Moving Made Manageable: How to Sell Your Home Without the Stress with realtor Ayse Clay Ep 20

Show Notes

Selling a home is a big transition — and for families, it can feel especially overwhelming. Between juggling daily life, keeping a house “show-ready,” and preparing emotionally (and physically) for a move, it’s easy to feel stressed before you even begin.

In this episode of MomsWork, Kristin sits down with Ayse Clay, a mom, wife, and experienced realtor with over 24 years in the industry. Ayse has helped countless families navigate the home-selling process with less stress and more confidence. From decluttering and staging to organizing and packing, she shares practical, realistic advice designed specifically for busy households.

Ayse’s approach goes beyond just selling homes — she focuses on helping families move smoothly from one chapter of life to the next.

💡 What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

•  The first steps to take when you’re thinking about selling your home 
•  Why decluttering is so important — and how to start without overwhelm 
•  Simple, realistic ways to keep your home show-ready with kids
•  What home staging really means (and why it matters more than you think) 
•  How to break the process into manageable steps for busy families 
•  Tips for making a move easier on kids emotionally and practically
•  Small changes that can make a big impact when showing your home 
•  When to start preparing if you’re planning to sell in the next year 

🏡 A Real-Life Perspective

Kristin and Ayse also share their Wins and Challenges of the Week, offering a relatable look at the highs and lows of balancing work, family, and everything in between.

🔗 Connect with Ayse

Interested in working with Ayse or learning more? Be sure to check the links in the show notes for her contact information and website. 

The Ayse Clay Team:  https://clay-team.com/

The Joy of Sox https://tjos.org/  

❤️ Loved This Episode?

If you found this conversation helpful:

•  Follow MomsWork Podcast on Instagram and Facebook
•  Subscribe, rate, and review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen 
•  Share this episode with a friend who’s thinking about moving 

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:14

Welcome to the Mom's Work Podcast, where career meets motherhood and real life happens in between. Hi, I'm Kristen Weinrich, a working mom navigating the chaos, the career, the cooking, and yes, the crying. Each week we get real with moms making it work from classrooms to boardrooms and everything in between. No fluff, no judgment, just honest talk, helpful hints, and the support we all need. Whether you're listening while commuting, catching a break, or buried in laundry, you're in the right place. Welcome. You belong here. Welcome to Mom's Work. I'm your host, Kristen Weinrich, mom of two, teacher, and someone who knows firsthand that running a home and raising kids often feels like a full-time job in itself, on top of everything else. Today we're talking about something that many families eventually face, and that is selling a home and preparing for a move. For parents, especially, that process can feel overwhelming between decluttering, organizing packing, and trying to make your house look show ready while still living in it. Joining me today is Aisha Clay, a mom, wife, and realtor with 24 years of experience in helping families successfully sell their homes. Aisha specializes in guiding homeowners through the entire process from preparing and staging a home to organizing packing and creating a plan that helps families feel less stressed during a move. Her goal is not just to sell houses, but to help families transition smoothly from one chapter of life to the next. Aisha, I'm so glad you're here today. You make it a breeze, right? You just make moving a breeze. I'd love for you to introduce yourself to our listeners and tell us a little bit about your background and the work you do.

SPEAKER_00 1:50

Oh, well, thank you for that hearty introduction. I mean, I don't think I could have done all that myself. So I really appreciate that warm welcome. And thank you for having me. Or yeah, as you mentioned, you know, a local, a local person, a local mom, uh, a local wife, pet owner. Um, I happen to live in Tritiferin Township, but grew up just down 252 in the cute, charming borough of media. Oh, yeah where most of my family still lives in that area. Um this year I'm celebrating 25 years. Oh, I missed it. 25. Sorry. I mean, I'm I'm coming up on 25. Okay, okay. It's hard to believe. Like, um, you know, in in my mind, I get stuck at a certain age. I don't know if you can relate. Um 22, remember?

SPEAKER_02 2:47

22 forever. I'm 22 forever, remember?

SPEAKER_00 2:50

That's right. That's right. I'm like perpetually 33 or something. There you go. But in reality, I've been practicing real estate half my life. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 3:02

That's crazy. That's like I've taught at the school where I teach for half of my life. I'm like, half of my life has been spent in this building. Yeah. It's kind of wild when you realize that.

SPEAKER_00 3:13

Wild. It's it's pretty mind-blowing, actually. Yeah. Um, yeah, I don't know what else to share. But that's that's you. Just uh just you like to play tennis, don't you? Are you a tennis player? I do love to play tennis. I play tennis locally at um, and thank you for asking, at the upper mainline Y uh for several years. It's been a really fun, amazing tennis community and uh racket community with pickleball and lots of fun people, great movement, and I'm appreciative of everybody who gives me grace.

SPEAKER_02 3:47

That's that sounds like a fun little hobby for you. Well, thank you for sharing all of that. And I have a couple more questions for you just so we can get to know you even a little bit more, a little bit more better. That's not right. A little bit better. Um, so speaking of your quarter century, that sounds crazy. Quarter century in real estate, what is the professional achievement that you are most proud of? Oh gosh.

SPEAKER_00 4:11

Um, that that's a hard one to think about. And I think I'm not going to be so specific if that's okay. Um I'm going to think about it like this. You know, in having practiced real estate for a quarter of a century, as you put it, you know, I think having having seen many different um having experienced many different markets, meaning many different big life events that have happened in our time. So I started literally a month or two after 9-11 in real estate. And so thinking about that time of life, uh, and then transitioning into when the real estate bubble burst. So that was around 2009, and then transitioning into COVID, which was a first for many of us into that pandemic, with very strict regulations from the state, and then being able to consistently um kind of manage that, um, kind of those huge life happenings and life events for not only myself but everybody around me. Right. And kind of managing uh through that. I don't know if I want to use the word bounce back, but like working through that. And it sometimes it's it was not it's not pretty. Um but just kind of just focusing and and keep knowing that all you can do is to move forward in those instances. Um so I would say overall, um, just being able to keep keep going in really tough times.

SPEAKER_02 6:10

And to have done it, like you're saying, to wrap that up, like 25 years through all the craziness that has happened, and you weren't like, well, this has been fun. I'm out of here. You just kind of keep going and and going with the flow.

SPEAKER_00 6:22

And um well, some might some might call that crazy.

SPEAKER_02 6:28

I'm just gonna keep doing this and see what happens. But hey, you stuck with it and here you are, here to tell us about it. So crazy, impressive, whatever you want to call it. That's fine. Um, and after 24, 25 years in the business, what part of your work is it that you enjoy the most?

SPEAKER_00 6:48

Oh gosh. So I think when I first started, again, being a lot younger, most of the clients that I had the pleasure of working with were more of my peers. And what I mean by that, they were mostly first-time home buyers like I was. And I looked at that time period and felt, well, there's this real estate stuff is so positive. You know, from that standpoint, this is someone's first home. There's lots to celebrate, um, lots of excitement, and just what an accomplishment for my peers, for myself. So a lot of excitement around that. Yeah. And then as my career evolved, you do realize that um real estate, home buying, home selling, renting, like there's a lot of things that aren't so exciting, that aren't so positive, that um that can be really sad. And um and so I think that a lot of what I enjoy is is really getting to connect with people. I feel like my strong suit is one-on-one with people, or one-on-two. I don't do great with big groups, but being able to be one-on-one with somebody, whether it's on the phone or in person, and really being able to listen to them and allowing, I guess, to give space, allowing them to feel like they can be vulnerable and transparent with me.

SPEAKER_02 8:33

Interesting.

SPEAKER_00 8:34

They just share their fears and their hopes or their wishes, what what scares them about what we're about maybe to do, or or in general, maybe real estate aside, and or something that's really going to bring them joy once they move away from this or towards something. And so I've learned that um, you know, it's not always a beautiful moment, but but um just allowing people to be their own true selves with me uh without judgment. Okay, because I've had people recently, um, I wanted to apologize for being so negative about our last meeting. And I was like, oh my gosh, I didn't take that at all. Yeah, I took it as like you were really telling me like off the top of your head, like, you know, what was happening in kind of live time, basically. I am so appreciative that people can feel like put their guard down, feel relaxed in my presence, and and really like say it how it is, even though sometimes I'm like, oh, I don't know how to take that, but I'm just taking it. So um, so really thankful that that people will open up and you know, obviously keep it confidential. So I would say that's like the part that I think I enjoy the most. I don't know how to wrap that up in one little bow. Yeah. Um, but um it's really like being with people and and um hearing what's making them tick and and do some. So like a little psychology around that.

SPEAKER_02 10:09

Yeah, and being like that connection. It's interesting because as you were talking, I thought, gosh, like, you know, people always joke and say, like your hairdressers, like your therapist, and you think, oh yeah, hairdressers hear it all, don't they? Because people just sit down and start to talk. And, you know, like you said in the beginning when you were in your 20s, probably everybody you were selling to was young and exciting. But, you know, moving comes with death, and moving comes with divorce, and moving comes with kids growing older and and moving out. And sometimes there's happiness and sometimes there's sadness, and you're kind of just on the scene for that short amount of time, but you probably make a big impact in those people's lives. And, you know, gosh, we had the best realtor, and she was so thoughtful and understanding, and it's not a position that you think that your realtor has to be in, but you you do, you kind of have to be a little bit of everything for those people.

SPEAKER_00 10:54

Yeah, and you know, getting into the business, like not strategically. I I wish I could say, oh, yes, it was a strategic move to you know move into my career, but um getting into it, it's not something I I ever really thought about. And so you might be like, well, duh, Aisha, it's a people business. But you know, I was so young then you're just selling houses, yeah. I made no connection. And a lot of people think, oh, it's about the house. Like, oh, I love houses so much. So of course I'm going to be in real estate. But you have to love the people, the people too, you know, that that relationship, and it's you know, it's it's really all about the person.

SPEAKER_02 11:39

Wow, that was that was deep for the first 10 minutes. That was deep. I like that. That was the wow. I mean, but really that's probably an aspect of the job that people never thought of before. So thank you for sharing that that side of it for us. How did you, if you want to tell us, how did you end up in real estate?

SPEAKER_00 11:57

Yeah, it was just happenstance, really. It was after college, and I was kind of, you know, in that zone of meandering, not really sure where all where things will fall. And um uh, you know, a friend was, oh, uh, so and so is looking for an assistant. Maybe you could make a good fit. And um, you know, I was always kind of working lots of jobs when I was younger, yeah. Always keeping busy type of person. And I was like, talk to her. Yeah, yeah, exactly. Sounds interesting. And um, and it was literally just after 9-11, and her as full-time assistant was leaving for I don't remember why, and and then enter Aisha. And literally, I was no no glamour to this business sometimes, truly. And literally, I was uh even though some people can make it look glamorous, you're telling us it's not. Yeah, like you're you know, I was taking signs, putting in the yard, meeting township inspectors, putting lockboxes on the door, printing marketing material for um this agent's listings and um keeping her organized on timetables. So it was uh more behind the scenes.

SPEAKER_02 13:18

You were like the details person.

SPEAKER_00 13:20

Yeah, tried to be really her right hand gal, so to speak. And um, and then through that, a year later, I got my real estate license. I was still like working other jobs, working for her. Yeah. And then um, you know, she slowly took me under her wing. Basically, I feel like I grew up in real estate, so to speak, not in a real estate family, but grew up in the business. I had like lots of moms at the office, truly. The 20-year-olds always do, don't they? The 22-year-olds. Yeah, it was so special. It was so special, truly.

SPEAKER_02 13:53

And you know it's funny, and you've probably felt this too. I'm sorry to interrupt you. I feel like I've been at the same job in the same school for 23 years, and I feel like I was the child, and now I'm the mom, because I've been there like I was mommed, and now I'm the mom to the young teacher. So that's kind of fun. And also you're like, oh you can oh, now I'm old.

SPEAKER_00 14:12

Well, you can relate with the longevity of your career, and it's very similar. Yes, I felt like I was the child when I first started, and you know, everybody's kind of telling me, Oh, you might want to do this. And I had all these moms like looking after me in that office that I was in, which I loved. Like I looked up to so many people in in the office, it was lovely. And then now I feel like I'm one of the old older we'll say veteran. We're the veterans. Yeah, veteran in the office, and um it's such a different like mind shift. Yeah. Um yeah. So then a year later, I got my license. I still worked as um her full-time assistant, and um, and then little by little, she would, if there was a client of hers where their child would come to her and say, Hey, I'm looking to buy my first home, that's then enter Aisha, you know. Oh, you're gonna really work, you know, you're gonna work with Aisha, she's gonna be great, she's gonna really relate to you. Yeah. And it was really cool seeing people my age, little by little, obviously, yeah, uh help them and and go buy something and acquire something. And then shortly after I was able to acquire, you know, a property at a pretty young age. So it's really special.

SPEAKER_02 15:33

It's kind of full circle y. And and similarly, when you were talking about that and you know, growing up, and I was thinking to myself, again, I was 22 when I started working at the school, and you know, I looked at the parents as like, wow, they have kids and they're at this, you know, and what do I know? What am I telling them? And now we're back around. I'm older than several of the parents, many of the parents, or the same age as the parents, and they sometimes look at me like, well, you have kids, you've been a teacher, you know, and I'm like, oh gosh, I still don't feel like I know anything. But, you know, to be on the other end of that is is an interesting, you know, and and I don't think a lot of people in this day and age, whether it's real estate or education or you know, those people tend to have more longevity, where I think a lot of other people hop from job to job just because of the way of the world. But, you know, you and I have kind of been in the same place at the same time, and you know, we've we've been on one end of the spectrum where we're the babies, and now we're like, oh, well, you can ask Kristen, she's been here for a long time. I'm like, oh, okay. But, you know, with that experience, you're like, okay, I do, you know, I kind of know what I'm doing now, and people come to me for advice, and yeah, I'm sure they come to you for advice, and it's kind of nice to be on the other side of that.

SPEAKER_00 16:40

It can be, I think, you know, like your business, like mine, it's also ever evolving. And so, um, to continually be able to uh adapt to new information that's coming, new technology that's coming, I feel that not that it's becoming too challenging, but I've kind of I've kind of been on my toes. Um, I think while I have all a ton of knowledge and experience, I still feel that um with the entering technology, I I still need to be on my toes and understand that because there's others that really, really dive deep in that. They just don't have enough um um history um in the business. So I'm constantly trying to ensure that I'm staying on top of the technology, the new rules, all of that of things. Yes.

SPEAKER_02 17:42

I can I feel that deeply, yes. Um, all right, and one more question for you. How would you describe yourself in three words?

SPEAKER_00 17:49

Oh, I love this. Interestingly enough, and tying into speaking of technology, about a month ago, I chat GPT. How would you describe Aisha Clay in three words? So funny. It was so interesting because I have been asking it a lot of questions, a lot of random questions as they come to mind.

SPEAKER_02 18:18

And maybe And it's kind of weird how it gets to know you, isn't it? Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_00 18:21

Weird, fascinating, scary.

unknown 18:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 18:24

Totally. And I really loved the response so much when I asked it. So, what did the chat tell us about you? Chat said very succinctly, uh, it it described me as being very thoughtful. Okay. Um, which I loved because maybe I'm asking um lots of questions. Um, it also described me as practical, which I would say ptuity. Yes, yes, yes. This one was my favorite. It called me human-centered. And that I think that word, like thoughtful, I've heard of great. Okay. But human-centered, I said, wow, that's powerful. That's really good. I thought so too. It was such a striking word. And then if you tie it back to what I mentioned early on about like going deep with people, I was like, wow, that really ties together because I I have to think a lot of the questions I'm asking are about people related. Right. And um, you know, and this this career of mine is is very relational. So that human-centered piece, like I'm not a robot, uh, I'm not AI, I'm human. I'm human, uh, meaning I make mistakes, but I am also very thoughtful and I do try. So I I really love the way that the chat nailed it.

SPEAKER_02 19:53

Now we're all gonna go type in how would you describe us? Well, I did an episode with Amber Barry back in January that's all about AI for the listeners who heard that. It's a great, uh, a great episode if you haven't listened yet. And, you know, she was saying how it does kind of learn you and it takes all of the information and the questions that you put in and it sort of starts to write in the way that you write, and you know, it it kind of quote unquote thinks the way that you think, and it's it's pretty wild. So when I get off this call, I'm gonna go ask the chat as I call it how it would describe me. So I will, I'll tell you, here are my three words. Maybe we'll do that on like a social post next week. We'll say, what did the chat say about you? That would be fun. All right. Um, okay, so I would agree. The chat GPT came up with three very kind words for a very kind person. Um, so let's talk about our win and our challenge of the week. Um, would you like to share a win or a challenge first? And then I'll share. Win or a challenge.

SPEAKER_00 20:50

Um well, it was very I was very congested this week. And um and my partner's uh family member passed away all while all while we were building up to our we do two um client appreciation events per per year, and we were building up to that this weekend. So um with that said, I had to like push through and be the face of the event. Yeah, worked through and I saw some very fun and exciting faces, which I loved. And um, and so we were able to still have a very successful event. Um, I thought we took everyone to the movies. So fun. It's so fun, and um, and then I like to tie something like that's my like that's a give because it's so fun to be able to do that. And it's something like really special. We have a theater to ourselves. Yeah. And it's just like, okay, a fun day. Thank you, everybody, type of thing. And um, and then to also tie like a charity piece to it. So I had an any like um uh person who came invite tea, like if they could bring socks or a favorite local charity.

SPEAKER_02 22:08

Um what's that called? I'll put it in the show notes too. What's the charity called?

SPEAKER_00 22:13

Yeah, uh it's called Joy of Socks and they feel um most that you know if someone's feet are cold or wet that they're um not a happy person. So how do you keep how do you keep them warm, comfortable? It's gonna be through some warm socks. And so they collect socks for the homeless, men's, women's children. And I haven't circled back with all the invitees yet, um, but my son and I counted all the socks that were brought to the event, and um there were 394 sock pairs of socks brought. I thought that was awesome. Wow. Maybe we will get to help bring those to their facility in Phoenixville and help pack them up. And that that charity we we got connected to through um uh a little school called Beaumont Elementary, where my son went. And um, so we really like that that charity.

SPEAKER_02 23:16

I had never actually heard of that charity before. I don't know why, since it's so local, but you're right. I mean, if your feet are cold or wet, like there's nothing more miserable than that. So what a nice idea that you can bring comfort to people um, you know, who are struggling with just warm socks. It's such a nice, cozy idea. I love that. Love that you did that.

SPEAKER_00 23:35

That's a thank you. How about you? How about a winter challenge?

SPEAKER_02 23:38

Oh, I feel like all I do on this podcast is talk about the weather. Like I've been cold all winter and ran at them. But this weekend we did we had a three-day weekend that was a win because it was the end of Ramadan. So our school and my children's school was off on Friday. So we kind of got like a bonus. Um, and that was just kind of fun, like a nice little break, and the weather was pretty nice, and it was free Dairy Queen and free Ritos this weekend because of spring. And then we had um yesterday was real warm and we had family over, and my kids were outside playing, and of course, you know, they had to put shorts on, and it felt very like, okay, spring is here, and then today it was rainy and cold. But we had those three days that were really just you know, when it like kind of just like lifts your heart and the sun is shining, and you're like, we made it through, and you know, the winter, the warm weather will come again, and truly like it made me so happy that it was light until 7:30, and we were outside and we were sitting on the deck and we ate lunch outside, and I was like, Oh, I've been waiting for this for like five months, so that was truly my win. And I know the rest of the week is gonna be in the 40s and 50s, but we had those like 72 hours, so I won't, I can't complain.

SPEAKER_00 24:47

Can't complain. We're we're slowly getting to the warmer weather, but I am convinced as I age that we need vitamin D. So yes, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 24:58

Just feel and I went for a walk last night and it was like warm. I just, yeah, I was like, oh, it's coming. And yeah, we need the sun and we need the warm and the birds singing and all those good things. So that was my win. Uh, what about your challenge? What was your challenge this week, other than the congestion?

SPEAKER_00 25:15

Well, I feel like that that was my win and my challenge all bundled into one.

SPEAKER_02 25:20

Oh, I like that. Oh, you did it all at once. All right, then I'll give you my challenge, which also could be bundled into one because again, here I go with the weather again. I feel that it's hard this time of year, and you probably agree to dress yourself and dress your children because you wake up in the morning and it's 30 degrees, and by four o'clock, and they're like, oh, you need your winter coat and you need long pants, and like, because the bus stop it's gonna be 33 degrees. That's literally, you know, one degree away from freezing. I have to tell my son every day and it's cold. And then like they get off the bus and it's 68 degrees and sunny, like, I'm so hot. And like I in the morning, I'm like, I don't know. Am I wearing short pants? Am I wearing long pants? Am I wearing a heavy sweater? Am I wearing a light sweater? You know, that is just like, you know, spring in Pennsylvania. We have fake spring and then we have real spring, and then fake spring comes back, and then the winter returns. You're like, I just don't know. And then, like, all of my spring clothes and my summer clothes and my winter clothes are like all over my room, and you know, you're just like, I like we need to make a decision here, but I feel like we have like two months of like just kidding, it's only gonna be 50 today, but tomorrow it'll be 83, don't worry. So, and you know, last week we had a tornado warning. It's like we had everything all at once. So I feel like I don't know what to wear, and that is my challenge right now.

SPEAKER_00 26:29

We just have to be really prepared, like you know, asking Alexa, what have you, like, what's the temperature going up to today? And then, you know, you really have to stay on top of the weather you do now. Oh, right.

SPEAKER_02 26:43

As a woman who is almost 45 years old, I find great pleasure in the weather channel app. I check it many times a day. So I'm always like, oh, but it's gonna be cold tonight. We need to turn the heat on. My husband's like, how do you know? I'm like, well, I checked the app and it's gonna be like 33 tonight, but tomorrow it's gonna be 64. And he's like, You love that app. Like, I do. I like to know what the weather's going to be. So I'm not not caught off guard. So, you know.

SPEAKER_00 27:07

It's amazing the things as we uh mature, yeah, what for us, what what new things bring us joy.

SPEAKER_02 27:15

Yes, right, and that weather app, man. And I I haven't checked yet for tomorrow, but I think it's gonna be chilly again. So put take out your coat. Anyway, all right, so let's really get into it. Um, how a person prepares. I know that they say that selling a home is one of what the most stressful things you can do, along with like getting a new job, getting married, or having a baby. So moving is one of those. But again, like we said in the beginning, you make it super easy. So you're gonna just share all of your wisdom and it's gonna be a breeze, a walk in the park for people listening. So, all right, so selling a home can feel overwhelming to anyone, but I'm thinking especially of parents with children who feel like they're always living in speaking of tornadoes. Like I feel like my house is a tornado all the time, and the thought of having to like clean it and organize it and declutter it to sell, which we're not planning on doing, thank goodness. But let's talk about that and how you can help families and parents make the process sort of more manageable overall, and then we'll get into more nitty-gritty.

SPEAKER_00 28:15

Yeah, that was a lot to unpack what you just said. All the things, the whole process. Yes, and I wish I could like wave this magic wand and be like, this shall be easy. Yep. You know. Um, uh, but you know, around that, it I think first off, as as somebody who is moving, whether you're a family, a solo, a couple, um I think giving yourself grace is is a huge piece of it because it can be messy, and I don't mean physically messy, mentally messy. Um there's a lot of small stuff, small things, if not done, you know, it it can escalate and things can go awry. So I would probably want to describe it more as like maybe um coming up with a plan because everyone's like lifestyle and life plan is going to vary. Where they're at with things um will vary. And um, so give yourself grace along the way. There's no like one size fits all with how one goes about it. Um and I'm kind of smiling because I I remember this one story of my friend's parents. They they lived in their home, and I remember going to this home, which was a little surreal, then putting on my realtor goggles and going over there and 40 years, they raised five kids in the house, and you know, we we connected. Um, Aisha, can you help us sell? And then we're going to go uh get an purchase a new home. So it was really heartwarming that they reached out to me and but 40 years of of things. And so she is she is leaving some days putting out stuff, right? Putting out things at the curb. Okay. Oh no and sees said things at the curb and picks them up and takes them back in. So needless to say, that that kind of plan or home plan prepping took that that couple about a year to just get prepped. And so everybody's going to be different. I really like to like try to meet uh people with where they're at. And then basically, so long story. I'm trying to write it in here, but like first steps, I would say like contact a realtor. Like it's okay if you feel prideful and you're like, I know what I'm doing, I'm gonna get it done. Um, some people are too prideful and they don't want you in their home when it might be like, you know, like we normally live, right? On a day to day basis, things out and about, totally fine. So typically I say, like, call a realtor, whether it be me, whether it's you know, somebody you trust, call them first, like make that a contact and just say, like, hey, hey, please, no pressure on me. I'm not ready, but I'm starting to think about this so that you can have like a deep conversation of what might this look like, what might this look like from a moving standpoint? Because you kind of have to take it back to that to that time to really understand in order to make an and and prepare and make a plan.

SPEAKER_02 31:32

And I guess it depends too on if you're a person, you know, like pair people our parents' age who are looking to downsize and don't necessarily have a time limit. And they can take a year to declutter, whereas if, you know, your husband or you get transferred and you're like, we gotta be out of here in two months, that's gonna change everything.

SPEAKER_00 31:49

So I guess that's also absolutely, but in both senses, to your point, having that plan is is really important, or at least like some couple like high level, high-level steps. And often, often it's going to be paring down. Like that for all say Americans, right, is tends to be, I would say nine times out of ten is going to be the first thing that one just starts doing. Whether you know where you're going, whether you have no idea where you're going, just start paring down. And um, some people you will use the word decluttering. Um, and for some it is truly decluttering, and for some it's it's truly paring down. Yeah. Um so that's just means packing away like open the closets. And and typically we sort things in like three piles. I'm not doing the sorting with people. Right. So when you say I'll make it easy, I'm not right next to you sorting, sorting.

SPEAKER_02 32:48

Um that's not part of the job description. Well, there are companies for that.

SPEAKER_00 32:55

Right. So um, but you have to think like in three buckets almost, um, you know, your your throwaway, your giveaway, and your pack away. And when you pack away, you're really just thanking your future self, you know, thanking yourself. Do you know what I mean? Because you're going to be packing anyhow. Yeah. Um but also like maybe even a step before that is also talking to the person to understand what their motivation is for selling doesn't make sense to do that now or even in the near future. Okay. So I'm taking that back a couple of steps. So having a plan, talking about what that might look like, laying out that plan, and maybe even putting a timeline to it. Because some people, you know, some people are really great at coming up with a timeline on their own. Right. And some people really need to look to me to say, hey, you pick a date. So we'll pick a date. At least it gives them something to work to.

SPEAKER_02 34:00

Oh, that like you say you'll come to the house on this date. So they kind of feel like they have to be ready. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 34:05

That makes sense. A check-in and to see where your progress is. They need that a little bit of motivation. You kind of have to be the tough love.

SPEAKER_02 34:12

I'm showing up in eight weeks at your house, ready or not. I like that.

unknown 34:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 34:19

And I I know that people feel stressed, even just thinking about like the thought of moving. Um, but what would be the first steps that, and I think this is sort of answered by the last question, the first steps that a homeowner should take would just be make a plan and put it in.

SPEAKER_00 34:36

Make a plan. Exactly. Make a plan, tear things down. And often you'd probably be surprised at how how many people will rent a pod or a storage unit. You'd be very surprised how many people end up doing that. For families, it often makes sense to do that.

SPEAKER_02 34:55

Okay. Uh because it gets it out of your house, right? And then you just you can store them, right? If it's like a little storage pot, it just stays in your driveway. But yeah.

SPEAKER_00 35:02

Exactly. And then it gets it gets picked up at a later date. Yeah. It's stored off premises and then can get delivered to the new place. Yeah. Yeah. And and some people are like, oh, I gotta get everything out of here. And I'm like, no, no, no. Like if you're still living there, right? Because it's situational. If you're still living there, you know, leave the necessities. I think a a home with furnishings is going to show better. It's going to show like the dimension of the space. Right. But it's really just all the ancillary things, like all the little knick-nacky things, collections. We we don't need all the toys. Yeah. Really tear those down, pack, pack away. And like I said before, you're you're thanking your future self because it's going to be a little bit easier. Right. Taking small bites out of things by doing it that way.

SPEAKER_02 35:53

And now this is something I just thought about. I didn't write it on our outline, but I have heard before that you should take away anything that is quote unquote personal. So leave pictures and photos up, but take down pictures of your family and you know, something that is like specific to you to make the house feel more um not generic, but so that a person could picture themselves living there without feeling like, oh, but there's the family looking at me from the fireplace. You know, what what do you think about that? Like to make it feel lived in and decorated, but take away those personal photographs and stuff.

SPEAKER_00 36:27

When I was younger, I was so much more stringent on that. Um that was before I was a mom.

SPEAKER_01 36:34

So here that's the thing.

SPEAKER_00 36:36

And now that I, you know, I'm in my home as a family, it's like, well, we've got some personal things. So I would say pare those down, right? Again, if you end up leaving some family photos up, that's fine too. Or put something neutral in that photo frame anyway, but you can certainly pare down family photos. Um some people might not agree with this, but I would say anything religious, political, I would probably put off pull off the walls because the goal is to um typically to make it like a more mass appeal. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 37:13

So kind of like a like I was saying, like generic, quote unquote, a generic house.

SPEAKER_00 37:17

Generic warm but generic. Yeah, exactly. Anything valuable, of course. Right. Um, whether that be a a piece of you know, fine art or uh a sensitive piece of uh paperwork, right?

SPEAKER_02 37:30

Okay, right. Pack away the diamonds, pack away your diamonds.

SPEAKER_00 37:34

Pack away the diamonds, put them on your body and leave the house. That's right. And usually like anything um, you know, smaller than like a football, just put away. Interesting. Just put away. Um, and I really think less is more, that that saying less is more that goes a long way.

SPEAKER_02 37:53

Okay. And so, all right, so less is more. And we've talked about decluttering and making a plan and just kind of going through, and I love your three bucket idea of keep, give away, and what was the other one? Throw away. And a lot of people get dumpsters too, don't they? And they just like, they just go at it. Um, so once people have done that, let's say, and they're and they're kind of ready and they're starting to sell their show their home. And let's say they have all these little kids, and you know, in 20 minutes or 30 minutes or an hour or two, they're like, oh, we, you know, we have people who want to come see your house tonight. And you look around and your house is lived in, as you said. What are some practical tips for kind of keeping your house show ready while also being uh realistic and saying I live here with my three kids or my two kids or my dog or you know, whatever it is?

SPEAKER_00 38:39

Yeah, by by that point, you will have you know pared down a lot already. So it should be a bit more easy to if a showing came in to kind of pack up. But uh like a handy tip would be grabbing like a plastic laundry basket or a plastic tote or something, those large ones with the handles kind of out to here and kind of doing a quick sweep of just placing, you know, if you have your pet leash, you know, your pet hole, um, you know, uh the toy that your child wants to bring. Anything like that, you can do a clean sweep of the house and just grab it, pop it in the car real quick. And, you know, yeah, I have to get everybody on board with that, obviously. Right. Um but you are doing some activities on a day-to-day basis um that maybe you're not typically doing. You're making the beds every day, you're emptying the trash every day, or taking those bins and putting them on under the cabinets, you're clearing your sink out every day, you know, you are doing some things that you don't typically do on a day-to-day basis. Okay, that makes sense. Because the way you the way you show a home is very different from the way you live in a home. They're very two different things, and um uh there's a very small percentage of people who actually live in a home that's show ready. It's such a small percentage, but they're out there, I've seen it. I'm sure people, but it's not my house. That's not the average, it's not the average family or one person. So, and and some people like when I I use this term like short-term pain, long-term game, but it is true. Short-term pain, long-term game, yeah, and um, it is true to form. So there's other pieces to the situation of home selling that will hopefully like pricing and positioning, right, and staging what we're talking about right now, that will try to pair this down into a shorter time frame. I couldn't imagine showing my home for six months on end. That sounds hurting unnecessary. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 41:04

Do you know the trends across the country? Like it feels like because the housing market got so, you know, kind of off kilter for a while there that hopefully people will only have to have their house show ready for so many weeks or a month or something rather than long, long, long.

SPEAKER_00 41:18

Yeah. And I know we're we're on this topic. Um, I would totally agree with our average days on market in, I'll say, Chester County have been somewhere floating around 20 days on market, which is relatively low. And please know that obviously some homes right now are still getting multiple offers and not some homes are sitting for weeks on end. It's kind of a little bit of a challenge to price right now. But we're in we're in like in this mainline market, I'd say a little bit of a bubble. Um, and you have to kind of push out the national news because that's not what we're experiencing here in the suburbs of Philadelphia. Right. We're experiencing um very low inventory, and that's not uh nationwide. We're experiencing still very low inventory because um there are a good amount of people who are sitting on three percent interest rates and they don't want to move off of that, understandably so. And so um so inventory is just trickling on the market, and therefore um the days on market are are shortened, which is wonderful being a home seller, right? In that same market, you might also have to be a home buyer. So that might be a little bit more challenging. However, I will say it doesn't mean that then, with that said, that just because homes have somewhat of a condensed time frame on market, that it's wise to just be like my home will sell, no problem. I'll just leave it as it is for multiple reasons. You don't want to do that. And if you're if you are a type of seller that I often work with that want to really maximize right that output, maximize what you're netting for the sale of the home, because most of the the sellers are then taking those net proceeds and then putting that to a home purchase. Okay. Because we're also at a time where values are still climbing. If you want to maximize the home sale, not just from a less days on market standpoint, but also in order to maximize the dollar, I think staging is still going to be and preparing, still such an important um piece to it.

SPEAKER_02 43:43

Kind of put your best foot forward. And I want to talk a little bit more about staging in just a minute, but before I forget, I want to tell you a funny story. My husband and I were looking, we've lived in our house for almost 10 years, and I think we looked at, oh my gosh, like 40, 50 houses, and we lost two houses. Well, we backed out of two houses because there were terminals. In one and carpenter ants in the other. And the inspector was like, You're gonna wake up in the basement someday. We're like, okay, we're gonna go. But oh my god, we were you were talking about how there's a day he's like, you're you live upstairs right now, but someday your bedroom's just gonna get like you know, eaten right into the basement. The termites were like, okay, so this is not the house for us. But um, we went in. You were saying there's a difference between staging a house and living living in a house, and we were in a house and it was very lived in. It was not staged, it did not feel as though the parent people had pared it down, but it was a nice house, whatever. And my husband went into a room and like he yelped a little and I heard like another noise, and I came upstairs and I was like, What's wrong? And he's like, There's a woman who doesn't speak English in the bed. It was like an old woman who had been asleep. I guess like the the daughter or son or whoever was selling the house, like neglected to mention that we were coming, or so my husband like walked in the room and woke her up and like she screamed and he screamed, and I was like, just get out, get out, get out, get out, get out. And it was like it was so weird. Um, so good good. Always put your best foot forward and maybe take the old lady speaking Italian out of the house. And I was like, that could have been like a really nice house. We might have wanted to buy it. He's like, doesn't matter. He was like, I was done after I woke her up. I was like, yeah. Yeah, that that vibe was weird. That was a weird one. That was a weird one. It was time to go. So maybe it was the universe telling us something. But um, yeah, always good to take the old ladies out of the house before the showing. So it's a lesson learned.

SPEAKER_00 45:28

Perfect, preferably.

SPEAKER_02 45:29

Um, and can you tell us a little bit more about actually staging? Like, what should a room look like that is staged and explain kind of what it means and why that really matters.

SPEAKER_00 45:38

Yeah, and and thank you for kind of jumping back to that word for a second of staging, because I feel like it has lots of components to it. And we we in our industry, I know I'm guilty of it, like really sling that term around and don't always really break it down for a homeowner or a consumer. So, and and so when I'm when we're talking about staging, right? It's it's planning, it's preparing, it's paring down, um, it's maintenance. So it's the whole thing, it's not just where the chair is in the room. Yeah, and then and then leading to that, and then leading to that, it can be where the chair is in the room. So, like it's uh it's in my in my mind, it's a myriad of terms of of uh, you know, just getting that home prepared. That's what I feel like home staging is. But then there's the actual home staging, right? Where um, you know, my girl Nancy, she is my actual home stager, okay, right, who I call on um when I need like an extra hand with certain things. So for example, um she is going to either go meet with a homeowner to maybe make a plan, uh like an action plan. Some people they can, they're like, I know what to do. They've got this, and other people not so much. And so she'll help them make a plan um more of like a consultation appointment, make a plan of of some action steps they can take. Okay. Um they find it helpful. Because sometimes, not that they don't want to listen to me, but sometimes like a totally third party will help with the process.

SPEAKER_02 47:22

Right. And it's like when your mom tells you to do something versus like somebody else, and you're you're like, I already told you that. They're like, Yeah, but so and so sad, and it's a really good idea. As the mom, you're like, okay, just do it, whatever.

SPEAKER_00 47:33

The teacher says to do it, and then the kids do it, right?

SPEAKER_02 47:37

Oh, yeah, I've heard that. It's funny, it doesn't work when you're the mom and the teacher. My children don't listen to anything, but the children in my classroom are like, oh, Mrs. Weinrich said, I'm like, oh, if only I had that power everywhere in my life. But yes, exactly. You just need that other person.

SPEAKER_00 47:50

Thank you for relating that. I think that's a perfect way. Um, the home stager will also um help you take what you have furniture-wise. Again, furnishings get, you know, all the little knick-inacks away. Yes. She will take what you do have furniture-wise, okay, and sometimes rearrange it, move it around around the house. Um move it into an like move it in the room to create like an open, inviting, like it might not make sense for your daily life. Living, right? Okay, obviously. But it is going to like from a visual standpoint, it's gonna create like a really welcoming space to then to a point where if you want to move out or move things out of out of a room, she will come in and bring furniture and bring and bring some really nice pieces, some art, and really create such a beautiful, light, welcoming space. Interesting. Okay. So for some homes, you know, some of the homes that I've worked on and sold have been vacant, and um vacant space actually shows smaller. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 49:07

That makes sense. I've heard that before.

unknown 49:09

Right.

SPEAKER_00 49:10

Like when you put a couch in it, all of a sudden you're like, oh, this room's so big, and you wouldn't think right. Right. Yeah, it gives uh furniture actually gives space some scale. Okay. Because you can look at an empty room and have really no clue, can I fit a queen size bed in here? I can't really tell. Right. And so by bringing in furniture, most often in in common spaces, like your living room, dining room, kitchen, family room, typically your primary bedroom, uh, filling those spaces with very purposeful and sizable pieces. Interesting.

SPEAKER_02 49:44

Um so would she have like a design background, like an interior design kind of background?

SPEAKER_00 49:48

She has got a design background, and she can ensure that the furniture fits the space perfectly. Because often, like, we see these really like plush couches and they're just like way too big for the space. And she just has like scale, and then all of her furniture is very current, like decor. And the cool thing is, is she can either take a space that has some of the rooms filled with a homeowner's cushion and just fill in other spaces or a completely vacant home and make it feel so warm and inviting. So to give you some statistics, right, around staging specifically that um stats that I read recently say that homes that are staged, so in my mind, that specifically, andor prepared, like somebody's strategically thought about how they're gonna present their home, have sold between one to ten percent, and I've seen some numbers higher, right? But one to ten percent higher than um average. Wow. And so and here's the thing to actually like stage the home, let's say from my third-party stager Nancy, it it ranges from like three to five thousand dollars, which I know every thousand dollars is a lot, but if you are if you're taking a five thousand, a five hundred thousand dollar home, because right now that's kind of the local average in some areas. I know not all around here, but maybe more nationally, five hundred thousand and you're adding at least five one percent you've made back, you've probably sold the home quicker, got a quicker contract. Right. Say you got up on the higher end to 10%, that's fifty thousand dollars worth the three to five. Yeah, and you've probably also got multiple eyes on the home, maybe you even got multiple offers, or you've shortened the days on the market, so you're not grabbing that laundry basket, right?

SPEAKER_02 51:49

Taking your family out every night, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 51:51

Exactly. So there, and I have found again, like tying back to our initial conversation about psychological and um with with this kind of business, is um that I've learned that there's a good amount of people who are extremely visual. They can look at a home with nothing in it and I'm gonna do that. There, this light fixture, I'm gonna change out. This is where the table's going. They're just big, boom, boom, they can imagine, they can see it. Yeah. And then there's half of the population who is very visually challenged and they they cannot see the end result, they cannot see where they're gonna place their furniture, how to use this vacant room where you might say, Well, that's a dining room. They they have very challenged. How am I putting this together? And so, so what's gonna happen is those furnishings are really gonna be able to give them an idea of how to use the space. Of course, you can use it however you want, but it's right, but they cannot see it. Yeah, they're gonna visually see it. And so when you then take that space and then apply apply professional photography to it, professional video to it, and then put it online for people to see it's going to be very like impactful. Yeah, very impactful for people, right? And versus like, what if like as a realtor, I look at homes online all day, every day. All day, every day, and I will still look at a photo and I'm like, what space am I looking at? I don't even understand what room this is. It starts to just blend. But if you're like furnishing it specifically, you're gonna, oh, that's the dining room. Oh, that dining room leads right into the family room. Oh, that's great for when my family comes over and we're all hanging out watching the football game.

SPEAKER_02 53:43

And you can kind of see it because I again, we have no plans to move ever because we are in that low interest and we're like, we're stuck forever, but that's fine. Um, but I love real estate, so I'll just sometimes when I'm bored, like go on like a real estate website and just kind of look. And you're right, like the pictures, if the pictures are good, you're like, you can see how the house flows from the pictures and where things connect and where the doorways are. And yeah, I mean, it really is, like you said, psychological. And I think I feel like moving and and house hunting and even putting your house up for sale is a very emotional thing. Like I remember my brother-in-law said to me when I was selling my condo that I bought as a single woman. I was moving out when I got married, and he said, I'm gonna give you a price that I think you should list it for. You're gonna feel that it's low because this is like your heart and soul, and you're gonna feel like I'm insulting you. And I was like, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. And he was like, But this is, you know, really what it's worth. And he gave me a number and I was like, Oh, well, I was thinking, and I said like $15,000 higher. And he was like, because it's emotional. And I was like, okay, fine. You know, and he was like, we can put it there, and it didn't sell for that. We brought it down to what he said, and it sold right away. But you, I mean, you do, you're like, but I did this and I fixed this, and this is where I did this, and this is my first house, and look how pretty the kitchen is. And, you know, you're looking at it from like this was my home, and a realtor can look at it as like it's a nice place, but like kind of here's what it's here's what it's worth, you know, and you kind of have to, I guess, get over that as the seller as well, because you know, you're seeing your life flash before you when you're selling it, and another person is like, yeah, but it's still only worth as much money. And you're like, okay, okay.

SPEAKER_00 55:16

Well, they're and and keep in mind that typically when that buyer is coming in, they're also looking at other homes on the market and they're comparing and contrasting your property to another, that you, as the homeowner, you're not seeing that piece of it like they are.

SPEAKER_02 55:34

You think yours is just why wouldn't someone want to buy your house that you love so much? And you're like, you don't know what house they saw 20 minutes ago. And I guess you just have to stay humble about it, I guess.

SPEAKER_00 55:46

Um, and what would I and the word that I'm gonna come back to is like give yourself grace, give your property grace. Like grace, I think is uh a perfect word to keep to keep in your mind. Right. Two other pieces to um jump on that uh about on the home staging topic is maintenance. Um, I feel like that's a part of home staging. Okay. Something as as as easy as like vacuuming the intake vents that are on the ceiling and are all dusty. Yeah. And all dusty typically, like we don't see it. We we we're it moving in the home all day long, but like, and then that's gonna go with like a deep clean, basically. Um uh making sure like light bulbs are all like in everything, because yeah, we could go without a light bulb and an overhead light, but it's going to show brighter, lighter, better, bigger, make sure all the lights are on. So, like that's like a no-cost item, making sure all the lights on, making sure a small cost, making sure all the bulbs are working in every little thing, opening curtains and things like that. A deep clean, that I usually say save to the end. Okay, that makes sense. Windows lashed, deep clean, the huge piece. And the maintenance piece is also like sometimes I get a home inspector in or handyman in ahead of time to help with the homeowner. Interesting. Yeah, the handyman can do. I love him. I've I use uh one that I know because he can do a bunch of little projects okay that like how you find somebody to do this little thing, but he's gonna be like maybe touching up your white trim. He's gonna be cocking around the tub and doing the grout that like do like a little punch list of all the little things.

SPEAKER_02 57:32

Yeah, that's that's a great idea.

SPEAKER_00 57:36

Yeah, which is really helpful. What was the other piece I was going to say? I don't know. Maintenance and maintenance, maybe deep clean, I think.

SPEAKER_02 57:46

Deep clean is probably a good one because again, like you said, you know, I walk into my house sometimes and we're having like people over, and I'm like, oh, they must think we live in like filth, but you're like, we don't, but you know, you can like look past the dust under your couch, or you can, but if somebody's coming in to try to buy it, like you want to really, really look like you are at the top of your game at all times.

SPEAKER_00 58:07

On top of it, because if it's if you leave anything messy, it's like, well, if you left this messy for me and you're trying to sell this house, I can imagine how this house has been maintained over.

SPEAKER_02 58:17

Right for all the years. Like, this is how you're showing, this is how you're putting your best foot forward, this is what you're showing me.

SPEAKER_00 58:22

So yeah, exactly, exactly. It is a lot like to your point, Kristen, very psychological. Um, the other piece I was gonna just speak to real quick because I feel like I'm seeing it so much more now than ever before, is where the photos, like the property is actually vacant and the photos are being digitally staged, which from a standpoint that great, you can like envision how that space is going to be laid out. The problem that I find is once you take clients there, there there's nothing there. And then if we're back to like, how do we how do we do this space? Uh well, if we have the photo, but it's like then there's standing in it is a totally different thing. Absolutely. So I so in my mind, I mean, in a perfect world, and I know this can't work for everyone, but in a perfect world is the images that you're going to put online when somebody gets there, it's going to darn well look just almost just like that to the best of your ability. Because then it's going to evoke those feelings for someone while they're standing in it with the lights on, everything's looking clean, crisp, bright. The furnishings are there. Again, in a perfect world, that can't work for everybody. Right. Um, I feel like things have to translate.

SPEAKER_02 59:41

Right, because you're right, because you want it to what you saw online to be what you see in in person. I had a friend who moved last year and she was only selling her house because she was moving into her parents' house, and she was texting me one day, and she was like, the stager came, you know, we're getting ready to take the pictures. And she's like, I wish I lived in my stage house for the last 18 years. My stage house is beautiful. She's like, they've got things here that I've never even thought of. And she's like, Huh, I would want to buy my house now. She's like, it never looked like this. But, you know, I was like, well, then I guess the stager did their job. She's like, I guess they did. But yeah, I love that. They did that what they needed. All right, so let's let's say um we were talking about how moving is emotional and even with the price and whatever, but let's talk about moving with kids and how it we know that it's chaotic and cleaning up and taking your laundry basket full of stuff and running out of the house for the showings and stuff. But, you know, I often think too, because we had talked about moving a lot and then interest rates and blah, blah, blah. And now we love where our kids go to school and we're like, we're just gonna stay. But I remember saying to my husband, like, but I don't know if I want to leave the house where like we brought our babies home, you know what I mean? And or, you know, where they took their first steps or like the first house that they ever knew, or you can picture them doing certain things in the backyard. Um, what advice would you give parents to kind of make when kids have to leave, say, a house that they've only ever known or that they've lived in for a long time? What advice would you give parents to make that transition smoother? And I guess it would be somewhat dependent upon if we're moving across the country or if we're moving across town. Um, but do you have any kind of any tips that would work for anyone? No matter what.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:22

Well, there's a lot, there's a lot there that you just um mentioned. My questions are very multi-layered. Like here's 47 ideas. I love it. That's a great, great way to put it. Um, I think when you're thinking about a home where you may have raised your kids in and there are a lot of emotional ties, no one's taking those memories from you. Those memories you get to carry wherever you go. And um, you know, I think to be to be tactful and and respectful, you really do get to take those memories. Um I think when you're moving with kids, whether it is down the street or it's across the nation, um, I have found well a couple of things. Some kids think like they're not gonna have friends anymore. That like that's you know, house aside, like they're not gonna, their friends aren't gonna be there, their stuff is not gonna be there, their belongings. And I depending on the age of the child, I think some children haven't don't realize that like they get to bring their stuff with them. So, really, I think managing a move with kids I think is best when they're prepared early, having those conversations with them, and sometimes putting a positive spin on things um any way you can. For some kids, making a move is going to be there's a huge exciting factor to it. And for others, it's going to be anxiety-filled. Um, and for some, yeah. Yeah, so ensuring that you're having conversations pretty early on before you even make the move, maybe as you're preparing and planning, just start chatting with them about that and keep dripping on them about that. Try to keep the routines as consistent as possible, especially with the youngers and and actually even with the olders. Um, but I think to help reduce some anxiety is like involving them in the process in some way. It might be like if possible, if possible, not always like going to visit the new home, if possible, maybe looking at it online. Can you envision what where your room's going to be? Or here's, you know, draw out, here's the size of your room with window, window, door, how would you lay this out again, depending on the age? Um, letting them pack like a special box, perhaps, again, setting up the room, but ensure like you're validating their emotions along the way because it can it can be very scary. Right. Um you're going along with them. Again, they might be also thinking about friends, making new friends, leaving leaving old friends. So there's a lot to it.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:11

Right. Um especially if they've never done it before and it's all like a new, a new concept to them.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:16

If you know absolutely. And and I feel like some of it might seem so obvious to us as adults, like, well, of course we're bringing your stuff. Right. But they don't know. Like it it they might think, yeah, nothing's coming with them, their favorite stuffy, their favorite toy. Yeah. Yeah. Like reassuring, those things are coming with you. Which ones do you want to like leak out? Make sure that you have um, you know, everyday basis. What toys do you think we could pick up that will like open at a later time? So really making them involved in in the best way possible.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:51

And having those comfort and familiar items with them to take along with you.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:57

And then kind of tying that to some of your questions before about um staging for a second with kids. Um some families actually like move out for a little bit. Yeah. If if possible. And that doesn't work with everybody when selling a home. Like uh a couple just recently, they have three kids, and um they were asked if it was possible to stay with the parents because the parents were about 20 minutes away in the same school district. Again, not always possible, but like, hey, if you can kind of maybe give me five days to do like here's our right, here's our marketing strategy, right? We're gonna like do brokers open house, open house this day, open house this day, open house, you know, and like talk, um, really talk through that how marketing plan with and you can just leave the house and be done with it for a week or whatever.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:51

Like you said, would you say small gains, big small pains, big gains? It's like big pains, small gains, I don't know, the other, but right like and and so

SPEAKER_00 1:06:00

Sometimes people will plan, all right, hey, we're going on a family trip. We're gonna ask you to list it like that the day we leave. So we're not there, our pets at doggy daycare, we're at your hair, if full access to the house, because it sounds so like a no-brainer, but like if somebody can't get in your house, you're not gonna get an offer, right? Right. And so by making it as open as possible, um, and free access as possible, uh leads to you know, lesser days on market typically. So some people have stayed at like hotels, their parents gone on vacation to really allow for that.

SPEAKER_02 1:06:41

And I guess too, in this day and age, with uh days on market being shorter, there is a possibility that if you're at the beach for a week or you move to a hotel or you know, for seven or ten days, it could be kind of done and over with. But you know, the house could be sold in a couple of days or over a weekend, or you might not get that lucky, but for some people, right? They're like, we moved out for five days in the household, no big deal, you know, and it it's kind of worth it to go through that hassle just to, you know, walk out and not have to clean up every day and wait for the you know, the laundry basket of stuff and the phone calls and everything.

SPEAKER_00 1:07:13

So that's a great absolutely and and if that can't be possible, which I totally get, yeah. Being a real live person, like I totally get not everybody can can manage that or that that is possible. Um, another plan is to ensure like you're out by your whole family's out by 9 a.m. Let's say you've got sports or activities, make up an activity, and then um maybe come back at six and just be expressly like communicative with the realtor and say, Hey, we're gonna do this for a couple of days, yeah, and we'll open it up from nine to six, but we can't have any showings um before or after that interesting time, but we'll give it all to you.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:53

Yeah, you got these nine hours during the day.

SPEAKER_00 1:07:55

Yeah, there's so many options. I think as long as like everybody's communicative, I feel like there's ways to bridge some of those challenges and obstacles, both for the realtor and for the homeowner.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:07

And I feel like as a realtor, you would be very, and probably most realtors would be very flexible in that and doing your best to kind of be like, yes, we will use these nine or ten hours during the day to fit in everything that we can to, you know, eliminate whatever interruptions there would be.

SPEAKER_00 1:08:24

Exactly.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:25

You really do try your try your best. I'm sure that's a lot of balls in the air.

SPEAKER_00 1:08:29

You've got juggling a lot of things for everybody.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:32

Right, and you're doing it for several people at a time. So that's really, really something too. Um, let me see if I can come up with one one more. I feel like a lot as I'm looking at these questions, I'm like, I feel like we sort of already um answered them. Okay, here's one. A good, this one will kind of end it. Are there any small changes, aside you said like the um the lighting and stuff, but any small changes that a homeowner can make that would have a big impact on how a house sells? Like let's say it's replacing the rugs or not, you know, or getting the back deck power washed, or like what is something that doesn't feel like a big deal but really makes a big difference when somebody comes to look at the house?

SPEAKER_00 1:09:10

Yeah, that's a great question. I feel like my brain is like firing my own cylinder directions on this. Yeah. And it it in my mind, it really depends on where the property is at to make that recommendation, if that makes sense. And not to be so big. Yeah, but it's like I'm gonna try to meet that homeowner where they are to take it up to par. And everybody's par is kind of different, if that makes sense.

unknown 1:09:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:09:40

Um, but like or what they're able to do financially or what their, you know, time or whatever it is. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:09:46

Absolutely. But I'll say generally speaking, um, it's gonna be still your cleaning, it's gonna be your touch-up painting, it might even be replacing carpets, which you'd be surprised is pretty inexpensive.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:09:59

And not all, and I'm gonna make this this disclosure, not all realtors offer this, but I often work with people that I know or the referral from people that I know, which is another endearing person, most likely. And one thing that I offer, again, not everybody's going to offer this, is um like I'll I'll often, if either money is tight or they're like, you, Aisha, you just execute, you go ahead and do your thing. I will pay for things in advance, and then have the homeowner pay me back at time up close. Interesting. Or just add that as like a line item on the side. Like, here's the receipt. Um, or first, here's the here's the estimate. Does that work for you? Great. Go ahead, Aisha, like get it done.

SPEAKER_02 1:10:42

And then they kind of give you free will to just kind of get it done.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:45

That's and I and I do like to have like some sort of, you know, are we talking a hundred thousand or are we talking like five hundred?

SPEAKER_02 1:10:53

Yeah. What are we doing here to this house?

SPEAKER_00 1:10:55

Right, right, right. And and one thing I I try to pride myself on is um those impactful items, but at a reasonable cost, because I know that you are exiting the home from a home selling standpoint. And I'm not saying cutting corners, but focusing on those impactful pieces that like a quick change here, like 500 here, a thousand here. Like we want to have like a refined budget for doing those impactful changes. Okay. Um and often, like if you can pare down, then those impactful changes, not leave that up to me, but like let's tackle it from my handyman person, like the vendors that I have, like we'll get it done. So there are several layers to this, right? Like dominoes that we need to knock down in order to get to that final stage. Okay. But sometimes those impactful pieces are at no cost, but it's it's really going to be like a maintenance perspective in my mind. Sometimes we might go and upgrade something and we'll try to make that a very reasonable cost. But we also have to know in that manner like what's our target audience here? What's our target audience and what is that target audience going to expect for this price point in this area? Okay. So we there's a lot of things to kind of like juggle and think about.

SPEAKER_02 1:12:23

Or like we're not gonna redo the kitchen before we move, but we might because that's silly, but we might bring the cost down a little bit because the per you could redo the house and the person buying it would be like, I hate this, and redo it, you know, and that's kind of like wasted money. So you great, great point.

SPEAKER_00 1:12:38

We and we struggle sometimes on those. Do we execute on that? Do we make it really fresh and you know, kind of pass that, pass that renovation baton to the buyer? Like if we do that, let's be mindful of how we're gonna position it price-wise.

SPEAKER_02 1:12:55

Okay, so it all kind of plays in.

SPEAKER_00 1:12:58

Exactly. I think that's a a really good point that you made there. And of course, like all of this, like just looking at your outline for a moment, like all of this is always best, like a good rule of thumb, is the earlier the better to start preparing, preparing and planning about what this might look like and the time frame. Because sometimes there could be a bigger project or a project that I feel, oh, that's so doable in two weeks, interesting, might feel extremely overwhelming to the homeowner. And they're like, No, no, Aisha, this is gonna be like four months from me. Okay. I hear you, I got you. We're on your time.

SPEAKER_02 1:13:39

Yeah, we can work it together.

SPEAKER_00 1:13:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:13:41

Yeah. That see, you brought it right back from the beginning, right back to the end. Start with a plan, and the plan will and help you end in a good way. Look, it's like you've been doing this for a quarter of a century or something. My goodness. Um, okay, then any fine anything we missed, or you think we we kind of covered it all? Got it all.

SPEAKER_00 1:14:01

Oh, I think we covered a lot all.

SPEAKER_02 1:14:03

I think so too. Look at us. All right, then we're gonna end with some final questions. And those are kind of fun questions. Not really, well, most of them don't have to do with real estate, though I do have one for you. Dream house, what would be your style of house and your location? What are we what are we doing here?

SPEAKER_00 1:14:21

Okay, we're doing, we're doing not everybody's gonna agree. This is I shall that's why it's your time. Yeah, I love it. It's gonna be I love understated, I love expanded cape, understated. Uh let's say it's local, then it might be the Rolling Hills, the Becolic Willistown Township, something like that. Okay. Some spread out ground. I I need nothing grandiose. Okay. Um I need uh yeah, understated is is kind of my mantra.

SPEAKER_02 1:14:56

Understated, but we'd drive by and be like, who lives there? Because it's so classically understated, it's so classy.

SPEAKER_00 1:15:02

Well, no, no, actually, you would just drive by. Oh, and not even.

SPEAKER_02 1:15:07

Just look at that. That's a nice house. Okay. You would just drive by. Yeah, you oh, that's nice to maintain.

SPEAKER_00 1:15:12

You just drive.

SPEAKER_02 1:15:13

Just keep moving.

SPEAKER_00 1:15:14

Just keep moving. Yeah. I like those those houses.

SPEAKER_02 1:15:17

I like it. I like it with a little land around it, it sounds like a little bit of land.

SPEAKER_00 1:15:22

How about you?

SPEAKER_02 1:15:22

I like oh, I like stone, stone, like colonially. I know everybody, because I I am a self-proclaimed house hunters lover, and everybody's like, I've always wanted a modern farmhouse. I'm like, since when? Since 2023, when they started building modern farmhouses, but I like that very like homey kind of probably a colonial, but like a big kitchen and a big fireplace. And I don't need a ton of land, a little bit. Um, but I think I like more of a neighborhood, but just I I've always liked like a house that same with you. Like it's just, oh, they grew up like, oh, her kids grew up in a really nice house. It doesn't have to be like, you know, ginormous, but just I think I'd have to go stone though, and some pretty shutters. Yeah, like a sage green shutter or blue shutter.

SPEAKER_00 1:16:11

I'm thinking window boxes.

SPEAKER_02 1:16:13

Yes, stop, maybe a fence. Yeah, like, yeah, okay, great. So there you go. We'll just live side by side a couple acres away from each other, and people just drive by. And then when we invite them over, they'll be like, oh my gosh, their houses are beautiful.

unknown 1:16:28

All right.

SPEAKER_02 1:16:29

If you had the opportunity to know the future, yes or no, would you want to know? That's a big one. I've never asked that one before.

SPEAKER_00 1:16:46

But then the other side of me says, like, I love adventure and I love like I said this to myself the other day. I love discovering, whatever that might mean. I love discovering things on my own. Okay. I'm gonna go knowing I said that to myself because I'm learning, right? I'm becoming more self-aware. Yes. I don't want to know because I want to discover on my own at my slow my time frame. Yes. Love it. Okay. Don't want to know.

SPEAKER_02 1:17:15

Don't want to know. Okay, you heard it here. Uh, do you prefer cooking dinner or going out? Um, having my husband cook dinner. X, there you go. Best of both worlds. Okay, what are you doing while he's cooking? I'm typically working. I thought you were maybe reading a book or like, you know, I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 1:17:34

In my perfect world, I would be like out there. In the perfect world, yes. Okay. Yeah, sitting on the patio, enjoying like the sunset. Uh, but some of the things.

SPEAKER_02 1:17:43

But in real life, you're typing up the offer.

SPEAKER_00 1:17:45

Okay. And does he work with you now too? Are you a two, a two-clay team? Um, yes, and no. Brian has had his license for a while. He moved from the financial world, starting a brand new career doing commercial real estate. So very unrelated. I mean, very related to extremely different. That's a whole nother kind of thing.

SPEAKER_02 1:18:08

So you're not, he's not like on your team or anything. So you like do the same thing, but not, but not really at all.

SPEAKER_00 1:18:14

Real estate.

SPEAKER_02 1:18:18

Got it. Okay. Um, what do you wish you did more of?

SPEAKER_00 1:18:32

Love that. Yeah. That's a good one. Like our mom and our siblings. More, more so.

SPEAKER_02 1:18:39

Okay. There's just never enough time, is there? There's just never time is never a thing. That's a nice one. What's something that makes you really angry? Probably nothing. You're always like smiling and so nice and so weird.

SPEAKER_00 1:18:54

When things don't go my way. No, I am a type of person like um, and that grace word that I was saying, give yourself grace, I I need to really like self-reflect on that. Okay. And I'm again I'm learning as I'm maturing to give myself that. So, you know, when I envision how things are going to go, because I really like let things marinate and they don't go the way that I had planned. It can be very disappointing. Okay. And um, so yeah, so not things not going the way that I've planned, but I'm also trying to like simmer down on that.

SPEAKER_02 1:19:32

Okay. So not like stomp your feet kind of way, you're more just disappointed and it makes you mad because it's not. Oh no, I might stop my feet. I might stop my feet because I'm gonna like that. You can stop your feet too.

SPEAKER_00 1:19:43

And then I'll have like a whole pity party and then I'll um and you can move on.

SPEAKER_02 1:19:46

Okay, so we'll all take a moment and then move on. Okay. That's right. That's right. We'll package it at because you ha you have it in your head as being such a wonderful thing, and it just didn't work out. Uh, what makes you nervous other than being on podcast? No, I'm just kidding.

SPEAKER_00 1:20:01

You have made us just extremely gentle and and um warm and inviting. So I really appreciate that and such such a conversation. But I I would say probably speaking in front of crowds would be quite nerve-wracking, I think.

SPEAKER_02 1:20:17

Yeah, even the rest of the world, right? Isn't that like the number one fear? Um, let me see a couple other ones. Um, what movie could you watch every day? Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_00 1:20:30

Probably won't think very highly of me. Um I gr I grew up working in just a video store. We called it the video store, but a video store. So it's really aging me if I haven't already done that. Um, and so we got to see so many movies um growing up. But one that sticks with me that you know, I need laughing because I'm I'm quite a serious person, uh, although I try to keep things light, but I can be very, very serious. Okay. And so in order to keep things light, but like I love Tommy Boy. Oh, that okay, that'll keep it light for you. Oh my gosh, with Chris Barley and just a lot of those one-liners, which is not typically my personality because I love foreign films and all the things, but like that's just one that's from old school. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:21:21

I think mine in that genre would be dumb and dumber. Like it's just so dumb, but it just like seventh grade me just loved it so much that even now I'm like, it's just it's so so dumb, it's funny. Like it's not my typical, but like it's still funny. Yeah. Totally. We all need a moment to just kind of let our brains rot a little, right?

SPEAKER_00 1:21:39

Yeah, exactly. And have some laughs and be jovial and whatever.

SPEAKER_02 1:21:43

Right. Get get rid of your cares for the day. Same uh along that same line, what's your favorite TV show?

SPEAKER_00 1:21:50

You don't really watch much TV, so I don't want a response.

SPEAKER_02 1:21:54

Um, I just put Tommy Boy in.

SPEAKER_00 1:21:57

Yeah, right. I did see the series recently. Um uh is it White Lotus?

SPEAKER_02 1:22:03

Uh sounds familiar. I don't get to watch a lot of adult TV in my house, so I'm like, ah, I don't know. Blueie, blueie's gonna be getting. Yeah, I think it is White Lotus. Was it good?

SPEAKER_00 1:22:14

Yeah, I thought it was very good. Very like human, human center, like human-centered and like their reactions and it really focused on the person. And uh it was very interesting.

SPEAKER_02 1:22:25

Nice. All right, what channel is that on?

SPEAKER_00 1:22:28

Don't know. I don't I don't watch a lot of stuff.

SPEAKER_02 1:22:30

Sounds good. Usually, if I watch TV, it's after my kids go to bed and I like fall asleep, and then we have to like start it all over again. I'm like, I've been watching this episode for six weeks. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Gotta move on. That's why I just watch House Hunters because if I fall asleep, it's okay. I kind of know how it's gonna end. Um, last question. I have what I hope you have an answer to this. This is fun. What is your claim to fame? Do you have one? Nothing, nothing that you're known for, either famously or infamously.

SPEAKER_00 1:23:01

I hope not. Um, I at one point, I mean, this is kind of silly, but and locally, like people, if they see this from outside the area. But at one point, Brian and I, my husband and I, we um owned Arita's water ice.

SPEAKER_02 1:23:15

No way! That's so fun. You're saying it's silly. Where was your water ice? Where was your Rita's ice?

SPEAKER_00 1:23:22

Wait, that was yours? Yeah, we owned it for six years, and then when Charlie was born, he we even have a cute picture of him sweeping the back door. Wait, the one where it is now or the one that was in the little hut? Yeah, the one where it is now. Okay, and um, you know, that was kind of fun and light, and we both were working like other places at the time, but Charlie, now that he's getting older, he was like, I don't think that it's so fun owning that, you know.

SPEAKER_02 1:23:53

Well, sorry, buddy, he can still go get a job there.

SPEAKER_00 1:23:56

Yeah, yeah. We're encouraging him to get a job there when he gets old enough. So that's really cool.

SPEAKER_02 1:24:02

That must have been very time consuming, though. Um I mean, because you were doing real estate then.

SPEAKER_00 1:24:07

I was doing real estate. Brian was had left the financial world and then back to the financial world. We had Charlie at the same time, and we're like a lot going on. You can't give our child back. We gotta keep him. That that was on the chopping block, Rita's. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 1:24:24

Um, fun fact when I was in high school, I worked at the Rita's that was across Route 30 in the little hut.

SPEAKER_00 1:24:32

I heard about that one, didn't never saw it, but I heard of that. Yeah, and then World Peace went there, I believe.

SPEAKER_02 1:24:38

I think, oh gosh, yeah. Wow, you're really taking it back. Yeah, and now it then it was the lobster roll place, and now it's the roast beef or whatever whatever it's called. Yeah. That was the only another fun fact, kind of a little pride, a little hit to the pride. It's the only job I've ever been fired from. But in my defense, in my in my defense, we'll have to talk offline about this sometime. In my defense, I got the job at the end of senior year. I was very busy running the prom and running like the, you know, like the Miss America for for boys show that we had at my high school and you know, like wrapping up senior year and doing all this stuff. And I showed up every time I was scheduled to work. I pride myself on being reliable. But the owner at the time, who was clearly not you, would call with like 20 minutes notice and be like, hey, I need you to come and work tonight. And I'd be like, Well, I'm not scheduled and I have this meeting or I have this or whatever. And that happened a couple of times, but I was always the first person that he sent home when it was raining and whatever. Okay. So I went into work one time, probably six weeks or two months after I worked there, and my name wasn't on the calendar. And I went in and I was like, My name's not on the calendar. And he's like, Yeah, you're not really that reliable of an employee. And I was like, Oh, and I was like, What? And I was like, if there's one thing that I am, it's reliable. And he was like, Well, you know, when I call you sometimes and I need you to come to work and you can't, and I'm like, because I have other obligations, and you give me like five, it's not brain surgery, it's water ice. Like, you give me five minutes of notice, and I was like, Yeah. He's like, Yeah, you're not very reliable. And I was like, So, well, therapy session for me.

SPEAKER_00 1:26:10

So that was, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:26:13

So anyway, funny the things that we remember, and we're like, at least you had like as a child for me, I'd be like, I'm so sorry, I missed that, but like oh, I'm sure I still was because I'm a rule follower, but like in my mind when I went home, I was like, Oh, but I think when he said it, I was like, Oh, okay, sorry. And I went like hot and cold and left. But I remember I went home and my mom was talking on the phone to her best friend, and I was like, I just got fired from Rita's, and she was like, Why? And I said, He said, I'm unreliable. And she said to her friend, the guy said Kristen's unreliable. And her best friend was like, Kristen's the most reliable 17-year-old I know. And I was like, Thank you. Thank you. You had what we'll call boundaries and because I have a life. The prom needs decorating, and I am the one to do it. So clearly I had things I needed to do. But anyway, see now if I had worked for you, I would have been your number one girl. I love it. I love that you owned that, Rita's. All right. Well, oh, tell me last week, and we'll put it in the show notes. Where can we find you? Who's your the company that you work for? And I think I know what it is, but I don't want to say the wrong one. So you tell us.

SPEAKER_00 1:27:21

Oh, okay. Well, thank you. Thank you for giving me that nod. So um my associate's broker's license hanging with Teller Rooms Realty, and our office is out of Devin Wayne. Okay. I tend to cover having grown up in media and then living on the mainline now. I like to like say I cover media to the main line and surround a good good tagline.

SPEAKER_02 1:27:45

Okay. Okay. And we will link you in the show notes if anybody wants to find you and your phone phone number and whatever. But I good thing I didn't say it because I was gonna say a different group. So I'm glad you said it and I didn't. All good. All right. Well, thank you so much, Aisha, for sharing. Your experience and advice with us today. Preparing a home to sell can feel overwhelming, but you have shown us that the right plan and support can be a it can be a much smoother process. If you'd like to connect with Aisha or learn more about her work, I'll be sure to include her contact info and website in the show notes. Listeners, thank you so much for tuning in today. I'm sure many of you found this conversation to be very helpful. If you enjoyed this episode, please like, share, and follow me on Instagram and Facebook at Mom's Work Podcast, and listen, follow, and leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or really anywhere that podcasts are available. Thanks again for listening to Mom's Work.