Celebrating LGBTQ Industry Leaders
Part I: Wealth Management
On the heels of SF Pride weekend, we sat down with our favorite wealth advisor, Brandon Miller, founder of SF-based Brio Financial Group, and got his take on navigating the current housing market. In general, Brandon adores real estate as an asset class but suggests buyers press pause on purchasing and instead consider redesigning their homes until things settle down.
First off, what’s Brio’s origin story? We admire the firm’s open-minded mission to support non-traditional and traditional families alike.
Like many origin stories, it happened organically.
Me and my co-founder and all of our friends were gay and we had to figure everything out for ourselves. That’s how the specialized business model started. It was a time when we had to learn the rules and then learn all the workarounds to make it work for us and our community.
Over the years has the system made it any easier?
Yeah, I mean, there are certain ways where maybe it doesn't feel as hostile towards us. But then just yesterday [Friday, June 24] when Justice Thomas comes out saying we need to revisit same-sex marriage and even same-sex, sex. In some ways, it feels like two steps forward and one back. I think public sentiment might be easier, but maybe I shouldn't say that. I was just back home in Kentucky last week and it's you know… we live in a beautiful little bubble here and it's easy to forget about our friends in other places who can still be fired just for being gay.
Yes, it can be maddening. It’s crucial to support our community right now and glad Brio is helping people in the Bay Area.
Total pivot, can we talk a bit about the housing market, rising interest rates, and what you’re telling your clients right now?
Yeah, of course, it all depends on the situation. Most of us put life ahead of money. So it depends on what you’re trying to accomplish.
The landscape has changed. It's probably at least a third more expensive to buy a house today. Around here where people are usually borrowing such large sums of money, a little change in interest rates makes a massive difference.
I will say the tide is shifting to where it makes a lot more sense to stay put for a while and spend money on redecorating the house or adding on as opposed to starting all over because starting over with a new mortgage right now is brutal.
As interior designers, we appreciate hearing that suggestion. So you’re saying invest in your current home for a while?
As always, it depends on the situation and location. If your location is okay you probably can change a lot of the home, and whether that's adding on or just re-configuring, for a lot of folks it makes a big difference.
When you look at what it would cost to move (and I adore real estate by the way) and with today’s prices the transaction costs in buying something and selling something is a ton of money. When you think about just the transaction costs alone that would get eaten up by selling and buying something different, you could put a lot of money into your current place and still come out the same.
And what if your biggest asset is your home? What do you advise your clients whose money is tied up in that asset and want to protect it?
People forget it’s the leverage that makes such a massive difference. It's usually not the growth rate and the asset itself. So having debt, mortgage debt, makes a huge difference and the interesting thing is the more equity you have in real estate, the worse it becomes as an investment, which is counterintuitive to most people.
So it really is the leverage that makes it work, and also you want to make sure you have good insurance.
What kind of insurance are you suggesting?
Your basic homeowner's insurance, and earthquake, but the one homeowners often forget is liability protection. Especially around here, everyone is so sue-happy that it makes a big difference. Make sure you have a good umbrella policy because anybody can sue anybody.
Oh, San Francisco!
Pivoting again, what are your go-to financial news sources? There’s so much out there now, it can be hard to parse.
Right, there’s so much information and you want to customize it to your specific situation. I'm usually reading trade magazines like the Financial Planning Association, nothing terribly exciting. I also usually check out Kathleen Pender’s articles in the San Francisco Chronicle.
Good recommendation, we love her.
Lastly, how did you celebrate Pride Weekend?
Our office hosted a party on Market Street to watch the parade with friends and clients.
Thank you so much for the insight, see you around the neighborhood.
My pleasure!
