And now if I can help people make good decisions for them and their family, then they're always going to trust me for other things. Boy, [04:04] Bryan Hyde: nothing, nothing makes a lesson stick though like a good hard lesson, you know. I mean, that's, that's where, that's where most of the learning in life is going to come from. Talk to me a little bit about, uh, you know, relationships. When you talk about that in terms of how you do business now, what does that look like as opposed to just somebody who's trying to get the sale? [04:22] Will Carter: Sure. Um, well, I want to be the— I want to be the go-to person for my family, friends, clients, everybody I know for everything they need. And I built my, my business now based on how many referrals I give out. And I have a goal to give out this year, to give out 300 referrals to other people. And I'm on track to get that. I think I'm at about 240 referrals that I've given out this year. And so for me, most people track how many referrals they get. I track how many referrals I give, knowing that if I can be a source of help for other people, that's always going to come back to me in some way or another. [05:06] Bryan Hyde: Yeah, that's, that's one of those kind of unsung secrets of success is if you want to look at the people who are really succeeding, it's not the ones who are just, you know, gathering it in as much for themselves as possible. It's the ones who are helping other people succeed as well. And, you know, heaven knows the world needs more people like that. [05:25] Will Carter: For sure. [05:26] Bryan Hyde: Let's, let's talk about some of the challenges that exist right now in the real estate market. Then we can also touch on the opportunities. But as far as challenges go, what do you see as some of the big ones to watch out for? [05:38] Will Carter: I think the biggest challenge right now is misinformation. I mean, it seems to be the biggest challenge in every aspect of our life as well. I mean, there's just so much information out there and there's so much bad information. So I think that's the biggest challenge. If somebody was to ask you, hey, is this a good time to buy, or is this a good time to sell? It depends. Right now is a really great time to buy for some people. There's bargains out there. There's sellers that have to sell. There's a lot of reasons if you're in a good position to buy that you should be buying today. But also, if you're not ready to buy, and we've pushed you into something you're not comfortable with, it would be a terrible time. So, I think it's just misinformation. And the biggest key is understanding what somebody's goals are and making sure you're helping them achieve their goals based on the real facts that are out there versus all the myths. [06:30] Bryan Hyde: And in terms of opportunities, again, I'm sure the answer would be it depends, but what are some of the opportunities that you see currently that people ought to be aware of? [06:40] Will Carter: Right. So, right now, the biggest problem that people are hearing is that the interest rates are so high and they're over 7% and they're higher than what we've been used to for the last 10 years or whatever. I mean, people are seeing that, hey, they were 3%, they were 3.5%. And so they feel like that's the norm. But over the last 40 years, 6.5% is about what the average has been. So they're not that high historically, but people feel like, oh, the interest rates are so high and I can't buy. The great thing about people not buying right now where the market's a little slower is buyers have opportunities now that they haven't had for a long time. Sellers are more willing to negotiate. Sellers are more willing to offer concessions to help you buy your rate down or help you pay closing costs. And honestly, some sellers out there are just getting desperate to sell and they can't get their house sold. So you're getting much better sales prices. And trust me, you'd rather have $50,000 less sales price than waiting for the sales price to go back up and having a 1% lower interest rate over time. That's a— that makes you a winner many times over. [07:46] Bryan Hyde: Let's talk about a common thing that we're hearing from young people today. Now, I, I have kids in their, their 30s and 20s, and one of the, the complaints I hear from them is, I just don't know if I'll ever be able to afford to buy a home. You probably get some of this too in your position. How do you answer that concern? [08:06] Will Carter: So, I actually love that because I have several examples from this year of first-time homebuyers that are under 30 years old, some of them under 25 years old, that said the same thing. Hey, I don't think that I'm ever going to be able to buy because my parents were able to do this or that. And we showed them how they could have a plan, create the plan, follow the plan, and actually Accomplish it. And I just had one 28-year-old single guy, has a good job, he just bought his first house on his own, his own down payment, his own closing costs, and we got him closed last month. Um, and the conversation up front was, I'm not sure I'll ever be able to do this. It literally took 45 days. [08:48] Bryan Hyde: Wow. [08:48] Will Carter: Again, it's misinformation that's out there saying like, oh, back in the other time you would have been able to buy a house, but now you can't. We just believe Right. It's like everything else. If somebody— for me, if somebody tells me there's no way to do it, I'm going to show you there's a way to do it. And it might not be a way that you could do it today, but we got to make a plan. So a year from now, maybe you're in that position. [09:08] Bryan Hyde: That's actually very encouraging to hear. And I'm curious, from your standpoint as a broker, what's it like for you when you see somebody get into their first home? [09:18] Will Carter: That's— I love it. Honestly, that's probably my favorite client to work with because they're so excited. And they're so nervous. And I get to be part of that very exciting time in their life. And that's one of the benefits of this job is that when somebody, they're excited about something and nervous, I get to help them get through it. And at the end, when they accomplish a goal that so many people say is not possible for young people to do today, it just makes me feel that much better that I got to help them. And then hopefully they're gonna refer me to someone else that I can help as well. [09:51] Bryan Hyde: Given that inflation has been a concern, you know, for the last few years, I'm curious whether Um, new builds or, uh, you know, buying an existing home, uh, tends to make more sense for the majority of buyers. Is, is building more expensive with, you know, what inflation has been doing, you know, to the cost of everything? Um, do you save that much more by buying an existing home? [10:17] Will Carter: Yeah, so the building is more expensive, and yes, if I'm comparing apples to apples, the size of the home, the location, and all that Buying an existing home is less expensive on a sales price basis. However, the builders are throwing in so much incentives as far as, hey, right now if I get a resale, I'm gonna pay 7%, but the new build's gonna give you 5% interest rate, which really affects your payment. So it really feels like, oh, this is the way to go, I'm saving so much money. But the truth is those builders are adding $30,000, $35,000, $40,000 to the sales price. to buy that rate down. And if you have to sell for whatever reason in 2, 3 years, you're probably going to be in a really bad spot because you're actually paying more than the house is really worth to get that interest rate. And so again, it's a great thing— 5% interest is a great thing for somebody that's long-term, they're going to keep it forever. That might work, the math might work. But for the most part, it's probably better to buy a resale right now, even with the higher interest rates on resales. [11:21] Bryan Hyde: Well, I don't know if you ever get this, but more and more I see people turning to, you know, ChatGPT or AI to answer all of their questions. And I assume this probably happens in real estate to people. Well, you know, I'm going to Lone Wolf McQuaid my way through this with the help of AI. Let's talk about why is it important to have a professional such as yourself in that person's corner, whether they be a buyer or whether they be a seller? [11:48] Will Carter: Sure. Yeah. So AI has helped with a lot of things, and AI can make understanding the process of the real estate a lot easier. I mean, they break things down and explain it really well, and all that's great. The problem with AI is it takes the real-life experience, real, like, this is exactly how it's happened before, this is probably how it's going to happen again. It doesn't understand that. And so taking the person, the relationship out, AI, you can tell them what your goals are. But if you tell me, I really can help put something together that's going to make sure that we're achieving your goal and being able to negotiate with the other side to an end to get what you want, which that's the part that AI hasn't really been able to figure out up to now. And maybe at some point it's going to do that. But the other problem with AI is it's the same thing with every— with computers just in general, garbage in, garbage out. You're not always going to get the the true facts about what you're trying to accomplish. You're going to get what somebody put into it, and if they put the wrong information in or they're continuing to put the wrong information in, you might get the wrong information out. [12:56] Bryan Hyde: So let's, let's take a moment to talk about— for, for the sake of— let's just assume that someone is, is looking to buy a home, whether first time or not. What are some of the things that home buyers right now need to be doing, even if they know that it's, it's, you know, uh, in the near future and not immediate? What can they do to better their position so that when, when the right home comes along, they're as ready as possible? [13:22] Will Carter: So I think the best thing to do is, first thing is talk to your real estate agent. Talk to the person that you, that you trust to help you achieve your goals. And hopefully that person, if it was me, what I would do is like, okay, let's sit down and understand what you want to do, what you want to accomplish. and the timeframe. And even if we're a year out, I'm going to say, okay, now what we should do is we should talk to a loan officer, tell them what we're trying to accomplish, and let's see where you're at. And maybe he says, hey, you're 100% ready to buy right now, you don't have to do anything. But maybe he says, yeah, you can qualify now, but if you did this, this, and this over the next 3 months, you'll be in a better position to have a better interest rate. And so the more time you have, the earlier you start, you really can start putting pieces in place and really put yourself in the best position possible. [14:07] Bryan Hyde: And now let's, let's flip that, and I'll ask you the same kind of question, but for those who are looking to, to sell a home or think they may be looking to sell their home in the near future, what are some of the things that should be on their radar screen that will better their position when the time comes to pull the trigger? [14:22] Will Carter: Right, so we've talked a lot about the buyers being in a really good spot right now, and that's true. We have more houses on the market than we've had in a really long time. There's more options for buyers, which makes it a little tougher for sellers. But sellers, if they position themselves right, they plan ahead, they do everything possible to make the house, uh, show the best light possible without going out and spending a lot of money, doing the things that everyone will notice that don't cost a lot, getting great pictures of the home, all of those things— if they prepare and get the home set up right, we're still in a situation where some people put the house on the market and they'll sell the first week or have multiple offers the first week. It just depends on how the house shows, and then the, the specific neighborhood or city that the house is in. [15:08] Bryan Hyde: Okay, and let's, uh, let's put people in touch with you. For those who are hearing this and going, you know what, Will sounds like the guy I need to be talking to, what's the best way for them to reach out and, and connect with you? [15:19] Will Carter: Um, I'm all over social media, but willcarteraz.com is my website. So it's www.willcarteraz.com. My phone number is 602- 809-1224. You can call me, you can text me. I'm really good about getting back to you. And so I tell people all the time, if you just have some questions, quick questions, you want to give me a call, call anytime. [15:43] Bryan Hyde: And, and how broad of an area do you serve? [15:45] Will Carter: Well, obviously, um, I'm in Maricopa County, which is one of the largest areas of one of the biggest counties in the country. And I grew up on the west side and I live on the east side now. So literally I have a very big area that I cover because most of my business comes from referral and I never wanna tell somebody no. So it doesn't matter if you're on Far East, the Far West, I'm gonna help you. And it doesn't matter if you're looking for a million-dollar home or you're trying to sell a $10,000 piece of land, 'cause all my referrals mean the exact same thing to me. It means someone's trusting me to help their friends or family and I'm gonna take great care of 'em. [16:20] Bryan Hyde: Again, we have been talking with Will Carter. He's a real estate broker with the Will Carter Team. And Will, thanks again for joining us on the Phoenix Business Brief podcast. [16:29] Will Carter: Thanks, Brian. Appreciate it.