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How to Sell a House That's Been Destroyed · Market Ready

0:00
The market's not doing the things that
0:02
we wanted it to do. And especially if
0:04
you're going to step out of it, it might
0:05
be a challenging process.
0:07
Every listing has a story. This is the
0:11
Market Ready podcast.
0:15
Getting something market ready is never
0:17
as easy as we think it is, especially
0:19
after it's been decimated by a tiny
0:21
Crayola terrorist, a DVD collection, and
0:25
18 months of strife. Today we're going
0:29
to be exploring how one amazing agent
0:32
worked very very hard to get a property
0:35
market ready and I'm super excited to be
0:37
talking to Sean today. Sean, how are we
0:39
doing? Thanks Lance. I appreciate it.
0:41
Not a problem, man. And listen, I'm
0:42
really excited to hear about the story
0:43
on the investment that's gone horribly
0:45
wrong. Uh but first, why don't you tell
0:46
everybody a little background about
0:47
yourself, the area you work in, who
0:49
you're with.
0:50
Sure. My name is Sean McConnell and I'm
0:52
with Real Broker. I'm the founder uh
0:56
team leader of the McConnell Group.
0:58
We've been serving the Seattle Puget
1:00
Sound area since 2017. We run a large
1:02
team, actually I guess a mega team, 50
1:04
plus agents and um we're doing a lot of
1:07
transactions each year, hundreds of
1:09
transactions, lots of volume, and uh
1:12
we're seeing it all. And so I think this
1:13
is going to be a great opportunity to
1:15
share some of some of our stories.
1:17
I love it. And it also tell me, you
1:19
know, with that many agents, this has to
1:21
be something that you probably come
1:22
across pretty frequently that homes that
1:25
you're trying to get market ready need
1:28
some help. I would say that seems to be uh the
1:32
rule, not the exception. It seems like
1:34
especially in this marketplace, um it's
1:37
not 2021, people need to prep homes and
1:39
get them ready.
1:40
So, walk me through this if you wouldn't
1:42
mind. Tell me the story behind the
1:44
beginning of how you ended up with this
1:47
support process of helping a couple find
1:50
an investment property that was going to
1:52
be their home, right? They were living
1:53
in it.
1:54
Mhm. Okay. Yeah.
1:55
Tell me about it.
1:56
Well, yeah. I mean, it was a primary
1:58
residence. Uh but obviously, you know,
2:00
anytime people get into any real estate,
2:02
they're looking at it for from an
2:03
investment standpoint. That's what they
2:05
were looking for. Um, we looked
2:07
everywhere and we finally settled on a
2:10
beautiful property at the end of a cul-de-sac.
2:13
You know, it had some it had a little
2:15
bit of hair on it. It had some things
2:16
that needed to get done, but we made
2:17
that very clear. We went through the
2:19
inspection report. Um, we looked at what
2:22
the future opportunity was for this
2:24
home. And um, you know, that was it.
2:27
They fell in love with it. They knew
2:28
that it was the right fit. It was where
2:30
they were going to start their family
2:31
and where they were going to settle for
2:33
years. You know, in real estate we say
2:35
uh buy real estate and wait. That's the
2:37
investment part. But yeah, they got into
2:39
it and I got a call two years later and
2:44
uh it wasn't pretty.
2:46
So
2:47
when you first worked with them, right,
2:50
what do you think? What what what
2:52
attracted them to the house the most, do
2:53
you think?
2:54
You know, I think actually what
2:55
attracted them was the size. Um when we
2:59
were comparing just apples to apples
3:01
price per square foot,
3:03
it had a big format. It had a great
3:05
flow. It had the just the right setup
3:08
for you know multigenerational living,
3:11
new children, a sister to move in and um
3:16
you know that was the reason they were
3:18
able to overlook some of the maintenance
3:20
that had been been deferred. And they
3:23
had made a commitment. Hey, we're going
3:24
to put money into this place. we're
3:26
going to do the things and we're going
3:28
to eventually outgrow even this property
3:31
and move on to the next one.
3:33
So, if they come in, they're looking at
3:35
it, they're attracted to the idea that
3:38
there's a little bit of work that might
3:39
need to be done, but this is going to be
3:42
a home that they're viewing as a little
3:44
bit longer term investment. Yeah. Is
3:45
that a safe assessment?
3:46
Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely.
3:47
Cool. And your view, if you had to
3:50
guess, what would you say on day one
3:53
when you first saw the house with them?
3:56
Ballpark me. Couple thousand, 10,000 to
4:00
like get it to where it needed to be.
4:01
100K. What would you say?
4:03
Oh, no. I wouldn't even say 100K. See,
4:05
it just was dated. It wasn't, you know,
4:07
sometimes I see these properties and we
4:09
say, "Hey, this needs a demo and this
4:11
needs to get fixed and electrical and
4:13
systems." It wasn't any of that. It was
4:15
just that it's a big home and some of
4:18
the systems were starting to get towards
4:20
end of life. One of obviously the
4:21
biggest one was the roof. Um, and we
4:24
knew that it probably had about five
4:25
years left in it. So, they were okay
4:28
with that. They said, "Hey, this is part
4:29
of it, you know, for the price. Um, we
4:32
want to make this investment. We want to
4:34
move forward with it." But all in all,
4:36
like I wouldn't say it was a I wouldn't
4:39
say it was a bad property. As a matter
4:41
of fact, I knew when I walked in there
4:43
that it was the right home for them
4:44
because it was beautifully staged. It
4:46
looked it looked pretty good and, you
4:47
know, it had some things that needed to
4:49
get taken care of down the road, but all
4:51
in all, like it was it was pretty solid.
4:54
That's awesome. So, now let's fast
4:56
forward. You get a phone call two years
4:59
later. Mhm. I don't even know if it was a whole
5:01
two years.
5:02
Okay. Walk me through before you even
5:04
got to the house. Give me the backstory.
5:06
Well, the backstory was um the sister
5:10
had moved in, the mom had moved in, they
5:12
were, you know, the the young child was
5:14
now getting a little bit older, the
5:16
young boy was getting a little older,
5:18
and um you know, this is life. Things
5:21
happen in life. They were they were
5:23
having trouble in their relationship,
5:26
okay? Um the job had not gone the way that
5:29
they had expected it to. Uh the career
5:32
wasn't moving forward. one of the two
5:35
people, you know, I won't say which, you
5:38
know, was sort of stopped trying, it
5:41
seems like, and stopped trying to um
5:44
generate income. And I mean, that's kind
5:46
of an important thing when you've got to
5:47
pay the bills and you got to pay the
5:49
mortgage. So,
5:50
money's good.
5:51
Yeah, it's pretty good. So, the phone
5:53
call was, "Hey, I know I'm calling a lot
5:56
sooner than I had expected, but I'm
6:00
going to be moving. We're going to be
6:02
we're going to be going our separate
6:03
ways. We're going to be selling this
6:04
home. Can you help us get it to market?
6:06
Now, keep in mind the conditions in
6:09
which we found this home was a low rate
6:12
environment.
6:13
Okay.
6:14
So, now we have to sell two years later
6:17
in a higher rate environment. That
6:19
doesn't put us in a great marketing
6:22
position. It doesn't in terms of our
6:24
pricing strategy. It doesn't put us in a
6:26
great position.
6:27
That's a really important call out, too.
6:29
So the the market had shifted in that
6:31
time period and would you say this is
6:34
more of now a buyer market or a sellers
6:35
market that you were shifting into?
6:37
Yeah, I would say we were sort of right
6:39
on that cusp like right now in in the
6:41
Seattle marketplace I would I would you
6:43
know I'd call it a buyer market. I'm
6:46
sure there's some metric that says it's
6:48
still technically a sellers market. It's
6:50
or it's a split market. It feels like a
6:52
buyer market to me. They don't usually
6:54
last very long, but this was right on
6:55
the right on the cusp of it changing.
6:58
And you know, as a professional in real
7:00
estate, uh, my clients relying on me to
7:03
tell them, hey, what's the pricing
7:05
strategy? Where's the market right now?
7:06
And it's hard to hear that, hey, 18
7:09
months later from when you just bought,
7:11
the market's not doing the things that
7:13
we wanted it to do. And especially if
7:15
you're going to step out of it, it might
7:16
be a challenging process.
7:18
So, you show up to have a conversation
7:20
with them, they open the door, you greet
7:22
them. Yes.
7:23
What is the first thing that pops into
7:25
your head? I mean, the first thing that
7:26
pops into my head is I can't believe
7:28
somebody could destroy a house like this
7:30
in 18 months,
7:33
man. Really that bad, huh? Well, well,
7:35
you know what it is? It's It was Let's
7:37
call it like unconventional
7:39
non-traditional living, if that makes
7:41
sense. Unconventional. Were they running a
7:42
commune? Like, what does that mean?
7:44
Unconventional non-traditional living.
7:46
Well, what I mean is like when you when
7:49
you buy a home with a dining room, it's
7:51
pretty standard that you would um you
7:55
know, eat in a dining room or set up a
7:57
dining room table or whatever. The the
7:59
room the floor had turned into a place
8:01
for their their son to um use crayons
8:04
and markers all over the the uh LPV or
8:07
LVP,
8:09
the plank vinyl. Uh walls had turned
8:12
into, you know, crayon art studios. um
8:16
the top floor to ceiling. They had built
8:19
bookshelves in installed bookshelves
8:21
that were for DVDs and books and and I
8:23
mean we're not talking about one
8:25
bookshelf. We're talking every flat
8:28
wall, every surface that you could see.
8:30
This was a massive I, as a matter of
8:31
fact, I'm sitting here thinking, well, I
8:33
probably know where all your money went
8:34
and went into this investing in DVDs,
8:38
[laughter]
8:39
right? Because also there's a huge
8:41
demand these days for DVDs.
8:43
Yes. Massive
8:45
right up there with Betamax and uh VHS.
8:48
That's right. And and their pager collection was
8:50
probably in the basement, too.
8:52
Exactly. Um so, okay. So, first thought is, uh
8:55
what fresh new hell is this? Totally
8:58
makes sense. Yep.
8:59
And how do you handle that, right? Like,
9:03
how did you handle just all of a sudden
9:05
trying not to let the shock and awe hit
9:07
you or was it impossible? Well,
9:10
interestingly enough, you know, knowing
9:12
that we have some resources in our back
9:14
pocket, we have some tools that we can
9:16
leverage, it gives me a lot of
9:18
confidence to be able to walk into
9:20
properties and not just lose my mind.
9:21
Um, because I know we've got levers that
9:23
we can pull to help solve these
9:25
problems. Right.
9:26
Um, obviously the first thing that I
9:28
thought was if they're living like this
9:31
and it's time for them to sell and they
9:33
don't understand the market conditions,
9:35
it's basically trying to reconcile their
9:37
expectations with market reality. It's
9:39
like I don't care about the actual
9:42
physicality of the home. We can solve
9:44
that with I always say like money fixes
9:47
problems. That's a little saying that
9:49
I've got. So when they're like, "What do
9:50
we do here? How do we solve this?" I'm
9:51
like, "Look, money fixes problems."
9:53
Fortunately,
9:55
one of the two of them was very rational
9:58
and understood was very clearly
10:00
understood like, hey, what we've done to
10:02
this home was is not a great thing and
10:04
we need to sol we need to fix this.
10:05
Well, it's, you know, having at least
10:07
one rational person in [laughter] any
10:10
transaction is always incredibly
10:12
helpful. So, give me the game plan
10:15
strategically. What did you decide
10:16
needed to be done and then how did you
10:18
go about doing it? Yeah, first thing we
10:19
did was obviously I looked at the things
10:21
that, you know, I'm not much of a
10:22
designer. I'm not much of a decorator,
10:24
but there's things that are clearly not
10:26
going to transfer. They're not going to
10:27
transfer to the marketplace. So, we need
10:30
Sorry,
10:31
I want to point out one thing because
10:32
you and I are the same in this sense,
10:34
and this is always how I gauge whether
10:36
or not something's really bad. If I can
10:39
look at it
10:40
and I can see that there needs to be
10:42
something done and I'm not and it's
10:44
that's how you know things are like,
10:46
uhoh, we got real problems because I can
10:47
see it. Yeah, I know where my strengths
10:49
are and it's not it's not design. It's
10:50
why I have stagers. It's why I've got
10:52
people around me. You know, half the
10:53
time I've got somebody else picking out
10:55
clothes for me. So,
10:58
but no, there's things that you just
11:00
know like this is not going to be market
11:01
ready. So, we've got to get rid of this.
11:03
This this has to get painted. This needs
11:04
new flooring. That carpet's destroyed.
11:07
That's got to get replaced. And then
11:09
once we're done with just getting it
11:11
back to a blank canvas, then we've got
11:14
to bring in great staging, do
11:15
photography, and then we need to run a
11:18
uh pre-market seller procured inspection
11:20
to figure out which systems are also in
11:24
bad shape because again, it's not 20
11:27
2020, it's not 2021. It's not bags of
11:30
cash, you know, give me your house, 25
11:34
offers. We have to be prepared for this
11:36
marketplace. And you said you were
11:38
running a seller procured pre-market
11:42
inspection. Did I get that right? Tell
11:44
me what is that for those that may not
11:46
know.
11:47
Yeah. So great. So um you know
11:49
traditionally you would enter into a
11:51
contract and you would have an
11:52
inspection contingency which would allow
11:54
you to terminate the contract if you
11:56
find conditions that you're not that
11:58
aren't acceptable. Um the next iteration
12:01
of that was sort of pre-market uh or um
12:04
we call them PIs or pre-inspections.
12:07
So this is where the buyer procures the
12:09
inspection before they're actually under
12:11
contract. The problem with that one is
12:14
um a lot of times buyers don't want to
12:16
sink money into a deal that they don't
12:18
already have. And so it's become, I'd
12:21
say, common common place or standard to
12:24
see
12:25
sellers that make the investment upfront
12:28
to have the home inspected. It solves
12:31
the problem of seller disclosure. It
12:33
solves the problem of getting pen to
12:35
paper. And so it also gives us a hit
12:38
list of things that we're probably going
12:41
to encounter when we're under contract.
12:43
So I love the idea. What I what I hear a
12:46
lot from the agents that I work with are
12:49
a lot of them don't love the idea.
12:52
Okay. Um and some of the push back that I hear
12:54
is because of the disclosures
12:57
because their point is once you do that
12:59
and I know about it.
13:00
Mhm.
13:01
Now we have to disclose all these
13:02
different things and we are what's
13:04
what's your take on that?
13:06
I mean disclosure is disclosure.
13:08
Everybody's going to have a different
13:09
opinion on how they want to approach it,
13:12
but it it's going to come up. And if it
13:15
doesn't come up, you know,
13:16
congratulations. You got one by the next
13:18
person. But I I like to operate in
13:20
transparency. I I sleep like an angel at
13:22
night. So, I like it.
13:24
Well, and and I always say, too, though,
13:27
that the likelihood of us getting
13:29
something across the finish line, like
13:30
my job is to help someone get to where
13:33
they want to go next.
13:34
Yeah. And if I'm not actually engaging,
13:37
like you said, in helping you understand
13:39
all the things that could disrupt that
13:40
process.
13:41
Yeah. Why would we not get ahead of that so
13:43
that we're not going to be surprised the
13:44
zero hour was a problem?
13:46
Well, you know, you're because the thing
13:47
is you're going to run into what I call
13:49
buyer math. Uh so you got to change a
13:53
light bulb. It's a $5 fix. Buyer math is
13:56
it's going to cost you $50,
13:58
you know. Um so I've just I've really
14:01
had great experiences with that
14:03
approach. Now, I leave it up to the
14:06
seller. This at the end of the day, my
14:08
job is to consult and to make
14:10
recommendations. If the seller is like,
14:11
"Hey,
14:12
I think this house is sinking into the
14:14
ground." Like, the things that are
14:16
really going to hang a deal up like
14:17
crumbling foundations and, you know,
14:19
whatever term rates, like
14:20
that stuff's probably going to come up
14:22
and actually, as a matter of fact, it
14:24
should be getting disclosed. So, I, you
14:25
know, that's my opinion on it.
14:27
Well, and I and I love that term just,
14:28
you know, for for the agents listening
14:30
to this, I think is really important. I
14:31
always love when agents have uh ways
14:33
that they talk about stuff that really
14:35
help educate all of us because you know
14:37
one of my favorite sayings of all time
14:39
is all wisdom is plagiarism only
14:40
stupidity is original. So you know it's
14:43
say that again it's buyer math. Explain
14:45
buyer math.
14:46
It's buyer math. Buyer math is uh you
14:48
know I call it it's like a 5 to 10x
14:50
multiplier on what something actually
14:52
costs. 5x to 10x multiplier on what
14:55
because they're trying to reduce what they're paying for the house. So they're
14:57
going to go through that inspection
14:58
break it down. Yeah. and Lance because they are they're
15:01
nervous
15:02
and it's a lot different when you have
15:05
to borrow the money from a lender at at
15:08
a relatively cheap interest rate versus
15:09
having to pony up the cash. Which is why
15:11
like, you know, I I run into a situation
15:14
oftentimes in multiple offers where I'll
15:16
have a client that's coming in with a
15:18
cash offer and they're like, "Well, cash
15:21
is king." And I'm like, "Yeah, maybe."
15:23
But you had to pay tax. You had to earn
15:25
that money, pay taxes on that money,
15:26
save that money, and now you got to
15:28
spend that money, but you're competing
15:30
against somebody who's borrowing that
15:31
money at 6% who just at the swipe of a
15:35
pen can stretch out $50,000 across 30
15:37
years. So maybe it's king, but in 14
15:40
days, your cash is as good as their
15:42
their, you know, loans.
15:44
Yep. It's it's a great point. So, okay.
15:47
So, you've got the house. The house is
15:48
clearly problematic. It's in way worse
15:50
shape than when you saw it 18 months
15:52
prior. Uh there's some willingness to to
15:55
participate in making some of these
15:57
changes, but obviously you've talked
15:59
about money being tight. So, how does
16:01
one go about beginning to resolve this?
16:03
Well, yeah. So, f first off, we have to
16:05
we have to take inventory of what needs
16:07
to get fixed, what's critical to the
16:09
market, and what we think we'd be able
16:11
to um you know, move off move on to the
16:16
next to the next buyer. who's what's
16:18
acceptable for them to actually you know
16:21
take on. So we sort of taken inventory
16:23
there and then the other problem is is
16:25
like which sort of got us right to this
16:27
position was they have tight finances
16:30
which is exactly how we found ourselves
16:31
in this position to begin with. So now
16:34
we've got a couple that's splitting up
16:36
and they've got to try to reconcile
16:38
finances right before they sell. They
16:39
both want the equ they've already
16:41
they've already agreed that they're
16:43
going to split the equity 50/50. That's
16:45
easy.
16:46
Yeah. Hey, let's split the money. But what
16:47
about the investment to get the equity,
16:50
right? Well, you did this and like you let him
16:52
color there and like that was built by
16:55
you, so like I shouldn't have to pay for
16:57
that because that was your choice. Those
16:59
things it's like that's why I like to
17:02
have tools where I can take some of that
17:04
um guesswork out of the equation and
17:06
say, "Hey, this is just going to come
17:08
out of the equity. This is just going to
17:11
get split at the end 50/50. You know,
17:14
you don't actually have to pony that
17:16
cash up up front. let's just get the
17:17
place market ready. That takes some of
17:19
those those harder conversations out of
17:21
the out of the mix.
17:23
And you talked a little bit about how
17:24
you can work with folks to help them and
17:26
how you don't panic coming into these
17:28
situations because you have certain
17:29
tools. Can you just give me a couple of
17:30
examples of the tools that you used in
17:32
order to help these folks?
17:34
Yeah. So, I mean, we first and foremost,
17:36
we have our seller procured inspections,
17:38
have a great inspector who comes in and
17:40
does that. Um, second, in this market,
17:44
one of the things we recommend for most
17:46
of the homes, I wouldn't say all, but a
17:48
good home, a good single family home,
17:50
we're going to recommend bringing in a
17:51
stager. So, we've got great
17:53
relationships with stagers, vendors,
17:55
handymen, and then getting all of them
17:57
financed. We use a uh product that will
18:01
give the give the seller a loan. Um,
18:05
it's a it's a lowcost loan that is
18:09
deducted from the equity. So, it's much
18:11
cheaper than putting it on credit cards.
18:12
It's a lot cheaper than earning that
18:14
money, paying taxes, pulling it out and
18:16
of your bank account from your savings.
18:18
And what I love about this product is
18:19
that um
18:21
they can use it on almost anything. So,
18:23
they've got to put they've got to put
18:24
stuff in storage. They've got to move.
18:27
Somebody needs, let's say, a first
18:29
month's rent to get get one of these two
18:31
parties into a condo or an apartment.
18:34
That is a tool that is invaluable to us
18:36
because it gives us the flexibility
18:39
to
18:41
get our get our blank canvas and start
18:43
doing our work. That's usually what I'm
18:44
looking for is like take the take the
18:46
artwork off the wall, get the blank
18:48
canvas and give me the tools to be able
18:49
to start doing my work.
18:51
So when I was uh at Compass, you know, I
18:53
was the national head of agent
18:54
development for Compass for four years
18:56
and we had a product there uh Compass
18:57
had a product that was Compass
18:59
Concierge. So, Compass Concierge was
19:02
something that agents could use in that
19:04
exact type of a scenario in which it was
19:05
something to help people get the home
19:07
ready. It was a great product, great
19:08
tool. The thing that always amazed me
19:10
was how many different things it
19:11
covered. Like, it actually covered them
19:15
in a hotel if they had to actually leave
19:18
early because work needed to be done in
19:20
a particular way, they couldn't be in
19:21
the home. It was it was amazing the
19:23
different things that were actually
19:24
being covered by these types of things
19:26
again. So, you know, you have these
19:28
products and tools out there, um, and
19:30
they're incredibly resourceful and and
19:31
helpful. I think the thing that
19:32
surprises me the most is one, how few
19:35
agents know that these things can exist
19:37
or how they help, and two is that it
19:40
doesn't become something that agents are
19:41
talking about early and often with a uh
19:45
a point of differentiation for
19:46
themselves when they're talking to
19:48
potential clients, uh, talking to
19:49
consumers out there in the world, how
19:51
they promote themselves. because again
19:52
that is a huge differentiation point of
19:54
how we are able to help people uh
19:57
because I don't think most people
19:58
realize that that's even a thing that we
20:00
can help provide them. Lance that that
20:02
was my first exposure to the product and
20:04
actually when I left Compass and I went
20:06
to real broker um it was the first thing
20:08
I did I I tasked my team with figuring
20:10
out how Compass was able to do this and
20:13
we we hunted down the parent company
20:15
that provided that product to Compass
20:17
and we said you know what we're we're
20:19
just going to we're just going to
20:20
provide this to our clients. we're going
20:21
to find this tool and we're we're going
20:23
to provide the same thing because our
20:26
ability to serve our clients and serve
20:28
up the the best product to the
20:31
marketplace changed dramatically once
20:33
Compass introduced that tool.
20:35
100%.
20:36
It's it's an incredible thing. And you
20:38
had mentioned to me too also that they
20:39
had some issues with the roof. Tell me
20:41
what was going on with the roof.
20:42
Yeah, so the roof was just, you know,
20:44
when we had initially identified the
20:46
property, we knew it was end of life or
20:47
it was getting there. Um, the one tough
20:51
thing was because there was so much work
20:54
that needed to be done and this was a,
20:56
like I said, it was a big house. It had
20:58
a complex roof line, lots of um, lots of
21:01
square footage. We knew that we needed
21:04
to get more out of the roof, but we
21:07
didn't know if pulling the roof and
21:10
doing it over, like having an actual new
21:12
roof put on was was the right choice
21:14
because there were so many other
21:17
visually offensive things within the
21:20
home that we had to solve for that were
21:22
going to cost money. So, we actually
21:24
found a product called Roof Maxx, which
21:26
was great. and they come out, they do an
21:28
assessment, and I think it's about a
21:30
third of the price of putting a new roof
21:32
on. And they actually spray a soybean
21:35
composite, a particulate on the roof,
21:38
and they give you an a warranty. I think
21:40
it's for five or 10 extra years on the
21:42
roof.
21:43
Really, it was it was amazing. Even just the the
21:45
elevation, the curb appeal on the home
21:47
because before you were coming up,
21:49
you've seen an old roof.
21:50
Yeah. It's dingy. It's gray. It looks It looks
21:53
pretty rough. And then they put this
21:54
product on and it's, you know, black and
21:57
glossy and they certify the product and
21:59
and really what's great is it fills in
22:01
any um any deficiencies on the roof.
22:04
They but they have to inspect it first.
22:06
If the roof is way too far gone, that's
22:07
it. There's no fixing that.
22:09
That's super cool. I didn't you were
22:11
saying that and I was like, h wonder if
22:13
I should call them on my roof because
22:15
[laughter]
22:16
probably just because we're taking Look,
22:18
here's the thing. They they're already
22:19
not in a equity-rich position. They've
22:22
got to spend money to fix some of the
22:24
problems. They've got to get out from
22:25
underneath this property. Just because
22:26
we have the money doesn't mean we need
22:28
to just spend it. You know, we don't
22:30
have to be that cavalier. It's it so
22:33
bring me to fruition here now, right?
22:36
We've gone through this process. They've
22:38
been able to do this. They haven't come
22:40
out of pocket for any of this stuff. Um
22:43
what was the outcome?
22:44
Great outcome. Uh, so
22:48
we got exactly what we wanted, which my
22:50
goal when I have a home market ready and
22:53
prepared is to make people question
22:54
whether they want to leave or not. So
22:57
they walked in, they said, "Oh my gosh,
22:59
this house it's beautiful. Why are we
23:01
even selling this?" And I'm like, "Well,
23:03
this is this is what I sold you to begin
23:05
with. This is what I thought you would
23:06
end up doing with the home, but you
23:07
know, think life happens." So the home's
23:11
beautiful. It's staged. It's got new
23:13
carpet, new flooring, new paint. Uh the
23:16
Roof Maxx is fixed. We had the deck
23:18
fixed. There was some um I think there
23:20
was some issues with I think there was a
23:22
plumbing issue that I think there was a
23:24
grinder pump actually that needed some
23:25
repair. So we had plumbers come. They
23:27
fixed that. We got we did our seller
23:30
procured inspection. We got and this is
23:33
funny because we're talking about
23:34
disclosure. We got under contract
23:37
um somebody who was hosting an open
23:39
house had actually brought in a a uh
23:41
buyer. We got it under contract. They
23:44
did not admittedly because of the
23:46
turnaround time on it, they didn't find
23:48
themselves in a great market positive
23:52
equity position, but it wasn't it wasn't
23:56
too bad. They they they
23:58
could justify it because of the amount
24:01
they saved in rent. They weren't cutting
24:03
like a massive check to step out of
24:04
this. The buyer was enamored with the
24:06
property. They loved the property. They
24:10
they just I mean it just looked great.
24:12
It looked showroom ready and they were
24:14
ready to move forward on it. So it made
24:15
the rest of the transaction much
24:18
smoother. It made their relationship a
24:20
lot easier. It made it easier for them
24:22
to resolve whatever differences they had
24:25
and they and they went their separate
24:26
ways and they moved on. And actually
24:28
what's great is I'm currently under
24:31
contract. I'm working on a referral from
24:33
them and it is like it's actually weird.
24:36
I've told this story a few times. It's a
24:38
carbon copy situation.
24:41
Same like same
24:44
um type seller
24:47
s the one thing I will say is they've
24:49
been in this their property a lot
24:50
longer. So they're they are going to be
24:51
in a great market position in terms of
24:53
equity, but it's really weird. The home
24:55
looks the same. It's at the end of a
24:56
cul-de-sac. They're friends with each
24:57
other. So they liked this they like the
25:00
situation enough to give me a referral
25:01
and get me a great deal that I'm
25:03
currently under contract on for a
25:05
listing agreement.
25:06
That's fantastic. Look, and and again, I
25:08
I always say we're we're only as good as
25:10
our next two referrals, you know? I
25:12
mean, for me, it's that's you could
25:15
leave me a nice Google review or you
25:18
could basically say this person really
25:19
helped, right? And and I and I think you
25:21
should work with them. So a as we as we
25:24
wrap up, tell me just very very briefly
25:27
for you, what do you think you save
25:32
people on average hypothetically by
25:35
getting a house ready in this fashion,
25:38
getting it set up correctly? And
25:42
what's the impact to the outcome of the
25:43
bottom line hypothetically on average?
25:46
That's a that's a it's tough to put a
25:47
number on that, but let me try let me
25:49
try to actually answer that.
25:52
Our average deal in our marketplace for
25:55
our team is 913K. That might be down a
25:59
little bit this year just because of the
26:01
way pricing's gone, but let's just call
26:03
it $900,000.
26:05
Um,
26:07
if I've got sellers that are making
26:09
anywhere from a 20 to a $50,000
26:11
investment,
26:13
I I genuinely think it's probably a two
26:16
to 3x ROI on doing those improvements.
26:20
So, the way I look at it is it's like
26:21
you avoid that buyer math. You prepare
26:24
for the marketplace. You get those
26:25
buyers that you would have otherwise
26:27
wouldn't have wanted to take the time
26:28
with the property and you drive enough
26:31
um visibility and enough attention to
26:33
that home that you not only do you get
26:36
more money for the home, but you get
26:38
better condition. Like this is the
26:40
thing, the contingencies kill deals
26:43
and that ends up costing you a lot of
26:45
money. days on time on market, days on
26:47
market, pending, active, depending, you know,
26:50
on and off, losing a buyer, all those
26:53
things kill your equity. And when we
26:56
prepare it right, when we have a great
26:57
pricing strategy, when we prepare the
27:00
home, when we make it market ready and
27:02
we do all the right things, you don't
27:03
end up having buyers coming in and
27:05
beating you to death. I love it. Sean,
27:07
can't thank you enough for taking the
27:08
time to chat with us today. Hey, I know
27:10
you're a busy man with a lot of good
27:11
things going on, but really insightful,
27:13
incredibly helpful, and thanks so much
27:15
for being with us today.
27:16
Awesome, Lance. Thanks so much for
27:17
having me.