Unlock the secret to choosing the right realtor with what I believe is the "game-changing" opening question for every interview. Ready to get started or just curious? Send me a message here on my website or send me an email at [email protected].

Did you know that out of all of the agents that are out there licensed, 49% of them have sold one home or none? That's kind of crazy to think about. So if you're thinking about buying or selling a home, and you're thinking about who you want to help you in this process, here are some tips on hiring a realtor. It would be really easy for me to say, if you're there in the metro Richmond area call me, done. But maybe you're in another market. Maybe you want to buy a home in another state. Maybe you live in this area, and you want to move to Oklahoma or somewhere else. What are the things that you want to look for when you're hiring an agent? Number one, see what they've done and what their experience is (which isn't necessarily that they are the top producer, standing in the ad in the magazine saying I've sold over 150 homes this year). Usually those people aren't doing that all themselves and there's a bandwidth situation where you're probably not going to get the attention that you need if an individual is selling 150 homes in a year. Another thing to consider is what you want to look at is communication. How do you want to be communicated with? How do you want to communicate with your agent? How accessible do you want/need them to be? So on and so forth. So make sure that you have somebody that you feel comfortable with and can communicate well with. So if they love texting, and you are a phone call kind of person, make sure that you're on the same page, and that you're going to be able to communicate well with that person throughout the whole process. Buying a home or selling a home can be a very emotional, and very complex, logistically, sort of experience. So you want to make sure you have good open lines of communication. Looking at other things that might be important to you. In an ideal world, how do you build out that perfect agent? Make a list of questions to ask them, like, how many houses have you sold, that are getting multiple offers? How do you handle those multiple offer situations? When you're hiring an agent, picture yourself as really hiring somebody who's going to help you and be on your team. So make sure that the things that are important to you are the questions that you're asking them so that you end up having a great experience. Not to say new or old or whatever the agent's experience is, everybody has a different case and a different scenario that will look perfect for them but don't just hit the first agent you trip over. Because this is an emotional and complex experience, you want to make sure that you have the best one. So if you're looking to buy in the Richmond metro area, I would love to help. Reach out to me and if you want to buy somewhere else, I have great connections with agents all over the country and I'd love to put you in touch with somebody who can get you where you want to be.

So you're thinking of selling your home, but you don't quite understand how all of this commission conversation, agency conversation that's been in the news is going to affect you when you go to sell your home. Do you still pay a buyer's agent? Do you not pay a buyer's agent? What's the difference? Why should you do one and not the other? What's the benefit? What's the downside, and what the heck does all of it mean? I want to break down some of these conversations that you might be seeing in the news. There is a lot of misinformation out there and I want to make it a little easier for you to understand exactly how it's going to affect you. So if you are getting ready to sell your home, and you are trying to find an agent to help you list your home, get it sold, and get it to closing, you should do all of the same things that you would have ever done, right? You want to make sure that you're comfortable and that you're confident with the person that you're hiring and despite the fact that it is a seller's market, you want to make sure that, that agent is going to not only market your property but make sure it's not one of the 20% of deals that falls apart before it gets to closing. You want to get it to the finish line, right? So you want to make sure that you understand what your agent is going to do and how they're going to do it. Keep in mind that now, as has always been the case, you can negotiate the commission for the listing agent when you hire them. That doesn't mean that every agent is going to work for the price that you want, but you should make sure that whatever price you are paying, you are comfortable that you are getting a great value for that price. And great value does not always mean the cheapest. Great value can often mean I'm paying a little bit more, but I'm getting so much more. It is totally worth it. I saw an agent the other day say working with her was like ordering a 10-piece nugget and getting 11 and that's always my goal, to provide a level of service that goes beyond what you expect. But keep in mind that commission is always negotiable. You can choose whether or not you want to pay a buyer's agent, but if you call me to list your home, I'm going to explain the reasons why you probably do want to pay a buyer's agent. It's just gonna give you that many more buyers. Lots of buyers do not have the cash on hand to pay their agent and you don't want to dismiss them out of hand before they even get in the door of your house. If you have questions about listing your home, you have questions about what it's going to take to get it ready, or you have questions about the commission and how all that is going to break down and how those changes will affect you. Reach out to me give me a call send me an email, shoot me a DM, and let's talk about it and see what's right for you.

If you've been thinking about buying a home, you probably have been looking at real estate news and just getting fed by the algorithm, all things real estate. You probably have some questions on what all these changes are as a result of the National Association of REALTORS settlement and everything that's coming to the real estate industry. But, how do they impact you as a buyer? Well, first of all, in many cases, it's not going to affect you. Secondly, you want to make sure that the person you're working with to help you buy a home, and this has always been true, but especially now, is the person that you want to continue to work with. Make sure that you're in a good situation. That you feel good about the person you have hired to help you find a home and help you negotiate and get to closing on that new home you're purchasing. So that means, asking a lot of questions. Ask friends. Get recommendations and referrals from friends, so that you're making a conscious decision and not just calling your best friend's cousin who got their license yesterday. Not that there's anything wrong with the best friend's cousin, but just be mindful that it has always been important and is even more important now. You may have heard that you as the buyer are going to have to be paying the commission for your buyer's agent, and that is true, and it is also not quite true. So in my opinion, the buyer kind of pays for everything, right, because until you the buyer, pull your wallet out, get your mortgage, and actually close, the seller can't pay anybody anything, because the money that they're using to pay everybody is your money anyway. So they're not paying anyone until their home sells. So for all intents and purposes, the buyer's money is what is being distributed. Taking that aside, let's say that you fall in love with the house and the listing agent, the listing company, the seller, they're not offering any commission to be paid to the buyer's agent, and you, maybe a first-time home buyer, are like, wait a minute, I don't have the cash to pay. I don't know how I'm gonna pay. I don't know what to do here. Well, there are a few options and the least of them is going to the listing agent. So I would always recommend having your own representation. Work with a buyer's agent that you know, that you like, and that you trust. You are going to be in a contract agreement with that person. As such, it does say in most cases that you're going to have to pay their commission if there's no commission offered, but it doesn't have to be a big deal. Keep in mind that you can get closing costs paid by the seller to cover those commissions. You can sometimes roll the commission into the price of the home and it can be financed into your mortgage. This all depends on the type of loan you have, but there almost always is a way to solve it without you having to take cash out of your pocket or write an actual check to your agent. So while it does sound like there are lots of changes coming that may affect you negatively, just remember if you're working with a great agent, there is almost no problem that we can't solve when it comes to real estate. If you have more questions about agency or you want to look for a home start looking for homes in the Richmond area, give me a call, send me a message, or shoot me a DM. I'd love to help.

What's with all the hate for HOAs? I see people online all the time talking about how much they hate HOAs. If we take a step back, there are a lot of opportunities for great homes that are in an HOA, and here's why you might want to consider them and just be mindful about what you're reviewing when you go to buy in that HOA. First off, remember that there are some upsides to being in an HOA community. One of those is going to be that your neighbors are probably never going to be able to put their RV up on blocks, park three boats and two dead cars in their driveway and leave them there all the time. The grass is probably not going to be knee-high at your neighbor's house bringing your property value down. There are a lot of upsides. Now, if you're the person who wants the RV up on blocks in your driveway, you probably are the person who really does not want to be in an HOA community. But it does offer you some protections for your property value down the line. So sometimes that is worth considering. But here are a couple of things to ask yourself. First off, what is the fee that that HOA requires? And what does it include? Does it include trash removal? Does it include the water? Lots of condos and townhouses, it includes water, sometimes hot water, trash removal, snow removal, things like that, exterior maintenance, etc. Every community is a little different. So make sure you know what you're paying for every month when you sign up to be in that HOA. Then you're going to get a copy of all of the HOA docs before you close. That should be ordered right when you put your offer in and sometimes it can take a little while to get but once you get it, here in central Virginia at least, you have a three-day right of rescission. So read those documents. Yes, they're long. Yes, they're boring. But you want to look and make sure that you can live with the restrictions, the rules and regulations that they have. You want to make sure you know what you're paying for. You want to make sure that their financials look decent, and if you need to have your CPA or attorney or someone look at those and make sure they look okay, do that if it gives you a greater level of comfort. But you want to make sure that they're not gonna get in financial trouble and hit you with an extra three grand special assessments next year or in two years. So don't just look at what the rules and restrictions are, but look at the financial documents that are going to be included in those. If you find something you can't live with within those three days, you can say I'm out. So please, please, please read those. If you have any other questions about buying a home in an HOA community, why you might want to, or why you might not want to, I'm here to help. Give me a call, send me a message, shoot me a DM, and let's talk about it to see if an HOA community is right for you or if you want to do your own thing.

It's been a minute since I've talked about agency and all of the proposed changes that are coming down the road in real estate. So, here's a little check-in just to give you an idea of where we are. So as of right now, it looks like changes are going to take place on August 17. That's when things are going to start looking different. Although, if you're the consumer, the buyer, or the seller, they're not going to look that different to you. So what does that mean? It means that, as of that date, we are not going to be able to see the compensation that is offered on the listing side to the buyer's agent. I had a conversation with someone the other day, and he asked, what that's going to look like for him when he goes to sell his property. Basically, a lot of things are not going to change. More things will stay the same, then will change as these changes come around. But ultimately, you always have had the right to negotiate commissions. You always will have the right to negotiate commissions. What I will say is that there are always ways to make your home more marketable and more appealing to both the buyers and the agents showing it to get it to the top of the list and often that's going to be the commission, the willingness to work with commission. Just as it would be for buyers to get closing costs or any other incentives to make an offer on your property over another one. So as we see these changes come on and as new things happen, I'll come out and give you an idea of how it's going to impact you and what's changing. All of those things are going to also change as the market continues to change. So if you want a concise assessment of how things are going to look for you as the consumer whether you're on the buying side or the selling side, follow me here or send me a message, get on my email newsletter, and stay up to date on how things are working and how it will affect you in real estate.

If you've been thinking about getting into the real estate market, whether you're thinking of buying or selling, you have probably heard a lot about all of the changes that are coming primarily regarding commissions in the real estate industry. If I talk to five people a day, I get five different opinions on how they perceive those changes to be coming and how they will affect them. So stay tuned here, subscribe to my YouTube channel, sign up for my newsletter, and stay abreast of all of those changes and how they're going to affect you possibly, whether you're buying or selling. As things change, and continue to develop, we're going to get more information and as I have that more information, I'm going to pass it on to you, because I do think agency is one of the most confusing things in this industry. Certainly right now because everybody has a different opinion. There is lots and lots of misinformation out there, unfortunately, so it is super confusing. My goal is to decode a lot of that for you and make it a little easier for you to wrap your brain around whatever side you're on, buying or selling. So if you have any questions about agency and all of what that entails, shoot me a message, send me an email, or give me a call. I'd love to help you unpack all of the information and get to the bottom of how it will affect you.

There are a few reasons why your home might not be selling as quickly as you thought it would or wanted it to. Here are a few of them. Your home isn't easy to show. It doesn't show well. PRICE!! Check out the video above for a deeper explanation of the reasons your home might not be selling. If you have any questions about pricing or getting your home ready to sell, making sure that it moves at the rate that the market is moving, give me a call. I'd love to talk to you walk through and give you some tips on how we can get your home sold for the most amount in the least amount of time with the least hassle for you. Let's talk.

If you're selling a home in the state of Virginia, what do you need to disclose? If you have ever sold a home in another state, bought a home in another state, you may be familiar with the copious amounts of paperwork that require you to disclose every little detail about your house, and if you've ever had a problem, if you've never had a problem, or if you don't know. In the state of Virginia, we have a one page document called the residential property disclosure, and it really is just a disclaimer, saying as far as I know, everything's good. But hold on just a second, because if you know of material defects to your home, before you sell it, you do need to disclose those to the buyer. And I know it sounds kind of like a gray area, like what is the material defect anyway, but think about the things that would matter to you if you were buying a home. You don't want to buy a home, only to discover that the basement fills up with water every time it rains. That is something you need to disclose. You don't want to buy a home and find out that every time you turn the lights on in the family room, the electrical panel arcs. Those are major issues. They are material defects that need to be fixed or repaired. So you do need to disclose those or better yet, just fix them before you go on the market. Remember, whether you're buying or selling in the state of Virginia, inspections are the buyers responsibility and I always use this as a as a good example of why this rule works. The little old couple that has lived in the house for 40 years, they may never take a bath. They each take one shower a day they sell the home, they think everything is fine. The family moves in with four kids back to back to back to back baths and the bathtub leaks. Well, the little old couple had no idea because they never used the house in that way. So this is why I like our rules better than the rules in some other states. But being aware of what you're purchasing, being aware of what you're selling goes a long way to making a successful transaction. If you have questions about what's a material defect? What do I need to disclose when I'm selling my house, give me a call. Let's talk and walk you through whether you should fix it, disclose it, repair it, or sell it as is with that disclosure in place. Give me a call send, me an email, shoot me a message and let's talk.

If you're thinking about selling your home and you have things, especially in your yard, you might be thinking, they're not going to care if I take my great grandmother's prized hydrangea that I moved to my house 10 years ago, think again. Anything, and that goes from the chandelier in your dining room to the shrubs that you brought from the old home, anything that you don't want to convey, it is always better for you to get that out of the house before it goes to market. If you get it out before you go to market, you erase any possibility that the buyer is going to want that item that you have decided you want to take with you where you are going. So make sure that before you go, putting a sign in your yard, you've done a thorough walkthrough of yeah, both the yard and the inside of the house to ensure that anything you want to take is removed and not tempting to the buyer. Once upon a time, I had sellers sell a home, didn't tell them this, they dug up all of the shrubs out front because they had just bought them and filled all of the holes with dead leaves. What happens in that instance? Closing can be delayed. It obviously causes some strife between buyer and seller, and was it worth the price of those little tiny boxwoods? I'm not so sure. So, better to be safe than sorry and make sure that you have covered everything you want to go with you and clear it with the buyer if it's something they saw beforehand. So if you want to know what can stay, what should leave, what you need to notify your purchaser of and you're thinking of selling your home this spring and summer, give me a call and we can walk through all of those circumstances to make sure that you not only get a contract but you get it to closing and you close on time.