Money Rehab with Nicole Lapin - A Masterclass on Making Big Money in Real Estate with THE Barbara Corcoran

Episode Date: March 28, 2024

There’s a whole lot of bad "financial advice" on TikTok — especially when it comes to real estate. Today, Nicole goes through some of these hot trends with THE real estate expert Barbara Corcoran.  They talk about which hacks are true… and which are totally BS. They also talk about which celebrities need to get realistic about their wild real estate listings, how often Barbara checks her bank account and which of the Sharks on Shark Tank Barbara would start a business with. For more Barbara, join her community Barbara In Your Pocket: https://www.patreon.com/BarbaraCorcoran $ If you're ready to find your dream team, use LinkedIn Jobs. Post a job for free at: linkedin.com/mnn $ Want to level up your money moves? Check out Facet. Facet is the next generation of personalized financial planning that is making professional financial advice accessible to the masses, not just the rich. Facet will help you understand and expand your financial opportunities by providing you with a team of financial planners (with the CFP® certification you want) and a team of professionals across all the major food groups of your financial wellness: retirement planning, tax strategy, estate planning and more. To claim Facet’s offer for Money Rehabbers, go to: https://facet.com/moneyrehab 

I love hosting on Airbnb. It's a great way to bring in some extra cash. But I totally get it that it might sound overwhelming to start, or even too complicated, if, say, you want to put your summer home in Maine on Airbnb, but you live full-time in San Francisco and you can't go to Maine every time you need to change sheets for your guests or something like that. If thoughts like these have been holding you back, I have great news for you. Airbnb has launched a co-host network, which is a network of high quality local co-hosts with Airbnb experience that can take care of your home and your guests. Co-hosts can do what you don't have time for, like managing your reservations, messaging your guests, giving support at the property, or even create your listing for you.

I always want to line up a reservation for my house when I'm traveling for work, but sometimes I just don't get around to it because getting ready to travel always feels like a scramble, so I don't end up making time to make my house look guest-friendly. I guess that's the best way to put it. But I'm matching with a co-host so I can still make that extra cash while also making it easy on myself. Find a co-host at airbnb.com slash host. One of the most stressful periods of my life was when I was in credit card debt. I got to a point where I just knew that I had to get it under control for my financial future and also for my mental health. We've all hit a point where we've realized it was time to make some serious money moves. So take control of your finances by using a Chime checking account with features like no

maintenance fees, fee-free overdraft up to $200, or getting paid up to two days early with direct deposit. Learn more at Chime.com slash MNN. When you check out Chime, you'll see that you can overdraft up to $200 with no fees. If you're an OG listener, you know about my infamous $35 overdraft fee that I got from buying a $7 latte and how I am still very fired up about it. If I had Chime back then, that wouldn't even be a story. Make your fall finances a little greener by working toward your financial goals with Chime. Open your account in just two minutes at Chime.com slash MNN. That's Chime.com slash MNN. Chime feels like progress. Banking services and debit card provided by the Bancorp Bank N.A. or Stride Bank N.A. Members FDIC. SpotMe eligibility requirements and overdraft limits

apply. Boosts are available to eligible Chime members enrolled in SpotMe and are subject to monthly limits. Terms and conditions apply. Go to Chime.com slash disclosures for details. I'm Nicole Lappin, the only financial expert you don't need a dictionary to understand. It's time for some money rehab. There's a whole lot of bad financial advice out there, especially when it comes to real estate. I see real estate hacks on TikTok all the time that literally make me want to throw my phone across the room and some that are totally legit and super helpful. So today I'm going through some of these hot trends and tips with the real estate expert, Barbara Corcoran herself. We talk about which of the hacks are true and which are totally BS, but because it's Barbara, we couldn't just talk about that. We also talked about which

celebrities need to get realistic about their crazy real estate listings, how often Barbara checks her bank account, which absolutely shocked the hell out of me, and which of the sharks on Shark Tank she would want to start a business with. Here's Barbara. Barbara Corcoran, the queen, the one and only. Welcome to Money Rehab. That's a nice introduction. I like the way it sounds. Wait, you don't get the queen at every podcast you go to? No, no. I used to in my brokerage business, people readily called it if they wanted to raise or want to impress me, all the politicians that worked for me. I never promoted them. Even when they called you queen?

No, not at all. And giveaway. That's a queen move. All right, let's go to real estate. I saw you recently say that if someone's sitting on the sidelines waiting for interest rates to drop before they get into the real estate market, they could be making a very expensive mistake. Can you explain what you meant by that? Of course. You either pay the bank a higher interest rate, like right now that people are complaining about, or you pay a homeowner a higher price. When interest rates go down, prices always shoot up. And then even worse than that, more insulting, is you compete with two, three times as many buyers. So it's so hard to get what you want. So I think the sooner

somebody gets in the market, ignores the rate, you can always refinance later. It doesn't always make sense immediately, but there's always a point where it makes sense, the smarter you are. And the other reason I think you have to get in the market is I just feel always that people have to get in the game. If you're not in the market, you have no chips to play at the board. You can't trade up. You're not making money on appreciation over time to make your next house affordable. You've kind of like missed the train. So there's never a good time. There's always a good time to buy real estate, which is now. I would love to play a little game with you. I'm going to call it TikTok trend or truth. There's so much real

estate fugazi out there on TikTok. So I would love to give you a tip that we've seen on the internet and then for you as a real real estate expert to tell us if it's a trend or truth and why. Easy enough. If you're buying an investment property, you should buy it through an LLC. Truth or trend? Trend. It sounds cool. I mean, it's helpful to have it because you have less liability, but you don't always buy it through LLC. I have some of my properties own in LLCs and others not. I don't think it's a big deal. Use the BRRR method for real estate, the BRRR method, which stands for buy, renovate, rent, refinance, repeat. Truth or

trend? Trend. It sounds so jazzy, doesn't it? It sounds so fancy. No way. It's too confusing. I don't even know what they're talking about. That's not a real thing. Burr method? Well, I guess you could call that formula a method. Okay. But life isn't that way. Life is scrapping the right listing at the right time, seeing what you could do with it, and maybe renovating, maybe holding it, maybe not renovating. You have to play every circumstance independently. What those kind of slogans do is it makes people feel like, I've got the formula, I just do this and apply it,

and I'm gonna get rich. It doesn't work that way. Yeah, it's case by case. All right, choose a 40-year mortgage if you can get one. Truth or trend? Well, it's a lower payment, but you'll pay probably roughly 25% more in your overall payments than you would if you were with a standard 30-year mortgage. I'd go the other way, a 10-year. 15, as short as you can possibly, 15 is better than 30,

10 is better than 15, because you'll pay much less interest over time. You want to get out of your mortgage as fast as you can. However, your payments are higher and a lot of people can't afford that. What if the interest rates are super low though and you can make more money in other investments? If you can make more money in other investments, you'd have a hard time convincing me that you can make as much reliable more money in other investments because the other investments you don't have as much control. Real estate is solid. You can trust it. It goes up, it goes down with the mark, but you know where you stand. And most people are decent at owning a house.

Not a lot of people are decent at playing the market. A REIT is a good way to invest in real estate without needing to buy a property and deal with all the no chagas that might happen. Truth or trap? Definitely true. Although you'll make a little less money than if you did it on your own,

but for someone who is risk aversive, it's a very good way to go. You don't have to get your hands dirty. You're just buying somebody already successful in the field. Real estate investment trust, you can buy it and sell it like a stock and you don't have to deal with tenants and their plumbing problems or whatever. Absolutely. It's easier. Take out a HELOC and use it to put a down payment on your next house. Truth or trend? Trend because a HELOC is more it to put a down payment on your next house. Truth or trend? Trend, because a HELOC is more difficult to get. You're better off getting just a plain old bridge loan from your current bike for a short-term loan because you're going from one house to another.

Bridge loans are usually the way to go. A mortgage broker can help you buy a house if you have poor credit or a wonky financial situation. Truth or trend? Definitely true, but not a good idea because you use that mortgage broker for a home you really shouldn't be buying in the first place because you need extra help to be able to get the mortgage. It means it's a home you probably can't afford. 70% of Gen Zers would say they would buy a house with someone other than their romantic partner. Yeah. Do you think it's a good idea to go splitsies on a house with your friends? It's a lot of fun to go in and you get a house that you could afford, but when the situation

changes, it's a terrible idea. The guy wants to get married. She wants to move. What do you do then? You have to have a good, solid partnership agreement drawn by an attorney that cover all the possibilities. Then sometimes it's a good idea, but I just don't think so. Better off going for something smaller on your own. Put as small of a down payment on a house as you can. Invest the rest in the stock market. You'll be able to make more in the market than you'll have to pay an interest on your mortgage. So a real estate interest arbitrage, essentially.

A false. Assuming the person knows what they're doing can make a killing in the stock market. It usually doesn't work that way. house hacking truth or trend it's a real estate move where you buy a multi-family property you rent out one unit and you live in the other very true it's the best way to get involved in residential real estate or investment probably overall people who do that have hedged their bet they get a place to live and the person upstairs from when is paying off most of their mortgage it's a great way to get into real estate. Most successful. Is it hard to transfer single family houses into duplexes or triplexes?

No, most people do it off the books and collect the money on the side. But if you want a zoning change, yes, that's impossible. Not a good way to do it. It's just treated by the IRS as an investment property. When you go to sell, you have to account for all the, if you want to do it legally, have to account for all the rental income. But it is the greatest way to get rich fast and affordable for a lot of people. Okay. Buy a foreclosed home. Truth or trend? Great if you get a foreclosed home at a good price, but you can't. The market's not that way right now. You have to wait till the market sinks before you go into the foreclosure business. And you have to know what you're doing. It's not so easy. You have to have contractors lined up. You have to know values,

like what's worthwhile putting in, what isn't worthwhile putting in. It takes a certain expertise and a certain judgment that most people don't have. Flipping houses is a great way to get rich. Truth or trend? It's a great way, but it's got to be in a low market. And most people in a low market where interest rates are high and everybody's afraid of buying, most people aren't comfortable going into that market. They talk a good storm about flipping houses. It's the right market for it then, but they don't really do it because they're afraid. People like to buy houses when everybody else is buying houses. It makes them feel smart, which is usually the worst time to buy a house. Right? Buy low, sell high. But our emotions want us to do the opposite. Yes.

If your spouse has a property, make sure your name is on it. Truth or trend? I say also, yeah, true. And also make sure that your spouse's name is on your mortgage. A lot of people forget that. They put the house in two names and they forget about the mortgage going in two names. Very important. Because then you're left with debt if something happens. Which often does happen. More often than not. You can get a home before it hits the market by writing a letter to the current owner. Truth or trend? Definitely true. I got my last three homes doing exactly that. The keys to the letters,

you have to profess how much you love the house, why you love it, whatever you could come up with. And the other thing is you have to express that you're totally flexible on closing day. You'll even wait five years if they would like it. Gets people to think. And each time I bought my house three times in a row, I had to wait

like three months to get a response, but they eventually call. And that's a great house to buy. Take it right off the market. Why does that work? Because you're tugging at the heartstrings? Because you're putting the idea in someone's head to sell their home before they're thinking about it. And it causes them to sit and actually think about it and say, well, we would like to,

we were going to sell eventually, but, and that's usually how the conversation starts out we were thinking of selling but was certainly not ready we'd be happy to call you when we get ready no problem I'll wait forever I'll wait forever I'm no no rush it's just I'm in love with your house and I have to have it because there's a price for everything no some people are so stuck on their home they're never gonna move no there's no price for everything especially when, some people are so stuck on their home, they're never going to move. No, there's no price for everything, especially when it comes to a home. People feel very emotionally attached to it, particularly older people have raised their children there and have no plans on selling. And you could whistle Dixie for the next five hours and they're never going to change their

mind on it. So how long did it take before you got the house when you wrote a letter? I got my LA house within the week after she told me she had no intention to sell, a week later. And I closed the deal because I said to her, I'll give you a life estate whenever you want to come back. So she had family in the area. Whenever you want to come back as many weeks as you wanted each year, you come back, you could use my house. It's a part-time house for me and i didn't mind that and she's been back every year for two years she loves it and i had a good deal because of it my beach house i just simply left a note under the door and by coincidence they were planning on listing it soon and i got that house and in my second beach house i asked the broker if i could just peek in the window because i heard a rumor it might come available in the next year and i want to get in early. And then she showed me a peek and I locked her in the house until she called

the owner and asked if he would sell it to me. That one didn't include a note. I went in person. Yeah. Did you write your name? Yes, of course. She knew who I was. Yeah. I'm sure I overpaid for it. I didn't mind. It was a beautiful house. This is a juicy, good piece of advice. So basically if you're in an area and you think the house is just so sexy that you must have it, why not? Write a note. You know, I was in the Cayman Islands last week, and I kept having a recurring dream of buying a two-bedroom little yellow beach cottage. I kept having the dream, waking up and going back to the dream. Kind of strange. The next morning, I walked the beach in one direction, and I came across the house exactly like I saw it in my

dream. Now I felt right away, knowing me, I'm always buying real estate. I walked the beach in one direction and I came across the house exactly like I saw it in my dream. Now I felt right away, knowing me, I'm always buying real estate. I love the Cayman Islands. This is a dump of a house. I can make it a cream puff. I'm going to write a letter to the owner. And then I was with a good friend who said, what are you at? Am I in a project at your age?

And I didn't write the note. I'm still thinking about it. I'm regretful that I didn't leave the note. I could have decided later if I wanted it. I should have just put a note under the door. Under the door in the mailbox, that's it? Yep. Well, there were no mailbox on the beach, but under the door would have worked. You recently told Kylie Jenner and Travis Scott to get realistic after listing their house super, super high and having to then drop the price. Is that right?

Definitely. You have to be realistic. And I don't even think it's a good idea to drop prices on expensive or lower priced real estate because it always is a signal to the buyer, oh, there's a problem here. And they immediately try to figure out what the problem is. And they're encouraged to make an even lower offer. You're much better off taking your home off the market, waiting three to six months, listing with a new broker and coming on with a new listing, coming on as a new listing. Listen, you'll forget more than I'll ever know about real estate, Barbara. But as someone who's obsessed with real estate porn myself, when I see a house price drop, I'm like, what the heck is wrong with this thing? You're right. You respond the way everybody else says, what's wrong? It puts the emphasis, it underlines what's the new news there,

which is the price dropped. Why, why, why? This is also, as I'm sure you've seen, the problem facing NFL player Russell Wilson and music icon Sierra, who put their Washington mansion on the market for $36 million in 2022. They slashed the price by $10 million. It is still on the market. I mean, what would you suggest to them? I would say the exact same thing. Take it off the market and list it in three to six months at a new price. I mean, what would you suggest to them? I would say the exact same thing. Take it

off the market and listen three to six months at a new price. Do you know what is a reality of real estate sales? Is famous people always pay more for the real estate and almost always overpay. I distinctly remember being a young broker and one of my colleagues that worked for me was working with Jerry Seinfeld when he was at his peak and he bought a magnificent apartment on Central Park West. And you know what happened? Once he saw the apartment, the owner increased the price. I think it was by like $2 million on a $6 million home thereabouts. It's been a long time. And you know what Jerry Seinfeld says? That's okay.

He closed on it anyway. And then he wanted to buy a townhouse building that houses collection of cars next door, converted to a multi-story garage. And they raised the price on that. He said, no problem. I really want it. It was next door.

I think celebrities are used to being overcharged because, you know, when you're coming in and you got a lot of hoopla about you, the seller always knows it. They don't want to leave any money on the table. Typically, a celebrity overpays for their real estate. Is it the case that the other way around is also true? Do people overpay if a celebrity lives in a house or do they just think they will? It depends. Sometimes people will pay a little extra if it's not overpriced to begin with, because they could say, you know who used to own this house? It gives you bragging rights. But it's a premium that isn't

worth all that much. It's a little bit more sex appeal. But in the end, people would rather pay the lease for the house anyway. Without bragging rights, right? Hold on to your wallets. Money Rehab will be right back. I love hosting on Airbnb. It's a great way to bring in some extra cash. But I totally get it that it might sound overwhelming to start or even too complicated if, say, you want to put your summer home in Maine on Airbnb, but you live full-time in San Francisco and you can't go to Maine every time you need to change sheets for your guests or something like that. If thoughts like these have been holding you back, I have great news for you. Airbnb has launched a co-host network, which is a network of

high-quality local co-hosts with Airbnb experience that can take care of your home and your guests. Co-hosts can do what you don't have time for, like managing your reservations, messaging your guests, giving support at the property, or even create your listing for you. I always want to line up a reservation for my house when I'm traveling for work. But sometimes I just don't get around to it because getting ready to travel always feels like a scramble, so I don't end up making time to make my house look guest-friendly, I guess that's the best way to put it. But I'm matching with a co-host so I can still make that extra cash while also making it easy on myself. Find a co-host at Airbnb.com slash host. One of the most stressful periods of my life was when I was in credit card debt. I got to a point where I just knew that I had to get it under control for my financial future and also for my mental health. We've all hit a point

where we've realized it was time to make some serious money moves. So take control of your finances by using a Chime checking account with features like no maintenance fees, fee-free overdraft up to $200, or getting paid up to two days early with direct deposit. Learn more at Chime.com. When you check out Chime, you'll see that you can overdraft up to $200 with no fees. If you're an OG listener, you know about my infamous $35 overdraft fee that I got from buying a $7 latte and how I am still very fired up about it. If I had Chime back then, that wouldn't even be a story. Make your fall finances a little greener by working toward your financial goals with Chime. Open your account in just two minutes at Chime.com slash MNN.

That's Chime.com slash MNN. Chime. Feels like progress. Banking services and debit card provided by the Bancorp Bank N.A. or Stride Bank N.A. Members FDIC. SpotMe eligibility requirements and overdraft limits apply. Boosts are available to eligible Chime members enrolled in SpotMe and are subject to monthly limits. Terms and conditions apply. Go to Chime.com slash disclosures for details.

And now for some more money rehab. Have you ever needed money rehab? Not really. Thank God always was good at making money. I was almost running out when something good would happen. And I really believe that money was meant to be spent. So I never really took it so seriously. I still don't. How often do you check your bank account? I don't. I have no idea. Really? I mean, why do people keep a lot of money in a bank account? I guess I should check my portfolio once in a while, but I don't do that either. I just trust the people that manage it and hope it's there when I need it. We'll see.

They probably got it down yesterday. So if somebody, you know, God forbid, put a gun to your head and said, Barbara, how much do you have in your brokerage? You would have no idea? No, I have no idea. What difference is it going to make? I hope I don't sound ignorant to you saying that, but I'm such a good delegator. Once I start something and give it to somebody,

I don't feel like I have a check on them. They're just terrific people. You did something so awesome on your 70th birthday. I loved it so much. You threw yourself a funeral. Why did you do that? I can't live that party down. I didn't do it as a PR event, but my God, it keeps coming up. I did it for one reason. I don't like surprises. I overheard two friends talking. They didn't know I heard them about the surprise party they were going to give at my house.

I played along like I was being fooled. But meanwhile, I planned like crazy to surprise them, to turn the tables. I really wanted to. So they thought they were coming to a surprise party. They were throwing, but when my brother invited them downstairs, Barbara's coming in downstairs. How are you down the stairs? I was in a coffin and I was dead. And I did surprise them. And what a great party it was. It was so much fun. Because I eventually came out of the coffin, of course, and it was a dance party. What do you think the takeaway was for you from that party?

People love fun if it's a surprise. People will do anything to have a good time and people don't have enough good times. I am the queen of having fun. Everybody came, everybody laughed and everybody's still talking about it. That's a good party. That's for sure. Even at a funeral, you know how to have fun. You know what?

It's a benefit. What are you going to be dead? You never hear what people say about you. I got there to lie there and hear the speeches and what people said about me. So I don't care if I died on here and they already heard it. I love to think actually, I know this sounds morbid and dark, maybe not to you, about my eulogy. What would I want people to say about me? And then am I doing those things right now? Well, that's a good measuring stick for yourself. I agree with you because you'll question whether you're living life as you should. Are you putting the emphasis on the important things? It's a great idea. I'm not going to do it, but I think it's a great idea for you.

I've had it with funerals. What was one of the eulogies that you enjoyed? Well, I had a rabbi giving a eulogy and i had a month senior giving a eulogy i can't remember who said what but they had the similar things that they said they said how much fun they had with me as a friend how they always had fun with me that's a great compliment to me how i inspired them not in a business way but just inspiring them to be their best self and how to make time for all the fun things in life because it's really all that counts. I'm not sure my kids bought into it. I think they were a little embarrassed by the whole thing, but all my

daughter said, who was probably 13 at the time, is, when are we going to read the will? And she's not money-oriented at all was really i almost popped out of the coffin for that one all right barbara before we let you go i want to do one more quick game with you because you are the queen of fun all right in honor of season 15 holy moly of shark tank there's a lightning round of questions for the sharks. Ah, happy to talk about the sharks. Which shark would you say is best dressed? Definitely me with that.

No, I'm not saying that to brag, but clearly me. Listen, I knew. I knew the Barbara signature. I was ready for you. Which shark would you want to be trapped on a desert island with? Damon, because he knows how to hustle. He would somehow find us a meal in the berry bushes and build us a small shelter. I'm sure he would.

Yeah, I would go with Damon. Which shark would you want to start a business with? Oh, definitely Mark, because he's a straight shooter. He's got all that money. He would probably front all the cash. I wouldn't have to do anything. Which shark takes the longest to get camera ready? Oh, God.

Robert. My God, he'd drive you crazy. Come on, Robert. You have the right cufflinks on. Come on, Robert. Oh my God. He makes a woman look easy. Which shark makes you laugh the most? Kevin, surprisingly. And everybody thinks of him as a bad guy, but he's got great comic timing and he always catches me by surprise. I think he's the funniest guy on set. Which shark is the most compassionate? Well, Lori pretends to be, but we all know better than that. I would say Mark, again. Mark is most compassionate because he puts his money where his mouth is. He says, I feel for you. I know what you're after, and I'm going to give you a million dollars. That's different than just saying,

you're incredible. You're just the perfect person, and they're not giving over the million. By the way, Mark will respond to every single email. Yes, he's terrific. And he doesn't care who you are. He'll respond. Don't give out his address, his cell number though, or we won't be able to get through. Which shark is most competitive? I'd say Robert because he has to compete with Mark.

He's insecure enough, like he just wants to be like Mark. So he competes like crazy. Always goes after the same deals Mark's wants all the time. Which shark has the best work-life balance? Probably Robert again, because he plays so much. He doesn't work that much. I don't think from what I can see. Which shark would you go halfsies with on a house? Halfsies? Oh, Mark. Because he'd buy a bigger, better house. He'd never use it. Who was the best guest shark? Kevin Hart, without a doubt. The smartest guy we've ever had on the set. I hope he comes back this season. He's hard to get, but he's brilliant. He's not funny on set. He's just brilliant in sizing up people and slicing a deal in a way that makes it very

appealing to whoever he's talking to. He's a genius, I think. All right, Barbara, we end our episodes by asking all of our guests for a tip that listeners can take straight to the bank. I would love one actually for myself. I just turned 40 last week. What would you tell your 40-year-old self? I would tell myself exactly what I told myself. You deserve a mink. And I went out and bought it. And then right after that, I thought, you deserve a Porsche. And I went out and bought it. I think whether you're 40 you deserve a Porsche and I went out and bought it I think whether you're 40 or 30 or 20 or whatever you set a goal something you dream about my first big splash was my first deal I spent the whole check on a brand new coat I never

regretted it I wore it up and down the streets for four years and looked the part I think whatever you think you deserve go out and spend it maybe not prudent because you say, oh, what if I don't have the money? Go on a hock, charge my Porsche. I found a way to pay it off eventually. Maybe a little late, but I paid it off eventually. No, I think you have to live life

as though you'll never get another chance. I mean, some people live like they're gonna die tomorrow and some people live and spend like they're gonna live forever. I think that there's somewhat of a balance that you should find there, but it sounds like you live as if you're going to die tomorrow. Yes, I do. Money Rehab is a production of Money News Network. I'm your host, Nicole Lappin.

Money Rehab's executive producer is Morgan Lavoie. Our researcher is Emily Holmes. Do you need some money rehab? And let's be honest, we all do. So email us your money questions, moneyre rehab at money news network.com to potentially have your questions answered on the show or even have a one-on-one intervention with me and follow us on instagram at money news and tiktok at money news network for exclusive video content and lastly thank you no seriously thank you thank you for listening and for investing in yourself which is the most important investment you can make.