Interview with Bruce Seitz | Royal LePage East Kootenay Realty

Speaker 1: Think today's mortgage process is complicated and stressful.

Speaker 2: Uh-huh.

Speaker 1: You're right, it is, but it doesn't have to be.

Speaker 2: Nice.

Speaker 1: This is the House-Rich Podcast and we've simplified the mortgage process. Your host, Matt Parker, AKA Mortgage Matt delivers practical advice in a fun and entertaining way to help you understand your mortgage, so that you can start making money, not the bank. So, let's get your home ownership journey started. Here's your host, Matt Parker.

Matt Parker: Hey, Matt Parker here. Very excited and grateful to have Bruce Seitz with me today. Bruce, thank you for joining me.

Bruce Seitz: Yeah. Thanks, Matt. I appreciate the opportunity to sit down and talk with you here.

Matt Parker: No, it should be fun. I know that we've worked together in the past and it was a fantastic experience. Clients raved about you, so it's good to have you on and get your insight into your market and what you're seeing out there and learn more about guidance that you can give and help any clients looking to purchase up your way over the coming months. So, thank you again.

Bruce Seitz: Yeah. We're looking forward to it.

Matt Parker: Wonderful. I'd like to start with a fun question. You can answer it, don't answer it, whatever you find comfortable, but what's one thing not many people know about you?

Bruce Seitz: One thing that not many people know about me. I guess I got a little bit of adrenaline junkie side to myself. Started off when I was quite young, I guess when I was 17. I convinced my mother to allow me to go skydiving. Did three jumps by myself and ran out of money and then haven't pursued that angle since then, but really enjoy mountain biking, and skiing, and just staying active and get that adrenaline going through your body. It makes you feel alive.

Matt Parker: I think you're in a good place to do a lot of those activities, which is helpful, I'm sure.

Bruce Seitz: Yeah, for sure. Yeah, Cranbrook and the coonies definitely offers a lot of different opportunities to get out there and experience the great outdoors.

Matt Parker: That's interesting because I've never skydived, done anything like that but I guess you'd have to think it can't be an affordable hobby. It must be on the more pricey side of things. That has a good point. I didn't even realize that.

Bruce Seitz: Yeah, for sure. It was something I thought I would like to pursue a little bit further, but once you start spending a couple hundred dollars a jump, that was back in the 90s.

Matt Parker: You got to jump right.

Bruce Seitz: A little bit further, so I'm assuming it's quite more expensive now.

Matt Parker: The fuel cost, I'm sure they had to put that in there as well. So, interesting. That's cool that you did that because you find other avenues to accomplish that I think is what you're trying to say.

Bruce Seitz: Yeah, exactly. You don't have to be jumping out of an airplane to get that little thrill in your life, so yeah.

Matt Parker: That's awesome. So, back to real estate, how did you get into real estate? What sort of brought you to the industry? If you want to just share your experience on that.

Bruce Seitz: For sure. Well, my dad has been a realtor for 20 something years. So, it's always been at the back of my mind. Growing up, didn't necessarily want that and so I went at it my own way and at some point, I just decided that yeah, I'd give this a shot. I experienced a couple different careers leading up to it and with his help and his backing, I got into the business. It's lengthy process to become licensed, but at the end of the day, it's been a really good decision.

Matt Parker: It's similar to my story, which was my father was in the mortgage world. My parents had a mortgage company, long as I've known. Since the early 90s and very, very much similar to, maybe I do that, maybe I won't. And then, it's interesting is just by being around it and starting it at a very young age, I feel is the breadth of experience and knowledge that comes from that. Even just having them as a resource. So, I think that the experience can be so valuable in our both world. We're same industry, but in both facets of the industry. I think having that experience and I think that mentorship is needed for anyone to potentially move in and actually have success in the industry and provide value and create a very good client experience. All those kinds of things.

Bruce Seitz: Yeah. You touched on and it's that mentorship. It's somebody that's there available to answer the call, to answer questions and to bounce ideas off and that definitely is an important part of this industry.

Matt Parker: So, day-to-day, I don't know if clients know, but I know your job, there's a lot of day-to-day activities. Let's say, can be taxing. There's a lot of work that's happening behind the scenes from your side of things, but I mean, what do you love about it? What's your favorite thing about what you do?

Bruce Seitz: Favorite thing is really it's getting the person into the home. It's the lengthy process often. It can take months to find a place and then another month to get you into the home that you have finally decided that you'd like. So, it's really handing over the keys, it's showing the house to their kids and the smile they have on their face and that really is definitely what I enjoy. I often say that I like to make money, but ultimately, it's about getting that family into a home that's going to grow and have different experiences and that's what I really do look forward to.

Matt Parker: And as you know and as I see as well and as people probably experience, it's not an easy thing to do, to buy a house, any property, whatever kind of home it is. Even investment just because of whether we were faced with inventory shortages, now with rising interest rates, all the pent-up demand that we had at the start of that, it's created a lot of challenges, affordability challenges, inflations causing a lot of issues. So, I think it allows us to be at a place of how can we serve, how can we give value, and our goal from a mortgage side of things is how do we make this as simple and painless as possible by achieving the desired result and actually financial success at the same time? Because I know that it's become overly confusing, very stressful, and we just want to help guide people to their goal and to what they want to achieve. So, I think you hit it right on there is help them achieve what they desire.

Bruce Seitz: Yeah, that's right. Yeah, getting them into a home that they can afford is very important to me. I don't like to try to push somebody into a house that they just can't afford at the end of the day. I mean, life is too short, and we all have things that we like to do and if you're house poor, then I haven't done my job, I believe. So, we got to find the home that checks off the most boxes for you. You're never going to find a perfect home, let's be honest. And even if you build your dream home, there will always be something you don't quite like. So, it's getting them into the place that they can call home for at least a couple years until they decide that they need something bigger or maybe downsizing, or whatever.

Matt Parker: And like you, probably, I look at this. This is a lifelong relationship, this is one deal, one purchase, one property. It's how do we continually give value throughout their home ownership journey? And a first-time home buyer might have a different set of goals and are move up buyer or someone that's trying to buy their first investment property. All these different factors come into play, but if we can just help guide them through that journey and give helpful, simple to understand advice. Because I think a lot of advice is, matter of fact, it's confusing, especially with mortgages these days. Well, they've made it very confusing but, I mean those are all great things because up in your area in Cranbrook primarily. Any advice on the market right now?

I mean as we're recording this, just so there's context for early October 2022. We've seen a lot of rate hikes. We've seen a lot of changes in borrowing cost. Stress test is the highest it's ever been, or the qualifying rate is very high. Potentially, a lot of people think maybe we'll see values come down and there'll be opportunities that way. It's interesting to see what will actually transpire over the coming months, but it'd be very helpful to get your advice on the market today and how you're advising clients right now in terms of the best path forward in this market that we're in.

Bruce Seitz: Yeah. Often, I would tell people to have some patience. We are very much low inventory and we're at historically low right across the province. And then, as a buyer you need to have a little bit of patience. We're still seeing homes that are priced correctly, go for multiple offers in the affordable range. So, it can be a little bit stressful, but you just need to have the patience to go through the process. I guess the first thing I tell my buyer clients is to go and speak to a mortgage broker. Have that conversation, know what you can afford, and then we start having the conversation about what does that price point look like? And then, we go out and look at homes.

That first home, more than likely, is not going to be the one you purchase. It's going to take several to get through before you see the one that you actually like and with low inventory, that home might not come up right away. And so, we're just going to have to work the process and it takes time. So, patience I think is important and then speaking with a mortgage broker is probably the first step in purchasing a home in my opinion, so that everybody knows what we can afford.

Matt Parker: These are great points. I think that patience, knowing that it might not be right away, but also being ready, like you said, is having all of your team of professionals ready to go, your mortgage structure plan, sort of prepared your ideal property, what you're looking for, and really pinpoint in on that, so you're ready to move forward when that property comes. I think over the coming months, maybe we see inventory climb a little bit potentially, but what happens in the future if there's a shift in the market, if it's easier to qualify for a mortgage again, if we see extended amortizations, if we see the qualifying rate lower. I think any of those sort of external factors that come in to boost the market will create same issues that we've always had, which is lack of housing supplies.

So, I do think that over the next three to six months can be a very, very good opportunity for someone to buy just given what's happening out there and talk to a mortgage person, someone that plans out these things. It's interesting over the last couple of years, big question always, what can I qualify for? What can I qualify for? Versus the question in which I like is what do you want to pay? Right?

Bruce Seitz: That's right.

Matt Parker: Because there's a lot difference between what can I qualify for? Well, oftentimes there isn't, but sometimes there is versus what are you comfortable paying and what actually works with cashflow? And now, we're at a point where we're seeing obviously borrowing cost increase, inflation, getting a little bit challenging. So, the people that actually looked at it from a budget perspective and made a good financial decisions, I think will be safe and protected in economy that we're facing over the coming year versus people that say, "What can I qualify for?"

So, I think that's a very important thing is when talking from the financing side of things and having that communication is here's what I can qualify for, but here's what I'm comfortable with and having those two numbers and having the variance between the two I think can set you up for a lot of success in the process.

Bruce Seitz: Yeah, no, I think you have a great point there. What you can afford and then when it's coming to the house, what is important to you? You got to have a couple key points that are important to you and then we try to narrow down and figure out what that is. Is it the neighborhood, or is it a garage, or is it four bedrooms on one floor? What is really important to you? And then, we got to focus in on those points and then affordability, again, I said it earlier, but I don't want to make somebody house poor. At the end of the day, I want to be able to see that guy out on the golf course or have their children be able to afford to go and play hockey or what have you. So, that's what's important. It's getting set up and finding the home that's going to work best for you and your family.

Matt Parker: Having two young boys in hockey, I know it's not a cost-effective sport these days. So, having, really that budget of social expenditures and then housing expenditures and having those align is, it's not fun. It's not something that it's enjoyable to do all the time. Some people love it, obviously numbers, people maybe, but oftentimes it's a scary thing to look at and doing it properly can really set people up for success into the future. Yeah, I agree 100%. So, in your area, I'm sure you've seen a lot of cool properties or interesting transactions over the time. Is there one that's most memorable to you or an experience or a property that you can look back on and say, "I remember that and that always gives me good memories"?

Bruce Seitz: There's definitely some pretty cool properties. Yeah, I got a property that just closed on a local lake around here, so it was seven acres on the lake. The family built the home 35 years ago and you can see his hands were involved in all sorts of different things from the simple woodworking, well not really simple, but is quite intricate woodworking to just the way that they position the home so that they can take in the sunlight and just the thought process that this couple went through when they built the home so that their family would enjoy it. And then, seeing that they've now sold it and they're going to make a pretty nice profit on it obviously and then they're being able to take this and purchase a home on the island and be with their family again. So, I mean children grow up, they move out of the house and they've now have the means to go and be with their grandchildren and their children in a different city, different location.

So, yeah, seeing that happen for these people, speaking to them a couple days ago and just them coming to the realization that they're now going to be able to spend their golden years near their family again, which they haven't been close to for last five or 10 years it's been. So, that definitely is, it will be one to remember for sure. I quite enjoy first time home buyers. They're really excited. And so, recently here we had one, it was a young couple. He's starting out as a welding apprentice, so he's working at one of the local shops here in town and she's in the process of getting her nursing here at the College of the Rockies here in Cranbrook.

They got into a nice, affordable, clean townhouse where they'll be able to start off their life and then they're just having that conversation with them about what that looks like and they're not quite ready for children. But we have that conversation and then it's close to all the amenities that they're looking forward to being involved in. So, I enjoy the people, the homes. Yeah, that's always great. I love looking at homes, love seeing different homes, but it's definitely, it's the people that make this business enjoyable.

Matt Parker: Yeah, no, thank you for sharing. I think that end part, which was the people. What are your goals? Deep down, what does that look like? And I can help you get there if I know the truth, the actual inside internal thinking and plan that you have in your mind. If we can get that on paper or get that on into a plan of action. Affordability concerns and things like that probably continue to be an issue into the future, but I do think that there's still potential to get into the market at some place and grow with the market and use it to achieve things into the future that maybe weren't thought of, didn't think could happen, or any different sets of scenarios because property values probably over the long term continue to go up with lack of inventory.

I think there's a lot of opportunity for people to get in and utilize that for their benefits and it's a House-Rich Podcast, so I like to talk about using home equity to deliver yourselves going forward and really creating tax deductible, good debt versus bad debt, which is primarily when we think of a mortgage. It is bad debt. There's no benefit, but let's convert debt to tax deductible investment loan or buy a rental property and flow funds through, again, just get rid of bad debt as be best we can and create tax deductibility, which then in turn minimizes tax exposure, creates a lot of opportunities.

So, that's what we're really focus on is guiding people to that place where they can convert their home equity into that good tax deductible debt, which when you look at what wealthy people do, day in and day out, is they try to pay as little tax as possible and at the same time leverage assets to further grow and invest to then create more tax deductibility. This is a very simple way that is not very utilized for us homeowners or normal Canadians that are out there working hard to do something to that similar effect on a small scale that can be extremely powerful over time. When I say house rich to you, what comes to your mind? Or what do you think of when I say that?

Bruce Seitz: House rich. Yeah, I think it's purchasing a home that is going to allow you the opportunity to invest into that house with a plan looking forward that allows you to do what you want in the future. So, I think about my house. I purchased it several years ago. It was an unfinished basement and we put equity into the house. But I know looking now at the current market, basically I feel I've about doubled my original investment on this home by purchasing something that I had to put a little bit of sweat equity into, put some of the skills of life like woodworking and learned how to do drywall, thanks to YouTube. I think that's what house rich is. And then, when it's time for me to move on, I plan to rent this home out. And so, that's where, when we purchased the home, we had a plan on how this was going to help us out throughout the years. So, it's finding that one that is best suited for you and your family.

Matt Parker: Yeah, no, great points. I think that's so cool that you get in there, you make it yours. You learn some things along the way because I don't think any of us know everything about home ownership and so we own a home. And then, all these different things come at us and you learn as you go and ask for friends advice, ask professionals in your life for guidance and people are there to help if you ask. And YouTube's there to help if you need it too. I love that. That's fantastic. Bruce, thank you. It's been a pleasure. Grateful to have you and get your guidance and your wisdom on the market and what's going on out there. What's the best way that people can reach out to you if they want to chat real estate or learn more about your business?

Bruce Seitz: Yeah, for sure. I still prefer the traditional way of a phone call. You can always reach me on my cell at 250-919-2677. Email is a great way as well, bruce@ekrealty.com and you can find me on social media too. Bruce Seitz Real Estate Agent on Facebook and Instagram. And yeah, check out my listings there. I enjoy doing up videos and all the listings are available, 3D tours as well. So, trying to get in to be better at social media is, I think is always a struggle for everybody in this industry. Trying to stay in front of that but a phone call definitely is the way to go. We can have that in-depth conversation and get going at it.

Matt Parker: Wonderful. We'll put all of those ways to contact you in the show notes and it's a struggle to balance everything, social media and everything. As a small business owner, I fully get it. So, I like the old school phone call as well but thanks again, grateful to have you and appreciate everything. Taking the time out of your busy day. I really appreciate that, so thank you.

Bruce Seitz: Yeah. Thank you for the opportunity, Matt, and I look forward to our next deal together.

Matt Parker: Thanks again, Bruce.

Speaker 1: Thanks for listening to the House-Rich Podcast with Matt Parker. We hope you enjoyed this episode. For more information and resources to get you started on your home ownership journey, visit www.mattparker.ca and don't forget to rate and review this podcast. Thanks again for listening.