The All Things Real Estate Podcast with Chris McAllister

Ep005: Selling Your Home? What to Expect from Your First Meeting with a Real Estate Agent

• Chris McAllister

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In this episode, Chris, Laci, and Priscilla walk home sellers through what to expect during their first meeting with a real estate listing professional. 

Whether you're selling with ROOST or interviewing other agents, this episode outlines the questions to ask, how to set expectations, and what a truly professional listing experience should look like. 

Using the Sell with ROOST brochure as a guide, they cover everything from listing contracts to marketing plans, pricing strategy, and managing the transaction from start to finish.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

  • Why your agent might already have a buyer for your home
  • Understanding the listing agreement and commission structure
  • The power of the Home Enhancement Checklist (and how to declutter effectively!)
  • What goes into a successful marketing plan, including photos, videos, and analog touches like brochures and mailers
  • Clear communication standards and how agents should manage feedback
  • Navigating multiple offers, contingencies, and inspection hurdles
  • How experienced agents handle stress, support clients, and offer realistic expectations
  • The critical role of the seller net sheet
  • Staying connected after the sale through ROOST’s client appreciation programs

LINKS

P.S. Want more practical tips for buying and selling real estate? Our ever-growing library of books, blog posts, podcast episodes, masterclasses, documents, and other tools is at your fingertips.

Learn More >>> The All Things Real Estate Resource Hub

Chris McAllister: Welcome to the All Things Real Estate Podcast. I'm Chris McAllister, and it's my job to create and coach real estate opportunities and strategies that support net value to homeowners and residential property investors. I'm joined today by my co-host and marketing partner, Laci LeBlanc and ROOST Real Estate Company, real estate professional, Priscilla McNamee.

Good morning, ladies. 

Laci LeBlanc: Good morning. Good morning. 

Chris McAllister: So today's episode is for the home sellers in the audience. It's about what to expect when you meet with a Roos real estate listing professional for the first time. You could also listen to this as a, as an opportunity to learn what to expect, honestly from any listing agent that you choose to interview for, for your home selling needs.

And we're gonna walk you through the exact process we use with our clients following the same steps that are laid out in our brochure. That's called Sell with ROOST. You can find that right on the main page of our website, but we're also going to include a copy of it in our show notes. So I want you to think of this first meeting as an interview, right where you're interviewing the potential listing agent for your home.

You know, after all, your goal is to hire. The listing agent that you are going to want to work closely with, you know, for anywhere from a few weeks to God forbid, a few months. And, uh, you know, you wanna get this relationship right. And, and lemme tell you something they do too. We do too. And we wanna make, but you wanna make sure that you're hiring an agent who's going to keep your unique interests at heart.

Does that sound like a, uh, plan for the day, for the morning? 

Priscilla McNamee: Absolutely. 

Chris McAllister: All 

Priscilla McNamee: right. 

Chris McAllister: So before we get rolling here, I, I just wanna kind of briefly recap what we talked about in episode. So, um, five when we talked about how the NAR Settlement and Power sellers. So in that episode, we broke down the recent NAR lawsuit, c Burnett versus NAR, the National Association of Realtors and its impact on home sellers.

And we focused on how. Settlement adds flexibility and transparency to real estate commissions. And we talked about the different ways buyer agents can be paid under the new rules and highlighted why incentivizing agents is still a smart move for home sellers in order to attract more buyers. So we also talked a little bit about what we're gonna dig deeper in today, but how we in particular, proactively market listings by leveraging existing buyer databases, social media, open houses, you know, new ways, old ways, and, and lots more to find a buyer for our listing clients home quickly.

So in this brochure and in that first meeting, so kind of visualize yourself at the kitchen table with Priscilla and, uh, you know, she's gonna have this brochure with her. She's, uh, uh. Uh, really great at, at, at printing those out, having copies available for all of our clients. So in that Sell with Ruth brochure, you know, we cover everything, um, everything that, that, that hopefully is gonna go on in this meeting.

So, just a, a quick table of contents basically. So it starts off with, we may already have a buyer for your home. We talk about the listing contract itself, um, a document we call the home enhancement checklist. We talk about marketing plans, how you wanna be communicated with negotiating, structuring the sale, managing the transaction, which, um, spoiler alert is probably 80% of what you're gonna be relying on your agent for the market analysis.

How we go about pricing your property and what happens after the sale. And I just wanna touch on, you know, our client appreciation program and, and how Priscilla in particular is, is kind of a different kind of, uh, of, uh, real estate broker. So, Priscilla, I'm babbling already. So when we say we may already have a buyer for your home, what, what, how does that relate to you?

How do you, uh, relate that to, to your clients? 

Priscilla McNamee: I think, I think mostly when I am meeting with sellers, typically when I approach them with that, it is, we're working with a vast amount of buyers. So I will usually, especially like in the areas that I work, um, I will tell them that I very well could be working with somebody already that might be interested in their property, where we won't even have to put it on the market.

And that is very appealing to them because it bypasses the whole process of packing up the kids, uh, you know, getting the house ready for last minute showings. You know, putting the sign in the yard, letting the neighbors know all of that. And it's very appealing to a lot of people with their busy lives in today's world.

So that I think is, um, a huge benefit for a lot of people. 

Chris McAllister: Yeah. And I think that, and, and that's market making, right? I mean, you, you are able to provide that service to your buyers because, to your sellers, because one, you work with a ton of buyers, you talk to a ton of people, and after, you know, 30 years in this market, in these neighborhoods, you know, everybody knows you and, and you know everybody else.

And, and your just gifted at putting those buyers and sellers together. You know, I, I guess when I think of, we may already have a buyer for your home, I know that if I'm gonna sign my, if I'm gonna sign a listing contract to sell my house, you know, I feel like, and I think most sellers feel this way, I. Is, I am gonna sign a contract with you.

I'm going to pay you a huge amount of money. And quite frankly, if I'm gonna pay you all that money, I really do expect you to sell it. Right? I don't Absolutely, absolutely. Stick a sign in the yard, um, you know, get it in the MLS as fast as you can, and sit back and wait for another agent in town to sell it.

And, you know, that's, that's how things worked with the vast majority of agents for years and years with clear cooperation and, you know, every, how we did business prior to the, the settlement. But, you know, I think in this market, and if not in this market this spring, I think in the years ahead as the, the full, um.

Ramifications. And quite frankly, benefits of Sits or Burnett starts start to play out for sellers. I think that expectation's gonna be universal. You hire a listing agent not to be the one that puts the sign up, you hire the listing agent to be the one that puts the sign up and brings you the buyer. And that's, that's gotta be our goal, I think, as a company for every listing.

I, 

Priscilla McNamee: I agree. Um, I think showing a lot of empathy towards them for the amount of money they do pay for a service, you know, for selling their home, um, is extremely important because it's so much money and a lot of agents, they, they overlook that, they discount it. Um, they have this attitude, well, I'm worth it.

I'm worth it. Yeah. And a lot of sellers that's, I I find that a little offensive. Um, the worst 

Chris McAllister: yet, their attitude is what's in it for, for me, you know? Yes. As an agent. Right? Yeah. And, and look at me. I'm a billion dollar producer, and 

Priscilla McNamee: they have a, they have a very bad habit of using this phrase, which I have never.

Ever in my career use this phrase ever, and I hate even saying it on this, but they use this phrase, double dip when they sell their own properties. 

Chris McAllister: Yeah. Like it's a bad thing. 

Priscilla McNamee: Yeah. Oh, it's just, I How about your, how about your're doing your job? Yeah. It's your job. That is your job. 

Laci LeBlanc: Um, do you think that's a perception that people have though?

When if you say, oh, I'm already may already have a buyer for your home, do they, do you think the perception after all this time is that, oh, you know, and with recent rules changing and, and how buyer's agents are paid changing, it's not, maybe that's, this is also changing, but is the perception, oh, they're just trying to double dip.

You know, does that turn some people off? Uh, when you say we may already have a buyer for home, because I see nothing but upsides to it, right? Like you said, I don't have to pack up all of my personal photos and I don't have to stage my house necessarily or take my kids out last minute when somebody wants to stop by and see.

I see upsides. Um, but I also know real estate agents like you all who I trust, you know, and obviously, you know, Nana has given me a really good vision of real estate professionals. Do you think there are other people who maybe haven't had the opportunity to get to know and trust an agent that, that see that as a negative and not a positive?

Priscilla McNamee: Yeah, I think also that that phrase is pre settlement. I don't think you're really gonna hear that too much anymore because I think they're gonna be forced to negotiate commission more. Um. And I think that's really, I think it's going to be, I think it's gonna be helpful. I think you're gonna see the market evolve and it's gonna be good for real estate and it's gonna be good for our clients.

I mean, honestly, you know, 

Chris McAllister: I, I wonder, and I, sorry to interrupt, but you know, now that I'm thinking about it, how many sellers, first of all, we wouldn't use the phrase double dip in a listing, uh, presentation, I don't think, but there may be some other things to do. Never. But you know what I, that whole phrase double dip.

So here's my big copi conspiracy theory, Priscilla of the Morning Double dip is, is a phrase that I think was perpetuated, you know, within the realtor network, probably by NR to make us as great listing agents. Feel guilty about having the buyer. Because, you know, if we get really, really good at having a buyer, I.

And we don't need to employ, uh, as many buyer agents in the transaction. Well, suddenly, which, which is probably gonna be a consequence and already has been of sits or Burnett. We're gonna have fewer buyer agents in the system. There's gonna be fewer buyer agents working in the real estate business, right?

So what happens if you have fewer buyer agents? Well, NAR loses a ton of money, right? Because they're not getting dues from, from two people. I, I, if NAR gets dues from two people in a transaction and they go down to only getting dues from one person or maybe one and a half people in a transaction on average, that's bad for NAR.

It's also bad for the big box legacy, uh, brokerages as well. Who, you know, I've always referred to as body shops, where it's in their interest to have as many licensees as possible in hopes that, you know, somebody gets lucky, you know, any given month. So now, now you've got me on the conspiracy theory tangent, but you know what?

I think that's been my problem about double-dipping because it's an issue with, with many realtors, and I think if I'm really honest with myself, I'm not sure it's an interest with very many sellers, which is probably why I really wanna lean into that. You know, we may already have a buyer for your home.

Laci LeBlanc: I think it illustrates a really important point, and probably one that sellers who are listening or buyers who are listening, uh, would relate more to, and that's just the po. The point of this is to have the conversation, right, to, it's like an interview, but you have the conversation. You make sure you're on the same page.

So if a seller did have a problem with, you know, double dipping or perceived double dipping, then you would talk through that at this first appointment, right? And if you said, I may already have a buyer for your home, they could say, oh, well, you know, I wanna put it out on the market and I wanna see what kind of offers we get.

And, you know, and you could say, that's perfectly fine. Or, you know, so I think that illustrates a really good point that everybody's coming into this conversation with different experiences and different expectations. Um, and they may not all be accurate or true or, you know, but this is an opportunity to talk through it all.

Chris McAllister: And I think it's important also to say, while we're more than willing, you know, while we, while we fully expect and we're gonna do everything we can. To find a buyer for your home, you know, or I'm gonna do everything I can to find a buyer, buyer for your home. We are more than willing to collaborate with any other agencies or buyer's agents that may have qualified buyers, you know, and I just, I just think it's important that sellers know that our commitment goes beyond merely putting the sign in the yard and, and, and waiting for somebody to raise their, raise their hands.

We are certainly never, ever been no good agent. I've never known a great agent to do this, or, or never going to turn to push away or somehow not present, uh, an offer from, uh, an and another agent in order to, to try to, you know, have both sides professionals don't do that. We certainly don't do that. The best in the business don't do that.

Yeah. That's, that's the worst, that's the worst definition of double dip. And that's why it's also critical that, you know, uh. Professional, like Priscilla has great relationships with all the other realtors in town because they know that they can trust her to present her, offer, their offers fairly, get back with them in a timely fashion and so forth.

But that doesn't stop Priscilla from, you know, doing everything she can to, to, to find that buyer for your, for her seller on her own. We've gotta work both ends against the middle and that's what sets the fantastic listing agents apart from the, from the part-timers. 

Priscilla McNamee: And there are instances, Lacey, like you mentioned, where if it is a property that I do think is gonna be a really hot property, um, and I've had this happen on both sides, having a buyer and having a listing where we will have a buyer.

Um, if I'm on a listing appointment, um, and the seller says, well go ahead and show it, and the buyer does write an offer and then the seller still wants to put it on, on the market, and then we will be basically, um, opening it up to the market and we will be in multiple offers. So, um, that, and, and that's how it's handled.

And I've had it happen to me on the other side as well, so that way, um, or there's no other offers, but at least the seller tried. At least the seller got the opportunity. Like you said, let me see if I can get any other offers just to be on the safe side. And it gives 'em that opportunity so they know that they, um, didn't go with their only shot.

Chris McAllister: Absolutely. So that we're, we're already rolling along here. This is gonna be a long listing appointment, so I 

Priscilla McNamee: know we can move along. I don't wanna, I'm trying to 

Chris McAllister: stay on task here. So the next thing that we wanna talk about, that's in the, in the, uh, south Risk Reserve is a listing contract. And the listing contract, it's a crucial agreement.

It's a legal document between you and your listing brokerage. It outlines the terms and conditions under which they will sell your property. Some of the key points you can expect to see and what you wanna look for. This first of all, 99% of the time, you're gonna be signing an exclusive right to sell agreement.

So this contract gives your brokerage or Ruth's real estate company the exclusive right to market and sell your property. That means you will not be working with any other agencies, uh, during the time. This exclusive right to Sell contract is place and ensures that the agents of the brokerage, and in real estates complete case, all of the agents of the brokerage are fully committed to selling your home and maximizing your return.

The other key, uh, component is a contract duration. A contract is only a binding contract if there's, if it has dates. So the agreement is gonna specify the duration of the listing period during, during which the brokerage will have the exclusive rights to sell your property. The listing price, obviously that's a big deal.

And the commission, the commission that that's, you know, what most people are most concerned about and what they want to jump to first when they, when they're presented with a, uh, listing contract. So the listing contract. Details the commission structure, including the percentage of the sale price or a flat fee that will be paid to your listing agent, in this case ROOST real estate company.

And it also includes, uh, detail of what you are willing to pay if you choose to a buyer brokerage or a buyer agent upon a successful, uh, at, at closing. So basically, once you get the property under contract with the buyer brokerage, so in the commission contract we actually put in there, if you want to offer a co-op and you can choose to offer a co-op or you can choose not to offer a co-op, that doesn't mean that you can't entertain offers that, that don't ask for, uh, a, a co-op.

But if you want to go ahead upfront and track as many buyers as possible and put that in the listing contract, then what happens is Priscilla, while she can't put it in the MLS anymore, that you're gonna pay. A buyer brokerage fee if asked. She can tell, um, anybody who asks her or any other agent she speaks to that, Hey, have you seen this great property?

And oh, by the way, the seller has already agreed to, to to pay a buyer broker commission. So come on over. Did I say that right, Priscilla? 

Priscilla McNamee: Yep. Absolutely. 

Chris McAllister: It also outlines agency relationships. It specifies the nature of the agency relationship, ensuring transparency and clarity about the duties and responsibilities of your agent.

And I'm not gonna dig deep into this 'cause we could be here for another hour 

Priscilla McNamee: Exactly that, that could be an entire podcast. 

Chris McAllister: But there's a distinct difference between commission and agency. Agent has no bearing on commission, and commission has no a, uh, bearing on an agency relationship in the eyes of the law.

So those are two separate things. And in most contracts, you're gonna see a separate document from the, uh, listing contract for that outline. Agency relationships. 

Priscilla McNamee: Thank you so much for saying that. I wish all these new agents could understand that, 

Chris McAllister: and we wish some of the old agents understood that, that that's, yeah.

Again, another podcast, right? 

Priscilla McNamee: Yep. Exactly. 

Chris McAllister: So, Priscilla, why don't you kind of take us through the home enhancement checklist and, and I guess how you, when you, when you go visit a property for the first time, I'm assuming that you, you have the seller show you around. What, what, what do you use for a tool?

What are you looking for? What's that conversation look like? 

Priscilla McNamee: Okay. I'm just gonna say that I am so excited because that is my bible. Um, I wish if you had a camera following me around, I use it on every property. I have two properties right now that I'm listing and, um, we're following it to a t And I have notes written on every single page.

Um. It is, it's, it's perfect. Um, it, you know, it's already, it's already pre-written with great tips in the left hand column. Um, for people who, you know, a lot of people, of course, they already have their house pretty much ready. However, it has tips for people who don't quite know exactly where to begin on getting their house ready for sale.

So, um, you know, it's little things that you forget about, like cleaning your ceiling vans, wiping down the front door. Um, just small tips. And then as I walk through anything extra that I see, I write it down in the right hand column. Um, if there's something that, you know, just, uh, I was like, if, if I see a house that I think maybe we should stage or, um, maybe add some, uh, piece like some, or like I have some staging pieces at my house, for example.

Like that's what I'm gonna be doing this afternoon on a new listing outside of South Vienna. I'm gonna go take about three totes of items, um, go out there and just kind of help stage the property a little bit myself just to kind of help with the photos. This is a second ti I'm the second realtor in on this property.

The first agent took, uh, photos with cell phones with her cell phone and just did a major disservice. Had the property listed for about 10 months, and I think they had like three showings. Um, didn't help the seller with any kind of, um, like a home enhancement checklist. Nothing like that. Did absolutely none of this.

So the seller is over there yesterday and today, um, following that list, doing some cleaning, following right through everything that we gave them. I'm gonna do all the staging and I'm super excited because I'm really hoping once we get the photographer out there, get it listed this week. I'm excited because I'm thinking that they'll get a, a big difference of, you know, activity.

Um, 

yeah, 

Priscilla McNamee: the, the presentation more, the presentation makes all of the difference. It really does. And that checklist is gold. Yeah. 

Chris McAllister: And we're gonna put the home enhancement checklist in the show notes, so if anybody listening wants to download it, they'll be able to get it from there. But the, the whole, and people, 

Priscilla McNamee: people love that.

They'll keep, that, people will keep that checklist for cleaning their house. Like they love that checklist. 

Chris McAllister: Well, and the whole idea is it, it's, it's designed to, to help the seller look at their, look at their property, look at their home, the way a buyer is going to see it for the first time. Because I love what you said about the ceiling fans, you know, that's, that's kind of a pet peeve of mine too.

But, you know, I, I, you know, every, every few years I look up and it's like, holy shit, I gotta clean the ceiling fans. Right. Well, 

Priscilla McNamee: especially you, you're tall. Like, I'm so short. You know? So I don't see it, but I mean, so it's one of those things, well, I think, and a lot of people just miss it. They, they or, or vents.

Um, cold air returns. 

Chris McAllister: Yeah. Yeah. 

Priscilla McNamee: Forget to clean those things. 

Chris McAllister: Yeah, and it's broken down, tidy up, clean up, patch up, and finishing touches. And, and my favorite, of course is, and this is, and this is where you have to be very, I mean, I don't know if empathetic is the right word, but you sometimes have to have adult conversations with people about what they need to do to the home.

And a lot of times people sort of live in a, i, I don't mean to be disparaging, but with a lot of clutter, right? Yes. Sometimes the best home enhancement somebody can do is just to get some, some furniture and some odds and ends out of the house, you know, put it in the storage unit, put it in the basement, put it in the garage, you know, someplace so that people can actually see the house for, for, for what it could be.

Not necessarily Chris. 

Laci LeBlanc: We call that maximalism, 

Chris McAllister: maximalism. Some of us 

Laci LeBlanc: are highly offended by that statement. Um, no, I think that brings up a good point. You know, I'm in marketing, I do marketing for a living. I have done it for 20 years, and I am not the right person to ask how to market and sell. Home.

Right. So actually Priscilla, Chris agents, the real estate agents, real estate professionals are marketing experts in their specific niche. So to have this list and then to have your insight, um, I can't wait to see what the difference will be, Priscilla, for these folks with your insight. Um, because yeah, the way that other people look at a house when they walk into it is not the way you look at it.

I am, I guarantee you would say, um, remove all of your things. Not everyone is obsessed with vintage in antiques and eighties and nineties, um, memorabilia as you are here need to take that all away. Um, yeah. But I, I just think it's really, really valuable for sellers and buyers and those of us who are not experts to remember.

That you got to where you are Priscilla by doing this for a living. And you are a marketing expert when it comes to, uh, selling homes and knowing what your target audience, which is home buyers wants when they walk in the door. And little things like cleaning a ceiling fan, which thanks. I'll add that to my to-do list for today, uh, for my house are, make a big, big difference.

Uh, I love the notes that we have that say paint in the can is worth $20, but it's worth a thousand dollars on the wall. I think that's just a, the way to sum it all up. Like it may seem like a little thing to, to buy a can of paint and freshen up a wall or two, but it really can translate to more money and more interested buyers and an easier home selling process along the way.

Priscilla McNamee: And one, one tip that I give people that isn't on our home enhancement checklist, which we probably need to go ahead and add it, is my rule of thumb. What I tell people and what I've always told them through all of the years is. When I walk through homes and they have like knickknacks and things out is if it fit, if it can fit in a shoebox, it needs to go.

So if it, if, if it can fit in a shoebox, it just, it needs to go put it away. And I, I'm never 

Laci LeBlanc: selling my house. It's what you just told me. I know. That's, and 

Priscilla McNamee: I know that sucks. Like, and I always tell them, I know it sucks, but this is temporary. Like this is just temporary. And, and I also, I show a lot of empathy because I know selling your house, and I also tell them that when you sell your house and we walk through houses, people do not live like this.

Okay? This is not how most people live. Now, Chris does, he's a minimalist. Chris is not a normal person. He does live like that. He is a minimalist. I, 

Laci LeBlanc: that's a whole other podcast too. The Chris is not a normal person. Podcast is the one I'm waiting on. Oh 

Priscilla McNamee: my gosh. I need to listen. I need to become more like Chris.

I am not a minimalist. I've got to, I 

Chris McAllister: don't think that's a good plan for life, but 

Priscilla McNamee: yeah, I need to get control over that. But, um, seriously though, if it can fit in a shoebox, it needs to go. So I 

like it. 

Priscilla McNamee: But I do, and I do show a lot. Um, I do, I'm, I'm very empathetic to them and I, I don't want them to think that I'm judging them by any means because it is their home.

Um, but it does, it just needs to go because you want people to be able to focus on the size of the home. 

Chris McAllister: Yeah. And that's a good transition to the whole marketing plan for your home. You know, uh, we actually in our brochure, number one is price your home competitively. And we're gonna talk about that in more detail, uh, once we get to the, uh, uh, comparative market analysis and pinpoint price analysis.

But if pricing your home is, is the number one on the marketing plan, uh, in terms of importance, making your home look as best it can be as number two. So there you, it, it's hard to, we can't really stress enough how critical it is that as a seller, you set your home up, you put yourself in the shoes of a potential buyer.

The other thing to keep in mind, and the marketing plan is, and we as realtors sometimes take this for granted, but the reason we are realtors, the prime reason we are realtors is because it gives us access to the local multiple listing service. And the multiple listing service is the online marketplace for every single realtor in town.

To, to show your home off to every other licensee, of course, but it's the multiple listing service that drives data and information to Zillow and realtor.com and a thousand other places on the internet. So you want your agent to leverage the multiple listing service. So I know Priscilla, you know, she prepare, she prepares, uh, you know, the, the listing, uh, information, and she makes sure that it's submitted accurately to the multiple listing service.

And in our area, you know, you know, I know Priscilla, you make it a rule because of what our odd location is. You're not just listing that property in, in the Springfield area, Western Regional, or Clark County. You're also listing that property in the Columbus MLS and the Dayton MLS because we have so much overlap.

So you wanna get it in front of as many people as possible, and that MLS is the vital tool for getting your home in front of as many buyers in their agents. As, as you possibly can. The second thing to keep in mind, and, and Priscilla maybe you could talk about this, is this whole thing with, with having high quality photos and, and you know, I guess there's times when, you know, iPhone photos are appropriate or, you know, okay, are, are, are not going to necessarily hurt the sale price, but there's other times where, you know, you wanna get a professional.

So how do, how do you approach that Priscilla? 

Priscilla McNamee: Um, about, uh, about 10 year, well, not, no, probably about eight years ago I to a, um, camera shop down in Beaver Creek and I bought a really nice wide angle lens and a really nice, uh, flash for my Nikon body. So I have a really, really nice camera set up myself. So that way what I'll do is on any kind of houses that, um.

I'll photograph myself, people who, you know, we don't, I'm not anybody who really doesn't want to have, um, a photographer come in. These are houses that are, um, really cluttered. They can't get everything out. Um, they're really probably not in the greatest of condition. You know what I mean? Those are the kind of houses that I will go ahead and just photograph myself.

Um, other than that, I'll go ahead and call a photographer and have them come in and photograph the 

Chris McAllister: property. And, and the reason is there's no good reason for you as the listing agent or the seller to go to the extra expense of having a professional photographer through the house, right? If, if the house isn't going to benefit from 

Priscilla McNamee: it.

Exactly. And plus I think with them, they're also more comfortable with me and they really don't want that photographer in there. Um, plus I'll tell you, um, I've got a property right now that. When people are doing stuff, when people, when a property is in that condition and we do put it on the market, a lot of times they'll make some changes very rapidly.

So then I have to go back over and redo photos. Yeah. So there's no reason to have a photographer go over and take pictures when I'm gonna be back over there, here in just a few days, changing them out again. 

Chris McAllister: The other consequence too, sometimes that I think a lot of agents, um, kind of take this path if the house doesn't show well, they don't take any pictures.

Or they take very, very few fit pictures. And you know, typically I think there for a while, most of the MLSs would only take up to 25 pictures, which a few years ago was a lot. Now I don't think there's any sort of limit on how many pictures you can upload, but you know, the more pictures that you can take, whether a house shows like a model home or not, the better off you're gonna be from a marketing perspective.

So to have an agent like yourself that even if a house doesn't show as well as, as maybe, uh, you know, we'd like, that still doesn't mean that we don't have an obligation to tell the story of the house and as attractive as a way as we possibly can. And to you be, have the equipment and the skill to do that is, and again, that's what sets great listing agents apart from, from the part-timers.

Priscilla McNamee: But it's so important to me, and I know that I drive my assistant extremely bonkers, but I do not care. I'm serious. It is in, it's critical to me that with my photos, and I, I tell her this, that, um, I, I want it to go from the exterior front to the front door to the living room. I want people to be able to view the photos as if they're walking through the house.

And then, um, and then you, you go upstairs and then there's the bed. You know, I don't want it to be like, here's the kitchen, here's a bedroom, here's a bathroom, here's the living room, here's a basement. It, it drives me insane. When realtors will, realtors will. Cluster photos of a house, you can make no rhyme or reason of what the property is.

Yeah. The pictures are completely, they're com they just mix them up and up. They just uploaded them. 

Chris McAllister: Yeah. 

Priscilla McNamee: And it's like, figure it out for yourself. 

Chris McAllister: How often do you do a 3D tour? 

Priscilla McNamee: I'm not really, I have not been doing the 3D tours at all. I'm just not really a big fan of them because the color of them are so, it, it's, it's, they've been so like, whited out kind of, if that makes sense.

Laci LeBlanc: I blame millennials for that. Not me, obviously, but Yeah. It's like if a home is all white and gray. Yeah. It's like, then it might not show as well in 3D if everything is flat, right? 

Priscilla McNamee: Yes. You're exactly right. 

Chris McAllister: What, what is your thoughts on, what are your thoughts on videos? 

Priscilla McNamee: I love the videos and, um, like, uh.

While photography, for example, their videos, they keep them very short, which I love because I'm a DHD, so I don't like to watch a long video, and they make them very quick. So it's really nice. 

Chris McAllister: So you're okay with those pictures? Mm-hmm. Yeah, me too. Yes. So I, I think I, I misspoke. I think, uh, when I think of the 3D tours, and I guess it's not really 3D is it, but it's, it's 360 degrees.

It's the, the beauty of those, I, I love the wow tours. Not, not, it's not appropriate for every home, but two reasons I like it. One, if you'd like to watch videos, you can watch a video and you can set that video up. So it takes a tour of the house, not in the random rooms. I also love them because if you're like me, you can actually look at the floor plan that it creates, click on a room, and then see that entire room.

Ceiling floor all the way around the whole thing. And I think that adds a, a tremendous amount of value. Personally, I don't have the patience to sit through videos because I want to jump to the room I care about. 

Priscilla McNamee: Yeah, exactly. 

Chris McAllister: But that's why I love those Wow. 3D videos. If you want, if you're a video person, watch it.

But if you want to jump from room to room, you can do that too. So I, I think that's a huge value add. And it's also important for sellers to know that is not cheap. I mean, I, I know in some markets that's 3, 4, 5, 7, $800, you know, depending on the side of the size of the house. And I do think it's an appropriate marketing package.

You know, for some people it's not appropriate for, for everybody. But again, the key is get as many pictures of the houses as you can on the internet and, and on the MLS and, and tell your story. 

Priscilla McNamee: I've been one of the only agents doing, um, floor plans on all of my listings recently. But now I know like wrist has been offering, you can do the floor plan now on the MLS.

So yeah. That's pretty 

Chris McAllister: cool. I don't know how that technology works. Yeah. I haven't 

Priscilla McNamee: done, it's on wrist. I haven't done it on wrist yet, but I've been already paying to have Wow. Do it for me on all my listings and I just know that the consumers absolutely love it. They, they always tell me they wish all the real estate agents would do it.

Um, because so many people out of state, when they look at listings, they can see exactly how a house is laid out just by looking at the blueprint. 

Chris McAllister: Yeah. I think that's critical. And the other cool thing is, and we don't have this as much now as we did, but during Covid, you know, a house that had a 3D Wow package, a virtual tour package, you know, we had people buying homes from all over the world during Covid and they could literally see a.

You know, everything that was going on in that room. Now, if the room was cluttered or whatever, maybe you can't see everything, but you could definitely get a better, better view of the house. The other thing that's a pet peeve for me, and I think a pet peeve for a lot of sellers is, is buyers that want to take, you know, multiple tours through the house at all hours, and to have really good pictures online or a virtual tour, you know, if those are well done, it, it, it eliminates a lot of that, uh, that need or that desire and the part of the buyers to, to keep coming back for more.

So, definitely something from a marketing spec perspective to think about. And again, you want your listing company to create maximum exposure for your property. You wanna list it, you wanna make sure that it's in the MLS every MLS nearby. You know, if you're in Dayton and you're, and you have a, a relative who, uh, happens to be an agent in Columbus and they wanna list your house in Dayton, great.

But you need to make sure that they join the Dayton MLS. You need to get maximum exposure and, and you need to tell all the agents and you need to be on, you know, Zillow, truly a realtor, all of 'em. But having said that, we don't just rely on the internet. So I know, um, we're a little bit old fashioned in regard, but what are some of the things that you do Priscilla, that, that are kind of analog or kind of old school?

Priscilla McNamee: So I make sure that I print out, um, all of the, I do all the color brochures, two-sided brochures, and I print those for a brochure box for the signs. And I also print them for inside the house. And then I make sure that I print off all of the disclosure forms. So those are also at the property for agents when they do go and show the property.

I also print the layout of the lot so that's there at the house as well. And then any additional information that's pertinent to the property. That way. Anytime anybody goes to the house, everything is there. They don't have to worry about, um, Hey, will you, will you get this for me? And then I'll decide if I wanna make an offer.

They pretty much can decide on the spot if they wanna make an offer. They've got everything right there at their fingertips. 

Chris McAllister: Yeah. Um, and that's, that's cool too because, you know, Kylie sets up these instant open houses for us, which is great, and you can download all that information, but if you're in the moment in a house and somebody gets excited to be able to just pick up that, those papers just like we did, you know, 10 years ago, there's huge value to that from, from the owner's perspective.

Priscilla McNamee: And then we send out just listed cards 

Chris McAllister: Yeah. 

Priscilla McNamee: Through, um, old school. Yep. So we do the just listed cards and then I've also been doing the price reduce cards, so I make sure I do that. And then I've also done the open house, um, invites on the cards as well. And I do my open houses when I, I try to schedule those a couple weeks in advance so I can do those as well.

Um, so postage. Um, you know, it, it's funny because a lot of people, they really, they don't get a lot of, they get junk mail, but they don't really get mail from people anymore. So they really do enjoy getting, um, I, I get feedback on mail that I send out, believe it or not. 

Chris McAllister: Yeah. It's funny, I, I remember you and I talking about if, gosh, I guess it's been a few years now that your superpower is open houses.

Nobody does the planning and the detail to, to pull off a successful open house like you, you do. So I. If you wanna list your house, Priscilla's your person. She's gonna get it done. All right. Clear and open communication. So this section of the brochure, yes, clear and open communication with your agent is critical, but the other thing that usually comes up is, uh, or used to, maybe it's not as much anymore, but you know, we, you probably still get, um, requests from sellers for agent feedback.

How, how often do agents actually provide feedback to you about what their buyers thought of the house? And, and oh, by the way, I absolutely subscribe to the fact that the best feedback you can get is that you didn't get an offer. But what, what's the state of play out there in the world right now about getting feedback from?

It's probably about 

Priscilla McNamee: 30% of the time I have to track them down to get feedback. 

Chris McAllister: Yeah. 

Priscilla McNamee: So. 

Chris McAllister: Well, when we wrote this a few years ago, it was 35% of the time. So it, I I bet you it has dropped a little bit. Yeah, 

Priscilla McNamee: it's, it's sad. The professionalism in this industry is definitely declined. I, we had so many, I think it's just because we had such an influx of agents get into the business during COD and we also have such an overflow of agents that come in, um, from larger markets where they're not selling properties.

So they, and they don't, you know, like when you have people come in from Cincinnati that know nothing about Springfield, for example, they're so reliant on us for all of the information. So 

Chris McAllister: yeah, it's 

Priscilla McNamee: just crazy. 

Chris McAllister: And, and it is sad because there are times when you know, the buyer maybe has something that's constructive that, you know, might in some way help a seller.

But I, I, the reason I add this in here and why we have it in the brochure is I, I wanna set expectations upfront with our sellers that, you know, we can spend days and days, hours and hours, whatever it is, trying to, to get feedback, but the reality of it is. You know, we're just not. Now, of course, if we show the house, right, if, if we were gonna bring the buyer for your house, we're gonna give you all the feedback that, that we can possibly give you.

But I don't want, uh, listing clients necessarily to expect that we're gonna get the kind of detailed responses when other agents show the home as, as, as they'll get from the listing agent. I wanted to touch a little bit too on the next section, which is negotiating and structuring the sale. You know, I think this is critical and we lost sight of this during Covid, you know, when it was just a frenzy.

But, you know, you want your agent to re not just present and not just to send you offers, you know, to sign it via dot Loop or DocuSign. You want your agent to take the time to review line by line if necessary, at least section by section and present all offers to you. And, and I say all offers. 'cause I think for the most part we're still, maybe not the most part, but we still have multiple offers, situations these days.

But you want that agent to review and present all offers to you as they are received and provide whatever level of education you feel you need. It's not enough and it never was enough to just send something over in dot loop and, and, and leave the client to their own devices. Quite frankly. I, I think that's how we got in trouble with Sit Burnett in the first place.

We just got lazy and sloppy. But you can expect Priscilla and any other Roo agent that they're going to sit down with you or zoom with you, whatever it takes. To review, review and present every offer to you as they are received. And of, and of course, you only wanna be working with buyers that are at a minimum pre-qualified for a mortgage or can provide proof of funds for a cash sale.

And your agent needs to sort through that stuff. It doesn't mean that they're not obligated to present an offer, but they're going to make it very, very clear to any buyers they're working with or to any other agent that you need to understand. My seller is not gonna take your offer seriously. If you can't show that they have an ability to get a loan, they're not gonna waste their time.

And the the other piece is, you know, from negotiating structures, the sale, it's, the price of course, is critical, but it's the terms, right? So you, you need a professional who's able to explain to you, you know. How those terms, whether it's closing costs, whether it's buyer agency fees, whether it's closing an occupancy dates, right, the, the terms themselves.

Maybe they're gonna give you time to stay in the house until your new house is ready. That all factors into what's a good deal for, for all parties concerned. So all those things, a good agent is gonna discuss with you, bring to light, but their goal isn't just to get your property under contract. You know, their goal should be to get your property under contract and get you to the closing table on time with as few, uh, surprises as possible.

So I guess that sounds like a, a, a rant there, but Priscilla, what, any thoughts on that? 

Priscilla McNamee: No, I agree because it is so hard. I mean, it, the, the past six months have been so hard to get to the closing table. I mean, I've got, I've got a few clients right now that we are. We are like becoming family because it's been rough.

I mean, it's been a rough few months, but they're sticking out. They're sticking it out with me. I mean, they're sticking it out. It's not, you know, it's nobody's fault. It's just we have that domino effect where this house has to sell about house. You know, we've got four houses that are all connected. 

Chris McAllister: Yeah.

And at least where we're doing business, the market is a little, uh, soft right now as we go into spring. And, you know, it's always soft during an election year and, and probably 20, 24 or more. So, you know, today is what, March 4th, and it still feels like we're in the middle of an election year because there's just so much going on in the country and so forth.

So it, it is a, it's a different sort of time right now and all the more reason that, you know, we're working with people who are acting in good faith and have the ability to actually buy and close on a house. So something to be aware of. And I 

Priscilla McNamee: do think that's why it's so, it is so important to work with people who definitely trust you.

And that you just trust 'em and you've, you have a good relationship. Um, and, you know, not everybody's gonna wanna work with me, and I'm not 

Chris McAllister: gonna wanna It's because you're gonna spend a lot of time together. 

Priscilla McNamee: Yeah. I mean, we are, we are gonna spend a lot of time together. 

Chris McAllister: The other thing I, I think it's important to touch on and, and, uh, you know, sometimes people sell homes because they get transferred, they're moving outta state or, you know, maybe it's an estate situation or whatever, but a great agent is also gonna help you manage the transition from your current home to your next home.

I think there's a lot of people who are ready to move, but the whole idea of having to sell their home, pay off that mortgage, make sure they get enough money to, uh, be able to put money down and qualify for the next mortgage, you know, that's a daunting thing that I think causes people to stay maybe a little bit longer in their house, um, than they, than they.

Maybe would have, but you know, a great agent like Priscilla is gonna be able to help her clients who are moving from one house to the next, um, do that successfully. And you know what, before I forget, can you touch on, I know you're great at this, but how you handle your seller net sheet, you know, the seller proceeds, because especially when we're talking about, you know, helping somebody get from one house to the next, knowing exactly what they're gonna walk away with at, at closing and be able to put down on the next house is critical.

Do you have some words of wisdom on, on that? 

Priscilla McNamee: I'm a little bit of a weirdo on that. I still do it by hand. I don't do it electronically or depend on the system to do it for me. Um, I just, I always do it myself. Um, the way I was taught back in 1993 because, um, I want my seller to always know where they're at.

And I'm usually within a couple hundred dollars usually. Um, it's just so critical that they are always aware of their numbers and I just use a basic net sheet showing them what their expenses are and break it all down for them and just, I mean, I can do it as simple, just write it down and take a picture of it if I have to, and, but at least they know where they're at at all times while we're going back and forth negotiating.

Chris McAllister: That's a critical part of the, of the listing con uh, uh, presentation too, that first meeting because most people aren't aware that there's conveyance fees that, how tax preparations work and crediting uh, uh, the incoming buyer because of the way that the calendar is and, and your particular jurisdiction.

Um, you know, there's just a million different things that it feels like that could come up that most people just aren't aware of 'cause they don't live with it every day. And to be able to have a detailed net sheet that shows every one of those, you know, hidden costs. Um, you know, that's, that's critical because I think some people think, oh, I just gotta pay my agent.

But it's always a bit more than that, isn't it? 

Priscilla McNamee: Well, like right now is a, right now is the perfect time to do this podcast because I just had this happen. Somebody said to me, I just paid my taxes and I said, you just paid the first half of last year. We still owe for the last half of last year, and you owe for what we are going to use into 2025.

So, and the taxes are pretty significant on this property. So, I mean, that's a big hit. And like I said, if somebody didn't do this net sheet for them, they would've been really surprised. 

Chris McAllister: Yeah, then you end up at, you know, three days before closing with, holy crap, I thought I was getting X and now it's x minus Y And that's not a great situation to be in.

Uh, the only other thing I want to touch on with helping people buy, we're gonna put in the show notes, the Buy With Ruth brochure, and you can always visit our website@buywithruth.com. Um, and the other thing, and we haven't talked, actually, I think, uh, Lacey and Kylie had a post about this, but I think, uh, you call it a consequence.

Call it a benefit. Um. But you know, as a company, we want to, we want to work with as many people who are moving from one house and into another that we, that we can, and to the point where we want to add the most value we possibly can. Hopefully the best value in the market. We want to be able to get everybody at Priscilla to work with, but we want to reduce that total fee burden on, uh, sellers who are also gonna be buyers with us.

And that's why I think you're gonna be hearing more from us about bundled fees for getting from one house to the next house. So we'll probably do a whole podcast on that, uh, at some point in the future. 

Priscilla McNamee: I like that idea. 

Chris McAllister: So I wanna touch now on managing the transaction. And I think at this point, you know, we're about, uh, 45, 50 minutes in, I, I, hopefully it's clear to everybody listening that putting the sign in the yard and, and, and getting a contract written and even accepted is about 5% of what a great listing agent does.

So, you know, there's just so many other things in, in involved, and what you're paying for in that fee goes far beyond, uh, you know, just attract, attracting the, a bunch of buyers or even the, the, the buyer or two or three or whatever it is that actually writes a contract. And, and that's where we get into managing the transaction.

You know, that time between negotiating the contract. And getting to the closing table is the most stressful part for any home seller. It, it just seems like it's a rollercoaster of, well, this is fine. Oh no, this happened, or the buyer did this, or their loan didn't do that. It, it, it's always something. And that's where again, it goes back to clear, an open communication and having an agent that understands the process and has great relationships with the lenders and the title people so that they can say to you, this is an issue that we need to work through.

This is, but, but it's not, but, or this is an issue that, that is very, very common. This is how we've already dealt with it. This is how we're gonna deal with it. No need to worry, you know, I'll tell you when there's a reason to worry. This isn't one of 'em. This is what I do for a living. Right. Whereas some agents don't have enough experience under their belt, you know, with any transaction, much, much less working with a seller, and they are not gonna know what to expect any more than you are.

So, experience matters. Um, and, and, uh, you definitely want to, uh, you know, if you're interviewing Priscilla, you don't need to interview anybody else, but if you're not interviewing Priscilla, you need to interview two or three different people. So some of the milestones that you know, that, that come up during closing, you know, there's the appraisal that can come in low, right?

That, that causes problems for the seller because the contract is contingent on the property appraising. Inspections. You know, the contract is generally con, uh, contingent on inspections that the buyer finds acceptable. Maybe there's repairs that have to be done. Maybe there's issues with the financing commitment, maybe with the, the buyer's pay stubs.

You know, maybe it's a down payment, maybe it's a grant for a first time buyer. Sometimes weird things come up in the title work, like sometimes on deeds, every x number of, uh, sales, they have to do a new survey or something. Maybe there's a homeowner association that suddenly pops up that, you know, something nobody knew about that, you know, has an issue with a fence that went up 20 years ago.

It, it, you know, it goes on and on the final walkthrough. You know, you could go 30, 45 days, think you're in great shape, and then suddenly, you know, something happens at the final walkthrough and then that has to be dealt with. And then of course, the whole thing about coordinating the move, um, and, and making sure that everybody knows for sure when they have access to the property.

As far as the buyer goes, if it's a closing's, great. If the seller has rights to the home for a few days after closing, all of those things is what you're really paying a. A, a realtor turf board. 

Laci LeBlanc: I think you just nailed it for me, because I do wanna get the best deal, right? Like, I wanna get as much for my money as possible, and if I'm gonna sell, I wanna make sure I get, you know, what my, my house is worth.

And, but really and truly as a very anxious person who does not have a lot of experience buying and selling homes, this is what I am paying for. And I would, I, I would pay a premium, right? Because I, you said it, you said, I've done this my entire, this has been my entire career. If there's something to worry about, I'll let you know.

There's nothing to worry about right now. And my lender actually, when I bought my home, said those exact words to me. And that is the moment that I could relax because I thought to, like, I picked a good one. You know? I trusted him. And this whole process of choosing someone to help you through this, like.

One of the most stressful milestones in your entire life, even if you do it seven times, uh, over the course of your life, is really about finding someone who is a professional who you can trust to walk you through this so that you don't have to bear this unnecessary burden of trying to figure out what you don't know, right?

Because there's just no way in all of my, like, I could take months and years and unless I, you know, go get my real estate license and then proceed to buy and sell, help others buy and sell a hundred houses or 500 like Priscilla has, I'm never going to be as good at this as the person that I hire. Uh, and I think that for a lot of folks, just the thought of, of going through these processes and having someone by their side who they really can trust is.

Is gonna be the biggest part of it. Like, I think that I could probably go to just about anybody. And the difference in how much money I'm gonna make or how much money I'm gonna pay is gonna be minimal. But the difference in how those months of my life are going, I'm gonna go look back on those and say, oh, I was able to be present with my children and not have a panic attack every day over, you know, buying or selling my house.

That's huge. Um, you know, I'll pay an extra thousand dollars or 10,000 or whatever it takes to, to be able to not lose those months of my life to stress and anxiety. So I think that's a, that's something when people think about who they're going to hire to help them buy or sell a home, that's a, a big part of it that doesn't always get talked about.

Chris McAllister: I think you can go so far as to say that you kind of want your listing agent to be reassuringly expensive. Right. 

Laci LeBlanc: Absolutely. That's exactly it. Like I will pay a premium for for that because it's peace of mind. 

Chris McAllister: If you're gonna pay a discount, you're gonna get discounted service and you can expect a lot more anxiety along the way.

Priscilla McNamee: And I think it's so important. This is something that, um, it's so important to remember that this is something that a lot of people only do once or twice in their life. And they don't do this a lot. I'm over 

Laci LeBlanc: here thinking to myself, like I've always said since I went through this home buying process that I'm never moving again because I don't wanna go through the home buying process again.

Literally did not occur to me until this day that if I chose to buy another home, I would also probably have to sell this one, which would double the stress and anxiety. Yeah. It's so in the whole process, 

Priscilla McNamee: and I tell people, this is not a fun process. Like this is going to be stressful, but we are going to try to make it as least stressful as possible.

I mean, because it is so, I mean it. It, it, it is, it, I i, it's just so much stress on people because they've got so much going on in their life. Like life is so busy now. Life is so busy. And so I try to take so much of that off of them because like I said, it, it's a big life event. It really, really is. Yeah.

It's a big deal. And 

Priscilla McNamee: I, yep. And I, I really try to show, um, I, I try to show them that I appreciate that and I want them to know that I, I do know that it's a, it's a big event in their life. 

Chris McAllister: As we get towards the end here, I want to talk a little bit about the pinpoint price analysis. Yeah. You know, in the marketing plan, we said that the number one, uh, step is, is to price your home.

Uh, appropriately, right? You wanna get top dollar for your home based on the condition it's, it's in, but you also want to price it, uh, in such a way that you're gonna attract the largest number of buyers possible. And, you know, you want your agent to be able to provide you with a thorough and thoughtful assessment of your property.

And it's gotta be based on its location, its style, and its condition. Now a good agent is probably gonna walk into a listing appointment with some comparable sales, but they're not gonna be able to give you a true pinpoint price analysis. And they actually see the home, the condition of the home, how the home is laid out, so on and so forth.

So I don't want anybody listening to expect a, a pat ironclad number when their agent walks in because if, if that's the case, they're not taking into account honestly, reality. And the other thing, I think it's critical. And, you know, Priscilla, you kind of touched on, on, on this a little bit, but, you know, pricing your home.

In today's market, any market, it, it is, it's a process. I don't want anybody listening to think of, of the market analysis, pinpoint price analysis, market pricing, your home. It's not a one-time event. You know, you've got to develop literally a strategy. And, and I know Priscilla does this, you know, in great detail, you know, Priscilla with your sellers.

But you've gotta have a strategy that's gonna be attractive to the greatest number of qualified buyers. And the key there is qualified buyers. That's also gonna allow you to realize your financial goals for the sale. And that's not something that, you know, Zillow's gonna be able to to do for you. That top line number is absolutely critical.

You know, Priscilla, I am sure you do this and, and I'm babbling, but you know, if a house is gonna be attractive, for instance, to a first time buyer, you know, we may counsel that you want to be able to, you want to price that house at a price that, of course, will appraise, but will allow you to help a first time buyer with their lender's closing costs and and so forth, right?

You, you wanna structure a, a, a strategy or a price for your home that allows you to, to take care of terms and, and seller concessions that a first time buyer or honestly any buyer might need. So there's a lot that goes into that. And you really want somebody by your side that knows the market, knows who the most likely buyer is for your home, and again, probably has somebody in their pipeline who, and, and they know exactly, you know, what that buyer needs.

And then that goes back to the critical importance of that seller net sheet. You know, getting that, that's 

Priscilla McNamee: exactly what I was getting ready to say. That net sheet is so important. I didn't mean to cut you off. 

Chris McAllister: No, I cut you off. But that net sheet's gonna show where you're going to anticipate different scenarios, right?

So I, I think yours, it was like the one I would use too. Sometimes I would use like three different scenarios and somebody's gonna pay X, somebody's gonna pay what you asked. Somebody's gonna pay X, but they're also gonna want this, this, and this, right? So all that comes out of, of the, uh, of the proceeds and what matters is the bottom line.

So you're gonna get that from a great agent. What you can expect to put in your pocket based on, you know, again, the mortgage payoff, the tax probation, the realtor commission seller concessions, homeowner association fees. I mean, there's just, so, uh, if, if you're out in the county, in Clark County, right, I think the seller still has to pay for a, a well as septic inspection, right?

There's just so many things that go into that seller net sheet that at the end of the day, affect what you're actually gonna put in your pocket. So, I'm soap boxing, forgive me, the, the congregation may be seated. 

Priscilla McNamee: Nope. Nope, you're right. 

Chris McAllister: Oh, the price is critical to marketing the home, but in the scheme of things, it's, it's just another step in a multi, multi-step process of actually getting, getting you to the closing table.

Priscilla McNamee: And at the end of the day, at the end of the day, the market is gonna respond to the price. So if you get no showings. The price is too high. You need to drop the price, and if you are getting a lot of showings and you're getting no offers, the price is too high. So 

Chris McAllister: yeah, the market tells us very, very quick.

Clearly it usually rather quickly how we did on the price 

Priscilla McNamee: the buyers speak. 

Chris McAllister: So why don't you tell us a little bit about your client appreciation program, how you stay in touch and, and actually add value to your, your seller clients after the sale. 

Priscilla McNamee: So all throughout the year, we all do this at ROOST, giving back, uh, through different things.

Um, probably our favorite program is the Pie Party in November, so the week of Thanksgiving, I do a big pie party. I give away about a hun. Well, last, last year I gave away 160 pies from huffys pies in Dayton. That was fun. And then, um, the year before we did, I didn't do this last December, but I did um, 100 po Setas in December, and then we did the, as a company, we do the pumpkin giveaway.

In October, we did coffee in March for St. Patrick's Day. So we've done all kinds of things. It's always a 

Chris McAllister: client appreciation event going on. Just something fun to stay in touch. Yeah. 

Priscilla McNamee: Yes. So all kinds of good stuff. Giving back to our clients, showing appreciation for them, let them know that we care about them.

Um, always giving away goofy little gifts throughout the year, you know? Things, um, just pop when you're always there, 

Laci LeBlanc: when they, when they need something, right? Yes. So like that's the thing about being relationship based, which is honestly, it's a lot of the reason I, I love working with ROOST and that, you know, I'm, I'm so emphatic about it, is that you guys build these relationships and if you've got a seller or a buyer that you've worked with in the past, and they need, you know, a recommendation for some sort of, you know, labor or, you know, they need something fixed, or if they have a question, they don't have to be actively, you know, buying or selling a home to reach out to you, I think, and you guys always have, can have a recommendation for them or, you know, you're there.

And I think that that relationship is, is huge because, you know, buying and selling a home is, is a process that has a start and an end. Um, but that's not where my questions end. 

Home ownership never ends. 

Laci LeBlanc: Yeah. Home ownership is a constant struggle for some of us. Um, no, but it's, it's. It's really nice to have, I think somebody to, that you can trust.

Again, you've already established that you can trust you guys that, that if you're the one leading the way, then, then they can trust you and, and you're so professional and you have so much experience in the local area, you know, everybody. Um, so just having you as a resource, I think is a real benefit to being a client.

Um, that's, I mean, nevermind the pies and the poinsettias and the pumpkins. Um, I do like that great alliteration by the way, uh, for a marketing person, but I need to use that. But, you know, you have a resource and in ROOST and in you individually that I think not a lot of other folks have with their, their real estate professionals.

Chris McAllister: All right. Well, Priscilla, before I close this out, anything else you wanna add? Any uh, any words of wisdom? No, I think we covered it. All of your contact information in the show notes, people are gonna be able to find you. They can also go to ROOST Real Estate and find you and they can go to www.callpriscillaandstartpacking.com too.

Priscilla McNamee: Thank you so much. 

Chris McAllister: Thank you. So, just to close this out, at ROOST Real Estate Company, we believe that selling your home should be exciting. It should be empowering, rewarding, and we hope, we can't guarantee it's gonna be stress free, but it should be an enjoyable experience. So from the first meeting, you know, with your listing, uh, agent through the closing day, you know, everybody at Roos is committed to giving you expert guidance, transparent communication, proactive marketing strategies, and making this, uh, a successful experience.

Because after all, if we don't give you the best experience we possibly can, we're not gonna earn your referrals in the future to family, friends, and coworkers. And, you know, like Priscilla, like everybody at ROOST, you know, 90% of, and maybe even more of Priscilla's business is from repeat clients and from, uh, referrals, uh, from repeat clients.

So you can get all this detail. Our cell with Roos brochure, it outlines our approach. Um, if you're thinking about selling your home, we're thrilled to start the conversation. You can visit www.listwithroos.com and download our cell with roo brochure or reach out for a personalized consultation. And again, you can, you can reach out directly to Priscilla, either through the ROOST website or through her website at, uh, call Priscilla and start packing.com.

And if you found today's episode valuable, be sure to just subscribe to the All Things Real Estate Podcast and share it with someone who might benefit. Thank you for tuning in. Thank you ladies. 

Laci LeBlanc: Thank you. See you next time. 

Chris McAllister: See you next time. Bye bye.