Pod Insights Smart Money Happy Hour with Rachel Cruze and George Kamel Rage-Baiting Ourselves With America’s Shocking Home Prices About this episode 🏡 Get organized to buy or sell your home with our Real Estate Home Base.
If you love an episode of House Hunters or The Price Is Right (or if you’re just nosy about other people’s property value), today’s episode is a must! Plus, Rachel’s husband Winston is here to join the fun and share his real estate expertise.
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Today’s Happy Hour Special: 🍹 Ranch Water
Recipe by: Liquor.com
· 1 1/2 ounces blanco tequila
· 1/2 ounce fresh lime juice
· 6 ounces Topo Chico
Instructions: Add all ingredients to a highball glass filled with ice, gently stir to combine. Garnish with a lime wedge.
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Transcript 11,867 words · 3 speakers
Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.
0:05 George Kamel? If you love House Hunters, The Price is Right, or Winston Cruz, you're gonna love today's episode. If you love all three, chef's kiss. I've turned a breaker off or two in my day.
0:14 Rachel Cruze? I've turned... Have you ever?
0:16 George Kamel? Flip on, flip off.
0:17 Rachel Cruze? Flip a breaker.
0:19 Speaker 02 The trim package has to match.
0:20 George Kamel? You like big baseboards and you cannot lie.
0:22 Speaker 02 If it matches the...
0:23 George Kamel? Is that something you would say?
0:30 Rachel Cruze? Hey guys, I'm Rachel Cruz.
0:32 George Kamel? I'm George Kamel.
0:33 Speaker 02 And I'm Winston Cruz.
0:34 Rachel Cruze? And this is... Smart Money Happy Hour. Cheers.
0:39 George Kamel? Cheers.
0:39 Speaker 02 Oh, sorry, wasn't ready.
0:41 George Kamel? You forget?
0:41 Rachel Cruze? Get the cup.
0:42 George Kamel? Have you never seen the show, Winston?
0:43 Speaker 02 Ah, I just, um...
0:49 George Kamel? It's fine.
0:50 Speaker 02 Yeah, I have.
0:51 George Kamel? I know you consume a lot of content.
0:52 Rachel Cruze? No pressure, no pressure. Well, this is the show where two friends who happen to be money experts talk about what you're talking about. Everything from pop culture, current events, and money.
1:01 George Kamel? Let's talk about what we're sipping on. I believe this was a Winston Cruz request?
1:04 Rachel Cruze? Yes.
1:05 George Kamel? We let him choose the drink today.
1:06 Rachel Cruze? I texted you, I said, "What?"
1:08 Speaker 02 I did, it's a long list of sugar-free's.
1:10 Rachel Cruze? Sugar-free cocktails.
1:11 George Kamel? And we landed on one of my favorites. Great taste, my friend.
1:14 Speaker 02 Oh, good.
1:15 George Kamel? A ranch water. It's a great cocktail, a classic, very clean. We're gonna give you our rating and reveal the cost per glass at the end of the episode, so stick around for that. All right, it only made sense to have the real estate king himself join us today. This is your life, all right? Whether you wanted it to be this way or not, you've been in the real estate game for how long?
1:35 Speaker 02 Uh, 15 years.
1:36 George Kamel? Amazing, and for a long time, and partially now, you handled Dave Ramsey's real estate.
1:41 Speaker 02 Right.
1:42 George Kamel? That's pretty impressive. And now you've been doing it on your own? And even getting some house flipping, is that right?
1:47 Speaker 02 Yep, doing a little house flipping, still doing some development and property management.
1:53 George Kamel? Do you actually swing like a sledgehammer at a drywall? Is that just for TV?
1:56 Speaker 02 I did, yeah, I did, until I realized they could do it in a day and it would take me weeks to, you know, do the demo, so...
2:03 George Kamel? With like, equipment? Or just they're stronger than you?
2:06 Speaker 02 Uh, they're just more efficient.
2:09 George Kamel? Okay.
2:10 Speaker 02 Just more efficient.
2:10 George Kamel? You're more haphazard with it.
2:12 Rachel Cruze? You did get a sledgehammer.
2:13 Speaker 02 Yeah, I did for Christmas, actually. That's pretty good. I got a crowbar.
2:18 Speaker 02 And then I watched, and then I watched them do it.
2:20 George Kamel? Where do you buy a crowbar without them like?
2:22 Speaker 02 Home Depot, just, there's a, do you have a Home Depot?
2:26 George Kamel? I do, but if I, if I went for a crowbar, there'd be police outside. I'm like, what does this guy need a crowbar? He clearly doesn't know what to do with it other than break into a car.
2:34 Speaker 02 You'd be surprised. When you hold it, all of a sudden, you just know.
2:37 George Kamel? You transform.
2:37 Speaker 02 You will. Try it, try it, try it.
2:39 Rachel Cruze? The spirit takes over.
2:40 George Kamel? Well, for those of you who don't know, Winston is Rachel's husband.
2:44 Rachel Cruze? Yes.
2:44 George Kamel? Cruz, same last name.
2:46 Rachel Cruze? Same last name.
2:46 George Kamel? Relation.
2:47 Rachel Cruze? Thanks for coming, babe.
2:48 Speaker 02 No, thank you all for being here.
2:49 Rachel Cruze? Yeah, we wanted to do-
2:50 Speaker 02 Thanks for doing this show.
2:51 Rachel Cruze? Yeah, you're welcome.
2:52 George Kamel? Well, honestly, every time you're on, it juices the numbers. So we're like, let's get Winston back on, baby.
2:56 Speaker 02 I know. My rate just went way up. Thanks for telling me.
2:59 George Kamel? You got paid for this?
3:00 Speaker 02 No.
3:00 George Kamel? Okay, good.
3:01 Rachel Cruze? Well, we did. We talked about doing a real estate episode. And knowing that you're in the market a lot, whether it's the development side, residential side. And so we were like, okay, let's have some fun with this. And we love a game. You know, I love games.
3:15 Speaker 02 Oh, yeah.
3:15 George Kamel? Because she's competitive and has a need to win constantly. Is that fair?
3:19 Speaker 02 Yeah, you'll, yeah, yes. I was gonna say you'll see, but you completely know. There's whiteboards here.
3:25 Rachel Cruze? We are, we are ready for the game.
3:27 George Kamel? Luckily, I'm, I'm just the game show host today. It's you two against each other.
3:31 Speaker 02 And the pressure's on me, because you introduced me with the title of a real estate king.
3:35 George Kamel? Guru, is that a better term?
3:38 Speaker 02 I practice real estate.
3:39 George Kamel? You know your baseboards. I'll say that.
3:41 Speaker 02 I practice real estate. That's what, that's why they call it practicing.
3:43 George Kamel? You know your crown molding.
3:44 Rachel Cruze? You know your baseboards, don't you?
3:45 Speaker 02 I do.
3:48 George Kamel? I like a man who knows his baseboards.
3:50 Speaker 02 So anyways, the pressure's on, because, you know, Rachel, she might, she's probably gonna-
3:54 Rachel Cruze? I'm pretty good, too.
3:55 Speaker 02 Yeah, she's pretty good.
3:56 George Kamel? Yeah, she's a good guesser.
3:57 Rachel Cruze? I'm not as detailed.
3:58 Speaker 02 She just goes straight from the gut.
4:00 George Kamel? But her gut is usually right. I like it. Well, uh-
4:03 Rachel Cruze? It's called intuition, fellas.
4:05 George Kamel? If you've watched Game Show Network, HGTV in the early 2000s, we're basically doing this triple feature of Price is Right meets Newlywed Game meets House Hunters.
4:15 Rachel Cruze? This is fun.
4:15 George Kamel? You in?
4:16 Speaker 02 I'm here.
4:17 George Kamel? Stakes are high.
4:18 Speaker 02 You're not going back now.
4:20 George Kamel? All right.
4:21 Rachel Cruze? What's the game, George?
4:22 Speaker 02 Yeah, is there a prize?
4:23 George Kamel? Our team found eight house listings. And I have the price and the location. You two do not. And you two have pictures of each house. That's all you are going off of. Is pictures of the house. You gotta guess where those homes are in the country and how much they're going for.
4:40 Rachel Cruze? Okay, I think, not to be the boss of this, I think we get the state. Isn't that correct? Okay.
4:46 Speaker 02 Can you give us a hint?
4:46 Rachel Cruze? You tell us the state, we do the city and the state.
4:48 George Kamel? I'll give you the state.
4:49 Rachel Cruze? Yeah.
4:50 George Kamel? I'll do that. All right. Eight rounds. You can ask for three hints and I will reveal a clue to help you build context.
4:56 Rachel Cruze? Oh, that's fun.
4:57 George Kamel? So there's a little bit of a phone a friend.
4:58 Rachel Cruze? Okay.
4:58 George Kamel? I don't want to see you struggle. They do, the audience, but I would never.
5:01 Rachel Cruze? No, you're so generous, George.
5:03 Speaker 02 Yeah, you're so kind.
5:04 George Kamel? All right. Let's get to it. Our first house, should we say the state? Shall we? Is in South Carolina.
5:10 Rachel Cruze? Okay, I need you to give, there's pictures. You tell me which house you're talking about.
5:14 George Kamel? Am I giving it to you?
5:15 Rachel Cruze? Okay, perfect. Is this it?
5:16 George Kamel? You can handle the cards I'm drawing.
5:18 Rachel Cruze? Okay, here we go.
5:19 George Kamel? I don't think I need to hand you the cards.
5:21 Rachel Cruze? Oh, okay.
5:21 George Kamel? Yeah, they're in order. The team did all the work for you.
5:23 Rachel Cruze? Oh, this is beautiful.
5:25 George Kamel? You just sit there, enjoy yourself.
5:27 Rachel Cruze? Be the podcast princess that I am.
5:29 George Kamel? Okay. So the audience, we've got the picture up on the screen for the audience. This home is in South Carolina. You have to guess the city.
5:36 Rachel Cruze? That's pretty.
5:37 George Kamel? And the price.
5:38 Rachel Cruze? Okay. Oh, no, I'm a bad, I'm a bad speller.
5:41 Speaker 02 I did kind of want to grade on spelling, but.
5:43 Rachel Cruze? No, don't.
5:46 Rachel Cruze? Okay, and I'm gonna say.
5:47 Speaker 02 Wow.
5:47 George Kamel? It looks renovated.
5:48 Rachel Cruze? No, not fun. Is it, is it the spelling?
5:52 Speaker 02 No, no, it's the city.
5:53 Rachel Cruze? Baby, it's spelled correct.
5:54 Speaker 02 I would never have thought of that.
5:55 Rachel Cruze? Well, because I think it's gonna be obscure. I'm like, I could go Charleston, but I think that's like too obvious. So I'm gonna go like a little different.
6:02 George Kamel? Okay.
6:03 Rachel Cruze? Different route.
6:03 Speaker 02 Interesting psychology.
6:04 Rachel Cruze? And I'm gonna go.
6:08 Rachel Cruze? All right, y'all, I know nothing about real estate as I'm doing this. Okay, I got it.
6:13 Speaker 02 Can we do closest without going over?
6:14 Rachel Cruze? Can I ask how many bedrooms?
6:16 George Kamel? You may.
6:16 Rachel Cruze? Okay.
6:17 George Kamel? This is one of your clues. Seven.
6:19 Rachel Cruze? Oh, crap.
6:21 George Kamel? Don't judge a book by its cover.
6:23 Rachel Cruze? All right, all right.
6:25 George Kamel? Just race for answer.
6:27 Rachel Cruze? Okay.
6:28 George Kamel? Winston, I feel like you should get a hint, since she got one.
6:30 Speaker 02 Does it have like, year built?
6:33 George Kamel? Yeah, built in the 1830s.
6:35 Rachel Cruze? Oh, historic.
6:36 Speaker 02 Historic.
6:37 Rachel Cruze? Historic.
6:38 Speaker 02 Okay.
6:39 George Kamel? That is a part of history.
6:40 Rachel Cruze? Obviously renovated.
6:41 George Kamel? Obviously. I mean, you see the beautiful kitchen.
6:44 Speaker 02 Alright, let's do it.
6:45 Rachel Cruze? Y'all.
6:46 George Kamel? Alright. Let's see your guesses for this beautiful home in South Carolina. What's the cost?
6:50 Rachel Cruze? Okay, you went?
6:51 George Kamel? 1.1 million. Charleston. Charleston, okay, Rachel?
6:54 Rachel Cruze? Wilmington, South Carolina, 600.
6:57 George Kamel? Wow.
6:58 Rachel Cruze? Seven bedrooms is big.
7:01 Speaker 02 I did change one.
7:02 George Kamel? You think you can get a seven-bedroom house for 600,000 dollars?
7:05 Rachel Cruze? In Wilmington, I do.
7:07 George Kamel? Okay, that's true. Well, our winner for this round...
7:11 Rachel Cruze? What?
7:13 George Kamel? Yeah, I didn't want to say anything, but there is no Wilmington, South Carolina.
7:17 Speaker 02 This is great. This is getting better.
7:19 George Kamel? I didn't want to kick her while she was down. She was already so far off.
7:22 Speaker 02 I don't know how this is gonna get better. This is gonna be, this is gonna be great.
7:26 George Kamel? To be fair, on The Ramsey Show this week, she said...
7:29 Rachel Cruze? Alright, in Armadillo, Texas, we have Katrina on the line.
7:34 George Kamel? And I went, it says Amarillo.
7:42 George Kamel? There was no D in there. How'd she get Armadillo? So, just, I want to make, it's actually a point to Rachel. She's just not good with cities. So I don't dog her for Wilmington, South Carolina. You don't get a negative point for that.
7:56 Rachel Cruze? Dad gummit, y'all. I thought...
7:57 Speaker 02 That's funny.
7:58 Rachel Cruze? I'm really going big here. Dad gummit, South Carolina. Okay, stop. Okay, how about, um...
8:04 George Kamel? Were you changing your answer?
8:05 Rachel Cruze? I'm changing my city, yes, because it doesn't exist. It doesn't exist.
8:08 George Kamel? Okay, how about this? What if I told you?
8:09 Rachel Cruze? Stop, stop, stop. I got it, I got it.
8:11 George Kamel? Oh, you do? She's got it.
8:12 Rachel Cruze? I got it.
8:14 George Kamel? I thought you wanted another hint.
8:15 Rachel Cruze? I got it.
8:16 George Kamel? That might help.
8:17 Speaker 02 We get three hints per...
8:18 Rachel Cruze? Okay.
8:19 Speaker 02 House?
8:19 Rachel Cruze? How about this?
8:20 George Kamel? Three hints per house. They're making up the rules as they go.
8:22 Speaker 02 What is this?
8:23 Rachel Cruze? Greenville.
8:23 George Kamel? Oh, that is in South Carolina. You're right.
8:27 Speaker 02 Good job.
8:27 Rachel Cruze? Perfect.
8:29 Rachel Cruze? This feels right.
8:30 George Kamel? I'm gonna undeduct the point.
8:31 Speaker 02 Shout out to Greenville.
8:32 Rachel Cruze? Okay.
8:32 Speaker 02 I think there's an E in between the...
8:34 Rachel Cruze? Thank you.
8:35 George Kamel? I didn't want to say anything.
8:35 Rachel Cruze? Okay, I got... Really? G-R-E-E-N-E?
8:38 George Kamel? You know what? I don't think there's an E. I think Rachel's right on this one.
8:41 Rachel Cruze? That looks off. Thank you. Okay.
8:42 George Kamel? Negative one point for Winston.
8:43 Rachel Cruze? Yeah.
8:44 Speaker 02 Minus one.
8:45 Rachel Cruze? Okay, I got it. Okay.
8:46 Speaker 02 This has been the longest round.
8:48 Rachel Cruze? Okay.
8:48 George Kamel? Wow. We're gonna be here all day.
8:51 Rachel Cruze? Alright, I got it. I got it. I got it.
8:53 Speaker 02 Okay.
8:54 Rachel Cruze? Here we go. Okay.
8:55 George Kamel? Still wrong, but love the effort.
8:56 Rachel Cruze? Okay. Is it Charleston?
8:58 George Kamel? It is.
8:58 Rachel Cruze? That gummit.
8:59 George Kamel? So Charleston is correct. Winston wins... He wins this round. He is way off on the price.
9:05 Rachel Cruze? Ooh.
9:06 George Kamel? Multiply that by about four.
9:07 Speaker 02 Oh my gosh.
9:09 George Kamel? Four million dollars for this beautiful historic home.
9:13 Rachel Cruze? Yeah.
9:13 Speaker 02 Wow.
9:13 George Kamel? Charleston, South Carolina. Coming in at seven beds, seven baths.
9:17 Rachel Cruze? Golly.
9:17 George Kamel? Forty-four hundred square feet. It's got a carriage house and a pool.
9:20 Rachel Cruze? Oh, good night, house.
9:22 George Kamel? Can I tell you? When I saw the red knobs on the oven, I went, "This is at least a $2 million house."
9:28 Rachel Cruze? Yeah.
9:28 Speaker 02 Oh, didn't see those. Well done.
9:30 George Kamel? You gotta focus in on the details, guys.
9:32 Rachel Cruze? Mm-hmm.
9:32 George Kamel? To be fair, we're looking at tiny, like, printed off art and crafts.
9:37 Speaker 02 Really well done, though.
9:38 George Kamel? One-megapixel photos. Couldn't have given them an iPad or something?
9:42 Speaker 02 Really well done.
9:42 George Kamel? To zoom in around?
9:44 Rachel Cruze? We're low budget here. We gotta pay Winston's fee. We gotta save money on this episode.
9:47 Speaker 02 That's right.
9:48 Rachel Cruze? It's fun. Okay. What's our next one?
9:50 Speaker 02 My show has a lot better quality.
9:56 Rachel Cruze? Alright, next up.
9:57 Speaker 02 Oh, boy.
9:58 George Kamel? We're headed to Kentucky.
10:00 Rachel Cruze? We got Kentucky. How many bedrooms?
10:03 George Kamel? Four beds.
10:06 Rachel Cruze? Okay.
10:08 George Kamel? Can I see the picture of that?
10:09 Rachel Cruze? I like the red door.
10:11 George Kamel? Yeah, that's accurate. Okay.
10:12 Speaker 02 I mean, like, the gutters are falling off.
10:14 Rachel Cruze? Well, see? Details, babe. You got it.
10:16 Speaker 02 Now, George... Yeah, George's got me thinking now.
10:19 Rachel Cruze? Okay, I'm gonna say...
10:20 George Kamel? The doors are falling off?
10:22 Speaker 02 The gutters.
10:24 George Kamel? Oh. See, that's the kind of detail Winston brings to the show.
10:29 Speaker 02 George, stop.
10:30 George Kamel? How do you... How do you even see that on this tiny image? And it's got a little basement?
10:37 George Kamel? All right. Clearly, they got some new fixtures in there.
10:40 Rachel Cruze? Actually, I'm gonna change this. I'm gonna change the location.
10:43 George Kamel? Oh.
10:45 Rachel Cruze? I like this.
10:46 George Kamel? Let me say this. You will never guess the location.
10:48 Rachel Cruze? Well, maybe what's closest to it wins.
10:50 Speaker 02 That's a hint.
10:51 Rachel Cruze? Whoever's closest to the location.
10:52 George Kamel? Sure, I'll pull up my Google Maps.
10:53 Rachel Cruze? Yeah, do it.
10:54 Speaker 02 We will never guess it?
10:55 George Kamel? I don't know every single city in Kentucky memorized by proximity.
11:00 Rachel Cruze? Okay.
11:01 George Kamel? All right. You guys ready?
11:03 Rachel Cruze? Yep.
11:04 George Kamel? What do you got?
11:05 Rachel Cruze? Oh, my gosh, babe, we have the same.
11:07 George Kamel? Lexington, Kentucky.
11:08 Rachel Cruze? I was gonna do Louisville.
11:09 George Kamel? Rachel said 300K, Winston said 550K. Correct answer, not in Lexington, it's in Danville, Kentucky.
11:16 Rachel Cruze? Okay.
11:17 George Kamel? Coming in at 275,000.
11:19 Speaker 02 Oh, well done.
11:21 Rachel Cruze? I did it.
11:24 George Kamel? Never seen someone so excited to be almost half right.
11:28 George Kamel? This is a beautiful four-bed, two-bath home, coming in at just over 2,000 square feet.
11:33 Rachel Cruze? Okay.
11:34 George Kamel? Clearly renovated, I can see by the fixtures there and the kitchen. You can see it's got some newer appliances.
11:41 Speaker 02 Like, kinda renovated.
11:42 George Kamel? Yeah, I mean, like, they did some...
11:44 Speaker 02 Like, 10 years ago.
11:44 George Kamel? Appliances and light fixtures, maybe some flooring. I can tell the basement has some new flooring, would you agree?
11:50 Speaker 02 I don't know, I'd put it down.
11:54 Rachel Cruze? What kind of floor is that, you think?
11:56 George Kamel? You think that's engineered?
11:58 Speaker 02 LVT, yeah, definitely. It's $200,000.
12:01 George Kamel? 275 in Danville, which, as the crow flies...
12:05 Rachel Cruze? Yeah, how far is that from Lexington?
12:06 George Kamel? Is south of Lexington.
12:07 Rachel Cruze? Okay, not bad, 60 miles?
12:09 George Kamel? Uh, not even.
12:11 Rachel Cruze? Okay.
12:12 George Kamel? 36 miles, so less than an hour drive.
12:14 Rachel Cruze? Okay, I think we could say Lexington.
12:15 George Kamel? And that's a, I mean, that's a nice house, like, 275 to...
12:19 Rachel Cruze? Sure.
12:20 George Kamel? Have a four-bedroom home.
12:21 Rachel Cruze? Raise that family.
12:21 George Kamel? Because people always go, well, Rachel, I mean, the median home price is over 400,000. Can't get anything for that.
12:26 Rachel Cruze? Not in Danville.
12:27 Speaker 02 Not in Danville.
12:27 George Kamel? Move to Danville, guys.
12:28 Speaker 02 Or Wilmington, South Carolina.
12:31 George Kamel? A new city coming to you from Rachel. To be fair, we don't know that there isn't Wilmington, South Carolina.
12:38 Rachel Cruze? There might be.
12:39 George Kamel? Wilmington.
12:39 Rachel Cruze? You never know.
12:40 George Kamel? No, there isn't. There's in Massachusetts, Illinois, Delaware, Ohio, Vermont. You could have guessed any of those.
12:47 Rachel Cruze? I know.
12:48 George Kamel? All right.
12:48 Rachel Cruze? Okay, next up.
12:49 George Kamel? Up next, we're headed to Michigan.
12:51 Rachel Cruze? We're going to Michigan.
12:53 George Kamel? A ways away.
12:54 Rachel Cruze? Okay.
12:55 George Kamel? This is an interesting, this looks like a little hobbit home. It's giving shire.
13:00 Rachel Cruze? It's cute.
13:02 Speaker 02 I had a joke.
13:03 George Kamel? What do you call that Winston? That kind of low slant?
13:06 Speaker 02 Like a George home.
13:07 George Kamel? Okay, you know what? It was my idea to have you on the show. And it'll be my idea next time to not have you.
13:16 Speaker 02 You can cut it, cut it. I don't know, it's fine.
13:18 George Kamel? No, it's fine. I do like that it looks a little more my size.
13:23 Speaker 02 It is cute.
13:24 Rachel Cruze? It is cute.
13:25 George Kamel? Interesting chimney.
13:26 Speaker 02 The Keebler door is about to pop out.
13:27 George Kamel? It does give Keebler, you're right.
13:29 Speaker 02 It's giving Keebler.
13:31 Rachel Cruze? With the color.
13:32 Speaker 02 The city is the hardest part.
13:34 Rachel Cruze? I know.
13:34 Speaker 02 It changes everything.
13:36 George Kamel? Yeah, you're, again, you're not gonna guess the city.
13:38 Speaker 02 Okay.
13:38 George Kamel? It's one of those cities where I'm like, yeah, I remember that exists, but it would never.
13:42 Rachel Cruze? Have thought about it.
13:43 Speaker 02 Right.
13:43 Rachel Cruze? Yeah, then it's probably not this one. Okay, I'm gonna go.
13:47 George Kamel? I'm giving you that, that's a free hint. That one's on me.
13:50 Speaker 02 I'll just go with the biggest city in Michigan.
13:52 Rachel Cruze? We went two different ones, babe. Okay, ready?
13:54 George Kamel? You going state capital?
13:56 Speaker 02 Alright.
13:57 George Kamel? Alright. Wow, almost the same price point.
14:00 Speaker 02 Oh, really?
14:00 George Kamel? Rachel said Grand Rapids.
14:02 Rachel Cruze? 300.
14:02 George Kamel? 300 grand. Winston said Detroit, 305 grand. Very Price is Right of you. You're both wrong. It is in Saginaw, Michigan.
14:10 Rachel Cruze? Wow. Was that closer to Grand Rapids or?
14:13 George Kamel? Again, you're making me do all the work.
14:15 Rachel Cruze? Well, why not? Just see.
14:16 George Kamel? Where the heck is Saginaw?
14:18 Rachel Cruze? Yeah, see where that is and then.
14:20 George Kamel? If you live in Saginaw or are watching this right now, shout out.
14:23 Rachel Cruze? And how much is it?
14:24 George Kamel? The price point is $99,000.
14:27 Rachel Cruze? No.
14:28 George Kamel? Less than 100 grand.
14:30 Rachel Cruze? Stop it.
14:30 George Kamel? And this can't, is, am I looking at the right house? Five bed, one and a half bath, just under 2,000 square feet.
14:38 Rachel Cruze? One and a half bath and five beds.
14:39 George Kamel? Can you agree Winston, that five bedrooms in a 2,000 square foot home is criminal?
14:45 Speaker 02 I don't see any bedrooms. It's like, unless they're sleeping in the living room.
14:48 George Kamel? They did you dirty on that one to not show you any of the bedrooms.
14:51 Rachel Cruze? Well, sometimes how a bedroom is like tiny, you know what I mean? Like it's like.
14:53 George Kamel? Like a 10 by 10?
14:54 Rachel Cruze? Yeah, like a small little.
14:56 George Kamel? What is an, I mean, 10 by 10 is a pretty small room.
14:58 Speaker 02 That's small.
14:58 George Kamel? Yeah, that's like my childhood home, I think, was a 10 by 10 situation.
15:02 Rachel Cruze? $99,000?
15:04 Speaker 02 There you go.
15:05 George Kamel? Apparently.
15:06 Rachel Cruze? Okay, where is it geographically?
15:07 George Kamel? Saginaw.
15:09 Speaker 02 I missed it by 5,000 dollars. I'm losing.
15:14 George Kamel? 500,000?
15:15 Speaker 02 $5,000.
15:16 George Kamel? Oh, 5,000.
15:17 Speaker 02 Yeah, it's two to one.
15:20 George Kamel? Rachel's technically closer.
15:21 Rachel Cruze? Oh, cuz I was closer.
15:22 George Kamel? Based on price.
15:23 Rachel Cruze? You went over.
15:23 George Kamel? Yep. I wasn't keeping score. That's not my style, but I'm glad someone is. Saginaw is about an hour 42 minutes, about 100 miles away from Detroit, if you go north.
15:33 Rachel Cruze? Okay, so Grand Rapids is further.
15:35 George Kamel? Yep.
15:35 Rachel Cruze? Okay, that's okay.
15:37 George Kamel? Here we go.
15:38 Rachel Cruze? All right, next up.
15:39 George Kamel? That was a tough one.
15:40 Rachel Cruze? Number four, California. Oh, this is beautiful.
15:44 George Kamel? All right, let's check out this.
15:45 Rachel Cruze? Okay, I got this one.
15:50 Rachel Cruze? Gosh, I'm going.
15:55 George Kamel? Wow.
15:56 Rachel Cruze? Okay.
15:56 George Kamel? This is really, that's a nice.
15:57 Rachel Cruze? That's beautiful. A-frame?
16:00 George Kamel? Yeah, we love an A-frame.
16:01 Rachel Cruze? We love an A-frame.
16:03 George Kamel? My OCD is very calmed by a nice, you know, symmetrical A-frame.
16:07 Rachel Cruze? Oh my gosh. It's so pretty.
16:11 George Kamel? All right, you ready?
16:12 Rachel Cruze? Yep.
16:13 George Kamel? Again, not a city you would've guessed, but let's see how close we are.
16:16 Rachel Cruze? I'm going Redding.
16:16 George Kamel? Redding?
16:17 Rachel Cruze? Yeah.
16:18 George Kamel? Interesting choice.
16:19 Rachel Cruze? And I'm going 3 million.
16:20 George Kamel? 3 million in Redding. Winston said Sacramento, 1.8 million. Wow. All right. It's in Crestline, California. It's $669,000.
16:31 Rachel Cruze? Wow.
16:33 George Kamel? Three beds, three baths, little over 1,800 square feet.
16:37 Rachel Cruze? Okay.
16:38 George Kamel? That's a shocking one. Now, let me see where Crestline is.
16:41 Rachel Cruze? Is that north? Northern?
16:43 George Kamel? Crestline, California. Let me see how far it is from Redding.
16:48 Rachel Cruze? Yes, thank you.
16:49 George Kamel? Rachel, ladies first. 9 hours and 28 minutes from Redding.
16:54 Speaker 02 It's a big state.
16:54 Rachel Cruze? California's a big state. It's long.
16:56 George Kamel? Wow, okay. Crestline is actually pretty close to LA. Near Riverside area.
17:02 Rachel Cruze? Wait, Southern California, it's only how much?
17:04 George Kamel? Um, it's $669,000. I mean, it looks like it's in the woods. I don't know how close it is to civilization.
17:09 Rachel Cruze? That's shocking. And it's like, really nice.
17:11 George Kamel? Winston's at Sacramento, which again is on the opposite side here.
17:14 Rachel Cruze? Mm-hmm.
17:15 George Kamel? That is 7 hours and 2 minutes, so technically Winston's closer.
17:17 Rachel Cruze? Okay, Winston's closer.
17:18 George Kamel? But who had the right, you had the lower price.
17:20 Rachel Cruze? Yeah, you got that one. That was a good one for you.
17:22 George Kamel? Crushing it.
17:23 Speaker 02 Wait, what? I don't know.
17:25 George Kamel? You were closer on proximity and price.
17:27 Rachel Cruze? Price and proximity.
17:28 Speaker 02 Oh, we're doing, we're grading both, location and price?
17:31 Rachel Cruze? Sure, we're making it up.
17:32 George Kamel? Sure.
17:32 Speaker 02 Okay.
17:33 Rachel Cruze? I think we should.
17:35 George Kamel? All right, next up, Nevada.
17:37 Rachel Cruze? Oh, look at this house.
17:40 George Kamel? Are you into it?
17:42 Rachel Cruze? Uh, uh, uh, no. It kind of is freaking me out a little bit.
17:46 George Kamel? Yeah.
17:47 Rachel Cruze? Okay, the bottom, look at the bo- look at the, look at the safe room. And is this like in the safe room? That whole thing? Look at that, y'all.
17:55 George Kamel? Have you ever seen?
17:56 Rachel Cruze? Y'all, this is a house in a house. All of that is underneath the house.
18:00 Speaker 02 I don't know what's happening in this house.
18:02 Rachel Cruze? That is sketchy.
18:04 George Kamel? You ever seen the movie Parasite?
18:06 Rachel Cruze? No.
18:07 George Kamel? Okay. Kind of reminds me.
18:08 Rachel Cruze? I did see, do you remember the, who's the guy? Okay, follow, follow, follow me, okay? Who's the guy that? He was in a caveman movie when we were kids. He was a caveman. And then he gained a ton of weight for a new role and then like got? And won an Oscar for it, who's that actor?
18:26 George Kamel? Oh.
18:27 Rachel Cruze? Brendan Fraser, yes.
18:28 George Kamel? Brendan Fraser.
18:29 Rachel Cruze? Brendan Fraser was in a movie.
18:32 George Kamel? Was Tarzan a caveman?
18:33 Rachel Cruze? No. No, no, no, not George, no. Encino Man, that's it. Encino Man. He was a caveman that they like? Brought back from like, have y'all seen Encino Man? Oh, that's a good one. That's a nineties. But he was also in a movie that they went underground because they thought an atomic bomb had like? Exploded, so they lived? Underground and then he came back up? As an adult. Have y'all seen that? And he like? Do what?
19:01 Rachel Cruze? This is that movie? Or no, no, this is like this situation. That's what I'm saying. Yeah, it's like, it's like a?
19:06 George Kamel? Oh.
19:07 Rachel Cruze? When the world? Is gone, you can live? Under here and you live in a whole? World, like your whole.
19:14 Speaker 02 You think that pool is underground?
19:15 Rachel Cruze? I do. Look at the roof. Yes. I genuinely think it's a, it's an entire?
19:21 George Kamel? Yeah, that makes sense.
19:22 Rachel Cruze? Okay, so I gotta think of how much that cost? For the sell of this house in Nevada.
19:27 Speaker 02 I'm not buying it.
19:29 Rachel Cruze? Buying the idea or buying the house?
19:32 Speaker 02 I'm not buying the price.
19:35 Speaker 02 Like, that's just a, that's like a pink elephant. That you're trying to sell.
19:39 Rachel Cruze? That is true. Okay, well, that's, that's your real estate line.
19:41 George Kamel? It's made for a very specific person.
19:44 Speaker 02 A caveman, apparently.
19:45 Rachel Cruze? Very specific.
19:46 George Kamel? I'm just shocked you went with Encino Man. I was thinking The Mummy, Bedazzled.
19:50 Rachel Cruze? Yeah, Encino Man. Do you remember that, though?
19:51 George Kamel? No. I never saw Encino Man.
19:53 Rachel Cruze? Y'all.
19:54 George Kamel? I was more with Bedazzled guy.
19:55 Rachel Cruze? Tyler, Tyler and me have seen it. I mean, did you ever see it, babe? It's one of those movies we watched as a kid that I was like, I probably shouldn't have watched it, but I did. He like went to high school and like, yeah, it's a great 90's movie.
20:06 Speaker 02 I do think out of all like the acting roles, that would have been pretty easy to do. You just like come out of the dirt and you're just like, huh.
20:12 Rachel Cruze? He did, yeah, that's how he was.
20:15 George Kamel? Prove it. Let's see you do it.
20:17 Rachel Cruze? That's how he was.
20:18 Speaker 02 Maybe, maybe she'll have me back.
20:19 George Kamel? All right. We got this house in Nevada. What's the price point? Where is it?
20:23 Rachel Cruze? Okay, I'm going Vegas, 1.3 million, just because of the elaborateness of what's happening.
20:28 George Kamel? Okay. I don't know if that's a word, but we'll take it. Winston said Las Vegas, 950. Rachel said Vegas, 1.3 million. Rachel wins this round. It is Las Vegas, but you way underestimated the price.
20:41 Rachel Cruze? Is it 3 million?
20:43 George Kamel? 5.9 million dollars.
20:45 Rachel Cruze? No way.
20:46 Speaker 02 What is this thing?
20:47 George Kamel? So here's the deal. It looks like an average house in the first picture, but there is a full-on fallout shelter with a separate house and fake outdoor space below ground. It was built in the 70s, which tracks as a Cold War bunker, later used from the set of Blast from the Past with Brendan Fraser.
21:03 Rachel Cruze? That's it. That's the movie I'm talking about. Shut the front door.
21:06 Speaker 02 So this is the house?
21:07 Rachel Cruze? Y'all, that is the movie I was trying to figure out.
21:10 George Kamel? Your nostalgia really helped you on this one.
21:14 Speaker 02 You should be a real estate broker.
21:16 Rachel Cruze? That's amazing.
21:17 George Kamel? It is five beds, six baths, some above ground, some below, and it is over 14,000 square feet.
21:22 Speaker 02 That's crazy.
21:23 Rachel Cruze? That's nuts. Oh my gosh.
21:25 George Kamel? That's a wild one.
21:26 Rachel Cruze? That's amazing. Love it.
21:28 George Kamel? Would not want to live there.
21:29 Rachel Cruze? Besides loving real estate, George, you know what else I'm loving?
21:32 George Kamel? What's that?
21:33 Rachel Cruze? All my Cozy Earth products.
21:34 George Kamel? Perfect.
21:35 Rachel Cruze? They're amazing. I mean, I am in my home, AKA real estate, but in the most cozy, wonderful clothes. And honestly, it's like the socks, the clothes, the sheets, the bedding.
21:47 George Kamel? PJ sets.
21:48 Rachel Cruze? You know what else is great is the towels.
21:50 George Kamel? Oh, yeah.
21:51 Rachel Cruze? These velvety feeling, they're unbelievable.
21:54 George Kamel? When I like run out of those and I have to go back to my other towels, I'm like, oh.
21:58 Rachel Cruze? This is so sad. Why are we coming here? You know?
22:00 George Kamel? You know what it feels like? It's like every day is a spa day.
22:02 Rachel Cruze? Yes.
22:03 George Kamel? It feels like I'm at the nicest hotel when I use Cozy Earth products.
22:05 Rachel Cruze? Cause I wear their big robes too, the Cozy Earth robe. I got that for Christmas. Winston got that for me. And I do, everything about it is just, you can tell the quality. That's what I love about Cozy Earth, that you can wash things. They keep it, they keep their shape. They keep the material. And so it is, there's something just so amazing about it.
22:24 George Kamel? So go to cozylearth.com/smartmoney and use promo code SMARTMONEY at checkout to get up to 20% off. You're gonna love it. All right, we're headed to Vermont.
22:33 Speaker 02 This is not good.
22:35 Rachel Cruze? Oh, look at those animals.
22:37 George Kamel? I'm from New England. I've never heard of this town in Vermont, so don't feel bad if you don't get it right.
22:41 Speaker 02 Do you have a town, maybe?
22:43 George Kamel? Do I have a town? You just want a town in Vermont?
22:46 Speaker 02 Yep.
22:46 Rachel Cruze? Please.
22:47 George Kamel? What's a good town that you would like? I'm trying to think where Winston would go. Where's the ski town I used to go to?
22:54 Rachel Cruze? Will you just give me a town?
22:56 Speaker 02 What's the capital? Richmond?
22:58 George Kamel? Nope, that's not.
22:59 Speaker 02 No?
23:00 George Kamel? No.
23:00 Rachel Cruze? Richmond, Virginia, right?
23:02 George Kamel? Gosh. Remember they taught us this stuff in school, thinking like, guys, this is gonna be really helpful.
23:06 Speaker 02 The capital of Vermont is?
23:10 George Kamel? Wait for it. It's not Montpelier, is it?
23:14 Speaker 02 Boom, that's a great one.
23:15 Rachel Cruze? Give me one.
23:16 George Kamel? Burlington, Vermont's the, Stowe is also a big one. Stowe and Burlington.
23:21 Rachel Cruze? I like that. Stowe, like S.
23:23 George Kamel? S T O W E.
23:25 Rachel Cruze? Stowe. I'm going Stowe.
23:28 Rachel Cruze? It has an E at the end?
23:30 Speaker 02 Yeah.
23:31 George Kamel? Yeah, S T O W.
23:32 Speaker 02 That's what the host said.
23:33 Rachel Cruze? I thought you were tricking me.
23:33 George Kamel? It's okay, you're wrong anyway, so who cares about the spelling?
23:35 Rachel Cruze? Okay, yeah, okay.
23:38 Rachel Cruze? Vermont, okay, I'm going...
23:42 Rachel Cruze? I'm going...
23:43 Speaker 02 You've never heard of this town, George?
23:45 George Kamel? No.
23:45 Speaker 02 How many square feet?
23:47 George Kamel? Oh, you want the hint on this one? Look at you using your hints.
23:50 Speaker 02 Might as well, I mean, we're struggling.
23:51 George Kamel? It is 3,700 square feet.
23:53 Rachel Cruze? Okay, I got one.
23:56 Rachel Cruze? Okay.
23:56 George Kamel? Okay, let's see where this is in proximity. It's pretty close to Canada.
24:01 Rachel Cruze? Ooh, that's fun.
24:02 George Kamel? All right.
24:03 Rachel Cruze? Ready?
24:04 George Kamel? Let's see what you got. Montpelier and Stowe. Okay, Rachel said 225 in Stowe. Winston said 675.
24:13 Speaker 02 I don't know about Vermont, who knows?
24:14 George Kamel? This is a... This is a wild one. It is in Irisburg?
24:20 Rachel Cruze? All right.
24:20 George Kamel? I don't know if that's pronounced correctly. I don't think it's Erasburg. It sounds crazy. So I'm gonna go with Irisburg, Vermont.
24:28 Rachel Cruze? How much is it?
24:29 George Kamel? $539,900. So Winston is closer.
24:32 Rachel Cruze? Oh, man. I went real low. You know, some of these houses, you're like, like the 99,000, you're like, wait, what?
24:38 George Kamel? It is an hour and 8 minutes from Montpelier. Let's see how far it is from Stowe.
24:42 Speaker 02 Is Vermont even that long?
24:43 George Kamel? 15 minutes from Stowe. Technically, Stowe's slightly closer. I think Winston takes the cake on this one.
24:47 Rachel Cruze? Okay, Winston can take it.
24:48 George Kamel? All right, ready?
24:49 Rachel Cruze? Next up?
24:50 George Kamel? We're off to Missouri.
24:51 Rachel Cruze? Oh.
24:54 Rachel Cruze? Look at this.
24:57 Rachel Cruze? Wow.
24:59 Rachel Cruze? Hmm.
25:00 George Kamel? Yeah. You ever been to Missouri? You have.
25:03 Rachel Cruze? St. Louis, Missouri, right?
25:06 George Kamel? Can she whisper a... You can't cheat. But do you want a hint? Does a hint can count for a city, right? Or does that give away...
25:17 George Kamel? It gives away one of the answers. It's fine. You know what, the producer's giving up on you, so it is... You're right. I'll give you that hint. It is in St. Louis.
25:25 Rachel Cruze? St. Louis, okay, that's okay.
25:26 George Kamel? Since you already cheated, we'll give you that.
25:28 Rachel Cruze? St. Louis.
25:29 George Kamel? All right.
25:30 Rachel Cruze? I'm gonna go...
25:39 George Kamel? He's really studying this thing.
25:43 Speaker 02 We should be getting faster by this point.
25:47 Rachel Cruze? What? In St. Louis, babe?
25:50 Speaker 02 I don't know.
25:52 George Kamel? I mean, he does local real estate, so...
25:54 Rachel Cruze? How many bedrooms?
25:56 George Kamel? It is seven bedrooms.
25:58 Rachel Cruze? Holy... Golly, babe, you're going big for St. Louis.
26:03 George Kamel? You don't...
26:06 Rachel Cruze? Alright.
26:06 George Kamel? Alright, hit me.
26:06 Speaker 02 What do you think St. Louis is? Like a little podunk?
26:08 Rachel Cruze? Not podunk, but it's not a big, big, big, big city.
26:11 George Kamel? Alright, Rachel said St. Louis, $718,000.
26:14 Speaker 02 This is our biggest gap.
26:15 Rachel Cruze? Winston said four million.
26:16 George Kamel? St. Louis, 4.5 million.
26:17 Rachel Cruze? Okay, in St. Louis, babe.
26:20 Speaker 02 I don't know.
26:21 George Kamel? Winston clearly has never been to St. Louis. Rachel wins this round. It comes in at $650,000.
26:27 Rachel Cruze? Oh my god, that was so close.
26:29 George Kamel? Now, it's built in the 1890s, features original stained glass and stonework. Seven beds... Seven bedrooms, three baths, 4,700 square feet. That's a... That feels like a deal, though, in St. Louis.
26:40 Speaker 02 Uh, yeah. They shouldn't have put that much money into that bedroom.
26:45 Rachel Cruze? Into all the bedrooms.
26:47 George Kamel? What looks expensive about it to you?
26:48 Rachel Cruze? It's the backyard that threw me off. You see that thing?
26:51 Speaker 02 Well, I saw the brick coming through, like it's...
26:52 George Kamel? Oh, yeah.
26:53 Speaker 02 They're like protecting some of the historic value. Got the mosaic front porch.
26:57 George Kamel? It does seem like that would be at least a million.
26:59 Speaker 02 I thought we were gonna get, um...
27:00 George Kamel? For a seven-bedroom house that's restored.
27:03 Speaker 02 I thought we were gonna get Charleston on this one.
27:05 George Kamel? Yeah.
27:06 Rachel Cruze? Yeah, Charleston really, really wounded you at the beginning of this.
27:08 George Kamel? But Charleston is very expensive.
27:09 Speaker 02 This is a roller coaster, guys. It's tough.
27:11 Rachel Cruze? Alright.
27:11 George Kamel? Alright, we're on to our last round.
27:12 Rachel Cruze? Back to Michigan.
27:13 Speaker 02 Oh, gosh.
27:13 George Kamel? And currently, we are at a tie? No, 4-3? 4-3.
27:19 Rachel Cruze? 4-3.
27:19 Speaker 02 Sure.
27:19 George Kamel? Because this is our eighth round, so Rachel can tie it up.
27:22 Rachel Cruze? Okay.
27:22 George Kamel? In which case, we do not have a tiebreaker.
27:24 Rachel Cruze? Okay.
27:24 George Kamel? So get creative producers.
27:25 Speaker 02 Um... What's a...
27:27 Rachel Cruze? Michigan. Alright, we're back to Michigan.
27:31 Speaker 02 What's a town in Michigan on the lake?
27:34 George Kamel? I was gonna give you this hint. It is... It starts with lake. I don't know many of the lakes, but there's a lot of lakes. I mean, it's the... It's the land of lakes.
27:42 Rachel Cruze? It is. No, it's Minnesota, isn't it?
27:44 George Kamel? Yes, you're right.
27:45 Speaker 02 Lake?
27:45 George Kamel? I lied. But I feel like Michigan people are so proud of the lakes.
27:49 Rachel Cruze? But they have all the Great Lakes.
27:49 Speaker 02 Have you heard of this town?
27:50 Rachel Cruze? They've got the Great Lakes.
27:51 George Kamel? Yeah, but I'm not a big lake guy, so I don't know all the lakes.
27:55 Speaker 02 You've heard of it. It's a town, though.
27:56 George Kamel? It sounds like a plausible town.
27:59 Rachel Cruze? Okay.
28:00 George Kamel? Town versus what?
28:00 Rachel Cruze? Michigan Lake City?
28:04 Speaker 02 I don't know.
28:05 George Kamel? What? It starts with the word lake. That's the first.
28:07 Rachel Cruze? Oh, oh, it starts with lake. Okay.
28:09 Speaker 02 Okay.
28:13 Speaker 02 Is this pool underground?
28:16 George Kamel? Um, let's find out.
28:20 George Kamel? Whoa, that is a-
28:20 Speaker 02 It's a four-season pool.
28:21 George Kamel? That's an indoor pool.
28:22 Speaker 02 Yeah.
28:23 Rachel Cruze? Yeah, this is...
28:26 Speaker 02 They like Coke?
28:30 George Kamel? Oh, they got a full-on diner in there.
28:32 Rachel Cruze? Yeah, alright.
28:34 George Kamel? Again, a very specific house that someone was like-
28:36 Rachel Cruze? I know.
28:37 George Kamel? Who cares about resale value? Put a diner in there.
28:39 Rachel Cruze? Put that diner in there.
28:40 George Kamel? Alright, alright. It is, it's about, uh, 40 minutes outside of Detroit, if that makes you feel any better.
28:45 Speaker 02 I didn't finish this.
28:46 Rachel Cruze? I said Lake Michigan City.
28:47 George Kamel? Okay, Lake Michigan for the city.
28:49 Speaker 02 I said minus, lake minus one. I don't know.
28:50 George Kamel? Lake negative one. Rachel said 2.3 million?
28:54 Rachel Cruze? I just made it up. Uh, 2.3.
28:55 George Kamel? 2.3. Winston said 3.8. Winston.
28:58 Rachel Cruze? Ah!
28:59 Speaker 02 Oh!
29:00 George Kamel? Lake Orion.
29:01 Rachel Cruze? Ooh.
29:02 George Kamel? 4.9 million dollars.
29:04 Rachel Cruze? 4.9.
29:05 George Kamel? For the pleasure of living in this estate.
29:06 Rachel Cruze? In that estate.
29:07 George Kamel? It has a 270-degree view of Lake, Lake Orion.
29:11 Rachel Cruze? Well, that's pretty. That's a fun-
29:12 George Kamel? Very specific amount of degrees.
29:13 Speaker 02 Yeah, yeah. They must be way out there. I thought you were gonna say like-
29:17 George Kamel? You're not surrounded by it.
29:18 Speaker 02 They're almost on an island.
29:19 George Kamel? That would be 360. So it's as close as you can get in 360.
29:22 Rachel Cruze? And it was what? What is it? 260? What'd you say?
29:24 Speaker 02 There's like a driveway to get there, and that's it.
29:26 Rachel Cruze? 270.
29:26 George Kamel? 7 beds, 8 baths, almost 13,000 square feet.
29:29 Rachel Cruze? Oh, wow, yeah.
29:30 George Kamel? 4.9 million with a full-on diner and indoor pool, and it looks like a, a driving range?
29:36 Speaker 02 St. Louis should take notes.
29:37 Rachel Cruze? Uh, not a driving range, it's a golf simulator.
29:40 George Kamel? Oh, that's what that is. I didn't look closely enough at this 1-megapixel picture.
29:44 Rachel Cruze? Okay.
29:44 George Kamel? Those alone are like 15 grand, aren't they?
29:47 Rachel Cruze? The golf simulators?
29:48 George Kamel? 10 grand?
29:48 Rachel Cruze? I don't know.
29:49 George Kamel? 20 grand?
29:50 Rachel Cruze? What would they be?
29:51 Speaker 02 I think it's a big range.
29:52 George Kamel? Yeah, you can get like a cheaper one-
29:53 Speaker 02 That one looks really-
29:54 George Kamel? And then fancy, yeah, that's probably a high-end one.
29:56 Speaker 02 They made you think that it was a real golf course.
29:58 George Kamel? For 5 million dollars, it better be top-of-the-line golf simulator.
30:01 Rachel Cruze? All the way. All the way.
30:02 George Kamel? I thought they had an actual, like, golf course at, for 5 million dollars, give me a real golf course, to be honest.
30:07 Rachel Cruze? At least nine holes.
30:09 George Kamel? Well, that was fun, guys. Thanks for playing. And it does goes to show you the range.
30:13 Rachel Cruze? The range of it all.
30:14 George Kamel? From 100,000 dollars to 5 million dollars, everyone thinks like, well, where I am, that is the housing market.
30:19 Rachel Cruze? You know that what they say in real estate, George?
30:22 George Kamel? Location, location, location.
30:25 Speaker 02 Well done, guys.
30:27 Rachel Cruze? It does.
30:29 George Kamel? We learned that. I don't know who taught us that.
30:31 Rachel Cruze? It matters.
30:32 George Kamel? They drilled that into our head in school, apparently.
30:33 Rachel Cruze? It matters, even though we don't know the capital of Vermont.
30:36 George Kamel? Would you say that's still true today, Winston? Can you verify?
30:39 Speaker 02 Yeah, we can't come up with prices because we don't know the city. Like, it could be Danville, right? Or it could be... Where was Danville?
30:47 Rachel Cruze? Charleston.
30:47 George Kamel? Kentucky.
30:48 Speaker 02 Kentucky. Or it could be Lexington.
30:49 Rachel Cruze? Or Charleston, South Carolina.
30:51 Speaker 02 So you move, you know, you got Columbia or Nashville.
30:54 George Kamel? Yeah. You gotta think about what the lifestyle is like around that city, the schools. Like, there's a lot of factors that play into what makes something desirable.
31:03 Rachel Cruze? Yep.
31:03 George Kamel? But we know if it's on the water.
31:04 Speaker 02 But if you want to buy a house, you can buy a house.
31:07 George Kamel? Yeah. You might have to move somewhere you didn't plan on.
31:10 Speaker 02 If you just, if that's your thing, you can do it.
31:13 George Kamel? If you desperately want to be a homeowner, it can happen.
31:15 Speaker 02 I wouldn't be desperate, but yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, you can find affordable houses.
31:21 George Kamel? Well, let's get into that. I've got some, uh...
31:24 Rachel Cruze? From the city you want to be.
31:24 Speaker 02 Well, it's not gonna be in LA. Yeah. Maybe it's in St. Louis.
31:29 Rachel Cruze? Go to St. Louis. So, George, I've been getting this question a lot on, especially social media. People are asking where to get a great high-yield savings account.
31:37 George Kamel? That's probably the number one question that I see pop up.
31:39 Rachel Cruze? And I always tell them Fair Ones Credit Union. Because not only are they great to bank with, because you'll get a checking account with them, but their high-yield savings account is amazing. And the interface between the two, what's in your checking, what's in the high yield, it's so easy.
31:53 George Kamel? That's rare, because usually your checking is at a brick and mortar bank, and then high-yield savings is way over here. So I love being able to transfer in case I need to use those savings for an emergency or for a sinking fund. Makes it super convenient. You can even have up to 10 savings accounts.
32:06 Rachel Cruze? Yes.
32:06 George Kamel? Within it.
32:07 Rachel Cruze? It's amazing.
32:08 George Kamel? They built this thing for our fans.
32:09 Rachel Cruze? I know. And when we, actually, when Winston and I signed up for Fair Ones, I'll be honest, I was a little bit like, oh, gosh, signing up for a new bank account. It's just a lot of hassle.
32:16 George Kamel? It feels overwhelming. You're like...
32:17 Rachel Cruze? Yes. And I was on my computer, and it was so quick. I downloaded the app on my phone, put my username in. It was so fast. So, it was incredible. The team is amazing, the interface is amazing. And so Fair Ones Credit Union, check out the Smart Bundle. You get a no-fee checking account, high-yield savings account, and the Ramsey B. Weir debit card.
32:34 George Kamel? Add it to the banking mix. Go check it out. Fairones.org/Ramsey is the place to go.
32:41 Rachel Cruze? Okay, so we have some rapid fired questions for you.
32:43 Speaker 02 Okay.
32:44 George Kamel? You know what rapid fire means?
32:46 Speaker 02 Uh, yep.
32:47 George Kamel? All right, so I'll make sure.
32:49 Speaker 02 Yeah, yeah. What's the opposite of that, just like a?
32:53 George Kamel? Just, I don't know.
32:54 Speaker 02 Long.
32:55 Rachel Cruze? Slow winded.
32:56 Speaker 02 Slow winded.
32:56 George Kamel? Slow round, instead of lightning round, something like that.
32:59 Speaker 02 Yeah, yeah.
33:00 Rachel Cruze? Okay, so we're gonna talk first time home buyers. What question should everyone be asking before they sign on the dotted line? You're a first time home buyer, what are things you should be thinking about?
33:12 Speaker 02 If you're a first time home buyer, what I see most of the time is like what I would call the emotional positioning of the house. So what I would make sure of is that this house isn't the answer to what we were just talking about. You're just like desperately trying to get a house so that you can have a family there and do all these things. So if you're about to sign on the dotted line and you're expecting that house to fix all your stuff and make all your dreams come true, then it's backwards. It's honestly, after a year or two years, it's just another house. There will be spaghetti on the floor and holes in the wall and you'll have utility bills coming and it's just another thing to keep up with.
33:57 Speaker 02 So I would say it doesn't need to be like on this pedestal. If you're like signing that thing thinking like this, finally, finally we've arrived. Don't, don't sign the dotted line. So just, I would say the position it appropriately.
34:12 Rachel Cruze? That's good.
34:13 George Kamel? We've talked about this, Rachel, that you go with you. Like you think the new home is gonna solve all of your life problems.
34:18 Rachel Cruze? If I could just not be a renter and just be a homeowner, suddenly like everything's gonna be so much better.
34:21 George Kamel? The kids are gonna be well behaved, there will be no family dysfunction, you're like, no, just in a bigger house now, we have the same problem.
34:27 Speaker 02 It's still a toilet, it's still a sink.
34:29 George Kamel? Yeah, and you get used to it very quickly, to your point.
34:32 Rachel Cruze? The newness wears off.
34:33 George Kamel? Where the thing that was so special, you're like, it's kinda like buying a car where it's like, alright, I've had it for six months, now it's got Cheerios on the floorboard like any other car.
34:38 Rachel Cruze? And it's just another car, like I'm just used to it, the newness is worn off.
34:41 George Kamel? You get used to it.
34:41 Rachel Cruze? So don't let the emotions drive you, that's good.
34:43 George Kamel? That's a humanity problem, is we get so used to the level we're at and then become hungry for more.
34:48 Rachel Cruze? Yep.
34:48 Speaker 02 That's right.
34:49 George Kamel? All right, what about deal breakers? What are the things where you go, you gotta walk away from this thing no matter what?
34:54 Speaker 02 Usually if the, if the numbers don't make sense, obviously. And then there's like this intuition that if something felt off or there's things that don't, something just doesn't feel right, or if the deal feels like rushed. Or pressured, or you're pressured, or like, we gotta get this one, or it'll, it'll, it's the only one? And it'll, I will never find it again? Just walk away. Like, that is not the position you want to be in when you're making that level of commitment.
35:25 George Kamel? Is it because the agent or seller wants to rush you, so you don't think about it too hard?
35:30 Speaker 02 Could be, it could be that they're hiding stuff, or they're not answering questions, or just trying to whatever. But your buyer's agent should ask the right questions that meet your questions. Like, these are the things that would give me peace about moving forward with this.
35:46 George Kamel? What about structurally? Like, when there's a foundation issue, I always go, oh, boy, that feels expensive.
35:51 Speaker 02 Yeah, water issues, foundation issues, things that aren't disclosed, that they thought maybe you should have. Yeah, if it's got a backyard that slopes into your porch, you know, like, stuff like that, and it's, and it's older, and they gotta give you $20,000 during contract to fix the crawl space. Like, it's just probably not worth it.
36:16 Speaker 02 So, but you can use that to leverage the, the price, too, if you're up for it. But I would say, unless you're just like at peace about it, then I would, I would totally walk away.
36:29 George Kamel? I like that. So that's the gut feeling. And always inspection. Some people are like waving inspection, and that's kind of one of these things that, when the real estate market was hot, people were like, well, we won't even do the inspection, we'll just take it.
36:40 Speaker 02 Now, on the investment part, I would go as is, no inspection, but it's gonna be an embarrassingly low offer.
36:48 George Kamel? So it's not your primary home?
36:49 Speaker 02 Most people right now are, are making offers and doing an inspection in order to just have all of that fixed, or get more money off of the price, because it's a buyer's market.
36:58 George Kamel? So they're gonna go, hey, in these 50 grand worth of repairs, take that off the price, and we have a deal.
37:03 Speaker 02 Yeah, they want doorknobs replaced. I mean, like, that light bulb needs to be fixed. It's a very demanding buyer's market right now. We're, they're very spoiled.
37:10 George Kamel? Picky.
37:11 Speaker 02 Picky. But yes, do the inspection if you are the buyer, and... Learn like what you're getting into.
37:18 George Kamel? Yeah, and even then, sometimes the inspection doesn't pick everything up. The things you can't just see.
37:22 Rachel Cruze? That's what's hard.
37:23 George Kamel? We get the calls where it's like, well, the house is filled with black mold and inspection didn't catch it. And now we have to remediate and spend 50 grand. Those are tough.
37:31 Rachel Cruze? That's crazy. That's wild. What upgrades would you say anyone can do? Like when they walk into a house, like what are the things you're like, you could fix that later? Don't like worry about that.
37:41 Speaker 02 On their own?
37:42 Rachel Cruze? Yeah.
37:45 Speaker 02 I think people take this too far. Because I think what they're trying to do is just make it livable and make it like a reflection of them. And you don't have to do a whole kitchen renovation to scratch that itch. So paint goes a long way. Like go to Home Depot.
38:05 George Kamel? I've been there. Thank you for pointing that out.
38:07 Rachel Cruze? When you get a crowbar.
38:08 Speaker 02 You've been a lot. And do some paint. I would say curb appeal will make you feel a lot better. And people don't want to mow their own yard. So like, go do some landscaping. Like clean, clean the place up from the front. That automatically increases your value. And you can do that pretty easily.
38:32 Rachel Cruze? Like hardware you can replace.
38:35 Speaker 02 Yeah, you can do cabinet hardware, door hardware.
38:39 George Kamel? What about like lighting and fans?
38:40 Speaker 02 Light fixtures.
38:42 George Kamel? That really changes the place.
38:43 Speaker 02 Changes it. And it's, and it's cheap. You can get on Wayfair and get endless amounts of light fixtures to change the look of the room. And it categorizes it for you, filters it in way too many ways. And you know, if you know how to turn a breaker off, you can, you can figure it out.
39:01 George Kamel? Why'd you look at me like that when you said it?
39:04 Speaker 02 Well, because I'm on the show, I'm on your show, I guess. I'll tell Rachel.
39:08 George Kamel? I've turned a breaker off or two in my day.
39:10 Speaker 02 Have you?
39:11 George Kamel? Flip on, flip off.
39:12 Speaker 02 Yeah, yeah, yeah.
39:13 Rachel Cruze? Flip a breaker.
39:15 George Kamel? It is a little scary.
39:16 Speaker 02 I didn't mean to look at you when I said, if you know how to flip a breaker.
39:19 George Kamel? Eyes into my eyes. Well, you've, you've flipped some homes now. So what are the things that you go in when you're doing the flip to go, okay, I'm going to make these things very strategically, repair, renovate without overdoing it? Is it flooring?
39:33 Speaker 02 Yeah, first off, the trashier, the better.
39:37 George Kamel? So you get a better deal.
39:38 Speaker 02 Yeah, the more, the more hoarding house, the, the better the deal.
39:43 George Kamel? If you see varmint, you're like, great, we got the right house.
39:46 Speaker 02 Yeah. We've flea bombed, we've exterminated, we've rats, had rats in the carpet.
39:52 George Kamel? What's the craziest thing you've seen when you step into one of those houses?
39:56 Speaker 02 Uh, hoarding houses are pretty, they're pretty alarming. They're very disturbing.
40:00 Rachel Cruze? It's really sad.
40:01 George Kamel? Stuff stacked to the ceilings and...
40:02 Speaker 02 Like years of fast food.
40:06 George Kamel? Oh, boy.
40:07 Speaker 02 On the bed.
40:09 Speaker 02 You ask for it.
40:10 George Kamel? On the bed?
40:11 Speaker 02 But you wa- yeah, yeah, it's, it's tough, it's tough. There's a lot of...
40:15 George Kamel? What happened to those people?
40:16 Speaker 02 Um, they're... I didn't ask.
40:19 George Kamel? The people aren't there.
40:19 Speaker 02 I didn't ask. It's usually...
40:21 George Kamel? A foreclosure?
40:22 Speaker 02 It's a transition or an estate or a, somebody's trying to...
40:25 George Kamel? So mom was a hoarder, she passed away, the kids go and sell the house.
40:28 Rachel Cruze? And they're done, they're just, they don't want anything for it.
40:30 Speaker 02 Yeah, I mean, I've seen needles, I've seen it all.
40:33 George Kamel? I've seen fire, I've seen rain. All right, that's helpful.
40:37 Rachel Cruze? But you get those for what?
40:38 Speaker 02 But you were asking your question. We demo the whole thing, all the way to the walls.
40:42 George Kamel? Down to the studs, as they say in the biz.
40:44 Speaker 02 Well, we leave the drywall unless we're moving a wall.
40:46 George Kamel? I wanted to say down to the studs.
40:48 Speaker 02 Thank you.
40:48 George Kamel? You've never done down to the studs?
40:50 Speaker 02 Uh, just in rooms that have like that old wooden paneling.
40:54 George Kamel? Oh, yeah, like the shiny one?
40:56 Speaker 02 Yeah.
40:57 George Kamel? Naughty pine, I think is what it's called. Naughty pine, Google it.
41:00 Speaker 02 You use your crowbar and you just pop it off.
41:01 George Kamel? K-N-O-T-T-Y, naughty pine.
41:03 Rachel Cruze? Thanks for spelling it.
41:04 George Kamel? Cause we had that in our house growing up.
41:05 Rachel Cruze? And popcorn on the ceiling.
41:06 Speaker 02 Yeah, popcorn ceilings, scraping off.
41:08 George Kamel? Those are not fun to scrape off.
41:10 Speaker 02 Yeah, yeah.
41:11 George Kamel? Not that I've tried.
41:13 Speaker 02 No.
41:13 George Kamel? But you couldn't pay me enough to do it.
41:14 Speaker 02 Yeah. You need a mask.
41:17 George Kamel? A mask? Oh, cause of all, it's all coming down?
41:19 Speaker 02 Yeah, it's bad.
41:19 George Kamel? Phew. Rachel, we're talking about homes today, and what's crazy is that so much of people's personal information, their address, their phone numbers, their emails are just floating around the interwebs unchecked because of these data broker sites. And so I love Delete Me, a sponsor of today's show, because they scour hundreds of these data broker sites to remove your personal info, which helps protect you against scams, phishing, fraud, spam, you name it.
41:43 Rachel Cruze? Yes. Yeah, those data broker sites, that's kinda scary. Actually, how much information they can collect about you. I mean, it's your kids' names, email addresses, phone numbers. Like you said, your home address, like all of it. And they live there and that's, and I hate this part too, that they will sell your data. They're making money off of it.
41:59 George Kamel? I don't care.
42:00 Rachel Cruze? And then your data spreads even more across this, across the internet. So being able to go into these data broker sites and removing your data is everything. And real people are doing it on their team and they are amazing. So Delete Me is a subscription that Winston and I have and we love.
42:14 George Kamel? Yeah, and they'll even send you a customer report every few months, showing you what they removed and how much time they saved you. So go check it out and get 20% off their annual plans at joindelete.me/smartmoney. Let's move into, uh, seasoned.
42:26 Rachel Cruze? Let's go seasons. Um, okay, for seasoned homeowners.
42:29 Speaker 02 Like zestimate.
42:30 Rachel Cruze? What?
42:31 George Kamel? Very zesty, very seasoned.
42:33 Rachel Cruze? What's?
42:33 George Kamel? Zesty homeowners.
42:35 Rachel Cruze? What's worth spending in upgrades before you should just move to the next place?
42:41 George Kamel? Oh, that's a good one.
42:42 Rachel Cruze? Like if you want a newer home, what are things that you're like?
42:45 George Kamel? You're itching for that new home, but you're like, hey, before you go jump in.
42:47 Rachel Cruze? It'd be worth just doing this and you can stay in the home.
42:49 George Kamel? See if this transforms your home.
42:50 Speaker 02 Oh, okay, okay. And this, again, this is going to be personal preference, intuition.
42:56 Speaker 02 You want to make the house work for you. If you, if you feel like, you know what, I can never get around this dishwasher when I'm loading it and somebody's trying to get to the oven or whatever. Like if it's not working for you, then it's, it's worth you making the upgrades because you're living there. Right? So you don't think about, am I going to get my money back? This or that? The first thing is make it livable.
43:22 Speaker 02 And then if you start doing things where you're like, God, I'm putting so much money into this house. And you feel like you're fighting the house instead of making it work for you. And it's, and it's complying with what you're trying to do with the renovations or the new siding or whatever. If you're fighting the house, it's time to go. Let somebody else fight it. You know, you are gonna get frustrated and put money into it that you're probably not gonna get C out of it because you're gonna wanna make it yours and somebody else is gonna wanna do something different, right? So, so it's kind of like a balance there.
43:57 George Kamel? So would you say like make a list of all the things that frustrate you? That you wish you could change about the house?
44:02 Speaker 02 That's probably good.
44:03 George Kamel? And then go, okay, what would it cost to change that if it even is possible?
44:05 Speaker 02 That's right.
44:06 George Kamel? We can knock down this wall, I want it to be open. We can change the flooring. And then if you're like, hey, there's not enough we could even do to make this thing a place I still wanna live.
44:15 Rachel Cruze? My sister did this. Their house was probably thirty years old or so. And they were like, oh, we kinda wanted some updated looks to it. But then shopping around the market, it was like it was gonna cost a lot more to go buy that versus like what you could put into a Reno. You know what I mean? And doing it, right?
44:32 Speaker 02 Yeah, like we have a house right now that we're trying to sell. And we've done as much as we can with it to make it marketable. But the staircase, you walk in and the staircase is right in the middle of the whole floor plan. So the kitchen's over here and the whole house rotates around the stairs. You just can't do anything else with it.
44:49 George Kamel? That's structural.
44:49 Speaker 02 It's fighting you back. So it's like time to get rid of it. And then the primary is upstairs.
44:55 George Kamel? Is it on the market right now? Alright, let's mark, let's see if we can sell this thing on the show right now.
45:00 Rachel Cruze? Put a Zillow link.
45:01 George Kamel? I got a hundred thousand, I got a hundred twenty thousand. That's great.
45:05 Rachel Cruze? Oh, okay, so when you walk into a new build for you, this was my question.
45:10 Speaker 02 Oh, this was yours?
45:11 Rachel Cruze? Uh huh, what are you critiquing?
45:12 George Kamel? User submitted.
45:13 Rachel Cruze? Cause we have walked through new houses and I'm like, it's so pretty, it's great. And we leave and you start rattling off things. And I'm like, never would I have ever.
45:22 George Kamel? Yeah, what are your eyes drawn to?
45:23 Speaker 02 You have to get past all the pretty finishes.
45:27 Rachel Cruze? I know, that's what I always do.
45:29 Speaker 02 Like.
45:29 Rachel Cruze? So pretty, look at the countertops.
45:31 Speaker 02 Rachel looks at the lipstick. And lipstick is cheap, structure is everything.
45:36 George Kamel? Oh, that's good.
45:37 Speaker 02 It's fine, like, okay, you're, you know, a contractor of course is gonna put the glitzy whatever's in that makes it look Pinteresty.
45:44 Rachel Cruze? Like a water, like a waterfall edge?
45:46 Speaker 02 Did they build it?
45:47 George Kamel? I do love a waterfall edge.
45:49 Speaker 02 So pretty.
45:50 Rachel Cruze? So pretty.
45:51 George Kamel? And Rachel's like, done, I love it.
45:52 Speaker 02 I would take, how about this? I would take a nineteen seventies rancher that's built like a ship and make a waterfall edge. Rather than buy a waterfall edge and the insulation is half done, the HVAC is cheap with fiber board and structurally it's like, mm.
46:10 George Kamel? It was poorly.
46:11 Speaker 02 It was built.
46:12 George Kamel? Put together with nice finishes.
46:13 Speaker 02 As fast as possible, not quality. So the builder has to be focused on quality.
46:21 Speaker 02 That rancher's gonna outlast.
46:22 George Kamel? Would you say, because I've heard Dave Ramsey talk about this, people think, well, those old homes are built different.
46:29 Speaker 02 They are.
46:30 George Kamel? But then I've heard also that some of those old homes, you're like, gosh, the electrical work was a nightmare. Like, it's not always the case.
46:36 Speaker 02 I agree.
46:37 George Kamel? And some of these new homes are.
46:37 Speaker 02 That's why I'm going 70s.
46:38 George Kamel? Up to code and standards and all that will come a long way with materials.
46:42 Speaker 02 Totally. But it's, it's, the costs for builders are, they are trying to keep it as cheap as possible.
46:50 George Kamel? Builder grade.
46:51 Rachel Cruze? And go as fast as possible.
46:52 George Kamel? I hear builder grade, I go, I have to upgrade that.
46:54 Speaker 02 So you really gotta beat around on it, go in the crawl space, look at how they, how they did it, did they, are the caulk lines straight? Are the doors closing or are they like, have they done a punch list?
47:05 George Kamel? So you want me to go in the crawl space, check out the caulk line? That's what you're asking me to do?
47:09 Speaker 02 There's probably no caulk in the, there's probably no caulk in the crawl space.
47:12 George Kamel? That's what you said, you said you head in the crawl space, check the caulk line.
47:14 Speaker 02 Well, is it like, is it encapsulated, is it not, is it clean?
47:18 George Kamel? Yeah.
47:18 Speaker 02 Or do they just like leave junk everywhere?
47:20 George Kamel? I want the inspector to send them the photo, going, hey, you gotta recaulk this thing.
47:24 Speaker 02 You can just read it from your desk.
47:27 George Kamel? I do like to go through the PDF things, because I paid good money. You know, you pay $700, like, I'm reading this thing like a novel, slowly.
47:34 Speaker 02 And just because it's new, doesn't mean you don't need to look at the inspection, that is like.
47:38 George Kamel? Because we have a new build and the inspection report was, I mean, tons of stuff.
47:42 Speaker 02 Yeah, and you go back to that builder while you still have them and say, you can fix these things, and they will.
47:46 George Kamel? And that's the nice thing about a new build, I will say, is number one, you have time to save, because you don't have to have the full amount until the house is done at closing. And you have a one-year warranty generally with a new build.
47:57 Speaker 02 Yeah.
47:58 George Kamel? So that's nice.
47:58 Speaker 02 Use it.
47:59 George Kamel? And so, yeah, the stuff they found was, it wasn't like anything major, it's just, it was like, hey, we gotta recaulk this, fix this, this door isn't, you know, swinging the right way.
48:07 Speaker 02 Does that make sense?
48:08 Rachel Cruze? Sure, yeah.
48:09 Speaker 02 All your pretty finishes.
48:10 Rachel Cruze? I, yeah, yes. But you also, you know where people go cheap, like.
48:15 Speaker 02 Yeah, if it's a, if you got a waterfall edge, but then the house doesn't cool, I don't want to live there.
48:20 Rachel Cruze? Doesn't have good air conditioning.
48:21 Speaker 02 You know, things that you don't see.
48:22 Rachel Cruze? But you've made comments about baseboards though, babe, you've said that.
48:25 Speaker 02 Yeah.
48:26 Rachel Cruze? We walked out, you're like, why do they put small baseboards in that large?
48:29 Speaker 02 Yeah, yeah, yeah.
48:30 George Kamel? Would you say you like, you like big baseboards and you cannot lie?
48:33 Speaker 02 If it matches the house.
48:34 George Kamel? Is that something you would say?
48:37 Speaker 02 Absolutely, bigger the better.
48:40 George Kamel? How thick are we talking?
48:42 Speaker 02 It depends on the house.
48:43 George Kamel? Okay, it's gotta be tall ceilings if you have a bigger baseboard.
48:46 Speaker 02 If it's a 12 foot ceiling, you need at least like 10, 10 inches on the first floor.
48:51 George Kamel? Oh, wow.
48:52 Speaker 02 Second floor, it doesn't matter as much.
48:54 George Kamel? 10 inches of baseboard?
48:55 Speaker 02 You know, but if you have an 8 foot 1970's rancher, then just go with your 4 or 5 inch normal stuff.
49:01 George Kamel? What about crown molding?
49:02 Speaker 02 But if you take your, if you take your cabinets in the kitchen and you don't run them all the way to the ceiling, then you're missing out on this whole like mind blowing experience that a buyer has and they don't know why. But we built a house in Columbia and the contractor just put 36 uppers and then like a 12 inch on top. And then there was this gap to the ceiling.
49:25 George Kamel? Where people put like random artwork from TJ Maxx?
49:27 Speaker 02 Yeah, like a rooster.
49:29 Rachel Cruze? Throw that rooster in there.
49:31 Speaker 02 And I told him, okay, just put a fake piece of wood up there and a piece of crown to like tie it all in. So it goes all the way to the ceiling, takes your eyes up, makes the ceiling look bigger, makes the kitchen look bigger. So that's why I'm like, yeah, you gotta, the trim is a big deal.
49:46 Rachel Cruze? Trim is a big deal.
49:47 George Kamel? Focus on the trim. People skimp out on the trim because they go, I'd rather have these features. But then the trim makes the man.
49:53 Speaker 02 That's kinda cool.
49:54 Rachel Cruze? It's the subconsciousness that you never know. All right, Paid Off Home.
49:57 Speaker 02 To the studs.
49:57 Rachel Cruze? To the studs. Paid Off Homeowners.
50:00 Speaker 02 It should be, whenever you have time.
50:03 Rachel Cruze? Paid Off Homeowners, ready? Last section. Uh, if you want to invest in real estate, what must first be true? So your, so your primary home's paid off, your baby step 7. Baby step 7, what's the next? Yeah, so.
50:18 Speaker 02 Y'all already know the answer.
50:19 Rachel Cruze? Uh, what must be true? You have the money for it, the cash.
50:22 Speaker 02 No consumer debt, but my thought is like, if you're looking for your first investment property, take a look at your net worth first in retirement. And I would not want that first property to be more than 25 to 50% of your net worth.
50:38 George Kamel? So if you're worth a million bucks, don't go any more than 250 on an investment property. Obviously paying cash.
50:44 Speaker 02 Yeah, and I wouldn't include, but I would not include your personal residence in that net worth.
50:48 George Kamel? Oh, okay.
50:49 Speaker 02 It's true investment. So your investment net worth, I guess.
50:53 George Kamel? Your investable assets outside of your home equity.
50:56 Speaker 02 So if you're, if you have 500,000 in retirement, then you're looking at a hundred thousand dollar house in Danville. Up to like
51:06 George Kamel? No offense to Danville, the good people of Danville.
51:08 Speaker 02 Up to 250 in cash, as is, close next Friday. 70% under market.
51:15 George Kamel? Okay. And if you're gonna rent it out, do you have a percentage in mind of like, hey, you wanna go at least 1% of this in rent?
51:22 Speaker 02 I, I
51:22 George Kamel? It doesn't work like that anymore?
51:24 Speaker 02 But if you get a house at 70% of market value, then it's gonna take care of itself. I'm not as worried about the ROI. Honestly, the best deals are the most boring deals.
51:33 George Kamel? Oh, that's a good line. We'll quote that.
51:35 Rachel Cruze? We'll quote that.
51:36 George Kamel? Put that in the show notes.
51:37 Rachel Cruze? Of just like, it's not that exciting.
51:39 Speaker 02 Yeah, they're just like
51:40 George Kamel? Dave Ramsey's always said that the deal, you make the money on the buy.
51:43 Rachel Cruze? At the table.
51:44 Speaker 02 That's true. And then
51:46 George Kamel? Most people overpay. They get full market price for that investment property.
51:50 Rachel Cruze? And then put a renter in there.
51:50 Speaker 02 It doesn't, yeah, it doesn't. Your rent usually isn't gonna make that. What is it like? 10% of your 10%, rent should be 10% of the total cost of the house. That's a tough rule. I like the make money at the beginning because you're, because you're going as is, you're not doing inspections, you need room for problems, unexpected things.
52:14 George Kamel? It's really on resale is when you realize the money.
52:18 Speaker 02 Yeah.
52:18 George Kamel? Can it buy and hold?
52:19 Speaker 02 Yeah, the equity is already built in when you buy it and then you start cash flowing it.
52:25 George Kamel? And it cash flows sweetly when there's no payment on it. So it's the
52:28 Speaker 02 It does.
52:29 Rachel Cruze? That's the beauty of it.
52:30 Speaker 02 As long as you're in a good location.
52:31 George Kamel? More peace.
52:32 Rachel Cruze? Location, location, location. Um, all right. So good.
52:36 George Kamel? Yeah.
52:37 Rachel Cruze? All the real estate knowledge we needed for the episode.
52:39 George Kamel? And helpful.
52:40 Speaker 02 Good, good.
52:41 Rachel Cruze? And helpful.
52:41 Speaker 02 I hope so.
52:42 George Kamel? Totally aimed to do here.
52:43 Rachel Cruze? Well, before we spill the tea on our guilty as charged segments, uh, let's, uh, talk about the drink details, George.
52:48 George Kamel? Yeah, this is a ranch water cocktail. Uh, I would say I'm about done with the drink. How did Winston do?
52:54 Rachel Cruze? Mm hmm.
52:55 Speaker 02 Hafzies.
52:56 Rachel Cruze? Oh, no, he went Hafzies.
52:57 George Kamel? Well, he was honestly busy carrying this episode on his broad shoulders.
53:00 Rachel Cruze? Talking.
53:01 Speaker 02 Whatever.
53:01 Rachel Cruze? Talking through it all.
53:02 George Kamel? I feel like that's fair. Um, my rating is a 10 out of 10 on this drink.
53:06 Rachel Cruze? I know. I think I'm going 9 out of 10.
53:08 Speaker 02 I'm going 10 for fun because it's so good.
53:10 Rachel Cruze? So good.
53:11 Speaker 02 It's like really well balanced.
53:12 George Kamel? It's hard to beat for how little is in it.
53:14 Rachel Cruze? I know. You got a what? Topo Chico lime and tequila.
53:18 George Kamel? That's it.
53:18 Rachel Cruze? That's it. That's a rainwater.
53:20 George Kamel? I mean, I like a blanco.
53:21 Speaker 02 Perfect, though.
53:22 George Kamel? Yes.
53:22 Rachel Cruze? It's a good amount of lime.
53:23 George Kamel? You want a good amount of lime where it punches through, but it's not super overpowering.
53:27 Rachel Cruze? Yep.
53:27 George Kamel? The Topo Chico to me is a must, but if you have to use a club soda, that's your business. So we got two 10 out of 10s and a 9 out of 10 from Rachel.
53:37 Rachel Cruze? I don't know why I went 9 out of 10.
53:38 George Kamel? Hard to impress. Well, you know what? It's not that complex. You may have wanted more going on.
53:42 Rachel Cruze? Okay. You know what I mean?
53:44 George Kamel? Yeah.
53:44 Rachel Cruze? But it's still delicious.
53:46 George Kamel? Great one to try. It comes out to $3.25. I assume because Topo Chico is hard to find right now. There's a, there's an outage as they redo their plant, so I'm told.
53:55 Rachel Cruze? Hmm.
53:56 George Kamel? But I think it's worth it. Every penny. Every penny worth it. And a very low calorie, low sugar drink, too. So if you're like, you don't want to be drinking your calories, this is a great one to make at home. If you're of age, get the recipe in the show notes. Give it a try this weekend, especially if you're keto. I didn't know this was a keto drink. Is that true? Just make something keto.
54:16 Speaker 02 No sugar, no carbs.
54:18 George Kamel? No sugar, no carbs.
54:19 Speaker 02 I don't know what kind of tequila it is, but added it free, clean.
54:23 Rachel Cruze? Sure, it's clean. I'm sure it's great. We only do top shelf around here.
54:26 George Kamel? Only top shelf.
54:27 Rachel Cruze? Classy. It's how we roll. It's how we roll.
54:30 Speaker 02 9 out of 10.
54:31 Rachel Cruze? Um, all right. So good. Well, now it's time for guilty as charged.
54:38 George Kamel? Are you judging us?
54:39 Rachel Cruze? No, he's gonna laugh. This is where we ask each other a guilty as charged question every week. And if we're guilty, we take a sip.
54:45 Speaker 02 Oh, George is out.
54:46 Rachel Cruze? The question is.
54:47 George Kamel? I'll eat the lime whole.
54:49 Rachel Cruze? Have you ever, have you ever thought you were getting a major discount on something, but it turned out too good to be true?
54:59 George Kamel? Yeah, I'll go, I'll go. I'll bite. I, you know, there's A-List with Southwest. This was back when Southwest was a great airline.
55:07 Rachel Cruze? Oh.
55:09 George Kamel? They're not a sponsor. It's fine.
55:13 George Kamel? I was boarding group five last time I flew, so you know what?
55:16 Rachel Cruze? No, you're just...
55:17 Speaker 02 Yeah.
55:19 Speaker 02 Get out of here.
55:19 Rachel Cruze? Give a pinky. Just give a pinky.
55:21 George Kamel? It's so annoying.
55:21 Speaker 02 They caved.
55:22 George Kamel? Why give me a seat, but then I have to go all the way to the back to store my carry-on?
55:27 Rachel Cruze? George, you know what? I'm with you.
55:29 George Kamel? And then fight my way upstream at the end of the flight to go get my carry-on. Like, sir, sir, could you get my...
55:33 Rachel Cruze? Yeah, it's that one.
55:36 Speaker 02 And they're all like, "Get out of here."
55:38 George Kamel? Yeah, why even fly anymore?
55:39 Speaker 02 Zone five.
55:40 Rachel Cruze? I'm with you.
55:40 George Kamel? But there was like, I saw a thing someone posted in a Facebook group in my neighborhood that was like, "Hey, you can get A-List by just like doing this little hack where you pay like forty bucks and you basically can redeem it for A-List."
55:53 Rachel Cruze? Oh.
55:53 George Kamel? So I did it thinking like, "This is gonna be easy. I'll pay the forty bucks. That's worth it, because I fly a lot to get A-List for the whole year." Turns out, you had to like fly three times within three months or something stupid in order to actually get it.
56:06 Rachel Cruze? Oh, no.
56:06 George Kamel? And that was buried in the fine print.
56:09 Rachel Cruze? Oh, that's hurtful. And forty bucks gone.
56:11 George Kamel? Forty bucks gone. And so I... I think I maybe had A-List for three months, but then it runs out.
56:18 Rachel Cruze? If you don't fly within the...
56:19 George Kamel? It basically renews for a whole year.
56:21 Rachel Cruze? That's fair. That's fair.
56:22 George Kamel? If you fly.
56:23 Rachel Cruze? You know, mine's a Southwest one.
56:25 George Kamel? What?
56:25 Rachel Cruze? Yes. I was booking with points, one of our trips.
56:28 Speaker 02 It's airline, man.
56:29 Rachel Cruze? I know, I know. But I was booking with points and I was short, and I can't remember. Say, five thousand points or something, right? Like, but you can go buy points. But you can, but the points I needed, I had to buy more points than what I needed to make it work. Because they group them. You know, you can't just like buy a specific number.
56:48 George Kamel? It's like fifty thousand points, you need fifty-two thousand.
56:50 Rachel Cruze? Yes, yeah. And you can't just buy two thousand, you gotta buy five thousand, like the way they group it. So I go ahead and just buy those, and then I go back to book it, and the price went up. So I buy the points.
57:02 George Kamel? And now you don't have enough points.
57:03 Rachel Cruze? Then I don't have enough points. Then I'm like, oh my gosh, am I gonna go buy more? And is the price gonna continue? It just stressed me out. And I just said, okay, we'll eventually get a flight with this points, but I'm gonna just pay for it now.
57:13 George Kamel? Wow.
57:14 Rachel Cruze? So I totally.
57:15 George Kamel? They just kept gouging you at every turn.
57:16 Rachel Cruze? It was tough.
57:17 George Kamel? No, but go ahead. Defend Southwest.
57:20 Rachel Cruze? I know. I just love them, but they, it is different.
57:22 Speaker 02 I have a flight, uh, guilty as charged.
57:24 George Kamel? Oh.
57:25 Speaker 02 I booked this trip to Montana for my 40th birthday. I went on ChatGPT to run the numbers on like all the flights that can get like direct from Nashville to Bozeman. I clicked through on the links that Chat gave me and I was like, great, there's a deal on Allegiant. Hey, it's Allegiant. It was cheap, but it's.
57:43 George Kamel? It'll get you there. That's their tagline.
57:46 Speaker 02 And then it took me to a third-party website that I didn't realize I was on to book the tickets. Have you ever booked a flight on a third-party website?
57:55 George Kamel? Yes.
57:55 Speaker 02 It's called Flight Network.
57:56 George Kamel? Nope, that sounds sketchy.
57:58 Rachel Cruze? But you didn't even know you were on it.
58:00 Speaker 02 I didn't even know.
58:01 Rachel Cruze? You thought you were on Allegiant.com.
58:01 Speaker 02 Yeah, I wasn't paying attention.
58:03 Rachel Cruze? Yeah.
58:04 Speaker 02 But I booked it and then I'm trying to have it show up on Allegiant's app and they're not, they don't communicate. So I'm like, I think I just got screwed. So I call Flight Network and they're like, he's definitely not in the United States.
58:16 George Kamel? Yeah.
58:17 Speaker 02 And.
58:17 George Kamel? That tracks.
58:18 Speaker 02 He's like, yeah, we can't do anything for you. We're not allowed to do any Allegiant stuff for you. So I had to call Allegiant and I booked a flight for one of my friends and I tried to get that one canceled. Cause when I clicked like buy the tickets, it didn't work. So I went through and bought it again. So I bought three tickets.
58:35 George Kamel? That's such a racial thing to do.
58:38 Speaker 02 Yeah. It like timed out.
58:39 George Kamel? She rubbed off on you.
58:40 Speaker 02 It timed out three times, but it actually charged me three times.
58:42 George Kamel? So was Flight Network a true scam?
58:43 Speaker 02 Always buy flights on the actual website.
58:46 George Kamel? Yeah, find the deal, but then book it directly through the airline. That's the trick.
58:50 Rachel Cruze? Through the airline, yes.
58:51 George Kamel? Wow.
58:52 Rachel Cruze? I forgot about that. I was thinking of your DC.
58:54 Speaker 02 It charges you, it's scammy.
58:56 George Kamel? It's scammy.
58:57 Speaker 02 It's not scammy. It charges you like an extra a hundred bucks for their fee when you could just go direct to Allegiant.
59:02 George Kamel? Wow. Okay.
59:03 Rachel Cruze? I was thinking about your, uh, DC. How you're about to...
59:09 Speaker 02 Yeah, I thought about that one too. Y'all went southwest on me, so.
59:12 Rachel Cruze? So you went, yeah.
59:14 Speaker 02 Double guilty.
59:14 Rachel Cruze? Went airline.
59:15 George Kamel? Thank you for sharing.
59:16 Rachel Cruze? Oh, it was so good.
59:17 George Kamel? All cheers to that.
59:18 Rachel Cruze? Well, if you have a find guilty as charged question for us, make sure to DM us at Rachel Cruz and at George Kamel. We love them, we get them and appreciate it. And if you enjoyed this episode, stay tuned because the next episode you're gonna love. And that is spilling the financial tea with our better halves.
59:32 George Kamel? Which includes Winston.
59:33 Rachel Cruze? Winston's on that one. And sweet Whitney, we love Whitney.
59:37 Speaker 02 My wife.
59:38 Rachel Cruze? So that is coming up next.
59:40 Speaker 02 Oh.
59:40 Rachel Cruze? Yeah. And thanks for being on, babe. Appreciate it.
59:44 Speaker 02 Yeah.
59:45 George Kamel? Yeah.
59:45 Speaker 02 I guess I'm coming back, too.
59:47 Rachel Cruze? It's fun. No, it was an episode you already recorded.
59:50 Speaker 02 Oh, okay.
59:50 George Kamel? Yeah, you already did it.
59:51 Rachel Cruze? You already did it.
59:52 George Kamel? It's not like, oh, it's coming up, Winston's coming back.
59:53 Speaker 02 I was like, Whitney hadn't said anything.
59:55 Rachel Cruze? Yeah, no, no, yeah, yeah.
59:56 George Kamel? It's more of a rerun situation.
59:58 Rachel Cruze? Yep.
59:58 Speaker 02 Okay. Well, thanks for having me.
1:00:00 Rachel Cruze? Thanks for coming.
1:00:00 George Kamel? Appreciate your knowledge.
1:00:01 Rachel Cruze? Appreciate it. And yeah, make sure to subscribe and we'll see you guys next Thursday on an all-new episode of Smart Money Happy Hour.
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