{"podcast":{"title":"Making Cents","slug":"making-cents-6998736","podcast_index_feed_id":6998736,"rss_url":"https://feeds.captivate.fm/makingcents/","website_url":"https://www.francescook.co.nz/making-cents","image_url":"https://artwork.captivate.fm/3f4ddd44-6a56-460b-88eb-950d815bc419/frances-cook-making-cents-podcast-art-no-acast.jpg","author":"Frances Cook","episode_count":304,"summary":"The podcast for people who want financial freedom, without giving up their coffee. That means it's time to make the money world make cents. Join Frances Cook, best-selling author and award-winning journalist, to talk about the proven ways to invest your way to financial independence, buy your first home, or just get your spending under control. Every Monday we have the week's feature interview, with someone who's done something interesting with their money. From paying off a mountain of debt, or investing for financial independence, or starting a new business, these are the ordinary people making the extraordinary possible. On Thursday we have Ask the Experts, where industry insiders answer your questions on the money world. From earning more in your career, to investing, or sticking to a budget, they'll help make money simple. Every now and then you'll get a bonus episode too, but the fun of those is that you never know when they're coming!","last_synced_at":"2026-09-30T18:22:32.383115+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/making-cents-6998736"},"episode":{"title":"What Do You Do When Your House Is Worth Way Less Than When You Bought It?","slug":"what-do-you-do-when-your-house-is-worth-way-less-than-when-you-bought-it","published_at":"2026-09-09T16:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/making-cents-6998736/what-do-you-do-when-your-house-is-worth-way-less-than-when-you-bought-it","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/making-cents-6998736","url":"https://www.francescook.co.nz/making-cents","audio_url":"https://episodes.captivate.fm/episode/eb6a6f47-1731-4d35-9de7-e3810c4c93d3.mp3","summary":"What do you do when your home is worth less than what you paid for it, and the layout no longer works for your family? Can you actually renovate your way out of negative equity, or does pouring six figures into an extension just dig a deeper financial hole? This week on Ask the Experts, Vanessa Williams from http://realestate.co.nz breaks down the real property data on what buyers are paying for, which renovations actually add resale value, and how to balance lifestyle needs against cold, hard financial decisions. It’s a dilemma many Kiwi homeowners will recognise: should you renovate, cut your losses and sell, or reset your property goals entirely? This episode covers: - How the post-boom property correction is affecting Kiwi homeowners - Why \"renovating your way out of a loss\" can be a dangerous financial trap - The real property value change of adding bedrooms vs. adding bathrooms - Why general home maintenance costs ($5k–$10k/year) shouldn't be counted as value-adding renovations - The \"devil you know vs. devil you don't\" dilemma of selling an older home to buy another fixer-upper If you have a letter you’d like us to answer, send it through to ask@francescook.co.nz and you might feature on our next episode! Follow me everywhere! Facebook / https://www.facebook.com/FrancesCookNZ Instagram / https://www.instagram.com/francescooknz TikTok / https://www.tiktok.com/@francescooknz Join the Money Memo newsletter for a free weekly money tip in your inbox each week https://www.francescook.co.nz/subscribe Become a confident sharemarket investor by signing up to the Market Memo newsletter https://www.francescook.co.nz/invest #MakingCents #FrancesCook #MakingCentsPodcast #InvestingPodcast #MoneyPodcast #FinancialFreedom Production and video editing by Lana Byrne Audio enginee…","meta_description":"What do you do when your home is worth less than what you paid for it, and the layout no longer works for your family? Can you actually renovate your way…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":1076,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/making-cents-6998736/episodes/what-do-you-do-when-your-house-is-worth-way-less-than-when-you-bought-it/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/making-cents-6998736/what-do-you-do-when-your-house-is-worth-way-less-than-when-you-bought-it.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}