Building the Dream Home in OKC

Narrator (00:07): On this episode, we're making big moves in Oklahoma City.

Brandon (00:11): That is unreal. We're living in the 21st century.

Trenesha (00:14): I'm realtor Trenesha Harrison, a member of the National Association of Realtors. This is the best part, looking at the homes. I'm trying to figure out what you want. I'm helping Brandon and Noorain relocate and become first generation home buyers.

Noorain (00:28): It feels like tight, like all compacted.

Brandon (00:31): We're going to be yelling at each other to be quiet during our meeting,

Trenesha (00:35): But when they're torn between two new builds, they call backup Noorain's mom and brother.

Noorain (00:40): What do my mom and Mohammad think?

Noorain’s Mom (00:42): I don't like that light.

Trenesha (00:43): Whatever home they choose, I'll make sure it's a good fit and a sound investment for years to come. Sounds like you're buying a house. Congratulations. I am Trenesha Harrison. I've been in real estate in and around the Oklahoma City area for six years, so I was raised in Oklahoma. Oklahoma City is more fun than people realize. We have a ton of activities going on all the time. Farmer's markets, night markets, concerts, cultural events, and it's a lot of fun. The reason I love working with first time buyers is they come in not knowing anything about the steps, and I really get to put my education hat on and teach them about the process. This is my client's floor plan. I specialize in new construction. I love to watch something come to life from just a concept into this home that people love and they can call it their own. Hey you guys.

Noorain (01:52): Hi, Trenesha.

Trenesha (01:54): I met my client, Noorain and Brandon when they were doing their online search for a real estate agent in Oklahoma.

Brandon (02:01): I'm Brandon.

Noorain (02:02): I’m Noorain.

Brandon (02:03): And we're from Southern California.

Noorain (02:05): We just recently got married and we're ready to purchase our first home. Rent situation in Orange County. We are paying $3,000 a month for a two bedroom, one bathroom apartment, and everything close to a starter home for a first time family is around a million dollars and that is definitely not within our budget.

Brandon (02:24): For us, representation is really important.

Noorain (02:27): Tanisha understood as both people of color being in an interracial relationship, just the generational wealth that we're building and all the different struggles that come with that and how to overcome that, especially as first time homeowners. Just the empathy, the understanding, the connection. It was all there in our first very phone call, so we got lucky.

Trenesha (02:43): They're wanting to move to Oklahoma because Reine has family here and the cost of living is just so much better.

L3: “A record 26 percent of homebuyers are looking to move to a different part of the country”

Noorain (02:50): So how do you feel knowing that we're not going to be here much longer?

Brandon (02:54): It's nerve wracking, definitely, but I'm so excited.

Noorain (02:57): Getting our first home means a lot, especially to me because my family has never owned a home. My parents immigrated from Pakistan when I was very young. My siblings and I grew up to not really ever having that foundation that ever felt like a home. This is one of the first home purchases within my family, so I'm really, really grateful for that and excited for that. We had this idea of wanting to stay within homes that were around the 200, 300,000 price range.

L3: “A typical homeowner’s net worth is 40 times higher than that of a renter”

Trenesha (03:25): I directed them to one of my preferred lenders so they could start the process because I knew based on what they were paying monthly, they could get approved for much more than what they were thinking they could approve for.

Noorain (03:35): 400,000. So we were definitely not expecting that. Very excited about that.

Trenesha (03:39): Have you guys considered new construction?

Brandon (03:41): I mean, we haven't really thought about it.

Trenesha (03:46): With a new construction home, they could get a four bedroom, two bath home and they'll be able to customize a lot of things to make it fit what they want.

L3: “The median listing home price in Oklahoma City is $310,000”

Noorain (03:55): That sounds great.

Trenesha (03:56): Noorain and Brandon get to be part of the building process. I want to present builders and communities that fit their budget and their housing needs when they come to Oklahoma City.

Noorain (04:05): What we want in a house is definitely a big backyard. We want four bedrooms. We both work from home and work remotely, so we would like to have a couple of offices for both Brandon and I

Brandon (04:16): We're so excited to finally meet Trenesha

Noorain (04:19): Tour some model homes, check out the area.

L3: “Three weeks later…”

Trenesha (04:25): So this is Yukon, as you can see, if there's a lot of shops down the road, lots of restaurants.

L3: “Yukon ranks as the top suburb in Oklahoma city for first-time homebuyers and one of the best in the U.S.”

Noorain (04:32): How far would you say Tanisha, This area is from downtown Oklahoma City area?

Trenesha (04:37): So you can get to downtown from here in about 20 minutes. I'm showing Brandon and re the Shiloh model home in Britain Farms today. So this is the house we're about to look at. It fits within their budget. It's a four bedroom, two bath house price range for that home is 366 to 403. It's cute, right?

L3: “4 Bedrooms, 2 Bathrooms” “$366,000 to $403,000”

Brandon (04:56): Look at that porch swing. Noorain (04:58): I know. The three car garage.

Trenesha (05:01): This is the best part. Looking at the homes and trying to figure out what you want.

Trenesha (05:09): All right, here we are.

Noorain (05:11): Oh my gosh. Look at this.

Trenesha (05:14): You know this is a model home, so they give you all the bells and whistles.

Noorain (05:17): Okay, so keep that in mind.

Trenesha (05:19): Yes. Keep that in mind. Okay, so when you purchase your home new, you get everything you see here except for the exception of the refrigerator. Okay.

Noorain (05:27): Yeah. Now they chose the model has two different colors of cabinets. Is that something you normally see?

Trenesha (05:34): I see people do that a lot. It's kind of like a contrast with each other. Sometimes people do an accent color on the island as well. Okay. And you guys can get toasty during the holidays with the fireplace. Just the flip of a switch.

Brandon (05:49): Was that a light switch?

Trenesha (05:51): Yeah, it's an electrical switch. Gas fireplace.

Noorain (05:54): Oh my gosh, that’s unreal.

Brandon (05:58): We're living in the 21st century with that.

Noorain (06:00): The whole process of just going through being first time home owners, but also being able to build our own home is just, I have no words. I'm speechless. Genuinely because I didn't even think this was a possibility.

Trenesha (06:13): So outdoor fireplace.

Noorain (06:15): Oh my stop.

Brandon (06:16): Oh wow.

Noorain (06:18): I love how it's separated off. It's huge. I can't get over the size of this yard.

Trenesha (06:24): Now remember, based on whatever lot you choose, whatever floor plan you choose, the yard may not be this size. Okay? I want you guys to see the rest of the house. Take a look at the primary suite. Wow. Look how big it is.

Trenesha (06:36): This is gorgeous.

Brandon (06:37): The first thing I see is that ceiling. Me too.

Noorain (06:40): That's really cool.

Brandon (06:40): I love it. What is that called?

Trenesha (06:41): That's a tray ceiling. Notice how they have the lights inside of it.

Noorain (06:44): It just adds different elements to the atmosphere. It's so pretty.

L3: “Tray ceilings bring dynamic design to any room. In a new home, a tray ceiling may cost between $1,000 - $1,500

Brandon (06:48): Overall though. It does seem a little dark here. 

Trenesha (06:52): That could have to do with the position of the house too. So the direction the house faces has a lot to do with how much light is let in where.

Brandon (06:58): Okay. Something to think about when we're picking our lot. Yeah.

Trenesha (07:02): All right. And take a look at this bathroom.

Brandon (07:05): Wow.

Noorain (07:05): The bathroom of my dreams. Look at this shower.

Brandon (07:09): That is nice.

Noorain (07:10): It is so open.

Brandon (07:12): So these countertops and this hardware, all that, this is all customizable.

Trenesha (07:17): You can customize everything.

Brandon (07:19): Well, I guess I'll probably be getting the smaller of the two seats.

Trenesha (07:22): Yes, that's Noorains. That's Brandon. So you said you wanted separate offices.

Noorain (07:29): It feels like tight. All the rooms are just compacted

Brandon (07:33): If you're going to be working there. I'm going to be working there. We're going to be yelling at each other to be quiet during our meetings and everything.

Noorain (07:40): Meetings. Yeah.

Trenesha (07:41): So you prefer some separation?

Brandon (07:43): Yes, definitely.

Trenesha (07:44): So there's one more thing I want you to show you guys that's super Oklahoma of us to have, but it's very necessary. I wanted you guys to see what an actual storm shelter looked like because you're going to get really familiar with them. Oklahoma has a pretty aggressive tornado season.

L3: “Oklahoma has an average of 68 tornadoes per year”

Noorain (08:00): Oh my goodness.

Trenesha (08:03): The storm shelter is basically something that goes in the floor of the garage in this community. Six to eight people can fit in there.

Noorain (08:10): Are you going to close it? Yeah. Oh my gosh. Okay. Okay, go, go.

Brandon (08:14): We have to test it.

Noorain (08:15): The storm shelter is so cool. This is crazy. It's so nice to see that. That was a standard option.

Trenesha (08:24): So what did you guys think?

Brandon (08:26): Yeah, I mean I think the price is right. The location is really right. I'm not a hundred percent sold on this model.

Noorain (08:34): I don't really love the size of the rooms and how kind of close they are together.

Brandon (08:39): Definitely want to take a look at a couple more.

L3: “Currently, about 1/3 of all homes for sale are newly built, often providing a more affordable option for buyers in hot markets”

Trenesha (08:41): I actualy encourage it. We look at other options too. Because this is a new community, this is new construction. You're not in competition with other buyers, so you really get to take the time and evaluate what really works for you guys.

Brandon (08:54): Yeah, definitely. If we're going to move all the way out here to Oklahoma City, it's going to be exactly what we want.

Noorain (09:00): That's fair.

Trenesha (09:04): Unfortunately, Reine has to travel back to Orange County for a work event. So Brendan's bringing in his mother-in-Law and Brother-in-Law just to finish out the tour and to be an extra set of eyes and ears for the rain. So this is the house I wanted you guys to see. This is the blue spruce. It's about 2300 square feet. It's a two story home. It's got four bedrooms, three bathrooms.

L3: “2,300 square feet”

Brandon (09:24): It kind of seems out there a little bit.

Trenesha (09:27): So you've got to remember, you're in Oklahoma now, so it's not like California where everything's right there. You've got to drive. The layout is what they described that they needed. But it is a little bit farther from shops in the highway

Brandon (09:39): And how much is it?

Trenesha (09:40): ISo it's a little bit over the budget, but let me explain. So this one's 407,840 and then it ranges to 474,840. But that's because this is a two story option. If we do the single story option, that's going to save you about 60 to $80,000.

L3: “$407,840 - $474,840”

Brandon (09:55): I like 60 to 80,000.

Trenesha (09:57): That'll work well. How about we take a look? Yeah, that's good.

Brandon (10:03): Oh wow.

Mohammad (10:04): Wow. Look at the ceiling. You look at the ceiling. My goodness. Oh man, this is incredible. I can't stop looking at the ceiling. The ceiling. This is something different in this kitchen. Looks really nice as well. Wide open. I can see you guys hosting me for breakfast here. Brandon (10:21): Yeah, I'm not cooking for you.

Noorain’s Mom (10:23): It's nice. I don't like that light.

Brandon (10:26): Do you think Noorain would like those lights?

Noorain’s Mom (10:28): No, I don't think so.

Trenesha (10:31): So you have multiple spaces to entertain. So you've got your living area. Notice how for the bedroom wing, you have the barn door, so you can close that off if you wanted to. The guest bedrooms are back here.

Mohammad (10:42): Yeah, it looks nice. I like it and I love that the guest bedrooms are separate.

Brandon (10:47): I mean this is going to be most likely the perfect size for an office.

Mohammad (10:51): I think that will be key. The two separate offices, both you guys working remote. I think it's going to be nice. I think she would agree as well.

Trenesha (10:57): So let's take a look at the primary suite. Okay,

Brandon (10:59): Okay. Oh yeah.

Trenesha (11:01): What do you think?

Brandon (11:02): I mean you kind of get that same ceiling effect in here with a little bit of fault. I like that Noorain approved. You think? Loorain’s Mom (11:11): Yeah, she love.

Trenesha (11:12): So this is another great part. The bathroom separate sinks. So you've got a separate tub and shower.

Mohammad (11:20): Wow.

Brandon (11:20): Yeah. Noorains going to love the tub. I'm so shocked that we can get a brand new custom built home for under 400,000.

Trenesha (11:29): Let's go take a look at the bonus room.

Brandon (11:33): Oh yeah, I see why they call it the bonus room to have the second story. It's about 60 to 80 grand more than if we did the bought it

Trenesha (11:40): Is. You want to leave some room for some flexibility with that price. Right. I'm going to take you guys outside so you can see the back patio. This is it.

Brandon (11:48): Wow. I do like this.

Trenesha (11:52): Notice the fireplace.

Brandon (11:54): Yeah, just like the other house. I like the outdoor fireplace. So I am really torn because I really love this floor plan, but don't love the location. It's kind of far from shopping centers in a lot of things, but I think the Noorain's going to love this house. I mean, what is there not to love about it?

Noorain (12:13): Hey babe. Hey, I just got out of a meeting. So what's going on? Did you guys see the second house?

Brandon (12:17): We did and it is amazing. Favorite parts of the house is definitely the cathedral ceiling, the open floor plan, how the house is divided up. Half the house is completely separated from the guest bedrooms.

Noorain (12:30): What do my mom and Mohammad think? What are they saying with the house?

Brandon (12:32): I mean they love it.

Noorain (12:34): What’s the price range on this?

Brandon (12:35): So this one with the bonus room, it's anywhere from 407,000 to 470,000.

Noorain (12:44): I want to stay at 400 or below. That's where I really want to stay for our budget.

Brandon (12:48): We could get rid of the bonus room and it will save us about 60 to 70,000 so we can be under budget on this house with this model. And here's the thing, I feel like it's kind of far from everything. The other house had a much better location.

Noorain (13:03): I mean if you guys like this plan, maybe just talk to Trenesha and see what the options are because I really like the other neighborhood too.

Brandon (13:08): Alright. All right, sounds good. I'll go talk to Trenesha and we'll see what we can figure out. I love you. Love you. Okay. So yes and no. Love this model, the neighborhood, the area, not so much. It seems a little bit far for us. Okay. We did kind of like the location of the other home,

Trenesha (13:30): Thinking about a couple of options, but I need to talk to the builder about it.

Brandon (13:34): Sounds good.

Trenesha (13:34): Awesome. They love the blue spruce, but they love the other community. I think I'm going to call my builder to see if we have an option to build that same floor plan in the preferred community.

Brandon (13:48): Oh, Trenisha's on. Hey Trenisha

Trenesha (13:51): Hey Brandon. Okay, so I talked to the builder. They basically said they could build that single story plan in BrentonFarms, which is perfect. And the price will start off at 376. So that gives you some room to add your add-ons without going over your budget.

Brandon (14:09): I mean, that sounds great.

Trenesha (14:10): Yeah, I feel like we might be buying a house.

Trenesha (14:13): Sounds like you're buying a house. Congratulations.

Brandon (14:17): Yeah, thank you so much Trenesha. Thank you.

Trenesha (14:19): You're welcome. I'll be in touch. Okay.

Brandon (14:21): Okay, sounds good.

Trenesha (14:22): All right, bye.

L3: “Three months later…”

Noorain (14:33): So we've been getting all the progress pictures from Trenesha since we've been back in California during the build, and it's been so exciting just to see on a weekly basis, everything as it's happening.

Trenesha (14:43): When the house gets the frame put up and before they put the Sheetrock up. It's a great time for me to go to my clients and say, Hey, you can really put something special. Leave your mark on this house. Is there a scripture or a quote that I can write in the house for you during this phase?

Noorain (14:57): We never thought of doing a sentiment like that. She's just been very thoughtful in multiple ways and this was just one of them.

Trenesha (15:03): I can't wait to see the look on their face when they see everything that's designed and built and they become Oklahoma residents.

L3: “6 months after breaking ground”

Trenesha (15:16): Welcome home. I'm so excited for you. Thank you.

Trenesha (15:24): You guys did this.

L3: “After upgrades, total home cost: $385,240”

Noorain (15:27): Oh yeah.

Brandon (15:30): Thank you, ma'am. Take that. Thank you. Okay. Okay. Okay.

Trenesha (15:34): Well come on in.

Noorain (15:35): Oh my gosh.

Trenesha (15:36): I'll let you do the honorary unlock.

Noorain (15:46): Oh my goodness. Look at the ceilings.

Trenesha (15:53): Look at this beautiful accent island you guys did.

Noorain (15:55): It came out perfect. Yes. Oh my God. The tall ceilings in here.

Brandon (16:02): Oh my God.

Noorain (16:03): This is unbelievable. I just can't believe this is our house. I love it so much. It's everything that we dreamt of.

Brandon (16:13): Trenesha has been amazing. She made the whole process so easy and I don't know if we would've been able to do it without her.

Trenesha (16:18): This is why I love what I do. I get to experience this happiness with my clients after a long journey and it's just so rewarding.

Noorain (16:26): You so much for everything. I love you guys. Thank you.