It's time for the b a q A. The b a q A. What does this stand for? Brown Ambition Question and Answer ba QA. As y'all know, we've kind of split the show in two for y'all who like the chat bout you know, we do our buzzworthy and a separate show with our Brown Boost Brown Break, and then we have a totally separate show we talked just
just little taking your question. So if you've got questions for the BA that's Mandra and myself and you want a little QA, some Q and A answered, then you can send us an email to Brown and Pision Podcast at gmail dot com. You can hit us in the ig d MS BROWNI Pision Podcast right, BRANDI Pision.
Podcast, BRANDI Vision Podcast on ig Yes, ma'am.
And then you can also go to a Brownivision podcast dot com and click ask us anything. So business questions, career questions, financial questions, financial adjacent questions. The doors are open. Okay, So yes, ma'am, we've got our first question. Manjie, you want out, go ahead and read it.
I would love to. So this listener wants to remain anonymous. She says, Hey, ladies, I love your show and anything and everything you do. My husband and I purchased our first house a little over a year ago. It's an older home and it's in good condition, but it could use some updating. We're thinking of buying a new construction home and selling the house through a site like Zillo or open Door. Through both of these sites, we have an offer over one hundred thousand dollars more than what
we bought our home for. It's exciting for us, and we have thirty thousand dollars in savings. We want to buy a new home, but want to know if we should. We have both changed jobs and have almost double their income since the purchase of our current home. The push to move sooner than later is our aging parents and the need and the desire to have a main level bedroom so they don't have to use the stairs. Is it a good move or should we wait it out?
Eh? Well, first of all, anonymous, congratulations, these are like good problems to have so anonymous in hobby. So one you know, like aside from you know whether or not you should sell your house. If you're going to sell your house, I although one hundred thousand dollars more than what you bought it force sounds awesome, sauce, you know,
in the current market, that's actually not so crazy. I mean literally, I've been seeing homes go for like one hundred and fifty two hundred thousand dollars more in my neighbor of the hoods, right. But what I would caution before you jump into a Zillow or open door is to actually speak with the realtor to see because you might be able to get more in the open market.
And it's my understanding, and I got this directly from the founder of Zillo himself because I watched listen to this podcast called How I Built This and he was on and he specifically said that in exchange for making like the buying selling process simple, they take anywhere from five to seven percent. That is significantly more than what a realtori take, because Mandy Riltor's take at most I've heard is three percent and sometimes as low as like one percent. Yeah.
Having edited like a jillion mortgage articles, we would usually say between two.
And five percent, okay, two and five percent, yeah, two to five So you know, so I would just caution, one can you get more? And two can you pay less? Because you, as the seller, that money is going to come off of like the money that you've made for your house, you know. So I would just say that for that component of your question, if you are going to sell it, at least talk to a relter to get like some numbers. Okay, And then I think buying
a home with your aging parents in mind. Honestly, that's smart. And you know because especially while you have the money, because I've been considering the same. I know my husband and I have lived in our house now for two years. We totally renovated it. But I know that the second house that we get, I definitely want to get like a mother in law suit. My dad is in his eighties and my mom is you know, she would kill me, so she's younger. I'll just say that papaliches in his eighties.
I didn't know that. I know, he's like eighty one and my mom's like seventy. But and so yeah, so I totally am like, they live in a big house now, just the two of them, But I'm like, how long how much longer I would want? You know, I would love for them to stay with me, but I would want them to have their own space. So but just know this, that's Here's the thing is that just like your house is worth more because of the market, so
will other houses that you are looking to purchase. So that one hundred thousand dollars jump is across the board depending on where you're looking to move to. So know that you're going to also be paying more. And so I don't know if they're like, is the rush that are your parents going to move in with you in the next five years? You might want to wait? Is it the next two years? And certainly you can go out and look. My only concern is housing prices have
gone up so much. My concern are these sustainable or will there be a market correction in the house that you buy now might not be worth what you paid for. So that's my hesitancy because even myself and my husband and I we're actually taking a pause on purchasing a house at least for a couple of years because I don't want to pay extra for a house only for it to be worth less later. What about Umanda, what you say?
Yeah, it's a tricky one because it's unless you have a unless you're a fortune teller, there's really no way to give a short answer here. I think at the end of the day. What I like to say is you make the decision that feels right based on all the information you have today, and then you kind of have to let it go after that. And it was I remember how stressed I was when we got our house in twenty eighteen. Now it looks like I'm a genius four years later because our home values increased so much.
But when I tell you the number of sleepless nights and today, it sounds like we got the house at a bargain price, you know, but that that's not how it is in the moment. And I think, you know it worked out for us now and you know, we're still in a house, and who knows what could happen. We just got flooded really bad by Hurricane Iida. No one said we were in a flood zone in my neighborhood. So you make the best decision with the information that you have, and then you, you know, let it go.
And I think if you guys feel ready and you want to and you want to move into a new house, and you can afford that new house, and it all works out and you feel like that's the right decision for you and your family, then I think, you know, go for it. But if there's if there's a voice in your head, or there's you know, anxiety, or you feel like you are being pushed into a decision because it sounds like the right thing to do because that's what the Internet says, or that's what it seems like
people on social media are doing. That's when I would say, you know, make sure it really aligns with you and your family goals and your values, you know, before you take that step. I think there's a good case to being made for you know, waiting a little bit longer like Tiffany is, or just going for.
It if you guys really want to m hm, there's a case to be made because ultimately what's good for your family might not your parents. You might be like, no, they need to move in with us sooner rather than later. Or you might be like, you know what, we can actually wait because we're not in this huge rush. Let's see what the market going do. But either way, I for sure would not just jump into bed with Zillow or open Door without at least like sitting down with a realtor to compare and contrast.
Yeah, and I means' there are also like information out there about how bad zestimates are anyway, So I don't know if I would trust the algorithms to decide the value of my, excuse me, my home. Well, thank you for your question though, and good luck. I hope that you guys follow up let us know what you're gonna end up doing. Yeah, because I think that's a I'm excited for someone to make decisions because I'm I'm like, we're just going to hang out here for another few
years and see what happens. But prices are so expensive here, I would not want to turn around and buy something, you know, just because my house is worth more today. She just feel like I'd be overpaying, all right. Number three, I'm going to read this in a British accent because yeah, babes, I watch a lot of Love Island now. It's my guilty pleasure between ten and eleven pm at night. And this is from a listener from the UK who says I won't read it in a British accent. I could, but I'm going to.
Spare you guys. All right.
She says, I work in tech and make pretty reasonable money in my profession. My current salary is made of basic pay bonus and restricted stock units. I was recently approached by two of the biggest tech companies in Silicon Valley, but they cannot match my pay for my RSUs. Would it be super crazy to ask them for a sign on bonus and actually pay on my bonus to make up for the RSUs I will be leaving behind in my own job. Thank you so much. I love the podcast.
I've been a faithful listener for two years now, and I can't see myself stopping. Oh, thank you for saying that I was worried. Please don't get well.
First of all, man, it can we get clear what is an RSU?
Oh, it's one of my favorite wealth building tools ever. So, a restricted stock unit is a way that companies give employees actual stock in their company. And the reason it's called restricted is because they do give you a batch of stock, but it is not going to be available to you right away, so typically there's a vesting schedule.
So let's say, and this happened to me. I actually went back to my first job offer where I got restricted stock units, and they gave me it was twelve hundred shares of Yahoo okay, which is not even a stock. You can get anymore. But it was twelve hundred shares and those vested over three years, which meant after one year of staying with the company, they would release one third of those shares to me. So what's one third
of twelve hundred four hundred chairs Okay? And then after another two years, another year working with them, my second year, I get the other four hundred shares, and then after the third year, I get the other the last and final four hundred shares. And the reason that's an incentive is I would want to stick around, especially the stock is doing well, because that is a nice little windfall.
And it was those early windfalls from those stock grants that I was given that really helped me start to build the foundation of my brokerage accounts and all of that. So I'm a big old fan of that. So the question she has if I can go back to it is yeah. So she's negotiating, she's looking for at opportunities with two big tech companies, and they can't match her pay like they wouldn't factor her RSUs into her base salary,
it sounds like. So she wants to know is it crazy to ask them to give her a sign on bonus like a bonus to make up for the rs you should be leaving on the table.
Girl. You know me, and many gonna say you better ask for your money.
Yes, one hundred thousand percent, And I think this goes for there's other money you can leave on a table too, unvested. Four to one K matching sometimes, like companies will say, you know, we will match your four one K, will match your contributions, but it's gonna vest And that word vesting is what it means, like here's when you'll actually get your hands on the money, and it may not be for a few years with the company. So yes, one hundred percent, and I've done this. They may ask
you for proof. I was looking at a job offer that I negotiated last year and they asked for a screenshot of my equity grant just to prove that I had as much as I was saying, And hell yeah, they gave that to me in a cash sign on bonus. And same thing with those Yahoo shares. Because I didn't stay the full three years at Yahoo. I ended up leaving early and I was like, and I think I gotta sign on. Yeah, I gotta sign on bonus for the value you can only expect to get the value
of the stock at the time that you're joining the company. Okay, you know like they won't. They may not. So let's say that the shares that you are leaving on the tables worth ten thousand dollars today when you're negotiating. Sure, if you stayed with the company until they fully vest a year from now, maybe their stock will increase and
it'll be worth fifteen thousand shares. But the company that you're trying to work for now, they're just gonna say, look, your shares are worth ten k. Would give you a ten k sign on bonus.
And here's the thing. You only ever lose out on the things you don't ask for, you know, like cause first of all, these are you said two big tech companies says they got the coin. That's why two you're the bag. I was just on a board meeting and I won't say what board, so that way i'll be
you know, telling all the business. But one of the things we were talking about, because we were talking about like a hire and we were like, yo, low key, high key whatever she asked, well, we got to give it to her because they're they're very It's so hard to find talented individuals. So if she pushed back, we say, okay, So so the fact is, I mean, I don't know if you're in tech, you know, or you know, because
you might be an HR or whatever. But the fact is the fact that two big tech companies reached out to you means that you have a specific skill set that is attractive to the marketplace. They looked to find you. So you can push and ask for whatever you want. Now they might say no whatever, that's fine, but you
know you've got two places to make that happen. So that's what's so awesome about times like this is that when you start to really put the work in on your professional self, you know, you might not be able to do this at twenty one, but certainly as time goes on, you know, you become very valuable. A friend of ours, you know that manny, you and I know, and I want to put all her business out there. But she shared how she got like equity in the company, how she was like I want to she's got a
little one. I want to be home, you know, twice a week. She was able to make a whole list of demands and she was like, I'm only going to be here for this many years, and they were like, fine, fine, yes, okay, yeah, because she's a whole snack and they're hungry, so I'm a whole dandium well exactly. So as for what you want and you are, you know, you're more likely to get it than if you don't say anything at all. Don't let people think like, you know, you're not groveling
for jobs. Two people want you. You know, you're the cutest girl in the cafeteria. It's I mean.
And if they try to play like they don't have, like they don't typically do that, that's just silly sauce. And I'm like, they're in Silicon Valley, that is the land of the RSU, and there's no way that they haven't had other people ask for what you're going to be asking for when you tell them that, they that you need them to make you whole on what you're leaving behind. And on top of that, they should be giving you an equity grant independent of that cash sign
on bonus. So if they're giving you a bonus to make up for the RSUs you're leaving on the table from your old job, I think fully they should be giving you an additional batch of RSUs and their company stock to incentivize you to stick around. And I think that that's something that is just very common at major tech firms these days, and it would be a big miss if you were to accept an offer that didn't
include r s US. I might even say, just wait till the next big tech firm comes with a juicier offer for you.
Yeah, but you know me, and if you get it, you owe me and Mandy dinner.
Welcome to the UK for some dinner. Thank you for listening from the UK, though.
Appreciate it. Tell your friends how wait have we done that? This is our show reach out if you find value in the B of the A please literally however you're listening literally to this podcast right Oh that's my my. However you're listening to this podcast, I want you to go ahead and share the with at least three people, shared in your group chat, shared on your Facebook, share it on your IG, share on your Twitter, share it
with at least three people that you know. It could really help because we are really just trying to reach and teach as many as possible.
Okay, okay, yes absolutely, And you could be featured on BA Fan Friday on IG. I mean that's it's like a it's a it's an honor honestly, where we actually shout out anyone who leaves us on iTunes review tif. Do you know how can you leave reviews on Android podcast platforms? Like? Is that a thing on Google podcast or something like that? I wasn't sure.
I think, well, I usually if I'm going to leave review I do it for my computer, and I've got a Mac, so I don't know. On Oh, that's a good work around.
Yeah, if you have a Mac and you have an iCloud account, you can log into iTunes and leave.
Your little review.
I saw Audible accepts reviews too, But listen, don't sweat it. If you don't have iTunes, still tell a friend, Tell a friend. Tag us at Brown Ambition Podcast on ig. And we appreciate the.
Look because honestly, we're to be low key hikey, low key hikey. We're kind of like the OG's in the space. I don't know if you know, but black and brown podcasts sometimes they just don't have to support they need to succeed and move forward. But we've been in We've been in a game for years. It's made us animal. There's rules to this anyway.
That's a little biggie no.
But honestly, like, we've been in this game for some time and we have been consistent. You know, we have not failed all. And you know one of the ways that you can support us is to tell people to listen. That's literally it literally, Especially if you have an episode that really moved you, you know, tell people you know, share it specifically and say you need to listen. This is a really good episode that really helps to support us so we can continue to be here for another six Okay.
Okay, absolutely, I actually listened to our show most weeks, do you know, just to because I enjoy it. It's all because I forget what we say.
I love when people come up to me and they're like, oh my god, such I'm like, I did not tell you that. I told my own Mandy on this show. Bro, Mandy, I don't forget because we're friends in real life. So I'm like, oh, that's right.
I wasn't just like nice your taser?
Who told you about that? If you don't know the taser joke, that means you were not listening to our prior episode. Go listen to it.
The taser. Yes, go to the last previous episode to find out why Tiffany, what Tiffany's taser looks like, and who she used to do. That's a good uh, it's.
A little teaser, a little tasy tea. Oh, I manage it. It's been real. That's pretty huge.
Then real. We'll see you guys next week.
Have a grace day by