Like A Bos — Beyond The Sale
Welcome to Like A Bos, the podcast that dives deeper than the deal. Brought to you by Bosley Real Estate, we go beyond the deal to uncover the people, stories, and insights shaping how we live, work, and connect.
Real estate is more than just buying and selling; it’s about relationships, purpose, and the communities we build along the way. In each episode, we sit down with top agents and industry voices to explore the moments and strategies that shape how we live and work.
Whether you're navigating your next move, staying tuned into the market, or looking for a fresh take on the business. Like A Bos brings you real conversations from the people doing the work, with honesty, integrity, and heart.
Like A Bos — Beyond The Sale
Navigating Finances in Today’s Market – with Jason Friesen from Outline Financial
In this episode, we’re cutting through the noise. The market might feel unpredictable, but we’re here to make it make sense. With real-world insights, smart strategies, and timely advice, we’re equipping buyers, sellers, and agents with the clarity and confidence they need to move forward.
Follow Bosley Real Estate
Website www.bosleyrealestate.com
Instagram www.instagram.com/bosleyrealestate
Facebook www.facebook.com/BosleyRealEstate
LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/company/bosleyrealestate
Youtube www.youtube.com/user/Bosleyrealestate
Tiktok www.tiktok.com/@bosleyrealestate
Today on Like a Bos, we are sitting with Mr. Jason Friesen from Outline Financial. Jason is here to help us unpack the most pressing matters in real estate today. Everything surrounding whether to buy or sell first, mortgage renewals, shifting interest rates, and making smarter moves in uncertain times. For nearly a century, Bosley has been helping to shape the landscape of Canadian real estate. This podcast is an extension of that legacy, our way of staying connected to what matters most to you. Join us as we sit down with leading voices from across the industry and beyond to explore the ideas, trends, and stories that move real estate Whether you're an agent, investor, homeowner, or just curious about the market, there's something here for you. Hey, everyone, and welcome to Like a Bos, the podcast where we bring you real conversations with leaders who are shaping the industry. I'm your host, Christan Bosley, president and broker of record of Bosley Real Estate. All right, Jason, welcome to the show.
Jason Friesen:Thank you so much for having me. Excited and privileged to be guest number one on this new podcast. It's awesome. I'm looking forward to our conversation today.
Christan Bosley:Oh, me too. It's comforting to know that we're in this together. Thank you. So let's start with a bit of background for you, if you don't mind, Jason. Talk about, you know, maybe how we met.
Jason Friesen:Sure. I think one of the longest standing realtors I've worked with, Anita Merlo, who is a dear person in my heart. I've worked with her since 2001 and I think it was maybe 2015, 2016 when she introduced us. And that's back when you were actively selling in a busy realtor and we developed a relationship from there and continue to keep in touch. Over the years, always had a great relationship. And as you grew in your role with Bosley and became president, you brought us along for the ride. And happy to say that myself and the team at Outline are actively involved in working with Bosley as a team and then a lot of the individual agents as well.
Christan Bosley:Yeah, I remember that conversation so vividly. Anita was like, you have to meet Jason. He is the best mortgage broker. And then we met at like a coffee shop on Bayview, Brent. It was so long ago. So, listen, you have always done an exceptional job for Bosley and for all of our clients. Thank you. Wondering out of curiosity, you know, how did you determine that mortgages was where you were going to end up?
Jason Friesen:I think most people fall into this industry. You know, I studied marketing in school. When I was done school, I was applying for jobs in business. I was hired by a mortgage company, First National, which is one of the largest mortgage companies in Canada. And back then, I think they had 30 employees or 40 employees. So I worked there, did mortgage underwriting. So I really learned the technical side of the world of mortgages. And then probably 2002, I went and joined a mortgage broker and worked along with him and helped grow the team. Was there for 10 years, went out on my own. And then in 2018, I merged with my business partners and created Outline Financial. I never really liked having my name, Jason Friesen Mortgage, as the headline. I always liked to be kind of fly under the radar, be behind the scenes. And so joining forces and having also just a great group of people working with me, it's been fantastic. And I think we've had some pretty great growth over the years. And again, For me, having my name in the headlines has never been a priority for me. I'd like to do my job and go home at the end of the day.
Christan Bosley:Yeah, that is a challenge. Realtors have that same challenge. Okay, so listen, one of the things that I focus heavily on in my life is joy. Tell me, what brings you the most amount of joy in your role today?
Jason Friesen:In my role? I've always just loved helping clients, and I love dealing with first-time buyers. I work with all different types of clients, you know, real estate investors, although the last couple of years, not as many, but first time buyers, move up buyers. But I really enjoy just taking people from zero to, you know, actually having the knowledge to make informed decisions because, you know, a lot of times first time buyers come looking for advice. And when you go to a bank, sometimes it feels like it's the blind leading the blind. So for me, I spend so much time up front making sure my clients are educated and I really enjoy, you know, kind of seeing clients go from not having any knowledge to purchasing their first house and then helping them down the road purchase their next house and, you know, have a strong base and understanding of mortgages.
Christan Bosley:And then, you know, being nosy because also that's another trait of mine. Personally, what brings you joy?
Jason Friesen:What brings me joy? I have two great kids. I have a fiance. I have a dog. I'm a very active person. You know, health is wealth to me. You know, I dealt with some health issues in the past that put me on a different path as far as, you know, prioritizing certain things in my life. And so, you know, I train jiu-jitsu four to five days a week. I cycle a couple days a week. I'm in the gym working out, you know, two or three days a week. You know, there's only seven days in a week, so a lot of days tend to be more than one activity. But it's what I do to really kind of, you know, chill out. I find that enjoyable. That's pretty much all I do is hang out with my dog, partner, kids, and I'm at the gym.
Christan Bosley:Amazing. Sounds fulfilling.
Jason Friesen:Yeah. I am fulfilled.
Christan Bosley:Beautiful. I got to tell you, I don't think we hear very many people say that these days. So congratulations. Okay. So let's turn back to real estate. One of the things that we hear consistently from the realtor perspective one of the things that our consumers ask us regularly is, do we buy first? Do we sell first? How do we navigate the current market conditions that we're experiencing? I expect that you get a lot of the same questions. And so what does that conversation look like to you?
Jason Friesen:It really depends. It's not a one size fits all answer. But I think the reality is that there's been enough of a shift in the market that if you are planning on buying first without selling, You definitely, one out of percent, need to make sure you're engaged with a solid mortgage advisor. Obviously, I'm biased, but I would say a land financial. You need to make sure that you've gone through what a worst case scenario looks like. In the event you can't sell your place, can you refinance it, maybe extract equity? Can you qualify to carry two properties? Can you handle the payments of carrying two properties? Do you have parental help that may be able to assist you? Do you have some investments that you may be able to liquidate? And I think that the answer is no, that you don't have the ability to do that. You definitely need to proceed with caution. And then it also really comes down to the property type that you're selling. You know, if you're maybe selling a one bedroom condo and they're sitting much longer and you want to buy a house and do a 30 day closing, that's a pretty risky situation to find yourself in. So again, I don't think there's a one size fits all answer. I think it will really come down to your situation, but you really need to explore what that worst case looks like. and make sure that you have the stomach to handle that.
Christan Bosley:Okay. So it sounds like you're taking your clients through the risks and rewards of each side as we would as a filter. But, you know, from a financial perspective, what are the real risks of buying first?
Jason Friesen:The big risk is that, you know, a lot of people, the reality is almost all of their net worth and assets are tied up in the equity in their house. And If you can't sell your house, you don't have access to the down payment to close on the new purchase. So the biggest concern is, you know, in failing having a backup plan, you can find yourself entered into a legal contract without the ability to fulfill the conditions of that and close that. There definitely is a big concern with that that I see being, you know, a very big risk that, you know, I think in the past, if you go back to 2020 and 2021, you'd be insane to sell your house before buying a place first. You always would buy first because you could look for a year before you're actually successful buying a place just with the competition. But again, with it shifting as much as it has, I think that conversation has definitely changed. And I think people just need to be real with not putting themselves in a bad situation. I have had to come in and clean up the mess of some other terrible advice that was given by mortgage people. And obviously, I'm not trying to scare clients, but I'm also being real and making sure they understand what the risks are so that they can make an informed decision if they're comfortable doing that or not.
Christan Bosley:Right. Well, critical. I remember back in 2021 at the height of the market, You know, we always talked about appraisals, right? Properties not necessarily appraising out. People spending tons of money buying these properties and the appraisals coming in, you know, sometimes hundreds of thousands of dollars less than what gets spent. So fortunately, we're not in that type of market anymore. But are you seeing any appraisal issues? And if so, what do they typically look like? And are they on the buy or sell side?
Jason Friesen:I haven't, to be honest with you, ran into too many issues. You know, and I think that's also because from my perspective, at least what I'm seeing, Buyers tend to be more cautious. They're not just kind of going for it and not really thinking about it and being carried up, carried away in the moment like they were in 2020, 2021. And there were points in time where people were, you know, desperate to buy a house and they would spend, you know, they'd be $200,000 over the closest offer just to make sure that they could get it. And I mean, those houses were never going to appraise. But, you know, I think it was a different time. You know, people had family gifts, you know, they had, you know, they were going to be selling their house in the same market. So they're comfortable doing that. So I find that clients are naturally a bit more reserved now. That also is a function of where interest rates are. People qualify for a little bit less, you know, and payments are higher. So, you know, when your interest rate's 1.5%, your payment's much lower than a rate that's say 4% or in that range.
Christan Bosley:Right. And so I assume that this is probably impacting first-time homebuyers fairly significantly, that affordability discrepancy that you just referenced there, right? And so in our experience, first-time buyers tend to gravitate more towards the condo market. We are experiencing a bit of a softening in the condo market, as we know. So what kind of activity are you experiencing on your side with the first-time buyer segment? Are they still gravitating towards that condo segment, or are they having more extra help to get into the housing market right now?
Jason Friesen:It's funny because Because I've actually been seeing on my side, and obviously, again, it's anecdotal based on what I'm seeing just over the last little while, but I've been seeing more people interested in purchasing condos. And again, I think that's also a function that first time buyers are more cautious about their budget now. They're not allowing themselves to get carried away. So they're looking at it as, yeah, maybe we could qualify for a house, but maybe it's not in the ideal neighborhood. We can get into a condo, which is where we want to be. and be three or $400,000 less than what that house would cost us. And so I feel like people are more in tune with numbers now and not being carried away. I found in like, you know, 2020 and 2021, I'd give someone a pre-approval and they would call me back the next day. I'd tell them what their maximum is and ask if they could get $50,000 or $100,000 more. Whereas now what I'm seeing, you know, I always start by saying, you know, the first question everyone wants to know is how much am I pre-approved for? But to me, the more important question is what are you comfortable paying every month? Very rare is it that someone will go up to their limit from a pre-approval perspective now. So I feel like people are just more naturally cautious. So I'm seeing clients that are interested in buying condos. A big segment of what I'm seeing who are transacting are move-up buyers that are maybe moving not from a condo to a house, but maybe from their starter home, if you want to call it that, into that next step. Such
Christan Bosley:prime opportunity in the market right now for that segment.
Jason Friesen:Exactly.
Christan Bosley:Yeah. I remember when I went to go buy my second property, I started in a one-bedroom condo and moved to a semi-detached. And I remember running the numbers very specifically, recognizing that for me to move from a one-bedroom to a two-bedroom condo with the prices, the interest rates, the taxes, the condo fees, it was actually going to cost me more, to your point, per month to carry that two-bedroom condo than it was to spend an extra $150,000 to $200,000 on a purchase price, but to carry the home, right? So it's interesting that people are starting to get back to that mindset of really analyzing what's right for their lifestyle and for their budget. So listen, let's talk about that elephant in the room. We know that we've had some bumping interest rates over the last couple of years. You know, the uncertainty, I think from our perspective on the real estate side, we are feeling that impacting a bit of consumer confidence. What is it that you are seeing on your side?
Jason Friesen:I would say it's definitely been cause for pause for some buyers. It's moved them back to the sidelines, just there being so much uncertainty. I think also seeing unemployment continue to kind of creep up is a bit of a concern. And so I think some people are pausing. Maybe they're in an industry they feel like maybe, you know, they have not as much job security as other people do. So I've seen a bit of a pause there. I think if we're looking back to January, it seemed to be a much more rosy outlook on where interest rates were headed. You know, I think January, the expectation was that interest rates, both variable and fixed, would continue to drop. And frankly, interest rates are probably on par, maybe slightly higher on the fixed rate side today. And it's looking like the interest rates coming down on the variable rate side are not going to be maybe at the same pace or, you know, from a timing perspective, they might be pushed back a little bit. And I think, you know, just seeing June, you know, pass without a rate cut and now looking forward to July. I think the markets are pricing in like a 30% chance of a cut in July. And if you look back in April, there was 100% chance of a cut by July. At least that's what the markets were pricing in. And I think there's only a 60%, 60, 65% chance of a cut by September. So it's a possibility we might not see a cut until October or maybe not at all. I think watching the inflation numbers continue to come out, that's what the Bank of Canada is focusing on. And I also feel like they do want to keep a little bit of ammunition in their war chest, you know, and not cut rates too early because I think we all know the impact of cutting rates too aggressively. And I think we've all paid the price for that. So I feel like they will be a bit more cautious. We've obviously witnessed a pretty significant reduction in interest rates from where things start. The way I look at it, frankly, rates in this range, 4%. The market should work. You know what I mean? Like, it's not like it's, you know.
Christan Bosley:It's a very reasonable. I mean, I remember shortly after COVID, they were predicting that rates would hover between four or five percent for a very long time. And, you know, that is a reasonable interest rate.
Jason Friesen:I agree. I agree.
Christan Bosley:Yeah. So, you know, you must be a little bit like me in that every day I receive a barrage of, you know, economist comments. reporting and predictions in real estate and interest rates and stocks and all of the financial factors that impact both of our markets. Every time I read it, I get conflicting information, right? So sometimes it's like, oh, we're expecting two more interest rate reductions, whereas other times it's like, well, the Bank of Canada might fold for all of these reasons. So when you are looking at the specific metrics that impact your business, I know you've mentioned inflation. Are there any other metrics that you're looking at to kind of give you a gauge of what you can expect forward thinking for interest rates?
Jason Friesen:GDP. You know, I think just overall the impact of tariffs as well. Unemployment's obviously at that point as well. And, you know, it's concerning that we are, you know, at least at the very start of seeing some rising inflation and also seeing unemployment continue to creep up because it limits what the Bank of Canada can do to panic. You know, one will counteract the other, unfortunately, right? Something called stagflation, and that's a real concern. And then, you know, to your point about, you know, constantly looking at this information. You know, it's part of our job to have to do this, but things change so rapidly. All the time,
Christan Bosley:right? Like every day, I feel like I read a completely different report.
Jason Friesen:And sometimes it would be nice just to put your head in the sand and not think about it. But this is so crucial to our job that every day I'm looking at stuff and there's a lot of negativity out there as well. Like so much negativity.
Christan Bosley:This is why I asked about joy.
Jason Friesen:Yeah, I definitely make sure I set boundaries and I find joy out of work because it's very easy to get caught up in And the negative news that seems to, you know, be so present and has really since COVID, you know, I think
Christan Bosley:that's
Jason Friesen:it. Yeah.
Christan Bosley:And listen, I don't, you know, I think the thing that perplexes me is I think we're pretty smart people. Like, you know. And yet I'm often confused by what I'm reading. And I'm thinking to myself, like, how can somebody in the public digest what this means for their future? When I'm sitting here, I'm like engrossed in it. It's my whole world. And I'm like, what? I've read something completely different yesterday and everybody's seeing different things. So,
Jason Friesen:yeah, you know, we tend to when we're looking at rate forecasts and what expectations are. We typically take what the big six banks are. And I say big six, it's typically the big five, but National Bank has, you know, kind of grown quite a bit over the last little while. So they're considered the big six now. We typically take the forecast from all their economists and look at that as a benchmark. And, you know, it's still expected. You know, the big banks are forecasting anywhere between 25 and some are even saying 75 basis points and cuts before the end of the year. Yeah. I think the consensus is maybe 25 to 50. That's still the forecast. I think what we need to see is we need to see the US get closer to actually starting to cut rates. Hopefully that will also bring down US treasuries, which are what fixed rates in Canada are much more tied to. Fixed rates are tied loosely to bond yields, but they are heavily influenced by US treasuries. So I think we need to get to the point where we start to see You know, the U.S. signal that they're getting close to cutting rates and they've been very resistant. Now, I think there's been some signs of resilience in the U.S. economy. So they've been you know, I think they don't want to get it wrong and overshoot much to seems Trump's dismay. Right. They have continued to sit on the sidelines and they're concerned about inflation.
Christan Bosley:Right. OK, so let's talk about the big banks and the media. and everybody who refers to the quote renewal cliff. Okay. So the expected renewal cliff is supposed to happen 2025 and 2026. You know, what is actually happening with that? Is there reality behind that or is that a media frenzy?
Jason Friesen:I'm not seeing it. I'm not seeing it myself. You know, I probably, you know, help two to 300 families a year, you know, with their mortgage. And so, you Now, we have a large amount of clients that are up for renewal. If you look back at 2020, how busy it was, all those people typically took five-year terms. They're up for renewal this year. I think it's really important to note that everyone that took a mortgage in 2020 and 2021 qualified at a stress test rate. And I know everyone hated the stress test when it came in. And for anyone that doesn't know what the stress test rate is, it's basically... You know, you qualify not at the face rate you're paying, but at a rate that is, you know, a prescribed rate set by the government. And it's floated, you know, in 2020 and 2021 between 4.79 and 5.25%. Meaning you qualify at a higher rate. And in theory, if rates are higher when you're up for renewal, like they are now, you're able to afford your payment. So I've not myself had a single client and I've probably spoken to 150 to 200 clients this year about the renewal. Yeah. that has needed to sell. There are some options that do exist in the event that someone maybe is feeling the pinch when they're at renewal, but I've not had a single client that says they need to sell because of having to renew.
Christan Bosley:Right. So I have to just say, you know that I was one of these people, right? My mortgage came up for renewal last year before the rate started coming back down. And, you know, you were able to offer us some really incredible solutions. Could you talk a little bit about what the banks did during that time to help alleviate some of the pain there?
Jason Friesen:Sure, sure. So I think there are some pretty good options that exist for borrowers that are up for renewal, either the banks directly or, you know, the clients have some options that they can look into. And I think, you know, right off the bat, Obviously, no one wants to add time onto how long it takes to pay off their mortgage. But at the end of the day, staying in your house and making sure you can afford it is more important than not being able to afford it and having your house go into foreclosure. So there is the ability to potentially re-amortize. So if you started out at 30-year, you've had it for five years, you could re-amortize back out to 30 years and lower your payment so it lessens the impact of the rates. We've also had more clients that have been making lump sum payments. So clients that have wanted to bring down the principal so that when they're renewing, the payments are not as high. And I'm surprised with the number of clients. I'm really happy that didn't make any prepayments. And why would you? I mean, at the end of the day, if you're locked in at one and a half percent for five years, you have to beat that in the market. So you take that money, maybe invest it for the five years. When you're up for renewal, if rates are higher, pay it down at that time. So that's another thing I'm seeing. And then I have, you know, clients that are refinancing as well that are maybe they've accumulated high interest debt. You know, maybe they did renovations, you know, for whatever reason, took on debt that they're rolling that into their mortgage and in trying to reduce just their overall cash, increase their cash flow and reduce their monthly expenses. So there are solutions that exist for people out there. And I've been seeing, to your point, more of a willingness for banks to actually work with clients as well and come up with solutions versus just renewing them or saying, too bad, this is it. And that's been a big shift in bank thinking, even from 2020 when we had mortgage deferrals. Yeah. If you missed 60 days of mortgage payments before, like we're taking your house back, you're foreclosed. It was six months, I believe, they gave us as mortgage deferrals. You'd have to make a mortgage payment for six months, right?
Christan Bosley:Yeah, you're right. It certainly is nothing we have ever experienced for a lifetime, right? Okay, let's turn to the buyers who are opting to have a new mortgage or those who are moving up and, you know, are discharging their original mortgage and opting into a new one. So I kind of, liken mortgages to real estate, right? There's like discount mortgages, there's low interest rate mortgages, there's higher interest rate mortgages. It all kind of depends on what products come along with that rate, right? Is that a fair kind of description? So what are you seeing in terms of buyers who are entering into new mortgages? What type of products are they most attracted to right now?
Jason Friesen:So it's funny because if you go back to January, I would probably say that 60% of borrowers were opting for variable rates.
Christan Bosley:Right.
Jason Friesen:Again, more of a rosy outlook on the following year. Where we're at today, two things have happened. One is that discounts on variable rates have shrunk. So the discount that you're given off of prime, when you take a variable rate, that's what you're approved for is a certain discount off of prime. And that was, say, 1% below prime in January. And maybe it's primeless 0.65 or primeless 0.7 now. So, you know, compression on the discounts may be higher rates. And uncertainty, I would probably say at this exact moment that 90% of clients are taking fixed rates now. And a lot are opting for five-year fix. They want to put themselves on the other side of the U.S. election cycle as well. The volatility is getting to them. I think that's it.
Christan Bosley:Right. Speaking of election cycles, did you notice a nut tick after the federal election in Canada here? Any sort of change in consumer behavior?
Jason Friesen:No, not really. Not really. I think, you know, the market has been weird to begin with for like the last, you know, several months. So nothing really changed. It just continues to be a bit of a weird market. And I think that's the best way to describe the market is that it's weird. Yeah, it is.
Christan Bosley:It is. Okay, so I know that you mentioned interest rates versus a variable. I am, you know, I question sometimes how I run a company because I'm incredibly risk averse. So I was one of the rare people that took a fixed in the middle of all of the interest rates coming down, but I don't regret it. I know that. I'm very confident in my monthly payment. But there are also other products like your prepayment privileges, your ability to transport your mortgage. What type of products are we seeing, if any? Are people asking about it? Do they know about this?
Jason Friesen:I think lump sums are always the prepayment privileges, what you're mentioning. It's a big part for some people, but I think Like 95% of borrowers don't take advantage of that. Yeah. They're always something that they really care about when they're negotiating, but it doesn't really have a huge impact. But with there being higher carrying costs, people do seem a bit more concerned on how they can reduce their debt. You know, I think when, again, rates are so low, you don't really think about it. People are more conscious of, you know, kind of not having a mortgage at this high rate for an extended period of time. Lots of clients are opting for all-in-one type mortgages. So what would be called like a home equity line of credit or like a HELOC is like the industry slang for it, where they have access to future borrowing. And I think honestly, in the absence of having a fallback plan, if you work in an area or in an industry that may experience some disruption, having the ability to have that line of credit there in the future is not terrible. I have some people that are like wanting to pick up some investment properties, which I've not really seen that for like the last couple of years with rates being as high as they are. So I've started to see a few more conversations with that, but very few actual people purchasing investment property at this point.
Christan Bosley:There is a remarkable difference between the market in 2019 and early 2020 to what we've experienced from 2021 onwards, right? We had that huge huge climb in the property ladder right after COVID. Everything opened up again and then, you know, obviously had a bit of bumpiness along the way. So are you seeing any sort of difference in consumer behavior that might be a result of kind of the before and after effect?
Jason Friesen:It's funny, I was listening to David Fleming's podcast the other day and he talked about FOMO versus FOB, fear of missing out. That was totally 2020 and 2021. And people were getting carried away with thinking they were going to miss out. And then now it's fear of overbuying. And so I definitely seen a shift with that for sure. Again, I think we're seeing more, you know, borrowers and consumers that are doing their homework and are a bit more risk adverse and not just going for it and doing crazy things like they were during those periods of time. A lot of people had a lot of time on their hands and, you know, how many clients were on things like House Sigma for hours on end thinking they were real estate agents knowing everything, right? And it was like, I remember in 2020 and 2021, there were people that were obsessed with being, you know, knowing ins and outs. And I think there was also a point in time where it felt like real estate was this like investment, like a, you know, like a, like an investment portfolio where like, how much is my house worth today versus last month, right? And now I'm seeing more of a shift of people realizing we need a place to live. We want to have a place where we can plant roots, maybe start a family or just have enough space. And so I think the shift between it being just an asset that's an investment. Obviously, your house is an investment long term. You're not looking at month to month how much more or less is worth. You know, I think people are just looking at us. We need a place to live. Some people are looking at this as a great opportunity to get into the market. There's a little less activity, a little bit more supply. It's great, especially for people that want to move up. Yeah, you're selling your house in a more kind of muted market, but you're also buying as well. So you get more bang for your buck.
Christan Bosley:Yeah, no, I couldn't agree more. The consumer sentiment has changed quite a bit in that regard, and certainly things are moving a bit slower. So last question on this segment is, I don't know how you're experiencing things, so I'm just curious. From a realty perspective, you know, one of the biggest challenges we have is sellers who are still viewing their property as an investment, right? It certainly is one of the biggest challenges that we have to overcome in negotiations. That's not abnormal in a market like this, especially given the fluctuation of the values and everything. So... But what it has led to is many of the transactions going through today are really challenging, like multiple day negotiations, wins on all sides, patience, understanding, analytics, like a whole kind of bundle of information that needs to go into not just navigating your client as a realtor, but also navigating clients. the cooperating agent and their client and the emotions involved in the uncertainty, right? So while we are having great success getting the deals done, they are very challenging. Are you finding that on your side?
Jason Friesen:It's a grind. It is an absolutely grind. Thank you for putting it that way. I was trying to be polite
Christan Bosley:about it.
Jason Friesen:You know, we... It feels like, you know, even the most like cookie cutter of mortgage applications has some kind of warts on it that the bank wants to pick apart. I also feel that just with the volume being a little bit lower and banks being staffed up, that they have more time on their hands to go through things. Whereas, you know, in 2020 and 2021, they were so busy. They were just approving. You know what I mean? It was like everything was, you know, money was flowing. Everything was, you know, looking up and now I think, you know, there's, you know, some added risk in the markets now. And I think banks are definitely tightened up. So they're doing enhanced due diligence. And to your point also, you know, sellers are, are, you know, having to adjust to the reality of like my house is worth less than, you know, where it was and, you know, everything's, you know, I feel like timelines are really compressed. So, you know, well, we are seeing financing conditions again, which is awesome. It makes my job so much easier when there is a financing condition. Closing dates are like, can we do three weeks? Can we do two weeks? Can we do, you know, and so I think people that are looking to buy and try to get a good deal are looking at any angles and some sellers want, you know, they want to quit closing. Maybe they already bought and they were just trying to get that, get rid of the house, right? So that's put some pressure on.
Christan Bosley:Or they're in financial distress and they need to talk about it, right?
Jason Friesen:Absolutely. Absolutely.
Christan Bosley:Okay, well, listen, I feel like I learned so much there. Thank you. Thank you. I have a few rapid-fire questions to end off our time together. Are you a reader?
Jason Friesen:Not over the last couple years. I have so much going on in life that I tend to just read fiction. Now, I've read so many business books in the past that I try and... Honestly, I'm still taking stuff away that I learned in, like, 2005 that I'm trying to just, like, not add anything else in. to that pile.
Christan Bosley:Okay. So I love this. We have a book club here at the office and it's all business books, things that make us better. So I was going to ask you what your most recent favorite read was, but I think since you've mentioned that you're still trying to implement some learnings from some of the books you read in the past, if you could implement one thing kind of consistently, you know, today that you do today that you wish you did yesterday, what would it be?
Jason Friesen:I would probably say that that's not even from a business sense, but overall, like less is more. There were points in time where I was working consistently for multiple years at a time, like 80, 90 hours a week. It's just not sustainable. No. for your mental and physical health. And I paid the price for that. So that to me is something that I wish I learned that I have heavily implemented today. You know, life work balance is a big part for me now. I think, you know, taking care of myself is a big part of, you know, day to day. It's just ingrained in what I do, but I wish I learned that in the past because, you know, Working that much was great, but I wasn't able to give my best to everyone in my life, both personally and professionally.
Christan Bosley:Yeah, I feel that. If you were to give a TED Talk today, what would it be about?
Jason Friesen:I mentioned something earlier, but it gets back to just what I was talking about a few minutes ago. Health is wealth, honestly. you know, taking care of yourself mentally and physically as you age and work in a high stress job, it's the most important thing that you can do. And making sure that you do have outlets and things that you can, you know, do on a regular basis that bring you joy. So for me, again, I can't stress enough that health is wealth. And, you know, if I look back to my younger self in my 20s and early 30s, that was, I was definitely not as healthy as I am today. And so it took me, you know, I'll mention I had cancer, I had Hodgkin's lymphoma when I was 37, I think, 38, 37. And so that set me on a different path in life as far as, you know, again, not working 80, 90 hours a week and making some changes both in, you know, kind of diet and lifestyle and physical activities and things like that.
Christan Bosley:Yeah, we've had many meals where we've discussed that. We share a very similar mentality there. So listen, thank you so much for being here with us today, Jason. I really appreciate it. Your insights are remarkable, very beneficial. Thank you. And I'll look forward to the next time. Thank you. Thanks for having me. Until next time, Kristen Bosley. This has been Like a Boss. Take care. Thanks so much for tuning in. If you enjoyed today's episode, be sure to subscribe, leave a review, and share it with someone who might find it valuable. We've got more conversations coming your way with incredible guests across design, finance, wellness, tech, and more, all through the lens of real estate. A special thank you to our set design sponsors, StageRite.
