🏡 Barndominiums, the Friends Apartment Myth, and Real Estate Q&A

In episode seven of The Rent-ish Pod, Zach and Patrick dig into the rural housing trend that’s taking the country by storm: Barndominiums. They break down this New York Times article and share their (very strong) opinions on the rise of barn-style homes, steel siding, and whether they’d actually live in one.

Then, in the RE Reel segment, it’s a throwback to one of the most iconic TV apartments ever — Monica and Rachel’s impossibly spacious New York pad from Friends. Zach and Pat put on their real estate hats and ask: Could this apartment exist in real life... and who’s footing that rent?

To wrap it all up, your favorite duo tackles a fresh round of Listener Questions — from quirky landlord issues to real estate myths.

📬 Got a question, story, or barndominium blueprint you want to share?
 Email us at questions@therentishpod.com — you might just end up in a future episode!

🎧 Hit play for barn homes, sitcom rent scandals, and chaotic Q&A goodness.

Follow us on Instagram

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:25

Ooh. What's going on, everybody? Welcome to the Rentish Podcast. My name is Zach, and I'm here with my co-host, Patrick. What up? We're your hosts for the Rentish Podcast, which is a podcast that's kind of about rental properties, hosted by two guys that work in the real estate industry and kind of know what they're talking about. But mostly don't. Nailed the catchphrase this week, man. Nailed it. And we've been off the books for a while, too. That's impressive. Yeah, mostly we don't. Which is why I think you're going to have fun just listening to us talk and talk to experts and learn about everything that we're learning about or just laugh along with us for the whole ride. We've got a heck of a show, Patrick, today. But let me ask you first and foremost, before we kind of detail it out.

SPEAKER_01: 1:10

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_00: 1:11

How you doing? I'm good. I'm on two cups of coffee. Yeah. Caffeine necessity right now. Yeah, extra boost. Yeah, yeah. It's been a minute since we've been back here, so it's good to be back. But, man, I'll tell you what. It's just one of those days where it's like I feel like a slug. Yeah. I'm just, like, moving at, like, snail's pace over here. Yeah, yeah, same. So we're going to try and up the vibes. What are you going to do? Like, we're doing exercises. Jumping jacks. I'm doing jumping jacks as we're sitting down right now. Jumping jacks. That's good. I'm moving my arms and legs. into our producers singing some Kendrick lines. That's all it is. Yeah, CPR. We learned that Not Like Us is CPR certified, so you can sing Not Like Us when you're giving someone CPR. It was Stayin' Alive before that that was kind of like the industry standard for CPR, right? That was the song. Well, everyone knows that because of the office bit, right? Right. Well, that's how I know it, at least. Well, our parents did that, but now we do Kendrick. Okay. That's how it's going to be. All right. We've got a good show for you. We're going to talk about a new trend taking over rural America with property news. We're going to talk about a fun, famous property from the TV sitcom Friends. And then we're going to end it with some listener questions. You said there was going to be experts at the beginning of the episode. Was that just a big, fat lie? You guys are stuck with us. I said there'd be experts. On the series. On the series. But sometimes there might not be. So this might be an expert-less... episode yeah let's say this is all for the amateur this is the amateur hour right here yeah okay cool well maybe there will be experts who knows we got experts yeah we got our producer we say in the room exactly yeah all right well let's go ahead and dive into it Real news. I think that everything, every segment title we have has the word real in it because it's just like, what do we got? What are we going to come up with for real estate news podcast? Call it real news, real reels. It's like, oh man, we're super creative. Email questions at therentishpod.com. I always forget to intro that at the very, very beginning. So questions at therentishpod.com. If you guys want to be part of the show, which we do want you to be part of the show, we want you to email them. We want you to talk to us. We want to hear from you. Oh, if you're subscribed on your podcast service of choice, like Spotify or Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts, follow The Rentish Podcast. We would love it if you would follow us and subscribe to us and maybe give us a review or a rating or something like that. I mean, hey, if the intro banter was any indication of what you're going to get on this episode, that's a five-star podcast if I ever hear some myself. You usually forget to plug the podcast. Smash that subscribe button. You usually forget to do that. Yo, smash

SPEAKER_01: 3:57

that subscribe.

SPEAKER_00: 3:58

Yeah, I'm going to write that note for myself at the very beginning as a reminder to plug. And we're good. Okay, real news. Patrick, the trend taking over rural America, Barn Dominiums. I love that. I love that name. I wonder if it's about barns. I wonder if it is. Well, did you read the article? Oh, there's an article. No, I did not read the article. You didn't even know if there was one. Well, par for the course. Whoops. Yeah, no, it's okay. That's our bit. You don't read the articles? Yeah. That's fine. I'm here to edumacate you. New housing trend is sweeping across rural America, barn dominiums. These hybrid structures blend the practicality of barns, you were right on the money there, with the comfort of modern homes, offering a unique combination of rustic aesthetic and affordability. As housing prices continue to climb in urban areas, many families are turning to these unconventional builds for space, customization, and cost savings. There is a New York Times article that was linked out here by our producer But because it has a paywall, I also did not read the article as well. So this is gonna first for everything here. We don't have the money to afford the paywall. But it's okay because they did a great job of distilling the information into this lovely script. that we're gonna talk about. Quick question. So you said it blends the practicality of barns. What is practical about barns in terms of like, you know, if you want to have a cow in your living room but you can't do it in a normal house? That's a good question because yeah, practicality of a barn is that it's a barn. It's where you have your animals, right? Like how is that practical? You know what I mean? I don't know. Okay, so some of the photos here. Before we get into like the details of the article here, I mean, we got a couple examples I would live here. That is way cooler than my own apartment. Yeah. It does look cool. Kind of looks like some wedding venues I've been to in the South, but, you know, it is what it is. You got big curtains there, old paintings. Yeah, it's kind of got that, like, farmhouse aesthetic. The next photo, though, if you want to scroll down just a smidge. Okay. You know, it's like, I'm looking for a house. You tell your realtor, like, I'm looking for a house. Give me, like, military compound sheet. Yeah. It's like kind of the vibe here. It's like this big black thing. mass in the middle of the desert. It's like, okay. But it looks like, it almost looks like a plant, like an industrial plant, does it not? It doesn't look as homey as the inside photo looks. I don't know if that's the same barn, or barn dominium, sorry. Barn dominium, which, have you heard the phrase before? I know, I haven't until like literally 20 seconds ago. So I've never heard the phrase. I refer to these as... easy millennial homes it's been something that I've referred to these a lot as like the millennium like storage container houses yeah like when I see these go up in like different areas of the city or in like neighborhoods where it's like they have these giant complexes or like these things that come up that they look like the aluminum looks exciting they look like shipping containers they do like the inside looks a lot more rustic and unique that first photo that we saw but like the outside just looking like a straight up like shipping container with like a tin roof yeah that's sometimes for me what I think of I'm thinking like oh it's like because those came to rise when people my age and my generation started like building these big like luxury condominiums or whatever and they were like shipping container houses that's always what I've called them barndominium is a bit catchier it's a bit catchier a little less like harsh yeah right so if if your realtor is trying to sell you on a on a on a property they're probably not going to call it shipping container house or what's it called a millennial millennial quick build or something like that yeah it's like give it the it's like we want to raise a house here in the two and a half or three weeks. Millennial quick job. Put it up there. All right. So I'm going to get into the article statistics here. Rise of the barn dominiums and their appeal. So certainly they appeal to people. Maybe not to us. Well, you said that you would live there. Up until I saw the steel storage container in the middle of the desert. But yeah, the inside looks really nice. Inside looks nice. All right. What is a barn dominium? Definition. A barn dominium is a steel or wooden barn-like structure converted into a fully livable home. A originally popular among farmers. The trend has expanded to suburban and rural areas. So I guess literally it was just like, oh, well, we have this barn. Why don't we just live in it? Design flexibility. They can feature open floor plans, vaulted ceilings, and large windows, blending modern design with rustic charm. And there's cost efficiency as well. Barn mediums often cost 30 to 50% less per square foot than traditional homes, largely due to simpler materials and quicker construction timelines. So there's a big positive. At least for me, that's a Well, yeah, I was kind of wondering about that because like, you know, the open floor plans and the high ceilings, those are very desirable traits, you know, in houses these days. So like, are people building brand new barn dominiums or are they repurposing existing barn structures? I would have to think that that would be something different. If you're repurposing a barn, like maybe you're like basically refinishing it or doing something else different to it. This seems like new construction. Yeah. Like barn dominium as we're seeing it displayed here is literally this. new construction. I don't see anything about renovating actual old. So I grew up in Lebanon, Ohio, which is a small town north of Cincinnati. It's about 45 minutes north. Lots of farm houses there. And they were basically like old farm houses that they repurposed into actual living homes. I wouldn't call that a barn dominium. I think the condominium idiom adage there makes this seem a little bit more modern construction rather than like a rustic farmhouse. And so like, and the appeal is just how much cheaper it is given the materials. Okay. Yeah. So that makes sense. Example, a 2,400 square foot barn dominium can cost around 180,000 to 220,000, which is pretty, pretty good. I mean, the standard home of the same size, like with traditional materials is like close to 400 K. No, that's, that's really. So, okay. Got a follow-up question for you. A barn dominium expert. I'm the expert. Yeah. you did well actually you didn't read the article so never mind um remember paywall paywall new york times so for example like let's say that there's like a suburban neighborhood right you know and there's like an open lot in the neighborhood sandwiched between like two you know i don't want to call them normal houses and be offensive to barn dominiums but traditional traditional houses i appreciate you being empathetic to the things that have no feelings would people like just build a barn dominium in like an established neighborhood without other barn dominiums present or is a barn dominium they're like a barn dominium like cul-de-sac with just barn dominiums are you saying is there a barn dominium a minium right yeah like a like a uh a multiplex of barn dominiums like a like where we live in this neighborhood we're a barn dominium neighborhood and we ain't going nowhere like that kind of like attitude right yeah but like because i i get it on like in like rural areas right or like if it's just like a big open land it's like oh like let's build a barn dominium but like in a suburban neighborhood like what's you know what's the deal I don't know I feel like that would be relatively uncommon to like go so out of the norm and like especially for like a traditional residential neighborhood if you have a neighborhood all the same kind of houses or whatever there's a possibility that they're like part of like an HOA yeah you know that HOA like there's no way yeah so it's like I don't know I feel like it's got to be like unique land land construction. Like, but you, you, you own a piece of land, you put this property up and it's probably not like, I can't imagine that there's like, like a trailer park for barn. It's like, I just don't know if that's necessarily a thing yet. So now that we've got some of the basic facts, would you consider Patrick living in that non-traditional home? See, I, I love the inside so much, but I think I would like from the exterior, I would rather like get the full experience, I think, and get like a, a sort of a cabin look. Like I would do kind of more of a cabin look I wouldn't I don't think I would want the like metallic outside look so I'm gonna if that's I would I would say no If that's kind of the essence of it. Yeah, the price is the biggest factor to me. But then you also have to think about the cost of one of these houses. Acquiring it might be cheap, but building one is probably going to be a little bit more expensive. And you have to factor in the cost of the land as well. If you're buying a plot of land and then build this barn dominium, it's like, okay, well, I'm spending...$200,000 to build a cheaper home with cheaper materials. Why not spend just a little bit more and have something a little bit more, I don't want to say normal. That seems a little weird. I would, because that, you know, neighborhood or neighborhood traditional. Yeah. Like what traditional really got these, uh, barn dominiums feelings. I don't want to offend the people that live in the barn dominiums, but the building itself, I don't care about offending the building feelings, but you know, we, we accept all kinds of home Well, I think for me personally, I would I want to when I buy a house, I want to live in a neighborhood, you know, more, you know, kind of established neighborhood sort of situation. And it sounds like barn dominiums aren't really like necessarily as much of a part of that. Also, like in terms of saving money, I think I'd rather just have like a smaller house, you know, that's that's the house is like kind of the vibe I'm looking for rather than even not even just barn dominiums, but rather than getting a bigger house. That's not what I'm looking for. Sure. That makes sense. just in general. Yeah, makes sense to me. We're going to get to this here, Dan, when we get to financial benefits and challenges, but durability and sustainability is kind of a concern for me with these kind of things. If you're building a place out of cheaper materials, that's going to mean some other things. So a couple statistics here. Popularity for rural areas. Rural land is often cheaper, which makes large-scale barn dominiums possible for families seeking more living space and customization. Homeowners can build barn dominiums to their exact specifications, adding a lofts, workshops, or even animal stalls. So you could have an animal in your barn dominium. Yeah. And then trend growth. So just talking about the numbers here. Since 2020, online searches for barn dominiums have increased by 150%. Wow. With significant interest in states like Texas, Oklahoma, and Montana. No surprise. Checks out. Yeah, I think that photo above looks totally like just the middle of nowhere Montana. Yeah. It looks like the Dutton. Like if the Dutton Ranch existed in modern day. Do you know what I'm talking about? Yeah, the Yellowstone. Yellowstone. Oh, dude, my cousin is moving to Montana, actually. He's going to do, like, wildfire forests, firefighter forests for the wildfires. Yeah, I don't know. It's very much, like, not the life I'm living, but, like, they warned him. They're like, hey, there's not really much of a nightlife out here. He's, like, perfect. He likes to fish and hunt and whatever. Oh, so it sounds like a perfect place for... I'll have to ask my cousin. Shout out to you, Lincoln. If he's interested or has considered... Yeah, you have to report back. Oh, fun fact here. Texas alone accounts for nearly 40% of barn dominium builds in the U.S. Yeah. Which is crazy. I mean, one state holding 40% of construction. Yeah, but it's a huge state, though. It's a big state. You know, as far as, like, other rural states go, I mean, they've got a huge population. I'm not as surprised by that, I feel like. Sure. All right, well, moving on. If you're not surprised, then... Yeah, lame fact. Financial benefits and challenges. Affordability. Lower labor and material costs make barn dominiums an attractive option for first-time home buyers or those looking to downsize. Durability. Steel-framed barn dominiums are resistant to pests, fires, and severe weather, reducing long-term maintenance costs. So it's exactly the opposite. I thought I was gonna say, like, durability. It sucks. No, apparently it's a tank. It's like the bat tumbler for houses, yeah. Challenges. Financing hurdles. Many banks are hesitant to finance barn dominiums, classifying them as, quote, non-traditional structures, end quote. Buyers often turn to personal loans or specialized lenders. So that's interesting. If you want to go through the build of a barn dominium, your bank may deny you that loan. I don't know. A non-traditional structure. At least they said non-traditional and very inclusive for the barn dominium. That is a very inclusive terminology for the houses. Yeah, that's good. We'll start referring to them as non-traditional structures. Resale uncertainty. While demand is rising, resale values for barn dominiums remain unpredictable. This is an interesting thing here too. It's like, you spend all this money, You invest in a property like a normal, sorry, not normal. Traditional. Traditional property. You invest a lot of money in that. You're investing in that property. Maybe down the road, you'll be able to sell it and sell it for a profit. If the housing market continues to rise. But with a structure like this, it's so new. It's so wacky. It's like you have no idea what it's going to look like in five, 10 years. Are you going to be able to sell it? Yeah. But also, though, it's like you could be investing in 1979 Apple, who note like maybe these things will come all the way in 15 years super appreciate value yeah that's a good point Okay, so in conclusion, bar-to-medium trends are reshaping rural housing by offering affordable and customizable living spaces. And they may not be for everyone, but their growing popularity kind of does signal a shift in how Americans view homeownership, prioritizing practicality, space, and creative design. Patrick, do you think it's going to get popular? Just if you had to predict right now, popularity, up, down, neutral, where are you at? I'm thinking it's probably going to go down. I sort of see it as more like a transient– sort of like craze. But I could be wrong. A fad. A fad. Thank you for the three-letter phrase. Transient. A transient phase. Yeah, I'm inclined to agree with you. I just don't know. Here's my thing. The aesthetic of these buildings alone, I don't know if it's going to stand the test of time in terms of just like visual appeal. Right. There's a reason why we've been building the same kind of home for so long. And that structure and those kind of aesthetics, brick, wood, like the traditional looks of a building. like stone, like the typical architecture. I just think that that has stood the test of time. Will this aluminum siding barn stand the test of time? Remains to be seen. Remains to be seen. We'll have to see. Sunday down the road. But that has been Real News. And that's it for me. No, I'm just kidding. Patrick, you're up next. Oh, my turn. Yeah, you're going to talk about some stuff. Yay. Yeah. What's this one called? Real. Real Estate Real. Real Estate Real. It's a new segment. Yeah. And our genius writers have come up with this. I wonder if they did Real Estate Real because it's R-E-E-L for the second real. Yeah, so Real News is funny because it's real news, but it's also real. Real estate news. Right, right. This is funny because it's spelled with two E's. It is funny. You want to explain why that's funny? It's like a play on words. It is funny. Why is it a play on words? Because they're homophones, right? Right. Well, but what's the purpose of the R-E-E-L? To be different than R-E-A-L. Right, but what is it referring to? Oh, oh. Oh, it's because it's about movies and TV. And why? Like a film reel. Yeah, there you go. We got there. We got there. Yeah, it is funny because it is a play on words for about movies and TV. So we're going to break down the location costs and real world real estate behind these fictional homes. And today's episode, we are talking about the show Friends. And we are, of course, going to be talking about Monica and Rachel's apartments From Friends. The main apartment where they all hang out. I mean, there's Joey and Chandler's apartment, but the one... Kind of like the main sort of setting. It's the one everyone thinks about when they think about the show. I mean, hey, you've been asking for it, listeners, and you finally got it. You're like, Zach and Patrick, why are they doing a real estate podcast? They clearly care more about movies than they do about real estate. They're like, why don't we have a whole segment where they talk about movies and TV shows? You asked, and we deliver. Friends. Go ahead. Dude, I was thinking about this last time I watched Friends. I'm like, no shot that there's an apartment that nice in New York City. Because they're in Greenwich Village, right? So here's the thing. It's been years since I watched Friends. Growing up, I was much more a Seinfeld fan. Got it. So in my formative years, I would put on Seinfeld. But Friends was never my favorite thing. I feel like it leaned. Not that we have to dive into a dissection of Friends this year. the show itself, but my problem with Friends was always that it felt more like a dramedy than an actual sitcom, like a com. I felt like the sit was more than the com. like it's all this relationship BS and stuff and I'm like I don't really care about any of that I just want to laugh I want funny situations that's fair that's why it's like the Chandler storylines were always my favorite the Chandler and Joey storylines are always my favorite but it's like everybody else I'm like yeah also Phoebe love Phoebe yeah Phoebe and Chandler I thought were the funniest characters in the show I did think like Ross while the most unlikable I thought he was one of the best like written characters like he had the most flaws and I thought the acting was better than like you know somebody okay that's just my you know interesting i think i think the show has a lot you know i i'm not like the biggest friends person but i i like it and i i get the appeal sure no i definitely get the appeal i i mean it's a classic show in terms of like living in new york as a 20 something year old and like figuring out life like it's that that's like a touchstone i mean right yeah well okay yeah that's 20 something because they're like basically you know within our age group like in that show and And their jobs are what? Rachel's going– what's her job? I don't remember any of this. She had multiple jobs trying to work up in the– Friends Wiki. In the fashion world, I think. Well, she was also a barista for a sec. None of them are wealthy. Let's put it that way. Right. None of them– Ross and Chandler have good– Ross is a professor and Chandler is a– I think the joke is like he has... I'm looking up what the characters did for work, but go ahead and give me the introduction here. Yeah. So basically, the apartment. Yeah. It's in Greenwich Village, New York City, which is a neighborhood in Manhattan. It's a nice neighborhood. I've been there. Actually, I remember I was in Greenwich Village over the summer. While we were there, I asked my girlfriend, I was like, where's the show Friends take place? She's like, oh, right here, like in this neighborhood. So I was like, oh, okay. It's the actual real building. There are exterior shots of it in the show. It's at 90 Bedford Street on the corner. So I don't think I saw the exact building, but I'm assuming that studio itself, like that shot in LA, right? Like the installation. oh yeah that was all on the soundstage right sorry to break the immersion fans but yeah so the apartment was a two bedroom one bathroom unit with an open kitchen and that living room is huge massive massive living room it's got a balcony yeah the balcony was always my favorite part I was always like that's cool I want that balcony which is rare for Manhattan apartments yeah the space in the apartment is just like flat out unrealistic I remember staying at one of my buddies who lives in Brooklyn, actually, his apartment, which is a huge apartment for the area. Quarter of the size of the apartment there and had cockroaches and no central air, central heating. He's like, trust me, I've got one of the nice ones. Yeah, right, right. You want New York lifestyle? You're going to have, yeah. Chill out with the roaches and the rats. You want to make friends with those people and just deal with it. Yeah, unless you're in a 90s sitcom show shop. in LA yeah this seems to be a pattern for like sitcoms in the 90s in like or like sitcoms in general like another one another famous one about like being some 20 something in New York is How I Met Your Mother and there that apartment is huge like arguably even nicer apartment they each have their own separate bedroom they have a full bath and they have like all this stuff I'm sure maybe in a future episode we'll dive into the How I Met Your Mother apartment too but it's like yeah this seems to be a pattern is that these places are much bigger than what these people can afford well one of the things in the show is like because they kind of I think they acknowledge that how unrealistic it is especially for like people who probably watchers who lived in New York like no way and the the thing that they gave was that Monica inherited the apartment yeah from her late grandmother who so I guess it was like in the family forever and maybe like at that point in time apartments were bigger which is like I mean smart of them to have like at least baked in something to write that in right yeah I've got their jobs by the way you want me to read those off to you oh yeah Rachel Green was was a waitress turned fashion executive I totally forgot about that storyline that she became a fashion exec Monica Geller was a chef starts the series as a chef then she does she's a food critic at the end of the show and a head chef at different restaurants Phoebe masseuse I forgot about that too and a musician Joey actor so and a struggling actor too he never does anything until Joey so that's a real deep cut sitcom joke out there by the way if y'all didn't catch That one. Chandler Bing, IT and advertising copywriter. Yep. And then Ross was a paleontologist professor. Yeah, right, right, right. Yeah. So none of these people are raking in the amount of money, I think, to be able to. So. I mean, they are roommates. They're right. I think the inheriting the lease from the grandmother is maybe something. But like here it's saying even under rent control, estimates suggest the rent would be around$2,000 per month in the 90s. I was thinking way more than that. I was thinking way more too. Like way more. Yeah. At the time, the average rent for a similar apartment in Manhattan would have been$3,500 to$5,000 per month. That seems more in the ballpark. I was going to say probably in the 90s, like$5,000. Now, let me ask you. Even at the highest level,$5,000, is it worth it for that apartment? for you for rent every month to live above Central Perk because that to me was always the best part of the Friends apartment is that they I was like so they'd end up doing it better how I met your mother it's easily better to live above a bar but in Friends at least they lived above a coffee shop yeah that's pretty cool and it looks like a cool coffee shop would I spend like my entire salary just to do that and not have any money to buy a latte when I want one no I wouldn't yeah I don't know I wouldn't either yeah That's the answer. But yeah, I guess in the current market, they're saying a similar apartment would rent for$6,000 to$7,500 a month with some luxury apartments in the area exceeding$10,000 per month. You really have to have like- That's crazy. Crazy money. That is crazy. So could they afford it? Monica was making between$27,000 and$35,000 per year. Rachel, between$15,000 to$20,000 per year when they were both living there. That was at her start as a waitress. So realistically, they wouldn't need to spend nearly- their entire salaries to afford the rent, I think probably would even exceed that. And actually in New York City, it's common for landlords to require the 40 times rent rule, which is insane, which means that a renter's annual gross income should be about 40 times their monthly rent. Yeah. So meaning they would need to make between$240,000 and$300,000 per year, which obviously they were a combined like$55,000. So yeah, they were like not even close. Huh. Yeah. That is interesting. 40-time rent rule. That might be– we might have to write that down for a future rentology or rent– I've heard the three-time rule, which is basically your monthly income should be three times the rent that you pay. I've heard that. I've heard it. So I guess 40 times per year. So that would be like 36 times if you're– because they're going by annual salary. Oh. So it should be 40 instead of 36 basically. So is your annual salary– Enough to pay the rent for a full year, basically. It's 40 times. Wait, 40 times. Your annual gross income should be 40 times your monthly rent. Yeah, right, right, yeah. So you take your monthly rent, multiply that by 40. Does that match up with? Correct, yes. Okay. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. Interesting. Seems high. It does seem high. Seems high. It's also, it seems like New York, so. Start spreading. The official, oh, wait, here's some fun facts. So, Warner Bros. You said that, so here's some fun facts. Warner Bros. launched a touring exhibit where fans could walk through a replica of Monica's apartment, and I went to that. Oh, really? Yep, yep, yep, yep. I did this Inside Hollywood program in college for three weeks, and we went to the Warner Bros., like, did the tour. see stuff at Warner Bros. Yeah, so we got to see their actual apartment. Warner Bros. in California? In California. In California. Yeah, yeah, yeah. This was like, until I read this fun fact, kind of, I forgot that I did that, actually. Because that was before I really even watched Friends and stuff. There was like the fountain and stuff, too. The fountain that they take the intro.

SPEAKER_01: 30:16

Yeah,

SPEAKER_00: 30:17

yeah, yeah. Which tickets cost$40 per person, but I didn't pay for that because I was on the like a field trip basically but I paid for it at the beginning you know that's cool yeah yeah I think those experiences are always cool like I think they did a similar thing for the Seinfeld apartment when they did the curb reunion where they had like a replica of Jerry's apartment that you could go and like check out New York City so I would do that that's kind of cool I just remember being more excited when I was there because like they had like the actual Maltese Falcon I don't know if you know that movie it's like an old noir movie from the 1940s I know of it yeah and then I was like they had the actual Maltese Falcon like the the little statue thing. I was like, no way, that's so cool. And everyone else was like, what is that? No, I wish. You didn't try and swipe it? No, it was behind glass. So I was enamored by that and everybody else was like, there's a fountain from Friends. Gotcha. Alright, we're getting the wrap up. You're like, screw your Friends fountain, I'm here to look at the Maltese Falcon, baby. In conclusion, Friends may have set unrealistic real estate expectations for for certain folks looking to move to New York City, but it remains a cultural phenomenon nonetheless. Yeah, I wonder how many people went to New York living on this dream that they could buy a nice apartment as a chef and waiter. I think sitcoms, especially sitcoms that takes place in high expense areas, they've been just setting this expectation for years. One day we'll talk about the Full House house, like the Painted Ladies. They show the inside of the Full House house. I'm like, that's a mansion That would not work in San Francisco. But yeah, it's like, yeah, the friend's apartment, it's like, that's been the running joke forever. It's like, how do these people afford it? But thanks for running us through that, Patrick. That was a really fun segment. For sure. Okay. Alright, so welcome back to another fun round of listener submitted real estate questions that have been sent to questions at therentishpod.com. As always, we are here to help, but remember, consult the pros before making any big moves. So let's jump into this week's quirky, thought-provoking, and downright entertaining questions from listeners all across the US. Patrick, you want to start or you want me to start? Who talks first? I can go. You want to go? Yeah, I can go. Hit me. Question one, Jordan from Tampa, Florida. I'm thinking about buying my first home but every time I start looking at listings I get overwhelmed what's the best way to start the process without feeling like my brain is about to explode yeah I mean the filters is my first thing I don't know like if you've been using the filters you've just been like just looking at everything but like I was oh you mean like just generally online like yeah okay I was like what okay so you mean like if you're on like Zillow or something like that and it's like you want to narrow down your search exactly don't just want to look at everything you want to find specific things that are fine too right great thank you for adding structure and coherence to what i said i just i was just trying to like what you like you know don't forget the filters and i was like the filters and then i was like thinking about the listing site so you're zillow for example yeah like pick out like a listing site or two when i've looked for for apartments in the past definitely filters like in in terms of your price range your location and be as specific as possible when you start out because there's not gonna be a ton of options if you've like searched for exactly what you're looking for but obviously when you when you are super specific again there might not be a ton of options so then from there you start widening your filter range widening the location range that your your various like unit feature qualifications and stuff and so then you can open it up from then so I think that's probably a helpful tip that's a good that's a good call out I would also say like a lot of those websites Zillow especially I'm really familiar with Zillow because I've like used it to get like apartments and even like tangentially look at buying a house you can do like search alerts to like a lot of those websites will set up things to be like it'll notify you when something in your in your area kind of like pops up or like something for your specifics that way you're not bombarded with everything and you're just like oh I'll take a look at things I would say not everyone wants to go down this specific path if you want to take matters into your own hands but getting a like a real estate agent or someone that is able to like tailor make a list of things that are just specific for you like you can tell someone what you're interested in what you're looking for and they're able to like kind of do some of the legwork find those places and bring them to your attention that might also ease up some of the burden that way you don't feel like your head's about to explode and you're like not doing most of the work you can just be like oh this guy that I trust this realtor or whatever they've sent me this suggestion I'm gonna take a look at it maybe I want to go tour it and then you can just let them know and go go through the process also side note I know some people just like love looking for homes and apartments and houses and stuff like as a hobby like they do it even if they're not looking and I have like I've got a friend like that and And my stepmom is like that. And so I guarantee, yeah, I guarantee if I, if I reach out to my stepmom, I was like, Hey, you know, help me, you know, here's what I'm looking for. Sure. Take the time to do that. I don't know. Like, you know, obviously like people have different things, but like, you know, it, it, it doesn't hurt to have somebody who knows what you're looking for, who can help like, cause obviously like just searching takes time. Yeah, for sure. Good call outs there. Uh, question number two, Mike from Austin, Texas writes in and says, I have a neighbor who constantly parks in my driveway. Like it's their own personal space. I don't want to start a war, but how do I start a war? How do I handle this without things getting weird? Start parking in their driveway. I was going to say, I was like, can we give the sarcastic answer first and then give real answers? That's my real answer. That's your real answer? So eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth, huh? You just park in their spot? I don't know. Actually, I don't know if I'd actually do that. I would probably talk to them. Yeah, communication. Yeah, right. You're not going to improve your relationship with your neighbors without taking that first step. A lot of times people don't want to do that, but be the bigger person. Walk over there knock on their door sock them right in the face when they open I'm just kidding open the door and be like hey man just talking you know I saw that you parked in my space it's kind of not cool like just like you know I feel like a lot of times people will realize the error of their ways if you just communicate them and confront them I think it's probably a good idea to be like like bring it up and like you know oh like let's grab you know let's do a cookout sometime soon you know too at the end of that so it's not all you know it's like oh you want to get to know them as a neighbor park in my parking spot bring them a six pack yeah right yeah hey buddy my local brewery had these beers and I thought that you would enjoy them also stop parking in my space or you could do like a reserved you put a reserved parking with like you know your name put cones out just like line the space up with cones alright so now the funny answer is what would you do what do you want to do you park in this space parking in space the reserved parking spot key the car yeah maybe break a window no don't take our advice We're being funny here. This is a comedy podcast, everybody. Smash the window. Smash the headlight. Sugar in the gas tank. All right, all right, all right. Comedy podcast, comedy podcast. No, I think communication is the right answer here. Who else wrote in? I'm done with that one. Who else wrote

SPEAKER_01: 37:29

in?

SPEAKER_00: 37:30

Pop the tires. Pop the tires. Take off the tires. Dismantle every piece of the car, set it next to the car, and build them a little booklet that looks like Lego build instructions and set it next to the pieces of the car. And to say like... 10 and up, ages 10 and up or whatever. All right, next question. All right, question three. Troy from Chicago, Illinois asks, would you rather live in a tiny home with all the modern upgrades or a giant old mansion that might fall apart at any moment? Definitely a tiny home. Does Troy have to make this decision or is he just curious about which one we would pick? Because, Troy, I'm sorry if you're in that situation. Right, also. It's a deeply personal question based on your predicament, it sounds like. My answer is a tiny home. tiny home as I said yeah like I don't care about you know I actively don't want a huge house like more than I can take care of and if it's falling apart like it's kind of yeah unfortunately Troy you gave the clarifier that it's it might fall apart at any moment that immediately is like okay I don't want to live in a house that I'm worried about the structural integrity right tiny home we're gonna break the fourth wall a little bit I'm a tiny person I'm like Like five foot six or whatever. Maybe on a good day, five seven. And Patrick, Patrick, but you're taller. I'm taller, yeah. So tiny home wouldn't be that problematic for someone my size. Like I'm a shorter dude. But tiny home, yeah, I don't want to like be crouching down all the time. You know, I don't want to be like Gandalf in the Hobbit house, Hobbit hole. That's just, no, that's a smart poll. I mean, like the clarifier, all the modern upgrades, it's like, okay, so it's a small house, big whoop. Yeah, right. You have all the accoutrement that you need. You've got nice bathroom, nice fridge, like washer and dryer. And the alternative is you're like, the house could come down on you while you're sleeping at night. It's like, you know what I mean? Have you ever stayed in the tiny home? I haven't actually. Okay. So you can. Red River Gorge has some that are really cool. And then Hockey Hills also has some tiny homes that are really cool. I was hoping to do Hockey Hills, like tiny homes. Yeah. They're very cool. Cool experiences. Cool for a weekend. Would I get sick of it living there as my permanent residence? Maybe. Yeah. Just because I like being able to like, move you to different spots of the house and like shift your energy I'm working all day in my office maybe I want to go to the living room and like unwind so it's like it's different if your whole house is your office your living room your bathroom your bedroom it's like and where you want like a blu-ray collection to be you know sure where am I gonna put my criterion collection all right that's everything that we have for the listener questions today thank you all for listening and joining us on another very fun episode of the Rentish podcast hey Pat I think we've Pulled it together. Energy was here. Now I'd say it's like here. For the people who can't see his hand as he's saying that, listening to the podcast. By here, he meant here. Yeah, exactly. And by here, he meant here. Yep, that was a perfect illustration. Keep following the show, The Rentish Pod. Questions at therentishpod.com. You can please follow and subscribe and like and review and rate and do whatever you need to do to tell us that you love us. And we would appreciate that. Thank you all for being listeners of the show. I've been Zach. That's been Pat. And we'll see you guys next time.