Ivan Pinchuk, a guest from Lone Depot, shares his interesting background and journey from the Soviet Union to the United States. He talks about his parents’ decision to move to the US for better opportunities and the challenges they faced. Ivan discusses his humble beginnings, including living in a one-bedroom apartment with his family and later sharing a room with his brother. He emphasizes the importance of hard work and gratitude for what he has achieved. Ivan also mentions his experience as a landlord and the growth he has seen in his life. Ivan shares stories about his childhood, his relationship with his twin brother, and his experience as a father. He also discusses his career in the mortgage industry and provides insights into the current state of the housing market. Ivan emphasizes the importance of love and hard work in his life and expresses his passion for helping others. The conversation concludes with a discussion about the future and the impact Ivan and his wife have made in their community.
Ivan (00:00.11)
Yeah, it served its purpose but I need to Renee’s dad to make us a new one that’s coming. So look, I haven’t actually looked smaller than us. That’s what I said. That’s why I put him back there. The perspective is amazing. I’m gonna white shirt, white shirt makes you look bigger. Yeah. How tall are you? About six four. Yeah. Yeah. So you and Dave are about the same height then? One of us has a six in front of our height.
Ivan (00:32.078)
Hey, whenever you’re ready, Dave, let’s go. Are we already on? Of course. Okay. You know how to roll. Sweet. Yeah. Are you? Ivan’s really nervous today. His palms are sweaty. Are you going to introduce him? Yeah. Or do you want to? No, you introduce him. We’ve got a special. We have a very special guest today. Ivan Pinchuk from Lone Depot, but you’re much more than that. Right. And we’re going to kind of dive into that a little bit today and talk about how, you know, you might be a Russian spy. Is that a thing? Is that sensitive topic? Not at all. Okay.
Cool. Why’d you flinch a little bit when I said that, by the way? This guy’s got a really interesting upbringing for sure. Oh yeah. So yeah, that’s the topic. We are gonna just bullshit a little bit and see what comes out, but we probably will talk a little bit about loan stuff at some point. So you can call this a work day and not just a BS day. I tell Raina that you’re working.
shoot up for our Raina if we’re going to talk about work, but okay. I do appreciate that you’re wearing a law enforcement related shirt. Dave’s got his quick launch shirt and I’m wearing a nine line shirt. So it’s a good, good vibe, good advertising. Yeah. So break us in dude. Like you do have an interesting background. Drop, drop a little bit of knowledge on it. Real, real quick before we do that too. So Ivan works for loan Depot, him and his wife, Raina.
Oh, you’re doing the full. Yeah, I’m letting them know. I just threw it out there. I didn’t do it. Somebody’s going to be like, I don’t know. I gotta let him know he’s got something. Anyways, no, um, Ivan actually has been doing loans for us for a couple of years. Um, and, uh, he used me as an agent one time. I don’t think he wants me to tell anybody that, but he used me as an agent. It was pretty cool. So, uh, but they do a phenomenal job. We’ve had lots of clients, but okay, it was two times. All right.
Um, but the cool thing is, you know, we’ve used Ivan, uh, personally ourselves and we bought my mom’s house and a lot of clients. He’s actually saved me in quite a few deals. Um, where I’ve had clients that for whatever reason can’t get, uh, through the process with whatever lender they’re using. And I’ve referred them to Ivan and Raina and, and I will give you credit to this, that you guys work your butts off. These are the type of people that when I call them at eight o ‘clock at night, nine o ‘clock at night, because I have a client that called me at eight o ‘clock or nine o ‘clock at night. And I accidentally answered my phone.
Ivan (02:48.718)
They’re all about it. They work extremely hard and have great, yeah, great client care. Let’s be real. I think his relationship is like mine and that his wife is the smart one. Oh, 100%. Yeah, I’m sorry. I used Ivan to pull them in and be like, oh, you want to meet a really nice guy? Meet him. And then they call me and they’re like, well, I’m like, well, don’t worry. His wife does most of the stuff behind the scenes. That’s my world too, bro. I get it. It’s cool.
I say it all the time. It’s just the face and the mouth and then the rest goes to Raina, you know, but yeah, I’ve got to be the mouth. Don’t get excited, Dave. Um, but yeah, I mean, we have a great team. No, no, let me turn it like, just relax. Just relax. Just relax. Okay. Um, no, we work, we have a great team. Raina and I are partners in, in life and business. And then we have an associate Danielle who’s
absolute superstar and helps us, you know, close loans on times and make the clients happy and make the agents happy. But yeah, Dave’s right. You know, I might be the face and be the loud one and talk the most. Definitely the loud one. But then the brains, they do have brains. They’re just not in my personal head. They’re my wife’s head. So it works out. You’re going somewhere else with that. Yeah, there we go again.
But yeah, you know, we have a great team. I’ve been in a banking and lending industry for about 18 years. Rain has been doing this for about 15 and our associates been over 20 years. So between, you know, between three of us, you have over 50 years of experience. The great thing too, you have three people working on your loan at any given time. It’s not just, oh, I have one person if he’s sick or out, there’s always two other people you can fall back on. So we know the feeling. Yes. Yes.
Yeah, it’s critical to have a team man. It works. It works great. And I don’t have to do the boring part of the transaction. So I love it. I love it more than probably the ladies, but you know, I get to do all the fun stuff like golf. You have to take clients and the agents to golf. I mean, I’ve taken agent with you. And unfortunately, you know, I’m not a big golfer, but I have to do what’s right for the team. Thank you. Yeah. Way to step up, dude. You know, I mean, where are we going?
Ivan (05:07.214)
16 16th Coeur d’Alene resort, you know, God, what a terrible course to go to. But yeah, now we’re going to go have some fun. These two guys are great. You guys do a fantastic job. If you’re watching this podcast and you call me and you reference Ivan, I will work to.
Ivan (05:48.943)
Born in Soviet Union, what it was, um, you know, what they used to like to wear these hats. Hold on. I actually had one. What brought a Soviet hat. Yeah. Born in Soviet Union, not Russia. Yeah. So yes. So you can take the headphones off. You need to go by them. Oh my gosh. So born in the Soviet Union. Um, believe it or not, believe it or not, I’ve had.
a lot of these kind of hats growing up in Russia, being in Kamchatka for over a year gets a little cold. And for those that don’t know where Kamchatka is, no, no, no, we know where Kamchatka is. Someone might not know. Yeah, I’m going to tell you where it is because anybody else that has played risk knows that if you put all your armies in Kamchatka, you can protect the US over there and nobody can get Asia.
someone played too much game. That’s why I know where Kamchak is. Sorry. So Kamchak gets cold for those that don’t play risk or know where it’s at. It’s on the other side of Alaska. So if you’ve been in Alaska before, you’ve pretty much been in Kamchak. It’s same terrain, same weather. And so these kind of hats, they’re great. They keep your ears warm. You can even tie them. They’re super awesome. Yeah.
And if it’s a little warm for your ears, you just kind of flip it up, man. And there you go. And you just tie it on top like that. That’s the look I recognize for sure. So my dad spent 15 years between the Soviet military and then transitioned to the Russian military. I was actually born in Ukraine, but about one month old, we moved to Germany. And like I like to say on the other side of the wall, once the wall fell, we moved to Russia, moved around a little bit.
being a military brat. And then in 1997 of all places, we moved to Kentucky. Okay. So back up here for a second. So your dad was, what was he in the Soviet army? My dad was a major in a Soviet army and he was artillery. Dude, that’s, he was an officer. That’s crazy. So now you guys, I didn’t know about you moving to Germany. So when you moved to Germany, was, was your dad still in the Soviet army at that time? Or was that kind of, what was the reason for that?
Ivan (08:09.455)
Correct. So, I mean, he was, you know, obviously there was a little bit of tension back then. You have EU, whatever NATO and America, one side of the wall, you have Soviet Union on the other side of the wall. So we were on the other side of the wall. I mean, we grew up in a military Russian town. So pretty much everyone there spoke Russian. Their stores were Russian, the markets, whatever you call them. So, yeah, that was interesting. Unfortunately, I was not.
I mean, not from like till about three years old, two and a half, three years old. So I don’t remember a whole lot about Germany. I just know I lived there. I have a couple of random memories. Like I almost broke my leg, but that’s about it. Yeah. Good memory. Yeah. The one that I wish I kept right. You have his dad on here, man. Yeah. Does your dad live in the U S now too? Still? Yeah. So we moved to Kentucky and then we moved to California.
And I would say the culture shot. Oh, so you’re a Californian. No, so the Kentucky and Soviet Union. So move it moving from Kentucky and we moved to a city called the Gora Hills, which is two miles north of Calabasas. The culture shock going from Russia to Kentucky from Kentucky to Agoura Hills, Calabasas was pretty much even when we moved there. I mean, kids had a hundred thousand dollar cars and
our house in Kentucky sold for a hundred thousand. So big culture shock. I mean, I love California for the weather, for the diversity and the food, but obviously the politics like most Californian refugees brought us to North Idaho. Yeah. A couple of questions. So why did you guys move to the U S? Um, sort of like a big draw. Can we talk about this? Are we allowed to talk about that? Yeah, of course.
No, and you know, I’m pretty open. My dad get new orders is that that’s what I’m getting at sleep or so. So now we, you know, I’m honest about it is my parents talk about all the time and it was just for opportunity in 1997. Communism, you know, fell, I believe somewhere around 93. So in 97, it was Russia was not in a good place, good place to raise a family, hard to get jobs, basically just hard to survive. So my grandparents.
Ivan (10:28.175)
My mom’s parents moved here in 96. So my parents moved here in the hopes to give us a better future, which I mean, I’m very thankful and blessed for the life I have. So I’m glad they moved because I mean, we’ve been successful. My wife, my kids, right? Who knows what would happen if I was there, but you know. Now I know you live in a nice house now and I wasn’t your agent and you bought that house, but I didn’t know you back then. Yeah, you wish you did. I would’ve got you another 10 grand off. So anyways, um,
But talk about when you guys moved to Kentucky, I remember you telling me like the living situation. I mean, coming over here is basically migrants coming to the U S and not having the connections and everything else. And what was that like? Oh man, the first four months are super interesting. Um, at that time it was just, I only had two siblings. So my two siblings, my parents, we stayed in a one bedroom apartment for about four months with my grandparents. That was super awesome. You know, having five people in the, um,
sleeping in a living room of a 900 square foot apartment. Kind of pause you once I have two questions that are pertinent. How old were you again? When you nine? Okay, so you’re nine. Did you speak English? No, I knew about I knew elephant. Okay, I don’t speak English. That’s a, that’s a start. I mean, why did I know elephant? Okay, elephant, you know, maybe because I won’t say that. Um, might have been a code word in Kentucky. Yeah, I mean, you know,
It was a interesting experience. Then when my parents got an apartment, we stayed in an apartment for a year. I would say I get my hard work ethics from my parents. They worked two jobs, went to night school to learn English. After a year being in America, bought their house, their first house. So that was cool. We loved their house and I actually got my own room. So I was like, Whoa, this is rad. So lived there for about four and a half years. And after that,
parents got laid off because the 9 11, especially Kentucky and certain places, they didn’t want to hire immigrants. And if you’ve you’ve met my dad, he’s got a very heavy, thick accent. And we’ve been in America since 1997. So about 27 years and he still has the same accent. So my sister graduated high school in 2003. No, I’m sorry, 2002. And.
Ivan (12:54.351)
She wanted to go to California. And, you know, my mom had a cousin out there. So she’s like, hey, why don’t we just fly your sister out there? Give her her senior trip. Next thing you know, my mom’s cousin’s like, hey, if your daughter doesn’t want to go back to Kentucky, my sister hated Kentucky. He’s like, she can just stay here with us for as long as she needs with no rent. Next thing you know, while my mom is there, she finds a job. So all within about a week, it went from a senior trip to.
we’re moving to California. Now the house you lived in too, I think you told me this, your parents gave you a room. Yeah. So I mean, humble beginnings when we moved, it was kind of, kind of weird because, you know, I get people’s parents separate and you live in two different houses at two different States. But for about like eight months, my mom and my sister lived in California while me and my older brother, we lived in Kentucky while we were trying to sell the house.
So we finally moved to California. So the first six months, kind of like moving to America, it’s five of us in a one bedroom apartment and in Tarzana, California, right next to Encino for those who knows. And was not a very nice apartment, but it is, you know, parents made it. They made it work. We made it work. So me and my brother, my sister shared the living room as our bedroom, living room, hangout space for the family. It was great. You know, like.
I never grew up with money, so that was never the important part of my life. The one thing I always tell people is like, I would take love over money. And my parents always provided a lot of love for me and my siblings and always supportive and everything we do. Well, except my dad. He tells you how it is. There’s no sugar coating. If you’re born into a military family, you probably know what I’m talking about. So we did that. Then my parents got a three bedroom house.
in the Gora Hills, which was awesome. After six months, I was like, great, I get my own room again. And then six months later, my grandparents from Ukraine moved in. So then I was like, sweet. I don’t know, 15, 16 years old. I got to go back to sharing a room with my brother. It was a three to twelve hundred square foot house. My sister moved out at that point. Me and my brother were still in high school. My little brother came along. We call him.
Ivan (15:20.559)
pleasant surprise. Mike, Mike, he had his own room. Obviously, no one wanted to share a room with a baby. And then we have my grandparents had their own room. And then my parents made like the living room into a makeshift bedroom. And that was that went on for about Oh, from like oh three, July of oh three till April 2011. And then you know, the safe money. Wow. Yeah, it was fun.
I mean, at that by that point, you know, eventually my brother moved out, got married, then I moved out. But then my parents got this house and I had like, I was one of those kids that moved out, came back, moved out, came back, couldn’t figure it out. So, yeah, it was interesting, you know, so now it’s like the small things in life. Like I tell people I shared this probably with you before. Like I slept on a futon for eight years because you couldn’t fit the bed.
where my futon was. And eventually between sophomore and junior year, I went from being 5 ‘4 to 6 ‘1. So my dad had to take one side of the futon off so my legs can hang out, hang off the futon. So when people are like, hey, let’s go camping. It’s going to be fun. We’re going to sleep in sleeping bags on the rocks. And I’m like, no, I bought a very nice bed.
And I like to enjoy my bed. I spent I like to say I spent eight years camping in a row. So when people ask me to go camping and they’re like, oh, you’re such a little bitch. You don’t want to go camping. I’m like, no, let’s get an RV so we can have a bed. Yes, I might be a little bougie now. They come from a humble beginning, but I also like my sleep and I like a comfortable bed and I don’t see it.
problem. That’s a cool story. And you hear that a lot. I mean, people that obviously don’t come from a whole lot and you have to deal and it’s just families will kind of support you. And it’s neat to see that you guys have been able to, to, I mean, make something of that. I mean, 2011 wasn’t that long ago. No, like, oh, we’re talking about you being on a futon 12 years ago, 13 years ago. That’s not that long. Yeah. Um, you know, and it’s,
Ivan (17:37.039)
Shoot. Never really thought about that. It’s only like 13 years ago. I was sleeping on futon and now we got that sleep, sleep master or something. Yeah. Sleep number. It’s like the worst bed. It’s the best bed in the world. You know what it’s for? It’s for people that can’t make up their minds. Okay. They’re like, Oh, find your number. Guess what? If you find your number, you never change it again. There’s no reason to have that. Just buy a bed that fits. You know what? Hater. Yeah. You know what? I mean, to your point, I look back and it’s like,
Life’s been crazy. It’s when I was home was I so I. 20 at 26, I was actually 26, I’m 36 now at 28. I was actually renting a room from my brother because, you know, I just wasn’t making enough money, wanted to get out parents house. So I was renting a room for my brother. I mean, shoot six years ago, right at 28.
seven years ago, 28 years old. And now you own rental houses. Yeah, we have seven rentals. In that space of time. Yeah, that’s impressive. Well, I mean, you know, to the point we said earlier, the looks, the mouth, and I got a brain that’s not in my head. It’s in my wife’s head. Me and Raina was probably one of the best things in my life because coming from…
Like we were never begging for food. You know, there’s people that had a worse off to me and that was always my mentality. Don’t bitch about it. Don’t complain about it. Like you have a house, you have actually something to sleep on. You’re not sleeping on the floor. You’re not sleeping outside. You’re not sleeping in shacks. You know, so I always found something to be thankful for. Right. And I always knew my parents worked their ass off. They were super hard working. They still are. And they always try to do their best. So never have like.
I don’t have any problems with my parents or how, oh, I didn’t have this or, oh, they got new shoes or they went on vacation. It was always like, hey, there’s people that have a much worse than me. And I still think about it when things happen in my life. I’m like, well, yeah, that sucks. But I got rental properties. I’m worried about fixing one of my rental properties. And you have people that are worried about buying their first condo. Right. So it’s like.
Ivan (19:50.767)
Should I really complain? Do I have room complaint? Not really. You know, and that’s why I always say I’m blessed and thankful for the things we have. And I’m thankful for my parents because watching them work so hard in their life passed down to me to where I’m like, hey, this is where I want to be. And once I get there, I’m like, all right, next goal, next goal. Yeah. And, you know, I always wanted anyone to be a landlord. I like the idea of owning homes. I don’t like the idea of dealing with homes. Yeah. That’s why my wife handles it.
Wow. Do you do the dishes at least at home? Yeah. OK, at least they make a mess when they cook. I’ll say this. They came over to our house one night. They’re like, hey, we’ll come cook you dinner. I honestly I was like they were in there and I’m like, I’m going to have to the kitchen now. Like shit was everywhere. It was it was awesome. They came to our house. They actually cooked us a meal at our house. It was like a traditional meal. No, no, no. They made like some stir fry or something. Yeah, it was mongolian beef. God dang, man. I mean, when they left, everything was clean.
Yeah, I was amazed because there was so much stuff everywhere. It’s like when you have a party at your house and you’re like, you can come cook in my house. And I have a question that backtracking a little bit. Did your dad have a hard time transitioning from being a major in the military to I don’t know what he did here, but was that a hard transition for him? You know, in the beginning, he they didn’t like parents that care, right? You don’t want to tell your kids crap. You’re going through it and struggles being older. And like, I mean,
That would be humbling. I would be. Yeah. Oh, 100%. Right. I mean, my mom has a double masters from Russia in engineering, you know, and then my dad, Russian military officer through Academy and there, I remember the name of the company, first company to work for was called correct optical. And what they did is they literally put glasses together. That was their job. So you’re coming from double masters, engineer and a military Academy graduate 15 years in military. And now you’re putting glasses together.
Yeah, yeah, that’s a hot, that’s tough, right? It’s very, you know, as a kid, you don’t understand that being nine years old, I’m like, hey, they’re gonna work, they’re gonna work. You don’t get the level or whatever success or whatever you want to call it. Being an adult, I’m like, holy crap. Yeah, right. Can you imagine doing that? I’m like, you know, my first real job that I like W2 or pay stubs work was McDonald’s.
Ivan (22:12.559)
So it’s like me going from where I’m at now to just going and being a cashier at McDonald’s and not to, not to hate on that. It’s just be like, wow. Yeah. What was, what was, um, you know, leaving, leaving Russia and coming to the U S obviously, I mean, it’s post cold war, everything else like that. But what was the, what was the process? Do you remember at all? Like, was it a difficult thing to leave Russia? Was it kind of frowned upon? Was it okay? I mean, what was the,
Did you sneak out? Yeah. What was the deal with that? Um, you know, being a kid, you don’t really notice it, but then talking to your parents, like back then when we were leaving Russia, we didn’t tell anyone. The only people who knew that we were coming to America were my grandparents and my aunt and uncle. And the big fear was if you tell people you’re coming to America, people, especially back then had this image like, Oh, if you’re coming to America, you got money. You’re rich. That’s how you’re going to America.
So my parents didn’t want to tell anyone. I didn’t even know we’re moving to America until I was on a flight. Midway. They were out in America. That’s when my parents told me. I thought we’re going to Belarus at that time. I mean, to think about your dad, I mean, and your mom too, but like in the positions they were at, it was that important to them to raise their kids somewhere else that they were willing to walk away from that. And I imagine you couldn’t take anything with you really.
No, I mean a suitcase, right? We, we had these big old bags. I’m talking about big and I was tiny little kid up skinny walking with these two bags, one in each hand, just dragging them across the airport, barely moving forward. Right. Um, yeah, we didn’t take a lot. And you know, one of the silly things we took is pillows because people, our family in America were like,
American pillow suck. You got to bring your pillows. And so we brought like six pillows with us or five. And I was like, that is a dumbest thing we could have brought. But you don’t know what you don’t know. You know, like if someone’s. Can you imagine bringing pillows? Stuff a suitcase with pillows. That’s one of your. There is something about having your own pillow, man. I bring my wife and I bring our pillows on vacation. I will put it in a bag and bring it with me. I cannot stand. So boozy, man. I fold that.
Ivan (24:34.287)
sweatshirt up and I put my head on it. I mean, I’ve been there too, but I’m old now and I’m like, I mean, I’ve been there. It depends how many drinks I’ve had, you know, when you have a couple of drinks, everything’s comfortable. Anything’s a pillow. Dry hard enough. So I mean, we, yeah, we didn’t bring a lot. I mean, we brought some clothes, you know, some pictures and so on. And the funny thing is, right. Style in a different country is completely different. So.
I used to wear short shorts back in 97, 98 before it came cool again. I was like, they’re cool now. Yeah, they’re cool now. In 97, they weren’t very cool. So you can imagine show up to camp. People are like, what are you wearing? And I’m like, I don’t know. I have no idea what they’re even saying. And I’m like, see him looking at me. I’m like, can we be friends? And they’re like.
That is funny. The weird Russian kid. Yeah. Well, the crazy thing is have you met his brother? Uh, yes. Yeah. He’s small. I know it’s shocking. This is crazy. What are you? Six four? Yeah, I’m about six four two 40. Dude. His brother came and helped us. We went to go clean up a friend’s yard. I met him line dancing. Oh really? Yeah. You were there. Scary. Yes, I was. But yeah, dude, Yev came out of the four. We were cleaning up all these trees and Yev first of all shows up and he’s like totally playing the part, right? He’s got overalls on.
He’s got like a red plaid shirt, long sleeve tucked in. I mean, he looks like a lumberjack and he’s huge. Yes. Got his glasses on and he comes walking out. We’re moving all these trees. He comes out walking out of the forest with three trees. I should say you’re not. He’s got three trees laying across his arms, walking out. I’m like, Lord. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, he makes you look small. Yeah. He’s a little bigger. He’s about six, five, sub 300. You know, just just.
about 60, 70 pounds heavier. And we’re where he’s super loud. Yeah. This is like, yeah, just super mellow. How’s that happen? I always have to make up for the height and weight difference with my brother. So and then something just stuck. And I don’t know. My voice is just he’s a good dude. Yeah. Yes. Yes. Cool. I mean, it’s funny because me and my brother grew up like twins, even though he’s a year older. And we always say one year, one month, 11 days, almost like Irish twins. I don’t know why.
Ivan (26:52.879)
But we always thought that was cool. One, one, one, one. Right. Well, when we came to America, I skipped fourth grade and, you know, I like to think it’s because I was smart. But my brother reminds me is because my mom wanted me to be in the same grade as he, him so he can help me, which I still think because I was smart. But, you know, so we grew up like twins since fifth grade. We had classes together. You were in the same grade. Yeah. No, he’s a year older. Yeah. Okay. All right. So grew up, you know,
same classes, some classes together, played sports together. So it was cool. It was, it was like growing up a twin, like with a twin, because we did everything together. So he’s still to this day with my best friend. Funny enough, I always wanted twins for that reason, because I’m like, wow, what a cool experience for a kid to have. Well, that was until my brother had twins. And then after about the first two months, I think I prayed to God for the
Mike next three years here, please God do not give me twins. Please. I was lying. Please. Just one at a time. That’s a reoccurring nightmare. I have twins or triplets. Oh, I mean, I can’t even see like six or eight kids at once. Yeah, Mike. I can’t even watch that gives me anxiety. Do you need you need help? You can’t do that. There’s no way I need help with three kids. Yeah. I just need help. My daughter. She’s so sweet. She is sweet. She’s so sweet.
I only I only received a sweet side. She loves the fact that she saw that blooper of me talking about how she’s wrecking me every day. Constantly, that was the best. She comes home and she finds a way to screw with me. She always come home and be like, I mean, I wonder where she got that from. Exactly. What it’s your own doing. You know that apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. Yeah, just say great squash the apple.
Yeah, so I mean, you know, people ask me, I talk talk about my life all the time. There’s no hidden secrets and sense like, yeah, you know, we grew up, we didn’t have a whole lot of money. We had a whole lot of love, though. So it’s like, I’ll take love over money any day of the week. Hard work ethics came from my parents and just I like being successful and I like helping people, you know, with whatever I can do, except when it’s like cleanup brush. That’s why I call back up and have my brother go do that.
Ivan (29:09.327)
Um, I think I had golf that day. I’m sorry, bro. Duty calls. Um, do your parents still work? Are they retired? My dad’s retired, which is awesome because I do have a little baby that’s going to be 10 months and three days. And so he watches her half the week to helps us out a lot up here now. Yeah. So they actually, they live in Rathrum. So, um, I don’t know, was like seven, eight minutes away from my house. It’s awesome.
Um, yeah, I’m just texting you. I’m just letting her know what you’re doing. You’re so full that you’re not working. I’m not working. I was like podcasts where I can use an hour of just talking my favorite activity. Let’s do it. Easy. Easy. I’ve been born to do this. Easy. She gets so mad. Yeah. I just told her you’re laying on our couch. He comes into our office. She’s yelling at him. She’s like, I’ve been, you need to get to work. So he’s doing his rounds around Keller Williams and
He walks, he walks past. He wasn’t even coming to say hi to me. He walks past like, hey, come here. Door was locked. He walks in. He walks in. He’s like, what’s up, bro? And I’m like, what are you doing, man? Sit down. He’s like, no, dude, I rain is pissed. I got to work. I’m trying to do something like, bro, seriously, she’s not here. Just sit down for a half a size. I do. I can’t. No, you’re like, no, no, check out the new couch. You got to sit on this new couch. So comfortable seat. I’m already pulling up my phone and I click it right when he’s hitting the thing and I send it to Raina. Two seconds later, his phone rings. Like, what are you doing?
And this guy is supposed to be one of my best friends right here. Right. This is what you asked. What a best friend. It was awesome. I was like, you’re as soon as she called me, I was like, he took a fucking picture. You took a picture of me. It was like immediate. And she was mad. He had her on speakerphone. It was hilarious. So they felt bad. He’s like, no, no, no, I was just kidding. I made him sit out. So tell me where your daughter gets it from again. I’m sure. Right. Got to be from her. Sure. Got to be from Renee. So.
You met a nice lady like Raina. Obviously we love Raina. Yeah. And she does. She does a phenomenal job there. She’s a great communicator. She’s one of the sweetest ladies I’ve ever met. How do you meet her? Work. You know, it’s a funny story. She can keep her eyes off me at work and that was when you were working at the strip club. Can you count this? Yeah. No, you know, so we used to work for Wells Fargo. We were on a mortgage team, but we covered different branches and.
Ivan (31:35.183)
We went to his training and my old manager, and for those who worked at a bank before, you know, the trainings are just party time, because we would get like 75 to $100 a day for food. And they would feed you breakfast and lunch at the training. So like $100 to go out, basically. That’s the way I always saw it. So we were, what did you see? What a dick.
While I’m here closing loans. I started texting you. Yeah. I’m like, he’s on the couch. She’s like, while I’m here closing loans. Yeah. While you’re working. So we, you know, I was going to, um, we were on the same team, but we only saw each other once a month during team meetings. And she’s, as you know, she’s more work driven. I’m more fun driven. So she, I know, right. Surprised. Okay. Um, so she, you know, she was like,
She gets in the office and we would sit in cubicles, do work and she would work and I’d just go around talking to all the friends and stuff. And so she didn’t want to do anything with me. Like she wanted nothing to do with me. She want to talk to me. I guess one day she walked in and this is Southern California, right? August, Southern California. It’s hot. It’s hot. She walks in and she’s wearing this turtle neck. And I was like, it’s a cute sweater. I’m not going to lie. It’s a cute sweater. She looks good in it. She still has this sexy, but I was like,
What are you wearing? And it’s probably the first thing I’ve ever said to her. I was like, what are you wearing? And she’s like, stunned. Like what? I was like, it is 110 degrees outside and you’re wearing a turtleneck. Now, of course, you know, there’s other people in office guys, people laughed. So she got, she got embarrassed. So then she was like, Ivan’s a douche. I’ll never talk to him ever in my life. Little did she know, I’m very persuasive. So about six months later,
I’m going to work training and I was like talking to my manager. I’m like, Hey, who’s from team who’s going training with me? And like, he’s like, Oh, just you and this lady. And I was like, well, the lady was super nice, super cool, but she was also about 55, 56. I’m like, she doesn’t party. Like I want someone to party. You know what we go to work training for. And I was like, Hey, how about Raina? She’s kind of hot. And he’s like, dude, get out of my office. I’m like, come on, Sam, hook me up brother. And he’s like, dude, get out of my office. So I was like, all right, cool. Whatever. So.
Ivan (33:58.255)
It gets even better. Work training usually on Mondays was just the day you get there. And then Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, you have the training, you go home Thursday night. So I’m like, Monday’s like a day off basically, because she’s gonna do nothing, check a couple emails in the morning, and then I’ll drive down training. Well, about an hour before the training, the lady that knew was going, texted me and she’s like, where are you at? I was like, check ins at like 330. I’ll be there.
She’s like, no, training starts in an hour. And I was like, oh shit. Considering the training was two hours away. So I was like, oh great. That’s a good way to start the training, right? So of course I’m speeding. Get there, I’m an hour late. I walk into class to present their teacher, whatever. She’s in the middle of talking and I’m like, so sorry. I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry for interrupting you. I’m just gonna go sit down. I got a seat saved. I’m so sorry. Hi guys, sorry, sorry.
You know, it’s all good. I’m so sorry. There was crazy accidents on a freeway. I’m so sorry caused by me. Yeah, probably caused by me. So I go sit down as soon as I sit down. I was like, go ahead. You can go ahead. You can just I’ll just lock in quietly and I’ll ask her what page we’re on. And then we’re sitting at like a U shape or like two tables like this. You have two people and two people and one person here and me and Rain and like I ended up sitting right across the show. As soon as I saw us. Yes, she made it.
Um, try all my hardest best pickup lines during the training didn’t really work. About two weeks later, I asked her hang out. Well, my hanging out was a date. Her hanging out was like we’re hanging out as friends came there with flowers. Super nervous. Very rare I get nervous, but I was nervous. Then from that point on is is there so flowers he the flowers sold the deal? I guess got you in the door. I don’t know. I think it’s my face still but
That was only six years ago, right? Seven. Seven years ago. Yeah, we’ve been together for seven years. Yeah, it’s been a crazy seven years. We traveled a good amount, three kids. I mean, between homes we bought and sold 10 homes, you know, so it’s been a busy, fun, exciting seven years. That’s cool, man. Yeah. So you obviously have a ton of…
Ivan (36:24.495)
a ton of history with loans and everything else like that. And for the most part, you know, there’s a lot going on right now with the whole industry and loans and all that stuff. I mean, what I know you spoke at Keller Williams yesterday, just kind of move it a little bit business. What’s the what’s the expectation? A lot of people are asking us like, what do we expect with loans and with, you know, with the new ruling that’s coming out and interest rates and all that stuff? Do you guys have any idea or pull somewhere the interest rates are going and stuff like that? You know,
like a lot of analysts have been flip flopping. Oh, the rates are going to go down. Oh, no, they’re not going to go down that much. Oh, they’re only going to be in the low sixes or high fives. My personal opinion with the election, with the way the economy is, I think we’re going to be somewhere in the mid fives. That’s my personal opinion. You know, and.
It’s just happened. I’ve been doing this again for almost 18 years and every election year is the same thing. It doesn’t matter who you vote for or who’s in power. They do the same thing every time. So I personally think we’ll be somewhere in the fives between five and six range, probably more mid fives, which is great. You know, it’s for especially for a lender is going to help us with refis are coming back because we have a lot of people from last year that were at seven, seven and a quarter, seven point five. Right. If you can drop your rate two percent on a five hundred thousand dollar mortgage.
and you’re saving $10 ,000 of interest per year. Right. So you just think about it, right? It’s what? Close to $800 something per month and payment on 1 % 2 % 2 % that’s a huge difference. So I mean, if you’re saving eight, like if someone told me I can save 800 bucks on my mortgage right now, done, let’s do it right. You know, and that’s the fun part of a lender or the easy part of a lender when, when you have a rate dip like that.
I mean, you don’t have to sell anything, right? But, you know, I do think the rates will dip. I also think it will help the new buyers. You know, last year, unfortunately, we did see a lot of buyers that got priced out because of the rates. Right. You know, you have a lot of times where we’re at 49 % debt to income ratio on a conventional loan. The rate goes up half a percent. They can’t afford that house. They got to go down 40, 50, 60, 80 grand. And as we know,
Ivan (38:42.703)
buying a house for 400 or buying a house for 320. What’s easier, right? There’s a lot more houses and inventory for at 400 than 320, or at least the houses that where you don’t have to fix something or repair and so on. Now I was talking about this earlier when I was teaching earlier today over at Keller Williams is that is setting unrealistic expectations and with rates being as low as they got, I mean down into the, what was the lowest you saw down to the lowest I’ve ever locked someone in. Yeah. The lows. Yeah.
1 .8. So, okay. So, yeah, no. Well, Wells Fargo had this thing. If you had a million dollars or more, you get a half a percent off and the rates were at 2 .375. So, well, I guess I had a million dollars. Yeah. I realistically 2 .375. I’ve done a lot of those. Okay. So, I mean, and that’s what I’m talking about. Unrealistic expectations. People start to see that. And then the expectation is set that like, oh, that’s where the rate should be in 18 years of lending.
What’s the highest you’ve seen rates and where have you seen rates go in those 18 years? I would see. And I agree with you. What we saw in the twos, the threes, that is definitely not a real expectations. The rates don’t go down that low. That was an anomaly. We might see it again in a lifetime. I don’t think anytime soon, unless there’s some something really, really crazy that’s going to happen with economy or worldwide. Um,
COVID didn’t help. When I started, I actually started at a hard money lending and we used to do loans at 13%. And that wasn’t even that long ago. Geez. Wow. You know, that was 17 and a half, 18 years ago. So, but I mean, if you’re between a five and a seven, that’s pretty average. Like that’s not a bad rate. So that’s what I’m getting at is that right now we’re actually sitting more from my understanding.
I haven’t been doing this for 18 years, but from what I’m looking at is that we’re actually sitting more at the norm now than at the twos and threes and fours and stuff like that. A hundred percent. I mean, if being above five, historically it has not been a bad thing. It’s you’re right to your point is, you know, we got so used to either get in those rates ourselves or hearing our friends or family talk like, Oh dude, I just got a 2 .75 or I got a three and 3 .125. Right.
Ivan (41:07.343)
It’s like, whoa. And then you go buy a house and there’s like six and a half. Yeah. But, but, but, but my cousin got a 3 .125. It’s like, yeah, well your cousin bought it the perfect time. Right. Well, then also there’s the, the misunderstanding that, I mean, you can buy down a rate. Right. So, I mean, I hear some of these people tell, Oh yeah, I got this rate. And I’m like, I just refinanced too. And I wasn’t close to that. So I think that’s another thing people don’t understand. They hear these stories of, Oh, I just got this or I got these things.
And really a lot, there could be a lot more to it. I mean, you can pay a lot of money to buy down a rate, can’t you? Well, one, you can pay money down, right? And a lot of times what people don’t understand is someone that’s going to have a 780 FICO 50 % down, right? They’re going to get a much better rate than someone with a 620 with no money down than that’s doing a down payment assistance or like, let’s say FHA, three and a half percent down. So, you know, if someone put 50 % down and a lot of times people don’t go into the details.
They’re like, Oh, I bought a house. I’m at five and a half. And you’re like, I just bought one. I’m at six point eight, seven, five. Well, they didn’t go into details that they have perfect credit that they have assets that they put 50 % down versus the person that talking to barely came up with their down payment and their FICO is awful. Right? So those are some things. That’s when people, and I used to love this, especially when the rates were lower, cause they’re like, well, why am I getting three and a half? And my dad got a 3 % and I’m like,
You’d that put 50 % down and you’re putting three and a half. Like, do you think it was a bad idea for rates to ever go that low? Is that kind of what put us in some of these positions with housing prices? I think we kept them that low for too long. I don’t necessarily think going that low was a bad idea. I just think as long as it lasted, that was, that’s where I think put us in a bad situation because then we went, we’re like slowly, slowly, slowly and kind of went like that when we increased the rates, which.
I mean, shoot, 21 to 22, 22 to 23. Like in 22, I had this pre -approval at 5%. In 23, when they called me, we were at seven and a half. Two and a half percent in one year is a lot. It’s a lot, right? And that’s what I was saying. It did push several buyers out from what they can actually afford. Yeah. I mean, that put the brakes on the market overnight. It was noticeable by all of us for sure. That was…
Ivan (43:30.415)
Yeah, the first half of 23 were like, all right, it’s not that bad. Second half, we’re like, what is going on right now? That was the unique thing is that it did put the brakes on, but even cash buyers weren’t like making out, right? Yeah. It wasn’t like prices plummeted and it was just the interest rates that were up. Prices were still high. Yeah. Even cash buyers were having a hard time because they didn’t want to invest in something that was overpriced. Yeah. Well, I think a lot of people too, right? Usually prices go up, rates go down, rates go up, prices go down.
That didn’t really happen. And I think that’s where a lot of cash buyers were like, well, if the rates are going up, that’s gotta mean that the price is going to go down. So why would I pay 1 million if in six months it could be 800 ,000? Which makes sense. I probably, you know, if I was investing at that time, I probably would think the same thing. Right. Do, I mean, I, I, people, I talk to people all the time. They’re like, Oh, I’m just going to wait, we’ll wait till next year. How’s the market’s going to crash? I’m like, I don’t think so. What are your thoughts on that?
So we we moved to North Idaho Christmas Day 2021 and that was that was our Christmas present to one another. And I still have clients, some of the first clients that I’ve talked to out here, but they’re like, oh, it’s going to crash. It’s going to crash. That was, you know, January, February 22. We’re now in April 24. I mean, I don’t see it crashing. The prices from last year in February, the prices are up by five percent.
4 .875 I think was the last thing I saw. So there’s so much demand too. That’s what, that’s what it’s not going to happen here. Yeah. You know, it’s crazy too. We just talked about it once again, the class that I was just teaching there, people were asking like, when’s, you know, do you think there’s going to be dips or right time to buy? What do you say to buyers that are like, Oh, I, you know, is now the right thing. It’s an, it’s an investor conversation that we’re having right now. Right. It’s about people that have money that want to place it somewhere and they’re trying to find the best deal.
There’s a lot to look into that into the economy. But you know, for people that are watching or viewing my personal take for families is that you really run a huge risk. I’ve always said it even before I was in real estate, the best time to buy for your family is right now. And that’s not me saying today, you know, April 4th, 2024. I’m only saying that for today. It doesn’t matter when it is in the economy, the best time to buy for your family is right now. I see too many families that say, oh, we’re going to wait for the crash.
Ivan (45:54.703)
They’re not investing. They’re trying to find a home to put their kids in and schools and everything else. Next thing you know, you have eight years that have passed by your kids and you’re still trying to wait for that crash or find that investment. And granted, some people can’t at certain points, but the way I look at it, I would rather buy a house that is smaller and put my family in a place to where I know that my kids are going to have longevity. They’re going to have security. They’re going to have those things as opposed to wait and try to.
try to play a game to figure out. Cause in 2019, I bought my house for $450 ,000. The neighbors, I felt like they were gloating. They literally came across the street and they’re like, thank you so much for paying that because all of our values just went up because of that. We can’t believe that you paid $450 ,000. Right? And if I would have been back then, if I was an investor, there’s no way I would have bought it for that amount. There’s no way, but it was the right time for my family. That’s what we could afford. Yeah. What is it worth now?
almost 800. Yeah. Yeah. In five years. And back then it was just, you know, it was a 3 ,600 square foot shanty for $450 ,000. I mean, we way overpaid at the time, right? We’re looking at it like, Oh my gosh, this should be closer to 400. No, felt terrible about the decision, but my family was in a place and they were happy with it. And it was what we could afford at the time. And over time, historically, it always goes up. That’s the only trend that’s regular. Yeah. And I would say to that point, right?
There are people that want to buy right now, but they can’t. I get it. If you can, to your point, if you’re going to, if you can, if you can afford a house, you should buy because here’s the thing, if you’re not as an investment for yourself, for yourself, for yourself, most people and doesn’t work this way, but most people think I’m going to buy this house. I’m going to stay there for 10 years. A lot of times it doesn’t work that way. It doesn’t. You either keep it as a rental or you’re going to buy something else. So my thought about it, listen,
In all reality, even if you buy a $500 ,000 house right now, let’s say next year drops to 400. But would you say in 10 years that that house is not going to be at least $500 ,000 or more? Yeah, there’s no way it’s gonna, there’s no way it’s not going to be 500 ,000. Even if it just stays plateau, right? In 10 years, you just paid off, not paid off, but you’re a third of the way done with paying your mortgage. Your mortgage doesn’t go up. Your principal and interest,
Ivan (48:22.319)
Once you’re in a fixed 30 years rate that stays. If you’re in an apartment every year, you’re sitting there thinking are they going to raise my rent on me? Do I need to change my lifestyle? Because I’m going to maybe it’s 200 bucks, maybe it’s 600 bucks. And we’ve seen that here. So my thought is like this, especially for the first time home buyers, they’re like, well, I want, you know, four three and I want 2900 square feet minimum. And it’s like, do a step up. I totally did a step up when I bought.
right before me and Raina started dating, I bought a two bedroom, two bath condo, thousand square foot. I was stoked. One, I was a single guy. So I was like, how much room do I really need? But I was just like, perfect. And I was worried about the same thing. It was 2017. And I’m thinking, shoot, like, I really hope prices don’t go down. I was talking to my dad. And bro, you have done so much in a short time. This is 2017. I don’t understand. I literally moved up here to you. I gotta be kidding.
So 20 said to you, I bought this condom for 335 ,000. I was talking to my dad and I was like, damn, I’d be so pissed if the prices go down. My dad was actually the one your logic. He was like, look, why don’t you want to become an investor? And I’m like, yeah, he’s like, why aren’t you going to keep this for probably, you know, if you’re going to keep it forever, 30 years, he goes, we all know in 30 years, it’s not going to be worth 335 ,000. I kind of sat on it. And I was like, you know what, it’s a good point. I’m not planning to sell this place. I did sell it.
We sold it in 22, and I sold it for $565 ,000. Where’d you reinvest that money? That’s when I used Dave. And I bought a place on Fifth Street that has just been wonderful. No problems at all in that place. He goes, bro, we thought it had AC. And I’m like, what made you think it said, nothing we signed said it. It goes,
It has a thermostat. I’m like, that doesn’t mean it has a goes below 60. It must have a seat. You know what? No matter how many houses you buy, just treat it as your first house. And that was that was an oversight. Ten thousand dollar oversight of my part. Because we were like, oh, cool, it’s got thermostats, got to have a seat. And we looked at it. What was it like? We looked at it in April and it was chilly. So you didn’t need a seat in the house. So like Southern California, you would have had that thing blasting right out here. April. I mean, we’re in April now. It’s not that.
Ivan (50:44.527)
side where you’re going to turn AC on. So comes like two months later or three months later, right? Two months later, we’re like, we’re having someone move in there. We got it ready to rent it out. And I doesn’t have AC like it’s not blowing cold air. We’re like, I mean, it doesn’t have AC. So I get to the house, I walk around and I’m like, Holy shit, we don’t have an AC in this house. So get the guys out there. They’re looking at it got a couple quotes. And then I was like,
Oh, great. The furnace is going to go out in two years. So we were like, screw it. Buy a new furnace and the AC got some discount quote unquote. And yeah, it’s fish. She’s been a wonderful place. You helped me by brother. So, but yeah, that’s funny. Seven houses. I know since 2017. Wow. And we sold about where am I going wrong? Yeah, I don’t know. You step my game up, dude. We’re just doing podcasts. That’s it. We’re here. He’s out there selling homes. We’re just, he’s out. Just.
I’m just running around. Like I said, I have a partner who’s very smart and she’s very frugal with her money. And grown up with not having a lot of stuff, I’m like, oh, shiny thing. Let’s buy it. No, dammit. Fun sucker. So smart, though. You always have to have one person that likes to spend money and someone that’s got a more voice than you that doesn’t spend money. So, I mean, thanks, Rainer. You know, we have a healthy savings account investments. We got investment properties.
Um, but yeah, I mean, it’s just been a, it’s been a fun ride and living in North Idaho has been cool. It’s. What’s next for you guys? Anything exciting coming down the pipeline? Um, just kind of keep chugging along doing what you do. Oh my, my nine year old plays club soccer. So that’s, so your weekends are shot for the next forever. Yeah. For the next two months. And then we’re going to have a month break, which is super awesome. And then it’s shot for the next four months after that.
But now we’re, I mean, we’re going to Washington for a tournament. We’re going to Cal Spell in May, another soccer tournament. So basically the whole life revolves around the oldest son right now. But yeah, I mean, I don’t know. I told my wife and we need a vacation without the kids. So see how that works out. Well, you guys made a big impact on the community. I know you guys have started to meet a ton of people and you guys, yeah, everybody seems to know Ivan and Raina now. So yeah, very common names. Uh,
Ivan (53:04.303)
Agreed. I already got the idea for the thumbnail. I just want a picture of you with this on and it’s just going to say Russians in North Idaho. Question mark. You know, it’s funny. Rain is rain. It’s not Russian. She was born in California. She did move to arena for a couple of years. Came back to California. For some reason, I thought she was the longest time, by the way, her she’s got so much different cultures, so many different cultures in her, like her dad’s part Punjabi, Indian, Native American, Hispanic, Spanish. Her mom’s half black, half white.
And so she’s like a melting pot and she’s also six feet tall. So people are like, Hey, you’re six feet tall standing next to a six, four Russian. You must be Russian. So people call it guilty of that. Yeah. People are looking at us. Like, I mean, our nicknames I would say is like, Oh, the Russians, we’re going to the Russians house. The Russians are coming over. That’s what we say. Yeah. See, I mean, I don’t know. It just works that way. But yeah, I’ll do this as a thumbnail for you guys. I think that would be great, dude. The Russians in Northern Idaho. Love it.
David look good with that on to it’s made in China. Shut your mouth. Everything’s made in China. I assume it’s from Amazon. So it’s made in China. You know what? I actually asked my dad. I was like, dad, come on. Cause I do have like some of his old military stuff. I have no terrible, which like Jesus thing, a thing they used to beat me with. But, um, yeah, I have that, you know, PTSD a little bit. But I was like, come on, you have to.
should have kept one of these. And he’s like, man, if I knew we were going to move to North Idaho from California, I definitely would have. I’m like, well, should have. That’s funny. Well, should you call it? Yep. We appreciate you, man. Thank you for coming down. Thank you guys. Brother. Good talk. Yeah, sir. All right. On the green. Catch you next time.
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