LeadingLane Podcast

Steven L Burch (00:00)
Welcome to the leading lane podcast. We've been on a kick for the inspections and whatnot, so we're going to keep it rolling. ⁓ The big thing in inspections, obviously there's going to be request for different types of repairs. So we've seen everything all over the freaking place as far as something super minute to crazy.

brand new roofs that don't even need to be replaced whatsoever. So in these inspections, Ashley, like as a top listing agent that you are, how do you handle them coordinating, you know, the repairs and making sure that everybody's on the same page and just kind of give an overview of what that looks like for you.

Ashley (00:42)
Yeah, you know, I think that it comes with having like the right network. So that comes over time, but I basically have my core group of contractors that I use, whether that's workers, plumbers, electricians. ⁓ You know, I think that too, they, when they get a call from me, they know like it's work and they know that it's probably gonna have to be done in the next week. Right. But I'm lucky that they almost always squeeze me in.

So I think that for me, that's part of a seller hiring you as their listing agent is that you're problem solving for them. Now, every now and then, right, there'll be ones like, yep, I got a plumber friend. They'll take care of it. And I think that that always works too. But there's a lot of people like in estates that have never sold that don't have any contacts and they feel extremely overwhelmed. So just had one where, you know, it needed a new roof. It needed plumbing. It needed electrical. She was selling her parents' house, right, was overwhelmed. And I was like,

No, like if you're good, like I'll get estimates and I will take care of everything. I mean, she was literally like, what? You would do that? And I was like, well, I mean, you did hire me as your advisors. So that's what I'll do. Like you're free to get other ones, but at least this gives us. So I think a lot of times two people in their head, like think the repair is going to cost $5,000 and maybe it's 750, right? So I've gotten in a habit with a lot of my contractors that

I will email them a copy of the inspection and I'll email them a copy of the inspection requests. And a lot of them like don't need to actually go into the property, which I think they appreciate. They can just look at the inspection requests and be like, oh yeah, that'll take us half a day. And like, here's an estimate. Same thing. She thought this electrical invoice was going to be like $5,000 and it was a $900 repair, right? So that made it that much easier for us to move forward versus the seller saying, no, I'm not willing to do any repairs. I think it's going to cost $5,000.

only cost 900. So I think it's a matter of having those solid people that you know and trust to do good work. But I do think that, you know, like sellers just, this isn't what they do every day. So they just feel overwhelmed, feel like offers are going to fall apart. So I do feel like it's on us to help them set those up. So do that with pretty much everyone or they'll say like, I have contacts for that and we'll kind of, you know, split it and conquer together.

You know, I think one piece of that that we talked about is just when maybe agents go a little too far and want to really try to help. And then maybe they start to be like, well, I can fix that for you. Or, you know, I in your area, VA is a big thing here. It's scattered, but I have a VA right now that it was actually part of the offer, you know, chipped painting to be done prior to an appraisal. And I've heard some agents that have

gone and shipped the paint and painted themselves. Um, you know, so I think that's a whole nother realm of something we should, we should talk about. Um, but I think as far as like the actual guiding the seller in those types, like you're the, you're supposed to be the go-to. So you're supposed to be the one that can help set those up. You know, I put a different lock box on so that the inspector, the contractors can get it in and out of there, you know, all those types of things. So I think it's really just a matter of.

Having that network of people down that you can trust to take care of the business, not take advantage of someone, ⁓ not use someone that lives an hour away to do the work, those types of things.

Steven L Burch (04:14)
To me, I look at it like you are the, you're the project manager, the GC, whatever you call it, right? Like you oversee the project. You're the delegator. You're making sure everything's being done. You have the oversight and the forecast of everything. So having that network is, I mean, wildly huge. And I think the more that you do and the more that you create those relationships, even with your vendors, is so important in this industry.

it should not be waiting for the last second to get everything done. It should not be scrounging everything up. And I think that there's a level of professionalism when you actually handle the transaction, like the project manager, especially within that inspection portion and repairs and such. Like it just shows way more value in the reason why somebody is paying you, why the seller is paying the compensation that they have agreed to. And

You know, it's just wild to me of how, you you mentioned that agents go and do the work themselves, peeling and chipping paint, like scraping it. Is it that big of a deal? Not at all. Like, I get it. Like, I'm capable of doing it. Am I going to do it? Absolutely not. But I think sometimes that agents don't see that,

You not only now are putting yourself in a position when you do that type of work, you're putting yourself in a position with the seller, the buyer, the other side, your actual, I mean, your reputation and your career on the line. You have a lender, you have an appraiser. Like you have so many different people that now are all engulfed into this and you are taking upon yourself in this transaction to go do this work on the property. I don't care how minute.

or large, you think that you have the capability of doing it, I think it's a completely, it's a big ass no-no for me. You should not be doing any work on anybody's property. That's not what they hired you for. So I don't know if it's necessarily a, they're trying to help or they're putting themselves in the, that they, yeah, they can do it. It's easier for everybody and then don't want the difficult conversation. But I think you're actually creating so much more liability.

doing that type of work than stepping back and saying, let's get a professional or let's get somebody that everybody's agreeing upon versus me, you know, either getting compensated more on it or just doing it and nobody knows that I'm actually doing it.

Ashley (06:45)
Well, and I think, you know, when you do pull in a licensed contractor, right? Like it's, you have that, you have the estimate, you have the paid invoice. If anything comes up after closing, you're not involved. Like it's that plumber that was here. Like if you have a problem with something that was done, like the plumber is responsible for coming back. I am not responsible for coming back. You know, I think that, I think people do it. ⁓ I think for the most part to like, try to help, but I think it is just more of a detriment.

And I always try to tell people like, it's like the seller, like the seller is selling their house. Like they know that there's going to be expenses and whether that's hiring a cleaner, a landscaper, whatever that is, like those are just costs of getting your house ready to sell. So I always try to explain to sellers like, I might need you to spend like a thousand dollars to get the house ready for selling. You'll recoup it. I'm positive by having it in that much show ready of a.

condition, but I also think you can run this line of so you're right, it gets found out that you painted the house or whatnot. What happens with the next transaction? then they heard that you helped the seller. So then like, you expected to do it on the next one? And then the next one and like, where is the cutoff line? Or then where is it not? Okay, well, you did it for this person, why won't you do it for me?

Steven L Burch (08:10)
Right, well then also with that too, like if you're taking the time to go paint the house or whatever it is that you're choosing to do and you're focusing on being a contractor, literally the doer of the contract work.

You're not building your own business as a real estate agent and selling houses and building that side of your portfolio. So like which one do you want? Focus on what you're trying to build. Don't try to be a master. What is the saying? Jack of all trades but master of none, right? Focus on your career and focus on what you're truly being hired for and that is to sell the house.

Ashley (08:39)
Next up, mom. Yeah.

Steven L Burch (08:48)
That is to help the buyer buy the house. Nowhere in that buyer agency agreement or listing agreement does it say that you have a duty to go over there and work on the house. Actually, in our agreements, it says that we are not the people to go and do the investigation on, I know it's worded way differently, but to go and search for the defects on the property and do the inspections ourselves and those types of things. That is not in our wheelhouse. That is not what we are licensed for.

It just drives me bonkers that people are out there focusing on the wrong thing, their trip, they're running after the dollars but tripping over the pennies or vice versa, however that goes. But, you know, I think the other thing here too is just the way that, that now, since you are doing that work, that other side, in my opinion, if anything goes awry,

That other side of the transaction to go up has so much more ammo against you. That's only in the inspections. What happens is something comes up in the appraisal now. ⁓ here's a whole nother honeydew list, honey. Let you go out there and do your job and paint this side of the house now. Like, come on. That's wild. ⁓

Ashley (09:52)
Mm-hmm.

No, I

think really where this comes from is expectations and boundaries, right? So I think that on the sell side, when you're meeting with a seller, it is talking about expectations of what to do to get the house ready. And I already have a list of people readily available. So like when I'm meeting with them, like they need a contractor, they need an electrician, they need a landscaper, they need a cleaning lady. Like that's not for me,

It doesn't really even come up in discussions because I've already led that discussion to hear the context of who you need to get ahold of in order to get the house ready for the market. And then I think the same thing, you know, when you're talking to the seller about, you know, what comes up or when you're talking about the inspection contingencies, you know, it's a matter of the right to cure those types of things of who's going to do them. And there are things where like a seller can make the repair. That's great. And that's part of the contract.

Nowhere does it say the agent should be making the repair. And I just think that that's a really big liability to take on for yourself and for your brokerage. And at the end of the day, like if you have a big picture, like would you want to lose your license over painting something and then it didn't work out? You know what I mean? Like to me, like there are people that will go down that road because we're in a still happy world. So whatever you can do to remove yourself from like those intricate details, I think is great, you know, and then on the, on the

Steven L Burch (11:25)
Mm-hmm.

Ashley (11:34)
you know, inspection side, same thing. Like I can refer back to those same contacts that I gave them. And then on the buy side, you know, when you're meeting with a buyer for a buyer consult, same thing, like here's a list of approved vendors that I work with on a regular basis that I can speak to. Uh, and then again, that I think builds that trust back with both the seller or the buyer that like, she knows what she's doing. She already has all these contacts. I'll trust what she says and we'll move forward with that.

Steven L Burch (12:03)
So I know kind of just spin off on the inspections, I think it's something that I learned very early on is the way that you write your request, write your negotiations. And there's a huge difference between replacing a toilet and repairing a toilet, right? And so it's making sure that you write it out to the exact and what you are looking for.

Ashley (12:18)
and

Steven L Burch (12:28)
And it even got down into like when art in our market, you know, by a qualified individual. Well, what whose definition is qualified and you don't need to, you know, you don't have to have a license to paint. Totally get that.

But then making sure, know, it's by a professional ⁓ quality company, provide invoice. And so like you would assume that, I mean, I assumed early on, I learned that I should not, because that makes an ass out of you and me, that no, we'll get that invoice. Well, these people will do right. That's not the case. Sometimes people, agents, sellers, whomever, will try to cut every corner to save anything that they possibly can.

So when I do my inspections and I encourage it to make sure that you are extremely specific exactly what you are in a bullet point format of it's a yes, no request, not a, get, we receive all sorts of inspection requests all the time. That's what are they actually asking here for? Like, like they, we're all over the.

Ashley (13:33)
I mean, the greatness creates

so many issues because then like seller might repair it the way they thought or interpreted it. And then you get to the final walkthrough and it's not what they meant. So again, like clarification, but I think you're right. Like, you know, a lot of ours is licensed electrician to do the following license plumber to do the following. I prefer, which a lot of agents don't do for also the more clarification as all reference page 16 number two, right?

Steven L Burch (13:59)
Mm-hmm. Yep.

Absolutely.

Ashley (14:03)
or I'll have someone

that just puts in an amendment, GFCIs to be replaced. Like what GFCIs are we replacing, right? So I just literally go down like page by page, bullet by bullet in it. So there are no questions, plus it's so much easier when you do hand it to a contractor, they know exactly what they're doing, because they can literally look at page 16, item number two, and make that repair.

Steven L Burch (14:26)
And then typically on home requests or even on the appraisal compliance is typically there are photos that are referencing whatever it's referring, right? So being able to constantly go back to you're eliminating any sort of confusion or as much confusion as you possibly can. And I think that.

for you and negotiation power, taking those extra, to me those are little steps. You're already looking at the paperwork. Why not put the page and the line number or whatever else it is for the reference points on there so that you don't have to run into that hurdle. Clear is kind, unclear is unkind. Absolutely. Yeah, so then going into this too, as far as like on the appraisal compliances.

Ashley (15:00)
There is kind.

Steven L Burch (15:14)
What is your opinion of whose responsibility when there's an appraisal and there are compliance, whose responsibility to complete those compliance work?

Ashley (15:24)
So we normally treat it as it is, so it's kind of twofold. I say it's the buyer's responsibility because it is the buyer's loan type that is requiring that repair. So an example might be VA, they require chipped painting, right? But on a conventional loan, if buyer had a conventional loan, the conventional loan would not require chipped painting. I typically, ⁓

I like to explain that to buyers. A lot of agents do not explain that to buyers. So then when it comes to it, they automatically think that the seller is going to do that. I will say that for the most part, ⁓ as long as the buyers are prepped, they're prepared for it. It's in those situations where an agent did not explain that to a buyer. And then we get into those dicey terms. At the end of the day, the unfortunate thing is, is if those repairs don't get made right, then the

buyer has the ability to receive a loan denial letter and technically back out of the offer. So then sometimes I'll have to go back to the seller and be like, ultimately, like, we have to decide if this is worth losing the transaction or not. So can you put in a handrail and we call it good versus them not doing it. So I like to say in prep that it's the buyer's responsibility because of their loan type. But ultimately, you know, sometimes I'll do it where they'll work it out together.

Or sometimes we get lucky enough and if you're a well-versed enough agent, you'll know things that come up in the inspection. And the inspection is almost like a leeway of, know, this is what the appraisal might lead to. ⁓ So there are, right, like if you're being advantageous for your buyer, this already came up in the inspection, likely going to come up in the appraisal or on the inspection, right, it typically falls back to the seller.

Let's take care of these issues with the seller because it came up in the inspection and then they're already taken care of by the time the appraisal comes through.

Steven L Burch (17:21)
Yeah, I totally agree. And I think just the assumption that it's always the seller's responsibility on every appraisal. Like the first off, there is nothing, in my opinion, in real estate that is ever consistent. The only thing that is consistent is the change in the level of interpretation on whichever side. So it's always, you know, making sure that it's communicating, it's making sure that you have your side prepared for that.

And I think also with the other side of things too, is making sure that, you know, in the inspection or within the offer, being able to say, you know, seller compliance or assuming appraisal of compliance is our buyer's responsibility or, mean, there's so many different ways that you can be able to apply that in there so that you can do more upfront. And I think that's kind of the whole purpose of negotiation. The more that you can put up front, the more hurdles.

obstacles that you can overcome upfront, the easier when those things happen in the actual journey of the transaction, it's going to be easier to negotiate and it's not as frightening or disturbing because we tried to eliminate and they're already prepared for something else to happen.

Ashley (18:34)
Well, you know, one thing that comes up to me that I don't, I don't understand a lot is I'll, I'll come across a buyer and they all say like they were looking at houses with someone and that agent told them that they can't look at this property because it won't pass FHA or VA. And I am always a little blown away because one, like we as agents are not the appraiser. So I'll be honest, there's some that I thought something would get flagged, doesn't get flagged.

Blows my mind sometimes. mean, like there was one where I would have flagged the whole entire house. Not one thing got flagged. So I was like, see, this is why we don't make assumptions. Um, so, you know, in those situations, I normally try to explain to that buyer, like, that's not necessarily the case. Like one, you know, it's not to say you couldn't ask a seller to make those repairs as part of your offer. Right. So we just had one and it was chipped painting. The buyer wrote in, you know, to be a chipped painting to be done prior to appraisal.

Steven L Burch (19:09)
you

Ashley (19:34)
I mean, and the seller agreed to it. was taken care of. imagine had a different agent been like, nope, there's chip paint. You can't buy that house. You know, like you just don't know what a seller's motivation is, which is also going to change in this market. They may be more apt to do some repairs because their house has been on the market longer. Uh, so I think, know, on agents too, like I would really encourage you not to tell someone what house they can and can't look at because one, you don't know if it's truly going to come up on the appraisal. And two, you don't truly know what a seller may or may not be willing to do.

Steven L Burch (20:03)
Yeah. And again, it goes back to negotiation. That's all it is. And so like, think that if you're already shooting yourself in the foot, right, like you're when you get into it, you know, it's almost a I told you so type of thing if you're not going and putting the initiative into trying to make the deal work. Right. Because you're very well. You could very well say that.

buyer is going to increase the price if it's there, if the price is there to be able to accommodate the repairs for the seller to pay for. I don't know. We can do a whole bunch of stuff with it. We see that all the time. I have one right now that, it's a cute little, I think it's a cute little house. It's a great little rental house, right? It's my first listing back on all the games here. And I put on there that negotiable.

and all the different terms. We don't know what it's going to, there's cosmetic work, we're very clear with it. ⁓ But don't make the assumption that everything is gonna fall on the seller, everything needs to be negotiated out. And I mean, I'll put that in the agent remarks so that I'm disclosing that, yeah, we're saying that it could go VA, but we're gonna have to negotiate it out. ⁓ And that's even on my side as a listing agent. I don't want to not mark.

Ashley (21:17)
Thank

Steven L Burch (21:24)
something and then the agent is so hyper focused on how they are searching in the MLS and my listing gets passed up because how they are searching. That's not fair to my seller.

Ashley (21:35)
Well, it's not to say like in a same on a flip note, like there are some properties that will not pass. mean, right. Like, you know, like there is like, had one that there was legitimately like mold everywhere, everywhere. So I mean, even a conventional loan wasn't willing, underwriting wasn't willing to pass those. Right. So I acknowledge like will not pass normal. Even people wrote, still people wrote conventional loans. And then I'd be like, did you talk to the lender?

Steven L Burch (21:40)
yeah.

Ashley (22:05)
And then they'd be like, no. Then I'd call the lender and I'd be like, you do those like mold everywhere. And they're like, yeah, they're never getting a loan. I'm like, okay, I'm not going to wait my time. Right. So like at the end of the day, like it was cash offer. And I also had to explain to that seller, like your buyer pool is significantly smaller because it's going to have to be a cash buyer.

Steven L Burch (22:21)
Right, right. You know, it's so fun of real estate because of how ⁓ crazy it is, non-consistent, non, like there's never two transactions that are ever the same, right? And so I think that's what makes things really great. And I will also say that when I first got into real estate, that is what drove me nuts because like this is the contract. This is the way it's supposed to be, very black white.

It's not black white industry. This is very fluid and be able to roll with the punches. And I think that's what makes you a great agent is to be able to be that problem solver, that solution specialist and being able to not always just take it for what the face value is. Cool. Great talk. So as always, if you guys have other ideas, suggestions for topics, or you want to be a guest on our podcast, please reach out to us. We will love to have you.

Ashley (23:08)
for