Ever wondered what it takes to not just list your house but actually make it scream 'Buy me!' to every potential homebuyer? Richard joins us to reveal the unexpected hurdles he leaped over while prepping his home for sale, including how his Brazilian cherry hardwood floors threw him a curveball. We're peeling back the curtains on the real estate market's ups and downs, sharing insider tips on the best times to sell and why a little legwork on the front end can make all the difference. You'll get the lowdown on strategies that could save you from the dreaded money pit and position your home as the hottest ticket in town.
As we jump into the nuts and bolts of turning your property into the next buyer's dream home, we also dish on the analogy between Certified Pre-Owned cars and houses. Think your home can't have that 'new car' appeal? Think again. We're talking about the ins and outs of home inspections, the appraisal dance, and the magic of making your house market-ready - basically, everything but the kitchen sink. And because we believe a good sale is like a good martini—smooth and well-prepared—we promise to equip you with the knowledge to build a trusty reputation and cultivate relationships that endure long after the sold sign is planted. Join us for a treasure trove of advice that could turn your next 'For Sale' sign into a 'Sold' one.
Speaker 1:
We have Richard on the line. Good morning Richard. How are you this morning?
Speaker 2:
I'm great. How are you guys?
Speaker 1:
Fantastic and you have a question for us today. I hope you are.
Speaker 2:
I'm great I do. We put our house on the market several years ago and had an interesting thing happen. We decided to go ahead and do a pre-inspection and take care of everything. A pre-inspection and take care of everything. Well, one of the things that the inspector noticed we had Brazilian cherry hardwood floors throughout the house, anywhere that we had an area rug. He lifted up the area rug and, because Brazilian cherry darkens with light, it showed light spaces and he took pictures of all of that and put it in the inspection. What would a seller be expected to do about a situation like that?
Speaker 1:
I love that question and it's so funny because Brazilian cherry darkens, whereas most floors and good job putting those down, by the way, most floors actually lighten. Well, no, I guess they lighten around the rug, so that makes sense. It would be darker under the rug whatever kind of wood you've got. So cash CPO would take that off the table because we'd come in, you'd get the majority of your equity within two weeks and we would refinish those floors right. We would get them to a situation where you wouldn't see any of those spots and also we would have inspected your home and all of that, and our funding partner takes care of all of that. You wouldn't have spent any money to do it and they'd have put the other 20 or 30 things right on the inspection report and then we would have relisted it and two-thirds of the time you'd have gotten more than you would have gotten with that traditional listing.
Speaker 1:
So when you say what's the the seller expected to do in an old-fashioned listing where we haven't gone in and put all that right from the get-go, absolutely the the seller. Well, you know, the seller doesn't have to do anything, is the point. However, the buyer can say it depends on the market, right. So if they've got maybe a couple of other houses that they've been to see, they've probably. Let's be honest, are you in this market, richard? Are you in the Western North Carolina market, or was this somewhere else?
Speaker 2:
Yes, it's Buncombe County, buncombe County, okay, so in Buncombe and you said a couple of years ago, so the market was pretty hot. Well, it was, and then it died off. We ended up not selling, but I suspect within the next three years or so we will be selling to downsize.
Speaker 1:
Got it okay, ok, well, the first thing, first off, if you go the cash CPO route, you can stay in your home for up to 90 days, which is more than most buyers will give you. So think about that, get us in early so we can talk about what needs doing and then, just you know, get ready to get ready. Just you know, get ready to get ready. If you, the only thing I I would, you know, raise a flag on there is that we did crest in this market about a year and a half ago, which means that for the next three and a half to five and a half years, the market's likely to decline and then it goes back up again. It's a seven to ten year cycle. So if you're thinking about selling in three years, you may want to put it off for seven to ten years. Now, if you want to sell, you know if that's too long a cycle for you. Think about we've got July 4th coming up. Do you have family coming in? We do, ok. So you've got family coming in for July 4th. Think about your home in three and a half years time. Does that same home work for you when you've got the family coming in? Think about thanksgiving in 10 years time. Does that same home work for you when you've got a family coming in, in other words, if it doesn't think about selling it now?
Speaker 1:
I'm not. I'm not one of those agents you know that. You've probably listened to me before that is pushing you to sell your house and get out. At this point I am because we've already crested Right. So last time we went down 30 percent. Maybe this time have you what's your gut feel on the rough value of your house? About nine hundred thousand, nine hundred? Ok, so if we go down just 10 percent, we're talking about ninety thousand dollars. If we go down 20 percent, we're talking about one hundred and eighty thousand dollars. That's a lot of money and that's in three years' time when you're thinking of selling.
Speaker 1:
So you know you may want to sit down with your significant others and you know your family and go. Do we actually think about this now? And right size now? So that would be my advice to you Don't worry about those flaws and everything else you know. Give us a call 828. You know where to get me, rowena Patton, just Google me. I'm all over the flipping place. Give me a call. Let's come in and take a look and we're not going to push you at all. We'll just show you the economic cycle and where you're likely to be at when you're thinking about selling. So sorry, you called in, richard, about the light and dark spaces under your rugs and I gave you a whole other story, but that's where it's important, because you're thinking about selling your home.
Speaker 1:
Those buyers probably backed out using the excuse that you know what do we do with these Brazilian cherry floors. It sounds fantastic, by the way. I'd love to see them and take a look at those floors. We've done so many remodels. Mike here, who's my business partner, also has done a gazillion way more than me remodels and we'll be able to tell you. You know what we can do with those floors realistically, so the next buyers don't back out, because let's not have you have that stigmatized listing again. That would not be good, right? So give us, of course. Of course you have a fantastic day. You doing anything fun for the rest of the day.
Speaker 2:
Oh, we're just traveling around in western North Carolina. I do have one funny story to tell you. Sure, I appreciate all that information and it goes to show how important it is to get a great realtor. The last time we listed, our house did not sell, sell. I don't know if you've ever heard of this, but our realtor suggested we get a little statue of saint joseph yes and bury it upside down on the property somewhere and I just thought that was the most ridiculous thing I'd ever heard of.
Speaker 1:
I've. I've heard it many times from realtors actually, and you know, whatever you have faith in works is all I can say. The power of the mind is very powerful. All I would say to that is all of the things that you feel are very powerful. Get a great agent behind you and, quite honestly, do some preparation. Whether you go with us, we're the only ones that we launched cash cpo across the country. In fact, the book's on amazon now. Just go search rowena pattern on amazon. Um, it starts delivering in a week. It's on there already. It's been on there for 90 days. We've got one week left. It's all about cash cpo. Um, you can search me on amazon and find that it shows the program. We launched it nationwide. We've got 1200 agents doing, whether you use us or not, for that program.
Speaker 1:
Richard, I want you to think about getting the inspection Now. If you do it yourself, obviously you'll have to pay for all this yourself. Get the inspection, get the appraisal, get the preparation done first. That's why CPO cars sell, because the preparation's been done and we're all happy to pay a little bit more because we're getting something that's not a lemon. I want your buyers to trust you, richard. I want you to have that inspection out there, where they look at Richard and they trust Richard because those items have been done. So I really want you to think about that. It's not magic. We don't have to bury anything upside down. We just prepare properly from the get go. Does that sound like it makes sense?
Speaker 2:
It does. I'm so glad I called. I got so much great information. I didn't even know about what you're talking about, with changes in the market over time, so I think next time we decide to sell, we're probably going to contact your team. Fantastic, I think that would make a lot more sense. I really appreciate all the information and learned a lot from listening to you guys.
Speaker 1:
Well, that's great, richard, and quite honestly, give me a call now. I don't mind that you're selling in three years. I've got people I've been working with for 17 years. Give me a call now. I will come in and take a look and we can put it out three years. I have no problem with that at all. But we can sit and do it one-on-one and look at your house and, you know, see what it really needs. You have a fantastic day, my dear, and I hope to see you soon and take a look at those floors and the rest of your beautiful house Wonderful. Thank you so much, of course.