Feels Like Another Housing Bubble. And Getting Work Isn’t Any Easier

[00:00:04] You're listening to Casual Talk Radio, where common sense is still the norm.

[00:00:10] Whether you're a new or long-time listener, we appreciate you joining us today.

[00:00:14] Visit us at CasualTalkRadio.net.

[00:00:17] And now, here's your host, Leistor.

[00:00:21] Today's episode may sound a little bit like a rant.

[00:00:24] Or a double rant. I've got two different topics that are on my mind

[00:00:27] and I want to get them off my chest. CasualTalkRadio.net

[00:00:30] My name is Leistor. Welcome, welcome back.

[00:00:33] Two topics. Let me get the first one out of the way, primarily because it's the one that's got me a little bit more on the edge

[00:00:42] because I don't understand why it's still a problem.

[00:00:44] I did a write-up many, many years ago on the cesspool that is called LinkedIn.

[00:00:49] I'm not on LinkedIn because I told them to screw themselves because there are nonsense policies

[00:00:53] and I'm trying not to swear, but I did a write-up called the director.

[00:00:58] The director for those new, the short version is that when I was way in my young...

[00:01:06] So way back, this is 2003.

[00:01:09] I had an opportunity to apply for a job that I wasn't qualified for, but I took the risk.

[00:01:17] After I applied for this job, the person who would become the boss

[00:01:21] and at the time she was just director of the department.

[00:01:25] And she straight asked, well, why did you apply for the position?

[00:01:28] I said, well, because I wanted to challenge myself.

[00:01:31] Try something different than what I'd been doing, which was call center work.

[00:01:34] I didn't mind call center work, but I felt like I hit a glass ceiling.

[00:01:37] Felt like I had done everything that there was to do.

[00:01:40] And to be honest, the leader of that department screwed me out of what I should have gotten

[00:01:44] with a significant raise and significant promotion.

[00:01:47] Everybody on the floor knew I was the best walking.

[00:01:49] I was cross-training and everything.

[00:01:51] According to their own spec, I should have been bumped up twice the pay at the top tier.

[00:01:56] They didn't give it to me.

[00:01:57] They gave it to another idiot who was nowhere close on my level, not even multiple people called it out.

[00:02:04] When I asked, tell me what it takes to get there because I've already done what you said it takes.

[00:02:09] You didn't do it and they lied and basically say, well, just wait, just wait, just wait, which doesn't work.

[00:02:15] So I had applied.

[00:02:16] And that's why I told her is I applied because I wanted to break the glass ceiling.

[00:02:20] I can do more.

[00:02:22] And if not going to get paid for the hard work I was putting in because I was putting in some hard work,

[00:02:26] I'm not going to get paid what I deserve.

[00:02:29] Then I'll leave.

[00:02:30] That's what I told the prior boss.

[00:02:32] Now this again, I was not qualified for this, but I wanted to test myself, push myself, challenge myself,

[00:02:38] try something new and she tested me and she would give me hard stuff to do because she was pushing me

[00:02:45] to be better than what it was and teaching me how to learn, teach me how to speak rather to

[00:02:50] see levels and executives and understanding how to navigate and predict when somebody is basically pulling your leg.

[00:02:57] And I've taken those lessons and applied them year over year.

[00:03:01] And I can easily see where somebody's blowing smoke up my ass.

[00:03:05] So it's easy now.

[00:03:06] It wasn't easy back then.

[00:03:08] I didn't realize how much I was getting taken advantage of.

[00:03:11] From the moment I walked in to my very first job and they ripped me off and I could have sued if I knew what was going on.

[00:03:18] And I had a parental level that would have my back.

[00:03:21] I didn't have this so I didn't know.

[00:03:23] So I got screwed.

[00:03:25] It is what it is.

[00:03:26] You live and you learn.

[00:03:28] But every other company, every single one of them since screwed me.

[00:03:31] I worked first at the what you now know as realtor.com.

[00:03:37] That's where I work.

[00:03:39] It's a whole different leadership, whole different people.

[00:03:41] The original they're all gone.

[00:03:43] But that's what it was at the time.

[00:03:46] Screwed totally screwed.

[00:03:47] I was screwed out of overtime multiple times.

[00:03:49] I was screwed out of pay that I didn't get that I should have gotten everything you name it.

[00:03:55] I was probably screwed out of this business.

[00:03:58] Next I go work for the local cable got screwed there because of I follow what's in the employee handbook.

[00:04:08] They take action even though I follow what's in your employee handbook.

[00:04:13] Long story, a bunch of nonsense.

[00:04:15] I work for briefly for staples got screwed a bunch of people standing or I tell them I want to work in computer section because that's my aptitude.

[00:04:24] They stick me in the stock room break in my back when it wasn't what I wanted to do and everybody else is standing around doing nothing wasn't going to work.

[00:04:33] I work at the phone company.

[00:04:35] Phone companies essentially they sold it as customer service but it turns out to be sales you have to sell you have to read a script and you have to close.

[00:04:42] You can't it's not just optional you have to sell, but they position this customer service.

[00:04:46] I mean a lot of money there.

[00:04:47] But the point is it was misrepresented and then the union sided with the company when there was an incident where they had no evidence of anything.

[00:04:55] The union sided with them because they wanted to cover their ass got screwed like it was it was consistent thing here.

[00:05:02] I worked at a credit agency.

[00:05:04] I worked at a internationalization which is translation services company.

[00:05:08] Both this is back to back the translation company started fine and then when they started growing, they got not bought out but a larger company international company took a majority share of the company.

[00:05:20] And after this happened the project cadence started to fail so I positioned I built a whole new tool I did a whole new project tracking mechanism that's a sales team light because they helped them organize how much money.

[00:05:32] They're going to get paid automatically calculated their returns and the whole nine put together the packet for them save them hours of time.

[00:05:40] I'm I'm telling this is what we need to be doing.

[00:05:42] This is pretty easy.

[00:05:43] It's not that hard.

[00:05:44] We get Microsoft as one of the prospective clients Microsoft had just bought a third party service.

[00:05:51] They wanted to test the waters for our company with this smaller company called stream search stream search still exists.

[00:05:57] I don't think Microsoft is still associated with it.

[00:05:59] But at the time they said we'll use this one will see how good you are and if it works will expand to our other tools with Microsoft was one of the largest companies.

[00:06:07] This would have been billions and billions of dollars if we had pulled it off.

[00:06:12] This guy that I'm reporting into director of ops, he's an idiot.

[00:06:16] He's doing it wrong.

[00:06:17] He's telling us to do it wrong.

[00:06:18] It was a long story.

[00:06:20] The point is I'm warning and I'm warning and I'm warning and he's not listening to me then cherry on the cake.

[00:06:26] I'm the kind of person at the time.

[00:06:29] I don't do this now, but at the time you walk in as a receptionist you greet the receptionist.

[00:06:34] Hey, how are you doing?

[00:06:35] Stop by.

[00:06:36] How's it going?

[00:06:36] Anything you need?

[00:06:37] You're just being cordial gets turned into a sexual harassment claim.

[00:06:43] But sales guys who are openly flirting with this person no sexual harassment claim.

[00:06:49] Now I am pretty darn sure simply because of the situation that it was racially driven.

[00:06:55] I'll leave that right there.

[00:06:58] Phone company again the phone company union did not have my back at all with the phone company.

[00:07:05] I made a lot of money and the reason I know that it was a hit job.

[00:07:09] They still paid me every two weeks all the way through the end of the year like three more months worth of payments.

[00:07:16] They still paid me my residuals even though the claim was that their ill gotten gains was the claim but yet you paid me.

[00:07:24] I knew I didn't do anything wrong.

[00:07:27] The fact that they paid me acknowledged I didn't do anything wrong.

[00:07:30] They just wanted to drop staff because they don't want to pay people cause I was making too much money.

[00:07:34] I was the top sales guy on the floor.

[00:07:36] I'm draining them.

[00:07:37] I understand they're not closing as many deals.

[00:07:41] So because they're busy and you know how they are now with the phone companies all of them, they're all struggling.

[00:07:46] They've been struggling since the demise of copper and they've been trying to find other ways to thrive.

[00:07:52] DSL's in the junk like it's all it's all come down crashing because I was in the front of it.

[00:07:58] Fine.

[00:07:59] I took it and said look, I'm not going to take what you're trying to do.

[00:08:03] You can do what you got to do.

[00:08:04] I'm not taking it and then they continue to pay me.

[00:08:06] I knew it was a hit job.

[00:08:08] I'll just take and go.

[00:08:10] Then I am at the credit agency credit agency long story.

[00:08:15] Suffice to say I was doing more cues, call cues than the supervisors.

[00:08:21] The supervisors are training me to take over some of their cues because I was that good.

[00:08:26] I had zero not ready time.

[00:08:29] Not ready time means if you're off and unable to take a call, you put yourself in not ready for

[00:08:35] whatever that is.

[00:08:36] You can be going to the restroom or something else or you need to catch up on notes.

[00:08:39] Mine was zero.

[00:08:39] I was always live.

[00:08:41] I was always active, always taking calls, higher call volume, higher call quality.

[00:08:45] And everybody else on the floor.

[00:08:47] One situation that happened, one of the team leads and it all comes crashing down because

[00:08:52] that guy again, it was a hit job.

[00:08:54] And I knew it was a hit job.

[00:08:55] I didn't mind because I wanted to get out of there anyway.

[00:08:58] When I found the low pay cap on the intranet site of $12.63 an hour is the max you

[00:09:06] can make in this position.

[00:09:07] It's when I decided to go to this loan company loan company that department basically

[00:09:11] screwed me.

[00:09:12] It was another hit job.

[00:09:15] Later when I started working with the director, she was the hardest boss I've worked for.

[00:09:21] But I can't, I can't ignore the fact that without that person, I would not be the person

[00:09:27] I am and I wouldn't be able to recognize these are just fricking con artists is what they

[00:09:32] are.

[00:09:32] And pretty much every company to a T like I struggled to think of one company that

[00:09:37] I truly enjoyed working at that didn't turn into a fiasco by the time it was done.

[00:09:42] Even when I left the loan company and I worked at what is now known as sharp business systems

[00:09:48] even when I worked there again, it was just another.

[00:09:51] I can't say it was a hit job per se.

[00:09:53] It was just incompetent people.

[00:09:54] You had incompetent people at three different levels and they had no, there was no integrity

[00:10:00] at multiple of the levels.

[00:10:02] Fine.

[00:10:02] That's whatever.

[00:10:05] I learned because I had to learn how to recognize and just settle and accept

[00:10:10] that going into these companies, they're all just a joke.

[00:10:14] They're all a joke.

[00:10:16] Don't go off what they, what they say it doesn't mean anything.

[00:10:19] It's all fake and you have to navigate it and just you're coming to work to do a job.

[00:10:24] You're not there to make friends.

[00:10:26] You're not there to be allies with anybody.

[00:10:28] You're not there to be cordial.

[00:10:29] You can be cordial in your communication style, but you're not there to make friends.

[00:10:34] I settled this.

[00:10:35] So now one thing I do appreciate when I get the opportunity after all this fiasco

[00:10:41] and once I recognize the game is mentoring people.

[00:10:44] I enjoy doing it when I get a chance to do it because I want to help other people

[00:10:48] recognize the scam that is some of these companies or all of these companies.

[00:10:53] I want them to recognize what it is so that they can thrive.

[00:10:55] And in some cases be better than me because I know I can get them to be

[00:10:59] better than me.

[00:11:00] I'm not going to be around that long.

[00:11:01] So I wanted to get situations recommend or and I've had opportunities to do it

[00:11:06] and I enjoy doing it in every case.

[00:11:08] I have a good eye for the people who have raw potential.

[00:11:13] Unfortunately, I find trends where companies are not on the same page with potential.

[00:11:20] They don't want to hire somebody with potential.

[00:11:22] They want somebody who comes in there and is a superstar,

[00:11:25] but they don't want to pay that person what they're worth.

[00:11:27] I see that too.

[00:11:28] So it's a mixed bag.

[00:11:30] It is you have companies that will abuse people straight up abuse you at work,

[00:11:34] whether that's overworking or whether that's the way they talk to you or

[00:11:37] whether the way they work here, whatever it is.

[00:11:40] Then the hiring process is biased.

[00:11:42] You could be the star candidate of the show.

[00:11:44] You burn two hours in multiple interviews only to get bypassed for somebody

[00:11:50] who's not on your level and you don't know that, but that's what they do.

[00:11:54] They choose this person over here simply because they have the technical skills

[00:11:58] not they can't talk worth the damn.

[00:12:01] Right?

[00:12:01] They have no communication skill.

[00:12:03] They had no soft skills.

[00:12:04] They can't carry a meeting.

[00:12:06] They can't do documentation.

[00:12:07] They can't do everything else you need, but just because they know tools,

[00:12:11] they get favored, which is bull.

[00:12:14] That's what it is.

[00:12:15] I just went through this with my client trying to help them hire a couple

[00:12:19] of people.

[00:12:20] I was on a panel and I'm basically saying I'm happy to give input as long

[00:12:25] as I see that it's going to result in some good people finally coming in here

[00:12:28] because you got some numb nuts here as it is.

[00:12:31] I want to help get good people in here.

[00:12:33] Then I see, okay, we get down to the wire and we're down to some candidates

[00:12:39] and there is a young lady and she's young, but she's smart.

[00:12:44] She's sharp.

[00:12:45] I see there's something there.

[00:12:47] There's something here, but she needs guidance.

[00:12:51] She needs to be refined.

[00:12:52] She needs somebody to refine her, but she's not.

[00:12:56] She's got it.

[00:12:57] She doesn't need technical skills.

[00:12:58] She's got the people skills.

[00:13:00] She's a very personable person.

[00:13:02] She's able to understand what we're trying to get.

[00:13:05] Her biggest flaw that we saw is she just was never taught how

[00:13:10] to constrain what she says so that she comes across clear and

[00:13:14] focuses her message down to the point.

[00:13:16] So if somebody asks you a question, make sure you answer the question

[00:13:20] first.

[00:13:21] You don't need to give additional context unless they're confused.

[00:13:24] In hers, she can't help it.

[00:13:26] She just goes off.

[00:13:28] It was the biggest frustration, but that can be trained.

[00:13:31] You can mentor that.

[00:13:32] You can mentor somebody about how to communicate and how to carry

[00:13:35] a meeting and how to make sure that your listener is hearing

[00:13:39] what your message is so that you get credibility.

[00:13:42] Nobody has time to hear a story.

[00:13:45] There are 30-minute meetings or hour-long meetings.

[00:13:46] We don't have time for you to go off on a tangent, which is

[00:13:50] easy to do when you're excited or when you're an extrovert.

[00:13:53] Or maybe you come from different work environments where

[00:13:56] that's just common.

[00:13:57] And in her case, it could be that she just comes from those

[00:13:59] environments.

[00:14:00] You have to learn the person that you are at work has to

[00:14:04] be different than the person you are at home.

[00:14:06] So you don't have to go off like you're talking to a

[00:14:10] friend when you're speaking at work.

[00:14:12] Your job is to make sure that you are finite and refined

[00:14:15] straight to the message first.

[00:14:17] Answer the question first.

[00:14:18] Not everything in these contexts is easy to train.

[00:14:21] They bypass her because she doesn't have this other

[00:14:24] technical skill that I think doesn't even matter, because

[00:14:26] the role is not going to be doing any work on the

[00:14:28] technical side.

[00:14:30] That bias that I'm describing is common.

[00:14:33] It happened here.

[00:14:34] It happened at an insurance company I worked at.

[00:14:36] It happened at Sharp.

[00:14:38] It happens everywhere, but the leadership doesn't

[00:14:40] understand.

[00:14:41] And so the definition of insanity is doing the same

[00:14:43] thing over and over expecting a different result.

[00:14:45] They continually look for people that are the same

[00:14:49] kind of people they already have, and they're afraid

[00:14:51] to disrupt.

[00:14:52] They're afraid to try something that's different and

[00:14:54] shock it.

[00:14:55] When I applied in the loan company, I didn't have

[00:14:58] the experience going in there and she knew, well, I

[00:15:01] want to know why you applied.

[00:15:02] And she gave me that shot knowing I didn't have

[00:15:05] the experience knowing I was having to be trained

[00:15:07] and mentored, but she saw I had the potential

[00:15:10] and gave me the shot to do it.

[00:15:11] And I got to the point where I was basically her

[00:15:13] right hand.

[00:15:14] I was running the show in her absence and in her

[00:15:17] parallel.

[00:15:18] That opportunity isn't given, and it's rare that you

[00:15:21] find somebody worthy of it.

[00:15:23] Don't get me wrong.

[00:15:24] I'm saying that when it is there, when you do have

[00:15:26] the right person there, companies are less

[00:15:29] willing to take a chance on people.

[00:15:32] It's fine if you want to get a superstar, but

[00:15:35] then companies are not willing to pay

[00:15:37] superstar level money.

[00:15:38] They're depressing salaries across the board.

[00:15:41] So when we hear stories about how people are

[00:15:43] struggling, part of that's yes, the fact that

[00:15:46] inflation is out of control.

[00:15:48] But why is inflation so much out of control?

[00:15:51] Because companies are refusing to up the pay

[00:15:53] according to what somebody's worth.

[00:15:56] They're just looking within their own region and

[00:15:58] saying, well, everybody else is paying crap.

[00:16:00] So I guess we can pay crap too.

[00:16:02] Instead of let's look nationwide.

[00:16:04] Okay.

[00:16:06] Out in Boston, this same role is making a

[00:16:09] 175k a year.

[00:16:10] Why are we paying 60k a year?

[00:16:12] We can probably come up with 100k a year at

[00:16:14] minimum so that we can compete at the

[00:16:16] nationwide scale then understand if the

[00:16:18] role even needs to be in an office and if

[00:16:21] the person can work from home, we can pay

[00:16:23] them somewhat close because we don't have

[00:16:24] these extra expenses on us.

[00:16:27] The reason they don't do it is because

[00:16:28] nobody challenges that pay.

[00:16:31] The superstars, they come in and they

[00:16:34] say, I want that.

[00:16:35] The company won't even give them a shot.

[00:16:37] The lesser will take whatever garbage

[00:16:39] because they're desperate to get money and

[00:16:42] the company says, okay, well, I guess

[00:16:43] that's the going rate of what people want.

[00:16:44] And they don't understand the only reason

[00:16:46] they're accepting the low pay is because

[00:16:48] they're low skilled.

[00:16:49] The low skilled have an opportunity to

[00:16:51] get to be high skilled.

[00:16:53] But then if that person doesn't have any

[00:16:55] skill whatsoever, they get bypassed.

[00:16:57] So it's either you have no skill and

[00:16:59] you get skipped, you have low skill,

[00:17:01] you get underpaid or you're over

[00:17:03] skilled and they don't want to even hire you

[00:17:04] because they don't want to pay you what you

[00:17:05] were or they want to hire you, but they

[00:17:08] don't want to pay you what you're worth.

[00:17:10] There's a disconnect between the companies

[00:17:12] and the people.

[00:17:13] And this is what I'm generally frustrated

[00:17:15] about.

[00:17:16] Let me tell you everybody.

[00:17:18] I had two people on staff.

[00:17:20] This is 2021.

[00:17:22] I had two people on staff, kids fresh out

[00:17:25] of college because I was trying to help

[00:17:27] them out.

[00:17:28] It's a pandemic.

[00:17:29] It's tough money was tight, but I wanted

[00:17:31] to try to help somebody out.

[00:17:32] Give them some working experience.

[00:17:34] Plus we could work together, create a

[00:17:36] marketing strategy.

[00:17:37] One of them, he was a baby face assassin.

[00:17:40] I saw that I could put him out there

[00:17:42] and businesses would love this guy.

[00:17:44] I knew this was the key if he wanted it

[00:17:46] if he was truly that initiative and he

[00:17:48] sold me that he was.

[00:17:49] Okay.

[00:17:50] I paid.

[00:17:51] I paid them.

[00:17:53] I'm pretty sure I paid them.

[00:17:56] 40,000 a year each.

[00:17:58] No experience.

[00:17:59] They didn't need it.

[00:18:00] It didn't matter because it's an entry

[00:18:02] level position, but no experience.

[00:18:03] 40,000 a year.

[00:18:05] Fresh out the gate simply because I

[00:18:07] could because they were worth the

[00:18:09] shot.

[00:18:10] They were worth trying.

[00:18:11] The guy he had when he would

[00:18:14] apply himself, his work quality was

[00:18:16] perfect.

[00:18:17] He would nail it every time.

[00:18:19] His issue was he would frequently not

[00:18:22] apply himself because he smoked weed.

[00:18:24] He would often oversleep.

[00:18:26] He wouldn't get engaged.

[00:18:27] He wouldn't do it.

[00:18:28] But when he did, he was on point, which

[00:18:30] disappointed me because he had all the

[00:18:32] potential in the world.

[00:18:33] I still had to take the risk.

[00:18:35] I had to try the girl.

[00:18:37] She had the killer work ethic killer

[00:18:40] work ethic, but her quality wasn't

[00:18:41] there because she was afraid to take

[00:18:43] risks.

[00:18:43] She wouldn't push herself beyond where

[00:18:46] she was.

[00:18:47] It was almost like she was afraid to

[00:18:48] despite me repeatedly encouraging her to

[00:18:51] go and do and show and be

[00:18:54] be more than what you're showing

[00:18:56] because I'm giving you the power to

[00:18:58] step outside of your boundary.

[00:19:00] You have no limit here because if you

[00:19:02] took his quality and her work ethic,

[00:19:05] you have the perfect worker.

[00:19:07] I knew this.

[00:19:08] So I'm saying there are young folks

[00:19:11] out there that are worth that effort

[00:19:13] to give them a shot, but you do take

[00:19:14] the risk that they don't show up,

[00:19:16] but you at least got to try.

[00:19:17] And as long as they're putting

[00:19:18] the energy in the work in, you can

[00:19:21] you can cultivate that you can

[00:19:22] develop that and companies are

[00:19:24] afraid to do that.

[00:19:25] But I'm a one man show and I was

[00:19:27] willing to do that, but yet I know

[00:19:29] these other companies aren't trying to

[00:19:30] do that.

[00:19:31] I understand it is what it is,

[00:19:33] but it frustrates me to know when

[00:19:35] because there's so much quality out

[00:19:37] there.

[00:19:37] So it's not just about inflation

[00:19:39] and the president screw it up.

[00:19:41] It's also about the businesses and

[00:19:43] they're complicit in this.

[00:19:44] And I don't think the answer is

[00:19:45] around minimum wage.

[00:19:46] I don't.

[00:19:47] I think the answer is around

[00:19:49] competition.

[00:19:50] When I say competition to

[00:19:52] me, I don't think a business should

[00:19:55] be allowed to restrict their

[00:19:57] pay ranges to just local regional.

[00:20:01] If you're going to use what's

[00:20:02] referred to as Comper Ratio, which

[00:20:03] is a range of pay, you are

[00:20:05] required to evaluate all positions

[00:20:07] across the nation.

[00:20:08] You cannot just limit to your own

[00:20:10] local state.

[00:20:11] Why?

[00:20:11] Because sometimes they don't live

[00:20:13] in your state.

[00:20:14] Sometimes they do.

[00:20:16] It doesn't matter from a

[00:20:17] competitive perspective.

[00:20:19] When we went from local

[00:20:21] newspaper ads, classified ads for

[00:20:23] jobs to online, you

[00:20:25] opened up the floodgates.

[00:20:27] You said anybody on the world

[00:20:29] essentially can look at this job

[00:20:31] and potentially apply for it.

[00:20:32] You might require a US based

[00:20:33] address.

[00:20:34] If it's a US based address that

[00:20:36] you require, that means you open

[00:20:37] it up to the nation.

[00:20:38] Even if you require that they

[00:20:40] relocate, which all of them do,

[00:20:42] they don't limit you just because

[00:20:43] you live out of state.

[00:20:44] They just say you got to

[00:20:45] relocate.

[00:20:45] That's fine.

[00:20:47] I'm simply saying I would love

[00:20:48] to see some states say if

[00:20:50] you're going to do that ratio,

[00:20:52] you are required to look

[00:20:54] nationwide for that job.

[00:20:55] You cannot just limit to your

[00:20:57] local state because the whole

[00:20:58] point, think about it, a state

[00:21:00] should want more highly skilled

[00:21:02] people to move in.

[00:21:04] You can only do that if you

[00:21:05] increase the amount of pay you're

[00:21:07] willing to bring over.

[00:21:09] If you just settle on the same

[00:21:10] low pay, you're suppressing

[00:21:12] salaries.

[00:21:13] If you suppress salaries, you're

[00:21:14] not going to increase the value

[00:21:15] of homes.

[00:21:17] Which goes to my second rant?

[00:21:19] The value of homes.

[00:21:21] I bought a house

[00:21:22] a while ago, 10 years ago now.

[00:21:25] Well, a little bit over 10 years

[00:21:26] ago as I record this.

[00:21:28] About 10 and a half years ago.

[00:21:30] I bought a house in Washington

[00:21:31] state.

[00:21:32] I bought it for 265,000 bucks.

[00:21:35] That house was, listen,

[00:21:37] it's a large house, okay?

[00:21:38] 2630 square feet sitting on 9,000

[00:21:40] square feet of land.

[00:21:42] It was a large house, two

[00:21:43] garage attached,

[00:21:46] five-bed room, pretty sure.

[00:21:48] I had a house in the

[00:21:48] upper and two and a half bath.

[00:21:50] Pretty sure that's true.

[00:21:52] I had the best lawn on the street.

[00:21:55] Just, you know, but it wasn't a

[00:21:57] great house.

[00:21:58] It was a, you know, for a family,

[00:21:59] it was a decent house, but it

[00:22:00] wasn't a great house.

[00:22:01] There was no air conditioning.

[00:22:02] Had an amazing furnace, but no

[00:22:05] air conditioning.

[00:22:05] So I was suffering.

[00:22:07] And there's a train down the

[00:22:08] hill.

[00:22:09] I had to replace the bedroom

[00:22:10] windows with laminated just

[00:22:12] so that I could sleep.

[00:22:13] There's Simonton windows.

[00:22:15] But I bought it for 265,000

[00:22:17] dollars.

[00:22:17] This is where I took the scam

[00:22:19] program that the state offered,

[00:22:21] where it was down payment

[00:22:22] assistance and they were

[00:22:24] supposed to give me the tax

[00:22:24] credit and then they scam me

[00:22:26] out of that and all that

[00:22:27] nonsense.

[00:22:27] But I went ahead and pulled

[00:22:29] the trigger because the place

[00:22:31] I was renting wanted to raise

[00:22:32] my rent by like 600 bucks a

[00:22:34] month and I was like screw you,

[00:22:35] bro.

[00:22:36] That's not going to work,

[00:22:37] brother.

[00:22:37] So I went ahead and just pulled

[00:22:39] the trigger on this thing.

[00:22:40] Okay.

[00:22:40] So fine.

[00:22:41] I'm doing all this and the

[00:22:43] manager I was reporting into

[00:22:44] who was a really cool dude

[00:22:45] looks like Dick Cavett retired

[00:22:47] suddenly.

[00:22:48] Well, he was the only compelling

[00:22:49] reason for me to stay.

[00:22:51] I didn't want to stay anywhere

[00:22:52] at that company.

[00:22:53] And I ended up leaving because

[00:22:55] it's a screw job again, more

[00:22:57] screw job and leadership

[00:22:59] is incompetent.

[00:23:00] Fine.

[00:23:00] So I leave, but now I got

[00:23:02] this house and I got to deal

[00:23:03] with it.

[00:23:03] So I ended up moving to what

[00:23:06] became what was eventually

[00:23:07] Colorado to work there.

[00:23:09] Well, I was checking

[00:23:11] online the house that I,

[00:23:13] the how that house worth

[00:23:15] $760 something thousand dollars

[00:23:17] now because that area

[00:23:19] Western Washington is

[00:23:21] people starting to cram up in

[00:23:23] there again.

[00:23:24] And then there's some areas

[00:23:25] that like in the south and

[00:23:26] everywhere people started cram

[00:23:28] up in there again, which gave

[00:23:29] me shadows of what we had

[00:23:31] 2008, you know, housing bubble

[00:23:33] and people are predicting

[00:23:34] another housing bubble coming

[00:23:36] upon us, especially if rates

[00:23:38] are cut because more people would

[00:23:39] buy and buy and buy.

[00:23:40] But you also have as people buy

[00:23:43] prices go up as prices

[00:23:44] go up, people start using

[00:23:46] their homes as ATM machines

[00:23:47] and they're doing flips

[00:23:49] and all this garbage where

[00:23:51] we can hit another bubble.

[00:23:52] Well, I just bought a house,

[00:23:54] right?

[00:23:55] And so I have to think it's

[00:23:57] not that I regret buying the

[00:23:58] house, but I have to start

[00:23:58] being considerate of whether

[00:24:01] or not were another bubble is

[00:24:02] upon us.

[00:24:03] So I actually was considering

[00:24:05] using because I have so much

[00:24:06] equity in the just for

[00:24:08] clarity.

[00:24:09] My house is already a third

[00:24:10] paid for.

[00:24:11] You're like, what?

[00:24:12] Didn't you just buy it?

[00:24:13] Yeah, but it's already a third

[00:24:14] paid for because I wasn't

[00:24:16] playing games this time.

[00:24:17] I was like, look, if I'm

[00:24:19] going to do this, we're not

[00:24:20] doing it short.

[00:24:22] We're not doing it upside down.

[00:24:23] We're not doing it in the red.

[00:24:24] I want to be ahead of the

[00:24:25] game.

[00:24:26] I want to make sure there's

[00:24:26] equity straight out the jump.

[00:24:28] Even if I don't use it,

[00:24:29] point is I want to straight

[00:24:30] out the jump that way if

[00:24:31] something does happen, I can

[00:24:34] kind of play the deal here.

[00:24:36] So that was the whole point is

[00:24:38] let me just get settled.

[00:24:39] So I bought it.

[00:24:41] There already a third paid off.

[00:24:43] I just took the bill.

[00:24:45] Already a third paid off or

[00:24:46] just kicking.

[00:24:48] But I also have to have a

[00:24:49] contingency plan, but now I've

[00:24:50] got to be mindful of whether

[00:24:52] I even want to live where I'm

[00:24:53] at because I'm not sure that

[00:24:54] I do simply because I'm not

[00:24:57] a foodie, but I do appreciate

[00:24:59] access to things.

[00:25:01] I like access to good shopping,

[00:25:02] access to quality.

[00:25:03] I like people that care about

[00:25:04] their job.

[00:25:04] I like cordiality and none of

[00:25:06] that's here.

[00:25:07] And so, you know, good

[00:25:08] contracts.

[00:25:09] It's just not here.

[00:25:10] So with the housing bubble

[00:25:12] potentially upon us one to lack

[00:25:15] of quality shopping, it's got

[00:25:17] me thinking, OK, maybe I need

[00:25:19] to be smart about it.

[00:25:21] Maybe I need to leverage the

[00:25:23] equity itself, basically a

[00:25:25] cash out refi, leverage that

[00:25:27] excess, get something, you

[00:25:29] know, a little small condo

[00:25:30] or something else in a

[00:25:31] different place, different state.

[00:25:34] Have it there, rent it out

[00:25:35] if and unless I choose to, you

[00:25:38] know, live in it, but, you know,

[00:25:40] rent it out for the short term.

[00:25:41] I consider doing this as weird

[00:25:43] as that sounds simply because

[00:25:45] I don't know what's going to

[00:25:46] happen.

[00:25:47] And I think the housing market

[00:25:48] might start sucking, might be

[00:25:50] good in the short term pumps,

[00:25:52] but I think it's going to suck

[00:25:54] in the long term.

[00:25:55] And that's part of the reason

[00:25:56] I was so motivated to try to

[00:25:58] pay off the house quick,

[00:25:59] because I didn't want to deal

[00:26:00] with the situation where there's

[00:26:02] again, some bubble purse, you know,

[00:26:05] and people are discreet and scrambling,

[00:26:07] and that's harder to sell the home.

[00:26:09] And I wasn't I wasn't interested in

[00:26:11] this, but I sense it coming.

[00:26:14] I'm not sure, but

[00:26:16] I think I don't know.

[00:26:17] There's a weird feeling economy.

[00:26:19] There's a weird feeling and housing

[00:26:21] market seems like it's getting the worst

[00:26:23] of it where there's an uncertainty

[00:26:24] as people are trying to get the rates

[00:26:26] to go down so they can buy.

[00:26:28] And then people are sitting on low rates.

[00:26:30] They don't want to sell or maybe their

[00:26:31] house is paid off.

[00:26:32] So they don't want to sell, which is causing

[00:26:34] constraints, constraints should lead to

[00:26:36] a run, but the run might

[00:26:39] exacerbate the bubble situation that

[00:26:40] I'm sensing.

[00:26:41] I'm not really sure.

[00:26:41] So that's my other piece that I'm

[00:26:43] really pissed off about.

[00:26:44] I don't really know what's going to

[00:26:45] happen.

[00:26:46] Hopefully everything turns out OK.

[00:26:47] That's my hope.

[00:26:48] But I am considering the whole equity

[00:26:50] cash out, you know, refi approach.

[00:26:52] Hopefully somebody talks me off the

[00:26:54] ledge on that one because I really

[00:26:55] don't want to do it.

[00:26:56] But I'm not sure this area is going

[00:26:59] to last very long.

[00:27:00] It feels like we're going to have

[00:27:01] something bad happen in the place

[00:27:04] that I'm at.

[00:27:05] Maybe I'm tinfoil.

[00:27:06] I just I tend to be tinfoil.

[00:27:08] Maybe that's what it is.

[00:27:09] Time will tell and I'll watch

[00:27:11] and wait and hopefully everything

[00:27:12] turns out all right in the end.