It's NOT what you SELL for, it's what you KEEP - Deanna Allen

If a buyer offered you $600,000 but you’d pocket $500,000, would you still take it over $575,000 that nets you $520,000? That simple question exposes a trap many home sellers fall into: obsessing over sale price while ignoring net proceeds. I’m Deanna Allen hosts today: "I’m sharing the tool we rely on to help homeowners make smarter, calmer real estate decisions: a four-option net sheet comparison."

We break down why two sellers can close at the same price and walk away with totally different results. Closing costs, mortgage payoff, repairs, buyer concessions, carrying costs, time on market, and even the risk of a deal falling apart can quietly erase “top dollar.” We also talk about a reality most people don’t plan for: once inspections happen, many contracts hit turbulence, leading to re-trades, credits, or worse, a canceled deal right when your move is already in motion.

Then we lay out four clear home selling options: for sale by owner, the traditional listing process, conventional Certified Pre-Owned (CPO), and Cash CPO. You’ll hear how CPO flips the script by identifying issues up front through a pre-inspection, helping reduce surprises and improve certainty to closing. We also cover why Cash CPO can be a game changer for sellers who need flexibility, speed, or peace of mind, including relocations, inherited properties, and seniors transitioning to assisted living.

If you’re thinking about selling a house, don’t start with “What’s my home worth?” Start with “What are my options?” Subscribe for more practical real estate guidance, share this with a homeowner who’s weighing a move, and leave a review with the question you want us to tackle next.

Transcript

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Welcome And The Big Question

SPEAKER_00 0:17

Welcome back to Real Estate News Radio. I'm Deanna Allen, filling in for Rowena Patton, who is out today helping one of her clients find their dream home. As much as we'd love to have her here, helping families make their next move is exactly what we do. So it's a pretty good reason to miss the show. Rowena will be back next week, but in the meantime, I'm excited to spend the next few minutes with you talking about today's topic and sharing some valuable insights that can help homeowners make smarter real estate decisions. So grab a cup of coffee, settle in, and let's get started.

Sale Price Versus Net Proceeds

SPEAKER_00 0:50

Let me ask you a question. If you could sell your house for $600,000 and put $500,000 in your pocket, or sell it for $575,000 and put $520,000 in your pocket, which would you choose? Most people immediately say the $520,000 in their pocket. And yet every day, sellers make decisions based on price instead of what they actually keep or net.

The Four Option Net Sheet

SPEAKER_00 1:19

Today we're going to talk about one of the most powerful tools we use with home sellers our for-option net sheet comparison and why understanding your options before you list your home could save you time, stress, and potentially thousands of dollars. One of the first questions that people usually ask me is, Deanna, what's my house worth? And that's a great question, but it's not the most important question. The better question is, what's the best way for me to sell my home? And how much money will I actually walk away with? Because here's the truth. Two sellers can sell their homes for the exact same price and walk away with completely different amounts of money. Why is that? Because sales price is only one piece of the puzzle. You also have closing costs, mortgage payoff, repairs, buyer concessions, carrying costs, time on the market, and the risk of the deal falling apart. That's why we start with net sheets. When I meet with a home seller, I don't just present one option, I show them four. The first is for sale by owner. The second is what I jokingly call, or we call on our team, grandma's way of selling, the traditional listing process, millions of people have used for decades, right? The third is called conventional certified preount or CPO. And the fourth is cash CPO. Then we sit down at the kitchen table and compare all four side by side, not just price. We're comparing convenience, risk, timeline, certainty, and the estimated net proceeds.

FSBO Workload And Tradeoffs

SPEAKER_00 3:03

So let's start with the option one for sale by owner. Many sellers consider this because they believe that they'll save money. And sometimes they do. But they also become the marketer, the photographer, the scheduler, the negotiator, the transaction coordinator, and a problem solver. They handle every phone call, every showing, every disclosure, every negotiation. And for some people, that's worth it. But for others, it's a full-time job they didn't realize they were signing up for.

Traditional Listing Uncertainty After Inspections

SPEAKER_00 3:38

So next is the traditional traditional listing or grandma's way of listing. Again, nothing wrong with it. This is how homes have been sold for generations. You clean the house, you stage it, you take the photos, you put a sign in the yard, you host open houses, you list it on Zillow, you negotiate offers, then come the inspections, then come the repair requests, then the appraisal. Then hopefully, if all goes well, a successful closing. The process works, but it requires patience and it can also create a lot of uncertainty. Here's something most sellers don't know. Nationally, approximately one out of every three homes that goes under contract experiences some sort of disruption after the inspection takes place. That means renegotiations, repair requests, then you're coming down and offering seller credits. Or in some cases, the buyer walks away entirely. So think about that. You've packed your boxes, you've started planning for your transition, your next move, you've found your next home. And then suddenly the transaction is in jeopardy. That's stressful.

Certified Pre-Owned Lowers Fallout

SPEAKER_00 4:54

That's where conventional CPO becomes so powerful. Certify pre-owned really flips that whole process around. Instead of waiting for the buyer to discover problems, we identify them up front. Your home is pre-inspected. The seller already knows what issues exist if there are any. And there typically are 40 to 50 things on an inspection report, even with a brand new house. The seller then decides what to repair, what to disclose, and how to position the home before it ever hits the market. So the result with that is fewer surprises, fewer renegotiations, and most importantly, a dramatically lower contract fallout rate. Traditional transactions can see a dropout rate of about 33% on average. But with our certified pre-owned process, that actually drops to approximately 7%. That's huge. Because getting under contract is only half the battle. Actually, making it to closing is what matters.

Cash CPO Adds Flexibility

SPEAKER_00 5:59

Now let's talk about cash CPO. This is one of the most exciting options available to sellers today, and they might not even know it. Cash CPO combines the transparency and the confidence of the certified pre-owned process with additional flexibility. For qualified sellers, cash CPO can provide access to certainty now before the home ultimately sells. And what I hear from most clients isn't excitement, it's actually relief. Relief that they finally have options, relief that they don't have to choose between convenience and maximizing value. Relief that they have a plan that they can count on. And this can be especially helpful for seniors transitioning to assisted living, families who are relocating for work, sellers who've inherited a property, homeowners who need funds before their next move and want to put a non-contingent offer on their next property. And people who simply matter of faculty just want some certainty with an offer that comes in they know they can trust.

How To Choose Your Best Option

SPEAKER_00 7:14

So let's talk a little bit about why the net sheet that we mentioned earlier really matters. Here's what I love most. When we create the four-option net sheet comparison, we're not telling you as a homeowner or a seller what to do. We're helping those individuals make an informed decision. So sometimes for sale by owner does make sense. And if that's the case, we've got a guide that can help you get to the closing table. Sometimes a traditional listing is best. People trust in what they know and what that process looks like. Sometimes conventional CPO creates the highest net. And sometimes cash CPO provides the best overall outcome. Ultimately, there isn't one right answer. There's only the right answer for that homeowner. So if you're thinking about selling your home this year, don't start by asking what your house is worth. Start by asking, what are my options? Because it's not what you sell for, it's what you

Compare Offers And Next Steps

SPEAKER_00 8:14

keep. If you'd like to see these four selling strategies to compare for your home, visit cashcpo.com and request your full market offer today. We'll be able to show you side-by-side comparisons wherever you are in the country, looking at for sale by owner, a traditional listing, a conventional certified pre-owned home, and then the Cash CPO offer. So you can choose the path that fits your goals, timeline, and financial needs. I'm Deanna Allen for Real Estate News Radio. Thank you for joining me. And remember, if you're curious about what your home could sell for today and you'd like to compare all the options side by side, head over to CashCPO.com. Take care till next week.