SPECIAL: Real Estate, Finance, and You: Thriving Amidst Uncertainty

On this special episode, I am a guest on a fellow BizRadio.US show - Real Deal with Ryan Marshall. We peel back the layers of an issue plaguing small businesses and nonprofits: Inflation. Picture yourself walking the tightrope like many small business owners, juggling the need to increase prices while retaining loyal clientele. Visualize the struggle of earning a livable wage amidst the escalating housing prices in Asheville. Together, we'll shed light on these urgent economic issues and more.

Beyond the small business landscape, our conversation broadens to the overall state of the US economy - a topic wrapped in uncertainty and speculation. We analyze the US Chamber's perplexing announcements, leaving us guessing about the future of inflation and interest rates. Conscious of Asheville's growing number of renters, we address the shift towards smaller, more affordable housing options. We can't ignore personal finance, can we? Witness how saving and cutting costs play a vital role in weathering potential economic storms. We'll also discuss the envelope theory and why stamping out debt is so critical.

Finally, we venture into the complex realm of real estate and the profound influence it wields over the economy. Take note as we examine the 8% surge in Asheville's home values and why property ownership may be your safest bet in these uncertain times. It's crucial to understand accounting and financial planning, particularly for small businesses and nonprofits, and we're here to guide you. We're excited to discuss the mixed-use housing complex recently approved in Asheville. Though it brings affordable housing options, it also ushers in concerns about its impact on a historically black neighborhood. Join us as we underscore the interconnectedness of real estate and the economy, and why meticulous planning holds the key to navigating these choppy waters.

https://realdealryan.godaddysites.com/

This program is brought to you by:
Balanced Virtually

Be sure to visit BizRadio.US to discover hundreds more engaging conversations, local events and more.

Transcript

Ryan: 0:40

Hello and welcome. This is the Real Deal with Brian Marshall. We are Western Carolina's real estate radio. We offer you a peek behind the curtain and collaborate with others in the industry to give you the inside scoop and what's going on here locally and often nationally. We do some comparative fun things. So I'm glad you're tuning in today because I have an exciting guest on. It's also a radio show host and that is Miss Veronica Edwards, who is the host of the Veronica Edwards show here on Biz Radio as well. So if you haven't checked her out after the show, be sure to go to bizradious and give her a listen, because there's a lot of useful topics.

Ryan: 1:17

Veronica, your show in your bio helps navigate general financial topics. It's useful for personal and business growth. I like that. It's personal and business growth, but you try to keep it fun too. You're a licensed CPA. We don't have enough time on the show to go over all of your accomplishments and your resume. You do a lot of work with nonprofits and small businesses, so I'm excited to have you on because I do have some fun questions about how small businesses affect the market and can help revitalize communities versus big businesses. But we'll get into some of that fun stuff in a little bit. But first off, welcome to the show. I'm so glad to have you on.

Veronica : 2:01

Thank you, ryan, thank you for having me. I feel like when I started here about two and a half years ago, I was on your show and I've been saying every season I have to have Ryan on my show and I need to be on Ryan's show because our fields are so commingled and especially now with inflation and how the economy is. I'm dying to talk you know, real estate and numbers with you.

Ryan: 2:23

Yeah, well, and I'm glad you brought up inflation. That was one of the things that we can just jump to right away, honestly, because I had it down at the lower part of my list, but it was one of the things I was kind of curious about, and you know that is how how is inflation, as an accountant, cpa, how has inflation inflation over the last you know year or more affected small businesses? I know it's had to have an effect on nonprofits because as people's buying power becomes less, you start to think you know, I have several nonprofits I give to on a monthly basis, you know and as people start to tighten the belt, I'm sure that that's one of the first things they think about is oh well, maybe I need to cut back on. You know, as you're going through and you're like, do I really need Netflix and Hulu? You know nonprofit must have taken a hit. And locally, let's start with small businesses. Sure, how has inflation affected the small businesses here, locally, folks that you work with?

Veronica : 3:29

Well, it's definitely affecting the labor force. Like you know, we knew that when COVID hit three years ago, a lot of people walked away from jobs, did not come back to those jobs, went into different jobs, which also increase the pay wage for those folks. So I'm definitely seeing up to and salary expense and wages because now people have options. They're not just coming to a job eight hours a day, make a minimum wage, so that has effect folks. I have some small business owners that are in the construction field so things have been delayed. Materials have gone up so everybody across the board and small business are increasing their prices and I've had to do the same, you know. So in my field being a service provider and others that I serve our service providers we haven't felt it as much, but definitely those that are selling tangible products it's definitely been rough. It's just an honestly the material piece. It's easy to pass along. But I think where people are struggling most is having the proper staff, people showing up, people being consistent and being willing to work.

Ryan: 4:37

Yeah well, and it's almost a double whammy for some businesses Because, as you have to raise prices, because the cost of wholesale goods is going up whether that's you know, food's gone up tremendously for mom restaurant owners, I mean the service industry employees. There's a lot of small owned service industry businesses, especially in this town. And as you have to raise those prices, at the same time inflation is hitting people's wallet so they're not going out and doing their vacation where they window shop in downtowns or pop places and they're not going out to eat, you know, three times a week anymore.

Ryan: 5:19

So it's almost as a small business. You don't want to price out your you know your clientele. You can't afford to take the hit either. So as you're almost losing business because of inflation on one side and losing business because of inflation on the other side, it's like a big double whammy on that. But I am surprised to hear how do you think? What do you think is the call? You know they say wages always catch up with inflation in the long run. Do you think that's happening now? Quicker than expected or slower than expected.

Veronica : 5:56

I think it's still slow. I mean, we know that a livable wage is closer to $20 an hour and the federal rate is still what? $725, $750, something ridiculous that hasn't changed in over 10, 15 years. So I know that that hasn't been pressure for folks to say, okay, well, now we have to, and I know some states have their own state minimum wage, but no, and I think that's the reason why a lot of folks are stepping out on themselves and stepping out in faith and starting their own businesses, consulting, having multiple streams of income, because folks aren't able to keep up with. You know, okay, houses, as you'll talk about.

Veronica : 6:37

I mean, in Asheville I can't find a trailer for under a quarter of a million dollars. That's 20 years old and so most people that are making $20 an hour, which is close to $40,000 a year, they can't afford that. So to say that even $20 an hour is a livable wage is just not correct. I feel like it's going to take some drastic measures from the government to ensure that people are getting paid a fair wage and, as we can see, they're on the brink of a shutdown. So I don't even know if that's going to happen in our lifetime.

Ryan: 7:10

Yeah, and you know what's interesting is you would think, with inflation has affected the housing market, particularly because of the all the rate hikes to try to fight the inflation has really reduced people's buying power. So even those people that could afford that entry level home if they could even find it what they can afford is getting smaller and smaller due to the, due to the interest rates. And you know I said I didn't want to date the show, but I will say the median price over the past 12 months. You know I won't get into the super minute weekly details as people listen to this on podcast over over time, but over the past 12 months the median price in Asheville is still up 8%. Yes, you know what you would think with the downturn in the economy.

Ryan: 8:04

You know you might that might not be the case Now. In previous years it's been double digits. So you know 8% is, you know, a slowdown for what we were seeing. But what we were seeing was historically high. At the same time, the affordable housing index is, over the last 12 months, is down 24%.

Ryan: 8:27

So you know we have 24% less affordable housing than we did 12 months ago and there was a bigger jump the previous year, so it is not trending in the right direction for the actual area. As far as affordable housing goes and I did a show a little while back with Ron Watson about you know are we going to price out those service industry? Folks Are people you know, and then and then, what kind of steamroll does that have down the road, with Asheville being such a heavy tourist laden industry?

Veronica : 8:58

Yeah, yeah, and you know I feel bad at times, Ryan, because I bought my town home August of 2020. My interest rate? Do you want to guess what it was?

Ryan: 9:10

3.5.

Veronica : 9:11

It was 2.75.

Ryan: 9:13

Yeah.

Veronica : 9:14

And now interest rates we know are 5% more and if I'm doing the math right, it's usually like $100 extra per 1%. So I would have been paying an extra $500 a month in my mortgage where three years ago, when I purchased my house, I was basically paying the same amount I was paying in rent. And that's what I tell people a lot of time when you're starting to get where your rent is as much as your mortgage. But now we're seeing the flip run. I know people paying way more in rent than they're paying in mortgage and I feel so bad for folks that are right at that 40 to 50,000 a year. They can't afford a house, Like you said, an entry level house paying almost half a million dollars. They're paying way more than what people that are making three and four times more than that they're making, but they're paying for their mortgage. So I don't know how they're going to fix this. I try to keep my in.

Veronica : 10:02

The US Chamber has different announcements and I was on a call that took place at the end of Q2. So this is around midway in the year. They still don't have a clue, Ryan, that they're still like. Well, this is historical. We've never had inflation like this before and every time we increase the rates, people are still traveling, People are still spending, they're still incurring credit card debt, and so they really don't know what's going to happen. They keep saying well, if something is going to happen in Q4, this can't continue the way it is into 2024. They're anticipating for the inflation rate to level out by 2025. But at this point we're in uncharted waters. So I just tell people save as much as you can, Try to cut your costs as much as possible, and that's all you can do.

Ryan: 10:51

Well, you know what's interesting is Asheville area recently became a renter area, as far as there are more renters living in Asheville than there are homeowners, and that's a cross, and this is what makes it interesting. That's across, like all age groups, you know that's all I believe it. That's crossed 40 to 50. 50 to 60.

Veronica : 11:16

I believe it.

Ryan: 11:17

You know, and typically in the past what you would see is that would be higher in the younger age groups and then the older age groups. That would kind of balance out. One sign that could be a positive nationally is that single family homes, new construction single family homes are shrinking as home builders respond to an increased demand for smaller, more affordable housing. Yeah, so I think that's kind of moving in the right direction. Now during the pandemic we kind of saw a historical increase of square footage for builders because everybody was adding on home offices and considering. You know, it's funny because before the pandemic there was this big push for tiny homes or live smaller down the rise, you know.

Ryan: 12:06

And then when the pandemic hit, everybody stuck in their tiny homes or small places were like we got to get something bigger. I need something to do with the home office. I can't be stuck in here like this, you know. Yeah, another looking at the economy, though, looking at what the perfect storm that might be ahead of us and why, I think that you're right when you say just save, save, save. You know, go ahead and cut back now which you can, even if you can afford it, to build that nest egg.

Ryan: 12:31

Because one of the dangerous signs to me is you would expect, with interest rates this high, to see a massive reduction in home refinancing, right, but you haven't really seen that. The last numbers I've looked at, there has been some reduction and of course it fluctuates month to month. But if people are refinancing their home into a seven and a half percent, that means they're probably pulling equity out, because they're probably substituting, you know, their earnings in some ways with that or to pay off that credit card debt that over the last year. They're like holy moly, how did it get this high?

Veronica : 13:12

I'm right there, Ryan, I'm a CPA and I was saying to myself girl, you went to Disney World this year you know like, and now you went to DC and I'm like, oh, I'm going to pay this.

Veronica : 13:21

And now my son's in a more expensive private school and it does creep up on you. And I'm not ashamed to say I definitely have over $20,000 in credit card debt and I've paid that off multiple times within less than a year and blah, blah, blah. But now I'm feeling a little bit more of a chokehold, like, OK, girl, you got to sit down and you really do need to get your credit lower in the next six months and definitely start adding to the savings for sure.

Ryan: 13:48

Right, right. And do you recommend, is there a safer way to save? You know, because in with inflation, you know. Let's say, I have 10 grand in the bank, which a lot of Americans don't. Do you think that there's a better place to hold that money so that it just doesn't get chipped away? I haven't found much other than you know some of the money markets.

Veronica : 14:12

you know you might be able to get something that's over four or five percent. But I'm kind of old school where I, you know, I know everyone's talking about banks crashing but you know it's the FDIC up to 250,000. I'm nowhere near that. So I have always been With Wells Fargo. I do that and a lot of times my technique with it is I'm just going to automatically have it taken out of my account and put in a savings account. That I can't touch. You know, just for me personally. Some people they do like to get a safe, put their money in a safe at the house because they are feeling very much so not trusting of the government and of the banks. But it really comes down to whatever folks personal preferences. For me, If I have cash in my pocket I'm going to spend it, so I like to have it in a bank. For some people, if it's in their checking's account, they're going to spend it, so they like to take the cash out and lock it up. So it really comes down to your preference.

Ryan: 15:09

Yeah, for some people it's easier just to swipe that card than it is to let me go to my safe and take this. Oh, then they feel guilty about it. I could. I can see that. I never really thought about it that way, but I can see that, although do be mindful of keeping large quantities Of cash around, I would, I would recommend Exactly.

Veronica : 15:27

It makes me always think about Dave Ramsey. You know, with the envelopes. Yeah, I was going to mention the envelope theory.

Ryan: 15:31

You can do that with bank accounts too, though. Yes, yes.

Veronica : 15:36

And then you know definitely other biz radio host, Joel Skeen of Mindful Marketplace. I was on his show. He's going to be on Minds also and his biggest thing with the business that he works with is eliminating debt. You know, and I think people don't really care about the amount of money that you're going to realize when I was talking with Joel, you know there's a lot of people that are in their 60s and they're getting 30 year mortgages. But there is a way that you could pay it off. You just have to be disciplined and you have to stick to it.

Ryan: 16:05

Yeah Well, and if you live long enough, as life expects, the seeds go up, getting a 30 year mortgage in your 60s, you might. You might even hit a point where you can start to pull equity out while keeping payments the same adventures rates start to lower. I mean, there's there's lots of little money, tricks and hacks, but you shouldn't count on them and you should be careful when, as Dave Ramsey would say, when, when imploring things like that.

Veronica : 16:33

Yeah.

Ryan: 16:34

But yeah, we had Joel on the show a little while back too, talking about quality of life for different generations and how much income. You know what was the average income of my parents' generation versus my generation versus the past generation and what's the price of housing and how did that equal out? So it was. It was pretty. We did a two part series on it actually. It was a pretty. It was a pretty fun show.

Veronica : 17:00

Yeah and Ryan. I just want to add, because you said that you know, my father has now passed away but my mom's still living. She's 68. If my dad was alive he would be 75. They bought their first house 31 years ago, so if you do the math you know. So they were in their 30s. Nice three bedroom, two and a half bath garage, half an acre, $60,000. Ryan.

Ryan: 17:25

Oh yeah.

Veronica : 17:26

And so my parents never made, combined, more than $60,000, you know to to you know, compare the two. And they had that house paid off you know, and the house has been paid off for a year. I mean it was like four, I think a 300 or $400 a month mortgage payment. But that's where working middle class people that put two girls in college was able to have a home. Now that would be impossible.

Ryan: 17:50

Right, no, it's very, it's very difficult. And in comparison to you know people think about oh, houses were so cheap, yeah, but at the same time, you know, wages were a lot less. Now, I mean, if you look at the value of the dollar over the generations, you might be surprised at what you see and I don't have those numbers in front of me. But if you look at the percentage of income to Intro level homes, that sort of thing, but also you know, a lot of times back then People got what they could afford, not not what they wanted, whereas I think this generation is like I'm gonna rent till I can afford Exactly what I want, yeah, and that that holds off your wealth building for your whole lifetime. You know, yeah, you know, my first house was a two bedroom, one bath. You know we had two kids in one bedroom and, and you know, for people to one bathroom. But it's a stepping stone right, that's what you could afford?

Ryan: 18:44

Yeah, and that's what we could afford. It was better than paying rent, better than raising the kids in apartment complexes although Sometimes it is fun to raise kids in apartment yeah, I don't want to knock that because there's lots of other kids around and Bikes around the complex. Don't leave a complex. Be back when street lights come on, that sort of thing, so that can be a lot of fun too. You mentioned earlier about, you know, steps that could be done with Trying to from the government, with trying to curve affordability and housing and wages and interest rates and debt. But here locally, do you feel our local government has a positive or negative impact on Affordable housing? Because a lot, that's it. I'll let you answer that and then I'll I'll chime in.

Veronica : 19:38

Well, yeah, I was gonna say I'm not necessarily the expert in that, but I would definitely say I feel like it's negative because I do do know that it's a huge homelessness issue in Asheville, mental health issue and we had the whole thing with Mission and all that stuff.

Veronica : 19:57

So I just feel like when it comes to health care and food and housing, we already have so many issues, but the housing I just feel like every time I turn around at Asheville there's another Condominium popping up and a lot of times isn't historically black and brown areas, so it's displacing more and more people and, like you said, we're a service city, so most people that work in Asheville can't afford to live in Asheville to serve the people that they're working, working with. So I do feel like there's more that the city and the government can do. I mean, we're running into it now with the county. I just had a conversation with the county because I have some nonprofits where they receive grant money or they have a contract with the county and some departments in the county want to go to reimbursement and it's like a nonprofit doesn't have twenty thousand dollars to pay in payroll, so they give you a pretty form to say, okay, now can we get reimbursed?

Veronica : 20:49

if that's the case, then we would never need the money to begin with. So everyone is feeling it, but I think they're losing sight of. Well, what is the mission? What is the purpose of what you're trying to do? Because we're actually going to shut down some nonprofits if we start moving to a reimbursement Way of doing things versus here is the money well in advance, before you guys even hire someone right, right, yeah, and you know the nonprofit things a little bit outside of my Expertise on that, but I do understand what you're saying.

Ryan: 21:24

You can't. If somebody says, oh yeah, just do it and then I'll give you the money, it's like, well, I can't, can't do it without the, without the money, entrepreneurially. I immediately thought I wonder if I should start a reimbursement loan company. Maybe a low interest I could give to nonprofits once they get reimbursed. I could. But I'm sure there's actually, you know, companies out there that that do similar things.

Veronica : 21:52

I've never heard of one. I have not heard once, so you might have something right, I just got a million dollar idea.

Ryan: 21:57

I think you did. I need you to put me in touch with somebody to solidify this before somebody else jumps on it.

Veronica : 22:02

Yeah, and I hate that that even is possible because we're just putting so much constraints on Organizations. That was already so cash-strapped, organizations that systemically don't have the support financially, nor do they have the financial education. So of all of the organizations, I do feel that the nonprofits are hurting even more because a lot of them are so reliant on government, city, county type funds.

Ryan: 22:28

What do you think they could do more? As far as I don't know if they could, but as far as pushing some of this development to fund some of the community rejuvenation projects.

Veronica : 22:42

That would be great. Yeah, I mean there needs to be something.

Ryan: 22:46

Well, yeah, so instead of just denying some developments because of the impact, if you could use that money that they want to bring in to make profits to also I don't want to say like a profit share, because it wouldn't be long, you know longstanding but to do it to a greater benefit than what's currently here.

Veronica : 23:08

Yeah, and I just was talking with Tori White Garrison, one of our other biz radio hosts, and we were talking about reparations. But, yeah, like something needs to be done because there has been a lot of wrongdoing, and if it's in the form of money, if it's in the form of opportunities, we definitely need that happening in Asheville, and it's not just here, it's all over.

Ryan: 23:27

Yeah Well, we're going to take a quick break when we come back. We've got a lot of other fun topics to get to. Speaking of development, I've got some news on some new developments that are recently approved by the city, which, Veronica, does affect an historically black community. So stay with us. I am Ryan Marshall here with Veronica Edwards of the Veronica Edwards Show. You are listening to the Real Deal and we will be right back.

Ryan: 24:00

Hello, and we are back with the Real Deal. We are WNC's real estate show, sharing some agent insight on life markets and the pursuit of property. I have on with me today Ms Veronica Edwards. She's a fantastic show host right here on Biz Radio, the Veronica Edwards Show. You can check it out at bizradious. Likewise, if you missed the first part of this show, go back and check it out the Real Deal at bizradious. Or you can check it out at realdealashfieldcom and you can find all of your home buying and home selling needs there as well.

Ryan: 24:32

Just a little shameless plug for myself, Ms Veronica. I appreciate you coming on the show. We've been talking a lot about just the current market environment and how it's not just out. Everything affects housing and housing affects everything when it comes to the economy it really does. It's really intertwined and sometimes one causes the other to have issues and sometimes the other one causes the other one to have issues, but right now it's almost like a perfect storm of both of them, creating turmoil, I guess, if you will, or a building of turmoil, I guess, depending on who you ask. Right now, if you own property in Asheville currently, you're still doing pretty good.

Ryan: 25:25

I mentioned a 12-month growth rate of 8%. Of course, if your home value increased by 8%, but you saw an 8% loss of inflation over the last year, you're kind of evened out. It's still a safe place to park your money and also in the long term you're going to see gains. It's basically like you're paying yourself rent in the long term. So if you can't afford to buy a house, even if you're a little nervous, talk to a realtor. Go over what it's going to cost you per month, how you would feel about that payment should you have a sudden loss of job or have a decrease in pay or think they can go over all that with you.

Ryan: 26:05

Talk to the right person, and so can Veronica. As a CPA, she can help navigate and understand those dollar amounts and what they really mean. One of the things Veronica, I saw I think you did a lecture or a speech or you helped out in some way because it was connected to you on the internet and one of the ladies that went to the class said that she really learned how to look at a spreadsheet from an accountant's point of view versus from a just money in, money out, money in.

Ryan: 26:40

Exactly Right, and so I think that knowledge can be helpful to gain lifetime wealth.

Veronica : 26:46

Absolutely. And I tell people all the time accounting is the language of business and a lot of people operate completely illiterate. They're just looking at, like you said, the cash in, the cash out. And when you operate like that, when you have a lot of cash, you can commit a lot of sins. You don't know what's really going on. You're happy, the bank account is fat. But as soon as inflation creeps in and you see that your bank account is starting to dwindle, you're kind of just shocked.

Veronica : 27:10

But this is the time when I tell people okay, tighten up on your procedures, tighten up on your expenses. And the biggest real estate for my clients is office space. So a lot of people are getting smaller office space or they're not having office space at all that they're renting, they're just working from home or they're doing co-working spaces. So, yeah, there's so much that you can gain from having a financial advisor that doesn't necessarily have to be a CPA, or myself, where I help with the operations and the forecasting of small businesses. So I have a nonprofit. Today we're going to have a cash flow meeting because they need to know how is this going to look these last few months of the year going into the new year Because, again, if we're relying on government funding and there's a shutdown or there's delays because you have to get reimbursed, we want to make sure that we have a plan.

Ryan: 28:06

Yeah, and that's it. It's kind of like how do you plan for things you don't see coming? How do you feel good about that? And I'm so happy. I mean that's one of the reasons I love to have you on is because you do so much work with nonprofit and helping people out. Before the break I had mentioned the development that got approved. I kind of want to get your take on it, but I don't know if you know about it. It's the Project Aspire. It's a mixed-use housing, a huge complex, 10.5 acres.

Veronica : 28:36

No, I have not heard of that.

Ryan: 28:37

So it's 10.5 acres. It's right where the YMCA is and that whole block over to the church. I'm bad with street names and things like that.

Veronica : 28:49

I'm googling now so I'm seeing what you're saying, Got it. Riverside drive or somewhere over there.

Ryan: 28:55

It's supposed to be a mixed-use housing, huge complex, 10.5 acres. But the projects in order to get approved, because it's going to be one of the tallest buildings and it's a complex, there's several buildings, so the project's going to have offerings of 20% of the residential units are going to be deeded affordable, which means it's 80% of the area, median income, 50% of those which will be reserved for housing, choice vouchers, and it adds an opportunity for expanded healthcare, childcare. They're putting in some pedestrian infrastructure, some green spaces. They're building a new YMCA facility because they'll be tearing that one down, and it'll offer some high-density housing at the heart of downtown, which all sound like good things. The bad thing is is that it is going to affect what would be considered a historically black neighborhood right there, mostly because of increased traffic and just the size, the sheer size of the building. So it's going to be one residential complex, one hotel, several office spaces, a new YMCA, that sort of thing, and the artist's rendition of it, the computer generated. It all looks fantastic.

Ryan: 30:16

And so, because of the building height and other concerns, there's a lot of people that feel like it's unfair to an historically black community and they came out and kind of talked against it. There were a lot of other people that came out and talked for it. It went back and forth for a long time and they pushed the vote off, but they did approve it. It probably still has to go through several other things to do, but I mean, what are your thoughts of that? Because it is offering some affordable housing right now and it's doing something that I don't think. When other developers have put in what they consider affordable housing as part of getting approved. I don't think any of them ever did a housing choice vouchers as part of that, like a guaranteed percentage for a housing choice vouchers.

Veronica : 30:59

Well, that's what I was going to ask you, because you mentioned the 20% and the 50%. So we're saying only 30% of the housing is just going to be for regular folks like me and you.

Ryan: 31:08

I'm assuming so, if I'm reading that right. But you know it's hard to read the statistics with the way they're written, you know. Is it saying 50% of the 20%?

Veronica : 31:18

it's gonna have All right, it doesn't close vouchers, or is it?

Ryan: 31:21

saying that you can get vouchers for any of the units, but you just have to make up the difference. Like you know, to be honest, I'm not 100% sure on that. It'll take some more looking into but, like I said, right now it's still in the early things. But I mean, here's the thing. On the one hand, I was thinking, yeah, it is going to change the landscape. It's going to change the look of that community.

Ryan: 31:44

On the other hand it's highly successful. It's got a much nicer YMCA. If there's public works buildings in there, is that value of that historically black community, the land value, going to go up enough from having downtown kind of pushed towards it that they could really, with their property values, have an opportunity to really build some generational wealth for the whole family if they own homes over there.

Veronica : 32:10

And then that's the key if they own and if they're able to get in it. Because when you first mentioned the 20%, I'm like, oh, here we go again, because that's what typically happens is that, oh, we're going to, you know, displace these people, but we're going to make sure that we have a couple of units that they can afford. And from me talking to folks that have already gone through that here in Asheville, they're like they put, make it so difficult and the waiting list is for years for you to even get in because the amount of units are so small. That's allocated for people that can afford it. So it is encouraging to hear that, if the 50% is layered on top of the 20%, I just feel like, anytime there are situations like this, majority of the housing needs to be for the people that had already lived there and also provide education, have a program that will allow them to rent, to own. You know, like to, so it's.

Veronica : 33:02

And because I've lived somewhere before, when I was in Wisconsin and at the time I was so young I didn't know any better I was like, oh, that was actually a good deal, and I was in my late twenties. We were renting an apartment and they had the option that that could be used towards equity, because the apartment complex also had condominiums that they owned. So if we did decide after two or three years, all that rent that we paid would go towards a house, you know, a condo, and so I want things like that happening. When we're going in areas and we're saying that, oh, we're gonna make this, you know, more public green spaces and safety and all the stuff that I feel like is great, but we don't wanna just push these people to the side and now they're homeless or they're never able to get back on their feet. Let's help folks and pull them up versus just giving them okay, well, here's some lip service, but then when it actually happens, they're not following through on everything. So that's my biggest thing is the follow through.

Ryan: 34:05

Well, and another thing that came to mind when I thought about cause I was kind of thinking it over my head like the pros and cons One of the untalked about con for building these developments which would increase property values of people that they own their home around it. So let's say they put a development at the edge of a neighborhood. In the beginning you might think, oh, it's an eyesore, but over time I think having that there could increase those property values. The downside is if I own a home close to there and now my property values increase.

Veronica : 34:44

I'm thinking, I'm thinking awesome.

Ryan: 34:46

I could sell. That's where I was going with it. But then what if I'm on a fixed income? Or when I say fixed income I don't just mean people on retirement or living on social security, I mean the person that's kind of maxed out at their current career, you know. I mean they're not jumping, they're not gonna necessarily in the next 10 years get a new job that pays $30,000 more.

Ryan: 35:10

They're not gonna necessarily get a cost of living increase, so they could end up seeing their you know, if they're still paying on their home due to escrow, seeing their house payments increase tremendously depending on the jump. Or again, if their house is paid for now, incurring all this expenses maybe it was passed down to them from their parents or whatnot, and so that's something that never really gets talked about. That I think there needs to be a solution for as well.

Veronica : 35:40

Absolutely. I mean you bring up the property tax. That's what's hurt a lot of black and brown people where they'll sell these houses that have been within generations for years because they can't afford the property tax. I have family that live in New York. The property tax is like 35, 40, sometimes even $50,000 a year. They don't have an escrow account where they're just you know that's coming out. They have to make those payments and you know Asheville is no different.

Veronica : 36:05

I live in Asheville city. My, you know, payment went up because property tax went up. So I'm seeing all these houses that are selling for 700 and 800,000. And my little town home I bought for well under 300,000. So I'm glad that it's increasing the property value.

Veronica : 36:21

But just like you said, ryan, I'm a whole CPA and I have a husband as a teacher. We're fixed. You know what I'm saying, right? So as a kid that's in private school, we're spending over $1,000 a month in food you know like and we eat pretty clean, you know. And it's just three of us. So I can't imagine a family of five and mom and dad are working a nine to five and combined they're making less than $100,000. We're setting up all these people to continue to be displaced, especially in our area in Asheville where we don't really have a lot of diversity, and it almost fails as a black person like, oh, you don't want black and brown people in this city because you're intentionally continuing to say, oh, we're gonna help, but we're just gonna help a very small percentage, just so we can continue to reap the benefits from, you know this? Housing inflation.

Ryan: 37:15

Yeah, well, you know what's? You mentioned the food bill and, on a side note, you know I do a lot of cooking at the house. We don't go out to eat with all the kids, and a few years back, you know, I thought about doing a cookbook on recipes that feed a family of five for $5.

Veronica : 37:35

Oh, ryan.

Ryan: 37:36

I keep forgetting that you have family of five. So we're getting into and it you know it was a lot of casserole and steaks. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. How do you utilize the leftovers from the night before? You know how to make two different dishes out of one meal without it being oh, we're just eating the same thing. You know, that's worth it.

Ryan: 37:56

But now going to the grocery store, I don't think there's any way to do it, even if you try to cut back as much as possible, and in some cases some of the food I used to buy has more than doubled, you know.

Ryan: 38:06

And I'm talking about little things Like you used to get, like two years ago. You could get a little packet of country ham, you know, not enough to, you know, not a big, just a little. It was like a few slabs. It was only a dollar, though it was great for seasoning things. You could, you know, you could use it in lots of different ways to make a delicious meal out of it. Sure, I know some tips and secrets, but last time I was there I was looking, and now that same pack is a little over $3.

Ryan: 38:41

And I'm like I'm gonna go for a dollar. Like how did that happen? And it happens so gradually, and that's the one thing people have to do. They have to eat. Yes, and even if you go to a fast food place which I don't eat a lot of fast food, so I don't go there very often so the last time I went through one, I was you know the price tag on it I was like man, I feel like we could have went to a sit-down, you know nice dinner for this, but then you can go to a sit down, nice dinner and you're like holy moly.

Ryan: 39:13

So it just I feel like it's creeping in on people in a big way oh yeah, and do you have any specific tips other than buckle down, cut where you can save a little bit? Do you have any other tips on how people can help relieve, not necessarily the pain of inflation but the stress of what may come next?

Veronica : 39:34

I think it's all about budgeting and planning. You know I know a lot of people don't like to do that, but you, I have my little budget in an Excel spreadsheet. There's all these free apps, but I just encourage people to really start tracking what you're spending, because a lot of times it is food and gas and some of these things, and even if you can shave a couple hundred dollars off or you know, it'll start to add up for sure. So I would definitely say you know I'm always buying on Amazon, buying in bulk. You know I now I have to shop at a couple of places.

Veronica : 40:07

I can't get everything at Ingalls because it's too expensive, or everything at Publix or EarthFair. I might get some things for Trader Joe's or I might get some things from Aldi's, or I'm even finding that I can order things on Amazon that's cheaper than me getting it in bulk at Sam's Club. So even Sam's Club I'm like you know, the gas is still good. But then there's some other areas where I'm seeing that I'm not seeing as big of a discount as I used to at some of these places. But the number one I would always say as a CPA is that you have to know how much money you're getting in and how much you're spending. So I encourage everybody to have a budget.

Ryan: 40:42

Is there a set amount or a percentage amount that you should be setting aside? Or you know, if I'm making X amount a month, I should make sure that I stay below a certain spending dollar or aim for. What is that percentage for? Let's say it for a dollar amount for an average median income person in the area.

Veronica : 41:09

Yeah, you know the Christian, the religious side of me. I'm always, like you know, tithing 10%, you know. So at minimum, I feel like you should be saving 10% of what you make. So if you can get it set up, if you work for an employer, hey, I want 10% of my money to go in this account and I want 90% to go in that account. You have to think about it and it's coming out before you even spend or you can adjust it up.

Veronica : 41:34

I've heard rates back in the day which aren't applicable anymore. They're saying your housing should never be more than 30% of what you make. But how is that possible when you know a teacher might only make 2000 in a month and so that means all they can afford is $600 a month in rent when we're going to do that at, you know or mortgage. So I think that's one of the rates that me, being 41 years old, traditionally that worked, aren't working anymore. But I definitely feel like before you spend anything, before you even count the money you have to save, and even if you start off with $50, you just need to consistently save every time you get money.

Ryan: 42:17

Yeah, even if it's not as much as you would like it to be. All the little bits do add up.

Veronica : 42:23

Even $50 a month, that's $600 in a year. You double that, it's 1200. You'll be surprised how quickly you can save. But it's discipline and you have to make it a habit, you know. So there's going to be times when you're like I do kind of want to go on this trip to Lake Laura. I do want to, you know, go out to eat downtown somewhere. And to your point, ryan's like no, let's remix these leftovers, you know, and let's figure out how we can make it work. Because at least when you know something happens, you got a little bit of a nest egg, a little bit of savings, Because the worst thing is to hit hard times and you don't have anywhere to go or no money that you can draw from. Because a lot of times people allow you to make payments. You don't have to pay everything in full. But if you don't have anything at all now, you're doing a disservice to yourself. Because I tell people budgeting is paying yourself. It's not a punishment, it's to help you in the long run.

Ryan: 43:19

Yeah Well, as you said, shopping around for your groceries online, looking to see which cheaper, it's almost like the modern day equivalent of couponing back in the day. Yes, you still can't coupon, coupons do still come out.

Veronica : 43:32

Yes, they do, yes, they do. That's absolutely. I love that perspective. Yeah, you're absolutely right.

Ryan: 43:36

Yeah. So before we get into the show, I do want to say, if you're out there and you're listening, I don't want to. I'm not trying to make this show come across all doom and gloom. Right, how's your market? Still strong, actually, for homeowners, mom and pop investors that may want to buy a rental rent still high comparatively, like you had mentioned earlier in the show of Veronica. So there's still good investments that can be made too. And for the aspiring homeowner start saving now.

Ryan: 44:02

Go ahead and talk with a realtor. Go ahead and talk with a lender who can maybe help you get your credit up. Give you tips that way, talk to you about how much you might need to save, plan for the future. You hit the nail on the head. It's all about planning. You can get anywhere if you plan.

Ryan: 44:17

It may take you longer than it does someone else, so you may think it's not fair because it's going to take me twice as long as it took this person. However, it's still doable. And don't say it's not fair because it's taking me longer, so I'm just not going to do it Right. Do it, and when you have a goal, you're going to find that you're happier in life, even if it's taking you a long time to achieve that goal. That goal actually makes you happy. As you see, it slowly build Might not in the beginning, you might not feel it, but as you get there you'll start to take pride in it and it'll make it easier and also make it fun. We only got about one minute left, veronica. How do they find you if they want to reach out to you?

Veronica : 44:54

Yeah, they can check me out at balancevirtuallycom. I am on Instagram, I'm on Facebook Also. The Veronica Edward shows on bizradious, so just Google me, I'm out there. I coach with Mountain BizWorks. I'm starting a relationship with some other nonprofits in the coaching realm, so, yeah, just find me on my website and you can reach me directly.

Ryan: 45:18

I know I feel like we could do another show. I have so many more questions I know, I will be appearing on Veronica's show later on in October, so keep an eye out for that. If you have a problem finding, or, reach out to me and say hey, ryan, how do I get a hold of Veronica? And I'm happy to help you do that. Until next time, if you have any questions for me, you can find me at realdealashwellcom. And we are the real deal. Thanks for listening. We're out.