What's Happening with the 2021 Real Estate Market | Interview with Realtor, Mike Bui

If you’re in the process of selling your home or preparing your house to sell, this season of the Behind the Renovation podcast is perfect for you.  Over the next few weeks, I am interviewing industry professionals and related businesses for the Home Selling Success series to help you understand what home selling and buying look like in 2021 and how you can prepare yourself for the good, the bad and that elusive virtue called patience. 

In today’s episode, I am interviewing Mike Bui who is currently President & CEO of EQ1 Real Estate, a boutique real estate brokerage in San Jose, California. Under Mike's leadership, the firm has grown from a team of 6 Realtors in 2013 to a team of 30 Realtors. The company was awarded the prestigious Inc. 5000’s Fastest-Growing Private Companies in the US in 2018 and 2019. The co holds the #9 spot on the Silicon Valley Business Journal’s Top Real Estate Firms list and is ranked at #23 for Top San Jose Companies by Inc.com.

When not in the office, Mike enjoys spending time with his wife, 3 kids and their Labradoodle.

You can find Mike on Instagram @whoismikebui or visit him at eq1realestate.com

Transcript

Alice: Hey Mike, how you doing 

Mike:  Doing great. Alice, how are you?

Alice:  fantastic Well, as we are going to be talking about the real estate market in 2021, you are in my market. So we are in the Silicon Valley. You're located in San Jose, California. And tell me a little bit about what the current real estate market is like locally. 

Mike: Well, the local market, and if I could sum it up when one word is crazy, 

Alice: Some things Never changed, right Because I think I've been hearing that for the last decade or More

Mike: exactly. It's with the pandemic and everything. It's really caused this fear of missing out, and the buyers and sellers desires and their needs and their ability to purchase and everything within the last year has just been pretty crazy. We're seeing prices that are, that don't make any sense when it comes down to market comparables, just locally in San Jose, we've seen almost like a 30% increase within the last year and appreciation national average is three to 4% per year per annum there. So 

Alice: We are in a special little community here. We're so lucky here, if you're selling you're in a great position, but then you got to turn around and buy something, right So are you finding that people are staying local Are they selling and moving away Because we keep hearing about, oh, everybody's going to leave California. 

Mike: Yeah. we have a lot of people actually are selling and still buying in San Jose. There, there are those who are downsizing from the largest states down fall or home downsizing. And then there are those that during the pandemic they realize, or had an awareness that my home, what it is, I need one extra bedroom that is an office space, or I need more yard space. I want more space to build in a pool or even an ADU. So everyone's desires and their needs changed during the pandemic. And we could definitely go into more detail, but there are those who have left the bay area. and we always advise that it's a one-way ticket one, six, seven months later. You want to come back to the bay area, your same home that you just sold has now appreciated maybe 50, a hundred thousand, depending on what neighborhood it was in. And can you afford to buy it back Right Most people 

Alice: Can't, most people can't once you leave, like you said, it's a one-way ticket. You'll the sticker shock alone coming back. You'll cry. Yeah. And 

Mike: So they're, this September, October, a lot of the, large tech companies are stating already that they want their employees back in three to four days out of the week. So imagine the migration back to the bay area and the inventory levels haven't changed. If anything, it's gotten less and less. So the rental market, in my opinion, and what I forecast is the rental. Market's going to explode everywhere between mountain view Sunnyvale, Santa Clara, right Where all the tech hubs are, those prices are going to go up in terms of rents. And the prices for sale are going to astronomically climb too at the same time. So probably a migration back to the bay area, gearing towards the end of this year. Sounds 

Alice: Going to be really interesting. Like you said, when people are starting to return to their offices, you're no longer working from home. Full-time I think there was a lot of people who moved away thinking, oh, I could work remotely. And it's a rude awakening in short order in very short, 

Mike: It's coming up real soon, too. And real for 

Alice: Real well, I'm excited because as a parent, I'm sure, you know, having your children at home during this whole year, year and a half actually, has been challenging and more so for people with younger children than with older ones. But regardless everybody is hopefully, you know, God willing, everything will go back to, so my normal by this fall. And I'm very good at that. A new normal. Yes. Yes. Well, I noticed from, a design perspective, as you mentioned, people are needing because we're all doing everything from home, right We're working from home, we're doing distance learning from home. People needed dedicated spaces to be able to do that with some privacy, right Cause if you're on, if you're a, executive and you're at home doing meetings and then your children are in another room doing their schoolwork, you don't want to be in an open space any longer. Are you noticing, a need for more dedicated, closed off spaces You know, we were so into this open floor plan, then we started to realize that an open floor plan is probably not as ideal when you're all under the same roof in the same room, doing everything from home 24 seven. 

Mike: Yeah. A dedicated workspace or zoom room has been the hottest thing. Whether it's a den, that's been converted into an office space, a third car garage, that's been boarded and padded up and with holes and everything into, instead of a gym, they would do that into an office or even a shed outside. That's been converted into an office, especially when you have to have those calls for where you need full attention. I'm sure some of my clients were doing calls from their SUV's and their cars, most quiet space that they had until we got them a new home that had a dedicated office there with an actual door enclosure itself. So I know 

Alice: I was seeing people hiding in their closets. I mean, I guess desperation CRE you know, breeds creativity. You got to find the space to do what you gotta do. 

Mike: Oh yeah. Well, we seen it. Walk-in closets in condos. One bedroom condos converted into a full office. And then the second bedroom was a gym because a lot of the amenities in these communities, whether it's townhouses, condo communities, or even country club communities, you weren't able to use the gym facilities or, or club rooms or clubhouses or anything. So you had to make it on your own. And that's where both flex and all these companies were selling out of all their equipment and goods. Right 

Alice: You couldn't even get a treadmill if you wanted to. It was just crazy. So all those people that had them sitting around collecting desks for years on end, they were just selling them like hotcakes. You couldn't keep them in stock. It, it 

Mike: Used to be a glorified clothes hanger, and then people started to use it there and they started 

Alice: Say, I'm guilty myself. We bought one, we bought one online and we converted half of our garage into a gym space because you couldn't go to the fitness centers anymore. They were all closed. So for sure, I see that a lot. So are you seeing buyers asking for very specific features Are they looking now for extra bedrooms to be able to do these things Are what, what is it that you're noticing Yeah, 

Mike: Well, when we consult with the client, we always do, a DNA sheet, desires, needs, and ability, right We find out what can you afford but at the same time, what's the most important to you. And what we've seen just recently in the last year, year and a half is everybody wants that additional bedroom, or they want that pantry, or they need to have that mud room. Or if the backyard's large enough, it has to have a pool. And if it doesn't have a pool, then can they put a pool in, or now the hottest thing is putting in a, accessory dwelling unit or adjacent dwelling unit, an ADU for that office space or the shisha, or, you know, man-cave, whatever it may be that someone's looking for to have, those are a lot of, the big ticket items on the homes that are selling quickly. Correct. 

Alice: Do you notice because everybody was needing more space in our condo sales down because of that because people want a larger space or what are you noticing about 

Mike: That 100% the condo townhome market has just started to pick back up last month. Prior to that, there was a negative connotation with close proximity living because there are shared vents and too many shared spaces, certain buildings, for example, in downtown San Jose, there's an access building. They have 329 units, but only three elevators to get to everything. So at that time, a lot of buyers wouldn't even go and tour these, but now because of the vaccines and people are feeling more comfortable and confident they're going out there, we're starting to see two or three months ago. We had about half. The amount of inventory was condos and town homes on the market for two days. And the other half of 1500 active and available in Santa Clara county, we're all single family homes and they were selling less than a year. We have less than a month of supply. It would sell within four days, seven days, if it was listened too high, you'd be closer to 30 days. And as soon as they did one price drop to where it should be, it's sold almost immediately with multiple offers. 

Alice: That's really interesting. I didn't even think about that. The whole shared situation affecting the overall sales. So just because you have a property or it doesn't necessarily mean it's flying off the market, it depends on what it is that you're selling. Yeah. 

Mike: And the ones that did sell off the market, those were more Peter terrors where people would pop in and pop out before they head out of San Jose, the bay area to go back to LA New York, Chicago, wherever they're from and doing business in the bay area. So did some of those condos, the prestigious ones that are more trophy properties, those, those penthouse properties like properties, they still sold for a premium because those are exclusive. 

Alice: Sure. Interesting. So tell me about what you think when people say, oh, we're in this housing bubble personally, I've been hearing this housing bubble thing for, like I said, well, over a decade, you know, we had a little blip back in the day to 2007, 2008. It's been pretty strong ever since. So w what's your feeling on that Because I don't know. I keep telling people, you know, we are in a unique situation, we're in a unique location. and maybe the housing market and other markets are also strong right now, but they don't have the, endurance that the Silicon Valley, the Northern California has. Yeah. Well, Silicon Valley, 

Mike: If we really look at it, we have our own housing, our own jobs, so many jobs that sometimes it's not even feeling right. If, if one engineer gets headhunted to another company, there's three more filling that position there. So in terms of demand, it's so high that we have this supply and demand issue here. When we have that along with the most strictest lending we've ever seen right back in 2004, five, six, and up to seven, why did we have that type of bubble explosion is because there was a moose, a, you could fog a mirror and literally you get one loan, but you can get up to four loans. And some areas you got up to 10 loans to purchase property, right nowadays they look at everything except for your blood type and your shoe size before they fund your, and they double verify your employment records. 

Mike: So when I hear this about the housing bubble, there are hyper-inflated markets due to people leaving the bay area, right When someone leaves the bay area and they go to Stockton, to Sacramento, to Benicia, to Hayward, or the east bay, they're bringing their dollars that they earned here from equity and pumping that market up over there. So if there was any slowdown for any reason, and for, for me in the real estate business, I would look at it. A slowdown would be caused by an uptick of interest rates. So right now affordability is the number one thing everyone can still afford. But once the interest rates go from three and a half to four and a half percent to 5%, to 6%, those increases will, will really contract the buyer's purchasing power. And when that happens, if all that big buyer pool, everybody can, that can't afford everything slows down, then we'll start to have more supply, more supply. 

Mike: Then we'll have some type of plateau and potentially a market slight decline, but we're not looking at anything drastic at 20, 30% decline, maybe two to 3%, 5% at most. But those secondary markets where everybody's leaving the Silicon valley to those may see 10%. But even those markets, the job market's so strong. So I don't have a crystal ball, but the interest rates get risen to a point of really messing up the affordability. That's where we're going to have some downfall. But right now, anybody who's obtained a loan putting 20% down, 30% down, even up to 50% down that we see on ourselves, they have a lot of equity. and we hear the talks about the forbearance and everything. Those who are in forbearance, you know, we feel for you, but at the same time, there's equity involved. So if they had to sell their home, because they could no longer afford it, they have equity to sell and they still have a nest egg or equity to take, bring to a different market or go back into the rental market there itself. 

Alice: So what would you tell sellers right now if they wanted to sell Obviously they're in a really good position for the most part. I mean, everybody's situation is a little bit different, but what would you advise a seller to do to prepare, to get their property onto the market Well, 

Mike: It, like you said, really assess their situation. Are they looking to upsize or downsize and can they afford purchase prior to selling or do they need to do a concurrent sell And if that's the case, then there are bridge loans, private equity, private money to really help them purchase and then sell. But for the most part, everybody is in that boat where I have to sell my property to qualify, to purchase another home. And in doing so, the preparation process for their current home is where it's most important. If it's an area that the turnover is really quick and people are buying homes as is, then our recommendation would be to lightly paint, touch up, change out hardware, paint the exterior, upgrade your curb appeal, remove all personal items, simplify the home stage and design, and then put the property on the market. But if it's a home that's very, very outdated and the seller, doesn't have this magical number that we can attain. 

Mike: Then we'll tell them to sell it as is, if not, then they have the time and the bandwidth to do some light renovations, more than happy to bring in our contractors designers to ensure that they're getting the best ROI when it comes down to it. But their timeframes have to match kids that need to go to school in August, in September. then, and right now it's already in may, maybe the bright, now's not the time to do a major renovation with permits and planning and all that good jazz to happen before they say maybe they should sell as is right now and have an expectation set, but even so with price expectations on the market, comparables everyone's expectations is getting blown away. Unless they're a seller who just wants to test the market. Like Mike, everything in my neighborhood selling for one eight, if you can sell it for two, one will sell it. I'm not here to test her, find out this home sold, but they're testing the market, too. And that's where you see, some variations of price decreases and then they take it off the market, which there makes buyers feel this feeling of that home. Didn't sell. Why didn't it sell Is the market cooling offer slowing down No, it's not. It was just that one outlier seller that was testing the market. And then they took it off so long answer to your 

Alice: No, no, it totally makes sense. I mean, every situation is so different. I saw the whole, the little video tour that you did of a property that I think is coming on the market, or you recently saw, I'm not really sure. but it was a dated property. So in that situation, you didn't do any upgrades. It was very clean. It looked like it was probably in good condition. It was probably original owner. It was such a cute home. Like I cannot wait to see what somebody, I mean, obviously I won't be privy to that, but I mean, somebody has a clean slate to work with, but in that type of situation where there would be so much work involved, it would not make sense to put the money in. Cause you're not going to get the return and in the timeframe that you're looking for. Right 

Mike: Yeah. So all they did for that complete deep, clean grout, cleaning window cleaning, roof upgrades to just make sure that it is a water tight. And then we painted the exterior, the interior and changed out any trim or any little items that's needed. So the home showed very clean for a date versus a home that's dated and feels dated when you, when you come into it. when we first started talking with the sellers in November, there was a whole outline plan of painting, preparation, decluttering, organizing, and really getting it ready to go on the market and the market timing we timed. It just so happened that the time perfectly, that home was listed for 1.6, nine, 8 million, which is pretty high already for the area. And then it's in pending and contract for 1.9 million. 

Alice: That is so crazy. Oh my gosh. I mean, it just never, it never fails to boggle my mind every time I see, see that those numbers, it just kills me. So because the market is so hot. Yes. There's a lot of talk. You don't even have to do anything. And you know, on the one hand you're probably right. You probably don't have to do a lot in order to sell your property, but what are your thoughts on doing what is enough and what is it, what is worth doing in order to get the best price possible Right Because everybody wants to sell quickly, which is clearly not an issue right now. But for top dollar, I mean, is it worth doing something in order to get that top dollar it's always worth 

Mike: it's always worth it to prepare the property. the number one first thing is to get it decluttered, organized, and paint is something that is so crucial. Especially if you have different color paints in every single room or a lot of scuffs. I have three children, nine, five, and two. If I were to sell my home, I'm repainting all the walls because my kids, we have matte colored paint and their fingerprints are everywhere. So at least at a bare minimum paint, the property don't touch up cause touch-ups are visible all the time and it just looks terrible 

Alice: And people always end up touching up with the wrong sheen and it just, I'm sure you've seen it. It just looks like patchwork everywhere. Like the walls have a skin condition. It's a big problem. No, it's 

Mike: At a bare minimum paint if carpets or horrendous, like they have track marks, change out the carpets, right And if the flooring is really, really bad and some of our sellers didn't have the funds to resound down the floors saying, so what we did was add carpet on top of it. And, and then, and then disclosed that there is original Oakwood floors below, and then they can refinish them later. But at a bare minimum paint, change out hardware and then spruce up the landscaping on the exterior just to give it that fresh look because that's, what's going to invite people to the home there itself and paint the door. The very first thing that doors should be painted and the door handles and hardware should work. You shouldn't have to, or, oh yeah. Twisted to the left a little bit more just to get it. That's the first impression. And that's a terrible, 

Alice: I have to say that kills me because honestly I hear it all the time. I mean, what do you say to somebody says, oh, why should we even bother They're going to come in. They're going to rip everything out anyway. Yes. 

Mike: I tell them that. Okay. If you walked into your own home that first time would you want to pay $1.9 million for this home And they would walk in. I say, here, here's the key. Go ahead and unlock. As you're walking into a home, that's not yours. What would you pay for it Well, that's what we have you for. You're going to negotiate the best price. You're going to show this property. I go, well, it's going to be difficult for me to show this property when I can't get the door open, because you're telling me to go to the left. He goes through the right, pop it down, and then it'll open back up, literally all you have to do. So if they're really unwilling to do any of the upgrades, then this is where Mike Bouley would bring in my concierge services of, Hey, I'm happy to bring in my contractors and designers. And what we'll do is that we'll work out a commission that is going to be viable for both of us here where I will go ahead and front-load this money so that we can get these small items done. And then you'll pay me back upon closing. And that way I have a property that might booze proud to put my name and this face on to represent. 

Alice: That's very smart. Cause that's always been, my sentiment is if I'm putting my name, especially with realtors, your face is splashed around town. Your face is on the front lawn. If you can't confidently smile and say, I'm, this property is literally a dream, then it's not worth doing at all. So I appreciate that. what are some of the things that, buyers should expect because in a sellers market, upper hand is with the sellers, you know, what should they expect going into a transaction Because I've heard crazy stories. I've had a recent client who said she finally got the house. It was her seventh house that she'd been on and she finally got it accepted and she had to move an hour away. You know So what would you advise buyers do right now Because it is so challenging. The, 

Mike: The most important thing too do is, have set expectations, and their agent, whoever it may be or their brokers should really sit them down and let them know what's going on on hyper-local markets, because there are certain pockets to have the trifecta of the schools, right They have the best elementary, middle, and high school. And they're within that area where everybody wants it to be like, we have an area called Willow Glen in San Jose and the lifestyle there is just absolutely amazing. So we used to sell for 1.6 million are all selling for $2 million now, but they're still listed at a trend of 1.6 to 1.7, although they sell for two, right You violate going against the trend and you put transparent at 2 million. The buyers are going to think, well, there's a $300,000 Delta in this area. This seller is out of whack. 

Mike: They're lifting for 2 million. I think they want 2.3. So they don't show that house or they don't see that house. So you get the list within that trend and it just doesn't look transparent to anyone who's on the market. So your agent should be able to decipher through that and say, look, this is a listing trend in the area everything's selling for 20% above the list price. So anything that you see, but at the same time, what's your comfortability of reading, home inspection, termite roof, foundation reports and all that good stuff and HOA documents. Are you willing to go non-contingent and we'll share with you what non contingency means, right There's the buyers who are not as aggressive and there's a conservative buyer and the moderate buyer. If you're conservative in your home buying process, sure. Let's make one or two offers and loose and see where we stack up against these 11 offers. 

Mike: Maybe the third one, you're willing to go more aggressive and go non-contingent on your inspections, your appraisal be willing to cover the difference and your loan get fully underwritten pre-approved versus just a pre-qualification. So it's all about education because anything afterwards becomes an excuse as an agent, like my team and I we're big on education. And if you educate your buyers and your clients ahead of time, when things do happen, they know why versus when things do happen, you're trying to explain it to them. And that sounds like an excuse. And that's just terrible. Yeah. 

Alice: So what do you say I was just watching this little parody video that's I think a realtor made about the current situation, right So let's just say you're working with a buyer and obviously there's multiple offers happening and you want to be reasonable. You want a house you're you're, you know, people are very motivated to purchase a home, but let's just say that well, okay, let me ask you this. Are you at a disadvantage if you're not willing to take a property as is right Because right now, if there's multiple offers and the least amount that a seller needs to do is probably most desirable for them. That's most attractive to them. So if you're a buyer who was not comfortable with buying something as is, are you at a disadvantage I mean, are you pretty much Sol basically I mean, because somebody else is willing to do that 

Mike: Yeah. Are advantage, but a way to kind of alleviate from the stress and the anxiety of buying a home as is, is to ensure that when you're reviewing through disclosed sellers, disclosures and inspection reports, that, your agent has a lineup of handyman contractors, plumbers, electricians, to go over that with you, and then tell you, at least give you a synopsis of what it would cost for them to address those issues. So that you're comfortable with going into a property as is, and knowing the wherewithal of what major items, red flag items, and then how to solve those items and what it would cost. And that's how our buyers would go into a property non-contingent or as is, but if they're already selling a property and they're buying another property, usually those, those buyers who are current sellers, they understand everything. And they're willing building go as is non-contingent because all those are minor items, unless it's a big ticket item, like a foundation, issue or major roof issue or plumbing issue, or even sewer lateral issue. those are the ones where you need to get further investigations before you go as is otherwise, when you get into it, it could be something bigger than you expected it to be. 

Mike: So 

Alice: I guess this is an individual situation. If you're, if you know you're coming up on a bidding war, what should buyers expect is there, is there a kind of a benchmark to say, you know, you, or even as a realtor, do you go and say, listen, like you said, it's listed for 1.6, but on average, everybody's selling for significantly higher than the asking. And they do this on purpose because then it brings in, it draws in additional, eyeballs to a particular property. Right. So what can somebody expect and you know, how can they prepare themselves for that type of a transaction Yeah. 

Mike: It's to look at comparables early on. So for example, Alice, if you hired me to help you buy a property and you said, Mike, I want to be in Almaden valley, or I want to be in Los Gatos. And you tell me that I need a four bedroom, two and a half bathroom, 2,500 square feet, or so I'd run an analysis early on and share with you the list to sold price ratio and how long they were on the market for. And a lot of the homes that are on the market for four days before they go and they sell for three to $500,000 more. So by at least by giving you that early on, yeah, you have clear expectations versus just me, Mike telling you, Hey, this market's over 300,000 on everything. I ran an analysis. I sent it to you. We've looked through it. 

Mike: We can even drive the neighborhoods and you're going to see, oh wow. I can see why this one has a larger lot. there's more potential on this one, this one's walking distance to the schools and to downtown Los Gatos. Then that's why people paid so much more for that lifestyle. And you have a clear expectation set. So it's not like Mike's just trying to get you to win on the share. But then I also asked you, what's your ability of know, ability to pay Have you gotten a preapproval yet Or I sent you the three references to migrate lenders that I've used. And then you go through that process. And now you know that there is where, where you, I, with being able to purchase within the area. So it's just setting the proper expectations. Most people don't, somebody wants to go to our property. Sure. I'm I'm Johnny on the spot. I'll go show you that property right now. Oh, you, you you're pre-approved for 1.8. Oh, this home is listed for 1.8. Oh, for 2.1 million, then that's bad news for everyone there. So we like to, first off, just so that we could set the right expertise. We're not, 

Alice: We're not in a place where we're doing a regular open houses yet. Right. Public open houses. It is now. So it just 

Speaker 3: Is okay. But we, you 

Mike: Still have to abide by the protocols. There's this form that all realtors love so much. It's called the, and I say that with as much as 

Alice: You signed, one of those actually mission, 

Mike: The entry advisory declaration. Yes. The pede, it's been a document that we all have to sign for every single property that we go tour. So, nowadays for open houses during the open house time slot, people can come through, but we have to abide by six foot, still social distancing, gloves, PPE, all that good stuff. since I knew you were going to add that, my team, we prepped these together and in front of the house has, you know, black gloves. Cause you know, you still got to have some fashion 

Alice: Perjury. Now you're going to look at that house. Nice. 

Mike: and, and fun, you know, plenty of shoe coverings and all that good jazz. Okay. Well, 

Alice: I feel like if you're a local, you kind of understand what's happening locally. Have you had any buyers from out of state, out of the area completely who is just totally taken aback by what's happening here in our area 

Mike: What's interesting with your question who are selling anywhere or buying anywhere, they're all going through the same thing. It's a nation. So when they come to the bay area and they just sold a home in Chicago or something, they know how crazy it is over there, but here it's a major sticker shock because you get way less square footage for much longer, 

Alice: 100%. 

Mike: It's, it's a little bit of a sticker shock, but now with the open houses again, you literally have lines like except for, if you don't, when you're not eating anything at all and you just wait 

Alice: Bread and water for you, buddy. Okay. Well, I just have one last question for you to, close this out. You gave us lots of great information and I think, you know, everybody just needs to be prepared, find the best representative to assist you with whether it's buying or selling and be informed and be educated about what's happening, and be prepared in every way. What has been the craziest story in terms of real estate for you in the past year You know, Pandemic Has already created so much chaos, but what was the most insane thing that's happened to you 

Mike: So we sold a house for an investor and we had 30 days to sell the house. They purchased the house at an auction block, renovated it and put it up on the market with us, coming to find out that this house was a former meth house shut up. It was insane. It was insane. My business partner, I had only 30 days to sell this house for one what, into a great contract. And then now with learning, not only about what to do to clean up a meth house, but we were in that house showing that house, preparing that house shooting a video and marketing and everybody involved in that process was exposed. So I just felt the worst for our stager designer. She brought all this furniture in. So my business partner, we actually ordered test kits and tested the furniture, the wall art that was placed on the walls because the walls had a really high amount of methamphetamine on it. Okay. 

Alice: Wait, wait, wait, just to back up a little bit. So when you find out that a property was used for these purposes, what is the protocol with that I mean, what is the, what are the negative ramifications How did that affect you I mean, why is this such a big deal 

Mike: Because, there's, there could be health elements and issues in the future. So what we did was we looked up a company that handles the remediation. They tested it for hours, pieces of the walls, flooring, everything, and gave a analysis as what it would cost for them to scrape everything, clean, everything out. Then we went into a full blown renegotiations with the buyer. Good thing. The buyer didn't walk away. They were okay with some remediation work and negotiations. Our seller was 100% onboard, ready to go with working with them throughout the process. And we just kind of stayed in the middle to make sure that everything, everybody on all sides was happy and satisfied with the findings and what we're looking to do. We closed transaction on it and we literally washed our hands and called it a day. But that was, it makes for an amazing story because we knew every day, the pandemic not make things easier. We became professional house cleaners. I think poor lotion than ever on my hands because they kept on cracking from all the, sanitizer. But, you know, we adjust, we pivot, we had our best year yet last year. And, you know, I would say by putting new necessary protocols in place, it challenged us and it made us better in our business. And just moving forward, we can pivot a lot better and then adjust to whatever climate that we're in and then just crush, help our clients and do good. 

Alice: That's amazing. Oh, that's an awesome story. I love it. That's we'll see. Well really not. Wait the sellers, the people who, the investment company were they aware of that to begin with Really So how did he come to light though 

Mike: So the buyer's side, did some investigations on the former, tenants that live there. And, there were some police reports, that people there were using the bill remanence of actual paraphernalia. So they, the buyer himself brought a little test kit and just tested one of the walls and it came back crazy. So then we opened up this whole can of worms and we said, Hey, we'll take, grab the bull by the horns work. And we had to go through the process and everybody's happy 

Alice: So well, congratulations On an amazing year. And COVID made everybody a little more flexible. It seems like. So that's awesome. Thank you so much for hanging out with me today. It was great information. I think a lot of people will be able to take a lot from this. 

Mike: Well, thank you for having me on your podcast. So great to reconnect. 

Alice: Yeah, definitely. All right. Well, have a great day. 

Mike: Talk to you again soon. Bye.