Conquering your fear about buying a home with Courtney Poulos

Courtney Poulos, who is not only the broker/owner of LA-based ACME Real Estate but is also a 2020 HousingWire Women of Influence, joins us on this week’s episode of Girlfunds. During the episode, she reframes the idea of buying a home, helping take fear out of the equation, and also shares how we can take control of our finances as women.

This episode is packed with a ton of actionable tips that you can apply as a listener on how to take control of your finances and some extremely catchy quotes that you can’t help but feel inspired by. For example, during the interview, Courtney Poulos likens buying a home to dating, stating that buying your first home doesn’t need to be like buying your forever home, saying you should think of it as your long-term boyfriend but not your husband. 

For more background on Courtney Poulos, she founded ACME Real Estate, which is a design-savvy boutique brokerage that focuses on brand marketing and real estate sales. She is a member of Forbes Real Estate Council, a repeat panelist at Inman Connect and Awesome Females in Real Estate and is a panelist and emcee for the California Association of Realtors WomanUp! Initiative. She recently was the host of FYI Network’s “My City’s Just Not That Into Me,” where she played real estate matchmaker with buyers and sellers nationwide. She also wrote the book, “Break Up! With Your Rental: The Professional Woman’s Guide to Building Wealth through Real Estate,” and she has been selling real estate since 2005. 

Girlfunds takeaway tip from Courtney Poulos:

The first thing I try to address [when helping women overcome the limitations that they put on themselves] is fear. I actually hear a lot of real estate agents saying these things that are classic things, and I’m like, “Stop trying to be the hero. It’s not that big a deal.” People walk in, and they go, “This is the biggest asset I’ve ever purchased.” I’m like, “No, it’s not! It’s 20% of the biggest asset you’ve ever purchased leveraged at historically low interest rates.” It’s lower than your student loan debt, and you’re leveraging your dollar. 

Join the two best friends who met as financial journalists at HousingWire, Brena Nath, a twenty-something forever renter with her husband and pup, and Sarah Wheeler, an empty nester on her third home, every week for our girls night focused on everything from affording your best friend’s wedding to how to turn your side hustle into your main hustle. Each week, Girlfunds will have a special guest join us as we intertwine finance and friendship. And don’t worry, you don’t have to have your finances all together to join our girls nights. We’re all in this together to learn – women supporting women – and in the words of our producer, so we can all be #confidentqueens.