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MOVE Worthy Podcast
All things Real Estate...What's happening today in the real estate industry. Educating, entertaining, untold stories and more!
MOVE Worthy Podcast
Unlocking Home Sale Success: Strategies, Insights, and Tools for a Competitive Market
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Unlock the secrets to a successful home sale with us, Jenny Lendle and Lauren Jones, on the Move Worthy podcast. Imagine selling your home with ease and confidence, armed with the knowledge of market dynamics and creative strategies tailored for competitive markets. Our discussion begins with the pivotal role of a skilled realtor and how their expertise can guide you through the complexities of the listing process. Discover the magic behind our newly introduced client booklets, designed to demystify the entire journey with insights into our proven marketing strategies and past successes. We'll tackle your pressing questions about making your home market-ready, including practical decluttering tips that are anything but generic.
But that's not all. We venture into innovative realms of real estate marketing where social media becomes a powerhouse tool, and open houses regain their significance, especially in less competitive areas. Meet NAV Cash, our innovative program offering sellers the financial breathing room to buy their dream home with cash while providing a 90-day window to sell their current property. This episode is packed with insights into the closing process too, breaking it down into a clear timeline to help you plan effectively. Plus, get a sneak peek into NAF Cash, another exciting tool designed to elevate your real estate experience. Join us as we share our expertise and prepare you to make savvy and successful real estate moves.
MOVE Worthy Podcast with Lauren Jones & Jenny Lendle. Together we have the experience to MOVE you forward!
Listing Process
Speaker 1all right , we are back with a new episode , second episode of 2025 , episode 9 . This is the Move Worthy podcast with Jenny and . Lauren and we are going to talk about the listing process today . This has been on our list for a little while to talk about , but there were so many other things that were important happening today .
Speaker 1Yes , happening now . And the listing process , you know , can be a little tedious , maybe not too exciting , but we have some exciting new things to talk about that we get to share with our clients this year . So we will . So we're going to go through the listing process . What that looks like From your first step would be to reach out to us , of course , contact your realtor and just ask the question hey , what does it look like for me to sell this year ? How is the process ? What is the timing ? What do I need to do in order to get my house listed and sold quickly , as quickly as possible ?
Speaker 2sold quickly , as quickly as possible , which can be so different depending on the time of the year and what's going on .
Speaker 1The one thing I think rings true is there is always at least a few properties pending . Yeah , and I say a few because I'm looking at st Charles Parish when I open up my MLS every day . I look at St Charles Parish only usually , and then , if I have clients and sellers in other areas , I kind of expand . But at least right now , in the last seven days , we have a couple of houses that sold , we have a few that are pending and we have some price reductions and some just listed . And we have some price reductions and some just listed .
Speaker 1So there's always something moving , the speed at which they move can change dramatically can change from time to time throughout the year and the process could look a little bit different , which leads agents to get very creative .
Speaker 2When they are especially in a competitive situation where you know a seller is interviewing multiple agents , you know they have to get creative with . They have to be in tune to what's happening in the market . They have to be aware of , you know the numbers , how things are moving , where they're going , and that can change the price point of the house , it can change change the days on market . It can change a lot of things about it so that you know for sure when , when buyers are are meeting with agents and trying to choose an agent , that's definitely something that they should be listening for . You know , does this ? Is the seller aware of what's happening ? Do you truly feel like they ? You know , did their research , did their backup to present to you the best plan to ?
Speaker 1sell your house ? Yeah , definitely , definitely . That first step is usually going to look like a consultation . We get a phone call .
Speaker 2Yep .
Speaker 1We set an appointment . Do a walkthrough of the property . We set an appointment . Do a walkthrough of the property we just this past year . We have these amazing new booklets that we are giving to sellers and buyers that sign with us this year . It spells out the entire process . It shows you some of our like our track record our how we present our listings .
Speaker 2We have pictures of our current and past and sold listings in there shows what we can do from a marketing standpoint yes super helpful yeah , how many platforms are these agents on , and are they getting the exposure that you know you would really need as as a seller ?
Speaker 1right , and as you are in the middle of the process and you're hearing from us weekly with our communication about how things are going , you also have this book you can kind of open back up to and look at where we are in the process . You can find it in here , so that's something . Another exciting thing that we have this year , along with some other neat options the consultation we use . I mean , do you measure at a consultation ?
Speaker 2so no , typically what I do is , if I go to meet with a potential listing , I will , I'll give them my booklet , I'll let them look through it . While they're doing that , I will walk the property , just look at the overall condition , just look at different things that you know agents are typically prepared to look at . That way , I'm making myself aware more of what we're about to sit down and talk about , um , and then , once I I don't measure , but once I do that I'll , you know , sit down , discuss with them . You know what I can do for them and the listing process , and then I'll , probably based on the condition of the house , give them a range per square footage , right , so price per square foot is kind of where I would be at . So , no , while I wouldn't have a firm square footage , I could give them an idea of what that would look like . Most of them , though , will have a previous appraisal , or they'll have something They've been listed before .
Speaker 1We kind of know what the size is .
Speaker 2So if they do have something right then and there , then I will use the square footage to help with the presentation , for sure .
Speaker 1A lot of people ask should declutter mm-hmm . I mean , I feel like so many questions that people have it really depends . It depends on what your clutter looks like . Yep , sometimes , that's why I like to do a brisk .
Speaker 2walk around the property right then and there , before we start talking about anything , but because you know there could be that one room that's stacked from floor to ceiling , wall , wall to wall . I've had that and you never knew that from just walking in the front door you know , so yeah , yeah , For sure .
Speaker 1Everybody's clutter looks different .
Speaker 2Yes , for sure .
Speaker 1I've had that and I've had sellers who had no other option . Yeah , and so that was the solution . Put it in one room , yeah , solution . Put it in one room , yeah . One room that doesn't have a bath that you have to walk to . One room that is just four walls in a closet , in a window , yes , um , and we've sold houses like that absolutely at some point . I mean , our job is to work with the seller to do the best we can for them , within the realm of what they can do too for sure so I think that's important , but I have that on my list like that's the number one question .
Speaker 1Um , I feel like even even a yard can be cluttered . I feel like cleaning up a yard , for photos especially , is huge . If there's one thing that I might say do aside from anything else , is freshen up declutter in the yard presentation presentation people drive by and see your sign and then they look at the landscaping .
Speaker 2Yeah , Buyers will walk into a property and overlook a paint color . They'll walk into a property and they will overlook the granite top color or material . What they're not going to do is overlook a mess yes if they cannot see beyond the mess , then there's no point in showing the property right , and at that point , yes , declutter , declutter .
Speaker 1Yeah , I think it's . It's definitely one of those depends , and that's why the consultation is so important . Yeah , because while you might think you have to repaint your entire house , we might walk in and say no .
Speaker 2No .
Speaker 1Just do this . Right Do these few things Maybe change a couple things , but definitely not . It's not as major of not major work compared to what some people may or may not think .
Speaker 2And I think most sellers don't really realize that an agent can come in there and kind of tell you look , hey , you know , while you think you need to totally gut these kitchen and bathrooms and bring them completely up to date , an agent might say , hey , I think if you leave it like this , we could still sell it for this and you might be just the seller , might be just comfortable with that price , right , you know . So , yes , I think that consultations are huge when it comes to listing process .
Speaker 1Yes , and definitely I mean meet with more than one agent . A lot of people do , some people don't some people get a vibe right away .
Speaker 1It's kind of like when you walk into a house you want to buy , you kind of know when you get in . Yeah , and I think some people probably feel that way about Realtors as soon as they meet the one that they end up working with , they know . But as far as the process goes , after the consultation and once a few things are done , we do paperwork , we sign listing agreements . Once the listing agreement is signed , we set up the photographer , we do professional photos , we do video . All those things are very important for marketing the property professional photos is key professional .
Speaker 2I mean as an agent , just to pull up a listing and see some of the crap . Photography is really tough .
Speaker 1It's really tough to see what kills me is the price point on some of the houses and you see , yes , awful photos . Yes , I can't even . It doesn't even make sense to me , like why ?
Speaker 2wouldn't you want to showcase this property ? Yes , make it look from a realtor standpoint and from the seller standpoint . Why would you ?
Speaker 1allow this . I'll be very honest . Um , when I first started , professional photography was just kind of coming around wasn't really big here just yet , and I had a very nice listing and we did photos , or I did photos and sent them to the seller and they point blank said no , like we're gonna redo this . And so I immediately I'm like , okay , let me go find who's doing professional photos around here . Um , there was a company doing them , had them come out . I mean , it was a gorgeous home . Why wouldn't I have done it ?
Speaker 2but it just wasn't it wasn't , it was just starting , yeah , and I was you know somewhat new agent at the time , so um it definitely makes a difference .
Speaker 1I never did photos ever again myself after that yeah unless it was , you know , certain types of properties .
Speaker 2Not all properties will require it right um things that are gutted things that might need to be torn down .
Speaker 1Yes , major fixer-uppers , yes , those kinds of things , yeah but even on my rentals I started doing , just because I relist these rentals over and over again .
Speaker 2I do them on my rentals , so I started doing them on rentals .
Speaker 1It just showcases the property so much better . I feel , like if you're not getting professional photos from your agent or on your house .
Speaker 2You're missing out .
Speaker 1Yes , you're definitely missing many opportunities because people are looking on Zillow and Realtor .
Speaker 2That's what's getting them to your house .
Speaker 1It's like Tinder for real estate . They're literally like swipe left or whichever way you have to do it Swipe up , swipe down , swipe left , swipe right . They're only looking once and they're just flipping through them .
Speaker 2And if it's not catching their eye , they're done .
Speaker 1They're not opening it up , they're not going to see how many bedrooms , they're not going to see they don't even care about the price . They're looking at the photo first . Yes , it's got to get their attention .
Speaker 2For sure .
Speaker 1So that's huge , I think After that we list .
Speaker 2We list , we show , we market . Marketing is huge now in real estate and we kind of , you know , talked about this on our last podcast about how technology has really stepped into real estate . You know , for the most part , probably 90% , of it is technology and in marketing it falls right into that . So if you know if agents are not on social media , if they're not on MLS's , if they're , know if those types of things aren't accessible , probably are missing out on something for sure , I agree it's big , it's big and it should be and go , look , go , look . You can look at their these , you know agents' history on Snapchat and and so Facebook .
Speaker 2Facebook and you can see twitter . I'm everywhere , instagram , instagram my god , I had like a brain fart . Instagram instagram and um and facebook are probably the two most sought after when it comes to to that yeah , so , um , definitely , marketing is a huge part of the listing process , for the agent as well as for the seller
Innovative Real Estate Buying and Selling
Speaker 2. Um , absolutely share your listings . Yes , get it out to the people that you know when you see your agent .
Speaker 1Share your listing on social media . You share it too , yeah , because you share it , then your friends are going to share it . Your family's going to share it . We've seen some listings literally go viral yeah with you know throughout facebook , instagram um some things on tiktok here and there . So absolutely , and it's not just a put your house in the mls , put a sign in the yard and sell anymore , there's so much more to marketing real estate listings . It's not . We just don't do that . Just that anymore Open houses .
Speaker 2I mean open houses , kind of go come and go , and right now I think they're important as ever , and I think you , you see , I mean when the market is less competitive you see way more open houses . You see way more open houses Absolutely Because when they don't have to open it up to show to possible perspectives .
Speaker 1The market is less competitive . You see way more open .
Speaker 2You see way more open houses , absolutely , because when they don't , have to open it up to show to possible perspectives , then you know , then that means it's probably an aggressive market and they're getting offers before they can even get that set up .
Speaker 1That's true but I , I don't even like to wait , though , until things are slow on a listing . If we're going to list a house , I want to do an open house right away . Yeah , create the excitement . It's a new listing , get people in the door , do as much as possible immediately , and then you know , sometimes the markets are just slower , yeah , and it just takes time . But I think that's important . I don't think all agents do that . I know we've gone through . Well , like I said , it depends on the market . We've gone through ups and downs with the open houses , and right now is another time for that . So after that we are . Let me bring up something real quick before we get to the rest , because the rest of this is going under contract pending , and we all know that those are important steps , because sometimes a seller needs to sell their home to buy another home . Yeah , sometimes we know things can go crazy within the pending process , but I'm just going to shift and bring up this new product called NAP Cash .
Speaker 2Yes .
Speaker 1I'm really just kind of throwing it in there .
Speaker 2She's throwing it in there at me because I've been trained on this and certified on this . Yes , I'm really just kind of throwing it in there . She's throwing it in there at me because I've been trained on this and certified on this .
Speaker 3Yes , but I think it's a .
Speaker 2I think it's a great thing to talk about . Um . You know , sellers are selling for a reason . They could be selling because they need I mean , they could be selling because they want to buy their next dream home . They could be selling because they're moving out of state , downsizing , divorcing there's all kinds of different reasons , um , and for the most part , there's options out there for every reason . You know , if you're , if your job is transferring , there's relocation companies . If you are downsizing , there's smaller homes and plenty of them .
Speaker 2Um , but if you're selling your home because you already have a home of your dream that you want to buy , there are options now for for sellers like that , and it's uh , the program is actually called NAV , cash and um agents do have to be certified to um to to work with this program and with this lender , and basically what they do is the lender comes in and buys the house of your dreams in cash . So it's just , it's crazy . It's crazy . They literally buy your house for cash and then they give you 90 days to sell your old home and during that 90 days you're technically a tenant to them . You sign a lease agreement stating that you'll pay X amount of dollars in rent and it's not unreasonable . I mean , I've looked at the graphs , I've looked at the prices . These are not unreasonable rent prices . They defer the first 90 days and at day 90 , if you're still in that property , you will . You will have to pay those 90 days up and if you have to continue beyond those 90 days , you can . But their goal is to get your other household within 90 days .
Speaker 2So what happens ? After your house your , uh , existing house sells ? You're already moved into your new home . You you've started the the rent process , but now it's time for what they call the buyback . So you start your lending process to put a mortgage on your new property . You can use the cash that you got out of the property that you sold to put into the new property , or you don't have to . It really depends on what you qualify for , because what they do is they qualify you for the new house in the beginning of the process .
Speaker 2So before they even put a cash offer on your new property , they get you qualified and they say hey , you know , this is how much you can spend , this is what you have to put down , this is what it's going to look like , and they do all of that upfront . So it's not . It's not blind territory , for sure . And what's even better is this company pays all expenses except for inspections . So they pay the closing costs , they pay the taxes and insurances . They pay everything for the first closing when they put this cash offer in . You , as the buyer , slash seller , don't pay closing costs and escrows until you do your buyback . So you only pay one set of closing costs , one insurance , one tax . You don't do it twice . However , it is two processes , right , um ?
Speaker 1they do a two-step process .
Speaker 2It's a two-step process . Yeah , um , they do charge a fee for this , like anything but , but I think their biggest thing is Most . I say most . It is a known fact that houses or buyers will accept a cash offer for up to 10% less than the listing price .
Speaker 3That's huge .
Speaker 2So if you're getting a house for 10% less than what it's listed for , their 1% 1.5% fee that they charge you is nothing .
Speaker 1Oh , wow .
Speaker 2Nothing .
Speaker 1This is such a game changer , even for you know how hard it is to sell a house and buy a house and do a closing back to back and have to move out of one house .
Speaker 2You're moving in one day . Yes , You're moving . Your moving truck is waiting in the title company's parking lot with your entire life in it .
Speaker 1You don't have to do that anymore . If you qualify for this , you can eliminate that miserable step , and I don't . I've done it so many times and every time I have a seller who wants to do it , I just say look , it's hard , it's not going to be easy .
Speaker 1It's doable but it's hard , it's not fun , oh , I mean , and not everybody wants to do a post occupancy , pre-occupancy . I've gotten lucky with a few , I've gotten unlucky with some . It's just this . This to me , is the the biggest part . And then , not to mention what , what in I think . I think the reason that they even came out with this was because of what we went through in 20 and 21 yes is ? There were so many people wanting to make offers on properties but they were getting out .
Speaker 2Well , not , and not only they were , they were getting outbidded and they stood no , no chance without a cash offer , right ?
Speaker 3you weren't getting anywhere without a cash offer or a hundred thousand over , or a predication ?
Speaker 1absolutely so . This , that , so we ever get back into a position for a seller whenever offers are running rampant , houses are going fast . Then you can literally make a cash offer . No predication get the house of your dreams and take your time moving in .
Speaker 2And you know what ? What's , what's great about it is that you really you don't , um , even if people don't . Well , let's save that for the buying side of it . I'm not going to flip to the other side . We'll save that for the next podcast .
Speaker 2If there's a buyer side of NAVCASH that we can go into . That has a lot of perks too , but we'll save that for the next one . But I do think that in the consultation , agents and sellers should be discussing what it is that they're doing , why they're doing it , what their end goal is , so that things like this can be offered .
Speaker 1And this we could talk . Like you said , we talked about this up front in the beginning .
Speaker 2Why do you need to sell ?
Speaker 1Yeah , that's where just listening to the client always comes into play .
Speaker 2Absolutely .
Speaker 1We have a little clip that we are going to share from the people who are offering NAVCASH , so we'll play that and then we will finish up with this podcast .
Speaker 2Okay , let's hear it .
Speaker 3Hey , Jenny Scott over at New American Funding , Thanks so much for including me on your podcast to introduce our all cash buyer program , our NAVC Buyer Program . This is an absolute game changer to the real estate market . Our NAV Cash Program allows your clients to submit all cash , non-predicated offers on the home of their dreams before they've even listed their home for sale . This is an absolute game changer to the real estate market and this is not only going to save deals listed their home for sale . This is an absolute game changer to the real estate market and this is not only going to save deals , this is going to create deals . Our all cash buyer program allows the client to technically put an offer all cash on the home of their dreams before they've even listed their home for sale . Love to chat with y'all more about it . Scott Finkley with New American Funding .
Speaker 1All right . So that was the intro , a little sneak peek into the NAV cash . We'll talk about it again , like Lauren said , when we do our buyer process , which will be next week . So yes , to finish up the listing process , you go under contract . A buyer's going to have time to do inspections and then a buyer may or may not ask for repairs during the inspection . This can be a somewhat stressful period in the process , but everything , either it's going to work out or it's going to not . People get really wrapped up in the inspection period and it shouldn't be so scary of a thing . I mean . I think we all we .
Speaker 2I think it has a lot to do with the agents too . I think you know that as an agent , you know we try to stay the calmest , that we can explain everything thoroughly , give past experiences or situations so that they're hearing that what's going on is not abnormal and it's not just happening to them , and , of course , leave the drama out and keep everything professional .
Speaker 1It's a transaction . It's a transaction . And look , sometimes a buyer know they're gonna get that inspection report . They may .
Speaker 2They might be first-time buyers , they've never seen anything like that and it's overwhelming a 65 page report telling you everything that's wrong with your house little it's like oh my god .
Speaker 1But . But look , a lot of the things are very typical . If there's something major , I always tell that to sellers . Look , if it's typical , easy fixes , then obviously make those repairs . If it's something major , it could be another story . We deal with that when it comes . And even on a buyer's side , again having the experience , having been through so many inspections and being able to tell them hey guys , this is not a huge deal , this is a huge deal .
Speaker 3That's where I guess , sometimes experience comes into play .
Speaker 1And just letting the buyer decide and then letting the seller decide . And when they ask for your advice , give the pros and cons , not necessarily your opinion but as factual , factual as possible , and that will get you through or not . And it's okay to cancel a contract . Yeah , it's okay to say no yeah so you know , it just might not have been the right property , and you never .
Speaker 2We the goal is not to force people into buying properties right or yeah , I I the goal is for the seller and the buyer both to be comfortable with how the transaction went to the table Absolutely yes , and to be happy at the closing table . To be happy at the closing table .
Speaker 1And not want separate rooms .
Speaker 2Yes , which I've done before .
Speaker 3Which has happened , unfortunately .
Speaker 1But it should be . I mean , I think we even say it in our booklet . It should be a win-win . Yeah , it's a win-win for everyone . You don't want to go into a process feeling forced or miserable or unhappy . So , yes , inspections , it's a must . We do not usually skip that part of the process and it's a give and take between buyer and seller .
Speaker 1After the inspections appraisal you know Really Not a whole lot you can argue about . Really not a whole lot to say on appraisals . Um , we have I have personally haven't seen a lot that have come back lower than uh sale price in a while and hopefully that continues .
Real Estate Closing Process Overview
Speaker 1Yeah , um , and then after the appraisal it's usually like a week or two and then you close .
Speaker 2You're closed .
Speaker 1You exchange the keys , you get your new home , you get rid of your past home and you're either moving on to a new one or whatever that looks like . But that's basically the process in you know , 25 minutes .
Speaker 2Yeah , yeah , there's minor , there's little details , because I mean , as everybody knows , you know , a selling process is typically six to eight weeks after you get out under contract , but then you have all of the time before you do so . In 25 minutes , we did wrap up what could be , you know , a six-month to a year-long process . Correct , you know , we don't know , we don't know .
Speaker 1Right now it's taking a little bit longer , um , it seems , but that could change in two weeks , as we've seen . Yep , so thanks for listening . And , um , this was episode nine , the listing process with a sneak peek of NAF cash . Um , we are the Moveworthy podcast , with myself , jenny Lindley and Lauren Jones . Together , we have the experience to move you forward .
