How Tania Became a Mortgage Broker (And Why She’s on a Mission to Help First-Home Buyers)

Jaimi: Welcome to Home Building Like a Boss, the podcast dedicated to helping first home buyers in Perth build their dream home with ease and excitement. I’m Jamie, your host and go to building broker. Are you ready to feel empowered, in control and excited about your building journey? I’ll help guide you with expert advice, insider tips and tricks and real life stories to help you navigate the confusing world of home building.

Tune in as I take you on the journey to building your home like a boss.

Hello, and welcome back to another episode. I’m your host, Jamie, as always. And today I’m joined by Tanya. 

Tania Mondon: Hi, everybody. And 

Jaimi: we are going to chat about Tanya’s building journey. I’m going to ask her a few questions about her journey and how she got into the industry, essentially, and is doing what she’s doing now.

So, Tanya, tell us a little bit about your building journey. 

Tania Mondon: My building journey was actually really good, but there definitely are some things that I wish that I had extra help on, especially with like, where PowerPoints were located and stuff like that. Getting ready for pre start. Yes. I did some of my own research and picked a really good builder because you didn’t exist back then.

No, I didn’t. Shame. Next time I do. Build, though I would definitely use a building broker. Yeah. Because now I understand how important they are and that you really do help clients find what they need and you are able to understand their priorities and you know which builders align with their priorities.

Priorities. Yeah. So that’s really good. But my building journey was in 2018 where the build times were. Yeah. Some time ago. Yeah. , the build times were five months, six months. Yeah. Oh, well I was renting at my house in six months, but. They were a lot quicker. So I got it within five months, which was great.

That does not exist in this market. 

Jaimi: Let me just tell you now, we’re looking at about 

Tania Mondon: 12 months. Yeah. Times have definitely changed, but thankfully I didn’t have any major hiccups. When I did move into my home though, I just forgot. about where I wanted PowerPoint outlets. And that’s annoying because I had to install them afterwards.

Yeah, that’s very annoying. Because of my house plan though, I couldn’t actually make any changes. It was just kind of like, as is. It was a base plan. This is very basic. That’s probably why it also took. Farmhouse to be built, but for my next house, I definitely want like a big backyard and like a proper farmhouse type of vibe.

More custom. Yes. So when I eventually do that, the importance of a building broker, well, I guess it’s just going to be self explanatory from there. I cannot build a custom home and design it from scratch myself. So that makes sense why a lot of your clients need your help, but. My finance journey as well was quite simple because I chose a broker that specialized in construction.

Yeah. And that’s how I actually got into becoming a mortgage broker. I love that. Yes. I was very happy with how he explained things to me and broke down the process. And because of that, I wanted to help other people as well that were building. their first homes to understand the process as well. And then I started working for him.

Amazing. So that was really good. What was 

Jaimi: one thing that you struggled with along your journey or found it hard? And one thing that you found really easy? One 

Tania Mondon: thing that I found really easy was the process of. How just seamless the building and the finance tied in together. Yeah, that’s good. I didn’t have to worry because I chose a good builder.

I chose a good finance broker and they were just able to communicate with each other and get things done for me. I was a first time buyer. I had no idea what I was doing and I wasn’t even a broker yet. So I had no idea about finance either. So it’s all about like the quality of your team. Everyone has different priorities, but mine was, I just want to get into a very affordable home.

Yep. So, I didn’t have to worry about finding, like, a builder that specialized in high ceilings. Yeah. Or all these complex things that some builders don’t even want to make adjustments to on their, on their house plans. Um, for me, it was quite basic. The difficult thing was… It’s not having someone to get me pre start ready.

That was quite difficult because I, even to this day, I don’t like my floors. Yeah. It just isn’t, doesn’t match the walls, but it’s a big and expensive job if I was to replace all of that now. So I’d rather not, I’d rather just put money towards my next home. So I think that’s really important to have someone that’s going to help you with pre start.

Yeah. It’s 

Jaimi: so important because yeah, pre start is a whole thing. You’ve got to choose your internals, your external colors, your materials, your taps, your flooring, your tiles, PowerPoints, literally everything. And if you go into your. Builder in one session and try and do that all in one day, you’re going to make decisions that you regret or that cost you money, which is essentially changing it, ripping out the flooring, adding PowerPoints and doing all that stuff that you mentioned.

Tania Mondon: Yes, yes. So that would have been good to have because I did pick things that I loved at the time, but then they don’t fit. Flow in nicely together, especially with the furniture that actually had. So I think it’s important to have someone that actually can help you through that process. So that’s one thing that I found really hard.

Also, yeah, the PowerPoints I used to have like the vacuum that you plug into the wall. Yeah. I mean, that was so 2018, but yeah, I have a cordless one. It’s not a rubber back, but it’s just a normal cordless one. So that’s great. But yeah. The PowerPoints, um, I should have put a lot more. I would have rather spent more money putting extra PowerPoints in that I probably don’t even use than to not have them there at 

Jaimi: all.

A hundred percent. You can never go wrong with too many PowerPoints and too much storage. Yes. They’re two things. Can’t go wrong. 

Tania Mondon: And the other thing was I added a door onto the theater room because it was just like an open, an opening. Yes. And I added a door on, so they had to like make a wall. This is after I got my keys.

I did this because I didn’t actually understand and I didn’t pay attention to the house plans. Like I know on all the house plans there was no door, but when it came time to me, actually. Like moving in, I was like, wait, I thought there was a door here. There wasn’t. So it would have been good to have someone help me go through the house plans.

Yeah. Um, a little bit more because I, you know, there’s just so much information and you get overwhelmed. Yeah. It definitely was. explain it to me I just literally like forgot in one ear and out the other. there’s 

Jaimi: information overload and you’re trying to look at a whole bunch of different things and things get missed 

Tania Mondon: easily.

Yeah, So I definitely need like a building broker next time to help me go over the floor plans to make sure it’s exactly what I asked so it’s exactly what I want. 

Jaimi: And you don’t know what you’re looking for if you don’t know. Yeah. Like you didn’t know to look for a door on the theatre, 

so 

Tania Mondon: you don’t know.

Yeah. All the PowerPoints. One thing I did do is put a lot of LED lights in. Yes. That’s good. Aced that, forgot the others. Well, you ticked one, right? Yeah. 

Jaimi: Amazing. Cool. And if you were to build again, what would your priorities be and what have you learned from the last build that you would do differently in your 

Tania Mondon: new build?

I would definitely find a build, like I know at the moment. When clients come to us, they’re like, my priority is to get into my home within 12 months. Yeah. And others are like, I want a really cheap builder. Yeah. For me, my understanding of this is if you’re trying to find just a really cheap builder to fit within your budget, their wait times, like when you’re actually getting into your home will be.

A lot lengthier. Yeah. I personally would rather just find a builder that might be a little bit more expensive, hopefully better quality. Yeah. And get into my home within that 12 month period than to wait almost two years just because it was a cheaper option for me. Yeah. Because that’s costing you money, especially if you’re renting.

Yeah. Or paying a current mortgage. Yeah. People forget 

Jaimi: about those costs there. Yeah. And I always like to try and explain it as like a balancing act. Like you have. Timeframes, quality and price, and you want to balance all three. And if you tip it one way, the scales in another direction, you will lose. So if you go to cheap, you’re going to lose on your quality and your timeframe.

So you want to balance the act. It’s not the cheapest, it’s not the longest and it’s good quality. So you’ve got all three. And you want to balance them on scales and not tip them one 

Tania Mondon: way or the other. Yes, that makes sense. That’s something that I’m definitely going to look out for when I decide to build again.

The other thing that I thought of was, for anyone that doesn’t know what area to build in, I just remember that I used to just drive around these random suburbs trying to see what felt like home. And when I chose where I was going to build, I just kept driving. It was 45 minutes away from where I lived at the time, by the way, I just kept driving there, pretending that I already lived there and it just felt good.

And that’s where I decided to build. I love that. Whereas other areas I was like, nah, the vibes a little bit off. But that’s actually how I decided on what suburb I was going to build in. 

Jaimi Matray: That’s a good tip, because yeah, you always want to drive around or get a feel for the estate or the block and the area.

And yeah, go for your 

Tania Mondon: time. Go for a walk too, just to bump into like potential neighbours. Just don’t tell them that you’re just walking around a suburb when you live 45 minutes away. They’re weird. Just act like a local. But yeah, that was something that I did, and I, Always just tell like my friends when they’re building, do the same thing before you put an offer on a block.

Jaimi: Yeah. Amazing. And if you were to build again, would you do anything differently? 

Tania Mondon: Yes. In this market and how there are just so many builders out there and it just becomes so. overwhelming. I would use a building broker so that I have someone on my team to support me and guide me through the process again.

Even though I’m a second home buyer, I still need that help because the industry’s changed. There are new builders out there that I’ve never even heard of. And I know that each builder specializes in different things. Some are just. They do a bit of everything. Some just do like really fancy luxurious homes.

Some do just very basic homes that you can’t make any amendments to. That is just way too overwhelming. I would rather work with a building broker that has worked with builders before, that knows that they’re good and just put my faith in, in that. Instead of trying to do that myself. That is so much work on top of my job.

Yeah, it is. Building a 

Jaimi: house is a full time job. I always say to people, why are you trying to do that and a full time job at the same time? 

Tania Mondon: Yeah, that’s true. So I would, yeah, I would recommend people do that and I’m definitely doing that in the future. Amazing. 

Jaimi: Well, thank you so much for sharing your building journey with us today and how you got into the industry.

And we’ll talk to you guys on another episode soon. 

Tania Mondon: All right.

Jaimi: Thank you so much for tuning in to the home building like a boss podcast. I hope you enjoyed today’s episode and learn something new. Remember you’ve got this and I’ve got your back until next time. Stay inspired, stay informed, and stay confident on your building journey. I can’t wait to chat with you.

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