Dr. Tiffany Ofili Porter

A few months back, my family and I moved to Kansas City for my husband’s job so we had to sell our old house in Ohio and purchase a new one in KC very quickly.

Even though I wasn’t necessarily thrilled with the move initially, one thing I was excited about was the opportunity to be featured on House Hunters to showcase our journey to finding a home.

As part of the process of being on the show, there are some aspects I’m not permitted to share, but I will share some insight into our thought process & lessons learned as we were finding a house, and filming the show. Here they are:

It’s ok to openly discuss money

Despite the fact that I choose to live my life out loud on the internet, I still do consider myself a relatively private person. With that, I’ve been conditioned to think discussing certain topics was taboo.

Money was one of those topics.

It wasn’t until later in life that I became a little bit more (not completely there but we’re working it) comfortable discussing finances, salaries, and money in general. I believe doing so can be empowering, liberating, and useful as long as you’re being smart and discerning about what you choose to disclose.

Needless to say, the idea of us openly discussing our house budget and final purchase price made us pause initially when were deciding if doing House Hunters was a good fit.

My husband and I decided to move forward with filming because we realized that ultimately it can help give people a good sense of the current housing market in Kansas City. This information can be helpful for someone looking to purchase a home, sell a home, or plan for their future in any way. Although the old Tiff may have cringed at the thought of openly disclosing the exact cost of our home, the new Tiff embraced it.

As with my approach to the content I typically create, if one single person benefits from my transparency, then it’s worth the effort.

So if you’re nosey like me, have an affinity towards real estate, or just want to see us on TV, make sure you tune in to see which house we chose, as well as how much we paid for it.

It is wise to use experience as a guide

This Kansas City house marks property number five that I’ve purchased, and our third home that my husband and I have lived in together. I’ve discussed how real estate has been a key part of my wealth building journey (read this blog) so I leaned into that past experience to guide us this time around.

Here is how this was demonstrated:

• In finding a great realtor

Although I do have experience in purchasing properties, I know my limitations and I don’t consider myself a real estate professional. As with most things in life, it’s important to trust the expertise of professionals, especially on a move as large as purchasing a house.

Not all realtors are created equally, and experience has shown me that finding the right one can have a huge impact on your house buying process. Thankfully our realtor Robert Smith in Cincinnati was incredible in selling our house and our broker Terrell Walls was incredible in helping us buy our new one here in KC. Both Robert and Terrell came as top referrals which shows the power of word of mouth & the importance of relationship building.

You will be able to see us along with Terrell in action when you tune into our episode of House Hunters.

• In having a clearer vision of our desires

When we first got on the real estate ladder in 2010, the desires we had for a house looked different than they are now. For example, being 22 years old with no kids, things like school districts and kid-friendly community activities weren’t that important to us, whereas this time around they were very high on our list.

In our first house, we renovated the kitchen, upgraded three bathrooms, and spruced up the finished basement, all of which added sweat equity that was helpful when we sold the house. In our second house, we did less renovating, and in this one we didn’t want to do much renovating since I was very late in my pregnancy & we were working against the clock.

On one hand, having the time flexibility to renovate on your own usually will save you money, whereas having the money to buy a move in ready home will usually save you time. This process reminded me that life is about tradeoffs, and your approach can change depending on what season you’re in.

• In better understanding the whole process

Having been on both the selling and purchasing side before, it eased my mind, removed stress, and allowed me to focus on the aspects I could control. For example, I couldn’t control that a prospective buyer was disappointed in the size of our old backyard, but I could control my mental checklist of must-haves for the new house and our growing family.

There is power in understanding the housing market shifts, what goes into inspections/appraisals, how to coordinate movers, and all the details in between. As much as we all wish it’s as easy as snapping your fingers and things are complete, the reality is that the process can be lengthy & requires patience.

Despite being on a time crunch from Jeff’s job and the impending arrival of our son, I did find comfort in understanding how the house buying process worked, which was very empowering. This was especially useful since we also had to fit the filming of House Hunters in the mix as well.

This process also highlighted that creating good TV is a lot harder than it looks and there are a lot of small details that make a show a success. Being on the other side of the camera made me appreciate the process and all the parties involved from producers, camera men & assistants. I also learned that it takes a certain personality to enjoy & thrive in the industry.

All in all, being on House Hunters was a great experience, and I’m happy that we had the opportunity to be featured during our journey to home in Kansas City.

We will be featured on season 234 episode 6 which will be aired on June 23, 2023 at 10:01pm EST and June 24, 2023 at 1:01am EST. Click below for a brief description of what you can expect to see on the episode:

Click here

I hope you guys enjoy watching, and thanks for being on this journey with us!

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