Make Big Moves Early in Life. 🐣 💪

Brock's newsletter | April 18, 2026

Make Big Moves Early in Life.

I am the old guy in the room now. And it happened fast.

"You go from being the youngest person in the room to the oldest person in the room…and there's no transition period."

I feel it most when I'm around our team. Everyone's getting engaged, married, having babies, buying houses. (Congrats, Megan on getting into escrow this week! And Nick for closing on his Adams Hill house!).

Then I do the math on how long ago Lori and I were in that chapter (14 years this month!), and yeah, it goes fast.

Which brings me back to the same life-changing lesson, one that I am grateful to have heeded 25 years ago: make your big moves early.

Back when I was a 20/30-something buying units, I was not rich. I was earning money selling houses and acquiring a lot of real estate, but they were all break-even. It took time to see the fruits of that labor - it's called compounding. Time is what creates wealth: so plant your seeds early, and allow them to grow.

Stop Waiting on Rates. Start Negotiating.

Right now, a lot of buyers are parked on the sidelines waiting for rates to drop. I get it. But here's some interesting math.

Say you're buying a $2M home with 20% down:

Rates drop from 6.5% → 6%: you save $587/month
To get that same $587/month savings at a fixed 6.5% rate, you'd need to buy at $1.9M.

So: wait for a 0.5-point rate drop... or just negotiate 5% off the price.

And yes, try to do both if you can. But one of these things is in your control right now.

We're in escrow right now - rate in the mid-5s with Citi National. The payment keeps me up at night but we stay the course: just keep buying.

A Tad Late on the 529s.

We just “super-funded” the kids' 529 education accounts - did 5 years of payments all at once.

Our three kids are 8, 6, and 6, so we've got 10-15 years of runway ahead, which is great.

I keep thinking about how the S&P was half what it is now just three years ago. And also, should we be putting money in the stock market? Oh well – no time like the present.

The Strait of Hormuz Problem.

Remember, the war, the rates, the election, the vibe: there's always a reason to wait.

I loved this gem from a recent LA Times piece on buyer hesitation. A shopper looking for a starter home in El Sereno put it perfectly:

"Somehow it feels contingent on whether the Strait of Hormuz is open or not."

Absurd? Yes, but also real.

Markets are made of people, and people have moods. The mood right now is cautious.

We're seeing packed open houses and measured offers. Yes, well-priced, well-presented homes move like it's 2021. Everything else? Buyers are interested but patient.

As Warren Buffet famously said: "Be fearful when others are greedy, and greedy when others are fearful."

The Stakes Aren't High Anymore.

It's scary making big financial leaps. Investing is making a bet on your future self (you will have a job; you can afford the payment, you won't need the cash…).

I'm 14 years into a marriage, and 25 years into a business and portfolio that all looked a little scary at the start. Best moves I ever made.

Like I tell my team: it's never a good time…Make your moves, and make them early.

-Brock

P.S. Half of all homes sell in Q2. That window is open right now — in fact, this week ranks as the top week all year to sell your home. Thinking of selling? Reply to this email to catch the spring selling window.

🚪 💵 Give me that “Costco Door” now. Seven ‘I Wish I’d Thought of That’ Home Features That Boost Function and Value.

🏦💎 Mark my word, they will do this in LA soon: New York’s Proposed Vacancy Tax Could Upend the Luxury Real Estate Market . The surcharge would apply only to homes valued at $5 million or more and that are not occupied full-time.

@brockandlori

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Brock and Lori Harris Real Estate Team

Keller Williams Los Feliz DRE#01430290 | Brock Harris DRE#01328996 | Lori Harris DRE#02132297