Moving to Nashville? Watch This Before You Buy a House

Nashville real estate in 2026 is WILD — and if you're buying a house, selling a house, or moving to Nashville, you need to hear this first.

Top realtor Katie Morrell of Morrell Property Collective sits down with Aimee Mayo for a conversation that goes way deeper than buying and selling houses. They cover the best Nashville neighborhoods to watch, home staging secrets, red flags buyers miss, how to price your home right, and the most insane things Katie has ever found inside people's houses — including a woman chained to a bed, a man living in a closet with Little Debbies, and a seller who hid $200,000 in structural damage.

Plus why songwriting and real estate are basically the same job, and why some houses just feel wrong the second you walk in.

New episodes every week. Search Earth to Aimee wherever you listen.

Transcript

Podcast Rebrand And Cold Opens

SPEAKER_01 0:00

It's Urta Amy. That's the new name of this podcast. It used to be Waypoint. But this is Earth to Amy with Amy Mayo. So have you ever gone in the house and the vibe just be just freak you out? Oh yeah. Does that happen a lot? Well, when Lady was chained up. Everything you look at, somebody designed it. We wanna build like little jewel boxes. So if you're gonna sell your house, what do you think are the top three things people care about?

SPEAKER_02 0:29

You know, one thing that's so special about Nashville is all these people come from all over kinda to live out of dreams.

SPEAKER_01 0:34

I wanna know about staging. Like, well, how does that work? And how much does it cost? What percentage out of a hundred does it make difference in selling? Probably 80%.

SPEAKER_02 0:46

What's the weirdest shit you've seen at the house? I generally have the seller walk me through and show me everything and tell me the story of the house.

SPEAKER_01 0:56

What's the biggest mistake people make when they're gonna sell their house?

SPEAKER_02 1:00

That's why I love this job, because I feel like it's the most intimate thing that you can help somebody through. It's where they're gonna lay their head at night. It's where all the stories where they live their lives. It's where they live their life.

Meeting Katie Morrell

SPEAKER_01 1:24

It's Earth to Amy. That's the new name of this podcast. It used to be Way Poet, but this is Earth to Amy with Amy Mayo. And my guest today is Katie Morel, and she owns it's called Morel Property Collective, right? Correct. And then for you got 14 people you're in charge of. We have 14 team members, yeah. And you're like the lead person selling and overseeing. Correct. I love that. Yeah, I'm the mama bear of the group.

SPEAKER_02 1:55

Oh, I love that. Do you train and teach them? We do. So we have like a little program that we put them through called a 30, 60, 90 day. Oh, I need to know about that. It's a little game plan and it just supersedes them or superspeeds them into success. Well, so what are the big things you teach them? We teach them basically how to farm their sphere, like their little group of people that they know, and how to make it more of a relational than transactional experience.

SPEAKER_01 2:29

You can sell a bunch of houses if you got a relationship. That's right. Like that's okay.

Songwriting And Real Estate Run On Emotion

SPEAKER_01 2:35

You were asking why I think songwriting and being a realtor are probably the closest two professions. I'm gonna tell you. Because we both rely completely on other people's emotions. We rely completely on them saying yes, and we get rejected a million times more than we get somebody wanting something, we get rejected. And there's so many reasons, but like like a good example would be like as a songwriter, we had this one song that Blake Shelton had, and he kept it on hold for eight months. Well, if somebody's got a song on hold, you can't pitch it to anybody else. There, they got it. So he kept it on hold eight months, let it go, and then the next record came around, he put it on hold again for six months. Do people do that strategically? Not really. Okay. Because you figure it out quick if they are. You mean holding them from other people? It's happened, but people figure that out really fast. Um, and they know who does it, so they don't let them do it. Like those people, they get two weeks. You know what I mean? Yeah, and especially if they've done it multiple times. But so, like with Blake, he kept it, held it up for almost a year, let it go, then put it on hold again for six months. And we were at the songwriter awards, and I saw him and I was like making a beeline because I just want to know what is your deal with this song? I've never had this happen before. And like Chris stopped me. I didn't go say it, but then after six months, then he let it go again, and then out of nowhere at the very end, he's just like, Oh, I remember that song. I love that song. He recorded it and it went number one. Well, wow, that whole thing to me is like a realtor. And then, like, the opposite, there was a song with Kidney Chesney. He like I texted it to him and he's like, Love it, want it, cutting it Sunday. It was on a Friday. So, see, I think a realtor, you might show somebody. That's two different clients.

SPEAKER_02 4:45

Yeah, you've got somebody who's ready and then somebody who's on the fence. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 4:49

Yeah. And you might show somebody a house and they they like I'm curious about like if they lost, if it makes a big difference, like if they lose a deal and they really like the house, but then they lose it, somebody else bids hire or or they just buy it, you know, because this person can't make their mind up. And then are they more likely to buy the next house they go to?

SPEAKER_02 5:17

Well, they're more likely to buy the next house that they like. You know, it's it's interesting because you'll show someone a house, they'll see the house that they want, the very house that very first house that we walk into, but they won't buy it because it's the very first house that we saw. And so they'll have to look at, you know, three or four more, and hopefully the first house is still there. But there have been plenty of times where that first house is gone and they're just, you know, kind of out of luck. Does it change everything? Well, you know, lengthens the process, of course, unless we find something really quickly that they like, but they're always kind of pining after that one that they lost.

SPEAKER_01 5:59

Yeah. I would think it would help like them realize you can lose this if you don't do something. It definitely does. Like that's the thing too with like songs. Some people would hold songs. Like, there's a female artist that was a big artist, and she would hold songs. And the the lady that like was her gatekeeper, she wouldn't tell her, like, all of us, everybody knew, so they quit pitching songs to her because everybody was just like, she just hold your song and never nothing happens.

SPEAKER_02 6:29

What's that like? You're super excited when you find out they hold your song and you're kind of on pins and needles waiting for them to make a yeah decision, especially when they're like, This is the best thing I've ever heard.

SPEAKER_01 6:39

This, you know, they go crazy. She was really bad about it. She's a huge artist, but she was really bad about it. And my friend Missy was the one that was her gatekeeper, but Missy wouldn't tell her. And she's like, Can you just tell her? Can you just tell her why you're a songwriter? Can you tell her why? You know, these songwriters aren't pitching her songs because that's what she said. Nobody's pitching her songs. So I did, and I never got another song or her. No. She asked me when we got on the phone, like, why does nobody pitch me songs anymore? And I was like, Well, because you'll put the song on hold and then it just floats out into the ether, nobody hears back, and it it's just they're not gonna do it. Is Kenny the fastest at picking a song? Kenny, Kenny and Tim, they know what they like. Like Tim, the first number one I ever had, Tim, I was always writing everything for Tim. I just love Tim. We listened to my best friend on the way here. Okay, my best friend. We love that song. This is a great example that I think is like being a realtor. My best friend with Tim, he said that he heard that song and he knew within two lines he was cutting that song. So good. And I read that in a magazine. He didn't tell me that, but he just knows what he likes and what he wants. And I think they both decide, like, I've heard them both say things. Like Kenny told me there was a song, um, something about this. It's one of my favorite songs he did, but there's a line in it, and it's like, I told her I loved her, and we both laughed because we knew it wasn't true. And like, so he said he heard that line and recorded the song. But the big artist, like Tim and Kenny are the best. Like Kenny has like, it's the worst when they're singing it to you on the phone, and you're just like, you hear how they sound on it. There's one song he took in to the studio every for three albums, but never, never put it out. Like, but I've known him so long. I knew him since he couldn't afford fries, you know, with his hamburger. Like, so I've known him so long, but that's the only time he's ever done that. Every other time he's cut it quick. And he just like he knows what he likes, and so does Tim.

Reading Buyers And Managing Couples

SPEAKER_01 9:02

Like, but so when you walk in a house, can you tell pretty quick if they're gonna like it?

SPEAKER_02 9:08

If they're gonna if they like it or they want to buy it. A lot of times it's interesting. I'll go preview something for a client who's looking for something, and if I feel like it's a fit, I'll call them immediately and say, You got to get over here. And nine times out of ten, it's the house. Yeah. You know, I I feel like I'm somebody who really just puts puzzles together. Yeah. You know, I'm always trying to find that piece.

SPEAKER_01 9:30

Okay. How many times do they tell you they want something, they know exactly what they want, and then they buy something completely different? A lot.

SPEAKER_02 9:37

Yeah. And and a lot of times I know that they don't want that. Yeah, exactly. Which is interesting. Yeah. You know, but you do something long enough, you you become pretty good at it. Yeah. You know, they say it's like 10,000 times or something. 10,000 hours. 10,000 hours. Yeah. Yeah. So yeah, that's always fun and interesting.

SPEAKER_01 9:56

I love that because, like, and plus there's so many indecisive people that that part of your job is I'm fascinated by because how do you kind of gently well, and getting both of them on the same page, like if you have a husband and wife, you know, you'll have people who have different tastes.

SPEAKER_02 10:13

So you know, again, we were talking about it earlier. We play so many roles. You play a mediator, you play an attorney, which we're not supposed to. Oh, yeah, people get bites. You know, we're therapists, we're financial advisors. We play so many roles, but bringing people to the same page and helping them compromise. Sometimes you'll have to be the one that helps them compromise.

SPEAKER_01 10:38

Yeah. You know, I was telling somebody the other day, Chris and me, like we scare our marriage therapists. Like, she don't know what to think. Because we we're just our normal selves in there. We're not pretending like we're good. You shouldn't. I can only imagine the fights you're you're trying to deal with. Like, so who makes the decision usually about the woman? The woman.

SPEAKER_02 10:59

The wife is always the one who makes the decision, usually, because you know it's it's the woman's nest, really.

SPEAKER_01 11:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 11:07

What about if it's a single guy? He usually has a woman's opinion at some point. And single guys will lean on you.

SPEAKER_01 11:15

Yeah. Like you're probably really good if it's a single guy because he needs help all the way around. He does. Because they don't really know anything.

SPEAKER_02 11:24

No. And like they need help with decorating, you know, all the things.

SPEAKER_01 11:31

Like, that's one thing I heard um Theo Vaughn with this guy, Andrew, or I love that comedian, that red-headed guy, Andrew. He told him, he was like, I went in your house, and he still had pictures of the people that lived there before he bought it. He never took them down. And so the guys just don't pay attention to the same things, you know, as girls.

SPEAKER_02 11:57

And my husband luckily doesn't care anything about decorating. So he just lets me, you know, have free will.

SPEAKER_01 12:04

Women need to be the ones doing it, I think. Like Chris and me fought about. I painted these, they were old and they were cool, but they're beams, but I painted them white. So we got in a big fight about that.

SPEAKER_02 12:17

But they look better white. I don't know. My brother could definitely decorate better than me.

SPEAKER_01 12:22

Yeah. That's the thing. Like, I know a lot of guys like my uncle, he can come over here and just look at something and straighten it out so fast. Like, because I miss all kinds of stuff.

OCD And The Need For Control

SPEAKER_01 12:34

Like, I but I do love like my daughter was laughing at me on Pinterest. I had like over 80,000 pens. Are you serious? But that's part of being OCD. You know, like Were you O C D?

unknown 12:46

Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_01 12:46

I'm sorry. Where are you OCD? I can show you. I'll put a picture. I'm gonna put a picture like on this podcast to to like okay, so when I wrote my book, I have a room, it was full. We finally shredded the paper, but I was just writing shit over and over and over, like trying to make it better. And I realized this, I don't know if this is even better or not. It's just different, you know. Like, so I'm OCD when it comes to like trying to make shit perfect and doing it over and over and trying to like I'm real bad that way. And I'm OCD, I guess it would be OCD with like numbers. Like I like the number one and eleven. I'm always adding all that. And really, like the people at my publishing companies knew, so they knew how to they could totally take advantage of me because they knew if they offered me this, you know what I mean? It would probably be the same way with a house. I probably wouldn't even be able to talk about it if it was priced that what added up right, or if the address added right. Really? You know what I mean? Like, like Chris and me, our wedding date is eleven eleven ninety nine, which all equals one across the board. You know what I mean? It's not gonna be another date like that, like eleven eleven and didn't you take that into consideration when you were planning your wedding?

SPEAKER_02 14:06

Oh, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 14:07

I love it.

SPEAKER_02 14:08

OCD fascinates me.

SPEAKER_01 14:10

I love numbers. I think it would be fascinating if we could switch like our minds for a day and go through the world. Because yeah, I'm pretty bad, OCD. Like, I've had some that I've worked on, but I feel bad, like because our son Oscar, the one that just got the record deal, he wrote a song. Congrats on that, by the way. I'm so proud of it. You should be. He he wrote a song and it's talking about flipping a coin, and it's talking about I'd never heard a song about this, which I love, but it's talking about like if I don't make my bed, something bad's gonna happen. If I don't do this, like, you know, and even when he was like 14, I would always knock on wood and stuff, and that's superstition more than OCD, but like they're kind of tied together, though. They are kind of tied together. Like I know it rubbed off on him like pretty big time, like because that song sit mentions other things, but yeah, I've always been pretty bad OCD. Like, you're not OCD at all.

SPEAKER_02 15:07

Yeah, I have some OCD tendencies. I need everything to be in order, and I don't like things to be out of order. And what do you mean? What do you mean by the way? Like if I go into my kitchen and I see like dust or something on the floor, I'm you know, wetting my finger and picking it up. Everything has to be just so, but none of my family members are OCD, and so they know like what you're doing. They know that like when I come home, things need to be kind of in place because it makes me feel crazy if they're not. So it comes from our childhood because you know, most of our childhood was out of control. And so really it's just us trying to control when we don't really have control at all.

SPEAKER_01 15:48

What about so like I know a guy that was a publisher, and if he had stuff on his desk, like my friend was like, watch this, and he went in there and moved to the city. Yeah, I'll move things back.

SPEAKER_02 15:59

Do you have it where it's supposed to be? I have now learned to live with people who don't have OCD, and they I just put things of theirs in piles now.

SPEAKER_01 16:08

Yeah, that's so interesting. Like, I mean, it's so weird how it can play out in different ways. Like, I've try to be careful about checking the doors locked over and over and all that. But I do like stuff with checking that candles are blown out and I'll go back out to my studio over and over, but I accidentally burned my

The Cigarette That Burned A House

SPEAKER_01 16:30

house down. That's got a reason. You know, there's a reason for all creatives have OCD.

SPEAKER_02 16:35

You burned your house down.

SPEAKER_01 16:36

Yeah. When?

SPEAKER_02 16:37

11th grade. Oh my goodness, a childhood home.

SPEAKER_01 16:41

That's saying every good deed.

SPEAKER_02 16:43

Yeah, doesn't go unpunished. What is it? No deed, no good deed goes unpunished.

SPEAKER_01 16:47

Yeah, it was that kind of deal. I had my favorite teacher had a date, and she was like, I wish I had some gold sandals. And I was sitting in there and it was like study hall last period, and I was like, I've got gold sandals. And she she was like, What size do you wear? She had it this day, you know. She was real excited about, and I and I was like, They're size seven, and she's like, Oh, you know, and I was like, I can go get them. I only live a mile away, but I didn't have a car. So my friend Jeff took me home to my house to get those shoes. And it was like a teacher? Yeah. Oh yeah. And he took me there to get those shoes, and we were smoking. We were listening to brass monkeys. In what grade were you still?

SPEAKER_02 17:36

Oh my god, I love it. Yeah, I was smoking too. Marlboro lights. Yeah, Marlboro lights for sure. And then American Spirits. I graduated to something cool. Oh, that's like fancier. That's better. And my favorite thing was to smoke cloves and roll around on the floor and listen to music.

SPEAKER_01 17:51

I love cloves, how they smell. Yeah, and they're blind. You know, yeah. Oh, I love that. Do you remember those capris that were so skinny? Yeah, I love those too. But we went home to my house, and like I I just was going in and I was like, my stepdad Mike's like a bloodhound. So I knew I could I he would smell it instantly. And so I just thumped that cigarette. And then maybe 45 minutes after school was out, like I was at my friend Brooke's house, and the phone rang, and her mom said, We need to go to Amy's right now. Oh my god. And I was like, why? And she was like, Your house is on fire. And I was like, There's no way my house is on fire. I was just there. And so what's what's really nuts is I would have never known I did it ever. I would have never known I did it. I wouldn't have put that even together with the cigarette. But I was standing next to my stepdad in the driveway, and he was asking the fire marshal, what do you think started this fire? You know what I mean? Over and over he kept asking. And that fire marshal said, Well, if you want to ask me, I'd say it started over there by um somebody threw a cigarette down over there. And he let my stepdad left a fucking gas can over there. It was like we just blew up our whole deal. So I thumped the cigarette over there. There's a gas can over there, and it burned all the way down. Did he know it was you? Not until my book came out. Not until my book came out. I was just so afraid. I that was torture, honestly. That was be very scary, I would not. It was really the guilt from it, and then watching my mom and everybody crying about stuff they like, it was awful. But I understand why you didn't, because he was scary. I don't even know what would have happened. Yeah, he was scary. I mean, I don't even know what would have happened.

SPEAKER_02 19:49

I mean, like, how hard was it to carry that though for so long?

SPEAKER_01 19:52

Hideous. It was awful. And then what's really the most craziest part is after my book came out, I was real still real scared about, even though we have a good relationship now, I was still real scared about what he was gonna do. And then my mom, I told her before right before the book came out, and she was like, Oh, Amy, I always knew you burned the house down. And I'm like, Wow, how did you why did you ne I mean how did we never mention that? Maybe I don't know, but it's like but probably of my whole life that that was awful. I mean, it was awful carrying that, like it was hideous, honestly. Like just, you know, seeing somebody cry about something they lost. But the weirdest part about it was that my brother and me both had two things survive that fire, and both of them were paper. Really? And it was because he had his baseball cards in a little metal box, and I had all my diaries in a metal trunk. And that's only they smelled like smoke. You still have those diaries? Yeah, I got all those diaries. Well, those are more precious than gold. Yeah, I don't know what I'll ever do with those diaries. Like, I've got all those diaries. If you really want to go back in time to who you were, read, read a 13-year-old diary. Like, of how that's something I wish I would have done is more journaling. It's good. Do it now. You can always do it. Like, but now I don't write in them so much. Like, I have like my journal that I've had for like it'll last me five years. Instead of used to, it would last me like two months because I was grounded and I was doing nothing but just writing, writing, writing. And that I mean, so little print, just writing like crazy. I can't imagine though, like being in your job having to deal with these couples fighting.

SPEAKER_02 21:51

You know, it's not often that they're fighting. It's not often, not often, not often, but it does happen. And you know.

Inspections Disclosure And Keeping Deals Calm

SPEAKER_02 22:00

So one of the greatest things about being a realtor is helping people find somewhere they're they lay their head down at night. Yeah. You know, so just trying to keep everyone cool, calm, and collected is a big part of my job on both sides. You know, keeping the other agent cool, calm, and collected. You have a lot of agents that you'll work with who want to be adversarial automatically because they think that's servicing their client. Do they think that it's what their client wants or something? I think they just think they're gonna be big, bag, bad and tough and get their client what they want. Or, you know, it's it's just the key is to keeping everyone calm, collected, and getting everyone to the finish line. Yeah. You know, it's that's a gift. It is, and it's when they do become that way, not taking it personal, you know, just moving through it. Yeah. And there's a lot of complex things that happen.

SPEAKER_01 22:58

Like tell me a few examples.

SPEAKER_02 23:00

Well, I think the inspection I think the inspection period, you know, having an inspection on the house that your buyer's gonna purchase, or if you have the seller having all these strangers come in, if you're the seller and telling you what's wrong with the house feels very you you almost feel kind of naked, yeah, you know, and it can be offensive to people. Um, so helping the seller work through that process and then the buyer keeping them positive and not flipping out, yeah, from not flipping out and getting so scared, like, oh my God, what's gonna happen? This house is falling apart. You know, I get that all the time. I'm like, no, it's not falling apart. And everything on this is fixable. But there have been times when you go into a house, you get an inspection back, and I have said to my client, giving them the advice, I probably wouldn't move forward on this.

SPEAKER_01 23:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 23:53

You know, there's too many things that need to be done, and unless the client, unless the not the client, unless the seller is willing to fix those things, then I probably wouldn't move forward. But at the end of the day, you have to make that choice because it's subjective, you know. What's the biggest surprise you've had? I don't feel like any with an inspection. With an inspection, I don't think there's that many surprises. I mean, I think structural things usually are really hard. What do you mean? Like what kind? Like if the foundation is cracking or if it's sagging in a in a space. I I did have some buyers that purchased a home, and the seller was actually an owner agent. This is crazy. And I can't use names. Yeah. But they knew that there were structural issues on that house and did not disclose it. This is so terrible. And we had inspections and everything and even asked, inquired about certain cracks that we saw in the wall, and had a structural person come over that confirmed everything was fine, not a big deal. Come to find out, that owner agent had hid that they had had several quotes from structural companies to the tune of like $150,000, $200,000 of issues that they didn't correct or disclose. The house was actually like falling off the the the foundation. Can that be fixed? Not really. I mean, not without a tremendous amount of money. And so my buyers, luckily, I had put everything in writing, and my buyers were able to sue that agent, that owner agent, into purchasing the home back from them.

SPEAKER_01 25:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 25:44

And for damages. Yeah. Because we did everything through writing. And um, they were able to sue for damages and the home to be bought back and then to move forward and buy something else, you know. But that was that was probably the worst. And they knew exactly what they were doing. They did, or they would have disclosed it. Yeah. What they don't realize is you're not only ruining your reputation, but it affects my reputation. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Because, you know, I'm supposed to protect these people, and we did do all the due diligence and do everything. And luckily, I did have everything in writing, and we were able to help them get out of the situation. But that was um disappointing to me as an agent to see another agent be the seller and not disclose that. Yeah. They knew what it meant. Yeah.

Nashville Neighborhoods And Today’s Inventory

SPEAKER_02 26:37

Right now we have so much inventory in our market. It's actually the largest inventory we've had, like in the history. Like in Nashville. In Nashville in the market. So it's really competitive for sellers right now. Your house has got to be almost perfect because there's so much that everyone has to choose from. Um, I get well so you can kind of get what you want right now as a buyer.

SPEAKER_01 27:01

For me, like Chris and me have looked at some places like I just don't like anything. It's so bad.

SPEAKER_02 27:07

Like it's hard to compete with where you're coming from. This is such a special, it's a world of our own.

SPEAKER_01 27:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 27:13

We have a special property.

SPEAKER_01 27:14

And and that's how Martina McBride, like, we're we've been friends forever, and I really love it. Have you been to her house? I have not. They got the oldest tree in Davidson County in their front yard. And she thought I was crazy at first when we were both like we hadn't known each other that long. And we went over there for a dinner party, and I was like, Can I just come sit under this tree and write sometime? Because that tree's been there for like probably 700 years. It it's huge, it's beautiful. And did it survive the eye storm? I'm sure it did.

SPEAKER_02 27:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 27:46

I know where all the good ones are. Like there's one in Creed Hall that's that it has a little plaque in front. I think it's maybe the third, but I just love a tree like that. Like, I mean, it's so big and huge and beautiful. But so she loves her house. Like, I love her house. And they've been there 25 years, probably, but they bought land somewhere. She's looked and looked. She's been to over a hundred houses. Wow. She don't like nothing. And like, I don't like, I haven't seen anything I like either.

SPEAKER_02 28:18

So um like a lot of times with a client, like, you have to find something off market. I think we're gonna have to build. Yeah. Or renovate.

SPEAKER_01 28:26

I've only seen one house that I really like liked, but I still would I didn't, I didn't like there's steps everywhere, and I didn't like that. But like, and there's not many mid-centuries here, and I think I want a mid-century maybe or a different vibe. Like, but we went to some houses, so that's why I was wondering if you know, because like I'll go in a room, like the one room I'm like, I'm ready to go. I don't even want to look at anymore.

SPEAKER_02 28:54

Why waste the time?

SPEAKER_01 28:55

Yeah, and I don't want to waste the realtor's time either. So I'm usually like that's how we met Shane is we went and looked. Chris was like, let's go look at a place. And like the second we got there, I knew it wasn't right. And then, but then those two started talking, and like all know each other, right? Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 29:15

It's like songwriters coming up. A lot of us know each other, yes. There are 9,000 realtors like in the middle of the room. They know each other, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 29:24

There's like probably 9,000 songwriters, like in all the big ones know each other and they know what people are doing. Like, y'all all know if something gets listed immediately. I love that.

SPEAKER_02 29:37

Yeah. In fact, a lot of times, you know, the phone rings way before it gets listed. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 29:42

Yeah. That's the thing. Like, it's good though, because you know, like if like with this house, if somebody was like, we want a full recording studio that's not in the house, because they're all in the house, you know, like that's the problem. They're not recording studios really, they're just like a little basement studio or something. They're part of it, yeah. That's why I mean this this property's crazy. Like, but I would I'd rather split it and find a way to build a wall or something and keep this and build a new driveway. That would be amazing. I would love that. We would love to keep this studio. I mean, like, but everything's gone up in price around here. Could you build on to the studio? Maybe we talked about it, but it's it's like pure concrete blocks. Oh, like if you saw what this I found some pictures the other day, like it's solid as a rock. Like Metallica could be playing in this room, nobody, you couldn't even hear it in the driveway. That's amazing. Like, that's the thing, it's all soundproof. And like, plus, you can't build studios like this anymore just because everything's so expensive. The guy that built it is the best studio builder in the world. And he didn't do Blackbird, yeah. He did Blackbird, he did Taylor Swift's studio, he did Ron Tetter studio. Like, he's the best, he's the very best. He's the one that was saying how much it'd cost if you tried to build it now. But we that's part of the problem. We love the studio. We just love the studio. Well, you're using it for this now, too. Yeah, which is great. And like that's the thing. Like, I'd be I love Cree Hall. That was a I love Creef Hall too.

SPEAKER_02 31:19

You do, it's it's the perfect. I think Creve Hall is one of the last kept secrets. Me too.

SPEAKER_01 31:24

Yeah. I was gonna ask you, what like do you think is the little neighborhoods people don't know about that like that are you know how Seven Park was like maybe 20 years ago? Like, and and everything just started getting more and more expensive.

SPEAKER_02 31:40

Do you think Creve Hall's the one? I think Creve Hall is definitely gonna get more and more expensive, and I think people are actually gonna tear the lots are larger, so I think you're gonna see developers come in and start to tear down lots and build bigger pieces.

SPEAKER_01 31:53

Bunny, you're saying that because we have a house in Creeve Hall on it's on a corner lot, it's a beautiful lot. And my mom and my stepdad live there, and the house next door, this guy lived um next door forever. His name was Jim, and he lived to be a hundred. And then he got put in like an old folks' home or whatever, and he didn't make it long because he hated it. And then they have built such a big house on the lot next door that it's insane. And the house like that we have is worth like I Chris and me fight and fight about it because I just can't even believe it. You know what I mean? Because it's gone up. I mean, it's just that neighborhood. I guess people are finding out because if you drive through there, everything's for sale. Yeah, I mean, everything's for sale. There'll be like five houses on one street. Yep, but I love Creeve Hall. It's like you can walk your dog, it's like so active at night. I love Cree Hall. I think Bellevue is a last kept secret. Yeah, too. I haven't been to Bellevue in a while.

SPEAKER_02 32:59

Like, um, what parts of Bellevue? I just I don't really know that part of the stuff. I just think Bellevue as a whole, you know, because it's it's so close to like Bell Mead and you know, it's a good location. It has its own little kind of city and vibe. And I think the real it spot right now though is Wedgewood, Houston. Okay. Wedgewood, Houston, where exactly is that? Like down two oh three. It's close to downtown, it's close to 8th Avenue, close to the gulch. It has so much happening in that neighborhood right now that it's insane. You've got Bruno Cuccinelli, you've got Hermes, you've got Pastis. I know where you're talking about. Yeah, you've got Bastion, Iggy's. I think Sally's Last Ride is getting ready to open over there. Zimmerman. I've got a development over there. It's 129 units called the Modernist Wedgewood Houston. It um is a wellness-focused building, so sauna, cold plunge, port. Yeah, it's genius. It's uh short-term rental, but we're calling it flexible living because it's really more for the person who kind of wants to dip their toe in a Nashville.

SPEAKER_01 34:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 34:12

For the songwriter, producer, artists, because they're all in Wedgewood, Houston because of Soho.

SPEAKER_01 34:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 34:19

It's got four live workspaces. It's just it's a great, it's a it's a mid-rise five stories.

SPEAKER_01 34:26

Oh, that's awesome. And that kind of thing, that's what we also want to. We'll probably move around a little bit whenever we do so because we want to be places like that where you can just go out and walk, walk, and go get a piece of pizza and have a beer, whatever. You know what I mean? Just walk around and like, because out we don't have a sidewalk, you know. That's I love 12 South.

SPEAKER_02 34:48

I love Belmont, Hillsborough, those neighborhoods because of the walkability. You're seeing a lot of people from California, New York, Chicago moving to those neighborhoods because they like the walkability. Yeah. Belmont Boulevard is probably one of my very favorite streets. Yes.

SPEAKER_01 35:02

We have a good friend that has a house there, and like his house is amazing. Like, and it's probably quadrupled in you know, value. Um, okay, so I got

Disturbing Showings And Stranger Surprises

SPEAKER_01 35:13

a question. What's the weirdest house you ever went in?

SPEAKER_02 35:16

Well, I will tell you the the weirdest thing that ever happened, and it was a weird house. One time I went into this house, this is terrible. Um, there was a woman that was chained to the bed. Oh, fuck. I know, and it was when I lived in Bristol, and the house was really weird. And I think that's how the lady wasn't with it. Like, I think she had mental issues. I think they were chaining her to like babysit.

SPEAKER_01 35:45

Oh, to kind of like to restrain her.

SPEAKER_02 35:48

She was just kind of going, uh and you went in and just saw. I went in and saw her, and my clients were there, and the guy, the homeowner, was there, and then I just pulled the door shut. I felt like I was seeing something I should not see. Why would the owner leave this happening?

SPEAKER_01 36:06

No, the owner was still there. I how would they not tell you or tell the people?

SPEAKER_02 36:11

It was the weirdest, you're asking me. It was the weirdest, strangest thing. What'd they say? Nothing really. We just kind of backed out. She owed she was probably in her 40s. Oh fuck. I thought she was gonna be like Alzheimer's. But she wasn't with it. It was like it was like and you know, shut the door. No, it's like a movie. You know the Goonies? You know I love the Goonies. It smells like the Goonies. What's his name? The guy in the basement. It's not chunk, it's chunk.

SPEAKER_01 36:43

Is it chunk? I just remember it's kind of lumbered the song.

SPEAKER_02 36:47

Yeah, it's I think it was kind of like a chunk situation. Oh my gosh. It was really sad and disturbing. Oh my gosh, that is sad. That would flip me out. Yeah, and then one time I I was doing this development and we were selling these condos, and we bought this property from a guy who lived next door, and he had no running water and no electricity. But he went to the University of Tennessee and graduated from the engineering school. Really extremely bright human being, but he was like a very high-functioning autistic person, and he was a hoarder, and so we bought his like farm from his childhood next door. Well, we finish the condos, and I walk over to show one of the condos, and I open up the primary closet, and all of a sudden, somebody's laying in a sleeping bag like this, and they sit straight up and they look up over at me and they go, Well, Katie, what are you doing here? And it was Leland from next door because he didn't have running water, oh my god or electricity. And he was squatting in the primary closet, and he had little Debbie cakes and like an Arnold Palmer, and I just shut the door. Did he did it scared? He sat up like this, he goes, What are you doing here, Katie? And luckily, my clients were still kind of meandering through. I was going through to turn on the lights, and so I just shut the door and I go, They're doing some work in here. We'll have to go to the one next door. Thank God you went through that. Did you always go through? I try to turn on lights, you know, for people.

SPEAKER_01 38:31

Well, and if you've had open a door and somebody be in it, like that, I would so you you go through it room by room first.

SPEAKER_02 38:39

Room by room. Well, I was just ahead of them because they were still, I was going through turning on lights. And so I pulled the door shut and I said, they're still doing some work. Let's go in the one next door. And so then I'm like, I cannot believe this is happening, you know. And so I called the police to go over there and remove Leland. He just lives next door. Go back home, Leland.

SPEAKER_01 39:03

How do you know?

SPEAKER_02 39:04

Because we had bought the property from him and kind of developed this relationship. And he was kind of a he was like a fixture in Bristol. You would see him walking everywhere. So it was his property, but he was it he it was his farm, but he kept the farmhouse. Yes. We'd broken off a piece of the property, and so I had called the police to go remove Leland. He kind of creeped me out a little bit, you know. So that's why I called the police. Yeah. Oh, yeah. And then I went back to see, you know, if they had taken Leland out, and he comes walking down the stairs. He leans into my car with a FedEx shirt, which he did never worked at FedEx. Oh my gosh. And he had that little Debbie cake and he little Debbie cake, and he said, Katie, you're never gonna believe this, but my brother's at it again. And I said, What do you mean your brother's at it again? He goes, He called the police on me here. And I said, No, Leland, I called the police on you. You don't live here, and I'm trying to sell these. That's insane. And you you cannot spend the night here. Did he still keep doing it? He goes, All right, I'll have my things out. And then I felt bad.

SPEAKER_01 40:14

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_02 40:15

I felt bad for old Leland, but anyway.

SPEAKER_01 40:18

Little Debbie's run my life in middle school. What? They ruin my life. I fucking hate little Debbie's stuff. You gotta tell me. Her daughter knows she's like, Mom, look, little Debbie's if we're at the grocery store. What happened? I just gained all this weight. I I gained so much weight. I feel like little Debbie stole every boyfriend I could have ever had.

SPEAKER_02 40:39

What was your favorite one? Star Crunch. Star Crunch.

SPEAKER_01 40:42

Star Crunch, Nutty Buddies, Oatmeal Cream Pie. I know all of them. Like in Debbie. Is that a good one? Yeah, it's that little. Yes. We always had little Debbie's, and like, there was something I put in my book about it says unwrap a smile or something. It's like unwrap a Smith and Wesson because you're gonna want to blow your fat ass up after you eat all this. You need to write a song about damn Debbie. I hate little Debbie's. That girl smiling on the thing with that little straw hat. It's like those things ruin my life. Little Debbie's a little bit about them. Yeah, little Debbie's a little bitch. That's it's 100% true. They they run like when I was around 13, I just put on so much. I was always grounded in my room, writing with little Debbie's. I mean, that was like my whole thing. But they were 99 cents for a box. You know what I mean? Like, so that's the thing. Like, that stuff's cheap. Of course it is. It's so unhealthy, but it's and it tastes good. And it does taste good. I I hadn't bought any little Debbie's like since I've been a grown-up.

Smell Energy And The Feel Of Home

SPEAKER_01 41:48

What do you think smell has to do with selling a house? I'm such a big smell person.

SPEAKER_02 41:56

Well, I mean, if it smells like cat pee, it's not gonna sell. Yeah. And if it sells like, you know, warm cookies, you're gonna have a better chance.

SPEAKER_01 42:04

Do you think cookies are better? What's the best smell? Just clean.

SPEAKER_02 42:08

Really, not a lot of smell. I don't know. Smell is so subjective too. I think less smell, just neutral.

SPEAKER_01 42:18

Neutral. When we walked into this house, like for the first time, it's so crazy because like we weren't looking for a house. We we weren't we were renovating another house. Like it was torn to pieces, and like we were renovating another house and right in the middle of it. We were trying to get ideas for the kitchen. But when we came in the house, like um, I just we weren't even in it long. And I was just went to the bathroom and said a prayer on my knees, please let us live here. Please let us get this house somehow. We couldn't afford it. I just like felt like we were supposed to be here. And the smell though, when we walked in, it was this candle called Inner Peace. And it it was the best candle I've ever smelled, and it went out of they quit making it. I want to make it on that little store. That's gonna be the first thing is the candle. I want to make that candle because it went like they didn't do it anymore. But the smell of the house, along with the house, the whole thing, because I'd been drawing a dream house since middle school that had a stream. It had all it was exactly it had a turret. Like I didn't know what a turret was.

SPEAKER_00 43:29

I love a turret. I love a turret.

SPEAKER_01 43:31

Like there was one house in Gedston in my hometown that had a turret, and like I didn't even know what it was called. I just loved it. And then in my dream house I would draw, it had a ruffled roof, but I didn't know what that was called. And the only thing different was it had a sunken in living room in the one I would draw.

SPEAKER_02 43:49

A little conversation pit.

SPEAKER_01 43:51

Yeah, I love it because those are back, by the way.

SPEAKER_02 43:54

Are they really conversation pits and 100% defined spaces? People don't really want the open floor plan. Anymore.

SPEAKER_01 44:00

That's the thing to me. Like all the new houses to me look the same. I agree. And they have to do that. That's moving their people are moving away from it though. Like Chris was walking through that house they're building next door to the house we have. And I was like, they have cameras everywhere. You need to get out of that house. Like, but he's bitching about this, that, and the other, how they're doing it. You know what I mean? Like, like that they're not doing quality, you know, way the way they're doing it.

SPEAKER_02 44:31

Some people are, you know, again, where there's so much inventory, buyers are so picky now. Yeah. They you can't just throw up a white box. Do they know like people are not buying that anymore? People want sold. Yeah. You're seeing a lot of older homes with good renovations, people being interested in those. I'm I'm flipping a house right now in Abbotsford. Where's that? Uh Green Hills. It's kind of close to. I love Green Hills.

SPEAKER_01 44:56

That's like that's where I live. I love it because you can just zip. I love Green Hills. Yeah. That is in my top two favorite neighborhoods. What's your number one? I love it out here. Yeah. I loved Green Hills best, but I've been out here, like we've lived out here. I think if we built, we would I would totally build in Green Hills. But I have so many great memories in Green Hills because my dad lived at Royal Arms apartments, which I hope they never change those. So have you ever went in a house and the vibe just be just freak you out? Oh yeah. Does that happen a lot?

SPEAKER_02 45:30

Well, when the lady was chained up, yeah. But did you feel it before? Oh yeah. I mean, I've felt it in several houses. It's you know, the energy. You know, you and I are both empaths. And so I can pick up energy. I think that's why I was drawn to you because I love your energy. Yeah, I love your energy, you know, and people you're drawn to, houses have that same energy.

SPEAKER_01 45:52

I agree.

SPEAKER_02 45:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 45:53

We went, I went to a house with my friend who was looking for a house. This was probably 15 or 20 years ago. And we go, it was a big house, it looked pretty good from the outside, but we go in, and I just wanted out immediately. And then she was like, We can't be that rude, you know. She met us over here. We need to at least look. And I was like, something is bad wrong here. And so then all I wanted to know is who lived there, you know, and so it was a televangelist. Ooh. Isn't that weird? Ooh. I was like, I never forgot that. And then we went in, like Chris me when we were looking, we went in another house, and even furniture can have a mess up.

SPEAKER_02 46:38

Oh, yeah, agreed.

SPEAKER_01 46:39

Isn't that crazy?

SPEAKER_02 46:40

Yeah, and how it was crafted and who crafted it. Yeah. Yeah. Or an antique, you know, how many things is that antique?

SPEAKER_01 46:48

And some things have a good energy. Oh, yeah. And then, but I have been around things, I don't want that anywhere near me, whatever that is, you know.

SPEAKER_02 46:55

I've actually listed homes, and again, you know, I can't say names or anything, but where I have saged the home. You've saged it perfectly.

SPEAKER_01 47:04

Saged it. Yeah, I get it. We saged this studio after multiple people we wrote with that just came out here. And like there was one girl, celebrity, her sister's one of the biggest celebrities on the planet. Um, and like when she left, I love the girl, but something was wrong. I couldn't get it out. I couldn't get the feelings out. It was just pain. And so, like, I've never saged this place like I did then. But every now and then you'll get like we would write with somebody, and it would just be like, we can't even write in there for a couple days, you know. We had to air this out. Like, and you could feel it. It was heaviness of weight, and like that's the things you feel good energy too. It like, but so the weirdest is those things. But what's the weirdest shit you've seen at a house? Like, people just did people do crazy stuff.

SPEAKER_02 48:04

I think putting a tub like in the floor, you know, like like like it's sunken, like it's sunken, you know, like a heart shape. Oh shit, you know, boom chick a wow wow, you know, and and them not knowing, like we need to change this. Yeah, you're not gonna sell the house like this. Yeah, stuff like that. Just crazy. Weird taste choices, weird taste choices, um, weird wallpaper, just weird art like that is inappropriate. We went to a house with some very weird art in LA. Yeah, I went and these married couple had boudoir pictures. Oh, god, you know, like naked. Yes, yes, yes. And I'm like, you should probably take those down before people did you tell them? No, because we were the people. Oh, you were looking at and you know, just wow, like seeing it all. Yeah, you know, was it them? Yes, and then you're seeing naked pictures of these two people.

SPEAKER_01 49:04

I did that, just reminded me.

SPEAKER_02 49:06

It's crazy. We really it was the wife.

SPEAKER_01 49:08

It wasn't she was the naked boy, she was the naked man, and she didn't mind doing it.

SPEAKER_02 49:12

And it was hilarious because she was in like a fishing vest and hiking boots, but nothing under the fishing vest and nothing on right here. I'm like, that is the weirdest. No, a picture.

SPEAKER_01 49:29

Oh shit, that is it was real weird. People are weird, they really are weird, really weird. They're like, we went in LA to some places, and it's like, who it makes you want to just go know who lives here? Who did this?

SPEAKER_02 49:44

Well, and who didn't tell you not to take it? Like your listing agent. How would they not tell you to take it down?

SPEAKER_01 49:50

Maybe she's an exhibitionist. She probably liked it. She probably liked it. We saw a house in Nashville once, and the couple, it was a badass house. It was like probably the only house we thought about getting before. We lived in like, I don't know if it's Green Hills, but it's Hillsborough Village. Yeah. Barton Avenue. I love Hillsborough Village. I love Barton Avenue. That's the best trick-or-treat street. Yeah. But so we lived in Barton Avenue, but we were looking for a place. We didn't even look that much. We only looked at probably five or six houses. But this one house that was so cool that we went in, they the above the bed, it okay, they were getting divorced just while they were selling it, but I never forgot it. Above the bed, it said, um, don't go to bed, mad. Stay up and fight. It said that above their bed. And they were getting a divorce. And like, um, that's the thing too. We had our house next door. Like, these people bought it and they were only in it. We never really even met them. They were only in there like nine months, and then it's like, where'd they go? They got divorced. They might have been moving there to try to salvage something. Or I'm not really sure. They had kids, though. We heard them playing, but then then the house was empty. We didn't know what happened, and they were gone. That's another thing. Nobody knows their neighbors anymore. Like, it depends on where you live. Like, we don't know our neighbors. And we've been here for like decades. Sometimes it's a good thing, sometimes it's a bad thing. I think after being here, like it'd be hard, like if we pass them every day, you know, in the driveway. Like in Creef Hall, the house that that we own, like it they just built that massive one next to it, but it's gotta be weird because like they share a driveway almost. I mean, it's right there.

SPEAKER_02 51:46

There's no way that can cause some problems.

SPEAKER_01 51:49

Yeah. I mean, like, we haven't really had a bad neighbor. We had one lady who wouldn't stop bitching about the dog barking, but the dog was running off coyotes. Yeah. Like well, and dogs bark.

SPEAKER_02 52:02

Dogs bark. Dogs bark. And I think Larry David said in one episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm, I would rather take a thief because they take things and neighbors take your time.

SPEAKER_01 52:14

Oh shit, that's so true. I know. This lady was so messed up. I almost sent her like a little sleep machine error thing at like for Christmas because she had other problems, but she It's called unhappiness. Yeah. She just made them like it was our dog, like Tina. She was a rescue. She had two shot collars on. Like if she barked, they would shock. Like, yeah. We'd tried everything, but she really was like trying to be a guard dog. And there were bad coyotes because we lost we lost a dog. Oh no. There's bad coyotes out there. We see coyotes in Green Hills.

SPEAKER_02 52:53

You do?

SPEAKER_01 52:54

Yeah. I kind of feel sorry for them, but they just kill shit and don't even they don't care. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 53:00

Do you know that do you know the deal about a coyote? They do roll call at night. You know when they do the howling? Yeah. The reason they do that is because if one of them doesn't answer, then the female goes in to heat immediately. Are you serious? So it's called a roll call.

SPEAKER_01 53:16

I didn't know that. You but we hear them still. Yeah, well, they're doing roll call. We hear a donkey too. Do you know about the donkeys? The donkeys, if you're in where you have a little bit of land, like the thing with coyotes, if there's a bad problem, people get a donkey because they they they fight them off shit out of a coyote and they never come back. Like they're known like to protect from coyotes because they just like they'll kick them once they're done. I mean, they remember, you know what I mean? And they don't go back. Fascinating. We would just hear this hee-hawing

Staging Costs And Why It Works

SPEAKER_01 53:51

all the time. I want to know about staging. Like, well, how does that work? And how much does it cost? What's the whole thing?

SPEAKER_02 53:58

Okay, so staging is important because people can't visualize spaces. So if you've got somebody who has terrible taste, yeah, or they don't have enough furniture, I always suggest staging. And it just depends on the cost. I mean, it could range anywhere from twelve hundred to ten thousand dollars. Is that for the whole house? Well, we don't generally stage the whole house. I like to do like the main floor and the primary bedroom. Yeah. But it's a weight scene. Yeah, it's a waste of money really to stage upstairs and so how do you walk through and do it and decide? So I take my director of operations and my marketing director, who Addison Lebo and Amber Bear, who are my left and right arm, and we go in and we we call it a um listing consultation and we walk through the home. I generally have the seller walk me through and show me everything and tell me the story of the house. And then we're just paying attention. I've got three sets of eyeballs on the house at all times, and we're walking through and seeing, you know, what we see would make the house more sellable. The suggestions that we can make. And we're taking notes and making lists and um hearing the story, and then when we get done, we basically send a list to the seller of things.

SPEAKER_01 55:21

How does it work though? I'm I'm fascinated by the staging because I don't know anything about it, and you always hear about it.

SPEAKER_02 55:28

We have a staging person come in and they put together like a bid for it. Sometimes we'll have two people come in to see, you know, who can give a better price.

SPEAKER_01 55:41

One that's the badass, or is there multiple?

SPEAKER_02 55:43

I mean, I generally use CNC design, that's who I use. She's got a large inventory.

SPEAKER_01 55:49

So they have a warehouse full of furniture?

SPEAKER_02 55:50

They have a warehouse full of furniture, and then they come over and they just set it up and they zhuzh it and put accessories and it's great. And a lot of times I'll have people buy the staging. I bet. I bet. Buyers.

SPEAKER_01 56:03

How so how much of a difference would you say? Like what percentage out of a hundred does it make difference of selling? Probably 80%. Shit, really.

SPEAKER_02 56:14

If it needs it. Now, some people you go in and they've got a beautiful home and it speaks for itself.

SPEAKER_01 56:18

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 56:19

Um, I'll tell you where it really makes a difference is in like the little condos. Oh, I bet, yeah. You know, the little high-rise condos. Because people, they're boring, like you can't. They're boring, they all look the same. Yeah. And a lot of times people will come in and buy just because they love the furniture. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 56:35

They love, yeah, I get it. And they love the way it's styled. If they're willing to and wanting to live in a condo, they're a certain personality type anyway. They want things easy.

SPEAKER_02 56:46

They want things easy, they want it done. And then the staging company will make a list of items and the pricing, and it makes it easy. I love that. I'm fascinated by the staging stuff. That would be a hard job to move things in and out. Yeah, I do. I think it would be hard to move things in and out all the time.

SPEAKER_01 57:05

Chad would probably be great.

SPEAKER_02 57:07

Chad would be great. Chad, we've actually talked about it before.

SPEAKER_01 57:10

He would be like, I bet, I bet, I bet you would kill it. You would anybody that is good at interior design, you know, like that's the it's a whole well,

Design Choices Buyers Actually Want

SPEAKER_01 57:20

design is everything. And people don't realize even spoons are designed. Oh, yeah. You know, like everything. There's this book I love by the sky Chip Kidd. He's a um, he does book covers. And so he's done, you've seen them because he's done the most famous ones. Him and the Sky Rodrigo Corral. Like they both are the two biggest book cover guys. But Chip Kidd wrote a book and he's talking about design, and he's talking about everything you look at, somebody designed it. It doesn't matter what it is, they designed it. What and and designed that's an intriguing thought. A plate, it can be anything, it is, isn't it? Like well, we're even in a design, yeah, as humans, yeah, exactly. Everything, yeah, it's that's so I've never thought about that, but that's so true. I mean, like, it's a weird thing that everything, somebody designed it, like a cereal box or a can or everything, and I love stuff like that. Like, I just love stuff like that, and I think it has so much more to do with how you feel when you go somewhere, you know what I mean, than like people even pay attention to.

SPEAKER_02 58:32

Well, houses, for example, you know, that design. Do you have a favorite architecture? Like a type or an architect. I really love uh Bobby McAlpin. Okay, I'm gonna have to look at it. He's an architect and he's very talented. Is he from Nashville? I think he's from Alabama. Ah, I'm from Alabama. I think he's from Alabama. I may be wrong, but he's done a lot of homes here and he's very talented. Does he live here now? He does not live here now. I think he's I feel I don't know actually where he lives. He does do things here, very talented. He has some books.

SPEAKER_01 59:08

I've only been in probably two or three houses that an architect act a badass architect actually did.

SPEAKER_02 59:16

Architect can make a really big difference, you know, but sometimes they go rogue and it's more about the design than functionality. Yeah. They can really get their feelings hurt, like if you tell them their baby's ugly. Yeah, yeah. So it's a different. I just hired an architect for my team that worked for Ron Ferris. Well, she's gonna sell, but she's gonna be an asset and be able to walk in with a buyer and say, you know, if you wanted to change this, you can do this, this, and this. And um, I also have a general contractor on my team, Kristen Carbine, and I think the three of us are going to partner up and build some inventory for the team to sell, which I'm super excited about.

SPEAKER_01 59:55

I think doing what you're doing is probably the best like thing you could be doing, like developer. Like it's kind of like a development.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:02

Small developments. We we want to build like little jewel boxes that are between 4,500 and 5,500 square feet, more traditional, transitional pieces, more classic design, not the white modern box, but yes, cedar shake roofs, clapboard, stone, lots of layers, a lot of texture.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:22

What are the most popular like styles for houses around here these days? Nashville is a mixed bag. You know, they have everything. Like, because people, it seems like a long time ago didn't take chances. That's why there's no mid-centuries here. They all just did a ranch or whatever. They did what everybody else was doing.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:42

There's a few good mid-centuries. I mean, yeah, you'll come up on something and you're like, wow, how did I not know? I've driven by this a million times. How did I little hidden gems? There's a lot of bad modern architecture in Nashville. Yeah. Yeah, I know what you mean. That's gonna look pretty terrible in five to ten years.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:01

Yeah, there's not that many people, more now than there used to be, just kind of going with their own vibe. Yeah. Like what they actually like.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:11

Yeah. I really want to create something intentional and something that I'll be proud to drive by in 20 years.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:16

Yeah, you know, and that'll say to my kids, be there forever. Yeah.

Nashville Dreams And What Lasts

SPEAKER_01 1:01:20

Like it's people like because our house is like um uh over a hundred years old. Yeah, there's pictures of like cars like in the 30s out, you know, in the driveway. It's been changed.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:30

And the stories, you know. The stories, yeah. The stories that have happened here.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:34

Christopherson got knocked out with a frying pan in the kitchen. I mean, there's so stories. And there was a diamond, Doris that was married to Mel Tillis threw her diamond in the back. They never found it. I think we built the garage over it, but our kids look for it with the metal detector forever. What do you think Christopherson did to get knocked out with a oh, I know what he did because Doris told us she's the one that knocked him out. That was Mel's wife. Um, they disappeared for days. And back then, you know, there's no cell phones. Like they disappeared, and he was instigating it. And so him and Mel like were gone for four days and didn't, you know, like What do you think they were doing? Partying? Partying. And so then they came back and Mel fell asleep, and Christofferson was sitting at the table, and Doris was, I guess, making him breakfast. I don't know. Like, but then um he smarted off to her and she just popped him in the head with that pan. That is unbelievable. She was the best. The the lady that she we kept as much as we could of what she did here. She's Pam Tillis's marker. Are you friends with Pam? Yeah, I like Pam. Pam loves it here. I mean, Pam, like, we rented on Airbnb for like two summers, and Pam, they were always wanting to rent. I'm like, yeah, you guys can totally rent. But every time I even talked to Pam about the house, she's she cries every time. When we came to Did she grow up here? Yeah. When we came to move in here, like, well, when we came here to look at the house, she was in the kitchen crying. And I was like, Chris, Pam Tillis is in the kitchen crying. I couldn't figure out what was going on. You know what I mean? Like, and um, she was in there and she was just like very emotional. And being songwriters, we'd had a song recorded by her. I didn't even understand what was happening. And then like see the emotion a home can bring you though. Oh, yeah. We've been here 25 years and she still can't talk about it without crying. I mean, she's that emotional because and and I had her on the podcast to talk about the house. Like, and she said they still put her and her sister will pull in the side driveway and just sit there and kind of talk to their mom.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:54

That's why I love this job, because um, I feel like it's the most intimate thing that you can help somebody through. It's where they're gonna lay their head at night, it's where all the stories where they live their life. It's where they live their life, where they love each other, where they fight, where you know, all the things happen where they bring their first child home, where they teach somebody to ride a bike, where they conceive their child a lot of times. Yeah. So um Oh wow. Teddy, that's so good. Well, it's special that you get to be a part of that.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:26

Yeah. There's a girl that we know that I love that does spray tans, and I'm fascinated by her job. I love her job because she'll go to Reese Witherspin's house. You know what I mean? Like she'll go to all these celebrities' houses because she takes a little tent and sprays everybody and she sees all their stuff. You know what I mean? Like she's in their world for it's a glimpse, it's a window.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:52

Yeah. You know, yeah. And it's things that you have to hold sacred, yeah, because we have a fiduciary duty we can't talk about.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:02

Things that we see and witness and get to be a part of. Um, so you become the vault.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:09

Yeah, totally. That's the thing. Like, I just I'm fascinated by people's own little worlds, you know, like because you'll go to somebody's house and it'll be so different sometimes than what you thought.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:20

I know that's that's really interesting when that happens.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:24

This guy, like this songwriter guy who was such a redneck. We went over there to write, and like he everything in his house was so like he was you don't see houses like this much. He it was like a mid-century vibe, but everything in there was like from a certain era. You know, like I hadn't been in a He was a collector, yeah. And I would never have expected this guy to be, you know, like that. And then you go in some people's houses and you think they're gonna be have so much style and stuff and they don't, yeah, and then their house. Is like nothing like you would have imagined. And then so many people like rent houses that are like that's one thing. I would I don't know. After we sell, I wouldn't mind renting for a little bit because it seems pretty easy.

SPEAKER_02 1:06:13

It's very easy. And it I think renting, when I have people moving to Nashville, a lot of times, believe it or not, I will suggest why don't you rent for a minute and see what neighborhood you actually want to be in? Because you get so many people who move here from California, New York, and Chicago, and they think, Oh, I want to I want to live out in Franklin, I want to live in Brentwood, I want the land. Yeah. And then they call me. They call me. Stormheads, 22 million. Or till they have to take care of it. Or they're on an island and they really want the walkability they want. I had one client that has spent close to like 32 million dollars with me because she kept changing her mind.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:50

Oh, she didn't know what she wanted. She didn't want know what she wanted. Did she buy multiple houses?

SPEAKER_02 1:06:55

Multiple houses. We sold multiple houses, and um, you know, she finally found the right spot. Did she stay? She has a place in Tennessee, but she is not in Nashville. But she has a beautiful farm in East Tennessee. And it's exactly, you know, the perfect fit. Um, but it takes people sometimes several times to really kind of figure it out. But if you rent, if you rent smart, you know, I would rather someone rent and we find the right fit than have to do it two or three times.

SPEAKER_01 1:07:29

That's what Chris and we are talking about, like, because he really wants to move to LA. And and like I'm like, we can't LA, that's surprising. Yeah, I'm like, we can't just do that. What why why he always is wanting to do something, you know what I mean? Like, I think the weather. The weather. The weather. It and I'm into the weather. I hate it here in the winter time. Like, daylight savings time makes me just like 8 30. Oh, I can't take it. And and in the summer, it stays sunshine till 8 15 or 8 30. And then we go to 4 15. It's dark.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:03

I know.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:04

That should not be happening. Well, you need just two places.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:07

You can have a little place here. Somewhere else, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:10

But I don't know. Ever since I saw those fires burning, I think the people here are so special. The people are so special. Everybody from LA's moving here t saying don't move there.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:20

I know.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:20

That I mean, like, how many houses do you sell to people that are from LA? A million.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:26

Is that the majority? Uh, a lot of San Francisco, a lot of Bay Area, a lot of Northern California, a lot of Chicago. Now we're getting New York. But, you know, one thing that's so special about Nashville is all these people come from all over, kind of to live out a dream. You did that, right? Yeah. And you've got the artists, but you also have the health care. You have um Oh, and the healthcare's huge, isn't it? Yeah. You've got sports and entertainment. You've got, you know, Oracle Starbucks. But I think what makes it makes it special are the artists. Because people coming here to follow a dream, that magic. Yes. You know, it's kind of contagious. It's known for it. Like city. It's known for it. And um, it's wild just going to dinner and the talent that the person, you know, waiting your table has.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:17

Yeah, it's so crazy. Like, there's been so many times that we've gone to eat, and like the waiter gave us, you know, like his name or a QR code or something to go listen to his music. And sometimes, like, the people will be so amazing. There was something I heard once, this guy, he was like one of the biggest songwriters to ever live, Bob McDeal. He said, To be a songwriter, you gotta have the heart of a poet and the skin of a rhino. Ooh, isn't that good? That's so good.

SPEAKER_02 1:09:47

It's so hard with kids. How did you navigate that being being such an empath and feeling so much?

SPEAKER_01 1:09:53

I I feel like I was just an idiot. Like, that's what I feel like. Like, I still look back and I'm kind of amazed at anything that ever happened, to be honest. Like, because when I But you're a manifester. I am a manifester, but back then I didn't even know what that meant. But you were doing it. Yeah, I was doing it because I was obsessed, and that's all I thought about. Like, I think I would just work harder than anybody else, honestly. I mean, like, I didn't really have anything else. I would just work, nobody could outwork me. How are you getting like the rights?

SPEAKER_02 1:10:28

How were you doing that?

SPEAKER_01 1:10:29

Well, what happened, like I would try to I tried to get a writing deal, and so I went to a publisher. I went to uh a million, but I remember this one guy telling me, like, I don't get it. He's like, you don't sing. Well, first of all, my dad told me I was tone deaf. Do you not sing? I sing. I got offered a record deal, but I don't sing. I've never- You're more of a writer. Oh, yeah. I'm way more of a writer. Like, nobody like Martin Martina actually told Joe Galani he should give me a record deal. He thought she was crazy. My voice is very, very weird. So anybody, anytime I sang a song. It can be a good thing. I got offered a record deal by this guy, um, John Clodner, and he signed Aerosmith. He he's a rock guy. He signed so many big people. He's a legend. He's kind of like the first Rick Rubin. I don't know if you've heard of Rick. Rick Rubin. He's exactly he's Rick Rubin's mentor. Yes. He just didn't. He's his mentor. Yeah, he's his mentor. He looked like John Lennon. He he was such a trip. He had a long, like beard and long hair. But he called me one day and offered me a record deal. And I was flipped out because I had just found out I was pregnant with Oscar 30 minutes before he called me. Wow. And so I was like, I can't really even deal with this right now. That's what I told him because we already had Levi, who was two, and I was just like so flipped out.

SPEAKER_02 1:12:04

Reeling from everything.

SPEAKER_01 1:12:05

He couldn't even believe it though. But I didn't want that life. You know what I mean? That's what I worked. That's a hard life, don't you think? Yeah, you you gotta live for it. Like Taylor Swift, that is her life. Now she's now she's getting ready to live. She's getting older so she can like get married and everything. But the people that are the most successful, like Taylor and Kenny, that's his life. It's not like he's going home. You're just giving yourself all day. All of it, everything. Like Kenny works so hard. Like I mean, he just rehearses. Like when he goes on tour, he cares so much, you know, and he rehearses so hard. Like, and he doesn't have kids, he doesn't have a wife. It's his whole world. And like Taylor, I think the great thing now, she's found love, and she was born to be makes me so happy. Oh, me too. Like, what is what a special human being. She's always been special. Like, like she's I've never met anybody like her in my whole life. Like, I was fascinated with her from the very first time I met her because I'd never met anybody like that. Like back then, she changed Nashville. Like, she was like a tsunami that hit Nashville as far as female artists. Such a class act. They all think they gotta write everything now. But the thing with Taylor, she had a published deal at 13. She's like a once-in-a-generation songwriter. You know, yeah. I mean, and she's worked her ass off. By the time she was like 17, she had written a thousand songs, you know. Like, so that's so different. We've written with so many girls that they're like for me, they might be talented, but I don't care anything except for what I want to hear their songs. You know what I mean? Like, because nothing else matters. No, even Adele. It's gotta be a good song. Yeah, it's gotta be. That's gotta be a good song. All that matters. Yeah, you could be an okay, kind of okay singer and have a hit, but you're not gonna have a hit even if you're a Dell with a shitty song. That's the truth. I mean, and that's the key, right? It's the total key. I mean, it's the total key. Like, we've had so many people out here that like um like good example, and I try to I try to preach it, but everybody thinks, well, you're a songwriter. No wonder you think that. It's not that I've got to write it. Anybody can write it. That part don't matter, but how important the song is, you know. Like we we were out here and Chris was telling that girl Megan Trainer, like, you're such a great singer, and like they were talking about stuff. She did that song all about that bass. Yeah, and so she's my example. I use if I'm talking to an artist, like, okay, you can you can write, like, there's been so many country artists that have kind of had hits, they've been around forever. I don't want to say names, but they've been around forever. People kind of know who they are, they might have had songs that charted and went to maybe 10. But the song wasn't good enough. Yeah, and then you'll have somebody like Megan Trainer, they come out with a song, and then they're they're headlining everything. They move right to the front, they're the headliner, they're playing on every TV show. Wow. Some people work for 15 years and maybe, maybe get to play on one award show. Like, it's all the song, it's always the song. The biggest bands of all time, like the Beatles, they had the best songwriters in the band. They had four of them. The Eagles, they had the best songwriters in the band. Freddie Mercury. It's always, that's always the story. Like, because I just feel like for me, I'm and I say it all the time, like every girl singer that moves here, they're like the best singer in their hometown. I know.

SPEAKER_02 1:15:55

If they get here, I know, and then you're just on equal playing ground, baby. It better be good. The song better be good.

SPEAKER_01 1:16:02

It's always the song. I know. And like I tell Chris all the time, like, everybody can sing. I don't even give a shit if they can sing. That don't, to me, that don't even matter. If they come over here and play something that's interesting, you know.

SPEAKER_02 1:16:16

Don't you think too though, Amy, it's about evoking emotion.

SPEAKER_01 1:16:19

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:16:20

Like you can have two people sing a great song, but one that can evoke the emotion.

SPEAKER_01 1:16:26

They're communicators. Yeah, storytellers.

SPEAKER_02 1:16:28

Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_01 1:16:29

They're storytellers. You're right on the money with that because that's what I mean. Anybody, it's like a beauty pageant contest with somebody singing. You know, so many people can sing, but to make somebody feel so is a gift. I mean, it's such a gift. And I remember my favorite like performance ever on like an award show. Um, I don't know if you've seen it. I couldn't show it on here. I wish I could because copyrights, but Taylor Swift, when she was 15, she came out. I'll never I get emotional even thinking about it, and I've watched it a hundred times, but she came out like at the awards in her little dress, and she's like 15 or 16, and she sang, she's playing acoustic. Okay, so there's all the, you know, everybody else had dancers and they're doing all this stuff completely stripped down. And like she comes out and sings Tim McGraw and like her vocal ain't perfect by any means. You got all the jealous people tearing shit apart. But I mean, if you don't feel that I get emotional even thinking about it, if you if you don't feel that performance, I mean, it's so good. It's so raw. It's so raw and real and she's by herself. She's like 15. Oh, it's so good. Like, but it's so vulnerable. I told Chris, if you don't like that, it's like kicking Bambi in the face or something. It doesn't even make sense how how some but people tore her apart. People were always mean to her, like always mean to her. Well, jealousy. I think it's jealousy, yeah. I do too.

SPEAKER_02 1:18:17

I'm like, if you don't like her, what is wrong with that?

SPEAKER_01 1:18:19

Well, if you're a songwriter and can't respect what she's done, especially if you're a female, if you can't acknowledge what she's done, because nobody else has done it.

SPEAKER_02 1:18:31

Well, not only that, an example she's been for girls and women in a class always. Yes. And she's never embarrassed herself. I mean, who who has grown up in the spot like that?

Selling Tips And A Life Rule

SPEAKER_01 1:18:44

Okay, so if you're gonna sell your house, what do you think are the top three things people care about?

SPEAKER_02 1:18:50

I think people want it to be in shape. So, like, how old is your roof? How old are the HVACs? You know, what condition are your windows in? Um, less is more. So decluttering as much as you possibly can. Yeah, you know, and a fresh coat of paint goes a long way. Okay, that's good. Yeah. That what it so like what about curb appeal? Landscaping. You know, that's something cheap and easy just to get freshened up, making sure you have all the bushes trimmed, making sure you have down mulch, you know, the grass is cut. First impression.

SPEAKER_01 1:19:28

Oh, I love that. What so what's the biggest mistake people make when they're gonna sell their house? Like, and what's the biggest one they're gonna buy?

SPEAKER_02 1:19:36

Doing something super buyer specific, like going in and decorating it just to their own taste. Yeah. So, like putting up a crazy wallpaper, you know, that not everybody's gonna like. I always say, just paint it white and take down all your personal pictures and make it look like nobody lives here.

SPEAKER_01 1:19:54

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:19:55

I get it. You know, because people get caught up in the things, yeah, and they lose touch with the house.

SPEAKER_01 1:20:02

And everybody's gonna want something different. Like everybody wants something different. Somebody might tell you renovate the kitchen, but then I think, well, if somebody's buying her house, they're gonna be doing, they're gonna be fixing shit the way they want it. So let them do it however they want to do it. Exactly. It just depends what we did.

SPEAKER_02 1:20:17

Yeah, it just depends. Sometimes, you know, I'll go in and I'll say, This has to be done, and then sometimes I'll go in and say, no, just let the next person do it. Yeah. And but price it accordingly. Yeah, totally. You know, you can't price it like it has a kitchen that's redone.

SPEAKER_01 1:20:32

Yeah. What about like um do you ever like put a house on the market and then be like, this is way too cheap? I shouldn't have done it this cheap. Like, we're gonna do it.

SPEAKER_02 1:20:40

No, because I do a three, I do a three-phase marketing approach every time. Oh, yeah. And so I I will um price it probably higher in the first phase. Yeah. And I do it like in an exclusive, a pocket listing. Yeah. And I send it out to my sphere and then the top 1% agents, and we test the pricing. And then if I don't get any bites at that pricing, then I'll refine it and I'll back it down um for like a coming soon. And if I still don't get any bites, then I really refine the pricing before I put it on MLS so it doesn't get market worn.

SPEAKER_01 1:21:14

Oh, that's good. Yeah. Yeah, that's really good. I guess you just learn stuff doing this a long time how to do it. 20 plus years, yeah. Okay, so here this is a better last question, probably. If you had one piece of advice to give people, what would it be? Um, when they're selling, or just in life.

SPEAKER_02 1:21:32

In life, okay. Never take anything personal and nobody owes you anything.

unknown 1:21:36

Oh, I like that.

SPEAKER_02 1:21:37

That's like that book, The Four Agreements.

SPEAKER_01 1:21:40

That's one of the best books of all time. I love that. And that made me think nobody owes you anything. Nobody owes you anything. Oprah said you're responsible for your own life. You are. Nobody is going to do it for you. Yeah, it's so good.

SPEAKER_02 1:21:53

Nobody's gonna go get it for you. It's so good. If you want it, go get it. I like that.

SPEAKER_01 1:21:58

That's a good ending. If you want it, go get it. If you want it, go get it. Oh, I love that. You guys rock! Thank you for watching.