June 9, 2025 • 43 mins
In this episode of the Money & You podcast, host Michelle Perkins welcomes real estate expert Laura Pozarny for a timely conversation on what it takes to successfully sell your home in today’s dynamic market. Laura, a Los Angeles native and Westside specialist, shares her personal journey into real estate, insights into current market trends, and actionable tips for sellers looking to make their property stand out. Whether you’re planning to sell now or sometime down the line, Laura emphasizes that a smart, confident mindset is the most important tool a seller can have. From pricing strategies to home prep and marketing, she explains how sellers can take back control of the process and set themselves up for success.
Highlights from this episode include:
00:00 – Introduction to Laura Pozarny and her real estate background
06:22 – How Laura transitioned from corporate to real estate during the pandemic
12:10 – Why the Westside of LA is a unique "bubble" in the real estate market
15:48 – The rise in inventory and how recent events like fires are impacting sales
21:05 – What makes a great listing agent and why sellers must vett for marketing strategy
26:40 – The psychology of buyers: Decluttering and depersonalizing your home
31:20 – Curb appeal and first impressions: Where to invest for maximum impact
34:18 – Outdated kitchens and baths: What to fix vs. what to leave
38:12 – Should you do a pre-listing inspection? Pros and cons
42:45 – The truth about pricing: Start high, adjust fast
47:30 – The importance of seller mindset: Patience, strategy, and staying positive
52:08 – How Laura supports her clients from prep to closing
55:00 – Timeline for prepping a home to sell
57:28 – Final thoughts on mindset, readiness, and trusting the process
Key Takeaways:
For more tools and conversations about money mindset, practical money tips, confidence, and financial empowerment… Subscribe to the Money & You Podcast: Apple Podcasts
Please rate and review & share the podcast with your friends and family members who want to better understand money, and feel more confident and in control of their financial lives. It's sooo important to us!!
Join the Limit Free Life Community Blog: https://limitfreelife.com/newsletter
Learn more about Michelle Perkins: https://limitfreelife.com
LinkedIn: Michelle on LinkedIn
Instagram: @livealimitfreelife
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@michelleperkins-limitfreel2446
Highlights from this episode include:
00:00 – Introduction to Laura Pozarny and her real estate background
06:22 – How Laura transitioned from corporate to real estate during the pandemic
12:10 – Why the Westside of LA is a unique "bubble" in the real estate market
15:48 – The rise in inventory and how recent events like fires are impacting sales
21:05 – What makes a great listing agent and why sellers must vett for marketing strategy
26:40 – The psychology of buyers: Decluttering and depersonalizing your home
31:20 – Curb appeal and first impressions: Where to invest for maximum impact
34:18 – Outdated kitchens and baths: What to fix vs. what to leave
38:12 – Should you do a pre-listing inspection? Pros and cons
42:45 – The truth about pricing: Start high, adjust fast
47:30 – The importance of seller mindset: Patience, strategy, and staying positive
52:08 – How Laura supports her clients from prep to closing
55:00 – Timeline for prepping a home to sell
57:28 – Final thoughts on mindset, readiness, and trusting the process
Key Takeaways:
- Selling your home is as much about mindset as it is about strategy.
- Decluttering and removing personal items are essential steps to help buyers visualize themselves in the space.
- A fresh coat of paint, tidy landscaping, and strategic staging can significantly increase buyer interest.
- Marketing matters—sellers should always ask potential agents about their promotional approach.
- Pricing is not emotional: listen to what the market tells you and be prepared to adjust quickly.
- Give yourself a long runway before listing—avoid pressure and make informed choices.
For more tools and conversations about money mindset, practical money tips, confidence, and financial empowerment… Subscribe to the Money & You Podcast: Apple Podcasts
Please rate and review & share the podcast with your friends and family members who want to better understand money, and feel more confident and in control of their financial lives. It's sooo important to us!!
Join the Limit Free Life Community Blog: https://limitfreelife.com/newsletter
Learn more about Michelle Perkins: https://limitfreelife.com
LinkedIn: Michelle on LinkedIn
Instagram: @livealimitfreelife
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@michelleperkins-limitfreel2446
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
Okay, I love this question. Well, there's a lot you
can do, you know, you can. It's you know, decluttering
is a clean and declutter is sort of like the
first line of defense. I think, especially for homeowners that
have been living in their homes for twenty thirty years.
I think it's people don't realize how much stuff they
(00:25):
kind of have, and buyers do not want to see
any personal items, and as benign as it might seem
to you as the seller, they want to visualize themselves
in the home. They want to see their own photos
in the frame, not you know, a couple of family
A couple of family photos is fine, but you know,
(00:49):
you know, remove the stuffed animals from the kids' rooms,
you know, really give them a blank canvas, because buyers
just want to picture themselves about them when they're walking
through the house.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
Hey, there, and welcome to Money and You. I'm Michelle Perkins,
your host. My search for more fulfilling work led me
to career in business coaching, where I stumbled upon a
game changing discovery. Money issues often start with our mindset
and habits. You see, our relationship with money is the
key to overcoming those frustrating financial obstacles. As an entrepreneur,
(01:24):
coach and problem solver, I'm passionate about helping you create
a great relationship with money, because turns out that's the
foundation for a limit free life. Each week on Money
in You, I speak with amazing guests about all things money, mindset,
practical tips, and everything in between. We're here to give
you new insights, education, and empowerment. So money can be
(01:45):
one of your favorite relationships. So join us for some
lively conversations and let's transform your financial life together. Hello, Hello,
and welcome to another episode of the Money in You Show.
I'm super excited about today's show. We're going to talk
real estate today with a wonderful expert who I've come
to know and I'm so excited for her to share
(02:07):
her expertise. And I'm going to go ahead and give
you a little background and then we'll get started. So
Laura Pozzarni, her extensive personal experience in the market, combined
with the fact that she owns several residential and commercial
investment properties throughout Los Angeles and California, makes her a
perfect fit to represent you. As a true Westside native.
(02:30):
Born and raised in Brentwood, she has spent her life
immersed in the heart of Los Angeles. She knows every
trendy neighborhood, desirable street, and sought after school district in
the city. With a passion for marketing and a dynamic
reach within the local community, she leverages strategic, targeted approaches
to ensure maximum visibility for every property she represents. More importantly,
(02:52):
her dedication to earning your business and ensuring your success
is her absolute goal. She truly loves helping people. It's
her gift, and she takes pride in guiding her clients
through some of the biggest decisions of their lives. When
she's not working, she enjoys majong paddle, tennis, skiing, and
spending time at the beach with her family. Welcome, Laura,
(03:13):
thank you. I'm so happy, great intro.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
Where'd you get that great intro? Oh?
Speaker 2 (03:19):
I found it out there in the wide world webs
they used to call it. So Laura, thank you for
coming and being on the show today. I've been hoping
to have you on for a long time because we
met and I just loved how passionate you were about
what you do. And I don't know, I just I
(03:43):
love how intimately you know your area, and so I
feel like you're such an asset to people who are
either buying or selling. And I've also wanted to have
just a super frank conversation about real estate in general,
because it's always a topic in LA. People are always
talking about real estate. Oh yeah, I don't know if
I'll ever be able to buy. I don't know if
(04:04):
I'll ever you know. I mean, it's like those constant discussion.
So I'd love for you to just kind of talk
a little bit about how you got into it and
how you acquired this passion for it.
Speaker 1 (04:17):
Yeah. Yeah, you know, people in LA love to talk
about real estate. Everyone wants to know what their home's worth,
and they see the houses next door on the market
and they're wondering what that means for them. And you know.
But I got into real estate a few years ago.
I think it kind of started with my husband. Oops,
(04:40):
I just crisped the screen. He has been in real
estate for twenty five years, and he would come home
and bring stories home, and I would walk through deals
with him, and I just found it so interesting and
so fascinating and so engaging. He is on the commercial side,
(05:01):
so I would learn about other people's businesses because he
would work with business owners and I just loved all
the stories and I thought it was so interesting meeting
new people. So I got my real estate license during
COVID when our daughter was going through kindergarten on Zoom,
(05:28):
which was crazy because it was really actually sad for me.
But anyway, I was home because I have to be
because she was on Zoom. So I just studied and
got my license and I passed first time. And because
I knew so much of the information already, I mean,
I was at this point, I had been talking about
(05:49):
real estate with my husband for so long and just
it was so natural, so I was basically I've been
under his tutelage for a while for four years now,
and I just instantly gravitated towards the residential market. It
was like it was like a magnet. And I love
(06:13):
the product. I loved, just like everyone talks to talk
about real estate, I just loved. I loved doing it too,
being in different neighborhoods and clients started. It just kind
of worked. I got one client and then people just
were trusting me and and rightfully, so I think, I
(06:35):
really my brand is about it's a luxury lifestyle brand,
and you know, I don't know, it just really clicked
for me. And I still work with my husband, which
I think is crazy because a lot of people are like,
how do you work with your husband?
Speaker 2 (06:50):
Yeah? Those people, Yeah, I.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
Mean a lot of people are like, what. But he's
very well known and he has you know, he's been
around a long time, very loyal, very loyal, client based.
So it's actually worked a lot for me as well
because he's able to refer business to me, and I
can actually refers to.
Speaker 2 (07:09):
Him very nice. Yeah, I love that. And I also
love the fact that you like to sell homes in
the in the area that you know really well, because uh,
you know, that just gives the clients so much inside
information about, you know, what they might be getting into.
(07:31):
So because the first time I met you, I was
so impressed by how you described the area that you
represent a lot, not that you can't sell anywhere, but yeah.
Speaker 1 (07:43):
Well I was born in Brentwood, raised here. I went
to the high school in Santa Monica, and this is
just my backyard and I've been raised, you know, uh
in a certain environment, and I'm just taking advantage of
that essentially. Yeah, yeah, I'm not and I'm not like
(08:05):
going to be shy about it. I'm just going to
take advantage and take it make it work to my advantage,
which it has been. So this is how I was raised.
I have like a certain pedigree, if you will, that
puts me in the right place to be able to flourish.
So why not just take that opportunity. And I think
a lot of couples like trust my my like trust
(08:31):
my decision making and trust my opinion for.
Speaker 2 (08:34):
That fact so well, And I kind of love the
idea because I think a lot of your clients are,
you know, either families or family bound. You know there,
they're getting there and and you know, so you can
speak as a person who grew up in that area,
so you know and how it was.
Speaker 1 (08:54):
I understand the lifestyle. I know about all the private schools.
I know what areas do you want to be in?
I know where the shop areas are good. I know
you know you want to be on this street and
not that street. You want to be above this street
and not that street. You know. So there's a certain
way about this West Side environment that you need to
be aware of. Yeah, and I'm trying to help sort
(09:16):
of fulfill that for people and kind of put those
two pieces, put those pieces all together.
Speaker 2 (09:21):
Yeah, I think it's an interesting time in real estate
all of a sudden, I mean, real estate for a
while was kind of I don't know, it felt easy.
Really there was such a demand and you know, things
were things are just really moving fast and at high prices,
(09:41):
and things have shifted a little and I think people
are curious about what's going on right now and how
I mean, I'll just tell you from what I'm reading
because I'm not in the space, but you know, it
sounds like it's more of a buyer's market right now.
It sounds like things are taking a little longer to sell,
and there's more image than we've had in a while,
(10:01):
so that creates a different environment. So you know, i'd
love your expert opinion on how people who want to sell.
First of all, is there something going on with selling
right now? Like, is there a reason people are there
are more sellers than before, I mean, or maybe is such.
Speaker 1 (10:20):
A yeah, Well, definitely I'm seeing a lot more inventory
and definitely shifting to a little bit of a buyer's market.
But the West Side is such a bubble. I mean,
it's it's such a bubble. So the policies buyers were
very crucial for the real state market. Right now, a
(10:42):
lot of people are putting their homes on the market
because they do see an advantage to, you know, capitalizing
on the fact that these people have been displaced and
are capable of purchasing homes and will pay good money,
especially in like those closest areas like Santa Monica and Brentwood,
(11:03):
a little bit of Marina del Rey in Venice as well,
but Santa Monica and Brentwood is the prices are really exploding,
so the sellers are like, well, wait a minute, this
time is now that's what I think is happening. So
what's also happening is in the beginning after the fires,
(11:25):
there was a rush of renting. It was mayhem, yeah, mayhem.
People could not get in. It was just it was crazy.
So that that slowed down and now it's picking back
up because those short term leases are coming to an
end and now people need to figure out what they're
(11:45):
going to do. So people are considering by So you
want to have your house on the market to be
one of the people that are going to be considered. Okay,
so the best way to know, you know, the best,
and I think the best way to know is just
to put it on the market and see what happens.
Speaker 2 (12:04):
Interesting, So you think there are some of what this
inventory is about is people just kind of testing the waters.
Speaker 1 (12:12):
Maybe, yeah, a lot of people do that. Interesting, so
they can get they can always say no. But you know,
some of these homes north of Montana are going for
outrageous prices. So people are just that's where they want
to live. They cannot roup their families, they just they're
(12:33):
kind of in a situation, okay, okay, so they want
to stay in La Yeah.
Speaker 2 (12:39):
Yeah, So even though you know, maybe it's a little
bit of a buyer's market, you're in it. Well again,
it's a bubble, so you're not bubble necessarily.
Speaker 1 (12:50):
Sometimes a seller will have a home and then the
home on the opposite side of the street will sell
in one day, but then their home sits for months
and it's really that specific.
Speaker 2 (13:01):
Okay, okay, interesting, and.
Speaker 1 (13:03):
So that's why I say, like the best way to
know is just to put it on the market, got
it listed, and then you know, marketing is sort of
another area where I really arrive. So that's where I
like my creative. My creativity just like explodes. You've seen
all my marketing on Instagram and my email newsletter. I
(13:26):
have a monthly networking meeting that I host and that's
where you get some attention on your on your property.
Got people got in the door, see it all in love.
Hopefully you get multiples and you you know, go close
it over.
Speaker 2 (13:44):
Asking Yeah, and I'm glad you brought that up because
that's something that I just ran into. As you know,
we have an investment property that we put on the
market and it is a bit slow going and it's
a little out of your area. But we, I mean,
we played around. We had one realtor who was I
(14:06):
don't know that this matters, but he was older, he
was a little more established and set in his ways
and didn't do a lot of marketing. Now I wasn't
exactly sure why, but I think in his mind he
felt like he didn't need to. Now, I don't know
if that's a holdover from you know, the last many
years where people didn't do a lot or what. And
then you came along and I, you know, I asked
(14:29):
you to look at it, and you said, wow, you know,
this is what I would do, and and I thought, well,
that's kind of what I've been hoping to hear. So
I think, I mean, part of its understanding social media
and some of the newer ways of marketing, but you
also had the intention to do old you know, I
(14:49):
mean really nice open houses and things that just it's
part of it. And so it really opened my eyes
to how different different realtors approach the marketing. And I
guess I figured there was some formula that all realtors did, and.
Speaker 1 (15:07):
I learned that I mean some, Yeah, I mean some.
Maybe because I'm a newer agent, I come with like
a more like I'm just crushed, I'm excited. I have
so much energy around what I'm doing. I really love it.
So I think that could be it. Some I've been
doing it this way for one hundred years and that's
(15:27):
just how they do it, and you know, so you
need to ask those questions. And that's what I would,
you know, advise your listeners, is like just to ask, like,
what's your marketing? How do you do your marketing? Show
me some examples.
Speaker 2 (15:41):
Yeah, And I'm glad you're saying that to people. If
somebody had said that to me before, I did this,
I would have been more skeptical about. But you know,
there was sort of a narrative that he was telling
me about, we don't need to do any of these things.
We don't need to sign, we don't need and you know,
and I was questioning it, but because I'm not a realtor,
I didn't really know. So we had to go through
(16:02):
a little time of like no activity to realize that this,
the marketing that was needed was not happening. And so
I do think, you know, you should go into it
with a marketing plan and somebody who has that mentality.
Speaker 1 (16:18):
So yeah, you can't just stick it on that in
my lass and pray and pray, like say a little prayer.
You need to like push it. You need to get
on the phone, call your friends, call your contacts, get
on your CRN, call people, like you know, get push it,
push it. Because there are there are a lot of properties,
so you need to say no, no, no, you need to
look at this one. This is the one you need
(16:38):
to look at.
Speaker 2 (16:39):
Mm hmmm, yeah, super interesting. And I wanted to ask
you for a seller for somebody who might be considering
putting their house on the market and wants it to
you know kind of rise above you know, the other
things out there? What are what? What should a seller
be thinking about? What should they be doing? Uh to
(17:00):
get ready to sell?
Speaker 1 (17:04):
Okay, I love this question. Well, there's a lot you
can do, you know you can. It's you know, decluttering
is a clean and declutter is sort of like the
first line of defense. I think, especially for homeowners that
have been living in their homes for twenty thirty years.
I think it's people don't realize how much stuff they
(17:26):
kind of have, and buyers do not want to see
any personal items, and as benign as it might seem
to you as the seller, they want to visualize themselves
in the home. They want to see their own photos
in the frame, not you know, yeah a couple of
family a couple of family photos is fine, but you know,
(17:50):
you know, remove the stuffed animals from the kids' rooms,
you know, really give them a blank canvas. Because buyers
just want to picture themselves. It's all about them when
they're walking through the house.
Speaker 2 (18:03):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (18:03):
So, and it's that's a hard conversation as a real
estate agent to have with the seller because I don't
want to you know, they're they're cherished memories and their
home and it's hard enough to sell a family home
for example. But you know, those are a good example.
Also updating, like curb appeal. I always find to be
(18:24):
a big money well spent is to maybe spruce up
the landscaping. Give them when they drive up and they're
in the car with their husband or wife and the
kids and they're like, oh my god, I can see
my friends coming over and us have and just feeling
so proud of this. What's another? So those are like,
(18:51):
those are a couple of the things.
Speaker 2 (18:52):
Yeah, that's great, that's great, And I I think that
both those things are so important. And you know, I
kind of knew about the decluttering. I wouldn't have really
thought about the front area, but you're right when you
when you first you know, it's first impressions and you
want to feel like you can visualize people coming to
(19:13):
generate your house or whatever.
Speaker 1 (19:14):
So yeah, yeah, I think those are big and you know,
just like not yeah so not not kind of removing
the personal items.
Speaker 2 (19:25):
Yeah, but it's hard.
Speaker 1 (19:26):
It's hard.
Speaker 2 (19:26):
It is hard. Personal that feels weird. I remember when
we were told to do that many many years ago,
and yeah, it feels it feels you get a little
offended in a way.
Speaker 1 (19:38):
I understand that I do, and I so that's yeah,
it's it's but it for the buyer when they're spending
this kind of money, they all they are thinking about
is themselves. Yeah, and as people do, and that's their right.
And so those are just tips. I think it helps.
(19:58):
And then you know, obviously like updates to the bathrooms
and kitchen yeah yeah, those are huge.
Speaker 2 (20:04):
Yeah, And what if your kitchen or a bath is
pretty dated, do you redo it? Or if you can't
redo it, what can you do to kind of make
it look better?
Speaker 1 (20:12):
You know, you can again take away personal items just
like plain white towels, even super clean and then it
depends on how outdated it is. You might just have
that be a reflection.
Speaker 2 (20:24):
Of the price, yeah, okay, okay.
Speaker 1 (20:26):
Or let them come to you with an offer and
you know, discuss sort of that those particulars.
Speaker 2 (20:32):
Okay, And what are some of the things and this
is a harder question, so sorry, but what are some
of the things that maybe sellers do that they actually
don't have to do. So I feel like, as non reiltors,
we scurry around with our own thoughts in our head
about what's needed and maybe it's unnecessary. I don't know.
Speaker 1 (20:52):
Well, some people opt for a pre a pre listing
inspection report, so some spell will run an inspection. You
have an inspector come and do an inspection, just to
see what might come up in what might come up
for the buyer's inspection, and they'll want to like negate,
(21:15):
I don't know if that actually answers your questions. Kind
of the opposite, it's actually what to do. Maybe it's
an option. You have to spend the little money to
get an inspector to come out and then you can
see like how bad your roof is, how old your
plumbing is, how you know, how's the drainage if there's mold.
You know, you want to get those things through out
of the way so you can get top dollar so
(21:35):
you don't have any objections. You're like, no, no, no,
I've had the inspections done. There's no you know. Okay,
But that didn't really answer your question.
Speaker 2 (21:45):
Well, it's an interesting comment though, and at first I
thought it was going to answer the question because I
thought you were going to say, you know, don't bother
to do that.
Speaker 1 (21:54):
I mean, it's it's kind of smart if you, you know,
if your home is but I mean it kind of
depends on the home every great hoo.
Speaker 2 (22:04):
Yeah, and I would kind of worry that maybe you
get an inspector says, you know, you have all these problems,
do all these things, and then the buyer's inspector comes
along it either doesn't agree or you know, thinks something's fine,
and then you, I don't know, does that ever happen?
Speaker 1 (22:19):
Yeah? I have not had that happened, but I think,
you know, that could be. That's like a conversation I
would I would be interested to now what an inspector would.
Speaker 2 (22:29):
Say, Yeah, okay, okay, I think that's a great tip.
Actually yeah, so and what about when the seller is
just well and now, from this experience I just had,
I would recommend shopping for your realtor, you know, I
mean not just I mean having conversations like like you said,
(22:53):
like what kind of marketing and so so when people
when sellers are looking for a good realtor, what would
you say they should be looking for.
Speaker 1 (23:04):
I think someone with you know, good local knowledge, good
handle on pricing. Pricing's really big. That's kind of actually
how i'd answer that previous question is what sellers not
to do is what a lot of realtors struggle with
is when they think their house is worth X, but
(23:27):
the market tells them why, and then it's challenging to
get them to come down. So just to pay attention
to what your realator's saying about what the market's telling you,
and the price will just be dictated by the market.
So what what was your last question?
Speaker 2 (23:47):
Well? Can can we elaborate on that a little bit more? Though,
because obviously pricing is a big deal, and so when
you talk about the market, what what should somebody be
looking at? I mean just compar properties and what they've
sold for. Is there more data that they should look at?
Speaker 1 (24:07):
It's just pricing. It's so challenging. I mean, every it
just depends on where it's located. You can look at
constant sometimes there just aren't comps for that specific home
on a slope, on a slant by this north of
this street. Yeah you could. You definitely can look at
the constant. Sometimes there's maybe only one or two in
the last six months, and you are just you know,
(24:30):
you can start you can start high and then lower quickly. Okay, okay,
you don't don't let it sit high if it's not
getting jumped on, lower quickly and then let's sas okay, okay,
and when when it's a challenging question. Yeah. But on
(24:51):
the West side, I feel like you can demand you
can demand a lot, especially in the in Santa Monica
and Brentwood, Venice, Marina, you can you can demand a lot.
Speaker 2 (25:04):
Okay. So there's no like stigma, you know, anything associated
with starting higher and then lowering it if you if
you do it with.
Speaker 1 (25:12):
An no, people do it. People do it all the time. Okay,
I mean people start high. You're like, whoa. I mean
you see these things, you see these prices, and people
are like whoa. But I mean things also sellid high prices.
You're like, well, why wouldn't I start high? Yeah, there's
no down thing. You can't go up is the point.
Speaker 2 (25:30):
Yeah, okay, okay, you can't go up.
Speaker 1 (25:33):
You got to start high, you know, swimming for the fences.
See what happens. But don't let it sit high. I
would recommend reducing it quickly, like within the next within
a month, two weeks to a month. I mean, just
move it along.
Speaker 2 (25:45):
And why is that? What's the problem with letting it
sit high?
Speaker 1 (25:50):
I just think it makes you seem maybe unrealistic, okay,
and you know, I think that it's sort of I
just think it makes you look like maybe you're just
not serious.
Speaker 2 (26:04):
Okay, Oh interesting, Okay, Yeah.
Speaker 1 (26:08):
For willing to negotiate or like really ready to get
this thing sold.
Speaker 2 (26:14):
Okay. Well, and we talked for a minute at the
beginning of the show that I wanted to kind of
get into since since we love to talk about, you know,
your money mindset and your relationship with money. What I
don't know, how should a seller set themselves up mentally
for this process so they don't get discouraged. They don't
(26:35):
you know, want to throw in the towel and just
like dump the price and it. You know, and obviously
some of it is their own circumstance. You know, if
they really need to sell within a certain time, they're
in a different position than those people who are just
putting it out there, you know, to see.
Speaker 1 (26:52):
But it's a long process and you know, just know,
you know, the realtor wants it is just as bad
as you do. So that is they feel your they
like so in the house is sitting it's like everyone's
like paint because you've staged you've lowered the price, You've
(27:14):
had open house after open house. Sometimes properties just fit
and you just just be patient. That's my best advice.
You know, if after a while it has been sold
and you don't want to lower the price, then you
just you have to remove it. But if you're you know,
the the money sets the it's all about the price.
Speaker 2 (27:35):
Yeah, okay, and so.
Speaker 1 (27:37):
Everything will sell at a certain price.
Speaker 2 (27:39):
Oh that's an interesting mindset.
Speaker 1 (27:41):
Okay, but not that I recommend just keep lowering it.
But somehouses, you know, I would say, start it high,
see how the market reacts. Push your best marketing forward
as soon as you launch. See how see how the
world reacts. And then and you know, you keep assessing.
(28:01):
You talk to your real estate agent. I mean, like
if I have a listening, I'm on the phone with
them like three days a week, Yeah, going on who
calls have I had? What did they say? What was
the feedback? You know, did they like it? They'd come back?
I have this showing, you know, so you've got to
get you're getting information in real.
Speaker 2 (28:18):
Time, yeah, which is huge. I mean I know the
difference now because we got no information for a month
when we hired the older person. From our house and
then I.
Speaker 1 (28:27):
Mean you need you need to be like like once
so once it's live. Until it's live, you don't really
know what's going to happen.
Speaker 2 (28:34):
Yeah, okay, okay.
Speaker 1 (28:36):
You just you don't. You know, you can. The market's
going to tell you what it's worth, and it'll tell
you the feedback and you'll get information. Your agents should
talk to other agents that come in with their clients
and say what was the feedback, and then you know,
you kind of listen, learn, adjust, keep going. It's like
a living, breathing thing.
Speaker 2 (28:58):
Yeah. I love that. And I feel like with anything
with money, I mean, a sort of a sense of
desperation around it is never a good thing. Like that
is just a sort of a scarcity mindset that you
should try to avoid if you start feeling that, oh,
it's never going to sell and you know, I'm just
wasting my time here and it's costing us money. I mean,
(29:21):
all of these are it's sort of a negative set
of things that we're saying to ourselves that don't help anything.
And I think shifting that into having faith that the
right buyer will come and the price will you know,
it'll be the right price if you can if you
have the leeway and the time and the ability to
(29:41):
do that. To just again, just like with anything else,
to keep checking on you know how you're speaking to
yourself about it, you're speaking to others about it. I
feel like all of that putting it into the universe.
It's important to have that faith.
Speaker 1 (29:55):
So yeah, I mean I couldn't agree more. I mean,
you want to sell with confidence, you can like kind
of like what you said, if you have the ability
to kind of give yourself a long runway, like don't
put yourself up against the clock and say we need
to be you know, that's going to create the mind
the wrong mindset. So if you have a runway now
(30:15):
that you're like I have, we have a few months.
We don't need to do da DA We're just going to
retire or or we don't you know, we're not that
big of a rush. Give yourself as long a runway
as you can because it can take a while. But yeah,
I mean you try to give yourself the you know,
give yourself an opportunity for success and like set yourself
(30:37):
up for success, kind of give yourself a long runway
to see what's going to happen and it could happen quickly.
Speaker 2 (30:44):
You don't know, right right, Oh absolutely, And and but
what you're saying is really important too, because you know,
you want to think this through ahead of time and
make sure you know, depending on your employment situation and
what's going on in your life, if you want to
plan for mortgage payments to continue for probably a more
(31:04):
conservative amount of time and then not, so you know,
there is some planning. I mean, if your expectation is
this house will sell in a couple of months and
then it doesn't, you don't want to have a financial problem,
so you want to plan ahead for that.
Speaker 1 (31:17):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, definitely, And yeah, you don't want to
have you don't want to be panic pricing and giving,
you know. But I think a lot of people are
confident in that, and they know. I think a lot
of people in the West I kind of understand that,
and they know their home is an asset, and you know,
they're very savvy about their assets and their money. So
(31:43):
I think I don't run into that a lot.
Speaker 2 (31:46):
Yeah. I think actually that comment probably isn't as applicable
to your demographic, but you know, general sellers in yeah,
all over the place. I think because I think we
do have certain expectations, and we plan according to our
ex expectations, and we don't want to We don't want
(32:07):
to go into a whole fear based thing where you
over plan or you feel like, you know, you need
to wait to sell until you have X number of
months of you know, money available to continue to pay
if it doesn't work. I mean, you don't really want
to anticipate it not working, but at the same time,
you want to be ready for what might happen because
(32:27):
you really don't know.
Speaker 1 (32:28):
Ye.
Speaker 2 (32:29):
Yeah, it's it's interesting, and I mean it's you know,
people move for jobs and things and have a bigger
need to sell because they need to buy somewhere else.
And I mean there's every every kind of scenario. But
but what I.
Speaker 1 (32:44):
When a'm standing or they're downsizing, or the kids moved out,
or they're having more kids or living schools, or you know,
they have no pair and they need a place for
them and.
Speaker 2 (32:56):
Yeah, yeah, I mean that is what makes it fun
and interesting is to get to know people in their
situations and so I can see where that would be
a fun experience to go through that.
Speaker 1 (33:08):
It's like a little puzzle.
Speaker 2 (33:09):
It is a puzzle and it's also very this is
very important thing, you know in people's lives and so
and you're part of that, you know, so I can
see where it. Uh. I mean every realtor I've had
has said, yeah, I'm part realtor, part therapist, apart many things. Yeah,
(33:30):
So it's uh, it's it's great. And then I just
wanted to just touch on, you know, any any other
changes or things going on today that you haven't seen
maybe in a while or ever, that are happening, that
are new and different that you'd want to share with people.
Speaker 1 (33:51):
I mean, I really think the aftermath of the fires
has caused such a such an explosion in the market,
especially on the West Side, and so you know, it's
just it's an unprecedented time and not respect, it's just
sort of a new time and there's just so many
new people out there looking for homes. There's just not
(34:15):
enough out there, and it's challenging, but you know, patience
and but there's a lot of movement, so you know,
it's not like hopeless or anything, and I think there's
great opportunities.
Speaker 2 (34:28):
Yeah, and from what you're saying, the kind of positive
takeaway that I'm having from hearing you talk is that
as a seller, you do have control. You can play
with things, you know, you can make changes, you can
you know, change the price, you can change a variety
of things. But I feel like sometimes sellers have a
(34:49):
sense of they're just out there floating around, riding the waves,
hoping something happens. But you can be much more in
control and have that sense of control role. Then I
think sometimes you feel.
Speaker 1 (35:03):
Yeah, well, I agree. I mean, you definitely have control,
but you know, I can understand that lots of control too,
because again you're sort of subject to the open market
and what you know, the market will say what it wants.
And as far as real estate agents go, I mean,
(35:24):
we're a service business. So my job is really to
service the seller, to give them what they want. I
mean a lot of times they know exactly what they want,
they know exactly what they want to price. As they
hire me to market, they say, I know what I'm doing.
I don't want to do the paperwork. I just want
you to push it, market it through the open houses.
(35:46):
So some you know, it depends, some clients need more
strategic handholding and some really don't. But that's really the
fun of it.
Speaker 2 (35:56):
Yeah, Okay, Okay, so you can have that conversation and
when they know what they're doing and they know certain
you know, things that they're ready to put out there,
then you can support that basically.
Speaker 1 (36:07):
Yeah, and a lot I mean, like I said, like
these a lot of the clients are very sophisticated. I
mean they're sophisticated. They've owned several homes and they know
they know what to do. So you're there to advise
and make sure you know, the paperwork is correct, everything's
done you know, on the app and legally done, and
(36:31):
you know, the marketing is is top notch, which is
one of my strengths. And the negotiations are are top notch.
You have good relationships with other agents, negotiations can go well,
and there's a lot of levers that you can pull
with negotiating because of the inspections and I mean there's
a lot that goes into it.
Speaker 2 (36:51):
Yeah, the negotiation is huge part of there. But Okay,
so interesting. I love this and so yeah, i feel
like I'm seeing the realtor, I guess, especially the seller
sellers realtor as much more of a marketer than I've
ever thought about it before. So yeah, very interesting to me.
Speaker 1 (37:12):
Yeah, but yeah, and then the seller is like enjoys
that part too. Actually they get involved and it's you know,
it can be fun. You're doing the videos and new
doing the home tours and they see their home on
Instagram and it's like it's it gives them some creative
outlet too.
Speaker 2 (37:31):
Yeah. Well, and so tell us a little about how
people can find you. And I know you're on Instagram
because I follow you on Instagram, but yeah, what what
are you putting out there? And where.
Speaker 1 (37:44):
I'm on my Instagram channel, It's Laura dot Pizarni and
or you can follow me or you can check me
out on my website, Pizarni propertygroup dot com. I have
a lot of videos. You can see my recent listing
sold listings. You can learn about me. I also host
(38:05):
a monthly networking group called The Boss Breakfast and you
can register there. You can sign up for my newsletter.
You know, I'm really just I love to connect with people.
That's just sort of my gift. I'm a connector, I'm
a helper. I love to just be a resource. So
I would love to just have an opportunity to talk
(38:27):
with you, see your home or you know, consult with you.
Speaker 2 (38:33):
Yeah, that's great, thank you, And so you're available if
somebody is even thinking about selling now down the road whenever,
for you to come on over and have a chat
with them.
Speaker 1 (38:45):
About Absolutely, let me see your home, give you ideas
on pricing, give you ideas on the marketing I would do,
and hold your hand the entire way.
Speaker 2 (38:54):
Yeah, that's great. That's very generous and very nice. And
it also makes me think, you know, if you don't
need to sell now, but you know what, what's the
ideal timeframe to to sort of identify that you want
to sell, so that you have some runway to fix
things up, to think about it, to do research.
Speaker 1 (39:15):
I mean, I mean as far as if there's minimal
upgrades to the house. You know, I think like a
month is more than enough time. So you can bring
a steed in, you can do a fresh coat of paint,
maybe I you know, have an organizer comment put some
things in storage. You know, it could be relatively quick.
(39:36):
I mean I could get it on faster. But okay,
that's like a leisurely pace.
Speaker 2 (39:40):
Okay, that's interesting. I was going to think it was longer.
Like in my case, I think if I were going
to sell my home. There's a lot of things that
I would want to do. I'd want to you know,
paint the exterior and do all kinds of things before.
So it would be well.
Speaker 1 (39:52):
That's yeah, that's the thing that you like. So you
know if you were thinking, that's where the consultation would
come in when I come over to meet you, is
that you know, we could discuss those things right away
and I have all the resources that you can use
to you know, do those things.
Speaker 2 (40:09):
Yeah, that's hugely helpful because a lot of times you
know what you need to do, but you don't know
the people to do those things. So yeah, that's yeah.
Speaker 1 (40:16):
So I can like assess like on the spot and
say what I think needs to be sort of taken
care of, or what rooms need to be staged, you know,
to keep the furniture looking fresh and bright and like
you know, yeah modern.
Speaker 2 (40:30):
Yeah, I love that. I feel like it wouldn't be
the worst idea for people to have a little home
on it and just whether you're thinking about selling or not,
just have somebody like you come in and do that
just so that absolutely you know, at some point they
might surprise themselves and want to sell, you know, So anyway.
Speaker 1 (40:45):
Absolutely, Yeah, I'd be happy to do that. I you know,
come check out your house. We can meet talk and
to know each other, and you know, we can see
where it goes, okay, like dating.
Speaker 2 (40:59):
Well, thank you so much. That's great information. And yeah,
I think it's great to get an update to on
what's happening in today's world with marketing because it has changed.
There are a lot of new things that new tools
you can use and things like that that really help
it along. So yeah, yeah, okay, well, Laura, thank you
(41:22):
so much for joining us today. It was a pleasure,
and I really have enjoyed getting to know you, and
I know you're a trustworthy and well informed and you know,
a very dedicated realtor in thank you. Yeah. So I
think that's people would be lucky to work with you,
(41:43):
and so I appreciate you coming on and sharing some
of your insight.
Speaker 1 (41:47):
Thanks for having me. This is so cool. I love it.
I've always enjoyed talking to you, and let's do it again.
Speaker 2 (41:54):
Yeah, thank you. That's great. Yeah, we'll get an update.
There'll be more changes, I'm sure, and we'll do update here.
So that's great. Yeah, nice to have a real estate resource.
Speaker 1 (42:06):
Absolutely anytime.
Speaker 2 (42:07):
Okay, well, thank you and thank you audience for showing
up for the money and you show. We love it
when you listen to the show. And would still, you know,
enjoy a five star review or a rating? What am
I saying? You know? Ratings, reviews, all of that stuff
that everybody needs for their show for it to prosper
and Ubian go. Thank you so much, and I love
(42:32):
doing the show, love having you a show up for
the show. And you can find us on the Limit
Free Life YouTube channel and all the podcast platforms that
you might be listening to. And we love the variety
of guests and the variety of topics, and we hope
you do too. If you have any interest in a
particular topic and I can find some expertise in that area,
you can reach out to me at Michelle at limitfreelife
(42:53):
dot com. And you can also go to my website,
Limit Free life dot com and sign up for my
monthly news letter blog and get regular information on what
Limit for your Life's up to. So thank you so
much and we'll see you next week.
Okay, I love this question. Well, there's a lot you
can do, you know, you can. It's you know, decluttering
is a clean and declutter is sort of like the
first line of defense. I think, especially for homeowners that
have been living in their homes for twenty thirty years.
I think it's people don't realize how much stuff they
(00:25):
kind of have, and buyers do not want to see
any personal items, and as benign as it might seem
to you as the seller, they want to visualize themselves
in the home. They want to see their own photos
in the frame, not you know, a couple of family
A couple of family photos is fine, but you know,
(00:49):
you know, remove the stuffed animals from the kids' rooms,
you know, really give them a blank canvas, because buyers
just want to picture themselves about them when they're walking
through the house.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
Hey, there, and welcome to Money and You. I'm Michelle Perkins,
your host. My search for more fulfilling work led me
to career in business coaching, where I stumbled upon a
game changing discovery. Money issues often start with our mindset
and habits. You see, our relationship with money is the
key to overcoming those frustrating financial obstacles. As an entrepreneur,
(01:24):
coach and problem solver, I'm passionate about helping you create
a great relationship with money, because turns out that's the
foundation for a limit free life. Each week on Money
in You, I speak with amazing guests about all things money, mindset,
practical tips, and everything in between. We're here to give
you new insights, education, and empowerment. So money can be
(01:45):
one of your favorite relationships. So join us for some
lively conversations and let's transform your financial life together. Hello, Hello,
and welcome to another episode of the Money in You Show.
I'm super excited about today's show. We're going to talk
real estate today with a wonderful expert who I've come
to know and I'm so excited for her to share
(02:07):
her expertise. And I'm going to go ahead and give
you a little background and then we'll get started. So
Laura Pozzarni, her extensive personal experience in the market, combined
with the fact that she owns several residential and commercial
investment properties throughout Los Angeles and California, makes her a
perfect fit to represent you. As a true Westside native.
(02:30):
Born and raised in Brentwood, she has spent her life
immersed in the heart of Los Angeles. She knows every
trendy neighborhood, desirable street, and sought after school district in
the city. With a passion for marketing and a dynamic
reach within the local community, she leverages strategic, targeted approaches
to ensure maximum visibility for every property she represents. More importantly,
(02:52):
her dedication to earning your business and ensuring your success
is her absolute goal. She truly loves helping people. It's
her gift, and she takes pride in guiding her clients
through some of the biggest decisions of their lives. When
she's not working, she enjoys majong paddle, tennis, skiing, and
spending time at the beach with her family. Welcome, Laura,
(03:13):
thank you. I'm so happy, great intro.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
Where'd you get that great intro? Oh?
Speaker 2 (03:19):
I found it out there in the wide world webs
they used to call it. So Laura, thank you for
coming and being on the show today. I've been hoping
to have you on for a long time because we
met and I just loved how passionate you were about
what you do. And I don't know, I just I
(03:43):
love how intimately you know your area, and so I
feel like you're such an asset to people who are
either buying or selling. And I've also wanted to have
just a super frank conversation about real estate in general,
because it's always a topic in LA. People are always
talking about real estate. Oh yeah, I don't know if
I'll ever be able to buy. I don't know if
(04:04):
I'll ever you know. I mean, it's like those constant discussion.
So I'd love for you to just kind of talk
a little bit about how you got into it and
how you acquired this passion for it.
Speaker 1 (04:17):
Yeah. Yeah, you know, people in LA love to talk
about real estate. Everyone wants to know what their home's worth,
and they see the houses next door on the market
and they're wondering what that means for them. And you know.
But I got into real estate a few years ago.
I think it kind of started with my husband. Oops,
(04:40):
I just crisped the screen. He has been in real
estate for twenty five years, and he would come home
and bring stories home, and I would walk through deals
with him, and I just found it so interesting and
so fascinating and so engaging. He is on the commercial side,
(05:01):
so I would learn about other people's businesses because he
would work with business owners and I just loved all
the stories and I thought it was so interesting meeting
new people. So I got my real estate license during
COVID when our daughter was going through kindergarten on Zoom,
(05:28):
which was crazy because it was really actually sad for me.
But anyway, I was home because I have to be
because she was on Zoom. So I just studied and
got my license and I passed first time. And because
I knew so much of the information already, I mean,
I was at this point, I had been talking about
(05:49):
real estate with my husband for so long and just
it was so natural, so I was basically I've been
under his tutelage for a while for four years now,
and I just instantly gravitated towards the residential market. It
was like it was like a magnet. And I love
(06:13):
the product. I loved, just like everyone talks to talk
about real estate, I just loved. I loved doing it too,
being in different neighborhoods and clients started. It just kind
of worked. I got one client and then people just
were trusting me and and rightfully, so I think, I
(06:35):
really my brand is about it's a luxury lifestyle brand,
and you know, I don't know, it just really clicked
for me. And I still work with my husband, which
I think is crazy because a lot of people are like,
how do you work with your husband?
Speaker 2 (06:50):
Yeah? Those people, Yeah, I.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
Mean a lot of people are like, what. But he's
very well known and he has you know, he's been
around a long time, very loyal, very loyal, client based.
So it's actually worked a lot for me as well
because he's able to refer business to me, and I
can actually refers to.
Speaker 2 (07:09):
Him very nice. Yeah, I love that. And I also
love the fact that you like to sell homes in
the in the area that you know really well, because uh,
you know, that just gives the clients so much inside
information about, you know, what they might be getting into.
(07:31):
So because the first time I met you, I was
so impressed by how you described the area that you
represent a lot, not that you can't sell anywhere, but yeah.
Speaker 1 (07:43):
Well I was born in Brentwood, raised here. I went
to the high school in Santa Monica, and this is
just my backyard and I've been raised, you know, uh
in a certain environment, and I'm just taking advantage of
that essentially. Yeah, yeah, I'm not and I'm not like
(08:05):
going to be shy about it. I'm just going to
take advantage and take it make it work to my advantage,
which it has been. So this is how I was raised.
I have like a certain pedigree, if you will, that
puts me in the right place to be able to flourish.
So why not just take that opportunity. And I think
a lot of couples like trust my my like trust
(08:31):
my decision making and trust my opinion for.
Speaker 2 (08:34):
That fact so well, And I kind of love the
idea because I think a lot of your clients are,
you know, either families or family bound. You know there,
they're getting there and and you know, so you can
speak as a person who grew up in that area,
so you know and how it was.
Speaker 1 (08:54):
I understand the lifestyle. I know about all the private schools.
I know what areas do you want to be in?
I know where the shop areas are good. I know
you know you want to be on this street and
not that street. You want to be above this street
and not that street. You know. So there's a certain
way about this West Side environment that you need to
be aware of. Yeah, and I'm trying to help sort
(09:16):
of fulfill that for people and kind of put those
two pieces, put those pieces all together.
Speaker 2 (09:21):
Yeah, I think it's an interesting time in real estate
all of a sudden, I mean, real estate for a
while was kind of I don't know, it felt easy.
Really there was such a demand and you know, things
were things are just really moving fast and at high prices,
(09:41):
and things have shifted a little and I think people
are curious about what's going on right now and how
I mean, I'll just tell you from what I'm reading
because I'm not in the space, but you know, it
sounds like it's more of a buyer's market right now.
It sounds like things are taking a little longer to sell,
and there's more image than we've had in a while,
(10:01):
so that creates a different environment. So you know, i'd
love your expert opinion on how people who want to sell.
First of all, is there something going on with selling
right now? Like, is there a reason people are there
are more sellers than before, I mean, or maybe is such.
Speaker 1 (10:20):
A yeah, Well, definitely I'm seeing a lot more inventory
and definitely shifting to a little bit of a buyer's market.
But the West Side is such a bubble. I mean,
it's it's such a bubble. So the policies buyers were
very crucial for the real state market. Right now, a
(10:42):
lot of people are putting their homes on the market
because they do see an advantage to, you know, capitalizing
on the fact that these people have been displaced and
are capable of purchasing homes and will pay good money,
especially in like those closest areas like Santa Monica and Brentwood,
(11:03):
a little bit of Marina del Rey in Venice as well,
but Santa Monica and Brentwood is the prices are really exploding,
so the sellers are like, well, wait a minute, this
time is now that's what I think is happening. So
what's also happening is in the beginning after the fires,
(11:25):
there was a rush of renting. It was mayhem, yeah, mayhem.
People could not get in. It was just it was crazy.
So that that slowed down and now it's picking back
up because those short term leases are coming to an
end and now people need to figure out what they're
(11:45):
going to do. So people are considering by So you
want to have your house on the market to be
one of the people that are going to be considered. Okay,
so the best way to know, you know, the best,
and I think the best way to know is just
to put it on the market and see what happens.
Speaker 2 (12:04):
Interesting, So you think there are some of what this
inventory is about is people just kind of testing the waters.
Speaker 1 (12:12):
Maybe, yeah, a lot of people do that. Interesting, so
they can get they can always say no. But you know,
some of these homes north of Montana are going for
outrageous prices. So people are just that's where they want
to live. They cannot roup their families, they just they're
(12:33):
kind of in a situation, okay, okay, so they want
to stay in La Yeah.
Speaker 2 (12:39):
Yeah, So even though you know, maybe it's a little
bit of a buyer's market, you're in it. Well again,
it's a bubble, so you're not bubble necessarily.
Speaker 1 (12:50):
Sometimes a seller will have a home and then the
home on the opposite side of the street will sell
in one day, but then their home sits for months
and it's really that specific.
Speaker 2 (13:01):
Okay, okay, interesting, and.
Speaker 1 (13:03):
So that's why I say, like the best way to
know is just to put it on the market, got
it listed, and then you know, marketing is sort of
another area where I really arrive. So that's where I
like my creative. My creativity just like explodes. You've seen
all my marketing on Instagram and my email newsletter. I
(13:26):
have a monthly networking meeting that I host and that's
where you get some attention on your on your property.
Got people got in the door, see it all in love.
Hopefully you get multiples and you you know, go close
it over.
Speaker 2 (13:44):
Asking Yeah, and I'm glad you brought that up because
that's something that I just ran into. As you know,
we have an investment property that we put on the
market and it is a bit slow going and it's
a little out of your area. But we, I mean,
we played around. We had one realtor who was I
(14:06):
don't know that this matters, but he was older, he
was a little more established and set in his ways
and didn't do a lot of marketing. Now I wasn't
exactly sure why, but I think in his mind he
felt like he didn't need to. Now, I don't know
if that's a holdover from you know, the last many
years where people didn't do a lot or what. And
then you came along and I, you know, I asked
(14:29):
you to look at it, and you said, wow, you know,
this is what I would do, and and I thought, well,
that's kind of what I've been hoping to hear. So
I think, I mean, part of its understanding social media
and some of the newer ways of marketing, but you
also had the intention to do old you know, I
(14:49):
mean really nice open houses and things that just it's
part of it. And so it really opened my eyes
to how different different realtors approach the marketing. And I
guess I figured there was some formula that all realtors did, and.
Speaker 1 (15:07):
I learned that I mean some, Yeah, I mean some.
Maybe because I'm a newer agent, I come with like
a more like I'm just crushed, I'm excited. I have
so much energy around what I'm doing. I really love it.
So I think that could be it. Some I've been
doing it this way for one hundred years and that's
(15:27):
just how they do it, and you know, so you
need to ask those questions. And that's what I would,
you know, advise your listeners, is like just to ask, like,
what's your marketing? How do you do your marketing? Show
me some examples.
Speaker 2 (15:41):
Yeah, And I'm glad you're saying that to people. If
somebody had said that to me before, I did this,
I would have been more skeptical about. But you know,
there was sort of a narrative that he was telling
me about, we don't need to do any of these things.
We don't need to sign, we don't need and you know,
and I was questioning it, but because I'm not a realtor,
I didn't really know. So we had to go through
(16:02):
a little time of like no activity to realize that this,
the marketing that was needed was not happening. And so
I do think, you know, you should go into it
with a marketing plan and somebody who has that mentality.
Speaker 1 (16:18):
So yeah, you can't just stick it on that in
my lass and pray and pray, like say a little prayer.
You need to like push it. You need to get
on the phone, call your friends, call your contacts, get
on your CRN, call people, like you know, get push it,
push it. Because there are there are a lot of properties,
so you need to say no, no, no, you need to
look at this one. This is the one you need
(16:38):
to look at.
Speaker 2 (16:39):
Mm hmmm, yeah, super interesting. And I wanted to ask
you for a seller for somebody who might be considering
putting their house on the market and wants it to
you know kind of rise above you know, the other
things out there? What are what? What should a seller
be thinking about? What should they be doing? Uh to
(17:00):
get ready to sell?
Speaker 1 (17:04):
Okay, I love this question. Well, there's a lot you
can do, you know you can. It's you know, decluttering
is a clean and declutter is sort of like the
first line of defense. I think, especially for homeowners that
have been living in their homes for twenty thirty years.
I think it's people don't realize how much stuff they
(17:26):
kind of have, and buyers do not want to see
any personal items, and as benign as it might seem
to you as the seller, they want to visualize themselves
in the home. They want to see their own photos
in the frame, not you know, yeah a couple of
family a couple of family photos is fine, but you know,
(17:50):
you know, remove the stuffed animals from the kids' rooms,
you know, really give them a blank canvas. Because buyers
just want to picture themselves. It's all about them when
they're walking through the house.
Speaker 2 (18:03):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (18:03):
So, and it's that's a hard conversation as a real
estate agent to have with the seller because I don't
want to you know, they're they're cherished memories and their
home and it's hard enough to sell a family home
for example. But you know, those are a good example.
Also updating, like curb appeal. I always find to be
(18:24):
a big money well spent is to maybe spruce up
the landscaping. Give them when they drive up and they're
in the car with their husband or wife and the
kids and they're like, oh my god, I can see
my friends coming over and us have and just feeling
so proud of this. What's another? So those are like,
(18:51):
those are a couple of the things.
Speaker 2 (18:52):
Yeah, that's great, that's great, And I I think that
both those things are so important. And you know, I
kind of knew about the decluttering. I wouldn't have really
thought about the front area, but you're right when you
when you first you know, it's first impressions and you
want to feel like you can visualize people coming to
(19:13):
generate your house or whatever.
Speaker 1 (19:14):
So yeah, yeah, I think those are big and you know,
just like not yeah so not not kind of removing
the personal items.
Speaker 2 (19:25):
Yeah, but it's hard.
Speaker 1 (19:26):
It's hard.
Speaker 2 (19:26):
It is hard. Personal that feels weird. I remember when
we were told to do that many many years ago,
and yeah, it feels it feels you get a little
offended in a way.
Speaker 1 (19:38):
I understand that I do, and I so that's yeah,
it's it's but it for the buyer when they're spending
this kind of money, they all they are thinking about
is themselves. Yeah, and as people do, and that's their right.
And so those are just tips. I think it helps.
(19:58):
And then you know, obviously like updates to the bathrooms
and kitchen yeah yeah, those are huge.
Speaker 2 (20:04):
Yeah, And what if your kitchen or a bath is
pretty dated, do you redo it? Or if you can't
redo it, what can you do to kind of make
it look better?
Speaker 1 (20:12):
You know, you can again take away personal items just
like plain white towels, even super clean and then it
depends on how outdated it is. You might just have
that be a reflection.
Speaker 2 (20:24):
Of the price, yeah, okay, okay.
Speaker 1 (20:26):
Or let them come to you with an offer and
you know, discuss sort of that those particulars.
Speaker 2 (20:32):
Okay, And what are some of the things and this
is a harder question, so sorry, but what are some
of the things that maybe sellers do that they actually
don't have to do. So I feel like, as non reiltors,
we scurry around with our own thoughts in our head
about what's needed and maybe it's unnecessary. I don't know.
Speaker 1 (20:52):
Well, some people opt for a pre a pre listing
inspection report, so some spell will run an inspection. You
have an inspector come and do an inspection, just to
see what might come up in what might come up
for the buyer's inspection, and they'll want to like negate,
(21:15):
I don't know if that actually answers your questions. Kind
of the opposite, it's actually what to do. Maybe it's
an option. You have to spend the little money to
get an inspector to come out and then you can
see like how bad your roof is, how old your
plumbing is, how you know, how's the drainage if there's mold.
You know, you want to get those things through out
of the way so you can get top dollar so
(21:35):
you don't have any objections. You're like, no, no, no,
I've had the inspections done. There's no you know. Okay,
But that didn't really answer your question.
Speaker 2 (21:45):
Well, it's an interesting comment though, and at first I
thought it was going to answer the question because I
thought you were going to say, you know, don't bother
to do that.
Speaker 1 (21:54):
I mean, it's it's kind of smart if you, you know,
if your home is but I mean it kind of
depends on the home every great hoo.
Speaker 2 (22:04):
Yeah, and I would kind of worry that maybe you
get an inspector says, you know, you have all these problems,
do all these things, and then the buyer's inspector comes
along it either doesn't agree or you know, thinks something's fine,
and then you, I don't know, does that ever happen?
Speaker 1 (22:19):
Yeah? I have not had that happened, but I think,
you know, that could be. That's like a conversation I
would I would be interested to now what an inspector would.
Speaker 2 (22:29):
Say, Yeah, okay, okay, I think that's a great tip.
Actually yeah, so and what about when the seller is
just well and now, from this experience I just had,
I would recommend shopping for your realtor, you know, I
mean not just I mean having conversations like like you said,
(22:53):
like what kind of marketing and so so when people
when sellers are looking for a good realtor, what would
you say they should be looking for.
Speaker 1 (23:04):
I think someone with you know, good local knowledge, good
handle on pricing. Pricing's really big. That's kind of actually
how i'd answer that previous question is what sellers not
to do is what a lot of realtors struggle with
is when they think their house is worth X, but
(23:27):
the market tells them why, and then it's challenging to
get them to come down. So just to pay attention
to what your realator's saying about what the market's telling you,
and the price will just be dictated by the market.
So what what was your last question?
Speaker 2 (23:47):
Well? Can can we elaborate on that a little bit more? Though,
because obviously pricing is a big deal, and so when
you talk about the market, what what should somebody be
looking at? I mean just compar properties and what they've
sold for. Is there more data that they should look at?
Speaker 1 (24:07):
It's just pricing. It's so challenging. I mean, every it
just depends on where it's located. You can look at
constant sometimes there just aren't comps for that specific home
on a slope, on a slant by this north of
this street. Yeah you could. You definitely can look at
the constant. Sometimes there's maybe only one or two in
the last six months, and you are just you know,
(24:30):
you can start you can start high and then lower quickly. Okay, okay,
you don't don't let it sit high if it's not
getting jumped on, lower quickly and then let's sas okay, okay,
and when when it's a challenging question. Yeah. But on
(24:51):
the West side, I feel like you can demand you
can demand a lot, especially in the in Santa Monica
and Brentwood, Venice, Marina, you can you can demand a lot.
Speaker 2 (25:04):
Okay. So there's no like stigma, you know, anything associated
with starting higher and then lowering it if you if
you do it with.
Speaker 1 (25:12):
An no, people do it. People do it all the time. Okay,
I mean people start high. You're like, whoa. I mean
you see these things, you see these prices, and people
are like whoa. But I mean things also sellid high prices.
You're like, well, why wouldn't I start high? Yeah, there's
no down thing. You can't go up is the point.
Speaker 2 (25:30):
Yeah, okay, okay, you can't go up.
Speaker 1 (25:33):
You got to start high, you know, swimming for the fences.
See what happens. But don't let it sit high. I
would recommend reducing it quickly, like within the next within
a month, two weeks to a month. I mean, just
move it along.
Speaker 2 (25:45):
And why is that? What's the problem with letting it
sit high?
Speaker 1 (25:50):
I just think it makes you seem maybe unrealistic, okay,
and you know, I think that it's sort of I
just think it makes you look like maybe you're just
not serious.
Speaker 2 (26:04):
Okay, Oh interesting, Okay, Yeah.
Speaker 1 (26:08):
For willing to negotiate or like really ready to get
this thing sold.
Speaker 2 (26:14):
Okay. Well, and we talked for a minute at the
beginning of the show that I wanted to kind of
get into since since we love to talk about, you know,
your money mindset and your relationship with money. What I
don't know, how should a seller set themselves up mentally
for this process so they don't get discouraged. They don't
(26:35):
you know, want to throw in the towel and just
like dump the price and it. You know, and obviously
some of it is their own circumstance. You know, if
they really need to sell within a certain time, they're
in a different position than those people who are just
putting it out there, you know, to see.
Speaker 1 (26:52):
But it's a long process and you know, just know,
you know, the realtor wants it is just as bad
as you do. So that is they feel your they
like so in the house is sitting it's like everyone's
like paint because you've staged you've lowered the price, You've
(27:14):
had open house after open house. Sometimes properties just fit
and you just just be patient. That's my best advice.
You know, if after a while it has been sold
and you don't want to lower the price, then you
just you have to remove it. But if you're you know,
the the money sets the it's all about the price.
Speaker 2 (27:35):
Yeah, okay, and so.
Speaker 1 (27:37):
Everything will sell at a certain price.
Speaker 2 (27:39):
Oh that's an interesting mindset.
Speaker 1 (27:41):
Okay, but not that I recommend just keep lowering it.
But somehouses, you know, I would say, start it high,
see how the market reacts. Push your best marketing forward
as soon as you launch. See how see how the
world reacts. And then and you know, you keep assessing.
(28:01):
You talk to your real estate agent. I mean, like
if I have a listening, I'm on the phone with
them like three days a week, Yeah, going on who
calls have I had? What did they say? What was
the feedback? You know, did they like it? They'd come back?
I have this showing, you know, so you've got to
get you're getting information in real.
Speaker 2 (28:18):
Time, yeah, which is huge. I mean I know the
difference now because we got no information for a month
when we hired the older person. From our house and
then I.
Speaker 1 (28:27):
Mean you need you need to be like like once
so once it's live. Until it's live, you don't really
know what's going to happen.
Speaker 2 (28:34):
Yeah, okay, okay.
Speaker 1 (28:36):
You just you don't. You know, you can. The market's
going to tell you what it's worth, and it'll tell
you the feedback and you'll get information. Your agents should
talk to other agents that come in with their clients
and say what was the feedback, and then you know,
you kind of listen, learn, adjust, keep going. It's like
a living, breathing thing.
Speaker 2 (28:58):
Yeah. I love that. And I feel like with anything
with money, I mean, a sort of a sense of
desperation around it is never a good thing. Like that
is just a sort of a scarcity mindset that you
should try to avoid if you start feeling that, oh,
it's never going to sell and you know, I'm just
wasting my time here and it's costing us money. I mean,
(29:21):
all of these are it's sort of a negative set
of things that we're saying to ourselves that don't help anything.
And I think shifting that into having faith that the
right buyer will come and the price will you know,
it'll be the right price if you can if you
have the leeway and the time and the ability to
(29:41):
do that. To just again, just like with anything else,
to keep checking on you know how you're speaking to
yourself about it, you're speaking to others about it. I
feel like all of that putting it into the universe.
It's important to have that faith.
Speaker 1 (29:55):
So yeah, I mean I couldn't agree more. I mean,
you want to sell with confidence, you can like kind
of like what you said, if you have the ability
to kind of give yourself a long runway, like don't
put yourself up against the clock and say we need
to be you know, that's going to create the mind
the wrong mindset. So if you have a runway now
(30:15):
that you're like I have, we have a few months.
We don't need to do da DA We're just going to
retire or or we don't you know, we're not that
big of a rush. Give yourself as long a runway
as you can because it can take a while. But yeah,
I mean you try to give yourself the you know,
give yourself an opportunity for success and like set yourself
(30:37):
up for success, kind of give yourself a long runway
to see what's going to happen and it could happen quickly.
Speaker 2 (30:44):
You don't know, right right, Oh absolutely, And and but
what you're saying is really important too, because you know,
you want to think this through ahead of time and
make sure you know, depending on your employment situation and
what's going on in your life, if you want to
plan for mortgage payments to continue for probably a more
(31:04):
conservative amount of time and then not, so you know,
there is some planning. I mean, if your expectation is
this house will sell in a couple of months and
then it doesn't, you don't want to have a financial problem,
so you want to plan ahead for that.
Speaker 1 (31:17):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, definitely, And yeah, you don't want to
have you don't want to be panic pricing and giving,
you know. But I think a lot of people are
confident in that, and they know. I think a lot
of people in the West I kind of understand that,
and they know their home is an asset, and you know,
they're very savvy about their assets and their money. So
(31:43):
I think I don't run into that a lot.
Speaker 2 (31:46):
Yeah. I think actually that comment probably isn't as applicable
to your demographic, but you know, general sellers in yeah,
all over the place. I think because I think we
do have certain expectations, and we plan according to our
ex expectations, and we don't want to We don't want
(32:07):
to go into a whole fear based thing where you
over plan or you feel like, you know, you need
to wait to sell until you have X number of
months of you know, money available to continue to pay
if it doesn't work. I mean, you don't really want
to anticipate it not working, but at the same time,
you want to be ready for what might happen because
(32:27):
you really don't know.
Speaker 1 (32:28):
Ye.
Speaker 2 (32:29):
Yeah, it's it's interesting, and I mean it's you know,
people move for jobs and things and have a bigger
need to sell because they need to buy somewhere else.
And I mean there's every every kind of scenario. But
but what I.
Speaker 1 (32:44):
When a'm standing or they're downsizing, or the kids moved out,
or they're having more kids or living schools, or you know,
they have no pair and they need a place for
them and.
Speaker 2 (32:56):
Yeah, yeah, I mean that is what makes it fun
and interesting is to get to know people in their
situations and so I can see where that would be
a fun experience to go through that.
Speaker 1 (33:08):
It's like a little puzzle.
Speaker 2 (33:09):
It is a puzzle and it's also very this is
very important thing, you know in people's lives and so
and you're part of that, you know, so I can
see where it. Uh. I mean every realtor I've had
has said, yeah, I'm part realtor, part therapist, apart many things. Yeah,
(33:30):
So it's uh, it's it's great. And then I just
wanted to just touch on, you know, any any other
changes or things going on today that you haven't seen
maybe in a while or ever, that are happening, that
are new and different that you'd want to share with people.
Speaker 1 (33:51):
I mean, I really think the aftermath of the fires
has caused such a such an explosion in the market,
especially on the West Side, and so you know, it's
just it's an unprecedented time and not respect, it's just
sort of a new time and there's just so many
new people out there looking for homes. There's just not
(34:15):
enough out there, and it's challenging, but you know, patience
and but there's a lot of movement, so you know,
it's not like hopeless or anything, and I think there's
great opportunities.
Speaker 2 (34:28):
Yeah, and from what you're saying, the kind of positive
takeaway that I'm having from hearing you talk is that
as a seller, you do have control. You can play
with things, you know, you can make changes, you can
you know, change the price, you can change a variety
of things. But I feel like sometimes sellers have a
(34:49):
sense of they're just out there floating around, riding the waves,
hoping something happens. But you can be much more in
control and have that sense of control role. Then I
think sometimes you feel.
Speaker 1 (35:03):
Yeah, well, I agree. I mean, you definitely have control,
but you know, I can understand that lots of control too,
because again you're sort of subject to the open market
and what you know, the market will say what it wants.
And as far as real estate agents go, I mean,
(35:24):
we're a service business. So my job is really to
service the seller, to give them what they want. I
mean a lot of times they know exactly what they want,
they know exactly what they want to price. As they
hire me to market, they say, I know what I'm doing.
I don't want to do the paperwork. I just want
you to push it, market it through the open houses.
(35:46):
So some you know, it depends, some clients need more
strategic handholding and some really don't. But that's really the
fun of it.
Speaker 2 (35:56):
Yeah, Okay, Okay, so you can have that conversation and
when they know what they're doing and they know certain
you know, things that they're ready to put out there,
then you can support that basically.
Speaker 1 (36:07):
Yeah, and a lot I mean, like I said, like
these a lot of the clients are very sophisticated. I
mean they're sophisticated. They've owned several homes and they know
they know what to do. So you're there to advise
and make sure you know, the paperwork is correct, everything's
done you know, on the app and legally done, and
(36:31):
you know, the marketing is is top notch, which is
one of my strengths. And the negotiations are are top notch.
You have good relationships with other agents, negotiations can go well,
and there's a lot of levers that you can pull
with negotiating because of the inspections and I mean there's
a lot that goes into it.
Speaker 2 (36:51):
Yeah, the negotiation is huge part of there. But Okay,
so interesting. I love this and so yeah, i feel
like I'm seeing the realtor, I guess, especially the seller
sellers realtor as much more of a marketer than I've
ever thought about it before. So yeah, very interesting to me.
Speaker 1 (37:12):
Yeah, but yeah, and then the seller is like enjoys
that part too. Actually they get involved and it's you know,
it can be fun. You're doing the videos and new
doing the home tours and they see their home on
Instagram and it's like it's it gives them some creative
outlet too.
Speaker 2 (37:31):
Yeah. Well, and so tell us a little about how
people can find you. And I know you're on Instagram
because I follow you on Instagram, but yeah, what what
are you putting out there? And where.
Speaker 1 (37:44):
I'm on my Instagram channel, It's Laura dot Pizarni and
or you can follow me or you can check me
out on my website, Pizarni propertygroup dot com. I have
a lot of videos. You can see my recent listing
sold listings. You can learn about me. I also host
(38:05):
a monthly networking group called The Boss Breakfast and you
can register there. You can sign up for my newsletter.
You know, I'm really just I love to connect with people.
That's just sort of my gift. I'm a connector, I'm
a helper. I love to just be a resource. So
I would love to just have an opportunity to talk
(38:27):
with you, see your home or you know, consult with you.
Speaker 2 (38:33):
Yeah, that's great, thank you, And so you're available if
somebody is even thinking about selling now down the road whenever,
for you to come on over and have a chat
with them.
Speaker 1 (38:45):
About Absolutely, let me see your home, give you ideas
on pricing, give you ideas on the marketing I would do,
and hold your hand the entire way.
Speaker 2 (38:54):
Yeah, that's great. That's very generous and very nice. And
it also makes me think, you know, if you don't
need to sell now, but you know what, what's the
ideal timeframe to to sort of identify that you want
to sell, so that you have some runway to fix
things up, to think about it, to do research.
Speaker 1 (39:15):
I mean, I mean as far as if there's minimal
upgrades to the house. You know, I think like a
month is more than enough time. So you can bring
a steed in, you can do a fresh coat of paint,
maybe I you know, have an organizer comment put some
things in storage. You know, it could be relatively quick.
(39:36):
I mean I could get it on faster. But okay,
that's like a leisurely pace.
Speaker 2 (39:40):
Okay, that's interesting. I was going to think it was longer.
Like in my case, I think if I were going
to sell my home. There's a lot of things that
I would want to do. I'd want to you know,
paint the exterior and do all kinds of things before.
So it would be well.
Speaker 1 (39:52):
That's yeah, that's the thing that you like. So you
know if you were thinking, that's where the consultation would
come in when I come over to meet you, is
that you know, we could discuss those things right away
and I have all the resources that you can use
to you know, do those things.
Speaker 2 (40:09):
Yeah, that's hugely helpful because a lot of times you
know what you need to do, but you don't know
the people to do those things. So yeah, that's yeah.
Speaker 1 (40:16):
So I can like assess like on the spot and
say what I think needs to be sort of taken
care of, or what rooms need to be staged, you know,
to keep the furniture looking fresh and bright and like
you know, yeah modern.
Speaker 2 (40:30):
Yeah, I love that. I feel like it wouldn't be
the worst idea for people to have a little home
on it and just whether you're thinking about selling or not,
just have somebody like you come in and do that
just so that absolutely you know, at some point they
might surprise themselves and want to sell, you know, So anyway.
Speaker 1 (40:45):
Absolutely, Yeah, I'd be happy to do that. I you know,
come check out your house. We can meet talk and
to know each other, and you know, we can see
where it goes, okay, like dating.
Speaker 2 (40:59):
Well, thank you so much. That's great information. And yeah,
I think it's great to get an update to on
what's happening in today's world with marketing because it has changed.
There are a lot of new things that new tools
you can use and things like that that really help
it along. So yeah, yeah, okay, well, Laura, thank you
(41:22):
so much for joining us today. It was a pleasure,
and I really have enjoyed getting to know you, and
I know you're a trustworthy and well informed and you know,
a very dedicated realtor in thank you. Yeah. So I
think that's people would be lucky to work with you,
(41:43):
and so I appreciate you coming on and sharing some
of your insight.
Speaker 1 (41:47):
Thanks for having me. This is so cool. I love it.
I've always enjoyed talking to you, and let's do it again.
Speaker 2 (41:54):
Yeah, thank you. That's great. Yeah, we'll get an update.
There'll be more changes, I'm sure, and we'll do update here.
So that's great. Yeah, nice to have a real estate resource.
Speaker 1 (42:06):
Absolutely anytime.
Speaker 2 (42:07):
Okay, well, thank you and thank you audience for showing
up for the money and you show. We love it
when you listen to the show. And would still, you know,
enjoy a five star review or a rating? What am
I saying? You know? Ratings, reviews, all of that stuff
that everybody needs for their show for it to prosper
and Ubian go. Thank you so much, and I love
(42:32):
doing the show, love having you a show up for
the show. And you can find us on the Limit
Free Life YouTube channel and all the podcast platforms that
you might be listening to. And we love the variety
of guests and the variety of topics, and we hope
you do too. If you have any interest in a
particular topic and I can find some expertise in that area,
you can reach out to me at Michelle at limitfreelife
(42:53):
dot com. And you can also go to my website,
Limit Free life dot com and sign up for my
monthly news letter blog and get regular information on what
Limit for your Life's up to. So thank you so
much and we'll see you next week.
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