What Kills a Listing Before it Hits The Market

Most sellers think the listing starts when it goes live.
Wrong.
Your listing is either winning or dying months before it ever hits the MLS.

Because buyers don’t “tour” your home.
They hunt for reasons to disqualify it.
And the second your house feels sketchy, messy, or slapped together…
They’re out.

This episode is the no-BS walkthrough of what silently murders your sale before it starts.

WHAT WE COVER
THE “LIPSTICK ON A PIG” PROBLEM
Random paint blotches. Bad patches. Weird texture.
If you touch up paint like an amateur, you just told buyers you’re hiding something.
Paint the whole wall. Corner to corner. Top to bottom.

YOUR NOSE KNOWS
If you get smacked by air fresheners the second you walk in…
That’s not “fresh.”
That’s a cover-up.
Cat, smoke, mildew, mold, soaked carpet padding.
You don’t mask it. You remediate it.

THE SMALL CLUES THAT SIGNAL BIG PROBLEMS
Doors that stick. Doors that don’t latch.
One door? Settling.
Multiple doors? Now we’re talking foundation, movement, and real money.

THE “PATCHWORK HOUSE” TURN-OFF
New flooring in one random spot.
Four different floors in one hallway.
Mulch stacked up against siding.
Painted-over caulking.
These aren’t always deal breakers.
But stacked together? It screams: neglected house.

THE STUFF THAT LOW-KEY DESTROYS SHOWINGS
Personal photos everywhere.
Trendy word decor.
Religious or polarizing displays.
Countertops packed with gadgets.
Oversized furniture crammed into rooms.
Souvenir collections and magnet-covered fridges.

Here’s the truth.
Buyers can’t picture themselves in your home when your home feels like your life.
Your job is to remove distractions so the house becomes the hero.

THE ACTION PLAN THAT ACTUALLY WORKS
Remove 30–50% of your stuff.
Clear horizontal surfaces.
Neutralize the entire vibe.
Stop hiding issues with cheap shortcuts.
And if you’re smart…
Get a seller inspection months before you list.
Build the handyman list early.
Walk into the market with receipts, not excuses.

THIS IS THE CORE MESSAGE
A well-maintained home sells faster.
Sells smoother.
And sells for more.
Because buyers pay for peace of mind.
They want turnkey.
Not your unfinished DIY projects and hidden problems.

If you’re planning to sell in Snohomish County in the next 3–9 months…

This episode can literally be worth tens of thousands.
Don’t wing it.
Don’t guess.
Don’t “hope” it works.

Fix it before the market punishes you.

Want more real talk like this?

✅ Join our Weekly “Wednesday Warrior” Newsletter
Get strategies, mindset shifts, and tactical moves that help you win in business without losing your life.
Subscribe Now

💪 Want to be Mentored by Rachael and Mike?
Lock arms with us at REAL Brokerage

🔥 Want to Learn the Proven Processes of Becoming a Top Agent?
Check out our Buyer and Seller Fundamental courses where we share our systems, scripts, workflows and processes we have used to sell over $800M of real estate. Only $47
Check Out the Course

Transcript

Rachael Novak:

[0:33] All right. Welcome back to another episode of the Growth Drivers podcast. This is Mike and

Rachel. Today we are chatting about something. So we have a couple of reels that have gone

absolutely viral when it comes to the red flags, the shortcuts, and the stuff that kills listings before

hitting the market. So for whatever reason, this topic of like things that sellers try to hide or things

that agents and buyers need to be looking for when they're walking through homes is very, very

popular. So I wanted to talk about it a little bit.

Mike Novak:

[1:07] Some of these videos have had like 4 million views.

Rachael Novak:

[1:09] Right? Yeah, I have like 5 and 6 million views on two of the videos. So it's obviously a hot

topic in this space. And I think that, you know... There was a report recently that came out, I think

either did Zillow come out with something that said that one of the number one reasons that buyers

appreciate an agent and one of the things that they really like about them the most is the

discernment that they have. Right. So their their ability to see and navigate that buyer away from

things that the buyer wouldn't otherwise know. And so this kind of falls into that category, which is

why maybe that's kind of a hot topic right now.

Mike Novak:

[1:42] Yeah, I think people are always afraid to make a mistake. yeah you know and unfortunately

when it comes to houses when you do make a mistake it's really typically a pretty expensive one

yeah you know what i mean like costly that's why we always talk about like the agent you work with

and their experience and track record are super important you know you don't want to get the

nothing that's new agents but new agents just haven't been there and seen you know all these

different things that can go wrong with the house you know which i.

Rachael Novak:

[2:07] Think is why this content is hitting so well like.

Mike Novak:

[2:09] There's a lot.Rachael Novak:

[2:09] You know there's a lot of new agents in the last five years and they're like oh shit like yeah

thank you i do need to look out for these.

Mike Novak:

[2:14] Things Yeah, so two audiences there, really. I mean, there's buyers, there's sellers, and

there's also agents that hopefully this is helpful for.

Rachael Novak:

[2:21] Exactly.

Mike Novak:

2,000 homes.

[2:22] And gives you some ideas. You know, I think that you and I have probably toured north of

Rachael Novak:

[2:27] Yeah. And I literally probably walked through, you know, to represent sellers in the last nine

years, probably walked through 700 or 800 houses minimum.

Mike Novak:

[2:35] Yeah.

Rachael Novak:

[2:36] Like, at least.

Mike Novak:

[2:36] So, kind of seen a lot of stuff.

Rachael Novak:

[2:39] Yes, we've seen a lot.

Mike Novak:

surprised by.

[2:40] Good, bad, ugly stuff. Seen most of it it's rare that i see something anymore that i'm like

Rachael Novak:

[2:45] Not much can phases yeah i'm like oh i've seen this like four times you know like.

Mike Novak:

[2:49] Like sellers will be like really scared to talk to somebody oh i deal with this on every list.

Rachael Novak:

[2:52] Not a problem we can fix it yeah exactly so you know i think what most buyers go in looking

for and and newer agents too like the fun stuff is what we want what they tend to look for right like

the countertops the paint colors the the staging right like they're looking at kind of these surface

level things but what we want to point out are things that like potentially the seller doesn't want you

to notice right that's kind of the the underlying theme so you know we're not here to scare people idon't want to scare buyers away from buying anything but i do want to save agents a lot of

headache and i want to be able to you as as an agent if you're listening to this you need to be able

to guide your buyer and be looking for things and point out them point out things to them that they

might not otherwise see and if you are a buyer or a seller you need to know like people might be

looking for this so they might see this or as a buyer, please look for this. So, you know, I want to

kind of preface this and say like, you know, what shortcuts are going to hurt you as a seller agents,

what to actually look for on walkthroughs and everyone, including mostly buyers, how to avoid

inheriting someone else's problems in that house. Cause like Mike said, it can be very costly.

Mike Novak:

[3:59] Yeah, absolutely.

Rachael Novak:

[4:00] So number one, let's talk about a couple of hidden red flags that some sellers may hope

buyers miss. And to be clear, I don't think that most sellers do this intentionally. It could just be from

bad advice, bad suggestions, something they Pinterested or Googled. And they're not necessarily

deal breakers on their own. But when you've got a lot of these different things stacked together,

they can kind of reveal a home that really wasn't well maintained. It's just kind of slapped some

lipstick on it in the hopes of fetching a high number when they list it. so number one, random fresh

paint blotches. Okay. Now, yes, there are going to be paint touch-ups that need to be done when

you're going to list a home in almost every single home. But if you've got like a significant amount

of random paint, you know, paint blotches where the sellers basically tried to match and it really

was poorly done, number one, you're going to need to fix that because it's not, it doesn't look good

anyway. So sellers, if you have a wall that needs to be, Just repaint that one wall. Like, don't do just

the blotches.

Mike Novak:

[5:04] You can't do blotches. I've talked to many, like, professional painters about this, and it stands

out like a sore thumb. Like, you need to paint the whole plane.

Rachael Novak:

[5:11] Yes.

Mike Novak:

[5:11] Whether that's a ceiling or a wall.

Rachael Novak:

[5:12] Yes.

Mike Novak:

[5:13] End to end for it to look good.

Rachael Novak:

[5:15] Exactly. Like, corner to corner. Yes. Top to bottom. Exactly right. Because, you know, and be

looking at, like, the texture of it, too. Like, if there's a different texture, then there's probably some

sort of patch or something that happened to that wall. Was it, you know, hopefully it was just minor.But those are kind of the things that you want to look for. Like, was this a big, huge hole in the wall?

Was this a plumbing issue? Is there something that happened here? Just make sure that you're

looking and actually researching a little bit those random paint washers.

Mike Novak:

[5:40] Usually the one that I see the most for plumbing is in the ceiling. So like, look up. Don't just

look around, but look up. In particular, if it's a two-story home, in the areas where there's bathrooms

upstairs.

Rachael Novak:

[5:50] Exactly.

Mike Novak:

[5:50] Because like, you know, the drains under bathtubs and things are common places where

leaks occur. Sellers, they get it fixed, but then they do kind of a crappy patchwork job. Or maybe

they don't get it fixed, because they just paint over it and hope that no one notices.

Rachael Novak:

[6:02] Right, right. That's what we're trying to look out for.

Mike Novak:

[6:04] So, yeah.

Rachael Novak:

[6:05] Exactly.

Mike Novak:

[6:05] But either way, that's a really good place to look is look up.

Rachael Novak:

[6:08] Yes.

Mike Novak:

[6:08] Don't just look around.

Rachael Novak:

[6:09] Yes, excellent point. Number two, if you walk in and you are smacked in the face with the

smell of air fresheners, this is... Could be hiding something okay and i i go back so in 2017 we had

some clients who are actually repeat clients we've helped them by in some multiple times over the

last couple of years but they you know they lived in an older house and they had i think four or five

cats and they thought at the time it was acceptable to put just a really strong air fresher in every

single room and that would mask the cat smell. Fam, it does not. It does not do that. So if you walk

into a house and it just is like overwhelmingly air freshener, like every room that you walk into, they

could be masking something. There could be some deep like carpet issues where pets, you know,

have been soiling the carpet for a long time. There could be kind of a mildewy, moldy smell that

they're trying to cover up. Like there could be something. So just look out for that. Again, this isn't

necessarily, maybe they're just trying, that's what they thought they should do and there's nothing.That's totally possible too. But if you are overwhelmed with air freshener, when you walk into a

house, it could be hiding something.

Mike Novak:

smoke?

[7:20] So what would be like the actual way to fix, if you're a seller, the issue of pets and potential

Rachael Novak:

[7:26] Yeah. So this is kind of a tough one because if you've got, if you have pets that have just

absolutely soiled your carpet in particular rooms, likely it's gone through the padding. And even in

some cases, we've seen it soak the subfloor. So like... Replace the carpet like it's going to come

down to literally replacing the carpet.

Mike Novak:

[7:42] Yeah usually like pulling up the carpet replacing that replacing the pad and if it's gotten to the

subfloor which it often has like you said like painting that with um yeah it's going to take that level of

repair to get rid of that smell exactly um same thing on smoke and smoke you have to like repaint

the whole house yeah and even then you can still pick up on it it's it almost like ruins a house

permanently when it's smoked in it does on the mold side of things where i see mold the most often

is in basements especially in the northwest where they're kind of damp you know, moisture.

Rachael Novak:

[8:10] Well ventilated.

Mike Novak:

[8:11] Yeah. You can smell it the second you walk down the stairs, like mold can totally pick up on it.

Rachael Novak:

[8:15] Yep. So yeah, I mean, your nose knows, right? Let me say that again. Your nose knows. If

you can smell air pressure overwhelmingly, just make sure that you're looking out for what

potentially, if there is an issue, right? In that way. Number three, doors that stick really bad or don't

latch at all. So I'm going to preface this because number one, it's likely, most likely, a simple settling

of the house if it's a newer house or potentially just the latch that has kind of come loose to the

door jam that's gotten jiggly, right? Usually these aren't a huge, huge deal. But in extreme cases

where doors are really sticky or there is a really big issue with being able to open or close it all the

way or you can see the door jam really, really crooked, you definitely, or if there's multiple in the

house, You definitely want to make sure that if you do offer on that house that the inspection or the

inspector is looking at the foundation, looking at the crawl space area, that there is an actual

settling in that house.

Mike Novak:

[9:16] Yeah. And I think settling is normal, some settling, but it's like those, you know, especially in

Everett and parts of Snohomish, where you have those like 1900s foundations, like the Post and

Pier Foundation, where you see like two inches of settling could be very problematic and

expensive.Rachael Novak:

[9:31] Yep, exactly right. So, again, none of these on their own are like a huge red flag, but stacked

together, multiple of these items could be a big deal. We already kind of mentioned this one but

again looking at the making sure you're looking up at the ceiling not just at the walls when you're

when you're walking through a property i also like to either shine like my phone flashlight or bring a

flashlight to kind of be able to see the texture of it but if there is texture or lack of texture on any

part like one section of the ceiling there's a really really significant chance that there was some past

water damage especially if it's two-story house so make sure that you are always looking up agents

buyers are not going to be looking up most of the time they may take a peek at the light fixture but

they're looking at the layout they're looking at the appliances they're looking at the pretty things so

make sure you're looking up at the ceiling for them.

Mike Novak:

[10:20] Yeah, 100%.

Rachael Novak:

[10:21] Cool. The next one, again, not a huge, huge thing, but painted over caulking. So, you know,

and by I say painted over caulking, I mean, like, I'm looking at all the caulking all through, like,

around sinks, around toilets, around shower tubs. I'm looking around kitchen, you know,

countertops where it meets the backsplash. Really, I'm just looking for sloppy maintenance, right? If

it's really poorly done or if you can tell somebody did it or they've painted over to try to hide

something in the bathroom. And where this came from was there was a house that I walked

through and we did end up listing. But I walked through before and the person had tried to paint

their own bathroom cabinets. And they ended up also painting the Formica countertops to match.

And it was really not done well. Not at all. So that is kind of where that came from. Just be looking

at the quality of work that's done in those kind of areas.

Mike Novak:

[11:18] And sellers often try to do the caulking themselves. Caulking and paint are like two that I see

a lot of sellers DIY it, you know, and both of those are actually kind of tricky things to do. So if you

can afford to do it, I would definitely hire those out.

Rachael Novak:

[11:31] Yeah. I mean, handymen and contractors that do it all the time can get it done in literally a

tenth of the time that you can.

Mike Novak:

[11:39] Yeah, it just looks so much better.

Rachael Novak:

[11:40] Yeah, they do it every single day and they make it look nice and nice and clean for sure. So

another one, new flooring, only one area. So I got a lot of heat on my reels for this specific one. So

many people were like, well, people can only afford to replace the flooring in one room at a time.

Totally understood. But there is a way to replace flooring if you're doing it for an actual upgrade that

still matches relatively the rest of the house. What I'm talking about is, okay, we've got laminateflooring, you know, like LVP vinyl flooring all throughout the downstairs. But then this area, when it

goes into the kitchen, it changes and it's a different type of LPP. Like they had to replace it after the

rest of the flooring was replaced. If there is flooring inconsistency, it's possible that something

happened, there was water damage or the flooring got damaged and they did not replace it at the

same time. It's been since the original flooring was done. So simply ask, hey, what was this flooring

replaced afterward? Why? What happened? That's all. Not necessarily inferring there was

something, but that's something to look out for.

Mike Novak:

[12:45] It's kind of a pet peeve of mine when people use like four different kinds of flooring i can't i

can't do it um and i think buyers find it really annoying and a big turnoff i showed a house actually a

couple weeks ago there was nine different kinds of lvp in the house nine yes and in multiple areas

there was three or four intersecting in one another oh.

Rachael Novak:

[13:02] My goodness um.

Mike Novak:

[13:03] No so yeah if you can only afford to do one room maybe you just hold off on doing that one

room yeah or like so for instance.

Rachael Novak:

[13:09] I have a listing right now that we're working on we're going to be listing in q1 and they had

they had actually like a fire next door and where they needed a you know some some cosmetic and

structural work that needed to be done so it's all been done beautifully and professionally however

the contractor decided to put a new and totally different type of LVP in the primary bedroom as a

like totally different from the rest of the entire upstairs. So all the other bedrooms, the main area,

the loft, the bathrooms, all have this really nice warm LVP. And then the bedroom has this gray LVP.

So in a situation like that, I understand that's brand new LVP. I understand that was just done, but

we are replacing that and putting a nice carpet in instead of trying to match exactly the LVP that's

already been in there. We're putting carpet in so that there's contrast and it feels a little cozier,

right? So there's a way to replace flooring in just one area that's still really feels congruent with the

rest of the house, please do not do a Pinterest patchwork quilt through your home and do different

flooring all through your home. That's crazy.

Rachael Novak:

[14:10] Another one that we see when people are trying to kind of update their landscaping, freshen

up their garden beds, they will pile mulch ridiculously high against their house. And one rule that

inspectors and appraisers are always going to look for is if there is ground cover, mulch especially,

touching siding. So if it's like piled up on the siding, so it's okay to be touching the concrete

foundation, but if it's piled up so high that it's like pushed against the siding, that's going to be an

issue. Now, as a buyer, again, that's not a red flag on its own, but you definitely want to take a look

around the entire house, like especially if it's all brand new mulch, like is this, was this just like a

freshen up job or are they hiding something that's going on?Mike Novak:

[14:52] Yeah. And also if you do have mulch touching siding, it's going to be called out in any

inspection report.

Rachael Novak:

[14:57] Exactly.

Mike Novak:

[14:57] Because it's wrong.

Rachael Novak:

[14:58] Exactly. So again, with these items that we've just kind of listed, these alone aren't a big

deal, right? They're just simply potential warning signs or maybe red flags of things to look for. And

it's just our job is just to make sure that you're staying aware as you're walking through properties

and sellers, making sure that you're not doing these things, making sure that you're avoiding these

things, you're painting the whole wall, you're making sure mulch isn't pushed up against the siting,

that kind of thing.

Rachael Novak:

[15:25] That's kind of the first segment here when it comes to what not to do and, of course, what to

look out for when you're walking through properties. Now, I want to shift this a little bit, I want to talk

about the couple of things that is in the home itself that low-key hurts your listing, okay?

Rachael Novak:

[15:44] This is subjective, like this is my opinion on things. And after listing hundreds and hundreds

of houses over the last nine years, I have literally done, I have the exact same formula, I have the

exact same pre-listing checklist and walkthrough advice that I give to every single client. And it

works every time. So I'm speaking from experience here. Because when you're preparing to sell a

house, like you're not just decluttering what's in it. You're literally removing distractions for the

buyers to be able to see your property in a really objective way, okay? That's what we want. Our

goal with getting a property to sell or getting a property ready to sell is to appeal emotionally to

buyers. So these are a couple of ways to do that, okay? Number one, remove all personal photos.

Remove every single family photo, kid photo, grandparent photo, every single photo from your

walls, desktops, dresser tops, everywhere. What happens when you leave those photos in the

listing is as the buyers are walking through, or especially in the photos online, if you see a face in

the photo, it's a little creepy, but when buyers are walking through the home, they're going to

constantly remind the buyer that somebody else lives there, that a happy family currently lives in

that house, which, subconsciously immediately removes any sort of emotional attachment that the

buyer can form with that house.

Mike Novak:

[17:04] What about the house that's got like five pictures of Jesus in it?

Rachael Novak:

[17:07] We'll get there. Don't worry. That's one of them. We'll get there. But this is very important. If

you have like, I've walked into so many homes and there's like this huge canvas on the dining roomwall of this beautiful family that lives in this house. Well, the buyer is walking in. They see this

photo. They don't know these people. Now they feel like they're intruders. They feel like they're

intruders in this people's home. So. So buyers, I mean, agents, tell your sellers to remove all

personal photos. Sellers, remove your personal family photos, okay? Number two, trendy decor

with writing on it. Now, we have to be very, very careful. Like, there's some writing that you can kind

of get away with if you have, like, a farmhouse-themed kitchen, and it says farmhouse above the

pantry, or if it says pantry on the pantry. You know, there's some things okay. But if you've got like

that old kind of early 2000s, like live, laugh, love, trendy, it was trendy then decor, it's going to date

the home really, really quickly. Like, low key, there's like a 12 to 24 month shelf life with a lot of

these like kind of trendy sayings and decor items. So if you have stuff that you bought multiple

years ago, and you just haven't moved it, and it just fits that space really well, it would be better

most likely to have a blank wall, as opposed to writing on the wall. Because every word and every

picture of a face throughout the property, throughout inside the home is sending a message to

buyers. And if you want the most amount of eyeballs, if you want the most amount of opportunity to

sell that house, you have to be as neutral as possible.

Rachael Novak:

[18:36] Number three, specialty kitchen gadgets or small appliances on the counter. I think a lot of

people are like, well, I use my air fryer every day and I use my toaster oven and I use my coffee

maker and I use my waffle iron, all these different things. What it does when you have tons of

clutter and all these small appliances on the countertop is that it basically is sending this message

that your kitchen doesn't have a lot of storage, right? So if you look at any of our listings, look at the

kitchen photos, I let them have a coffee maker and a knife block. That's about it. Sometimes we'll

put a little cookbook with little open things, some Pellegrino bottles.

Mike Novak:

[19:14] It's one of those things where it's functional to have all that stuff out, but it's not in your best

interest when you're listing your house.

Rachael Novak:

[19:20] Exactly.

Mike Novak:

[19:21] You just have to deal with the inconvenience.

Rachael Novak:

[19:22] Exactly. And listen, agents, this is the line. It is so inconvenient to live in a home that is going

on the market. Like I tell every single one of my clients, it feels like you're living on a movie set,

right? If they have to live in the home while it's on the market, it feels like you're living on a movie

set. That is not how people actually live. Literally no one is not how we actually live, but it is the

best way to showcase a property in order to fetch the highest number for sale, period. Okay.

Excess throw pillows. Oh my goodness. I've walked into some homes before and some of the beds

have like 13 throw pillows on them and I'm like wow like this is it makes a bed look like it's a twin

bed but it's a king this is insane so rule of thumb don't do a ton of excess throw pillows it's totally

not necessary two per seat is perfect that's all you need literally throughout the home for beds Iwould do three two in front of like the the usable pillows and then one to kind of center it that's it,

oversized furniture. If you have a huge sectional and the lazy boy and a bean bag and sofa table

and a coffee table and the living room is just like packed full of furniture because it's how you live

and everybody likes to hang out in the living room, watch the game or whatever, totally get it. For a

listing, it needs to be very minimal, not just for the pictures, but for the walkthrough. If buyers are

having to walk around furniture in like natural paths, that's an issue.

Mike Novak:

[20:47] Yeah, get the massage chair out of there too.

Rachael Novak:

[20:48] Yes. Like it needs to be minimal. It needs to be clean. Again, not exactly how we live. It's not

going to feel very like cozy and comfortable. But the whole point is to showcase the space,

especially if it's a smaller living area. So I tell the sellers, remove at minimum 20% of the furniture,

and then we arrange it so that it's got natural walking paths all around it, okay? All right, people

who are stacking coffee table books that literally nobody reads. Like, I've seen, okay, literally I've

walked into some properties before, and of course they have like a lot of religious books, like their

Bibles or, you know, their, whatever, different religion, you know, books. I've seen somebody have

multiple manuals about marijuana before on their coffee table. Look, we have to remain neutral. So

that, again, means nothing religious throughout the house, nothing polarizing throughout the house.

Take down your Jesus photos, like you mentioned. These things should not be out on display if it's

any sort of opinion or personal hobby, right? Everything should be very, very, very neutral. Number

seven, souvenir collections. I've, you know when you see a photo of a fridge and it's just covered in

magnets and you can't even see the fridge?

Mike Novak:

[22:08] It's not good.

Rachael Novak:

[22:09] It's not good. So anything like that, if you've got a fridge full of magnets, if you've got like a

whole wall full of shot glasses that the sellers collected for years, take all of it down. Buyers don't

want to see that. It means nothing to them. They don't want their memories. It distracts them from

the architecture. It distracts them from the cleanliness of the refrigerator and it feels more cluttered.

Okay. So really, that's it. Those kind of items from.

Mike Novak:

[22:36] That's a lot. Like, that's a lot to actually, like, digest, you know, between the mistakes that

sellers make and that buyers should be looking out for. Plus, like, hey, these are things you need to

do that are, like, detail related with your house.

Rachael Novak:

[22:46] You know.

Mike Novak:

[22:47] That's a ton.Rachael Novak:

[22:48] This is a big lesson. So everything that you own as a seller, right, and agents, this is what

you need to be able to coach your seller through. Everything you own is going to cost you

something. So like the more that you're collecting in your house, especially if you're planning on

selling, the more decor you're putting up, especially if you're planning on selling, like the likelihood

is it's going to cost you time because you have to take that down again. So let's give some

actionable takeaways. Okay, so a couple of things that you can absolutely take away right now.

That's actionable. Number one, train your eyes to look at what the buyer won't. Like we mentioned,

look at the ceilings, look at the inconsistencies in paint, look at around the foundation, around the

outside of the home. These are all important things to look at. Make sure you have your phone,

which you're always going to have, of course. Use the flashlight on your phone to look at those

under furniture, under sinks, under where else? What else do you look?

Mike Novak:

[23:42] Everywhere. I mean, other sinks is a good one for sure. I open up a lot of drawers, but sinks

in particular for drain leaks and things like that.

Rachael Novak:

[23:50] Exactly. Agents, make sure you educate your sellers on the difference between staging and

hiding things, right? We don't, we can't just like move a piece of furniture to cover a flooring, you

know, mishap. We can't cover things up in the walls. Like educate them on truly taking care of

things in order to fetch the highest price. The thing that I've been giving away that I created was a

pre-listing checklist. So make a pre-listing checklist for your sellers of the top 10 shortcuts that they

can take. There are things that they should do. And then, of course, the things that they shouldn't,

which we outlined today. And then coach sellers to remove 30 to 50 percent of their belongings.

Clear shelves clear horizontal spaces your your desks and your dressers this is not this is not just

decluttering but this is making sure that the the house itself is really attractive and sellable to

buyers as they walk through and then do not list a home with 17 glade plugins all throughout the

house okay talk to them about how to actually remediate a smell if there is an issue.

Rachael Novak:

[24:56] And then understand that shortcuts like, you know, just painting over an area that needed to

be patched well or covering, you know, foundation issues with mulch or, you know, doing these

things that is not, that's going to cost your seller money on inspection. And in fact, our team is really

consistently encouraging our sellers to get their own inspection. So we have a list of to-do items

long before we actually need to list. So agents, use this. You might need to listen to this again,

maybe three times to write down all these different things. We went through a lot today. But use this

on your next walkthrough, right? Be honest with your sellers about what they can do, what they

can't do. It is in their best interest to be honest with them. So make sure that you are really, you

know, letting them know what needs to be done and what they can kind of quote unquote get away

with. And then for sellers, prep early. Like be thinking about this stuff, be decluttering, be boxing

things up, be getting rid of things, especially if you're planning on listing in the next couple of

months. We're working with people who are three months, six months, nine months away from

listing and even longer than listing their properties. And we've already provided them our pre-listingchecklist. We've already done the walkthroughs to kind of give them an itemized list of what they

should and should not be addressing.

Rachael Novak:

[26:13] Some have already done inspections months ahead of time so that they have a to-do list for

a handyman. These are all important things to do. We are moving into a market now, or we have

moved into this market now where you can't get away with selling a home with a bunch of items.

Buyers will find them. And buyers, you should find them. This is a lot of money that you're buying

for a home. Anything else on that, Mr. Novak?

Mike Novak:

[26:36] What I've just noticed with buyers is they tend to spend about 15 minutes in a home when

they're touring it. They kind of get in this rushed pace of touring, and you want to kind of slow it

down a little bit, because in 15 minutes you can't see all of these things, right? So you got to rely on

your agent a little bit, but as the buyer, just slow down the tour a little bit. Like actually spend some

time in the house. You know, what I've seen is some buyers that really rush the home touring

process and then they do the home inspection once they order contract and they're like, oh my

God, there's like all these issues with this house and they haven't gotten the report back yet.

They've just spent more time in the home. So don't let that be you.

Rachael Novak:

[27:13] It's a great call. And as an agent, right, if you listen to this as an agent, make sure that you

are pointing things out to your buyers, like help them be more present and aware and curious while

you're in the home, right? Point out something that you see, have them look at under the sinks

everywhere, like really slow, help them slow down because it gets very exciting when buyers are

looking at properties. So make sure you're slowing it down for sure. So at the end of the day, a

well-maintained home, things that are actually addressed, sells faster, the process is smoother for

both the seller and the buyer, and it sells for more money. You don't have to do as many

negotiations in the inspection period, right? It'll fetch more money because it feels put together if

you don't have, you know, disjointed flooring throughout the property. So, you know, buyers want to

pay for peace of mind. They want to be able to pay for a property and move right into it. They want

turnkey these days. So as a seller, that's your job. It's on you to make sure that the home is well

taken care of and maintained to be able to pass off. And with that, hope this was helpful.

Mike Novak:

[28:12] Chunky one. We'll see you next week.

Rachael Novak:

[28:13] It was a chunky one. We'll see you next week, guys.