That time we talked to a realtor

This is episode number 11 of The Homeowner's Show. Whether you're DIY or looking to hire, we're here to help you find the best information and options for you and your home. My name is Kevin Hackett, and here with me is Craig Williams.

Hello, hello, hello, and welcome to The Homeowner's Show. We are— we're happy that you could be here.

Well, yes, me, Or our listeners?

Well, you're teetering on the brink, man.

I'm just glad to be awake right now. That's good.

Yeah, no, no, we're, you know, disciplinary actions are probably not far in the future for you.

Well, there's a lot of things up in the air right now.

Yeah.

But we're not gonna get into that on the show.

Not today.

Not today.

Yeah, we'll do that off air. Man, so by the time this show airs, I mean, we should have a pretty good idea as to who's gonna be in the college playoffs, yeah? Yeah. You don't have any thoughts about that?

Well, it doesn't really matter who's in the playoffs. Well, first of all, you're gonna get stuck—

We all know who's gonna win.

We all know who's gonna win. It's not even a question. So the playoffs don't matter. They didn't matter before because the playoffs are all screwed up anyway.

Yeah, so you're in the tank for UCF, right?

Oh, of course. Yeah, I've got like, like 4-to-1 odds over Alabama. Yeah?

No. So as of right now, are they undefeated?

UCF?

Yeah.

Yeah.

So are they—

For now.

Do you think they're gonna get in the top 4?

I don't know how they can't. Yeah, I mean, I don't, I don't know that they will be put there, but they should be there. Yeah, there's no doubt they should be there.

So here's, here's my 2 cents, and I really don't care, but this is— I mean, just because I like chaos, I think, I think put them in.

Okay.

One, because I'm sick of hearing from people from UCF, put my team in the Final Four. Put them in.

Yeah.

Just let them get whipped.

The first game.

Yeah, and then, and then we'll be done. We won't have to hear about it again for another 3 years.

Well, maybe. Hopefully. Okay, so that's one. What's number 2?

What's number 2?

I thought you said there were 2 reasons.

There were 2 reasons?

Oh, maybe not.

No, I just— that's it.

That's it.

I'm tired of the internet traffic. I don't want to hear about it anymore. Your school's not as good as everyone thinks that it is.

It's like when Hawaii went undefeated. Does that really matter?

No, no.

Well, it didn't because they lost. Yeah, it is what it is.

Oh, so, but we, we have a great show for you guys today. Uh, if you can follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, whatever social media platform, we will respond to you. And by we, I mean Kevin.

Yes.

So get on there, send us a message, send us a DM. We'd love to chat with you if you, you know, have some suggestions for the show. If you haven't subscribed to the show yet, you can do that on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, and you can hit the notification bell there on YouTube. And we'd love for you to send us a message, comment about the show, review the show, tell us what you think, if you have a suggestion for the show. But we have a great one for you today, and this is like Where all homeowners begin their journey.

You have to start here. This is like, you know, in Monopoly where it says start here, this is that show.

Yeah, you haven't even passed go yet.

No, I mean, you're trying to pick out colors and like, do I want the thimble? Do I want the dog? That's this.

You would be the dog, wouldn't you? I knew it the minute I met you.

I'm the guy that like goes and gets something off the little shadow box.

Oh, you're the guy that like doesn't put everything back. You're like stealing pieces from other games. Is that the point?

Yeah, there's like 14 pieces in my Monopoly box.

I loathe you.

Oh, it says a lot about me. So yeah, so today we've got Brandi Banks with us. Welcome to the show.

Thank you, thank you for having me.

Yeah, absolutely. We're glad to have you. So today, We're going to be talking about buying a home. Uh, Brandy is a realtor and, um, she's going to be just kind of explaining some things to us about what that looks like. Um, you know, I think that a lot of people get a lot of anxiety around buying a home, selling a home. There's just a lot that goes into that and it's a very anxious time. So I'm sure we'll get into some of that, but before we get there, um, tell us a little bit about, about your background, who you are, how'd you get into selling real estate, those sorts of things.

Well, It's weird to hear myself, sorry. Sorry.

You'll get used to it.

Just listen to Kevin's voice and you'll feel fine.

Mine's way worse than yours.

So I've been a realtor for 13 years. Got into it, I was a stay-at-home mom, had, you know, little boys. And like everybody, I watched HGTV and thought, I can do this, right? Do this with a baby on my hip and sell a house.

Flip or flop, right? Right, yeah, it's easy.

So that's how I got into it, just trying to figure out how I could earn money to help our family. Like I said, I stayed at home with my boys, and that would still allow me to take them lunch, still be present with them, you know, growing up and not have to put them in daycare.

Mm-hmm.

And I thought it would be so easy, but it's not quite as easy as I make it look.

Sure.

Anyway, so that's how I got started.

It's not all resolved in an hour, is it?

Unfortunately, no. Unfortunately, no. And not just 3 houses, right? Sometimes we have a list, right? We, we had a list.

Yeah.

We had quite a list.

Yeah, Brandy actually, in full disclosure, Brandy sold me my home, and we probably looked at 20 or 30.

I think it was like 40 maybe.

Oh, it was a bunch.

It was a lot.

We looked at a bunch.

It was a lot, but we found one.

We did.

Right?

Yeah, great home.

With no stairs. You thank me later.

Yes, yes, no stairs. Thank goodness. Absolutely. Yeah, so it's a flexible job for you.

It is. It is. But like with anything, you know, as much as you put into it, that's what you're going to get out. So you still have to treat it as, you know, a real job, if you will. A lot of people, I think that's a mistake that a lot of people make when they get into real estate. They're like me. They see it on TV and they think it's easy, but if you really want to make a living at it, like with anything, you really have to treat it like a real job.

Yeah, and I'm sure there's some things that are interesting about it because a lot of times, you know, we might call and say, hey, we just saw something. Can we go look at it tonight? And maybe it's like, you know, 6 o'clock at night and, you know, you're working on dinner or whatever. So there has to be some flexibility on your part, not just That you are flexible, but you have to be flexible.

Absolutely, absolutely, because I have to work around, uh, the majority of the population. Everybody has to work, and so a lot of my time is in the evenings and on weekends. So yes, I do have to be flexible.

Okay, now do you, do you have a preference as to either listing a house or getting people into a new home, or—

Um, you know, it's kind of funny, um, I would say over the past couple years, the majority of my work has been in listings. I don't know how that happened.

Yeah.

I don't know. It just happened. And so that's the majority of my work. I do have buyers that I work with. And I think each one, listings and working with buyers, they each have a— I enjoy something from each one. You know, I get something out of each one. I enjoy helping people like Kevin and his wife. They relocated. They didn't know the area. And for me, I found I just really enjoy helping people, and that's huge and scary and, you know, all these emotions moving to a new area. And so I really enjoyed helping his family finding a place that they could raise their family. And so, like I said, there's a takeaway from each one.

Yeah.

So with those— with getting those people into those new homes, what do you find that most people key in on almost immediately? Or is there like a common denominator that people, when they walk into a home, when they walk into a listing, that they're going— that they're keying in on as whether or not they want that home?

Well, I think the first thing is absolutely price. It's absolutely crucial to price it right out of the gate. And that's a big mistake that a lot of sellers make because they're emotional. You know, they rocked their babies in that home, or they built it with their own two hands. So many times sellers have this emotional, obviously, attachment to the house, and they think, well, it's worth this much, but really the comps, you know, only show that it's worth X amount of dollars. So it's really absolutely crucial to price it right because you get just— what's that saying? You get one chance to make a great first impression.

First impression.

Right. And the same is true with a home. I mean, You need to price it right because the longer it sits, you know, it gets stale and people begin to think, you know, what's wrong with it? So—

And for people that don't know, just going back real quick, what is a comp?

So that is a fair market analysis. We take all of the homes that are comparable to the home based on age, square footage, updates, that sort of thing. And we go back 6 months, figure out what they've sold for, sold for, and that's how we determine what fair market value is.

And is that something that your group does or does—

Yes, sir. All realtors do that. We have to do that in order to determine what we're going to list at. And then also like with buyers, you know, we look at a house and they're looking at me, you know, what is, is this fair? Do you think it's priced right? So, you know, you have to run comps for listings and, you know, for buys as well.

Yeah. So before we get into it, because I'm sure there are other things that people key on in key in on immediately, specifically related to price. Are there better times to list a home than other times of the year? I've heard this before, don't really, you know, I've only sold one house in my life at this point. So, are there better times to list? Is that something that people who are looking to sell their house should pay attention to?

Well, I mean, Generally, most people begin to, you know, start to look in the spring. Kids get out of school in May. Everybody wants to move in the summer, get settled before the kids start school. So that generally tends to be historically the most popular time of year. But houses sell any time of year.

Right.

I mean, the difference is if you're going to list a house in December versus listing a house in April, You know, yes, you're going to get less lookers in December. You'll have more lookers in April, but your lookers in December are going to be more serious buyers. You're going to get fewer tire kickers because not everybody wants to move in the middle of the holidays, you know?

And so the ones that are actually looking are a little more serious about it?

Generally. Generally.

Okay, that makes sense. So, okay, back into the original question here. What are some things that You know, people notice about a house or are looking for in a house that you have found are just kind of normal, I guess?

Odor.

Odor. Odor.

That's a big one. Yeah.

Whether they've got pets or maybe they just trash the place.

Cats and cigarettes. Yeah. I mean, yeah. That's a huge turnoff. And you figure that out the minute you walk in the door. And, you know, you immediately decide We're either going to stay or we're not, or it's so awful I can't even be in this house anymore. So I think odor is a huge one. Cleanliness, that's another one. Updates. I mean, there's a whole laundry list of things, but those are kind of the top that people notice.

Yeah, one of the things that I thought was hilarious one time, Brandy, you and I were looking at a house, my wife was with us too, and I remember I was walking from room to room and I went, this, this house just doesn't— like, I feel like I'm walking down and then back up. And one of the funniest things, Craig, she was like, well, let's find out. She opened up her portfolio and pulled out a—

Marble.

A marble and set it on the floor and it like rolled to the other end of the room. We're like, let's get out.

That's a very sophisticated realtor tool. Very sophisticated.

It was awesome.

It's cool. It works, right?

Yeah, it was fantastic. I thought it was one of the most brilliant So I was like, a marble.

So what would that tell somebody about the house?

That there could be foundation issues.

Which is one of the more expensive issues.

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, there's other things that, you know, you can tell on a home if there are foundation issues. And disclaimer, I'm not a foundation expert. So do not call me and, you know.

But I know what makes a marble roll.

Exactly, exactly. So yeah. And it impresses my clients.

Oh yeah, that's right.

Yeah, that's right. It was a pretty marble.

It is. It's a very pretty mark.

You need a story with that. I won that in Vietnam with the—

That's right.

Yeah.

Uh, anything else you would say, or markers that people are looking for? I mean, I would assume that this is so specialized. I mean, some people are looking for one thing, other people are looking for another.

Um, ultimately everybody wants to feel like they got a good deal.

Sure.

I mean, the sellers want to feel like they sold, you know, at a good price. The buyer wants to feel like they got a good deal. I mean, everybody wants the same thing. It's just trying to figure out how we can accomplish that to where everybody is happy and feels, you know, that it was fair for both sides.

Sure.

Yeah, because I mean, that is sort of the social currency of real estate is getting to tell that story of, I took that guy for a ride, or, you know, I got this really good deal. And because everyone likes telling that story.

It's like a fish tale, right?

No one likes telling, I got taken.

Exactly. Exactly.

No one's telling that story.

Right.

No, it's a better story.

I'm curious what, if you can recall maybe, what has been one of the weirder requests maybe from like a buyer looking for something particular in a house?

Hmm.

Oh gosh, I don't know. I haven't really had any weird requests.

Nobody needed like a hot sauna or a—

No, no. Now you know when I leave here, I'm gonna get in the car and I'm gonna be like, oh my gosh, it was that guy, you know.

Of course.

This house has to have a chicken coop.

Right.

Nothing like that?

Nothing too crazy. Nothing too crazy.

Clearly you haven't had me for a customer.

She didn't sell this property.

That's right.

Well, so one thing I'm interested in is like, Why, why would I hire a realtor? Either, either to sell me a house or to sell my house. Um, I mean, I'm— I feel like I'm a smart person. Um, you know, I can, I can look on the internet just like a realtor can look on the internet and see what's out there. Um, I, I can look at other things that have sold and try to do that.

Right.

What— so, so what Why should I look for you specifically?

Well, I mean, so let's start with, let's start with buyers, for example. Well, really even sellers. Everybody now is much more savvy, as you know, than they were, say, 10 years ago. Everybody has access to the internet. Everybody can go online, look up properties. You know, that is part of my job that Obviously, I still do that, but many times the clients will send me properties that they want to see because they're, you know, up all night searching.

Sure.

So, you know, clearly we all have access to that stuff that, you know, people didn't have access to previously. But as a buyer, for example, the buyer generally does not pay for a real estate agent's commission. That is part of the listing agreement. So the seller most times will pay for that unless you have a for sale by owner, which we might talk about later. So here's my thoughts. Why wouldn't you want to be represented? Why wouldn't you want somebody that does this every single day full-time? It's not a hobby. You know, it's not, you know, this is how I, this is how I earn a living. This is how I keep the lights on. This is how I keep food on the table.

Why wouldn't you want to be represented? It's like going into court. Why would you want to go into court without having legal representation? You know, it's somebody that first and foremost is going to look out for your best interest and make sure that you're not only informed, but, you know, on the comps and, and how the process goes in terms of inspections and appraisals. I mean, there's a whole list of things. So especially for a buyer, I don't see why you wouldn't want to be represented if it doesn't That doesn't cost you anything.

Sure.

And you make great friends, right?

There you go.

There you go.

There's that too.

Then there's that. So, but as a seller, you know, yes, there is a commission involved. But it's funny because, you know, like at the closing table, everybody gets their closing statement and they get to see, you know, the buyer, the listing agent made this much and the buyer's agent made this much. And it's like, Wow, I'm gonna go into real estate. They're, they're like killing it. Not, you know, not. There's a lot of things that, you know, come out of that, and there's a lot that we do, um, to earn that money, you know. I mean, we run comps, um, there's a whole laundry list of things, but, um, I feel like I'm rambling right now.

Well, no, that's good. Uh, let me— one thing that I think, um, I've noticed a lot is pictures. Um, a lot of people that, that go in to sell their own home, they think, okay, well, I can do this, I can take good pictures. I mean, I got an iPhone. And one thing that I've noticed whenever I have looked to buy a home is some houses I'll just completely overlook because the pictures are horrible.

That is a hot topic for me. Don't even get me started on the realtors with the iPhone pictures. You know, you're scrolling through and there's a picture of the toilet with the toilet seat up.

Yeah.

It's like, you know, that's one thing that I do. It's just, in my opinion, the cost of doing business. I always, always pay for a photographer to come out and take pictures of my listings because you only get that one chance to make an awesome first impression. You know, you have, you know, such a short window when a property comes on the market and you have all that buzz and all that hype around it. And if you have really bad pictures, people aren't going to be interested and they don't want to go see it. then you're not going to sell it and it's going to sit longer.

So I've noticed now that it seems like more and more of these real estate photographers are using drones too. Is that something that you've—

Absolutely. Yeah. I generally will use drones like on acreage, you know, so that a buyer can see the full picture. And the other thing, going back to pictures, my photographer, she does a little bit of editing, but I like to try to keep the pictures as true to the home as I can.

Yeah.

You know, it's like the last thing I want is for a buyer to come in and be like, oh, it didn't look anything like that online.

Right.

You know, so I try to, you know, she does very little editing. I want it to be, you know, like I said, as close to the way the house really looks as possible. So.

Sure. So let's say I was interested in selling a house. I've come to you. What are some things that I need to be aware of to kind of get my house ready to be sold?

So that is another thing that I also, in addition to the pictures, I have a stager that I provide to my sellers. And she'll come in and the beauty of it is, it's good cop, bad cop. You know, I don't have to come in and tell you to take all of your kids' pictures off the walls and their, you know, drawings off your fridge. So she comes in and she has a very objective eye and she will go room by room and list. You know, you need to declutter, you need to clean up the yard, you need to, in some cases, neutralize the paint. There's, gosh, odor. That was another one. Odor is another one. So she comes in and she, you know,

gives a laundry list of things that need to be done.

Okay. Yeah, so what I'm hearing is there's a lot of things that you're doing that as a seller, I either may not think to do or may not know to do, may not know how to do, may not want to take the time to do, which I think one of the big things about having a Realtor specifically is time.

Right.

I mean, I don't always as a buyer have the time to go out and, you know, do some of the things that you're doing because maybe I am in transition. Obviously, I'm in transition. I'm trying to— I mean, whether I'm buying down the road or I'm buying in another state, it's a transition time.

Well, and like with sellers, you know, many times they're not going to have access to the MLS. You know, they think, well, I can just put a sign in my yard and I can do a for sale by owner. Now, there are some companies that will allow an individual to hire them and they do it at a discounted rate. And it allows them to get their property in the MLS. But that's where it stops. You know, you don't have anybody in your corner representing you. You know, with a realtor, all of my showings are scheduled through a showing service. So it's a level of protection that your family has that they wouldn't have otherwise.

Right.

You know, you just have random people knocking on your door. Well, do you know if these people can, first of all, buy the home? Have they been pre-approved? Do you know if they're legit? Are they just coming in to stake out your house and then come back later? You know, so in addition to the showing service, you know, the other thing is with sellers, many times there is that emotion to it, and it's very hard to be objective and negotiate, you know, the sale of your own home, you know, and not get offended when they say your carpet's ugly, you know. So, yeah.

Sure. Well, I guess another point to that, and you, you kind of alluded to it earlier, is this whole idea of selling a house on your own. Um, I mean, you do this as a profession, so you have your own specific opinions about being a realtor, having, you know, a realtor on your side. Um, but I also know that the, the going rate is 6% of your selling price is the amount you're going to pay a realtor. So why wouldn't I want to go and just try to sell my house on my own? I mean, what's the worst that could happen? That I put a sign up in my yard and maybe someone shows up and boom, I got a sale. I mean, I've sold stuff on eBay before, right?

Right, right, absolutely. And the 6% doesn't go all in my pocket. Oh, so I have to split that with the buyer's agent. Okay, so the listing agent's going to get 3%, the buyer's agent's going to get 3%. In addition to that, as I mentioned, I pay for my photography. I don't pass that expense on to you. I have a stager that I bring out. I also have a broker that I have to pay. So they get some of my commission as well. I have to pay signs. I have to pay for the showing service, the lockbox, the MLS. I mean, there's, you know, gas. There's a lot of things that I have to pay for. So

I wish I got to keep the full 6%, right? But unfortunately, I don't.

Yeah.

I don't, but going back to what's the worst thing that could happen, you could get sued. I mean, with all due respect, you are a smart guy, but you don't do this every day. There's a lot of things that could fall through the cracks that you wouldn't even think would be that big of a deal, but it could potentially— not saying that I'm perfect and I don't do anything wrong, but I do this every single day. And I see some crazy stuff. I see some crazy stuff. And it's just protecting yourself and removing yourself from, you know, from that liability. You have a broker to fall back on, somebody that will, you know, carry that burden if something

were to happen.

Sure. So, yeah, so I mean, you definitely deal with other realtors and you deal with people that are for sale by owner, obviously. Would you say that one tends to be more difficult to work with than the other?

Oh, y'all, realtors are high maintenance.

Okay.

They can be. Honestly, I don't really work with many for sale by owners because generally somebody who's doing a for sale by owner, they don't want to work with realtors. If they did—

They would have their own.

They would have their own. Sometimes they will work with a realtor on the buyer You know, they will pay the realtor for the buyer, but most of the time they don't.

Okay.

But realtors can be difficult to work with.

Sure.

They can be. I think a lot of times— anyway, here I'm supposed to be defending my profession and I'm about to— yeah, so never mind.

Well, especially when they're customers.

Yeah, just cut that.

Just scratch that.

Yeah.

Well, no, but I do think it's interesting. That's interesting that you say that because I think it's really important that you know something about your realtor. Because, so speak into this a little bit, because, you know, I've done this before where you're kind of like, okay, maybe I'm casually looking for a house, or maybe I'm just kind of starting the process.

Mm-hmm.

And I'm out there looking on the internet, maybe I find a house that I'm interested in, and in doing that, I find the listing and I go, oh, the realtor attached to that listing is so-and-so. I'm going to call the number on the sign. What are my risks there? I mean, how do I vet a realtor?

Well, just keep in mind that the listing agent, their loyalty is to their seller. That is their client. You are not their client. And so the seller is their client and they have their back first and foremost.

Sure.

So, you know, and that's a common misconception that people make is that they can call the listing agent and just work with them directly and I can save money. But again, going back to the buyer, you're not paying the commission. So why does it matter to you?

Right.

You're entrusting one of the biggest purchases of your life sometimes in somebody else's hands and you're not being fairly represented.

Sure.

So that agent first and foremost represents a seller and they can't come to you and say, well, I know the seller, you know, they're going through this and they're willing to take this much and—

There's legal reasons they can't do that.

Absolutely. Absolutely. So it really is in your best interest to be fairly represented.

Yeah, because The reality of it is, if I choose that person who's on the sign as my realtor, they're making all 6%.

Absolutely.

Because they're getting the buyer's fee and the seller's fee at that point. Which is fine. For them, it's good. I mean, I'm sure you would love to sell your own homes. But—

But I don't.

But you don't.

I don't. Here's my thoughts on that. It is very hard to be neutral. And as I mentioned, when I take a listing, my first loyalty is to my seller. They are my client.

Right.

So if you call me and you want to look at the house, I'll refer it out to somebody in my office.

Oh, okay.

It just, in my opinion, it removes me from an uncomfortable situation. And everybody at that point can feel like they are being represented fairly. You know, it's just, It is a very difficult situation here. I'm working with a buyer and they're wanting me to ask for these repairs. And, you know, it's just kind of hard to be that middleman. So I, 9 times out of 10, will not take a buyer from one of my own listings. I will refer it to somebody in my office.

Yeah, I mean, because it seems like part of what it is that you bring to the table is recognizing shenanigans that are going on.

Absolutely.

You know, and so like, There's, there's a couple of weird things that could happen if you're representing both, because if you're calling shenanigans on yourself, then we have a multiple personality issue going on.

That's a whole nother issue.

Yeah, that's a whole nother issue. But I mean, like, your job is to look for those shenanigans.

Absolutely.

And, you know, but like, it's really difficult when you're representing 2 people to get that 30,000-foot view for both people.

Absolutely. Well, and for me, it's not about the money. The 6% would be awesome, right?

Yeah.

But at the end of the day, that's not what it's about for me. I would rather take my 3% and know that I represented my client to my absolute best ability, you know, that I had their back no matter what. I don't want anybody to ever be able to come back at any time and, accuse me, if you will, of not being, you know, not doing my job properly. That's huge for me. You know, that's why the majority of my business is referral and repeat because of that very reason. So yeah, the 6% would be great, but it's just, it's not worth it for me. It's not worth it.

So what are some things I can look for? So I'm looking for a realtor, I mean, a lot of that does happen word of mouth. In fact, that's probably one of the— you just said it's one of the biggest ways that you refer. But, you know, I'm moving to a new place, don't really know anybody, and maybe someone does recommend someone, but maybe that person's right for me, maybe they're not.

Mm-hmm.

Are there some questions that I can ask or some things I should be aware of when looking for a realtor that maybe you would say This is really important for you?

I think the biggest one is to make sure that your agent does this full-time. You know, there's so many people, everybody's sister's cousin's neighbor is a realtor. You know what I mean? Everybody gets their real estate license for the very same reasons I did. They're at home with their babies, watching HGTV, it's so easy. It's not. And so, in my opinion, it's important to work with somebody that does this full-time. You know, it's not a hobby. It's not something they just do for friends and family. It's their full-time job. And aside from that, just somebody that you're comfortable with really is the main thing. You're going to be spending a lot of time with this person, you know, whether you're a buyer looking for homes or,

you know, you're a seller, you have to make sure that you're comfortable and that you have this open line of communication and it's somebody that you feel like, you know, that you can work well with.

Yeah, I agree.

So it's a big investment. It's a huge investment.

It really is.

You have to work with somebody you can trust.

Absolutely.

Is there something that you wish more people knew about the real estate industry that they seem to be unaware of before they get into it? And when they start buying a house or selling a home or something, what is something that you seem— what do you wish more people knew or had more awareness about this whole process? Is it too long of a list?

You can be honest here. This is a safe space.

This is Vegas, right? It's only going on the internet.

No one's on there.

Only going— yeah, nobody.

That was so 2017.

I think my biggest one is when I give a seller a value that I feel that their home is worth, that they would just trust me and listen to what I'm telling them. Because I do know what I'm talking about. I've been doing this for 13 years. I do, I know my stuff. I do make mistakes, as does everybody. But, you know, the biggest misconception is when sellers think their home is worth so much more and the numbers, the comps just don't show that.

Yeah.

And, you know, I now most of the time will not put a sign in the yard if it's not reasonable to where my comps came in at. Because neighbors are going to be driving by, they're going to see my sign in the yard, they're going to think, gosh, that Realtor, she's awful. You know, the house is sitting there. You know, the seller only hears what they want to hear. They're not going to remember that conversation that you had when you told them it needed to be $30,000 less.

Yeah.

You know, they're going to remember that you agreed to take that listing at that price. So then they're going to think you're not doing anything, you're not showing showing the house, you know. So I think that's a big thing. And then, and then plus, you know, people think, well, I can list it high and then I can come down. Most of the time you will end up settling for less than what you would have if you just would have listened to your agent and listed it appropriately out the gate.

And there's a time factor involved too. Absolutely. Yeah. You know, the faster you sell your house, the more money you're going to make on it. Period.

Right. The longer it sits, it gets stale. And people begin to wonder what is wrong with it. You know, there's got to be something wrong with it. It's such a beautiful home. Why is it still sitting there? Yeah.

You know, when you cross the 100-day mark on a listing, I mean, there you smell blood in the water.

Right. See?

Yeah, something's wrong with it.

Yeah.

Absolutely.

Right.

Absolutely. Well, what else? I mean, what else, as we're talking about this, would you like people to know? Is there something we haven't discussed that you're interested in, in just making sure people knew?

Um, something I wish people knew— open houses. Open houses, in my opinion, are a waste of time. We are a—

You see people pushing for that pretty hard a lot of times.

Right, and I think they do work in some areas.

Sure.

But As I mentioned earlier, everybody shops online now.

Right.

You know, long are the days when people are just driving, you know, driving around. I'm not saying they don't, they do, but most of the time, in my opinion, open houses are just for your nosy neighbors. You know, people see what they want online the second it goes on the market, you know, and really an open house, in my opinion, is so that a seller thinks the listing agent is working to sell their home. And it's a way a listing agent can get buyer leads. So, and the other thing about it that I don't think people take into consideration is it's— I, as an agent, I'm a sitting duck in your home. I don't know who's coming through that door. You know, it's open to anybody.

You, as a seller, you don't know who's coming through that door.

Right.

Are they coming to stake out your house? I mean, for all the same reasons why I don't You know, I'm not a big fan of for sale by owners. All of those very same reasons, in my opinion, are, you know, go hand in hand with open houses as well.

How many homes do you see sold on open houses?

I don't do them, so I don't know.

You don't know.

I cannot answer that.

And I would assume that it's not drumming up a ton of interest, like you said, because the interest is out there on the platforms, on the internet. They're available.

The minute that house is online.

People can see it.

Right. So the ones that get me are the open houses in the gated neighborhoods. Those are the ones that really make me laugh, you know, because that is just so the seller thinks the listing agent is working.

Right.

Yeah, yeah. And the thing is, like, with these online searches these days, you can put in your parameters and they will send you emails. And so you're getting that information. There's really no reason to do an open house.

Right, right.

So one other question that I've got, and we'll see if there's anything after this. I mean, there's some big companies out there.

Mm-hmm.

Some really big real estate companies. And I know there are some really small ones, some mom, you know, mom-and-pop type shops where they've got maybe, you know, 2 or 3 agents.

Mm-hmm.

Are there benefits to either? I mean, or is one better than the other? Do you have any advice over whether or not to go with or shy away from a big company, for example?

I really think that that's the preference of the consumer. I have worked for a small boutique agency. My agency was bought out by a big box brand, and so I've seen both sides of it. Really, at the end of the day, we're all going to pretty much do the same thing. We're going to put a sign in the yard. We're going to put it in the MLS, which, you know, is blasted to, you know—

Everybody.

Everybody and anybody. So there are some other tools that the big, that the big box companies have that maybe a smaller broker wouldn't, like really cool listing presentations or, you know, things like that. But in terms of being able to run comps and those sorts of things, they're all going to pretty much be the same. I think that you have to work with somebody that you feel like you can communicate effectively with. Somebody that knows the area, somebody that has a big network of, you know, buyers and sellers that they can personally, you know, send out, you know, pocket listings or that sort of thing too. So in my opinion, I don't really think there's a

benefit either way to a seller or a buyer. It's really personal preference. Some people like, you know, designer clothes. Some like, you know—

Mm-hmm.

The off-brand, but it's— they still cover you the same.

That's a good way to put that. I do like that. I just think that it's, um, it's important to, to know that, that both are going to do the job as long as you've got someone who's working it, right, who has your best interest in mind, who understands you, right? Um, you know, I didn't want stairs, okay? So stop sending me the stuff with stairs, right?

Or whatever.

Somebody listening Yeah. Listening.

Yeah.

So what are like some tools maybe that homeowners should be keyed in to use or maybe stay away from? I'm thinking like Zillow, Trulia, HAR, maybe some other, you know, apps or tools that are helpful that you point, you know, potential homeowners towards.

Zillow and Trulia, all of those places. Number one, let me, let me, let me back up. So when you have a buyer searching for a home, the absolute best resource is HAR.com because that is what, you know, all the agents, that's where we input, that's our MLS, that's where we put everything. So it's going to be up to date. Trulia, Zillow, Realtor.com, they all pull from there. Pull from there, yeah. So the things that you view on those sites may not be as up to date. So HAR is going to be your best source.

Is that a national company?

Yeah, HAR.com.

Okay.

The other thing, well, it's to this Houston and surrounding area.

So that's what I was wondering about.

Right.

Because I didn't see that whenever I moved here from another state. I didn't have that option for the state I was in. So maybe it's just really important to find out what is the listing—

The local MLS. Exactly.

So that's a question to ask.

Yes. And also, Trulia and Zillow may say your house is worth $400,000, but it's not.

Right.

It's not. That is not a good indicator as to the value of your home.

Sure.

So you really need to have an agent that can run comps and knows the area. And so that's the other one that makes me laugh, you know, well, Trulia said my house is worth that.

And so what are they using to pull that number from?

I don't know.

You don't even know.

Yeah.

I don't. I mean, they're pulling comps, but it's an average.

Yeah.

Right. So it's going to be just an average of maybe that zip code, you know, what the average price of the homes are in that zip code or something. I'm guessing. I don't know. I don't work for Trulia, Zillow. I don't work for any of them. But it's not really narrowed down to year built, you know, square footage. You know, they're just doing an average of the area.

Bottom line, it's just not accurate.

Thank you.

Yeah. I actually have a love-hate relationship with comps. Well, like, and a lot of our listeners have heard me tell the love ballad of my home, but—

This home.

Yeah. When we went, there was no comps for something like this. And you could probably look at it and go, there's nothing out there. And that's true. There's nothing.

It's like built, so this is a very unique home, right? It's not like your average cookie cutter neighborhood where you have, you know, 10 houses that look the same. So it's very much, in my opinion, it's like building a pizza. You start with your foundation, which is your acreage, right? And then you have to add all of your toppings. So you've got this building and you've got this build, you know. So it's like building a pizza. That's kind of how I relate it. So you have to really build the value to find, because this is very unique.

It's a cool house. You love me some pizza.

Good pizza pie. I like the deep dish.

Yeah, it's like mod pizza, right? Make my own.

Yeah, pretty much.

Yeah, I'm just curious if— I'm, I'm really wanting to find out if there's like something weird. Like, I'm wondering if anybody's ever claimed like their house was haunted or anybody killed in that house or anything weird like that you've ever run across.

Absolutely. Yeah, absolutely. But so as a seller, you don't have to disclose— there are certain things you don't have to disclose. Yeah, if there was a violent death in a home, obviously you have to disclose that.

Oh, you do? Like the nature of it and everything, huh?

If it was like natural causes, you don't. Okay, but if there was a murder or something like that, yeah, you have to disclose that.

Wow.

Okay. Hauntings, I've never experienced that. I've heard, you know, you hear people tell stories all the time. Yeah, I've never heard, you know, I've never had that situation.

I mean, because I've heard of people taking like their spiritual guide into the home to have it inspected. For those that aren't on YouTube, I'm using finger quotes.

You're Joey Tribbiani.

I am. How you doing? Um, but, but, you know, to bring those people in and go like, hey, what's— what are the spirits telling you in this home? And like, you've never had anybody do anything like that?

I have had somebody, uh, uh, Feng shui.

Feng shui, okay, yeah.

I have had that where they got their phone out and they had to see, you know, where the compass was. And that's the only strange thing. But, but yeah, I'm sure there are, you know, situations where I've not run across that.

Yeah.

So, but—

Good for you.

Yeah, yeah.

Congratulations. Well, but I will tell you that, that, you know, in the 40 houses that we looked at or however many it was, we did walk into some and just went, I don't know, it doesn't smell bad, you know, but there's something—

Just doesn't feel right.

It just doesn't feel right. There's something about this house. And I think that was something that I really gleaned from you during the time that we were working together, was, um, just understand a vibe, whether it's a neighborhood, you know, kind of looking around and just be observant. Yeah, yeah, just the atmosphere, the environment that you're in. Be, be aware of what it is, because if it doesn't feel right whenever you walk in it's probably not right.

So one, one thing that I always tell my clients, and I know I told y'all, it's like when you walk in a house and you know it's the one, you hear the angels singing. It's like, oh, you know, you know it's the one and it just speaks to you. I don't know if it's, you know, supernatural. I don't know what— I don't know if it's whatever, but it does. It just feels good and it just speaks to you.

Yeah.

So And the other thing is we named houses, right?

We did, yeah. That was important.

Yeah, because you can't remember addresses. So we would name it like, you know.

The Cat House.

The Cat House or the, you know, Baby Puke House, you know, whatever it was. And that's how we would remember the properties that we looked at.

Yeah, that was important.

Sounds like y'all sound like a group of pessimists, man.

Well, there's a reason we looked at 40 of them.

Right.

Geez Louise.

Yeah. Oh, you got any other questions?

Yeah, I think you brought up one just real quick. Kevin brought up schools, and I— is that something that folks are looking at as much anymore? Because I know people, at least around here, seem to have more options with public school, private school, homeschooling. Is that something people are looking at as much anymore?

Absolutely.

Yeah.

And, you know, for me, I, as a realtor, we have to be very careful You know, clients, especially clients that move out of town, they're relying very heavily on our opinion.

Mm-hmm.

And I have to remain as objective as possible because I certainly don't want to sway anybody based on, you know, my experiences or, you know, anything like that. So, you know, clients do ask me about crime rate and how are the schools. Well, what I think is an amazing school may not be up to their standards, you know? So everything is very objective.

Yeah.

Or, yeah. So I always, I always, you know, refer them back to like har.com.

Because they'll give you those stats. Absolutely.

And then you can, you can use that data and you can, you know, make your own, you know, you can come to your own conclusions based on that and the statistics for crime and all of that. You know.

And I've even seen like on, on apps, and I think it's on Trulia, when it comes to like school, like school scores and crime scores, they've opened it up to like individual comments, you know, where people can go in there and like give star ratings to those and then put their own 2 cents in. And I'm like, this is—

I think sometimes there's too much.

Yeah.

Information, and it can be overwhelming. Yeah.

And so it's really important, going back to your, your comment about HAR specifically, that the listing website is that you need to know what's— what is good and not good. You know, there's lots of— there's lots of websites out there that will rate schools and give you based on testing scores, based on number of students, you know, the ethnicity ranges, all of those different things. And so, again, it goes back to just know what you're looking at. Make sure that you're understanding the credibility of that site and the people that you're talking to, because ultimately—

Mm-hmm.

This is most likely the biggest investment of your life.

Absolutely.

And you're spending a lot of money on it. And you don't want to look back, you know, a year later and go, man, I really messed that up.

Right. Well, and working with somebody that does listen, you know, knows the area, you know, has been doing this for, you know, some time. You know, when y'all told me what you were looking for, I was able to narrow it down and kind of help, you know, help you you know, zero in on some of those areas. So, but I still also had to be very careful not to, you know, sometimes you have to find out on your own. And if finding out on your own is us just driving through the neighborhood, then so be it. But I can't tell you, oh, I wouldn't go through there. You know, we just have to, we have to go through that journey together and let you form your own opinions. And I think, you know, y'all are smart

people. I think y'all made a great choice. You have a nice house and—

Yeah. And ultimately we wound up buying a house in a completely different city than we originally began looking for. And, and, you know, you, you did a good job of not forcing us into one place or the other. We, we kind of drove that, that bus, so to speak.

Yeah.

So, all right, well, we're, um, kind of coming up on time here, so let's, uh, move into our final 4.

The final 4.

Yeah, so this is it, uh, 4 questions, Brandy, that we ask all of our guests, and we'll just, we'll just kick it off.

They're really hard.

They are really hard.

Glad I don't have to answer them.

I hope you've been studying. All right, so first question, what's the must-have tool you won't leave the house without? So, I mean, you're not a handyman, right? You know, so to speak, handy person. That was awfully gender-specific.

I can't believe you gendered that.

Oh my goodness. Gosh, we live in today Not anyway. So, you know, you're not a handy person, so—

Do I not look handy? Is that what you're saying? Do I not look like I would break a nail?

Well, you probably could. But, you know, we mentioned the marble earlier. So, you know, there's lots of different tools that you have at your disposal. What's the must-have tool that you won't leave the house without?

So I did involve my family in the final 4. Because I wanted to get some other opinions. My son, one of my sons said my phone.

Okay.

And, you know, use that obviously for navigation, to find properties, lots, lots of things, right?

Communication with the buyers or sellers.

Right. But my husband said my planner. I am, I am a, you know, planner nerd. That's like my—

You got like a planner you write in?

Oh, old school leather zip-up, you know, Refill paper.

That is super geeky.

It is very geeky. I'm a closet geek. Kevin knows that.

That's okay. We are too.

So my planner. I have to have my planner everywhere. Okay, cool.

Good, good deal. All right, second question. What's a job you've walked away from? Now, this could be a lot of different things, right? This could be like, you even said at one point, you said, you know, if the seller is not willing to listen to my advice, then maybe they're not the right person for me to represent.

Right.

Or it could be something at your own house that you said, nope, not willing to tackle that.

Well, so you're only as good as the company you keep, right? And you have those clients that are difficult, whether they're a seller or a buyer. Difficult people hang out with difficult people. Difficult people refer difficult people.

Yeah.

So that is an area. we don't work well in the beginning, then I don't— maybe it's best if we, you know, I go this way and you go find somebody that you can maybe work better with.

Yeah.

But more importantly than that, I will not take a listing just because somebody wants to sell their house. If I, after sitting down and really talking to them and understanding why they want to sell and, you know, what are your plans, where are you moving, If I don't feel like it's in their best interest, you know, after we run the numbers and we sit down and we talk about here's what you're going to net, and, you know, I'm not going to take the listing. And I have turned some listings down for that reason. And they were actually very appreciative of that because anybody else would have just put a sign in the yard without really getting to the root of why they want to sell and where are you going and, you know, does it make sense financially, that sort of thing.

Right. That makes sense. Definitely. Okay, 3rd question. How do you wind down at the end of a long day?

Can I say I have wine?

Absolutely.

Okay, I have wine.

What are we talking here? We need some recommendations.

I have wine. That's where this is staying, right? No, but I mean family time. Dinner. Dinner is huge. Dinner is a big one. Put your phones down. Let's sit down, let's hear about your day. It's 20 minutes, right? We are so busy and we're just going 90 to nothing. So just having that time to connect as a family is important.

Yeah, no, we would, we would both agree with you wholeheartedly. Family is a big part of who we are.

Absolutely.

We think that there's so many, so many times when people, um, in life will, uh, just go all in with their job. And they forget that they live with people. And not that there's anything wrong with going all in with your job, but taking some time for yourself is just really, really important.

Absolutely.

So we value that for sure.

Absolutely.

Okay, last question. You're 3 out of 4 so far.

All right.

Okay. One of the best pieces of wisdom or advice you've ever received?

Okay. My dad always said, you lose only when you quit. And as simple as that sounds, you know, my son kind of followed up with that same thing. 'Cause I told you I asked my family, you know.

Yeah.

What are your thoughts? And the same thing, you lose only when you quit. So just stay at it, just work hard, whether it's, you know, in business, in family, in friendships, you know, just always try and try and try and work hard. And I think that you'll— everything else will kind of fall into place. So.

Excellent. We love that.

Yep.

Very cool.

Well, so we've got the final 4. If people have questions, they want to get in touch with you, how do they do that?

Probably email is the best way. brandibanksrealty@gmail.com.

Okay.

brandibanksrealty@gmail.com.

Okay, great. Well, we'll link that up in the show notes.

Okay.

And if there's anything else, we'll, we'll link that up as well.

Any place else they can find you? Are you on social media or anything like that?

I am, but I'm not.

Okay.

Um, I'm, I'm like a behind the scenes, just check out what's going on, but I don't, I don't post a lot. I don't do Instagram. I don't do—

You're posting, but it's in your planner.

Hey man, I do have some pretty fabulous stuff in there. I, I'm a positive person.

Not for public consumption.

I'm a positive quote person. Like, that, that's my big post. So, um, yeah, I'm just— I don't do Twitter and Instagram and all that. I just, I feel like if I have time to do that, then I'm taking away from something else, whether that's working on my business or spending time with my family. Or so I just don't do a whole lot.

A lot of people probably need to hear that right now.

Absolutely.

Get off the social media, do some work, right?

Do something positive with life.

Yeah, or hang out with your kids.

Absolutely.

They're only little ones.

That's right.

Dropping all kinds of wisdom on the Homeowner Show today.

I said one. Yours was like 14. No, that's really good. Well, thank you for coming on the show.

Well, thank you for having me.

We appreciate you being a listener.

Wasn't as awful as I thought. Y'all, I was like super nervous about this, but it was— I think I only stuttered a few times. It was good. So thank you for having me. I appreciate it.

You're welcome. And there may be other things in the future we may call on you for. So, um, but yeah, definitely. Um, I mean, like I said, you know, you— in full disclosure, Brandy sold my wife and I our home. But, um, definitely if you're looking for someone, I would recommend her.

Thank you.

Look her up.

And, um, yeah, anything else, Craig?

I think that's all we got for today, man.

All right, well, in that case, thanks for tuning in and we'll see you next week.

Bye.