- Coming up on this episode of the Disaster Podcast, we talk with Kathy Casarin with Berkshire Hathaway Home Services about the current real estate market and what home buyers and home sellers need to know. Stay tuned. Welcome back everyone. I'm Matthew Lyons with Disaster Blaster, and we've got a great guest today, Kathy Casarin with Berkshire Hathaway Home Services. Kathy has been in the real estate industry since 2007 and is a wealth of knowledge about everything related to buying or selling real estate. Thank you so much for joining us today, I'm excited to learn more! - Happy to be here, Matthew. Thank you. - So you've been in the real estate industry for 18 years, so I'm sure you've seen it all, you know? Yes. How did you get into, how did you get started in real estate - I love that story. My dad was a contractor and my mom was a stay-at-home mom with three kids. So she was like the runner for my dad. So if he needed nails, like down an Exeter or Old Forge Lumber, Amity Lumber, she ran and I would go with her. So I would be on job sites, seeing houses getting built and you know, seeing the customers start to finish and the process of all of that. He's flipped homes. And so it's been in my blood, I think, since youth. And then one of my friends from first grade, she became an architect. So it's just the conversation of real estate's always been around me. I've done marketing and never really sold something as big as a home. But, you know, I had all the background, so I found my calling - Very, very. And now you've been selling homes for, for 18 years, so I mean, that's, that's incredible. What is your favorite thing about being in real estate? - I think that it's not nine to five that you're really helping people with one of the largest financial purchases of their lifetime. And it's something I do every day. So being cognizant of the fact that it may be overwhelming to them and keeping it fun, entertaining, and educational. So, you know, they don't get overwhelmed kind of constantly reminding them of... Should we run into a pitfall, I will come up with workaround solutions and we could discuss which path they want to take. But, you know, whatever we come acrossed, I've got, based on my experience, education - I've got paths for them to take. So there's not a problem. And you know, obviously when you get a recommendation or an, an accolade like that to share people, people see that she's, she's right. So that's a, a good area for me. - Okay. It must be an amazing feeling to be such an important part of helping someone through such a milestone in their lives as purchasing a home. - Yeah. And I guess another thing when - so I was pregnant and we were trying to sell our home and I was not a Realtor and we got killed on the price. Like we just kept caving on whatever this guy said. Because he was like strong arming us. And I'm saying to myself "I don't want this to happen to me. I don't want this to happen to anyone in my family or anyone else." And I wanted to get my license. I wanted to know what should I do. He wound up suing us for things that he did wrong. Like he moved the washer and dryer and didn't unhook the hose, so flooded his downstairs and tried to blame it on us. We saw that he moved drain tile because he had a bulldozer in the backyard and it kind of sloped down and tried to blame the house flooding on us. And we said, you know, didn't you have a bulldozer there? And the attorney goes, well, doesn't it look better? I wasn't, obviously I wasn't an attorney, I never was, but I represented myself. Probably should have had an attorney, but I did win, shaking, like, shaking like a leaf, but I said, and the judge says, that's not her point. You moved earth, you disrupted drain tile, any flooding was now on him. And I'm like, I've gotta learn this business. So like, working with people like you and inspectors, attorneys, financial lenders, it's just, I love it - that knowledge is power and I don't care what you do. Like for what I'm doing all having access to all of these professions, it's a comfort to me because life could get scary. I just went through a divorce and kind of having all that knowledge on real estate, I'm very happy about that. - You know, you really hit on something there that I think is really, really, important. You know, because people don't really realize enough what is involved in purchasing a home and all of the potential pitfalls that they could stumble upon. You know, that's where someone like you being involved in the process and helping them through that, and helping them navigate that, becomes so valuable and so important because you help them avoid problems like that with a seller or, you know, purchasing a property that maybe has issues that they might not be aware of. Right. You know, it's, it's really, really an invaluable thing to have someone like you on their team as part of that process. - Yes. And someone like you, at Disaster Blaster. So if there is a money pit in there, you know, it's like we call you, I get Matthew and Disaster Blaster in there to fix it. So that's, like I said, it's good to have partners in the field, like colleagues like that, that I could call upon. - Yep. I agree a hundred percent. I think you should absolutely have a team, you know, representing you. And that should include a great local real estate agent, a mortgage broker, a home inspector, and a contractor that's able to look at those sorts of things. But you know, you are the first right? You know, they need you right from the get go, right, - Right. It's like I could, I could guide them and be the source of the source and it kinda stopped them. Like, oh, let's not go there yet. Don't overwhelm yourself. Let's just stay here. Because then they're like "oh, it's overwhelming." Well, let's not go through soup to nuts. You know, we might gloss over it, but kind of stick to chapter one. - Absolutely. I mean, I know, I'm sure you see this all the time too. I see it on my side sometimes. The buyers want to move things quickly and skip steps. Right, right. And those are important steps. So, you know, you're kind of there to, to help them through that and check the boxes as they go through, which is good. True. - Right, right. And timelines. We just have a PHFA loan, which is run by the government. They're two weeks behind - You can't tell them to hurry up. So now they're just like, "you need to extend two weeks"... Well, that could hurt the seller. The seller could say, "no, I don't want to". So knowing it would would've helped to know PHFA was behind, you know, perhaps a month ago or two weeks ago, not today. Yesterday I found out and the closing was supposed to be today. So you could avoid that pitfall. So what I did was share that intel with my team, like all our agents at Berkshire Hathaway, so they could be aware of that. Because you don't want, you don't want a seller to say, I'm not extending, I don't care. I don't care if they need more time. They have clear to close with their local lender, but the PHFA is two weeks behind. So that's something to know about. But that's where I didn't know that. But what I do try to tell a buyer or a seller - anything can happen. You know, like you have timeframes, but they, through no fault of their own, you might need an extension down the road and, and having that conversation, then they're not so nervous if there has to be an extension. It's not that they did anything wrong. It's not like there's trouble with their finances, it's just a backlog. - Yeah. I agree with you. When I was purchasing my house, something happened with the financing, something got delayed. You know how that happens... And the seller decided that they didn't want to wait and I ended up missing the property. So that's what you are there for, and you're able to help your buyers through the process so that, you know, those sorts of things don't happen because those pitfalls do certainly exist. And without the guidance of somebody that has that experience and knows what can happen, people can run into those issues unexpectedly. So it's really, really great that you're there to assist them through the process and help them navigate all of that. - And reminding the other Realtor, like, I have the buyer in this case. So just reminding her, Hey, "it is a PHFA loan, We don't know if they're gonna have a backlog." You know, we're dealing with that. Like, a VA might run into that or an FHA loan. So just kind of knowing that and level setting with that agent. Oh, that's fine. That's fine. I'll tell the sellers now. Now you did it. Maybe there's gonna be an extension, maybe not, but what did you do? You set the bar. - Absolutely, it is a very complicated process and it's important to have someone that knows those things, right. Being a Realtor is not like, "and this is the kitchen, and this is the bathroom, And look"... You could see all of that for yourself. I'm there to, "okay, do you like it? And kitchens and baths, and resale value. And what is the neighborhood like, the development, are you the most expensive home in there? How are the taxes? What are you pre-approved for?" And it's all of that. And that's what makes it stick together. And you try to take that all on, on your own, for the largest investment of your life... I would never do it again. Like I tried for sale by owner - getting sued and being pregnant... Oh. You know, who would want that? And, you know, if we didn't do that, I could have gotten a lot more money for that house. So lesson learned and now I'm a Realtor. Yeah. - Which is great. So you're there to help them. Yeah. Yeah. It's all that experience, you know? Right. We'll be back after a short break, but while you're here, don't forget to Like and Subscribe. Would you like to take control of your future and build a business you can be proud of? We can help. As a Disaster Blaster Franchise Partner, our industry experts will help you unlock the potential of the $210 billion restoration industry. Disaster Blaster offers the most revenue streams in the restoration industry, training and support from industry experts, a unique model primed for your success, and more! Call our Franchise Team today to learn more at 242-1042 Or visit us on the web at www.DisasterBlasterFranchise.com. Welcome back. Today we're talking with Kathy Casarin with Berkshire Hathaway Home Services! I know you pretty much do it all, but do you have a particular specialty? Home sellers, home buyers? - I do like to focus on home sellers. Okay. Being a listing specialist, you get buyers that way. You know, I do a great job. I really have a passion for marketing. And if you follow me on Facebook, I know you do, but if any of our viewers here follow me on Facebook, you're going to see, I'm very passionate about really staying on top of my game with technology, with what I put out there for marketing and social media. So I get to do a lot of that when I have a listing. Now I'm working with a couple. They're going through a divorce and I have to list their house. But, you know, I'm interviewing, I'm one of the agents being interviewed. So I'm like, what can I say? Let's say it might be a $400,000 listing. So I'm like, I have the luxury listing sign and it's, I put it on a nice pillar where, you know, it looks like a lamppost type of thing with a hanging sign. So more high end, and now your home is labeled luxury. Is the other agent doing that? I don't think they offer that. Just what else can I do to set myself above what other agents are doing? And I know I have a listing presentation and a buyer's guide that a lot of agents don't do. I was doing it since 2007 and it didn't exist. They're like, what's a listing presentation? And people wanted me to sell it. Now they're selling templates of, not mine, but they're selling them. And I'm like, could've, should've, would've, but I kind of didn't want to get into that route with my presentation. You know, I wanted it for me. - I know that you had showed me the presentation that you have in the informational packet that you have for your clients. And it's a tremendous amount of information. I mean, it really, really is very, very helpful. I think we talked about this. I could just show it now and then I know at the end we're going to give my contact information. So if anybody does want a copy or both, they're free to you, I'll mail you a hard copy, or I could give you a, give you a link to download it. I could send you a free copy. So either way, it's free, however you want it. Happy to, they're there for our viewers. So happy to give them out. I want to give them out like candy. Right. - And they really are great because they answer a lot of the questions that you know they're going to have through the process. Right. So, I mean, you, you really did a phenomenal job putting that together. - Thank you. And I try to walk them through - all right, you met the Realtor. Here's what's next. Here's what's next if it's a buyer. And then take the same route now with the seller. What are the steps? And that I'm there through all of it. I don't just like, okay, you know, you're under contract, see ya at closing. No, I'm there through all of it. And that's what I have the book doing, kind of walking them through that. They could always reference that. And I found it's very helpful. I've had sellers say to me, I didn't even know I had these questions and you've already answered them. So that made me feel good. Because that's what I tried to do. I'm like, let me put myself as if I was a seller, what would they have? What would they question? What would be a concern for them? And the buyer's guide, I recently showed a buyer, I have something in there about like - don't ask for a seller assist, perhaps instead ask to buy down the rate. Because the difference is, say on a $300,000 home, if you have a seller assist for like a $10,000 seller credit, that's a savings of say, $78 a month. Versus if you ask to buy down the rate, say the same 10 thousand's going out of pocket of the buyer, but now you're saving $248 a month. That's huge. And I've had the buyer say, why didn't they know that, you know. I've bought with other people before. Why has nobody shared that with me? So I made sure, you know, that's in my new buyer's guide, because that, that is, that's huge for them to know. And let's, and then I say, now take it to your lender. You know, Because they, the lender knows the specifics on their financing. I never, that's another thing. Never wear somebody else's hat. Like, I wouldn't want you to wear a Realtor hat. You don't want me to wear a Disaster Blaster hat. I'm going to send you to Disaster Blaster, you as a viewer, an inspector, but I'm not going to, and I don't want an inspector to act like a Realtor. You know, like they're there to inspect the home and say, now talk to your Realtor about what, you know, what we found in the report. You don't want an inspector trying to say, well ask for this or ask for that. Like, they're not a contractor and they're not a Realtor. They don't know. So you don't want them to kind of go there. So if, if your inspector say during the deal, you're a buyer and they're kind of referring you back to the Realtor, that's good because that's my wheelhouse. And you don't want them misleading you, the inspector. It's not what they do. So, you don't want me telling you about mold that could just be black coffee thrown on a wall or something. You know? So let everyone be an expert in their field. - Absolutely. Because it's, a team that's helping you kind of across the finish line when you're selling. So it's, it's really, really valuable to have everybody on that team. - Yeah, and it works well. Like, nobody really, like, who wants to, who wants to wear my hat? And I don't want to wear a lender's hat either. So it, it works out well. But I just, I explain that to clients. It's like I said, I don't like to be, I'll be the source of the source. But if it's something where like the borough has to get called for them to find out about zoning, I like the client to call themselves because I don't want to relay it third hand and then something's misconstrued. Well, I thought you said this. Because they might get the question answered, and I could relay that answer because I made the call for them. Am I really doing them a favor? No, because now based on that answer, they might have three or four follow up questions that could have gotten answered if they're on the phone with this person that I tracked down at the borough. So I like them. You, you wanna kind of, and again, I'm not going to be the borough expert, but I don't want to relay stuff third hand. I want them to hear it right from the source. And that's worked well with me. And they're like, you're right. I had four or five more questions after they told me, you know, I could build the house here at, at these setbacks or, or this easement or whatever. So it makes sense. And you know, you're going to see. You know me, I'm not lazy. It's not that I don't want to do it. Just, and this is in your best interest, what's in my client's best interests there. - There's that. I appreciate that. Because you know, quite honestly, you know, it's all about you directing them to get the best information and the best help that they can. And a lot of times those are things that you can answer, but if they're not, it's always good to bring in an expert, you know, whether it be a home inspector or a contractor or the municipality to address their questions. - Yeah. - I'm sure that you get this question a lot. I know I definitely want to get this in, but a lot of people are asking about how the current court decision is impacting the real estate industry - In our settlement, The National Association of Realtors have that with $418 billion settlement. Yeah. I've been doing buyer contracts for, for a while now, and I've not had one buyer complain about questioning or complain about it. It's a course of doing business. You know, when you Disaster Blaster, if you are going to do a service to repair a flooded basement or mold, there's probably a contract that you have that they sign. And, it dictates your fees and, and what services you offer. That's where I, like for now, for buyers, it's, it's going to become more mandatory. So I want to reach the masses. I think for that reason, open houses might become a great way for new business for buyers because while I'm at that open house, I'm going to have that buyer guide handy. Okay. Because they're looking to buy a house. And so I'm gonna say, read this, this is what I would offer you as a buyer agent. And, and I'd have them go through all that. I could, you know, depending on the traffic in the open house, I could go through some of this with them. They're free to take it and, you know, when they're ready to buy, maybe it's not that open house. But if they read this and see all that I offer as a buyer agent, they're not going to have a problem signing the contract. And that's what I think. Because they're like, well, what does a buyer agent do? But if you go through this book, it's, it's a lot. Like, it's guiding them about the inspection, the appraisal, what to do that, the thing about the rate with the buydown versus the seller credit. Just - how to put the offer in. I had, I had people, I won't even say where, but we went through the house and, I've been doing this 18 years, like you said. I said, we have a long drive home. Well, they had a long drive home. So did I, but separately, that was my point. I said, you, you have a long drive home. Really talk about this house. If you want it, you've got to come like $24,000 over asking, they had that drive home. They had the talk. They called me and they said, we're gonna do it. We're gonna go $24,000 over asking - they got it. They got the house. And I got told from the other Realtor, yes, there were a lot of offers and they were very close to mine. Wow. So that's that. And I make sure I tell the buyer that like, I'm not... the difference in commission over $24,000 here and there. It, it's not, that's not the way I do business. I want them to get this house. I know what it's worth. It had views of Elk Mountain, like you knew it was worth more, you knew the demand was there. A house like this doesn't come on the market all that often. And it was perfect for them. And, and they listened and they got it. But it's good for them to know that there were three or four other offers very close in offer price as well. So - Are you seeing the market being really competitive right now or - I do all I can to try to educate on, like our interest rates are higher right now. You're not gonna see them in the threes again for quite some time. There's no, you know, predictor as to when, you just try to educate them. Look, in the eighties they were like, the interest rates on homes were the same as a credit card. Like almost 20%, so high. So historically they're not that high. But let's just say they come down in a year, three points or two years. Right? Refinance. You still have the house. Because if you were to wait three more years, what are you doing? Are you throwing money away on rent? Are you in a house that you're bursting at the seams on? Is it not in a great area for your current situation with your job? What's your story? So basically, if you want to buy or sell your home's not working for you right now. So buy the house you want. Because if you wait until rates come down and you want that house, it's gonna be maybe $40,000 more, or if not $100,000 more then where it is when rates are high. So you're getting a deal on your list price, but your rate is higher. If you get, if you're getting a lower list price, a higher list price, your rate's lower. It's a trade off. But that, that's where the glory of refinancing comes right into play. - Okay. That makes a lot of sense. Because I agree with you. I really don't think that we're going to see the rates going down too much. - Right. - And I tell them, look, talk to your lender. What is the difference in price or... or with this rate versus another point or whatever. It's affordable. It's doable. Do it. Buy the house and then, you know, you could always refinance down the road. - Yeah, yeah. - Like you said, right, who knows where rates are going. They could go up more. That, that's another thing. You wanna wait for them to come down. What if they go higher? - Yeah. Yeah. And, I think we came off of a period where the rates were historically low, - Right? - So it's, it's more of a kind of a normalization rather than the rates really going up. They're right. They're kind of where they should have been, I think. - Yes. Yeah. Yeah. If it was post Covid or whatever it like, yeah, they, they really were rock bottom. And I, I was just buying clothes because I had no time to do laundry. I got interviewed on 16 and I said, I'm leaving my driveway and I think I've got clients waiting to see where I'm going to jump on the house. I'm about to list because inventory was so low. Stuff like that. Just, it's, yeah, that was because we couldn't practice real estate for a while with Covid. And then the floodgates open and rates were low. Oh, business was, was crazy busy. And it was, it was good. Like I, I could adjust. It's like, let's go. You know? But yeah, it was, that was, it didn't, it didn't last. You know, we're definitely not the same market as when... and it was discouraging because you'd have the same buyers lose out maybe on six, seven homes. And, and they, they'd listen. But people were waiving inspections and like, I never want to advise that. It's like, if you feel comfortable, maybe they have a contractor in the family or something. If you want to wave, then, you know, I think we're getting into this with, you don't want to put a buyer in danger to get an offer accepted. I, I'll never do that. And so I, I lay out the groundwork for them. Like, you know, I would still recommend an inspection. You tell, maybe there's some things you could wave, like maybe you, you could clearly tell where your property lines are so you can waive that. Like you're not gonna have it surveyed. Different things like that. One way that a buyer can waive inspections is when I focus on listings, I like to talk to a seller about getting a pre-listing home inspection where I give them a couple inspectors to call to do the inspection before they list. Now that anxiety period of, well, what are they gonna find? Like we've taken good care of our home, but you don't know when they start putting that moisture reader on the wall, is there mold behind there carpenter bees, termites Radon high... Things they're not gonna know. As a homeowner, the inspection's gonna lay all of that out. And if you wanna fix any of that before you list, great, let's do it. And then, and then, and then do your disclosure. We have a seller's disclosure they have to sign. It's about, I think 14 pages. So having this inspection report, I could put it on our flex system where the listing is so it's accessible to any buyer. They could read through that. And, and, and it's a state licensed inspector. Yes, the seller paid for it, but he has to be objective. It's a state licensed inspection. Yes, the buyer can still have an inspection, but they might read through that and say, all right, all this is, we're not going to have an inspection. Or maybe they still do, but now the sellers kind of have that peace of mind where, well, what else could they find? You know, I've had a home inspection done and the report's out there, I am not hiding anything. Everything's disclosed because, because probably the most anxious part of a deal is you've got all these showings, maybe 18 showings and, and maybe four or five offers come in to you. Right? And you're, you're weeding, we're, I'm going through all of the offers with the seller. And they pick one, they decide on one or they counter on a couple of them and, and, you know, they pick the one that in the end that is the best for them financially, closing date, contingencies, all of that. So now because they had the inspection done, they do not have to worry about that. What, what could happen. Because 37% of deals fall apart because of the home inspection findings. Okay. Buyers get scared, especially if it's a first time home buyer. They see this report and, and a lot of it's just a laundry list like your, your roof is wearing according to age. But when they're going through 30 some pages of just details about the house, forget it. I don't want the house. I've had it happen and I want to avoid that for them. So I had that talk with sellers and I, I just talked another couple into doing it because it, it eliminates that scary part of your deal, that anxious period of, of I gotta wait for the inspection, and then where's the report? And what do the buyers want? Oh God. Oh god. Or they want so much money off the price. It, it could, or they wanna just walk away. Like, avoid that with getting the inspection done before you list. Very, - Very interesting. So are you finding that sellers are doing presale inspections more frequently or... - With, with mine, I'm finding it because I'm, I'm an advocate for it. And I tell them, I said, I'm, I'm not getting anything for this. I'm just explaining the pitfalls of my experience and, and what I believe is the most anxious kind of period of the transaction, waiting for that inspection report and the findings. And what is the buyer gonna want. I've had, oh, we want $24,000 off the price. And sometimes they'll, like, a buyer will do that, where maybe they come in with a great offer, but they want inspections done and they pick everything apart to, you know, to death by asking for the moon. That's their plan. And it's like, well, they can't really do that if you, it's already been disclosed, like here's our inspection report type of thing. So it kind of keeps the deal smoother. Emotions at a minimum. Or you want, wanna want it to kind of stay like this. You don't want whoa, whoa. Through the whole process. So I try to keep it even keeled throughout every phase of, of the transaction. And that I found it just very helpful for people, especially like a hundred year old home. How's the septic? You know, isn't it better to know than have that unknown? Because getting a guy out to fix it or repair. Now there's extensions, you know... all the sellers... we don't, you know, oh, we want it to be closed by now. So you just point out all the headache and then let them decide what, I think inspections aren't more than $550 for everything, for radon and everything. So, and, and that's just an average. So let's just say, you know, $450 to $650 for an inspection. But what, what is that saving you? Because a buyer could see a minor little fix there, maybe it's a $200 fix. They might be in their head knocking $2000 off the price. Mentally. That's where their value is. I gotta fix this, I gotta fix that, I gotta fix this. But if you already know, because you had the inspection done, fix these little things, you know, the less a buyer sees that they have to fix or repair that, that bodes better for a seller. Because markets are always changing. Also, we're in a time period now with listing, if I were to list a house now, I want, I want them to list now or buy like right after the fourth. So buyers have enough time to get their kids in that home before the school starts. Because they might, you know, wherever they are, they might need to be in that school district for the fall. And that's a great buyer pool. And they're moving fast those people because they've gotta get their kid in that school district for fall. So I, I say that to sellers like, yeah, you have this laundry list, let's not wait. You know, like, do you have to bring in a crew or whatever you want them done? You want these repairs done sooner, not later. Or, you know, maybe there's one thing a seller couldn't finish. We, we just state that in the listing that this will be done by closing, but let's get it on the market. You know, I'll work with them on timelines. Yeah, you got time or no, let's do it. Right. You know, let's do it in two weeks. Let's go, let's go. And it's advice, it's always up to the seller. I just do my best to, all right, you wanna wait, here's what could happen. You know, and, and you could lose this buyer pool or we're listing now great X, Y, Z, X, Y, Z. That's what's coming next. - That really makes a lot of sense. Do do you find that properties sell faster when the seller has a pre-listing inspection? - Yes. And, and less negotiation with inspections. I think once, I had, they still wanted their own inspection done and, and they didn't ask for anything. They, they knew what was, all right, we're good. Okay. That's just a person, you know, if, if that's who you are, where all right, that inspection was done, but I want my own fine. But now for the seller, don't expect a surprise. Don't expect a big, major problem because you've had, you've had the report done. So yeah, I see that more deals stay together and I see that there's less, less asked for with concessions. If anything, it, it just moves the process along. You could get right into the underwriting part of your, your loan. Let's move on to the next step. Inspections are done. - Wow. Okay. Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. I hadn't really given a lot of thought to the pre-listing inspections, but, but just hearing you break it down like that, right. I mean, it, it really makes a lot of sense for a seller to do that. - And for our inspectors out there, market yourself that way that you do them. Like of course any inspector will, but let them, I, I market it for them. I have that right in my guide, like about the 37% of deals fall apart based on inspection findings. But, you know, it's, I think that's great if inspectors were to market that as well, it, it's good for a, a buyer or seller to know that. - Absolutely. And it's anything that gets you a quicker closing and, and less negotiations and less potential for issues. You know, I know that, from our standpoint, you know, we get called in usually when something is found in the inspection report. And a lot of the energy that, you know, we put into it is explaining to the buyers, you know, okay, they found some mold in the attic or they had a high Radon issue or, or something of that nature. But if you love the house, like these are all issues that generally can be addressed. - Right, right. You - Know, rarely do we really see situations where you know, something is found in a home inspection that really warrants walking from the table, you know? Right. A lot of these things... - You, you as, you don't wanna be an alarmist and an inspector doesn't wanna be an alarmist, it's just, here are the findings. - Exactly. And, and, and here's what the solution looks like. You know, let's get that addressed. We'll resolve the problem. And, I I mean, it's your dream home, you know, let's get this taken care of so that you can, you can move in. You know. So - Even for you with Disaster Blaster, if you have to go in and fix something major that's better for you to do without it being on the market, I would think. - Yeah, we do both. I mean, we, we do a lot. I mean, if, if a seller wants to address some, some issues before listing, that's great. You know, we're, we're doing one of those projects now actually they're getting ready to list it. You know, it, it's one of those things that once they have a knowledge of an issue, you're, you're better off, you know, just addressing it now rather than waiting for the buyer to find it. - Right. - So I definitely recommend that anytime... - Like mold... It keeps growing. - Exactly. I mean, if, if you're thinking of selling your house and you walk down into the basement and there's mold on the rafters, you know, deal with that now, you know, don't wait for the buyer or the home inspector to discover it because by then now it's, you know, now it's something that your, your buyers are going to be concerned over. Whereas if you had just dealt with it, would've been, it would've just looked like a nice clean basement. So, so I guess my question for you too is... So from the seller's perspective, you know, how do you suggest they, they handle things when the home inspector does find an issue? So if the buyers bring in a home inspector and they find, you know, let's say mold in the basement or, or something, you know, you kind of help them through that whole process too. - So Yeah. Not a pre-listing inspection. Right. Because that, that's up to them. Like, fix what you want. And if they fix, let's just first, alright, so let, let me answer the, the pre-listing side first. They have the pre-listing inspection. If they found something big, like the septic tank, maybe it had bacteria, I would say pay the $3,000 or whatever to get rid of the bacteria. Pay for it. Because now you, you, you could list a little higher or you're not gonna take that hit because if they read that and see bacteria in the septic tank pass, or I don't want to take that on. Oh, but you've now fixed that problem. That's a big thing. So you, you, you're gonna see a, a better offer because of that. Now with, you didn't have a home inspection, the buyers have one, and now they're, they're presenting their list of quests on what they wanna do. Where, okay, seller, you have the choice to accept, reject, or renegotiate. They don't have to do a thing. So that's where you like to say, read the room, what's going on? Hey, seller, did, did we have, you know, 10 other offers where they're still interested? Or did they go by the wayside and, and they move on to another house. If we know we have backup offers waiting, go back to the buyer and say, you know, I'm sorry, we're not offering anything. We're not fixing anything. We're not, you know, we're not gonna repair anything. Maybe if they had a 5,000 and, and more of a buyer's market, maybe they had asked, say, $3,000 in repairs or, or six things to get fixed. I'm like, pick three. Try to split the difference with, with, and see if that's good with the buyer. If sometimes it is, sometimes they're asking for more and expecting less. Of course. So you, I never would say to a seller, you don't have to do everything. Some sellers just want to, I'll take care of all this. I also tell a seller, you have the entire inspection report. You don't have to look at all of it, you know, just look at their list of what do they want. They could want three things done in that house. And you're gonna overwhelm yourself as a seller if you look at their entire report because, you know, they're seeing, oh, I could fix this. I could fix this. You know, a missing washer on a sink. Like that's not a concern of the buyer. Don't let it be your concern as a seller, what do they want? Let's look at their reply to inspections and address it that way. What I have been seeing a lot more in the market is "sold as is", you know, buyers can have inspections, but it's for their informational purposes only, the seller will not give money toward inspections. Or if repairs are needed for FHA or VA, that's on the buyer, that's at the cost of the buyer, the seller will not do anything. And that's clearly noted in, in the system and then it's on the contract. Okay. So now, you know, if I have the buyer, I'm just upfront with them, we could still, and we could still ask, because if it's something huge like say mold, they didn't know about, Hey, look, they found black mold in the basement. You know, I can understand you guys didn't know about it. Maybe it's an estate sale and they never lived there. Right? And here's the expense of that you'd know better maybe on the cost of getting rid of black mold. So I would send them to you to perhaps get a quote / estimate, and then it's like, let's go back to the seller and say, this was found. It's not on your disclosure, it's a big expense. Would you split the cost with us? Or, or whatever the buyer wants to offer. And, and if it's exorbitant, I'll try to talk them down because you, you don't wanna upset a seller by presenting to them something unrealistic. But usually if they're getting a quote from you, great, it's gonna, their request to the seller's gonna be right in line. It's gonna be a realistic request. And I'd have that, I would tell that agent, remind your seller that if they don't wanna do this, it has to go back on the market now and they have to disclose that there's black mold in the house that's going to continue to grow. So that's where, even as is, I have an angle to try to get something fixed for the buyer, my buyer, my client, - And see that's where that experience comes in, you know? Yeah. Right. So it's, it's - Amazing. I guess it's just an aside, I've been watching The Sopranos a lot, so I'm coming at it with, with a boatload of confidence, like all this, and I'm obviously not a threatening looking person, but kind of having The Sopranos in the background when I'm doing work, I'm like, eh, this, listen to me. Yeah. - Well you need someone in your corner that's, that's willing to speak up and, you know, know what Yeah. And, is willing to, to ask for those things and, and knows what's reasonable. You know, a lot of, a lot of buyers and sellers don't, which is why it's helpful to kind of be there to kind of guide them through that and everything. - Yeah. You don't want to, you don't want to be a yes Realtor, like, yes buyer, whatever you want. Yes. Buyer. Yes buyer. You want to guide them with your experience because it, that's what's worth their salt. It's like sure, you want to offer that? Okay, I'll write it up. No, I'm gonna talk to you. Right. Like, and then, and all of that guidance and education, like a newer agent might show a buyer like 30 some homes. With my experience, like four or five. And we're under contract. Why? We're weeding out a lot. It's like, well, you said ranch, now you want to see this two story? Are you sure? Oh, you're right, you're right, you're right. Yeah. We wouldn't like that. You know, I had one with a religious, he couldn't, a door had to face a certain way, like east if it was east, west, north or south, I don't know. He couldn't live near a cemetery. And I'm like, you need to drive by these houses before we set up appointments, because he had a lot of stipulations and he was a high price range. But we would drive up and he'd be like, no. Oh my. Alright. We can't, we can't keep doing this. You know? So I, I had to learn how to adjust to what was going on there. Otherwise, you know, you, you don't want to waste your time. Like, I want to use my time most efficiently. I don't want to waste your time as a buyer. What, what are you gaining by seeing 30 houses? It, it could get overwhelming. You know, I had clients that, I think they lined up 30 houses in two days for their son. You, you kind of say helicopter parents, you know, and the son's showing up late with his girlfriend with a coffee. I'm like, do y'all even want to see these houses? You know, like, but it was really the parents and the parents' decision. So... but we went, we went through, I tried to weed out as many as I could from that list of 30. Let me send you the disclosures on them. Like, that would be say step one, let, let's weed down their list. If it's a big list, here's the disclosures, you know, and, and I'm sending them online. So because the disclosures are, are, like I said, about 4, 12, 14 pages. I don't want to print a disclosure every time I have a showing, you know, you're, you're gonna burn through your copier and, and burn through trees. So I'll send it to them online if they're interested in a house. And maybe after they read the disclosure, they're not interested anymore, but if they still are okay. Or, or sometimes if it's a big list, try to drive by some of these, you know, and, and they'll knock some off the list because I said just for time constraints, like, let's get this list a little more tight. - Yeah, I agree with you. Because one of the things that... when, when buyers go online and they're looking at all the houses on the MLS, you know, they, the houses look great and, you know, and, and they're gonna compile a list. Right. You know, but all of those home showings take a lot of their time. You know, it's, it's their time. They're walking around this house, they've got to make themselves available to do that. And, you know, it really makes sense that you're able to help them kind of whittle that down beforehand, you know, so that they're only seeing the houses that they're, they're really going to be interested in because it's easy to get into that mentality where it's like, oh, I might like this house. Oh, I might like this house, oh, I might like this house. And before you know it... - The I've had, I just wanna see it. I know I can't afford it. No, here's where I'll get firm. It's like, this seller needs to know that you're pre-approved. And if you're not pre-approved for that amount, it's like, nope. No ticky, no laundry. That was a, a Jack Nicholson line and I think the Irishman or something, but no ticky, no laundry. You don't have the pre-approval to see a $400,000 house or $600,000 house. I'm not making that appointment. My seller doesn't want tire kickers. They don't, they don't want, you know, somebody coming through the house now they have to ready their house up, get the pets out, get the children out. They have to get outta the house for a showing and you don't have the funds to buy it. That's not fair. That's not fair, yeah. To anyone. And that's a waste of my time because you can't buy it. - Yeah. But even more than that too, I always relay it from the buyer's perspective with that, right. You know, like, buyers are gonna, you know... I can understand, you know, saying like, oh, I would like to see this house or, or what have you. But a lot of people don't realize how often buyers want to look at properties that are outside their price range, just out of curiosity. And for the buyer, that's a huge negative because they've looked at a house that they, that they, they may not be able to afford, and now they're looking at houses they can afford. So I always kind of, you know, explain to people, you, you don't want to color your perception by looking at things out of budget. You know, focus on what you can afford and find the perfect house that, that is in your budget. Because it's really, really easy to get in that mentality of, oh, but I really love that kitchen in that, that mansion. You know? Yeah. So I, it's, you know, from, from their standpoint, I always stress that it's, it's, there's a lot of value to the buyer to kind of constrain that, - Right. Stay in their lane because yeah, it, it will, they'll want what they can't have. And I don't want to, I don't want anyone house poor. I don't want anyone to overpay for a property. I, I always back it up with, here's comps. Yes, if you were to sell it, you're paying more than asking. But look at the comps. Like, it, it keeps going up in value. Houses that are similar. So they, I could do my best to, to educate them that they're making a good move. I wanna instill confidence in them and back it up with facts. And, and that's where you could, you know, you look at the comparables and, and what's, what's going on in the market. I'll have people ask me, well, how's the area? Is it bad on crime? Or how's the school district? And you never want to answer that. Like, from my opinion, I direct them to websites where, well, you could go here and see the SAT scores for like that high school, or if you, when you're looking at the house, like there's a tab there for crime rate, and you could see is it, are there robberies or are there, are there anything, anything going on in the neighborhood? If there is crime, what type of crime? I, again, source of the source. You don't want me to say, oh, that's a horrible area you don't wanna live there. Like, now what am I doing? Steering, which is illegal. So I've never gotten caught in that trap, and I won't, you know, it's like, well, what do you think, Kathy? I'm like, I think, you know, if you look at this, you know, look at your facts there, and you, you, you know, you make the decision. Do you want me to put that school district on your, in your search parameters of what I send you? - Yeah. And that's all about being a resource. You know where to direct them to kind of look at those things. Whereas, you know, a buyer that was looking to, to buy without a Realtor, right, may not know where to look to answer those questions. - Right? - So that's, that's extremely important, I think. What would your number one tip be for sellers in this current market? - Use me. You have my listing guide. I think a pre-listing inspection is great because it's softening... It's going like, like a, a teeter-totter. So it's a seller market, buyer market, seller market, buyer market. It's a little more, it's not seller market. I could ask for the moon, you know, it's, it's a little more teeter-totter. So get your ducks in a row, fix those little things that are wrong with the house. Get the pre-listing inspection if, if there's, you know, minor things or a major thing, get them fixed before you list, and then you can ask for more money on your asking price. So I would say let's stick with that inspection as number one. And, and note, now if you list, now everything's green, lush. If you have an in-ground pool, it's open, it's operational. If you had to list in the fall, get an inspection done on your pool, so you could say, look, we're now we're in October, the pool's closed up, obviously, but here's an inspection report that was just done. And, and they have the guy's name. So if, if everything was operational, you know, they could go off that guy's report and, and hopefully put them at ease that they're buying a house with a pool that's in working order, because you don't want them opening up the pool in October to, to see that it works. So that's where I'd say, all right, if you can't list till October, let's get that pool, inspected because you can't, you want it done, you want it inspected while it's open and operational. Obviously same with photos. Like, let's get photos of the pool before you close it up. - Those, those are great. - All that was similar to inspections. So I, I'm saying inspections are important for a seller right now. - Okay. Those are great, great tips, really. I mean, I wouldn't have thought to, to do that with a pool. - Well, I've got a pool in my backyard and my house is going to be on the market, so I've got that. And if you, even if you're dealing with a divorce and, and maybe I might be moving out before it's listed, I'm making sure I have a - Hey, spouses, I'm making sure I have a listing contract signed with, it will be listed by this date. And believe me as a Realtor, consider me a client right now, we wear many hats. I deal with divorces. I'm a therapist, I'm a marriage counselor. I'm, I'm a pet service. You know, like there's, there's many hats we wear to, to try to keep... a comedian. There's many hats we wear to, but for me to protect me. And, and then the other person going through a divorce. If you're leaving the residence, you don't want it where, oh yeah, we said August or July or June, but you know, maybe November, no, protect yourself. Make sure you have a listing contract signed with, it's going to be listed by this date. And now if I have to move, not have to, but if I find a place, I know it's gonna be listed, I protect it myself. And that, and I'm saying I'm, I'm sharing that with you because that's gonna affect a lot of people selling, you know, divorce or, or, or whatever's the case. It's something to protect yourself. - That, that is really, really valuable advice. Because, you know, but this is, this is why people need somebody that knows these things, because a lot of these are things that you wouldn't ever think of, but... I, I could, I could see that, you know, somebody in a divorce, agreeing that they're going to sell the property and that just keeps getting delayed and delayed and delayed, you know, by the other party. So, you know, that's really, really valuable. - Right. And then I would tell them too, all right, here's your situation. Talk to your attorney or, or talk to a real estate attorney. Maybe they don't have one lined up yet. Talk to somebody. You know, before you take a step to leave the residence or whatever the case may be, whatever their story. If, if I have to send them to a lender, Disaster Blaster or an attorney, I want them to feel confident that I'm protected. You know, like I might have the opening spiel on get that listing contract signed by a certain date, but maybe theirs is really layered, like their divorce or, or whatever's going on. Talk to an attorney, let him back up what I'm saying to you. I'm, I'm guiding, but you know, I'm going to refer them to an attorney because there's, you know, their divorce attorney's going to know, obviously. - Yeah, that, that's really, really great. Along those same lines, what would your number one tip be for buyers in this market? - For buyers, I want them pre-approved before we start looking at properties and demand that, like, and what I say to them is, a seller won't let you see a house unless you're pre-approved. It doesn't mean you have to use that lender. It's, it's a range of houses, but we have to have that letter. It's not like, well, I wanna see the house and then I'm gonna get pre-approved. No, sorry, I won't do that as a professional and I'm going to make appointments. I'm not going to tell a Realtor that they're not pre-approved yet. I don't do business that way. You want a professional, a seller doesn't want to waste their time. I don't want to waste my time. And especially in a market where homes can still go pretty fast, you want, as a buyer to be pre-approved. You want to be ready to make that offer. You, you don't want to hear, well, I can't do your pre-approval letter till, you know, three more days or something. Now you're going to miss, because what seller's going to accept an offer from you, even if it's say $20,000 over asking with no pre-approval. I could say, I'm offering a million dollars. Do I have a million dollars? No. And I'm not going to get a pre-approval. So you, that's where you know, when, when you start giving scenarios to a buyer, you're right. That makes sense. You're right. That makes sense. I'm not asking them to do something that is just frivolous or 'cause I said so, I'm going to have reasons why it's in your best interest to do this. And I think through this hour we've backed up a lot of that. - Yeah. I mean, my gosh, I, I know we had originally planned to talk for 30 minutes, but this is, this is so much information and, and such valuable information. I think that it's, it's really, really useful to anybody that's planning to sell or buy a home. So I really very much appreciate your perspective and sharing all of your expertise with that. Before we do go, I would like to get some information from you. What's your best contact information to be reached by prospective sellers or buyers if they want to speak with you or, or list or buy a home. - Sure, sure. My cell is 351-1444. You can call or text anytime. You know, if I'm not available, I won't answer till I'm available, but I always tell them if you, if you have an inkling, a real estate itch, scratch it. Text me and I'll, and I'm very prompt with response if, if I don't answer live. However you're comfortable, email or call me. My email is Kathy, kathycsells@gmail.com The Berkshire Hathaway website is www.bhhspreferred.com/ and there's a link right to my information and my profile. So you, you could read more about me and, and as I've mentioned before on those two books, if you are interested in either of those, feel free to text me or email me and say you want it like a PDF version of it. If you want me to mail it to you, my cost is totally free to you. I will ship it out in the mail to you and it's yours. - That is amazing. And to be able to get it as a PDF I think is really awesome because you know, they can save that in their inbox and if they're going to, you know, buy next year, you know, they'll have it right there to pull up. Because it'll help them right through the process. And then what is your service area? What area do you work in? - I'm licensed in all of Pennsylvania. I seem to be getting a lot of referrals. I have a girlfriend that I went to college with that she's down near South Jersey, so I'll get referrals from her from there because they're looking to buy up this way. So that's great. But primarily a Lackawanna County, Lake Wallenpaupack area, Pike, Wayne, some of Luzerne, but definitely probably my concentration is Lackawanna County. I live here, so I think you get most of your business there, but open to anywhere. And if again, if I can't handle it, I will work with you to get you referred to a very, very like-minded Realtor and I'll stay on top of them to make sure you're taken care of. - That is great. Thank you so very much for joining us today and answering so many questions. This real estate market is very exciting and Kathy is able to help you navigate the process so that everything goes smoothly. I really appreciate that personally, because buying or selling a home is a complicated process and you need a team in place that can help. And Kathy is a great person to have on that team. And be sure to check out her guides for home sellers and buyers for some great information to help you through the process. Is there something you would like to hear about? Please email us at disasterpodcast@disasterblaster.com and keep an eye out for future episodes and please visit our website for a ton of great content about property damage and the home buying process at www.DisasterBlaster.com. Thank you and see you next time. Would you like to take control of your future and build a business you can be proud of? We can help. As a Disaster Blaster Franchise Partner, our industry experts will help you unlock the potential of the $210 billion restoration industry. Disaster Blaster offers the most revenue streams in the restoration industry, training and support from industry experts, a unique model primed for your success, and more! 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