Don't Just List Your Home - It - CPO it!

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A deal can feel “done” the moment you go under contract, then an inspection report drops and everything changes. We sit down with Utah agent Deanna Allen to talk through the two forces that blow up more real estate transactions than most buyers and sellers expect: the home inspection and the appraisal. If you’ve ever watched a happy handshake turn into tense repair negotiations, you’ll recognize the pattern immediately.

We dig into why non-certified listings can see dropout rates as high as 33%, and what that failure really costs both sides: inspection money, appraisal fees, weeks of lost market time, delayed moving plans, and the emotional whiplash of starting over. Then we walk through our certified pre-owned home approach, built to move the biggest surprises to the front of the timeline. A pre-inspection before listing creates clearer disclosure, calmer negotiations, and stronger offers. We also talk about when an appraisal can help pricing confidence and how a home warranty can add peace of mind, similar to a dealership warranty.

The analogy that makes it stick: certified pre-owned cars come with a detailed checklist and a value baseline, so why wouldn’t a home listing do the same? If you want a real estate listing strategy that improves trust, reduces contract fallout, and helps you get to the closing table with fewer shocks, this conversation is for you. Subscribe, share this with a friend who’s about to list, and leave us a review with your biggest inspection surprise.

Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_00 (00:17):
Hey, it's Rowena Patton here on the Real Estate
News Radio.
You can see all the episodes atrealestate newsradio.com.
And today we're on with DeannaAllen in Utah.
Good morning, Deanna.

SPEAKER_01 (00:31):
Good morning, Rose.
So happy to be with you today.

SPEAKER_00 (00:33):
I am so happy you are here.
And we're going to talk aboutcertified pre-owned.
We've been doing this since2007, back in the day where I
started out in real estate andsaid, what on earth is going on
here?
I cried every third day, and I'mnot a crier.
And uh deals just kept fallingapart.

(00:55):
I thought it was because I was anew agent.
And then I found out there's twokey things that attack a deal.
Deanna, you you have done somany contracts and working with
clients now out in Utah.
What are those two key thingswhen it goes under contract that
are the deal busters?

SPEAKER_01 (01:15):
It's usually related to the inspection and the
appraisal.

SPEAKER_00 (01:20):
Mm-hmm.
What so what happens?
All right, so we're all excited.
Bob and Sue, yay, we're findinga house.
You've got a Hawaii company, cupuh couple you're helping right
now, and they're really excitedto be putting a do they have
that contract in, or are theyall excited to put the contract
in?

SPEAKER_01 (01:37):
We are under contract.

SPEAKER_00 (01:39):
Under contract, that's fantastic.
So everybody's happy.
Sellers are happy, buyers arehappy, Sienna's happy, I'm
happy.
The whole world is happy for ourclients that they're under
contract.
Now, here's what happens.
So you get towards theinspection, and then the
inspection happens.

(01:59):
I'm guessing that the listingthat you put this up in on was
not certified pre-owned, am Iright?

SPEAKER_01 (02:06):
It was not, yes.

SPEAKER_00 (02:07):
Okay, so unfortunately, listings that are
not certified pre-owned, thestatistic is um up to 33%.
So about a third drop out whenthey're under contract.
Which is amazing, right?
Can you believe this?

SPEAKER_01 (02:24):
No, it's interesting to see.
And it's oftentimes why deals,like you said, like they fall
out.
Yeah.
Because there are negotiationsthat take place, you know, once
that inspection report comesback and there's, you know,
40-50 items on the report, andbuyers get concerned and they
start to question whether or notthey should move forward with

(02:45):
the purchase once they'reabsolutely, absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 (02:48):
So, and we're back in negotiation then.
You you've put money down forthe inspection.
You've usually put earnestmoney, due diligence money,
depending on what state you are,wherever you are in the country,
we can help you.
Different states have differentrules, of course, but you've put
some money in the game at thispoint.
And now you're back intonegotiation because the seller
had no idea about these things.

(03:09):
Obviously, you had no idea aboutthese things.
Sometimes the sellers did knowabout these things and just
didn't choose to say anything.
But how would you know?
Most sellers, when we go on alisting appointment, say, oh no,
my home's great, it's very wellmaintained.
And that is maybe.
However, inspectors have got toearn their money, right?
And you're gonna come up with30, 40, 50, 60 items on the

(03:32):
inspector report, even a newhome.
So if you're buying on your own,maybe you're buying an
off-market deal, always havethat inspection, always have the
appraisal too.
Really, really important.
I'm actually showing you herethe certified pre-owned page on
our website.
If you're listening on a podcastand not watching this on

(03:54):
YouTube, you can see this atallstarpowerhouse.com.
Allstarpowerhouse.com, and justclick on certified pre-owned at
the top.
It will take you to this page.
There's frequently askedquestions, it's all about CPO.
Excuse me, this is not the cashoffer, by the way.
This is nothing to do with thecash offer.

(04:15):
This is about listing your homethe right way.
So the dropout rate drops to 7%.
Deanna, you've always done itthis way.
Can you so we both work withbuyers as well?
Doesn't your heart sink when thehome isn't certified pre-owned?

SPEAKER_01 (04:30):
Oh, it does.
Absolutely.
Because even the most diligenthomeowners that, you know, take
care of everything as theyshould regularly throughout the
year, you you still don't knowwhat's essentially under the
hood.
You know, you just, for those ofyou who couldn't see the screen,
she just scrolled past a pictureof a car that is certified
pre-owned.
And maybe we can talk a littlebit about that row so that
people understand thecomparison.

SPEAKER_00 (04:53):
Good idea.
Yes.
Most of you have heard ofcertified pre-owned car.
Um, are allergies really badover there right now?
It's just the season.
Oh my gosh.
Yeah, I know so many people aresuffering with it.
So many of you have heard of aCPO car.
Every dealership has them,Carvana, Carmax, that is their
model, certified pre-owned.

(05:14):
And that's where the idea camefrom back in 2006 when we
launched this for homes.
So why would we put uh a car uhon a CPO program and not a
house?
So the card has a 156-pointinspection check and also a
black book value and also adealership warranty.

(05:36):
And I thought, what if we dothis with homes?
So we pre-inspect your home, andsometimes you get an appraisal,
not always, but at the veryleast, pre-inspect.
You don't have to pay for thehome warranty until it actually
closes if you want to do thehome warranty as well.
That's like the dealershipwarranty.
Um, the obviously the black bookvalue, that's the appraisal,

(05:57):
should you choose to get it.
That one's really for grabs.
It's up to you.
And then you get a much strongerlisting.
They sell faster, they sell formore money.
The dropout rate goes down to7%.
Why is the dropout?
Why do we talk about dropoutrate and why is that important,
Deanna?

SPEAKER_01 (06:15):
Well, it's important because, you know, people trust
that when they're going undercontract, that they're going to
get to that closing table,right?
But what people don't oftenunderstand is the negotiations
back and forth can sometimes endthe deal.
And you can walk away alreadyinvesting money, like as you
said, you know, the buyer'sgoing to do their inspection,
um, you know, appraisal's gonnacome into play.

(06:36):
And then they ultimately mightnot end up purchasing the home.
So it's a loss for both sides.
You know, there's time involvedin the contract, right?
The seller is hoping to beclosing within 30 to 45 days.
The buyer's hoping the samething.
And when it all falls apart,everyone loses.

SPEAKER_00 (06:51):
Mm-hmm.
Absolutely.
And that's why it's soimportant.
Did we cover everything today,Deanna?

SPEAKER_01 (06:58):
I think so.
I think, yeah.
If anyone would like to learnmore about the the CPO offer and
the way that we help you getyour home sold, we, you know,
reach out to us and uh find moreinformation at cachecpo.com and
at allstarpowerhouse.com.

SPEAKER_00 (07:13):
Yep, cashcpo.com is where you put it in if you're
thinking about that uh cash outversion of certified pre-owned,
or you can do your regularlisting, talk to your agent
about it or talk to us about it.
We'll get that going on for you.
A lot of agents don't know howto do it.
We've written a best-sellingbook on it, and we have a
certification program on it aswell.

(07:33):
And you may as well get youroffer.
You can also see that atallstarpowerhouse.com.
I'll do it with you for those ofyou on uh uh who are watching on
uh YouTube and or Facebook orInstagram or whether wherever
you're at.
So allstarpowerhouse.com.
Do you want to say it, Deanna?

(07:53):
Because apparently I talk funny.

SPEAKER_01 (07:56):
Yeah, sure.
It's allstarpowerhouse.com, andwe love your funny accent,
Ralph.

SPEAKER_00 (08:01):
And then you click right here on certified
pre-owned, and that takes you tothis page right here.
There's lots of information oncertified pre-owned.
And again, you don't necessarilyhave to get your offer, but
there's the offer button righthere.
Um, you may as well.
The great thing about that is itgives you the four different

(08:22):
versions.
Um, sorry, YouTube.
Uh something happened therebecause we're on Zoom recording
this, so no.
But yeah, and we'll show you theoffer, we'll show you four
different ways right here.
Cash CPO, so that's where youtake the cash out option.
This is conventional CPO.
That's where you do what we'vebeen talking about today, which

(08:45):
is pre inspecting your home.
This is a conventional listingor grandma's listing, and this
is a for sale by owner.
You will get this sheet when youput your home in for an offer at
cashcpo.com.
We'll see you on the radio nextweek.