Real Estate News Radio with Rowena Patton

Navigating Senior Living Transitions and Seizing Real Estate Opportunities

• Rowena Patton

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What if the cherished possessions of a lifetime become barriers to a happier future? Join me, Rowena Patton, as I share personal stories and solutions for seniors transitioning to assisted or independent living. We'll navigate the emotional and financial complexities of downsizing, from treasured mementos to homes that hold decades of memories. Discover how strategies like reverse mortgages or my cash CPO offer can alleviate stress and provide financial flexibility, while understanding the urgency created by community waitlists and family gatherings.

Get ready for an insightful update on the Western North Carolina real estate market, where price cuts are painting a picture of an evolving buyer's landscape. As spring approaches, we'll explore how homeowners in key areas around Asheville can stay ahead of market shifts and seize opportunities before the cycle changes. Learn why timing is everything and how to avoid the pitfalls of chasing the market down, armed with a deeper understanding of economic trends and the critical role they play in selling strategies.

Transform your property into a top contender in a competitive market with expert advice on home upgrades and remodeling. From selecting premium materials like granite countertops to financing renovations with no upfront costs, I'll share tactics that can significantly boost your home's value. Whether you're prepping for a sale or adapting a home for senior living, these insights will guide you in making informed decisions. I'll also offer tips from my extensive remodeling experience to help you avoid common pitfalls and connect with reliable contractors, ensuring your home projects are executed flawlessly.

Speaker 1:

This is the Plain English Real Estate Show with your host, Rowena Patton, a show that focuses on the real estate market in terms you can easily understand. Call Rowena now. The number is 240-9962 or 1-800-570-9962. Now here's the English girl in the mountains, the agent that I would trust.

Speaker 2:

Rowena Patton. Hey, sean Hannity here talking with the only real estate agent in your market. I recommend Rowena Patton with All Star Powerhouse. What kind of programs do you offer?

Speaker 3:

You know, sean. Thank you for that question. Have you heard of the cash CPO offer? Lots of people just don't want to go through that hassle of preparing their home or anything else. This brings you a cash offer full market cash offer right away and you don't have to go through those showings. Of course, if you want any of us to do a traditional old-fashioned listing, we're more than happy to do. That. Certainly is worth your while checking out this offer up front and then you take away all the hassle.

Speaker 2:

Great update. Thank you for keeping us informed. Call Rowena Patton right now at 828-333-4483, or online at mountainhomehuntcom. That's mountainhomehuntcom and you can start packing.

Speaker 3:

Well, thank you for that great introduction, sean, and congratulations on your recent engagement over Christmas. Welcome to the Real Estate News Radio Show. I'm Rowena Patton, your friend in real estate, and today we're diving into something of a crucial topic helping seniors transition into assisted or independent living with confidence and financial security Gosh, that last one's a kicker right and also, of course, helping families as well. We all know that downsizing, or right-sizing as I like to call it, and moving into senior living can be stressful, not just for seniors but their families too. Senior living can be stressful, not just for seniors but their families too. And you know it's not just stressful when we're talking about senior living. Any kind of move is stressful.

Speaker 3:

I've done it myself many times, way too many times. I moved from the UK in 1996. I moved to Washington DC and then a brief stint in Los Angeles and then down to Miami Beach, actually back to DC, and then. So maybe I didn't have quite so much stuff, although when I came across from the UK I made the poor decision to ship lots of sofas and chairs and stuff and things across from the UK and I had no idea what kind of journey that was going to be. It was all crated up and sent across to Annapolis Some very good friends of mine. We got a U-Haul and went to Annapolis and tied in some crab eating on the way, which made it fun. But oh my gosh, when I saw the crate and what it took to get that crate open and everything out, and the amount of money that I spent to ship all of that stuff across and then have it in a house in DC, it just it didn't make sense. I wish I'd known that before I did it. Of course, and one of the main things for me is I was taking all my memories with me. So all my grandma's old little China things half of them were broken, broken. I had that little cottage set that she had and these days I realized that she was sitting up there saying what on earth up there in the sky that would be she'd passed at that time. She was sitting up there saying what on earth are you doing, taking all that stuff and things and my broken china with you? Let it go, girl, go live your life, and I wish I'd known that at the time. It would have saved me a lot.

Speaker 3:

I know a lot of people who are moving themselves, are thinking about selling their home, moving on to somewhere else the next chapter, whatever that looks like are struggling with that. You know, really struggling with how to let go of those things. I get it. So back to the seniors.

Speaker 3:

Many of them are only offered 70% or less. I heard of one recently that was 50% of their home's value. It's usually through investor-based solutions. What does that mean? There are investors out there. I can find you plenty that will give you 50 or 60% for your home and, believe it or not, a lot of people do that because they just don't know what else to do and they don't want to go through the stress of selling a home. They don't want to sign outside. Maybe they need the money really quickly. There are other ways you can do it.

Speaker 3:

So the reason in the senior case that many of the seniors have been jumping on this in the past before our offer that gives over two-thirds of seniors more money, or anybody else, for that matter, that wants to use this product and it's often because a lot of these communities have long, long wait lists and once your spot comes up, you're lucky if you get two weeks. Honestly, you have to jump on it Now. People are also doing reverse mortgages because of this, because the vast majority of seniors hey, let's be honest, the vast majority of most of us have the majority of our money locked up in our house. So what happens is, you know, you've probably for years been thinking about senior living. Or if you're the kids, the 50, 60, 70 year old kids of the senior that you're helping, you're probably going on tours of these communities for years. It's kind of like moving to another city. You know you might not move right away. You might book a visit for the spring. You know lots of people are coming to Asheville in the mountains and spring to just take a look around and see whether they want that second home in Asheville or want to move to Asheville. That's happening all over the country. So you've probably done your research for the senior living communities for years.

Speaker 3:

Finally, you make the decision. That usually comes or not always, but it's much more likely to come after a holiday. Why? Because everybody sits around at Hanukkah, at Christmas, at spring break, at Easter, at July 4th Think of all those holidays when the family gets together and maybe the senior person in your family can't make it. Maybe you go to the senior person in your family and you realize that you've had years of flying in or driving in or being there at one o'clock in the morning to help out.

Speaker 3:

And obviously, as we get older, more things tend to happen. I know 30 year olds who say, well, I'm getting old because their knees are hurting right. So as you get older it's just a natural progression of life More things tend to go wrong with your body. So often the case for going into a community is triggered by an accident. Maybe your senior has a fall, maybe they pull a knee out or a hip out or something like that. That's usually what triggers it. So everybody then gets together at the holidays and says mom, you know what? I really want you to think about this. It could be really fun for you. You're not going to be sitting home alone anymore, I'm not going to be worrying about you so much, and it's just something I want you to take a look at.

Speaker 2:

Hey, sean Hannity here talking with the only real estate agent in your market. I recommend Rowena Patton with All Star Powerhouse. What kind of programs do you offer?

Speaker 3:

You know, sean. Thank you for that question. Have you heard of the cash CPO offer? Lots of people just don't want to go through that hassle of preparing their home or anything else. This brings you a cash offer full market cash offer right away and you don't have to go through those showings. Of course, if you want any of us to do a traditional old-fashioned listing, we're more than happy to do. That certainly is worth your while checking out this offer up front and then you take away all the hassle.

Speaker 2:

great update. Thank you for keeping us informed. Call Rowena Patton right now at 828-333-4483, or online at mountainhomehuntcom. That's mountainhomehuntcom and you can start packing.

Speaker 3:

Thanks, Short and you know we even have the services whereby we can help you with that packing. So now the family's gotten together and the decision has been made and we go to the particular community. We want to go in and realize that they have a year-long wait list. Well, how can you sell your house when there's a year-long wait list and there's no guarantees that it's going to be a year? The sad fact is that the reason an opportunity comes up in a community is because somebody passes and although the insurance underwriters will tell you they know exactly what day we're going to go to the pearly gates on that, we can't determine exactly when that date's going to be. So, as the senior, you're on that wait list and finally it's going to come up. But how do you know when that's going to be? Are you going to risk listing your house a month before that spot is supposed to come up? What happens if you sell it?

Speaker 3:

It's just a very, very difficult transition done in the traditional way. Anything that's time bound. In real estate, it can be very difficult. What do I mean by time bound? Maybe you want to move to a different part of the country, maybe you want to move down the street, but you've got a deadline on that. You start a new job or you want to be by the grandkids and you want it now, darn it, because they're getting bigger, or anything that's time bound can be very, very difficult because, A you don't know when your home is going to sell and, b that deadline may shift. Here's another example when you're building a home, it's notorious for those dates to shift. When you're building a home and the it's notorious for those dates to shift when you're building a home, why? Because of the weather, because of materials coming in all kinds of things can happen. Maybe there's a port that's held up and the materials can't get in. Maybe the materials have doubled in price all kinds of things can happen that push out that date. Maybe the builder has a staffing shortage, maybe they can't get the workers in or they've lost a crew or something like that. So how do you know when to sell your home? Well, through this program, through the cash GPO, whether you're moving into senior living or building a home or anything else, that takes all that time pressure off the table and we're going to go into exactly how it works as well.

Speaker 3:

The thing that worries me with seniors is we're at the end of our life. On average, a senior and this is a hard one to hear a senior lives in a community for 29 months. That's when they use our program. It's 25 months when they don't, because it takes that much longer to sell their home and they're going through three, four, five months of stress selling the home as they clear things out and then just the stress of people coming into the home and a sign outside and a lockbox and the realtors coming in. Especially when you're up there in years. It's not so much fun to jump up it. Quite frankly, it's not fun for any of us to jump up and get out of our homes and keep it show ready all the time and remember we're going after that waitlist spot with now you know you can imagine what that feels like. So it's even more important as the market shifts towards a buyer's market. What's a buyer's market?

Speaker 3:

I wanted to give you a quick update on the market in Western North Carolina. I like to use price cuts. Why do I like to use price cuts? Because they are a leading indicator. It's a bit late when you finally see that prices are going down to then think about putting your house on the market. Of course, it's never a bad time to put your house on the market, but sometimes it gets harder. It's better to look out now and watch the market and look for those indicators that have you saying maybe we are in for a decline.

Speaker 3:

So here's some numbers for you. I'm going for the red ones on the map and, by the way, I can do this for anywhere in the country. I've got hundreds of thousands of data points on every zip code there is and it shows all kinds of different data, from home price forecasts to whether they're overvalued or not, cap rate. That's something that people who are investors use Population growth, price cuts. So it's looking at lots of different factors, but the price cut one is easy. That means that if you're in Asheville right now, there are more price cuts than usual on the listings. Right now there are more price cuts than usual on the listings. You can make your own thinking about what that means. I mean you can make up your own result or conclusion from that.

Speaker 3:

So here we are in 28748, for example. That's west of Asheville, that's in the red zone, with a quarter of the listings having a price cut. Now, where these areas are smaller, 28748 is a pretty big zip code where these areas are smaller or there aren't many listings. That gives you a smaller data point, but this one's pretty big one. And then we've got 28701, which is kind of wood fin, and just to the north a little bit, 25%, another quarter of the listings. Now that's more than it was before. That's gone up.

Speaker 3:

More people I would say to that, more people are saying you know what? I think the market's having a correction, therefore, which is very smart, by the way. We're going to get ahead of it now and get our home sold, especially as the point in time we're at, we're about a month to two months ahead of that busier spring market. Now, whether it's going to be as busy as last year or busier, we don't know yet because we're not there. We can predict anything, but look at the predictions for the election. They get those wrong too. So and these are obviously on small numbers, so you just don't know where it's going.

Speaker 3:

But you can say that generally, more people in 28748, which is that west side of Asheville, northwest of Asheville more people there are more concerned or suddenly need to move more urgently. So a quarter of them have price cuts. I've seen the number much higher than that too. And then we go over to west of that 28721 maybe people are looking at what's next door. That's got Clyde at the bottom. That's nearly 20%. So one in five of the listings have a price cut. Again, that's up more than usual. Waynesville is another one, so that's nearly 23% in terms of price cuts. So again, that's almost a quarter of them, and I'd advise anybody that needs to get their home sold get out in front of this. That's how you do it. Another one on here Maggie Valley. That's fairly high as well, at 21%. There's lots of bluer areas as well 28806, 20%. That's the number of price cuts over the number of listings that are out there. 28805, that's East Asheville. That's at about 20%. Black Mountain is about 19% in terms of the listings that have price cuts.

Speaker 3:

So if you need to get it sold, guys, get out ahead of it. Don't wait for the spring market. There'll be more homes coming on the market. You don't want to be what we call chasing the market down. It's absolutely not where you want to be.

Speaker 3:

We've been a seller's market for quite some years, one of the longest stretches in history, actually Economic cycle, clément Juglar. You've all heard me say it a million times. Clément Juglar, french economist, in 1860, set the nature of the economic cycle. So it goes up, it comes down. It goes up, it comes down. Think about those stock market cycles that you see. The cycle is 7 to 11 years In most markets. All over the USA we have crested and we're starting to see prices coming down. There are a few markets where that's not happening. That's a whole other show for another day. But in most markets prices are either stabilized or they're coming down.

Speaker 3:

Now why is that important if you've got something that's time bound? Here's why Because a buyer's market is where the power is in the hands of the buyer. There's more homes coming on the market, so it's just a basic principle of supply and demand. When there are more homes on the market, they're going to be less expensive. I know I'm not shocking anybody there by saying that they're going to be less expensive. And the buyers, naturally, are going to go for the newest, shiniest home, the one with the least problems, the one where they feel they're getting the most bang for the buck. And of course, it's got to meet the other criteria. It's got to be in the neighborhood. They want the school district, they want the area they want, the village, the town, the city. They want how many far blocks back from the beach that they want.

Speaker 3:

However, because there's more homes coming on the market, there are usually more than just your home to choose from. That's what drives prices down, because if you've got three homes to choose from before, you know we had very few homes on the market when it was a seller what we call a seller's market, which has been four years. That's why we're getting all those multiple offers. Two or three years ago yes, it's really that long ago. Can you believe that? So as we shift and and there is more choice in homes there, naturally any buyer would choose a home. Unless they're trying to make a profit on it, they're an investor and maybe they want to flip it they're going to choose the home that's the best, that best bang for the buck, as long as it meets the other criteria. That is on their must-have list. You know where it's at school district, everything we just went through. So most markets now are taking two or three months to sell on average.

Speaker 3:

So not only that, this increases when the home is not the shiniest, newest thing on the market or it's not easy to show or it's not kept in show-ready condition. I've had sellers before any agent that's done a lot of real estate transactions, has helped a lot of families, has had examples of where the seller is cancelling the showing at the last minute. You know it's sort of difficult to get in and if you can't get in and see it you can't sell it right. So you know, if it's hard to show, if it's not the shiniest, newest thing and it's not staged right, if you don't have a very experienced agent behind you, right, if you don't have a very experienced agent behind you, certainly in a flat and declining, declining market and this is not the market to do for sale by owner in. I've had it give it a go. However, you're certainly not going to do that.

Speaker 3:

If you're, you know time bound and you want to grab that spot in senior living, it wouldn't be the the best advice in that scenario, obviously. So commonly a senior's home may be somewhat dated. It may be built in 1980. They may have been there, can you believe, from 1980, that'd be 45 years. Isn't that incredible? For those of us who are a little bit older and not 19 anymore, the fact that 1980 is 45 years ago is quite something if it's built in 1980, you may have for my countertops. Nobody wants for my countertops anymore. Sorry, it's hard to hear if you've got for my countertops and I can hear you as a seller saying, oh for my countertops, I've done, it's just great. Yes, you can't put hot pots on them, but all you need is a trivet to put that hot pot on. It's not that hard and they're beautiful. Look at them. They're great, absolutely. But here's the thing For a small investment and with this program we do all of that for you If I go into a home for my countertops and you need to sell it fast and you want to make a bit more money for it, right?

Speaker 3:

So if I go into a neighborhood and I see that we've got homes that are selling at $500,000, $600,000 and they have granite or quartz even granite has become dated now Can you believe that A lot of people are looking for quartz for all kinds of reasons? Actually, it's a whole other show too. I've done a whole show on that. So if I'm going into a home, a senior home and it's got formica, I am going to advise to switch those out. That sounds horrendous, right? Well, guess what? If you're not in the home, you don't have to deal with it at all.

Speaker 3:

But it could easily make not only a fifty thousand dollar, twenty five thousand dollar difference on the sale of your home and it's a three to five thousand dollar investment, depending on what we choose, how big the calendar. Obviously there's a big variance there. But for five grand we can make ten, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty more. Why? Because you are now competing against other homes and they're going to choose that home next door. It may be another $20,000, but remember, most people are getting a mortgage. If you're getting a mortgage and the fact that it's $570,000 instead of $550,000 and it's got new countertops and an upgraded kitchen that just maybe you know white painted cabinets with nice hardware on and european hinges with a soft close, so an average size kitchen. And, by the way, I've got all the contractors anywhere in the country to help you with this.

Speaker 3:

So if you're just thinking of selling your home, you maybe you're not a senior, maybe you are a senior, it doesn't matter and you're thinking of doing your home. Maybe you're not a senior, maybe you are a senior, it doesn't matter and you're thinking of doing some upgrades and you want to do all of this yourself. We'll help you with the contractors. We've got the contractors to do this anywhere in the country, so I always like to err on the side of not being conservative when I'm estimating things. Write down $5,000 for you, granite. If you're in a tiny kitchen in a condo or something like that, it's not going to be that much. It might be $2,000. Just write down $5,000. That gives you a big choice variance. And then I want you to get with your real estate agent and look at whether there's a variance in the price of homes. If you're in a condo, that can get very tricky because a condo or you know many of the condos are the same. You've got three choices in the condo building and that tends to keep prices, not always, but most often tends to keep prices not flat, but within a tight variance. In other words, if you sell a condo for $350,000, it's hard to get $450,000 for a condo that's upgraded. Does that make sense? Because you could go in and upgrade it for a lot less and it's the same.

Speaker 3:

Condo with houses is a little bit different. Most neighborhoods, even the 80s neighborhoods, had at least six different house types. Sometimes they have basements that are not finished. I did one a couple of years ago that had a basement spent, spent $75,000. I know you're rolling your eyes out there like who's got $75,000 to finish the basement. I did that because I knew the home would sell around $425,000 as is, without the doubling the square footage. All the floors needed doing anyway. Anyway. The kitchen needed a major upgrade, all the walls needed painting, everything else. Well, gosh, darn it. We sold that house for six hundred fifty thousand dollars. And now how did I take the risk to do that? Because there was a house in the neighborhood that sold for six hundred fifty thousand dollars. What was the difference between that house and mine? Um, the other house was twice as big and for 75. I mean, obviously that would be a major profit for you, correct?

Speaker 3:

Now it's the other thing. You don't have to do that. We can do it for you through this program with the funding partners up front. Now, same thing if you're going into senior living. It works the same way. We can get you out in as short as two weeks. Guys, you get up to up to 70% on your first check. Well, wait, that's sounding like one of those investor cash offers that I talked about before. I know two-thirds of our sellers make more money than with a conventional listing Because of how this works.

Speaker 3:

We go in, we do the HGTV magic. We've got a funding partner that provides all the money for this. I don't know how long this program is going to last. You guys Take advantage of it while it's out there, because it almost seems to be too good to be true, right? And they've been doing it since 2017. This is not new. That's eight years now, right? And thousands of homes, thousands of homes through this. So really think about it, because you can make a lot more money for your home without doing all of this.

Speaker 3:

And if you don't want to go through the program and you just need a contractor because you think some of these ideas are good ideas and you know that your home needs a little love and care, we've got the contractors for you anywhere in the country. So just hit us up or send you a list of them. We will even even most of us as realtors, certainly all the people in the listing royalty network around the country and in canada as well, most of them have what we call crms relationship database management systems where we're able to communicate back and forward. We can we can text mass text 10 or 20 contractors or plumbers or electricians or painters and say please give our client a call at this number. You know how hard it is to get hold of a GC.

Speaker 3:

All of you who I hear this every single day, those of you who are trying to remodel or get something done in the yard or anything at all especially as in many parts of the country, spring is the busy selling season Just get it on now, guys. Don't wait. You're literally setting yourself up to make less money because there's more competition once you get it on spring. Don't do that, but that's a whole other show that I've done many times. Don't wait. Time is not your friend right now. Because of what's happening in the market. As more homes come on in the spring, that's gonna get even tougher.

Speaker 3:

So if you need anything doing anywhere in the country, hit us up. We'll actually have them call you. I have sellers say to me things like I can't, I can't believe it. I've been trying to get hold of someone to do xyz for six months. These people just don't call me back and then you call another one that you're fed up with it and think, well, if they're that busy they can't do the job for me. We'll have two or three people calling you that day. So just reach out to us, 828-333-4483, anywhere in the country. You don't have to be in the mountains. You might be in florida or california or toronto or anywhere else. We can help you, for it doesn't cost anything. We'll just have those contractors call you. It's uh, it's pretty easy now. If you've got something that's you know, wacky, doodle and very unusual, hey, we'll give it a go with that too. It's all good. So here we are, shifting towards a buyer's market and in many cases, in many places, we're already in the buyer's market. That's the news, right? So the time it takes to sell increases when it isn't that newest home on the market.

Speaker 3:

Most of us don't want to go through the pain in the butt that it is to do those upgrades and, quite honestly, unless you're doing it yourself and you're very fast most of you haven't remodeled. I've remodeled 42 homes. So you know, I've got my system down, I've got the speed there, I've got the people I use use. I've done it in miami, I've done it in san diego, I've done it in ashville, north carolina, I've done it in dc, probably a few more places. I'm not even thinking of right now the uk. Back when I was in the uk, I did three of them in the uk, so I've got my systems down.

Speaker 3:

I know what I'm doing. I know how to get the right bang for the buck. I know how to remodel a kitchen on a budget and yet put all the things in that somebody, even the luxury grade, would want. I'll give you an example of that. We can switch out hinges. Listen, guys, if you're like, oh, I heard this thing on the radio show that I can switch out my European hinges those are the ones that slot in the hole on the back of the door to the soft close ones and they'll only cost me about a hundred bucks to do my entire kitchen. That's true, but I'll give you a little tip, because we've all made these mistakes. That's what I mean about when you know what you're doing. You've already made the mistakes and learned from them, right?

Speaker 3:

So don't just jump into a project like this and think, oh, I'm going to spruce up my house to get it sold. Here's why You're going to have a and I've seen this so many times too you're going to have a bathroom that's ripped out, and the contractors will be like, yeah, we can get it done in three days and weeks later it's not finished. How are you going to sell your home when that's ripped out or not ready? So be really, really careful, careful, or you'll order the hinges. Because you've heard it on the show today.

Speaker 3:

Guess what? There are 12, 14 different sizes of those hinges. You have to, you have to pull one out. You have to take your screwdriver, get, take your power drill, get that hinge out. Look on the back of it. It's got a number on it. And when I say soft close, by the way, that's when you open you know how you'd open the door and they go blank when I should go and open one here so you can hear it. But you know what I'm talking about. It slams back shut. People really like the soft close doors and it's so inexpensive to do this. But there's a number on the back of that hinge.

Speaker 3:

If you didn't know that and you wait a week for the hinges to come and then you realize they don't fit in, it's very frustrating. You got to send them back and everything else. So just know that if you're going to make that little change, that makes a big difference. That kind of thing is happening now. Take that knowledge and apply it across the countertops. Apply it across appliances maybe you even need appliances taking it across how to paint cabinets so that they don't, so that they look like brand new cabinets. Take it across the right kind of hardware on the cabinet doors. Take it across the right kind of faucet to put in the sink. Take it across the right kind of sink to get, or the waste disposal to get, so, and that's just a kitchen. Imagine all the rest of it.

Speaker 3:

So don't bite off more than you can chew, especially right now with the upgrades on your home, because we're in a declining market in terms of pricing. Of course, you know it's like wow, wow, wow. No, it isn't Not. If you're buying something because you want to buy it at a lower price, there's a lot of buyers that have been sitting on the fence for a long time. Why? Interest rates, of course, and there wasn't much choice out there, and you feel like you're jumping into something without much choice and you're just waiting for something else to come on the market. Meanwhile, especially if you're renting, you're paying somebody else's mortgage for them.

Speaker 3:

Don't be in that situation. Let's get you in a house, especially if you intend to be in the long haul. Um, all history shows, and there's never any guarantees in life, apart from death and taxes, as we know. Um, in 10 years time, your home will be worth considerably more than it is now. Now, for the next three and a half to five and a half years, not so, depending on what market you live in, but the vast majority of the country that is not.

Speaker 3:

So we're in a declining market, so I don't want you going out and taking on a project that you haven't done in 10 years. Oh, I can do a kitchen. I did one 10 years ago and then she goes. Honey, it was actually 20 years ago when we were in miami. Don't bite off more than you can chew, because it might take you longer than you think, and each month.

Speaker 3:

So the worst decline we had was I think it was in August of 2007,. It may have been 2008, where we dropped 0.9%. Now that doesn't sound much, but it was almost 1%. So drop 1% for 10 months and see what that looks like. So if you're in a $500,000 home and that's the average in many markets now is a $500,000 home, so it's only 5,000. Honey, we're only losing 5,000. How about? In 10 months that's 50,000? How about it continues over a year and a half and that's 100,000? And we know we had those drops right.

Speaker 3:

So in most of the country we went down between 30 and 33%. Some markets went down more. So take that 30% and make that worst case scenario right. I'm that worst case scenario girl. If I can deal with the worst case scenario, I can deal with anything. That's how I feel, because you know, at the end of the day, if I've got let's say I've got a $600,000, I'm trying to make the math easy here a $600,000 home and I'm looking, I'm going to make it 33% because a lot of places I'm really doing that to make the math easier, but in a lot of places it did go down 33%. So that's a third right. So my $600,000 home back in the day when it dropped to the base, in that 2007 drop, when it started to drop, my home was now worth $400,000. Here's the other problem and this is looking at history right. This has gone on over and over again in history.

Speaker 2:

Hey, sean Hannity here talking with the only real estate agent in your market. I recommend Rowena Patton with All Star Powerhouse. Now more than ever, buyers and sellers need an expert to navigate this ever-changing market. And what do you do to stand out?

Speaker 3:

You know I got into real estate in 2007. I've had a lot of experience all of the way down and I sold more homes than anybody else. And I did that through experience, marketing, negotiation, and in today's market you need that experience more than ever. Agents for the last two or three years really haven't learned a whole lot about anything that's difficult about the market, Because you could just stick a sign outside the door and put a lockbox on the door and boom, it's gone tomorrow with three multiple offers. That is not the market we're in anymore.

Speaker 2:

Call Rowena Patton right now at 828-333-4483 or online at mountainhomehuntcom.

Speaker 3:

I always like to err on the side of not being conservative when I'm estimating things. So write down $5,000 for you, granite. If you're in a tiny kitchen in a condo or something like that, it's not going to be that much. It might be $2,000. Just write down $5,000. That gives you a big choice variance. And then I want you to get with your real estate agent and look at whether there's a variance in the price of homes. If you're on a condo, that can get very tricky because many of the condos are the same. You've got three choices in the condo building and that tends to keep prices, not always, but most often tends to keep prices not flat but within a tight variance. In other words, if you sell a condo for $350,000, it's hard to get $450,000 for a condo that's upgraded. Does that make sense? Because you could go in and upgrade it for a lot less and it's the same condo.

Speaker 3:

With houses it's a little bit different. Most neighborhoods, even the 80s neighborhoods, had at least six different house types. Sometimes they have basements that are not finished. I did one a couple of years ago that had a basement spent $75,000. I know you're rolling your eyes out there like who's got $75,000 to finish the basement. I did that because I knew the home would sell around $425,000 as is, without the doubling the square footage. All the floors needed doing anyway. The kitchen needed a major upgrade, all the walls needed painting, everything else. Well, gosh darn it, we sold that house for $650,000.

Speaker 3:

And now, how did I take the risk to do that? Because there was a house in the neighborhood that sold for $650,000. What was the difference between that house and mine? The other house was twice as big and for 75,. I mean, obviously that would be a major profit for you, correct? Now it's the other thing. You don't have to do that. We can do it for you through this program with the funding partners up front. Now, same thing if you're going into senior living. It works the same way. We can get you out in as short as two weeks. Guys, you get up to 70% on your first check. Well, wait, that's sounding like one of those investor cash offers that I talked about before.

Speaker 3:

I know two thirds of our sellers make more money than with a conventional listing because of how this works. We go in, we do the HGTV magic. We've got a funding partner that provides all the money for this. I don't know how long this program is going to last. You guys Take advantage of it while it's out there, because it almost seems to be too good to be true, and they've been doing it since 2017. This is not new. That's eight years now and thousands of homes, thousands of homes, through this. So really think about it, because you can make a lot more money for your home without doing all of this.

Speaker 3:

And if you don't want to go through the program and you just need a contractor because you think some of these ideas are good ideas and you know that your home needs a little love and care, we've got the contractors for you anywhere in the country, so just hit us up or send you a list of them. We will. Even most of us as realtors, certainly all the people in the listing royalty network around the country and in canada as well most of them have what we call crms relationship database management systems where we're able to communicate back and forward. We can text mass text 10 or 20 contractors or promos or electricians or painters and say please give our client a call at this number. You know how hard it is to get hold of a GC. All of you who I hear this every single day.

Speaker 3:

Those of you who are trying to remodel or get something done in the yard or anything at all especially as in many parts of the country, spring is the busy selling season Just get it on now, guys. Don't wait. You're literally setting yourself up to make less money because there's more competition once you get it on in spring. Don't do that, but that's a whole other show that I've done many times. Don't wait. Time is not your friend right now because of what's happening in the market as more homes come on in the spring, that's going to get even tougher.

Speaker 3:

So if you need anything doing anywhere in the country, hit us up. We'll actually have them call you. I have sellers say to me things like I can't believe it. I've been trying to get hold of someone to do X, y, z for six months. These people just don't call me back. And then you call another one that you're fed up with it and think well, if they're that busy they can't do the job for me. We'll have two or three people calling you that day. So just reach out to us 828-333-4483.

Speaker 3:

Anywhere in the country. You don't have to be in the mountains. You might be in Florida or California or Toronto or anywhere else, we can help you. It doesn't cost anything. We'll just have those contractors call you. It's pretty easy. Now, if you've got something that's you know, wacky, doodle and very unusual, hey, we'll give it a go with that too. It's all good. So here we are shifting towards a buyer's market and in many cases, in many places, we're already in a buyer's market. That's the news, right? So the time it takes to sell increases when it isn't that shiniest, newest home on the market.

Speaker 3:

Most of us don't want to go through the pain in the butt that it is to do those upgrades and, quite honestly, unless you're doing it yourself and you're very fast most of you haven't remodeled. I've remodeled 42 homes, so you know I've got my system down. I've got the speed there, I've got the people I use. I've done it in Miami, I've done it in San Diego, I've done it in Asheville, north Carolina, I've done it in DC, probably a few more places. I'm not even thinking of right now the UK. Back when I was in the UK I did three of them in the UK. So I've got my systems down. I know what I'm doing. I know how to get the right bang for the buck. I know how to remodel a kitchen on a budget and yet put all the things in that somebody, even the luxury grade, would want.

Speaker 3:

I'll give you an example of that. We can switch out hinges. Listen, guys, if you're like, oh, I heard this thing on the radio show that I can switch out my European. Guys, if you're like, oh, I heard this thing on the radio show that I can switch out my european hinges, those are the ones that slot in the hole on the back of the door to the soft close ones, and it'll only cost me about 100 bucks to do my entire kitchen. That's true. But I'll give you a little tip, because we've all made these mistakes. That's what I mean about when you know what you're doing. You've already made the mistakes and learned from them, right? So don't just jump into a project like this and think, oh, I'm going to spruce up my house to get it sold. Here's why You're going to have a and I've seen this so many times too no-transcript.

Speaker 3:

You have to. You have to pull one out. You have to take your screwdriver, get, take your power drill, get that hinge out. Look on the back of it. It's got a number on it. And when I say soft close, by the way, that's when you open. You know how you open the door and they go blank. When I should go and open one here so you can hear it. But you know what I'm talking about it. It slams back shut. People really like the soft closed doors and it's so inexpensive to do this. But there's a number on the back of that hinge.

Speaker 3:

If I, if you didn't know that, and you wait a week for the hinges to come and then you realize they don't fit in, it's very frustrating. You got to send them back and everything else. So just know that if you're going to make that little change, that makes a big difference. That kind of thing is happening now. Take that knowledge and apply it across the countertops. Apply it across appliances maybe you even need appliances. Taking it across how to paint cabinets so that they don't, so that they look like brand new cabinets. Take it across the right kind of hardware to put on the doors uh, on the cabinet doors. Take it across the right kind of force it to put in the sink. Take it across the right kind of faucet to put in the sink. Take it across the right kind of sink to get, or the waste disposal to get, and that's just a kitchen. Imagine all the rest of it.

Speaker 3:

So don't bite off more than you can chew, especially right now with the upgrades on your home, because we're in a declining market in terms of pricing. Of course, you know it's like wah, wah, wah. No, it isn't not. If you're buying something because you want to buy it at a lower price, there's a lot of buyers that have been sitting on the fence for a long time. Why? Interest rates, of course, and there wasn't much choice out there, and you feel like you're jumping into something without much choice and you're just waiting for something else to come on the market. Meanwhile, especially if you're renting, you're paying somebody else's mortgage for them. Don't be in that situation. Let's get. Let's get you in a house, especially if you intend to be in the long haul.

Speaker 3:

Um, all history shows, and there's never any guarantees in life, apart from death and taxes, as we know. Um, in 10 years time, your home will be worth considerably more than it is now. Now, for the next three and a half to five and a half years, not so depending on what market you live in, but the vast majority of the country. That is not. So we're in a declining market, so I don't want you going out and taking on a project that you haven't done in 10 years oh, I can do a kitchen, I did one 10 years ago and then she goes. Honey, it was actually 20 years ago when we were in Miami. Don't bite off more than you can chew, because it might take you longer than you think, and each month.

Speaker 3:

So the worst decline we had was I think it was in August of 2007. It may have been 2008, where we dropped 0.9%. Now that doesn't sound much, but it was almost 1%. So drop 1% for 10 months and see what that looks like. So if you're in a $500,000 home and that's the average in many markets now is a $500,000 home so it's only 5,000. We're only losing 5,000. How about in 10 months? That's 50,000. How about it continues over a year and a half and that's 100,000.

Speaker 3:

And we know we had those drops right. So in most of the country we went down between 30 and 33%. Some markets went down more. So take that 30% and make that worst case scenario right. I'm that worst case scenario girl. If I can deal with the worst case scenario, I can deal with anything. That's how I feel, because you know, at the end of the day, if I've got let's say I've got a $600,000, I'm trying to make the math easy here a $600,000 home and I'm looking, I'm going to make it 33%, because a lot of places I'm really doing that to make the math easier, but in a lot of places it did go down 33%. So that's a third right. So my $600,000 home back in the day when it dropped to the base, in that 2007 drop, when it started to drop, my home was now worth $400,000.

Speaker 2:

Hey, sean Hannity here talking with the only real estate agent in your market. I recommend Rowena Patton with All Star Powerhouse. You know it's more important than ever that you have your house in top condition when you sell it. Can you give some suggestions on how to do that?

Speaker 3:

You know, it's always important to get your home in top condition. You've probably heard of a certified pre-owned car, a CPO car. They've been around for 30 years. We all pay 3% to 5% more for a CPO car, so why are we throwing house on the market when we don't know what is wrong with it? We're not fixing anything, which is fine. We can just disclose those things. By the way, it's always always important to make sure that it's prepared properly. That's why I started cpoexpertscom back in 2007. It's more valuable today than ever great update.

Speaker 2:

thank you for keeping us informed. Call Rowena Patton right now at 828-333-4483 or online at mountainhomehuntcom.

Speaker 3:

Now I want to give you some examples of people that we've worked with that have chosen the Senior Living CPO program. I've changed the names for obvious reasons and giving you the overview of their choices. So there's Joan, who's 74, and she's an active senior and a widow who feels isolated in her home and she moved into independent living where now she's got all these new friendships, daily activities and obviously that maintenance-free lifestyle. And now there's David and Mary with health challenges, and David's 82 and Mary's 80, and they can no longer care for each other at home and they've moved into assisted living for that daily support and just to take that stress away. We've got Richard, who's 78, who is in recovery. So after breaking his hip, he needs some short-term rehab, which is also very common so he moved into a skilled nursing facility where he regains his independence.

Speaker 3:

Sometimes people choose not to go back in their own home. At that point I'm actually helping a couple whose mother is in that situation right now. I helped them sell the house a gazillion years ago and now mom is going into a senior living community and they've asked me to help with that and getting her home sold just in the last week. Then we've got Margaret, who's 81, moving into a memory care community. Margaret has Alzheimer's and her son, jason, can no longer care for her alone at home. It can be very, very difficult and also can be very hard on your health as the caregiver. It's very, very common for the caregiver to get heart problems, certainly stress and depression, and just finding it really hard being a caregiver. Not everybody's built for that. I'm not sure anybody's built for that, quite honestly.

Speaker 3:

And then there's John, who just wanted maintenance-free living. He's 70 years old, he's active, he's just tired of home maintenance. So we found him a 55-plus communities. They are out there. We've got agents in the Listing Royalty Network who can help you all over the country. So now he plays golf, he travels, he enjoys that vibrant lifestyle. He's 70 years old, he's not 170. And while we're, when we're younger we may think 70 is a long way off and um, it's really old. But guess what, when you're 70 it doesn't always feel that way. So then we've got Sam and Linda and they're just downsizing which I like to call right-sizing for affordability, and they needed a lower-cost option. So they chose senior cooperative housing and that reduces expenses while staying independent. These aren't available everywhere in the country but they are available in some places. We've got Evelyn, who's 85, who wanted a faith-based community where she was at. After losing her husband, she sought a place that had that spiritual connection. So she moved into a faith-based senior living community and gets that comfort and purpose.

Speaker 4:

No matter what the media says about the housing market or the bad advice that comes from people who know little to nothing about real estate, life happens and there are times you have to sell your home.

Speaker 5:

Here's what you should do. I'd talk to our friend Rowena Patton of All Star Powerhouse.

Speaker 4:

She's extremely knowledgeable and she's an expert in the Asheville North Carolina area.

Speaker 5:

Rowena Patton is like the guidance counselor of real estate.

Speaker 4:

When life happens, it's great to know you have an experienced local agent who has dealt with situations like yours before, someone who sells more than 10 or 15 homes a year. As a real estate investor, I prefer local knowledge as a resource that you can rely on.

Speaker 5:

Find out how much your home's worth in today's market. No need for lengthy interviews and long wait times. Just go to the website and get your home's value in seconds. You'll probably find your home is worth more than you thought.

Speaker 4:

Rowena can even give you an instant cash offer on your home.

Speaker 5:

Don't hesitate, contact Rowena Patton's all-star powerhouse. Visit mountainhomehuntcom. That's mountainhomehuntcom.

Speaker 3:

That's a wrap for today's show and thank you so much for tuning in. I'm so proud of you for investing the time to learn more about selling your home or helping someone else in your life, whether they're a senior or not, navigate this really important and sometimes very stressful transition. With information comes power, and when you realize that you're in the driver's seat equipped with the right knowledge to make smart, intelligent decisions, this next chapter will be a whole lot less stressful and you'll walk away with more money in your pocket to previous shows on topics like selling your home, remodeling your home and what to do if you're building a home, and many more helpful topics at realestatenewsradiocom. That's realestatenewsradiocom. I really appreciate you spending this time with me on the radio and I can't wait to be back with you next week. Same time, same place. See you on the you next week.

Speaker 1:

Same time, same place. See you on the radio next week. This has been the Plain English Real Estate Show with Rowena Patton. Visit Rowena and post your questions at RadioAshevillecom or call her at 828-210-1648.

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Rowena Patton, NC, FL, DC, CA

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