Episode 14: Sandra Rinomato – A Practical (and Personal) Guide to First-Time Home Buying

Investing in real estate for the first time can be equal parts exciting and intimidating. And for some, it can feel like a distant dream.

In episode 14 of REAL TIME, author, mentor, former TV host and Broker/Owner Sandra Rinomato tells us how to turn that dream into a reality.

What fears or misconceptions are holding first-time buyers back? What should REALTORS® do differently with new buyers? Sandra shares her advice to help break down the process and get to the root of the first-time buyer’s needs, providing actionable tips along the way.

Transcript

Erin Davis: Hi there. Welcome to REAL TIME. I'm your host, Erin Davis, and I promise, you're in not just for some REAL TIME, but a great time with our guests today, Sandra Rinomato. This is the podcast for REALTORS®, and it's brought to you by CREA, the Canadian Real Estate Association. Here, we talk about ideas surrounding Canadian real estate, and topics that impact you as a REALTOR®.

Buying your first home can be equal parts, exciting and intimidating, but for some, it can feel like a distant dream. In episode 14 of REAL TIME, we sit down with REALTOR®, author and TV, host Sandra Rinomato, to discuss the process on both a practical and personal level, to give first-time homebuyers more knowledge and confidence, and to help REALTORS® bring more value to their clients.

What a pleasure it is to have you talking with us today, Sandra. Longtime fan, and you've got a new book, and we've got so much to dive into, so let's do it. What do you say?

Sandra Rinomato: Awesome. I'm ready, Erin.

Erin: Okay. What makes the experience of buying a home so different for a first-time buyer?

Sandra: Wow. Well, there's so much culture shock, if you'll allow me to use that expression, because they're considering taking on what they consider to be enormous debt with a mortgage, and they've never owned a place before, so there's a lot of things to take into consideration: if the roof caves in, I have to fix it, or if the furnace breaks, I have to fix it. There's all of that to worry about as well. Plus, they don't really know how they're going to use the space. They've never owned before, they don't know the responsibilities, they aren't really familiar with the ongoing costs associated with homeownership, and it's pretty scary. Especially if nobody in their family has ever purchased before, never been a homeowner, there's a lot to consider. There are a lot of emotions involved in this, and false beliefs come up, and all kinds of stuff, like especially-- Like I'm the baby of the family, so it was like, "Well, you can't do that, you're not old enough to do that," I'm not 30, but you're going, "I'm 30 years old, guys, it's time."

There's a whole lot of things that are unknown, they're afraid of the unknown, as we are as human beings.

Erin: We don't know what we don't know until you do it, right?

Sandra: Yes.

Erin: Yes. Now, homeownership isn't right for everyone, but in your new book, Home Worthy, you talk about exploring your values, beliefs and goals before investing in real estate. Finding out if it is right for you. What does that mean to you, Sandra?

Sandra: There's a whole lot of psychology behind this. First of all, is it the right time of your life? Is your family growing? Are you prepared to do this? Why are you doing this? Then that whole why exercise, going seven levels deep into the reasons why you want to become a homeowner, or invest in real estate, for that matter, you need to do that exercise because you're going to learn a lot about yourself, and you're going to uncover a lot of things. You're going to become aware of some of your beliefs, and those beliefs are going to crop up at certain times of the home buying journey to either hold you back or propel you forward. It's best to shine the light on them, awareness of what you truly believe will help you overcome obstacles.

When you say, "Well, I want to buy a home because of this reason," it's probably a nice reason, but it's probably superficial. When you start asking yourself, "Well, why is that important to me?" Or if your REALTOR® helps you do this, "Why is that important to you?" Then you go down to level two and you start thinking about it. By the time you're at level five, if you're being completely honest with yourself, by the time you're at level five, you're emotional, you're a sobbing mess. If you're doing it right, you will be, and you're connecting to something really powerful within you, and that is your driving force. That is the true you. These are the reasons why you want to become a homeowner, and these reasons can vary. It's not just about building wealth or keeping up with the Joneses.

I've worked with some REALTORS® exploring their reasons why, but also just homeowners understanding what's really driving their purchase, is really fascinating.

Erin: It sounds like that a buyer's belief will either stump them, trip them up, or push them forward. What I'm hearing you say is that connecting with a REALTOR® early on sounds like a really good idea, because it's going to take time to do that digging, to get to the tear level.

Sandra: Well, I don't want REALTORS® around the country to be making people cry.

I think, yes, you're nailing it. Your belief system, understanding what do you believe about homeownership. Homeownership is only for rich people. I've heard that one. I'm a woman, I can't buy a home on my own. I hear that all the time. Understanding what is driving your belief will help you uncover some truths about yourself and your goals, understanding what your true goal is will help you overcome obstacles.

When you're buying in a busy city like Vancouver, Toronto, other places in Ontario, when you're buying in those busy cities, you have to overcome an objection a day, it seems, or an obstacle a day. When you drill down to the reasons why, and you understand yourself, and you connect with that emotion, you're going to be able to burst through that objection. You're going to be able to burst through that obstacle, you're going to find a way over it, under it, around it or just through it. It's going to be one after another sometimes. It's not always as easy as, "Oh, I qualify for this much mortgage, let's go look at a few places and buy one." It's rarely that easy because of all the obstacles.

Erin: You mentioned women homebuyers and first buyers. You do pinpoint that in your book. I promise, we'll get to that a little later in the interview as well, Sandra, but let's go back to the emotions. the emotional experience of home buying. How does it differ for a first-time buyer other than the fears, for example? What about second, third, fourth-time buyers, how do the emotions differ there?

Sandra: For a second-time buyer, or let's say a downsizer, or perhaps someone looking for their forever home, sure, there are a ton of emotions involved in that as well, and they're different. Now you've already been a homeowner. Now perhaps you're thinking, "Well, I've overcome that fear. Now I know what it's like." It's easy to be a homeowner for you, if you had a good experience, and I'm not worried about the maintenance. I know I have to pay for maintenance, whether it's in condo fees, or if I own a freehold, I'm going to have to save money for a new furnace and all those things.

As you've overcome all of those unknowns, now you're familiar with that, those are put aside. You still may, however, have some fears because now you're increasing your mortgage. And over the last 10 years, or a number of years, you've watched your mortgage principal go down because you've paid it off quickly, in 15 years, let's say, and you haven't had a mortgage, or you only have a small, small mortgage left, and now you're going to be increasing that again. You look at your lifestyle, and you say, "Am I ready to do that again?" It's almost like getting a new puppy, "Am I really ready to take that on? They have to go out every hour, and all the crying and the sharp teeth and everything."

You really have to understand what you're doing, and those emotions come into play. Quite often, if you're buying with someone else or family, you have those considerations now. Now it's like, what do the kids want? Where do the kids want to live? Are the kids going to want to leave school? They each need their own room, or we need space for this activity, and that activity is going to be close to the skating or the hockey or the soccer or the ballet or whatever it is, right?

Erin: Yes. Well, how far into the future, Sandra, do you think that we should look when we're deciding what we need or want to buy? The last year has taught us that life can change in a moment, and we shouldn't wait, and we shouldn't expect, we can always hope, but how far ahead do you think realistically we should look?

Sandra: That's a really interesting question. Some people who are starting to plan a family, obviously they can't buy a one-bedroom. You have to look at your immediate future, certainly, but if you don't have the budget, let's say you're just a single person and you don't have the budget for a three-bedroom home, but you can afford a two-bedroom condo or a one-bedroom condo, and you want to become a homeowner, it's the right time of your life, you've planned for this, you know why you want to become a homeowner, then get what you can afford.

In my city, Toronto, very expensive, Vancouver, very expensive, other cities across Canada