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Dave Jones: Are you curious what it's like to buy a house? Well, today I have something for you because we have another buyer's story from a real actual person who bought a house here in our area, along with one of our agents. So welcome to Inside Abode. I'm glad you came. I'm glad you're listening. Make sure that you hit the subscribe button. I say this every time. And then also make sure you go over to YouTube. We're over on YouTube. You can watch our segments, you can watch our reels, you can watch our full episodes. And also you can go to wintermiraboat.com to find out everything every little thing about buying a house or selling a house, or you can meet our agents, or you can jump into the world of Wintermere Bode. We're gonna have a lot more stuff on that page as well coming in the next few months. So with that, I want to bring on our guests and introduce our first guest, which is Anna Bodie, who Has been with us for four years now. she is the events co chair for the Women's Council of Realtors right now. And she's part of the second graduating class of Tacoma School of the Arts. Victoria Stoughton, how are you doing? Stoughton. Did I say that right? Stoughton. Yeah, see? I think I
Victoria Stoughton: I'm doing awesome. You did, Stoughton. You did great. I'm great, Dave. How are you?
Dave Jones: at least I didn't call you Veronica. So I mean that's that's a good start for me.
Victoria Stoughton: You c you know what? Whatever whatever happens on the podcast, it's fine.
Dave Jones: I didn't call so today we have a a client of yours or a friend I should say, not a client, but
Victoria Stoughton: Yeah. Client and a friend. Mm-hmm.
Dave Jones: and tell me a little bit about this situation. So why did you come on the show today to tell share this story?
Victoria Stoughton: Yeah. Yeah. Well, I work a lot with first time home buyers. I would say they're my specialty. They're my passion. and in thinking back of, you know, just all my transactions are really special to me, but something about this transaction with Shelby felt like extra special and she is so passionate about the fact that she was able to become a homeowner. So she just felt like a perfect, person to have on and talk to about it. And our process wasn't, you know, first house, instant success, everything went great. Like there was some s there was some hiccups along the way to find the one. So it seemed like it would be a good just yeah, her story is just a great one, I think, of getting in there and not giving up and making homeownership a possibility.
Dave Jones: All right, well let's bring her on then. Let's bring her out from the behind the curtain. Shelby, how are you doing?
Victoria Stoughton: Yes.
Dave Jones: Welcome to the Inside Abode podcast.
Shelbi: Right.
Victoria Stoughton: Mm-hmm.
Dave Jones: So so Shelby, tell us like what like when did you just when were you ready to buy a house? Like what take me back to before you even call Victoria, like what was going on in your life and you just were like, you know what, it's time to buy a house.
Shelbi: growing up in Tacoma I think seeing how much the rental market has changed since I became a renter. having to move quite a bit, dealing with unpredictable housing expenses, I just really wanted something that was gonna be mine and was gonna be solid. And I didn't really think it was a possibility. I still kind of wake up in my house and I'm like, I own a house.
Victoria Stoughton: Mm.
Shelbi: but a lot of it was people around me who were in similar financial situations were starting to be able to own homes and so it made me curious.
Dave Jones: Mm. Okay. And you're you said you mentioned you're from Tacoma, so you're born and raised?
Shelbi: Mm. Yeah. Yep. It was important for me to buy a house here too.
Dave Jones: Yeah, and I think you know, for me at least, being a former educator and just being what we got when I got into real estate, one of my biggest things was like I I want people who grew up here to be able to buy a house here. I feel like that should be the ground level like basis for anybody who grows up in any community in America. Like you should be able to buy a home in where you grew up. I don't know. I just feel like that's just a just a baseline. so I'm really happy to hear that. Victoria, how d so Victoria, when did you when did you how'd you guys meet? Like when did this
Victoria Stoughton: So I was actually thinking about this, and and my business is I would say 99% referral based. So I always meet people through my former clients or friends. But Shelby and I actually met on Facebook. She had posted something about like, I'm taking my first time home buyer class, you know, I need a realtor. And Facebook, when people post those things, I'm always so hesitant to jump in. And I don't know why. Like, I just it gets really oversaturated with people recommending, and I'm like, why me? Which was like, I shouldn't think like that. But but Shelby was one of the very first people that I took a chance on and I just wrote her and I said, I know you're probably gonna get a ton of messages. I feel really passionate about first-time homebuyers. and if you want to talk, like I'm here, and then we ended up talking.
Dave Jones: That's dope.
Victoria Stoughton: Yeah.
Dave Jones: And Shelby, what made you pick Victoria of all the people? Did you get hit up by a hella people?
Shelbi: there was a group I posted into. I'm in a private group and a couple people had mentioned her. And so I just I reached out to a couple different realtors and Victoria had the best energy and seemed like she was the most responsive, like she was involved in the conversation we were having. So I I felt pretty quickly that she was gonna be my lady.
Victoria Stoughton: Yeah.
Dave Jones: Nice. I don't know. Did you feel
Victoria Stoughton: That's awesome.
Dave Jones: that too, Victoria? Like when you guys first or was it more just like was there a vibe like off jump or was it just kinda reaching
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out?
Victoria Stoughton: Well, I just feel really fortunate that I feel like the universe connects me with people that I'm just like, these are my people. And
Dave Jones: Yeah.
Victoria Stoughton: Shelby was no different. I think just the biggest difference was I f I had the courage to be like, yeah, I wanna throw my hat in this, in this ring. Throw my hat in. I don't know. and she was just so excited about it. And I think my husband and I bought later in life. Like I was, I was early thirties, he was early forties, and so I think I just feel really passionate when I meet adults who are trying to like make that a reality for themselves.
Dave Jones: W did you guys like sit down and w were you like overwhelmed, Shelby, by all this stuff? And did you know anything about buying a house before sitting down with with Victoria? Did you like going in, were you I don't know, was it surprised? Were you how were you feeling?
Shelbi: Yeah, the home buyer class definitely helps create like a framework of what buying a house looks like. I took that through the Washington State Housing Finance Commission and it was a really good class. It kinda taught me what to expect, although the process there was a lot of things along the way that were not shared in that class, 'cause it was just really
Dave Jones: Yeah.
Shelbi: unique to where we were looking and who the other person was that was selling the house and I definitely felt overwhelmed, I think, through a lot of the process, but not because of who and what I was like who I was working with and what I was doing. It was just that it was like a big life change.
Dave Jones: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah, for sure. and so when you sit Victoria, when you sat down, like what do you take
Victoria Stoughton: Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Dave Jones: out of that? Like what tell tell me about your process. Like what when you're sitting down with a buyer, what's that look
Victoria Stoughton: Yeah.
Dave Jones: like with sh what did that look like with Shelby?
Victoria Stoughton: Yeah, I have a pretty standard kind of process, I guess, with my buyers. And so I have a buyer's guide and then it's somewhat tailored to where they are. I think Shelby came to me pre-approved. So that like work was already done with a trusted lender that I use. So there was a lot of terminology that she had already learned and absorbed and was like very on top of the financial aspect. And then I always tell my buyers we're gonna go over so much right now and I'm not expecting you to remember it all but this is kind Of the outline of how this will go. This is why an inspection's important, this is why a sewer so sewer scope's important, this is who Tidal and Escrow is, this is how your lender works with all of us, these are the ways things can go terribly right, and these are the ways things can go wrong, but that truthfully I'll be here every step of the way after we go through everything so that you're not sitting there wondering what's next. And I think with first-time buyers, and I've talked about this on my Instagram a bit this year too, there's first-time grant buyers are a lot of times it's a really particular puzzle piece because you're wanting to find a property that you can usually make some sweat equity updates, which I do hope Shelby will tell us all the things she's done with her house. Cause from the minute she
Dave Jones: Yeah. Yeah.
Victoria Stoughton: moved in, she was like ripping up flooring. It was awesome.
Dave Jones: Ha ha ha.
Victoria Stoughton: But finding a house where the major systems are not going to be something you have to plan to replace all within the next year because that's so expensive. so I think it was finding with her from the get-go, looking at, okay, here's our budget, this is what comes up. What can we tell about these properties just from looking at them online? And then let's go see some and we learn even more. But I think depending on each first-time home buyer's budget, you have a different pool of buyers you're competing with. And so kind of talking about that too, so you know what you're like going into.
Dave Jones: Yeah, I'm trying to hear the dirt. Like I wanna hear the I wanna hear the nitty gritty. Like what what yeah, let's let's talk about it. Like what were the hardest parts
Victoria Stoughton: Yeah, yeah.
Dave Jones: of this process, Shelby? Like what when you think about it, like were you like, man, like tell us 'cause I think I think Victoria, you mentioned at some point, like that you y'all didn't get it like the first house did you didn't get the first one or something like that. So walk walk us through that. Like and how are you feeling on all that, Shelby? Like let's let's yeah, let's get into it.
Shelbi: Yeah, we didn't get the second house either.
Victoria Stoughton: Yeah
Shelbi: we put in a lot of offers on different houses and including the home that I own now, it was three that we had accepted and went through like inspection. what kept coming up was there was either major systems that needed some love and so it just wasn't really like a smart investment for me. And we also the houses that we weren't getting our offers accepted on, they were pretty competitive. Like I think we had one person offer twenty K over asking. And we
Victoria Stoughton: Yeah.
Shelbi: were just kind of competing with people who had a little bit more upfront than I did. people who really were firm on what they were willing to negotiate with the house. Victoria was really awesome and was really honest with me the whole way, super encouraging. it was just hard, I think, to go to places and you can't help but envision your life somewhere when you visit it. And then you're like, okay, on to the next one. That is not the next chapter.
Victoria Stoughton: Yeah.
Dave Jones: Yeah.
Victoria Stoughton: Yeah. Yeah, I mean I still remember the I think the first house we did an inspection on, like, you know, you walk through a house, you try to see as much as you can, but like I'm not
going in the crawl space. I'm not taking the electrical switches off the walls to look at the wiring. I'm not going in the attic. That's like why we have our inspection. But there was a lot that seemed like it would be fine. And then after we did our inspection, it was, I mean, I think close to thirty thousand dollars worth of work that it needed pretty immediately. For it to be safe and for it to be like not any major things she was gonna have to take care of. And we had an agent on the other side who was pretty much like, no. It was just no. It was, and that was that's the suckiest call to have to make as an agent to say like they're just not willing to do anything. And what do you want to do? Like that's really
Dave Jones: Yeah.
Victoria Stoughton: hard. and then I felt like the second one we got under contract on. I really thought, okay, this is it. You know, they had disclosed all the right things. We felt really confident. It was a super cool house, super cool lot. And then we discovered something really major under the house that was not an endeavor that I recommended that Shelby take on. So by the time we got to the third, we felt, I think, I don't know. I felt like we felt like pros navigating it together.
Dave Jones: Yeah, Shelby, were you like in your feelings after that? I mean you mentioned like yeah, what would you tell buyers that are out there looking right now that you know should 'cause I mean, yeah, you f you picture yourself in a house, you're like walking through it, 'cause I'm I'm like that 'cause I like every house. I probably step in like, I go, I could see myself here. I'm terrible when it comes to that. But like, how is that for you emotionally, like going through that whole process?
Shelbi: It was really hard. I definitely had one day where I was like crying and having like a little baby crash out and was like, Victoria, I feel like I'm wasting your time. We keep putting in offers on all these houses. It had been like two months, I think, at that point, and we still hadn't found my house. but Victoria was super reassuring. I think the reason that I had the stamina to go through all of those different offers and viewings was because I felt like Victoria wanted me to buy a house, not like she wanted to make a sale.
Dave Jones: Yeah. Yeah. That's dope. And did you do some
Victoria Stoughton: Yeah.
Dave Jones: counseling? You did some counseling, Victoria?
Victoria Stoughton: I mean, yeah, I think that anytime you're working with humans and they have feelings, there's bound to be excitement and disappointment and just all the different things and and to just You want, I mean, I can't speak for other agents, I want it just as bad as my client does. And so knowing that disappointment is so real and just
Dave Jones: Mm-hmm.
Victoria Stoughton: it sucks to feel like this wasn't it, and then the next one wasn't it. And I always just tell my clients, you know, you're gonna end up where you're supposed to. It's a little woo-woo, but I really believe it, and it's all gonna work out for a reason. and some of that comes from, you know, when my husband and I bought in 2020, it was insane. We would offer on houses we didn't even like just to like maybe get under contract.
Dave Jones: Hm. Yep.
Victoria Stoughton: And the house we ended up on, ended up getting, we almost didn't get it. Was this whole thing? So I always use my personal experience too, is you know, I promise you you're gonna end up where you're supposed to, and it may suck
Dave Jones: Mm.
Victoria Stoughton: a little along the way, but you really I promise you, like you're gonna find your home. I'm not gonna give up.
Dave Jones: Shelby, did you believe her she was saying stuff like that? Like, did you did you were at some point were you just like, is this ever gonna happen?
Shelbi: No, I did. I remember one time you had gotten a hold of it was that tiny house in North End that had like the big beautiful yard. And they
Victoria Stoughton: Yes.
Shelbi: were accepting offers up until that night. And Victoria called me and was like, Do you want to go now? Are you free? I can go now. And so I just always knew that she was gonna be there for me. yes, I felt like it was going to happen. It was just a matter of like when and how.
Victoria Stoughton: Yeah.
Dave Jones: Mm-hmm. Yeah, that's good. Cause I I mean it can feel hopeless sometimes. I mean that's a lot, like
Victoria Stoughton: Yeah.
Dave Jones: you said, it's a big life change. Like, I don't know, it's a lot. Like you're talking about buying a whole a whole house and living in a whole different area and yeah, I don't know. Just it's a lot.
Victoria Stoughton: Yeah.
Dave Jones: so what was the like Shelby, what was the hardest part of the process to you? Outside of like the that part that we just talked about.
Shelbi: Yeah, I think the hardest part Like was probably the emotional stuff that came with it because the logistical stuff I felt very supported on and there wasn't a moment where I was unsure, confused, or didn't know what was happening. Victoria helped me pick out a lender too, and the lender was so responsive. I didn't understand how she was living a life and also doing her job with how much effort she was putting in. We didn't get a hold of her for like an hour one time and that was super unusual. Because she's usually like immediate response. But I think the hardest part for me was feeling like I was competing against people who were trying to profit off of the city I live in that I'm from, and the moments where I couldn't compete with them and their offer was accepted over mine because they have the resources.
Dave Jones: Yep. Man, that's that's that's deep.
Victoria Stoughton: Yeah. Mm-hmm.
Dave Jones: That's a deal.
Victoria Stoughton: Yeah, we went up, I think, a few different times against investors, and that was really hard. There would it either be the house would be great for a rental or it would be a big plot of land that maybe they could
build other houses on. And so I think that was that felt hard too, just in where I was, because I was like, these people aren't even gonna live in this house. I have someone who wants to live in this house and make a life here. And Yeah, I think that getting beat out by investors is always kind of a tricky feeling because it feels so so emotional for us and less emotional for them. I'm guessing. I don't know. Mm-hmm. Just a guess. Yeah.
Shelbi: Yeah.
Dave Jones: Just a g j j just a guess. so I guess Shelby, what would you tell someone that's sitting, you know, that was in your shoes? Like you bought so this was about a year ago. It's almost your house of versus too. I I'm sorry, I stole your thunder victory on that one, but I wanna make sure we got it in there. So congratulations
Victoria Stoughton: Yes. That's okay.
Dave Jones: on that. But what would you tell someone and and it's a whole different market right now also, anyway, but What would you tell someone that was sitting in your shoes at that time? Like what what what kind of advice would you give them? I mean, you're they're listening right now, so yeah, what would
Victoria Stoughton: Mm-hmm.
Dave Jones: you tell them?
Shelbi: So Victoria actually helped my best friend buy a house pretty shortly after I did. And the thing that I told her and the thing I've told other people who've asked me about the home buyer process is that it really is the person that you do it with because the experience of finding your home is the thing that's gonna be the hardest. And yes, there's always gonna be like barriers to being able to buy buy a home in general, but I think the people that you do it with are the most important part. I did not feel like I was a client. I felt like I was like we were in a partnership and we were on a mission together.
Dave Jones: That's cool. I know. I was yeah, that's dope. We did not pay her to say this, ladies and gentlemen. We did not say that was not a paid advertisement or nothing.
Victoria Stoughton: makes me so happy. That's so sweet. Yeah. We didn't at all. No.
Shelbi: I couldn't wait to write my review. was like waiting
Dave Jones: so
Victoria Stoughton: It's so nice.
Shelbi: to close on the house so I could be like, we did it, here's my review.
Victoria Stoughton: So sweet. Thank you.
Dave Jones: Victoria, what'd you learn from from the this journey?
Victoria Stoughton: I just think that I think that first-time homebuyers are just truly my favorite clientele because they're so determined. especially I think if there's any type of feeling like like Shelby said about like I want to be able to live where I grew up, I want to be able to live in my community. There's there's
Dave Jones: Mm. Yeah.
Victoria Stoughton: a level of like grit determination that
Dave Jones: Yeah.
Victoria Stoughton: I just really respect and I really appreciate and it does make me want to just Like be on that mission to find you that place, and I think that being a homeowner can change your life in so many ways, whether it's financial or just the security, or you're in control of your floor, or just whatever. and watching I think Shelby's vision come to life was so cool. Like I said, she the day she moved in started ripping up flooring and painting and doing all these things. And I remember when I got to stop by the house a couple months later and And it was just this feeling of you made this a home. And that is and that's such a just super special thing to be a part of. And so I don't know if it was anything particularly new, but just reinforced a lot of things that I feel passionately about.
Dave Jones: Yeah, that's man, so you did all all kind of work when you got in there. Is that something that did you expect that as a buyer? Like going in?
Shelbi: Yeah, with my price point, I definitely expected that I was gonna have to do some work. The good thing was with my house it was mostly appearance type work. All the systems in the house were in great condition. It was a rental that was maintained really well. But it was a family that live a large family that lived there for fifteen years and they had multiple kids, dogs, so the space had really you know, they lived in it. So
Victoria Stoughton: Mm-hmm.
Shelbi: there was a lot of stuff that needed to be replaced. updated but yeah.
Dave Jones: Yes. Applesauce to a boss, right? You took care of it.
Victoria Stoughton: Yeah. Yeah. She really did. And I am not a handy person, so I am always just also super impressed with handy people. And that
Dave Jones: Yeah.
Victoria Stoughton: she can pulled up in her van and she was just ready to go. And it was Yeah, Shelby did it all. Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Dave Jones: you did it all? what? Shoot, you hi you for hire? People gonna people can hire you?
Shelbi: Mm-hmm, yeah.
Victoria Stoughton: Yeah. And shout out to Heather Hendricks. That was Shelby's lender. And she's a friend of the office. And and yeah, after Shelby closed, within an hour she was sending us pictures of this is what was under that carpet, this was what was under that floor. And it was just really cool. Yeah.
Dave Jones: That's that's fun. Yeah, that's fun. As someone who's been through multiple home remodels, it's it's always fun to just see, yeah, to just make it your yours, you know, and make upgrades and stuff like that. But
Victoria Stoughton: Yeah.
Dave Jones: so thank you for coming on. And that's do you have anything else that's a burning desire to tell people about buying a home or part of your story? Any of you?
Shelbi: Just that I recommend Victoria. I've already recommended her to a couple other people.
Dave Jones: Yeah.
Shelbi: if we should be No.
Victoria Stoughton: Again we did not pay her to say this at all.
Dave Jones: Yeah.
Shelbi: I recommend Victoria, like a hundred percent, ten toes down.
Dave Jones: Okay. That's what's up. Thank you. I have
Victoria Stoughton: Thank you, friend. Thank you.
Dave Jones: one last well, maybe a couple of maybe a question. We'll see where
it goes. But this
Victoria Stoughton: Yeah.
Dave Jones: is probably the most serious question of of the podcast. Like, I have to know since y'all both are from, you know, around here, what's the best burger spot if you eat burgers?
Victoria Stoughton: Man well
Dave Jones: And it doesn't have to be the best for everyone else, just what do
Victoria Stoughton: Sure.
Dave Jones: what is your preferred best?
Victoria Stoughton: Yeah, I'm ready to go. Shelby, do you want another minute? Okay. Wooden City hands down. They can
Dave Jones: Mm.
Victoria Stoughton: sponsor me for this post if they would like to. all
Dave Jones: Ha ha.
Victoria Stoughton: they have the best burger and the best fries, and it is probably our favorite like date night spot, and we always, always, always get a burger, either each or to share. Mm-hmm. Yeah, Wooden City knows what's up.
Dave Jones: okay. Shout out to Wooden City. Show me what you got.
Shelbi: I don't know if I'm saying the name right. Radnor's on South Tacoma Way. Yeah. Yeah.
Dave Jones: Yeah.
Victoria Stoughton: yeah, the smash burgers? Okay.
Shelbi: I'm vegan, so I eat obviously like not meat burgers, but Radnor's
Dave Jones: Yeah.
Victoria Stoughton: Mm-hmm.
Shelbi: has the best as far as like taste and price point. You're not paying like an extra four dollars because you want some alternative. They're delicious.
Dave Jones: Yeah. Do they have a do they have a cause I don't eat beef either, so do they have like a veggie option? What Hey,
Shelbi: They sure do. Yep.
Victoria Stoughton: Alright, field trip. Abode field trip.
Dave Jones: I might have to make the move. Yeah. I think
Victoria Stoughton: Ha ha ha
Dave Jones: I think Wooden City has a burger as well. Like a Yeah, yeah, I think I've had that one. It was good. It was good. But
Victoria Stoughton: They do too. Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Dave Jones: I think I might have to try the Smash, the Smash Burger. You know what I have not tried that I think they do I was told they have vegan option is secret burger kitchen. I have yet to be there yet.
Victoria Stoughton: I haven't been there yet. Okay.
Dave Jones: So yeah, that's a whole different vibe because they have like the I don't know. As far as I know, I've never been, but they have like the sauce that you put in I don't know. Anyway, I need to go try it. Apparently. It's all about the sauce.
Victoria Stoughton: It's all about the sauce. That's so important for your burger. Mm-hmm.
Dave Jones: All right. Well, thank y'all for coming on and making time today on this fine,
Victoria Stoughton: Yeah.
Dave Jones: well, fall sunny, crisp day. And
Victoria Stoughton: Yep.
Dave Jones: yeah, I appreciate I appreciate you shall be taking the time and telling us about your your your journey because I think that's gonna help a lot of people. Like I don't I know you don't feel like it might not, but I I know you do the work, but like people listening, I think it's gonna be important for people to hear your version
Victoria Stoughton: Yeah.
Dave Jones: of of what this felt like. So it's important. So thank you. Yeah. And thank you for all the other work that you do. And
Victoria Stoughton: Thank you, Shelby. Yeah. Yeah.
Shelbi: Thank you. Thank you.
Dave Jones: and then thank you, Victoria. How can people get in touch with you if they wanted to?
Victoria Stoughton: I feel like last time I just gave my phone number, I'll just do that again. You can call or text me at 253-677-1909. I'm also on the Abode website. And if you find me on Instagram, it's Victoria Takes Tacoma.
Dave Jones: All right, cool. And with that, ladies and gentlemen, hopefully you got something out of that conversation. And we will be back next time for another episode of Inside Abode. Remember to like, subscribe, say what's up, whatever. Hit me up at David Jones at Winmere dot com if you have any topics or anything you want me to cover. And with that, we'll be see you next time. All right, peace.
Victoria Stoughton: Sounds