Amy peels back the curtain on her personal journey through the real estate landscape, from the cozy confines of a model home garage office to the vibrant world of new construction sales. As our series unfolds, we're sharing intimate tales, and Amy's story is first on the docket. This episode offers a candid look at the trials and triumphs She has encountered, and promises you'll walk away with a newfound appreciation for the real estate hustle and perhaps a few secrets of the trade.
The real estate market is a complex beast, and this episode dives into its beating heart. We'll navigate through the Midwest's seasonal swings and dissect how life's big events—the 'Ds of real estate'—drive the market in unexpected ways. In our chat, we explore the delicate dance between interest rates and homeowner decisions, and Amy challenges the notion that timing the market is always the wisest move. Get ready to rethink everything you thought you knew about when to buy as we question the conventional wisdom that's been guiding homebuyers for ages.
Have you ever wondered what really goes on behind the scenes with your realtor? We're pulling back the velvet curtain to reveal the intricacies of this pivotal role. From the misunderstood mechanics of realtor fees to the art of negotiating contracts, this conversation is brimming with insights that demystify the industry. We'll also delve into the power of staging and share savvy tips on selling your home that might just lead to a quicker sale and a better offer. So, whether you're dipping your toes into the market or gearing up for your next big investment, let this episode be your guide to the ins and outs of real estate.
Make sure to subscribe to our channel, comment, like, and share!
Amy, Kitty & Stacey
P.S. Isn't our intro music great?! Yah, we think so too. Thank you, Ivy States for "I Got That Wow".
Amy peels back the curtain on her personal journey through the real estate landscape, from the cozy confines of a model home garage office to the vibrant world of new construction sales. As our series unfolds, we're sharing intimate tales, and Amy's story is first on the docket. This episode offers a candid look at the trials and triumphs She has encountered, and promises you'll walk away with a newfound appreciation for the real estate hustle and perhaps a few secrets of the trade.
The real estate market is a complex beast, and this episode dives into its beating heart. We'll navigate through the Midwest's seasonal swings and dissect how life's big events—the 'Ds of real estate'—drive the market in unexpected ways. In our chat, we explore the delicate dance between interest rates and homeowner decisions, and Amy challenges the notion that timing the market is always the wisest move. Get ready to rethink everything you thought you knew about when to buy as we question the conventional wisdom that's been guiding homebuyers for ages.
Have you ever wondered what really goes on behind the scenes with your realtor? We're pulling back the velvet curtain to reveal the intricacies of this pivotal role. From the misunderstood mechanics of realtor fees to the art of negotiating contracts, this conversation is brimming with insights that demystify the industry. We'll also delve into the power of staging and share savvy tips on selling your home that might just lead to a quicker sale and a better offer. So, whether you're dipping your toes into the market or gearing up for your next big investment, let this episode be your guide to the ins and outs of real estate.
Make sure to subscribe to our channel, comment, like, and share!
Amy, Kitty & Stacey
P.S. Isn't our intro music great?! Yah, we think so too. Thank you, Ivy States for "I Got That Wow".
I got that. Wow, who wants some heads right now? We got that. Turn it up loud. I know you're wondering how I got that. Wow, here I go. Here I go, coming. I can never stop. I'm a tour the force running. Give me to the top. I don't need an invitation. I got my thoughts about a celebration Caught you, amy.
Speaker 2:I always love the intro. I love that song. I know I do too. So for our listeners, or any of you who are watching us on YouTube, you will know that there's a little intro that plays and while the music plays and we are technically backstage, but the three of us can see each other and we're all doing this. We love the music. It's a great way. It's always a great way to get started.
Speaker 2:So welcome everyone to another episode of three cocktails in. We are very excited this, uh, today, to be launching a series of three episodes and, um, this just sort of evolved from a little bit of conversation around. You know, we're always having conversation about what are our, what's our list of topics that we're going to cover. We're always looking for your input as well, but we thought, you know what, maybe now that we are 16 episodes in, I think oh my gosh yeah what's four months?
Speaker 2:that's four months yes, we thought maybe this would be a good time to back up a little bit and share a little bit more information about us individually. So that's what we're going to do. We drew straws and Amy drew the short straw and she's going to be on the hot seat today, but we're going to have her share a little bit more information about her career and what she's doing and and then we're just going to kind of have conversation about it and then next week we'll do it again, and then the following week again, so that you can learn a little bit more about each one of us.
Speaker 3:I do feel a little pressure being first and that if it's horrible nobody will listen to number two or number three, so everybody who's? Listening. Right now, raise your right hand. I solemnly swear that I will give number two and number three a try, regardless of how this one goes, oh my gosh, no, it's going to be amazing.
Speaker 2:Yes, it will be fine, yeah, okay, thank you all right in a good um, and one of the reasons we wanted to do this, too, is that we acknowledge that we all have very different uh areas of expertise. So, amy, tell us a little bit about uh, about your career, how you got here, and let's just start there, okay well, I'm a stripper and it's really important that women our age stay out there.
Speaker 1:Really put ourselves out there yeah, I am not.
Speaker 3:I am not that. See, now it's going to be better. I'm a realtor. I sell new construction homes and this is my second iteration as a realtor. I started first selling existing homes with um, a national broker, um, on a small team. I got into it about a year and a half ago no little longer than that. Longer than that. But um found a really good mentor. She uh taught me a lot. Uh, of course, as soon as I got licensed, the market went and you know, interest rates sky high and everybody stepped on the brakes. And after about a year of that, I um did a little uh forecasting myself and, through a connection of kitties, made the transition to sell new construction homes. And I love it. It suits me well and it's such a good feeling when you figure it out that this is really good. Yeah, um, stacy, you would kind of ask what's the difference, sort of thing. You know I don't know. Yeah, um, so I now, as a new construction home builder, I am committed to only selling homes for this builder. So people come in who might want to buy a home and have a home to sell. I cannot help them sell their home. I can only help them buy a home by my particular builder I work in.
Speaker 3:I'm currently in a really small, lovely town home community and I love it. It's set in a residential area. It's surrounded by beautiful mature trees um, there's only one street in all the way, or it's just a very cool setting. I love the neighborhood that I'm in. I work out of a model home. I actually work out of the garage of the model home that's been decked out. You know it's all done, but you guys heard me a few weeks ago. I'm probably bitching about the weather because I'm working out of a garage, so I have a space heater and I dress really warm on these winter days. So, um question yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:Can you go in and hang out in the house? Do you have to be in the garage? Um, you know.
Speaker 3:I can go hang out in the house. It's just that I have a tablet and my monitor and the hookup for that is in the office and I don't know about you guys, but I don't like to type on the child-sized tablet. It takes me too long, so it's kind of hard to do my work. Um, there were some days the past couple weeks where I packed my stuff up and I went and sat at this beautiful granite top nine-foot kitchen island and I had a clear view out the gorgeous sliding doors so I could see people coming in. So I did do that it. It's not super convenient, but it was a heck of a lot warmer, yeah.
Speaker 2:So yeah, well, I can say that this seems this suits you, amy it seems to be, um, it seems to be the perfect career for you, the perfect environment for you, and it seems like there were times, uh, in earlier years, where you thought about getting your real estate license and going into real estate and you didn't but all of a sudden, it was the right time yes, yes, I have thought about it a lot over the years.
Speaker 3:I've always been intrigued by um buying and selling homes. Um. My ex and I we built the two homes that we were in um both with small custom builders, um, really custom like. Here's the floor plan. Now I'm going to pick out all the stuff I want um. So I love that process.
Speaker 3:Um, but I had three kids and I took my role as mom very seriously not saying that real letters don't, but I joke that in early days I watched a lot of crappy soccer and softball and um theater events. And then, when they finally got older, when people say, oh, now your kids don't need you as much. Um, so I could have nights and weekends free and they're all driving and I'm like, nope, now I want to see the good stuff that they're in. I didn't want to give up my nights and weekends at that point, so I waited, I waited and they're all you know they've launched, they're off the family payroll. I like to joke um. And then you know, I made I made some major life changes and this was one of them to get into real estate and I am I'm very happy I did.
Speaker 3:It's not for the faint of heart, it would have been a real struggle, um, had I, I, I know realtors that are single moms with young kids. Um, and I, just I'm, I'm amazed, I'm really amazed at their ability to produce like they do. And, um, it's hard. Being a realtor is not what you see on tv. Yeah, it's. I mean. Yes, there are times when it's really fun and I, I like to dress up, you know, so that's great. But also I have to put on my galoshes, my raincoat and go put signs out. I one time it was literally thundering and lightning and I'm out there grabbing metal signs by the highway and running to my car and throwing them in the back, hoping to not get struck by lightning. So don't think for a moment that it's uh, you know, maybe if I was in LA, where every you know the, the weather was perfect oh, look, you know where they're.
Speaker 4:72 all those yeah, selling, yeah selling million dollar houses and yeah no, the higher the budget, the higher the stress it is.
Speaker 3:Yeah, let's just be honest about her. So, yeah, so I saw real estate and I love it.
Speaker 4:What did you have to do to be able to be a realtor?
Speaker 3:It is actually a professional position and you have to be licensed, or at least in Minnesota you have to. So it was 90 classroom hours. Yes, you could do it at home on your own time, but it didn't matter how fast you got through the coursework. You have to be on your computer for 30 hours, take a test 30 hours, take a test, 30 hours, take a test, and you have to pass with a certain proficiency. Then you have to pay lots of dues and then, once you get your license, you have to have already been committed to working with a brokerage. So you already have to find who it is that you want to work with. But then every year you're required to continually get 15 hours of education so that you're staying on top of what the current laws are, and those change a lot. They change often.
Speaker 3:But it also is my opportunity, or our opportunity, to take some classes, usually an hour and a half to three hours in some different specialties. So some people take the same classes every single year because they just want to get it done. I like to look for some of the stuff that I'm interested in, that I'd like to know more about, Even though it's not my market, it's not my niche. I do find it interesting to stay on top of what's going on in all various aspects of being a realtor and in real estate OK so the big question yes, what's going on in the market?
Speaker 3:Everything, everything's going on.
Speaker 2:That's a big loaded question, so we need to start, because I'm sure that people ask you this all the time.
Speaker 3:They do. You're in the line somewhere and somebody asks I don't know. I'm like my mom. I talk to everybody and inevitably you say you're in real estate and they say oh hey, so what is going on? What's new? Is it as bad as we hear on TV?
Speaker 3:And I'd like to first say real estate is local. It's very regional. And what we hear on the news let's be honest news goes coast to coast and what the market is out east and what the market is out west is not what the market is in the Midwest, specifically Minnesota, iowa, kind of this very conservative part of the US. We are risk adverse. Generically speaking, just generally speaking, we're a little bit more risk adverse. You won't see quite as many highs, you won't see quite as many lows. We hold pretty steady. So always talk to somebody local. If you are going to talk to a realtor or think about real estate, it's more important to know what's happening in your area than it really is to listen to the news. Yeah, like many things, what's happening around you. I will give you some really cool information about Minnesota, because we are seasonal.
Speaker 3:Usually spring market is when everybody starts to list their homes for sale, starts looking for homes for sale because, let's face it, nobody wants to move when it's 12 degrees below zero and the wind chill puts it at 30 below. So usually that starts end of January, beginning of February, so that everybody can then move end of March, beginning of April, and it just goes usually until July 4th and then things kind of halt until after the kids get in school and then maybe September, october a little bit, and then November, whatever. But spring has sprung. People, we had a banner. December, like spring market, like the January market hit us in December and what volume we're doing right now is amazing and I think it's because so many people over the last year sat out.
Speaker 3:They just were like rates are too high and we're not going to do it, which is super funny because people of our age know that rates in the sixes. I remember getting excited to refinance at 6.25. That was like holy woohoo, we did it, we did it. But many people are just thinking about COVID years when we had these unbelievable rates. As a matter of fact, stats that we got from a Minnesota realtor and there's a man named David Arbus and he tracks everything. He is a master statistician. In Minnesota 90% of homeowners have an interest rate at 5% or less. Wow, and how about 70% of those homeowners have a rate at 3% or lower?
Speaker 4:Impressive.
Speaker 3:Very impressive financially. But here's the thing how would you have liked to have bought your home because you needed a home. You wanted a home. You jumped in, you got your home. You got a great rate. Now, two years later, you got to go back to work and you've got to drive and that home doesn't work for you anymore. It's not the right fit. Now you're kind of stuck with it Because now you're giving up a 3% interest rate for 6 and 1 half and that is just so hard for some people. But the reality is, if your house doesn't work for you, doesn't matter. Did you have a question?
Speaker 4:No no.
Speaker 3:Go ahead. There are a lot of it. We joke about some Ds, the Ds of real estate, and why people move. Death, divorce, diapers, diplomas, debt, disease Not all of those are happy things, but they're true. Somebody passes away your home you no longer need that big of a home, or perhaps you can't afford it. Debt Maybe your job has changed. It's too expensive to live in the home, maybe things are great, but you've now having baby number three and the three bedroom you have isn't quite big enough anymore. Diplomas Yay. You graduated from college, you are working at your job, You've been saving up, you want to buy a house. So there's all sorts of reasons why, regardless of what the market is doing, people need to move. And last year everybody sat out. They just were freaked out by interest rates. The news was saying this isn't the right time. This isn't the right time, and I think people have just finally come back to this idea that this is where rates are going to stay. They're going to stay somewhere between 6.00 and 7.00.
Speaker 4:Last week they were at 6.30, 6.6 interest rate, right there for conventional and so are you saying there's never a wrong time Because you can always refinance. So is there ever a wrong time?
Speaker 3:No, I personally don't think there's ever a wrong time based on your situation. You know, you have to know your situation. People do often say the best time to buy a house was yesterday and it it's true. How you can refinance, you can refinance, but the downfall of waiting which is what a lot of these people have done and that they're gonna find out if they don't make a move soon Is that with every notch that that interest rate comes down, more buyers come into the market, and now your competition is going up. So now, while your interest rate might be lower, it's very likely you're going to pay more in order to win that house.
Speaker 3:So, of Course, always go talk to a financial advisor, go call a mortgage banker, a mortgage broker I'm a big, I'm a big proponent of a broker if you're looking at used homes, they're they're like insurance brokers. They assess your situation and they go out and find the best possible loan that fits you. A Phone call doesn't hurt you, it doesn't cost you anything. It takes maybe an hour of your time all in, and then you know where you're at, because there is nothing worse Than falling in love with a house that you cannot afford.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so it's important to put that team of professionals together to help you make the best transaction. Yes, the question then is what are these people doing? People who think that they can sell their house themselves? I.
Speaker 3:Asked myself that often Mm-hmm for sale by owner group. Yeah, of all the homes that were sold last year, only 8% were sold by Sellers themselves for sale by owner. The really interesting thing that you will often find is those people who do that Believe that they will save money by not paying an agents commission now a Commission the cost, at least in Minnesota again I'm talking about Minnesota the cost to sell your home is Somewhere around five to six percent of the sale price of your home. That is commissioned, that is given and split between the seller's agent and the buyer's agent. Okay, so six percent? Okay, home buyers who sell the home by themselves for sale by owners on average leave 26% of Money on the table. They sell their homes for 26% less than an agent would get them for that home. So in their efforts to save 6%, they're giving up 20 26% and it's a clue.
Speaker 2:Sorry, where is that 26% coming from? Are they pricing it wrong?
Speaker 3:They're pricing it wrong, they don't negotiate. They don't know how to negotiate. They think that selling it to somebody they know makes it easier. But what happens is and this is numbers, this is factually based if You're going to sell it to somebody you know, or you're going to sell it to a family member, you usually end up taking this huge hit your underpricing your home. And the other mistake comes with if you price it too high and you have horrible pictures and you don't get it stage right and it sits on the market, you are wasting time and every month that you keep that home You're paying the carrying costs for it. But it's just. It's so counterintuitive to people who think I'm in sales, I know what I'm doing. Who better to sell my house than me?
Speaker 2:Yeah you.
Speaker 3:Being a real estate agent is so much more than putting signs out and and writing up listings. It's actually you're guiding someone through a legal document.
Speaker 2:And well, and and and you're. You know. So, when we, when we get together and have conversation, just casual conversations, and we're always asking you know, amy, what are you working on? And you never, you never give us, you never tell us any Confidential information. But we get a sense from you on the kinds of deals that you're putting together and I'm always thinking it's just, it's not how my brain works. You know I, I wouldn't be good at your job. You know how I will hold out my money to you and say how much do I have right?
Speaker 2:Yes it's not. I just wouldn't be good at it, but I hear the way that you look at these transactions and you are always crafting the very best deal deal for the person. We watched you do it with when you were going through your home sale, when you bought your new place, and now in your career and it's Truly. I don't know how you can't just pull up the YouTube's and look at how can I sell my house right?
Speaker 3:You can't and I and and TV has. You know, there's a whole generation that's been ruined by HGTV, both from a fixer up standpoint, from a buying home standpoint, from a selling home standpoint, because all we see is the pretty stuff, much like Instagram and Facebook. All we're seeing is the pretty stuff. Yeah, and when it comes to real estate, it's not always about the dollar amount, and it's why it's so, so important to work with a realtor. I import pro realtor, even as I represent the, the builder, and people come in part of my job if they don't have a Realtor. I print out the 32 pages and I sit with them and I talk about every single Paragraph so that they know what it is they're buying and signing. My fiduciary responsibility is to my, my builder. That's who I represent. But I also have a code of ethics that I have subscribed to and agreed to. And so your realtors, your good realtors and there are, there are Tons of really good realtors out there. As with most things, it's the bad ones that you hear about. So A good realtor knows their area, they know their numbers, they've done multiple Sales, kind of in your, your area. They are trustworthy, they, I think if you're gonna spend a half million dollars on a home and spend Weeks and months with this person trying to find your home.
Speaker 3:This is your home, people. It's your home. It's where your family is. It's where you're gonna come home to every single day. It's where you spend most of your times. It's your baby's first steps, your daughter's prom day. You know these are milestones. You should like the person you're working with. Yeah, and I Know that there and I've run into them people who say, well, I'm working with my aunt Joe.
Speaker 3:Okay, tell me more about aunt Joe. You know, where does aunt? Does aunt Joe live around here? Oh, no, she lives out. She's an hour away, but she's gonna come in and help me do this. Okay, so, as aunt Joe familiar with this market, oh, I think so. I think so. She shops over there. Okay, you know. Do you want to go up in your financial business? What happens if something goes awry? How is that gonna change the family dynamic? If, if something, if aunt Joe makes a mistake, or if you bail and Aunt Joe was thinking it was a done deal I do caution people about using family members or even really good friends. Yeah, I mean. What's what's more important? Do you go to a doctor because they're your best friend? Or do you go to your doctor because they're a specialist? Yeah, in what you need.
Speaker 3:Yeah, technology would, you would you let your best friend cut your hair Because they watch a lot of videos and cutting here, oh oh, you've been, just because, because you're not sitting in your own house.
Speaker 4:Yeah, yeah, no, no. So I am pro realtor.
Speaker 3:I am pro realtor if you're buying a home. This is a little misconception if we want to talk about some myths that people have there's. There's a lot of myths in real estate Mm-hmm, and we're talking about realtors, that you as the buyer, are paying your realtor, how everybody always asks how much is this gonna cost me? How much is it gonna cost me? Some realtors don't answer quite truthfully and they say oh, it's free, my services are free, they're free to you. Well, they're not exactly free. They're right and that they're not. You, the buyer, are not writing them a check.
Speaker 3:But the buyer's agent gets paid at closing off of the seller side. The seller Pays the brokerage and the brokerages have decided how to. The seller has decided how to split this up, but that's where it comes from that side. So don't believe it. If they tell you it's free, it's not free. You just don't have to write them a check for it. You know there's a big lawsuit that came through it. It's not really affecting Minnesota, but it will. It's gonna kind of change things as people kind of piggyback off of that where Sellers didn't think it was right that they had to pay the buyer's commission and so they don't want to again thinking that they're saving themselves money. But If I'm the buyer's representative and and you're gonna offer me zero dollars or a flat fee or are you gonna move them to something else?
Speaker 4:I mean, you're not gonna you know.
Speaker 3:You know that's where your good realtor is one. They're gonna negotiate with you, the buyer, that you're going to have to pay me a commission, and if they say they won't, I would worry about the quality of work that they're going to put in for you. It's a lot of work selling home. It's a lot of time, it's a lot of miles on the car, it's a lot of. Let's set an appointment and then you call me a half an hour ahead of time and say I can't go my kids sick Really, just work really hard to get you the home that you want and deserve, and all hours, all hours. Yeah, I have gotten lots of looks lately because my weekend is Tuesdays and Wednesdays and I plan things on Tuesdays and Wednesdays but the rest of the world is working on Tuesdays and Wednesdays and I never turned my phone off and so I do end up taking calls.
Speaker 3:There was a streak there where every home I sold in December was purchased on a Wednesday. Like people, what about the other five days that I'm here? But I had to drive in on Tuesday to show it and Wednesday to write it. So there was a stretch between November and Christmas where I worked every single day. Wow, yeah, christmas break was wonderful. Nobody called me on Christmas Eve and nobody called me on Christmas day, so that was good. So that's a little goofy, but I like it. Yeah, another myth. You guys want another myth? Yes, yes.
Speaker 2:What are the things that you, yeah? What are the myths that should be dispelled? What are they really intriguing things that you would like to share?
Speaker 3:The myth, especially for people our age, that you have to have 20% down to buy a house, that you should. Yes, that's to avoid paying mortgage insurance. The lender has to know that they're protecting their investment. The average down payment, I think in 2023, was 13%. The average down payment of a first time home buyer was 8%. So, yes, you're going to have to pay that mortgage insurance, but once you're home, once you've accumulated 20% in equity so if all your neighbors down the street their home sell for $25, $35,000, more in your equity keeps going up you ask, you go to your lender and you say I want, I want to pay, I don't want to pay that anymore, and you'll pay an appraisal. And the appraisal will come back and they'll say, yep, you've got 20% equity into your home and now you can refinance, huh, and get rid of that. So, wow, yeah, yeah, you know, when you think about it, 20% is an awful lot for people to buy their first home.
Speaker 3:Yes, it's considering how much home prices have gone up, because they've continued to go up. We haven't seen home prices decrease. Some markets East Coast, west Coast have had price decreases, not here. There there aren't enough homes. They're just aren't enough homes, would you? I mean, you know those people that I talked about, that I have a 3%? They don't, even though their house doesn't work for them. They don't, they don't want to sell.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so yeah, that is interesting because it's that's what we've always heard 20%, 20%, 20% yeah. And you know, it just gets hand handed down, yeah, From generation to generation, and it's like wait a minute let's really take a look at this.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and you know when rates are really low and you're putting 20% down, is that the best use of your money? Could you take that 10% and put it into some sort of investment and earn more on that? Maybe, I don't know. That's why you have yourself a financial advisor and a mortgage consultant that you that's part of your team that you look to to ask those those questions. I sell the houses. I'm glad I'm not in mortgage. I know just this much. I know enough to say I think that you could do this here. Let's call this person and you guys figure it out. So that's one of those things you know. It does make a difference. When you're talking about a second home or a vacation home, okay, you are required to put more down. You've got to have at least 10%. It's you're going to get better rates the more you put down, and an investment property is different than a vacation home. So again, talk to your realtor, talk to your mortgage person, your mortgage professional, and see how best to think about that. But you know, we've got kids that are getting to that age.
Speaker 3:My oldest bought a house two years ago in Texas. I had nothing to do with that and it was really interesting how they found their realtor. They went online. Everybody shops online, kitty, I think you. You probably are going to hit on this. You know, as you talk about what you do, yeah, but you've got to have great photos and you've got to have your house priced right, because that's the filter People put in what the price range is. So if you've priced it incorrectly and you're too expensive, your, your house isn't even going to show up. And then if you've taken phone or pictures with your phone and your house hasn't been staged and they're not professional photos, and you, I cannot believe how horrible they're that there are still agents out there putting homes on the market that the beds aren't made. I've seen homes where people have been asleep in the bed and they've taken a photo.
Speaker 4:No, yeah, yeah, yeah, seriously.
Speaker 3:Who wants to even go? Look at that house.
Speaker 4:No, this is why an agent.
Speaker 3:This is why you get yourself a really good sellers agent who will do all that for you. Their goal is to get your house sold as quickly as possible for the most money as possible, with the least amount of pain for you in the process.
Speaker 4:Yeah.
Speaker 2:So so when you're staging a home and so you don't have to stage the homes that you're selling, you're in the model. Oh yes, keep going, keep going, we'll come back, okay. So I'm wondering what it costs to stage a home and then what the statistics are on how much more you're able to sell that house for because it was staged, staged.
Speaker 3:So I'll just talk real. The used resale market, used homes Staging a lot of realtors who are very active and really good at their jobs. They have a closet full of staging stuff and they're always keeping their eyes open as they're out and about, as they're going through target, as they're going through home. You know home goods. They have rugs and towels and Greenery and different things and oftentimes it's not so much what you put into the home. Often it's going through the home and saying take it out, take it out, take it out, take it out, not that, this, that. So it doesn't always.
Speaker 3:I know that we sold home sometimes and didn't charge anybody for staging Because it just needed a little bit of zhuzhing, so to speak. The bigger the house, the sometimes the older the home or the more unique a home it pays to stage because you need to Make it appealing To everybody. You've got to be able to see yourself in the home. You could spend a lot of money. Again, it's it's based on Some of those things. It could cost you $2,000. You're gonna get more than $2,000 back on your home. Yeah, you will get it's worth every penny that you pay to stage your home. But your good realtor will tell you first whether you actually need to stage it. And right now they're also the ones to say do I need to do any of these updates in my house? Because that's another myth, that you think you have got to get your whole home ready ahead of time before you call that realtor. No, call the realtor and say come, look at my house. What do I need to do? Do I need to paint all these walls? Do I need to replace the carpets? They may say We'll, we'll have a carpet allowance. Get them cleaned. You know, if you're gonna repaint, you need to paint this color. You know, let's, let's take this hardware out and put this in Little things that you can do in a weekend. Save yourself money and time. Ask somebody ahead of time to come and look Again. They're not going to charge you to come in and talk to you about how to, how to make your home sell Better. Now you said I don't have to. I don't have to stage homes.
Speaker 3:Interestingly enough, I do have two model homes. They're beautiful and they are staged because empty home, empty rooms, look small. So I always love people to come through because you need to know what size furniture fits. People are not visual that I am visual, but I have a really hard time sometimes saying I had a couple homes that had been on the market a long time and I didn't know what was up with them. I just they didn't have any furniture in them and we don't have extra furniture to put in there. So I Robbed peter to pay paul and I went through my two model homes and I grabbed dishes and I grabbed Green things and I grabbed cookbooks and a crock and stuff and I staged the kitchen island and the kitchen counter and dam if it didn't take too much very longer after that and those homes sold. People like to to see themselves in a home.
Speaker 3:Yeah so, yeah, sometimes Staging helps. You've got to be able to envision how your family would use that space or how you want to use the space. Yeah, so Staging is worth it. Staging photos, professional photos Totally worth it, yeah, totally worth it.
Speaker 4:Good tips, yeah, good tip yeah so excellent tips.
Speaker 3:Thank you. I'm trying to think if there was anything else. That, oh, this I found was interesting. Okay, people, how? I'm gonna ask you guys how long do you think people live in their first home, in their first?
Speaker 2:I'm gonna say five years.
Speaker 4:Yeah, I was gonna go with five. You guys are good.
Speaker 3:It's true, it used to be. I think the national average they're gonna say is like 13, 13 years no, nobody is staying in that house. 13 years, it's five to seven years. So, as we're maybe perhaps counseling younger members of our family and um again back to hg tv and they walk in and they think you know it's one of them or it's two of them. They don't have any kids, they have a dog and they're like well, I have to have four bedrooms, do you? I have to have Quartz and stainless. Do you you know? Do you really are? Are these the things that are gonna make or break you? Oh, I can't believe that they're. It's painted this color.
Speaker 3:It's paint people you know, so People don't stay in that first home that long. If you, if you get really lucky and you find that perfect home that you think you're gonna be in long term, I'm curious to know what you do for a job that you might not have to move. Yeah, you know, even Even that second home sometimes is not a long time. Well, I mean, we're the odd ducks here because we stayed in our homes a long time. I think our first home we were there 15 years. In our second home, 13 years.
Speaker 2:Yeah, well, when we bought this house, we had a five-year plan. We were gonna do cosmetic updates to it and sell it. And then we started doing projects on it and then we Fell in love with it and we've marveled that. There hasn't been one time that we've said that we've gotten the itch to move. We are the anomaly, for sure.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:I think that I'm not surprised at the five-year, because People are much more, more is mobile, the right mobile. Yeah, so yeah they are moving jobs.
Speaker 4:They are right, yeah, they're not relocating, yep yeah, they're either going to a bigger house because they started smaller, or they're relocating as they're young. Yeah, you know when.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I would think and I like to be all over the place.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I like to use the term right size as opposed to downsize. Um, you know, we get to a certain point and we have big homes and we live in four rooms. Yeah, you know, you, you live in your family room, your kitchen, your, your bedroom, your bathroom, maybe the backyard and the rest of the house is is for when people come. Yeah, and stay for three days around the holidays or once in the summer, and you dust it and vacuum every three weeks. You change the sheets when somebody new is coming. You know, does that afford you the right? Is that matching your lifestyle? Yeah, so I like the term right sizing, mm-hmm.
Speaker 3:I like it. Find the home that's right for the stage of life You're in. I like it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, a lot. Well, there are so many little topics within and this topic as a whole that we could talk a lot more about, and I think that we should plan to do that. Um, this is one of the you know, one of the areas, amy, that you are Our resident experts, so we will lean on you when we have questions and really resident residential.
Speaker 3:Yes, no pun intended, pun intended.
Speaker 2:Um, so you know we'll, we'll continue to raise these questions and To our listeners. If you have questions for Amy, you can reach her here. Yeah, you can reach her on linkedin also, and we are excited to continue this little series. We will be back next week. We're not going to say who's up next, nope, but next week and then the following week We'll dig in a little bit more on um, stacy and myself, and then, uh, as always, you guys, we are always waiting or looking for ideas from you as well. What other topics would you like to? Would you like to, uh, have us banter over?
Speaker 4:Yes, Right, right yeah all right. I like it. This was a good one, uh-huh. Thank you, amy. Thank you for sitting on the hot seat yeah.
Speaker 3:Take the rest of the night off oh thank you, thank you, I'm gonna go answer some emails.
Speaker 2:Okay, go solo, all right, everyone All right. Cheers, we'll see you next week.
Speaker 4:Cheers, bye.
Speaker 1:All right, oh, here I go. Here I go, coming. I can never stop. I'm a tour de force running. Give me to the top. I don't need an invitation. I'm about to start a celebration. Let me in. Brought a good time. Plus, some friends Turn it up loud. That's 10 turning up the crowd when I hit them with a power.