12/09/2022
In February of 2020, I had been promoted to manage a 101 unit apartment complex in Kirkland. I remember the wave of emotions I felt during that time and only hoped to exceed the expectations that were set forth. The Maintenance Supervisor for the property, Anousone, was not only an expert in his craft, but had an eagerness to help those around him; including me. Together, we operated an award winning apartment community by exceeding our revenue goals, maintaining a high occupancy rate, and most importantly, providing quality customer service at the highest level (all during the height of the pandemic mind you). This ultimately set the precedence for my career path in Real Estate, having seen what I can accomplish by simply setting my mind to it. Anousone played a key part in that, and I couldn’t have done it without him.
Shortly after I had received my license in 2021, Anousone had expressed interest in having me guide him through the home buying journey. Once he was pre-approved for a home loan, we began our search in a historically hot market. Homes selling well above list price, and most contingencies were being waived. After losing out on a few offers, we decided it would be best to wait for the market to cool down and use this opportunity to pay off some bad debt, thus decreasing his debt to income ratio and increasing his pre-approval amount.
Fast forward to October we decided to resume our home search. The market had cooled down significantly with the roughly 3.5% rise in internet rates. Typically, a 1% INCREASE in interest rates means a 10% DECREASE in buying power. That would mean Anousone theoretically lost 35% of his buying power since we started our home search. HOWEVER, because he paid off most of his bad debt, he ended up qualifying for a loan that was 33% HIGHER than his original loan amount, despite the rise in interest rates. Furthermore, we got the seller to pay for mostly ALL of his closing costs and kept all of our contingencies in place. Just last week, we closed on this beautiful home in Olympia. It has been such an honor helping Anousone and his wonderful family throughout this journey. I cannot thank him enough for all that he has done for me and the trust that he put in me to make it happen. Cheers to this new chapter, my friend.
