March 14, 2025 • 31 mins
Think homeownership is out of reach? This eye-opening conversation with real estate expert Ashton Dixon might change your mind forever! We peel back the curtain on the home buying process, revealing pathways to property ownership that most people never discover...
The journey begins with finding the right realtor – someone genuinely invested in your success rather than just chasing a quick commission. Ashton walks us through her meticulous buyer consultation process, a 30+ minute educational session that equips clients with essential knowledge about contracts, terminology, and financing options. This approach stands in stark contrast to agents who skip this crucial step, leaving home buyers vulnerable to costly mistakes.
What truly sets exceptional agents apart is their ability to make offers stand out in competitive markets. Through a fascinating breakdown of her multi-touchpoint communication strategy, Ashton reveals how professional presentation and relationship-building with listing agents can transform your chances of securing a property, even against seemingly stronger bids.
The most surprising revelation comes when discussing financing options. Contrary to what many believe, some programs offer financing without restrictive conditions. Whether you're a first-time buyer intimidated by the process or someone who's tried and failed to enter the market, this episode provides actionable insights and renewed hope..The path to your dream home might be shorter than you think...all it takes is connecting with the right professional who knows how to navigate today's real estate landscape known as the MLS!
Listen now and discover how the right realtor can transform your homeownership journey!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to the Carolina Contractor Show with
your host, general ContractorDonnie Blanchard.
All right, so there's talkabout with daylight savings time
or standard time and making itpermanent.
If you would pick one of thetwo, donnie, which would you
pick?
Speaker 2 (00:14):
That's a tough one.
I'd have to think that through.
But I think in my world the wayit is now works for me, but I
don't know any other way, I likethe long summer nights.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
I know some people with younger kids don't like the
long summer nights because theysaid it's hard to get your
toddler to go to bed at eighto'clock when the sun's still out
.
But our kids survived and wedid it with three of them.
So I like the long summernights when it gets dark at like
845, nine o'clock.
Agreed, All right.
So I changed Donnie's mind,made him take a stance.
Finally, and welcome to theCarolina Contractor Show.
My name's Eric Smith.
(00:42):
I do inside sales for HomeBuilders Supply in Wilson,
Greenville.
Donnie over there, who we justconvinced that long summer
nights are better, he ownsBlanchard Building Company.
He owns Sure Top Roofing andhe's a general contractor and on
our show we like to talk aboutbuilding usually and things that
relate to it, and today'ssubject we'll get to in a sec
will relate to building andhouses definitely.
Plus, we have a special guestthat I'll let Donnie introduce,
(01:04):
but let me just tell you itsmells good in the studio today
because we had to pick up allthe socks and empty pizza boxes
because he said we got a guestthat you know.
You got to have a clean place,so we did that today.
All right.
So we have a website calledthecarolinacontractorcom.
That's the best place to go tofind more information about the
show.
Because you want to listen to apast episode of the show, We've
(01:24):
got links to it because we haveeverything in podcast form and
so you can get the show based onthe title or when it was aired
or the subject matter and youcan listen to it that way.
We also have the YouTube siteso you can see us and you'll be
able to see our guests, and youcan also ask a question you
might have about the show oryour house or a project or
anything by asking thecontractor.
That's an actual button on thewebsite you can click on and it
(01:46):
goes to Donnie and then he'llanswer those questions.
And once in a while we do ashow of nothing but questions
and maybe we'll get one of thosein the near future.
But, as we said, today we have aguest and this dovetails into a
couple of previous shows.
We did Donnie.
We did one on having a banker,people wanting to buy a house.
They want to know mortgagerates and how do you get loans.
(02:08):
And then the week after that wedid one a return on your
investment, Usually when you'reselling a house, you want to do
some things to increase thevalue of it, but you don't want
to do something too custom, like, hey, I want a bathroom that's
all black.
You want to do things that'sgoing to make a buyer go ooh, I
like this house.
So we did our previous show onthings that were more North
(02:29):
Carolina specific return oninvestment improvements you
could do to your house.
That show again you can listento.
But today we want to bring itall together, put a big bow on
it and talk to the people whoare actually buying a house.
And people who are buying ahouse are going to need somebody
that's very important to dothat process and that is a real
(02:49):
estate agent.
And Donnie, you had theconnection, so please introduce
our guests.
Speaker 2 (02:53):
Yep, today I have the pleasure of introducing local
real estate extraordinaireAshton Dixon.
Ashton is a friend of mine butalso, I would say, my personal
realtor, because that's veryfair.
I send folks her way all thetime and I get nothing but rave
reviews.
And, ashton, I can't thank youenough.
I know you have a busy life,but thanks for coming in today
and talking to us.
Speaker 3 (03:11):
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (03:13):
Well, let's start this off real quick, because
people buying a house today,ashton, don't know the first
step to take, and we want toalso address some of the fears
that people have about thepossibility of buying a house
they think is out of reach.
Before people go to find arealtor or buy a house, what do
you recommend they do to startthat process?
Speaker 3 (03:33):
Do the research education.
It could start from looking uplocal realtors, looking at
reviews, asking family, memberor friends hey, what do you know
?
Who do you know?
Look on social media that'sanother huge thing that people
do to look for realtors.
I would say 100%, look uprealtors and look at their
reviews, because we know everyrealtor is not going to be for
(03:54):
everyone.
Everybody has their own methodsof doing things and really just
finding somebody that clickswith you and, you know, has that
education that you're going toneed to get you where you're
going.
Speaker 2 (04:07):
Yeah, definitely I'll second that, Ashton, because
realtors are all over the placeand, just like you said, not
everybody is right for everybodyelse.
That goes both ways.
So you know I'm sure that yourun into homeowners that are
very demanding and some peopleare just go with the flow,
pretty darn easy.
But yeah, do your research.
Folks and realtors are, I wantto say, a dime, a dozen, but
(04:27):
that's not really true becauseeverybody you've got them.
I'll just be blunt about it.
There are a lot of lazyrealtors out there and if you're
really trying to sell or buy,you want to hustle her and I've
said that before on the show butsomebody who really gets after
it and that's in tune with themarket and basically just well
connected.
I know that you and yourhusband tied into the community.
(04:47):
The boys play every sport inthe world, so you're constantly
at games and I think that givesyou a big advantage and I know
how well tied in you are.
So I think that's superimportant for folks to do their
research and get somebodysimilar to yourself.
Speaker 3 (04:59):
Absolutely.
I mean, you can't get out thereenough, to be honest.
But I agree, you really justhave to find that person that's
going to work with you for you,and you'll be able to tell you
know you need to interview agood amount of realtors If you
feel like the first one or twois I don't really know Cause,
when you know, it's like theysay, when you know, you know.
Speaker 1 (05:18):
Could you start off a step-by-step process?
When someone comes to you andthey say I'm in the market to
buy a house, what's the firstthing that happens?
Speaker 3 (05:26):
The first thing that I always do and this is
obviously just etiquette,because things happen.
So I always say first questionout of my mouth are you working
or have you spoke to sign anyany with any other realtor?
Because I don't want to be thatone stepping on somebody's toes
where they have a client andthe client comes to me and then
(05:46):
I have them come into me like,hey, why are you helping my
client?
So we're going to find out ifthey are talking to a realtor
and, if so, kind of lead themback to that if they are indeed
getting help.
If not, I'm going to set up aninitial buyer consultation.
There's a lot of ways you cango about it.
You could go about it by saying, okay, do you have a lender in
(06:06):
mind and have you gottenpre-qualified?
Or you can say, okay, let's seta time where we can meet for
coffee.
We can do a Zoom, we can do aphone call, whatever is best for
you to do a buyer consultation,which is what I would recommend
.
I wouldn't necessarily throwthem to the wolves and the
lenders, because that stuff canbe scary if you don't know what
you don't know and you're goinginto a full-blown conversation
(06:28):
and you don't even know what duediligence money is.
So that's where I come insetting up that initial buyer
consult which basically goesstart to finish, every little
detail of what the process is,what my specific process is,
what makes me different.
It's going to go over even myfamily.
I introduced me.
(06:49):
I have two little boys that areseven and eight, my husband,
because I want them to know I'ma person too.
So I get it.
Life happens, things happenalong the way, so I want you to
know me as a person and then youknow, in business, I want you
to know me as your realtor aswell.
So it would start there and Ihave a 20 page buyer
(07:15):
consultation that they get, thatit's there for them.
But we go through that and thattypically takes about 45
minutes, depending on how manyquestions they have.
You know you have to answer allthe questions and make them
feel at ease, teach them andeducate a lot of them, because a
lot of people don't know whatanything is, and that's most
important, and I feel like thatsets the bar really high.
After doing that and saying, ok, if you don't feel like I'm the
person for you, go andinterview other realtors.
(07:38):
They go to other realtors whodon't even have a process or a
consultation or anything.
But long story short, the buyerconsultation that's going to set
up.
It's going to tell you, it'sgoing to show you a contract.
It's going to tell you what duediligence is, earnest money,
the definitions of all of those.
It's going to give you thestart.
To finish, it's going to giveyou three lenders that you know
(08:01):
I personally work with on adaily basis.
If you have somebody, great, gowith them.
But these are ones that I'veworked with.
I've did 12 to 24 deals a yearwith.
Haven't had any issues.
They're highly recommended andit just goes into every little.
We could do a session in itselfon just a buyer consult and all
(08:22):
of the details that you gothrough and what we're seeing in
the market, which changes,obviously, weekly.
Speaker 2 (08:28):
How many realtors don't do that?
I would say a lot.
Speaker 3 (08:31):
Probably a good amount.
I can't say a number, because Imeet with a lot of.
I have a lot of, I wouldn't saya lot.
I have a good amount of qualityagents that I talk to on a
weekly basis that are just thebest people around and they have
great reputations and they'reall doing consults and they're
all.
But I know there's a ton ofagents that I've never spoke to.
(08:53):
I don't know who they are.
They're showing my listings orthey're up against me as far as
when I go to present a buyeroffer, but they aren't doing
half of what I'm doing, which isit gives me I shouldn't say
this, but it gives me moreenergy for my buyer because I'm
like, yeah, bring your offer,because I know that we're
bringing it, plus 10 otherthings behind it, like we're
(09:14):
good with that.
You know, I would have wishedto say that 90%, 80 to 90% of
agents do what I do and I know agood amount do, but I probably
not even half of them, to behonest, just because everybody
does think when you get in realestate easy, quick money, big
dollars, and while when Istarted really getting into it
(09:35):
at COVID, that was the case, butthat had a whole different
other factor you had to winthose houses up against tons of
different offers and peopledoing crazy things, so that was
in itself a whole differentballgame.
But as far as that goes,probably not enough.
Speaker 2 (09:51):
They're just trying to get that quick paycheck which
is I'm very much set apart withthat, because this is not
paying my light bills, luckily,and I don't know the answer to
this and I actually just thoughtabout this before we got
started, so I don't want tosurprise you with a loaded
question.
But the MLS a lot of peopledon't even know what that is and
that that's a thing.
But what is the advantage ofhaving exposure to the MLS
(10:12):
versus just an internet search?
Because you know you've gotZillow and some other sites out
there.
You know realestatecom orwhatever it is, and I know a lot
of people just like to searchthat way before they contact a
realtor.
But what are some advantages ofMLS?
Speaker 3 (10:26):
Major advantage is when you're just searching like
realtor in Zillow, it's going togive you that generic
information.
It may give you the listingagent, obviously, that you could
call and talk to.
But if you have a realtorthat's within the MLS, it's
going to give you documents likethe residential property
disclosure which is typicallygoing to tell you a bit about
(10:46):
the whole house.
It's going to tell you the roof, the HVAC here you know,
depending upon what the sellersknow and can fill out.
If they don't know it, they'reputting no representation or you
know that they don't know.
Otherwise it's going to giveyou every bit.
I mean I can't remember howmany pages it is because they do
update the forms, but it'spages of information on the home
(11:08):
.
So it is.
I think it's a very key part ofeven before I go show a house to
a buyer.
I'm looking up that house, I'mgetting all that information and
I'm sending it to my buyerbecause if they know they don't
want to buy a house, that let'sjust say a roof that has a
40-year roof, they're not goingto want to have to replace it.
(11:29):
And I'm seeing an RPD where thehouse was built in 1980 and
there's nothing about a roof andyou go to look and it looks
pretty bad.
They're probably going to rulethat one out before even wasting
their time to go see it.
But it gives you a lot ofinsider information.
As far as the home, a lot oftimes agents will put private
agent remarks which are thingsthat the seller may want to put
(11:50):
in there but not necessarilywant to put for all of the
public to see.
But if you have a realtor,they're going to see that
private agent remark and thenthey're going to be able to
relay that information to you.
Speaker 1 (12:00):
Ashton, when it comes to the buyer, and they find the
house and we know that houseshave multiple bids, let's say
all the bids are relatively inthe same range how do you make
your buyer's bid stand out?
Speaker 3 (12:14):
There's a lot of key factors.
That's like a loaded question,but I'll give you a prime
example.
It's going to kind of give youthe process and the layout of my
style, going from when we'regoing to go look at a house to
when we're offering, because itkind of you got to tie it all in
.
So if I know we're going to golook at a house, first and
foremost I'm obviously going toschedule it and then I'm going
(12:35):
to reach out directly to theagent.
I'm going to introduce myself,say thank you so much for
letting us see the housecompliment, it's a great listing
.
So much for letting us see thehouse Compliment, it's a great
listing, congratulations.
Everybody likes to hear thatand people cheer everybody on.
It's a good thing.
So after that I'm going to findout from the seller standpoint,
because everybody talks aboutwe want to click, quick, close,
(12:58):
we want cash.
Well, that's not always thecase.
Sometimes somebody may bebuilding a home and they need a
longer close.
So I'm going to reach out.
I'm going to say is thereanything specific as far as that
the seller is looking for thator that you want to disclose, to
let us know?
Sometimes they will say youknow, we need a seller
possession.
It would be great if they couldget that and didn't have to pay
anything.
Or we would love a 28 day close.
(13:20):
This is an investment propertyor this is a property that they
inherited.
They're not trying to hang onto it, it's just you know.
So finding that out, that'sgoing to be the most important
for me.
At that point we go, we look atthe house.
They love it.
I'm then going to leave thehouse and I'm going to call the
agent again, probably after aday or two, telling them that
(13:40):
we're going to go view it andfind out that information.
So this is going to be like mysecond touch to that agent and
I'm going to basically verballygive them the feedback that my
client you know my client lovesthe house.
You know they could, they couldsee it being their home.
They could see themselvescreating memories there.
You know, thank you again forletting us show it.
(14:01):
Just going to give you a headsup.
We're going to send an offeryour way.
You again for letting us showit.
Just going to give you a headsup.
We're going to send an offeryour way, wanted to verbally let
you know.
Like they are overqualified Alot of times my people will I
will recommend going to a lender, talking with the lender.
It depends on their financesbecause it can get sticky, like
if they're an FHA loan and thisis going into banking world, so
I won't get that far into it.
(14:22):
But if I know their loan islike kind of sticky sometimes
I'll even go to the extent ofcalling the lender if it's one
that I use regularly and I'vedid it multiple times and say
hey, do you want to ride and seethis house with our client?
I'll let them know verballywhat our offer is and let them
know I'll be following up withan email.
In the email that I do, becauseI can't tell you how many times
(14:44):
on listings I've gotten offersand I've almost jumped over them
in my email and that may soundbad, but it's because they're
sent through like our dot loopsystem.
They're not sent via email.
It's just like send an agent anoffer and there's no
information.
It just shows a contract.
So it could very well, you know, get tangled in with my own
(15:06):
contracts.
Or they'll send an email and belike thanks for letting us see
the house, here's our offer andthere's nothing.
So in my email I'm introducingmyself once again.
This is the third time, sothey're going to know my name
and probably be annoyed with whoI am, but they're not going to
forget me.
Introduce my clients, telltheir name, tell again they love
the house.
I'm going to put all of ouroffer terms the offer price, the
(15:28):
due diligence date, the duediligence amount, the earnest
money, the you know the type ofloan, any contingencies,
anything we're asking.
I'm going to put that all in aparagraph so literally the
listing agent can just scan itand see what our offer is
without having to scroll throughthe contract, which they're
going to do.
But that makes it a whole loteasier.
(15:49):
Then I have a paragraph againon why they love the house.
I have a paragraph on such andsuch is working with such and
such at such and such's bank.
They're pre-qualified.
Here's all of her informationand then basically just saying
we really would love the chanceto work with you.
So that's kind of going aboveand beyond.
It's setting up a presentationof an offer.
(16:10):
So even if an offer comes alongthat outbeats us with a
stronger due diligence, but theyjust send an offer and it's
kind of sloppy and otherrealtors going to see the on the
listing side they're going tobe like this is really put
together, you know, and you'rekind of just setting the tone of
how a transaction will be.
Speaker 2 (16:27):
I was going to say if I were the seller, I would and
I know this isn't for everyhouse, because some people don't
like their neighbors.
I love my neighbors and if Iwere the seller and you came to
me with that and I remember, youknow we were doing some of the
flip houses and I remember howthose offers came in, all over
the place and they may be alittle more due diligence, but
this one was a sure thing andthere's a lot that takes place
(16:49):
between the offer acceptance andthe deal closing.
So that's another questionthere.
But what I was going to say,the one thing you said, or my
takeaway, would be that youwould make me feel like that
couple was a good fit.
You know what I mean.
If you have a good neighborrelations, you don't want to
sell the house to some crazy.
Everybody wants the most moneythey can possibly get, but I
think most people that aredecent people have good neighbor
(17:10):
relations and you know youdon't.
You care about who buys yourhouse is what I'm trying to say,
because that's been your homewith your family for however
long.
Speaker 3 (17:22):
So that would make a difference to me.
And with fair housing you haveyou kind of have to be careful
with that.
Like I know, some people arefor writing letters and some
people are like, no, you can'tdo that.
Well, if I have a client that'slike I want to put a letter
with my offer, please, I'll sendit to the agent and say this is
totally up to you.
I won't read the letter.
I'm like they just want me tosend this along.
If you don't want to pass italong, that is totally fine.
If you do pass it along, justbecause I'm not going to tell my
(17:45):
client, no, but I'm also notreading it.
So, with that being said, we do.
That's a sticky situation, butpeople do do those things still
because, like you said, people'shomes are their personal prize
position, no matter shape, size,what they are, that's their
home, so that's the mostimportant to them.
(18:06):
So of course, they're going towant to pass it along to
somebody that really is going totake care of it.
Speaker 1 (18:12):
What are the risks of not using Realtor?
You see for sale by owner.
What's the risk for a buyertrying to buy a house without a
Realtor?
Speaker 3 (18:20):
There's a lot of risk .
Well, one, now, with everything, it's going to be really hard
for a buyer to look at a housethat doesn't have an agent.
With the new law that came outlast year when everything about
the commissions came out, youhave to have somebody show you
(18:42):
that house.
You have to have somebody showyou that house.
Now, if somebody went to ahomeowner that had a house and
said, hey, we want to see yourhouse, we see you have a sign in
your yard for a realtor, thosepeople are more than likely
going to contact their realtorand say, hey, such and such
wants to see this, and Sallyfrom next door really wants to
see it, but like they're notworking with a realtor, what do
(19:03):
I do?
That realtor that's listed inthe house is probably going to
say shoot me their numberbecause they have to have a
signed document to get in thatfront door to see the house.
Now they could sign thatdocument and it could only be
for a one showing listing.
So you're not signing anythingthat's tying you to an agent for
a number of months, but you'restill going to have to sign it.
(19:23):
And I don't know a ton ofrealtors that are going to be
jumping at the thought ofshowing somebody a house that
does not want to work with arealtor.
But in that case I would be onethat would do that because in
my mind, in hindsight, I'm goingto think, okay, they don't want
a realtor, but do they reallyknow what a realtor is?
So if I'm going to get them andI'm going to show them that
(19:44):
house for one time, I'm going tomake sure that time matters.
I'm going to let them know hey,I can help you, and more than
likely.
I mean there may be a slimchance that you may have to
compensate me a little bit, butmore than likely this seller may
work with us to compensate me.
So you just get me as an addedbonus and on top of that, like
(20:06):
I'm going to be able to makesure everything's compliant,
make sure you're not gettingtaken advantage of, because you
know these days that you hear itall the time a lot of people
don't know what their home isworth.
So as a buyer, you know youdon't want to be overpaying.
It's great to underpay, but ifchances are, if you're going to
look at a listing that has arealtor and you don't, you're
going to be the one you knowthat's fallen behind.
(20:29):
Because when you you don't knowall of the documents, you don't
know what's compliant, you'rereally just trying to buy a
house and more than likely thatlisting agent I don't want to
say you is going to takeadvantage of you, but they, they
know what they're doing,they're working for their client
for a reason.
And it could be that thelisting agent and I've had it
before where I've had somebodythat wants to see we're going to
(20:50):
flip it that wants to see a forsale by owner home and I'm
representing them as a buyeragent I'll call the for sale by
owner and I'll say hey, I'm abuyer agent and I have a buyer.
If I'm able, know you a willingand able buyer?
Would you be willing to pay mea 3% commission if we bring you
an offer that you know that'saround what you want.
(21:12):
So it's kind of flipping it alittle bit.
But also some agents will sayyou give me 4% and I'll handle.
You know I'll handle thepaperwork.
But then that gets into dualagency and that's a whole nother
topic too.
Speaker 2 (21:24):
Hey, I wanted to say this, so I don't ask you to say
it.
I know that there's been a lotof shakeup in the legislation
with real estate law and thatwhole who gets what commission
is.
There's a lot to be determinedin that area, but I'll say I
always pitched it this way and Ithink a lot everybody that I'd
say out of everybody, I told 70%of people didn't know that the
(21:46):
seller, in most cases beforethis legislation shakeup, the
seller paid the commission.
So what you just said is ifthat is in fact the case, they
get you as an added bonus, and Iknow that I've.
When I turned you on to people,they said, well, my God, I
don't know if I can afford arealtor.
And I used to say look, youknow, the person selling the
house is paying the fee you get.
You're basically getting a freeprofessional to be your liaison
(22:09):
through this whole process, anda lot of people just didn't
know that and I'm careful withmy wording because I know that's
not the case anymore and that'syour, your world, but it still
works that way sometimes, Right?
Speaker 3 (22:20):
Yeah, it can be a sticky situation, but it's also
very situational.
As far as that goes, you couldgo into, you know, hey, I'm
going to show you this house.
Let me have this conversationand this is a part of my buyer
console of hey, if, if per se,the seller is not willing to pay
, a buyer agent, do you havewilling to pay a buyer agent?
(22:44):
Do you have and this would beme keying in the lender too,
because sometimes the lender hascredits that are able to help
offset everything Do you havetwo and a half or 3%?
Because, at the end of the day,I don't want to stand in
between somebody being able toget a home, but also, like I
don't want to do it for freeeither.
So, you know, just having thatconversation with them up front
of hey, can you afford it?
(23:04):
If this is the case, and thenalso talking about other
situations, we could offer onthis house and we could offer a
little above.
If comps pulled above, we couldoffer a little more and we
could ask for a seller creditthat's going to pay for your
closing costs, slash commissionfees.
So there are ways around it andthat's just where you have to
(23:24):
get really creative and youreally have to dig down deep
with their lender and figure outwhat they truly could do.
But I would say somebody,whether it be a first time
homebuyer or a homebuyer thathas not did it in a while, just
to reach out, because you neverknow, you never know.
I just helped somebody lastyear at the end of last year,
just graduated college.
He said I know that I'm notgoing to be able to buy a home
(23:46):
for two years.
I have to work and have incomefor two years and you know that
whole two year mark and that wasnot the case.
I got them with the lender.
They had a letter from theircurrent employer that they had a
contract.
We were able to get them undercontract to brand new home with
closing costs and concessions,and he thought he wasn't going
to be able to buy for two years.
But he would have never knownthat had he not just reached out
(24:08):
and just made that one phonecall of I'm just getting
information.
Speaker 1 (24:12):
This is Carolina Contractor Show and we've been
talking with real estate agentAshton Dixon.
I want to do a quick speedround.
What this means is I'm going toask you a couple of questions.
You got to give me a 30 secondanswer.
You think you can do it.
Speaker 3 (24:24):
Probably not.
I like to talk, but we'll try.
We'll try.
Speaker 1 (24:30):
Well, let's try to do it, because these are common
questions.
I want to make sure people hearan answer from a pro, from when
they come to you and say howmuch is my home worth.
Speaker 3 (24:43):
What are the quick variables there?
Quick variables are give meyour address and that's
basically all I need.
What's your address?
And if you want to get into thenitty gritty, you can tell me
how much you owe, so I can tellyou, when we do figure out your
CMA, how much you can net fromthat.
But really just your address.
I'm plugging that into the MLS.
I'm looking at the houses thatare pending, that are on the
market and that have closed andsold.
I do ask them specifics as tohave you had any updates, the
(25:05):
roof age, all the tiny littlespecifics that they would need.
Or, hey, what do you want totell me quickly as far as what
you've done to your home?
And then I'm going to plug allthat in and get it to you and
generally I'm going to give itto them within 30 minutes to an
hour after, and schedule a calland go over it and all of that.
Speaker 1 (25:24):
Question number two realistically, how long is it
going to take to sell my house?
Speaker 3 (25:27):
That's going to be variable.
So, when we essentially go tosell your house, are we choosing
the method of we're going toprice it low to get people on
the door to drive the price upto what you want, or we're going
to price it at market value towhere we should be getting
showings and offers?
Are we going to price it alittle higher to see it as far
(25:48):
as if that works, knowing thatif we're pricing it a little
higher, we got to keep in mindthat it's probably going to take
us a little longer and we couldhave to price reduce it once or
twice.
If we're pricing it at thecorrect market value, it should
go under contract dependingbecause everything is so
situational.
It could be anywhere from oneday, depending on the price
(26:09):
point, to two to three weeks.
If we're pricing it undermarket value, it should fly.
Speaker 1 (26:15):
From your experience, what are three things top of
your head that a home seller cando to prepare their house for
sale?
Speaker 3 (26:25):
First and foremost, deep clean.
That's going to get rid of anysmells and it's going to make
everything just look better.
Declutter A lot of peoplecannot see past clutter.
As an agent in the buying world, I'm able to walk some of my
clients through and I know ifthey can't see past it I will
talk them through it.
Hey, remember, all of thisstuff won't be on the counter.
(26:48):
You won't have that lime greenwall, you know.
But declutter is a big thing.
A second big thing but noteverybody wants to remove their
personal belongings and thoseare their prized possessions in
their house.
So I'm not one to push that toomuch.
So what did I say?
Cleaning and decluttering?
Well, I mean, you know that's.
(27:09):
That's dependent on the buyer,because some people don't even.
They're just like oh yeah,we'll replace it.
Or you know, storms will comeand insurance no.
But third, I mean I don't know.
I mean you could paint, butit's depending on what it looks
like, because you don't want andthis is where it gets hard, you
don't want to throw yourclients into doing stuff on the
(27:33):
house.
And then there's really, itdoesn't hold as much value.
You know like, paint your wholehouse, spend five thousand
dollars, but you're not going tomake $5,000 back to spend.
You know, I, for me, personally, I would say landscape the
outside of the house, make surethat, and I kind of.
The reason I didn't say it isbecause I lump it in with
(27:53):
cleaning, but I guess Ishouldn't, because a soft
pressure wash and a pressurewash and blowing the, you know,
the driveway and trimming thebushes, those aren't cleaning
things to people.
So I would definitely say thatto make sure your yard doesn't
need to be immaculate, but theoutside does need to be inviting
, it needs to be clean, it needsto look put together, because
(28:13):
nobody's gonna wanna see theinside of your house if the
outside looks like the Addamsfamily.
Speaker 1 (28:18):
We've always stressed curb appeal.
I love this house and I haven'teven walked inside of it yet
You're setting the tone for theinside, definitely.
Very good.
Well, ashton, I appreciate youcoming on the show.
I'm glad Donnie was able tomake connection because I think
there's a lot of people, as wewanted to stress, that don't
think they can buy a house rightnow, whether it's interest
rates or they seem to be dipping, or they're not in a position
(28:40):
to it or they go.
I ain't got no money and youhave lots of ways and
information and just from beinga pro at it, to say, actually I
can find a house for you.
You can do this.
You just can't be afraid to aska realtor to come in and talk
to you and explain yoursituation.
And next thing, you know, as Igave the example with my niece,
they said we're not ready for ahouse for a few years.
Speaker 3 (29:02):
Yeah, and throwing this just really quickly, just
because you brought a light bulbinto my mind.
I work with two lenders andthere are programs that they
have that are paying 100% downand they are not NC housing.
So it's not tying you to thehouse for 15 years that if you
had to sell it you had to payback all the interest.
It's literally 100% down, nocatch.
(29:24):
Sometimes they even get $5,000closing credit too.
So there are a lot of programsout there that are paying 100%.
So those first-time homebuyersthat think we don't even have 3%
, you may fall into thatcategory or you may find that
house that falls into that 100%financing too.
So I've literally had a fewclients last year that have
gotten checks back at theclosing table.
(29:46):
They've gotten money back.
Speaker 2 (29:47):
I told you, Eric, the girl is good.
Let me tell you how good she is.
She found a really nice housefor my ex-wife and she didn't
even have a job.
So I mean, it doesn't get anybetter than that.
Speaker 3 (29:59):
That's why it matters who you work with and the
lenders that you work with.
That is key.
Speaker 2 (30:04):
I'll put your information out there.
I've got your email, I've gotyour number and a link to your
website, so I'll put all that onthe Carolina contractor, all
the pages, rather, and I cantestify to that.
I have been fortunate enough tobuild Ashton and her husband's
home, so I have watched her gothrough this whole process.
She described, and she neverturns it off, and you know,
casey, he was giving her a hardtime.
(30:24):
He said, man, she never stopstalking about real estate, but
if you're looking for a realtor,I think that's what you want.
So all good.
Speaker 1 (30:33):
You know what I want to do, ashton is, in the near
future we'll have you on anepisode and we'll take it from
the seller's perspective becausewe did a deep dive into the
buyers.
So if you want to do that,we'll have our people call your
people and we'll schedule a timewhen you can come on and say
hey, instead of you're buying ahouse, you're selling a house.
Why do you need someone likeAshton on your side to make that
sale?
(30:53):
So sound like a deal we can doin the future.
Speaker 3 (30:56):
Yeah, that sounds good.
Speaker 1 (30:57):
Well, I want to thank everybody for tuning in and
again, we'll have herinformation up on the website
and all the social media and youcan contact her if you're
buying or selling a house andyou want a pro someone on your
side.
She gave great insight and thenin the near future we'll have
her on again to talk to all youpeople who would like to sell
your house and have a pro realestate agent represent you, and
we thank you for tuning in tothe Carolina Contractor Show.
(31:19):
Thanks, Ashton, Great.
Welcome to the Carolina Contractor Show with
your host, general ContractorDonnie Blanchard.
All right, so there's talkabout with daylight savings time
or standard time and making itpermanent.
If you would pick one of thetwo, donnie, which would you
pick?
Speaker 2 (00:14):
That's a tough one.
I'd have to think that through.
But I think in my world the wayit is now works for me, but I
don't know any other way, I likethe long summer nights.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
I know some people with younger kids don't like the
long summer nights because theysaid it's hard to get your
toddler to go to bed at eighto'clock when the sun's still out
.
But our kids survived and wedid it with three of them.
So I like the long summernights when it gets dark at like
845, nine o'clock.
Agreed, All right.
So I changed Donnie's mind,made him take a stance.
Finally, and welcome to theCarolina Contractor Show.
My name's Eric Smith.
(00:42):
I do inside sales for HomeBuilders Supply in Wilson,
Greenville.
Donnie over there, who we justconvinced that long summer
nights are better, he ownsBlanchard Building Company.
He owns Sure Top Roofing andhe's a general contractor and on
our show we like to talk aboutbuilding usually and things that
relate to it, and today'ssubject we'll get to in a sec
will relate to building andhouses definitely.
Plus, we have a special guestthat I'll let Donnie introduce,
(01:04):
but let me just tell you itsmells good in the studio today
because we had to pick up allthe socks and empty pizza boxes
because he said we got a guestthat you know.
You got to have a clean place,so we did that today.
All right.
So we have a website calledthecarolinacontractorcom.
That's the best place to go tofind more information about the
show.
Because you want to listen to apast episode of the show, We've
(01:24):
got links to it because we haveeverything in podcast form and
so you can get the show based onthe title or when it was aired
or the subject matter and youcan listen to it that way.
We also have the YouTube siteso you can see us and you'll be
able to see our guests, and youcan also ask a question you
might have about the show oryour house or a project or
anything by asking thecontractor.
That's an actual button on thewebsite you can click on and it
(01:46):
goes to Donnie and then he'llanswer those questions.
And once in a while we do ashow of nothing but questions
and maybe we'll get one of thosein the near future.
But, as we said, today we have aguest and this dovetails into a
couple of previous shows.
We did Donnie.
We did one on having a banker,people wanting to buy a house.
They want to know mortgagerates and how do you get loans.
(02:08):
And then the week after that wedid one a return on your
investment, Usually when you'reselling a house, you want to do
some things to increase thevalue of it, but you don't want
to do something too custom, like, hey, I want a bathroom that's
all black.
You want to do things that'sgoing to make a buyer go ooh, I
like this house.
So we did our previous show onthings that were more North
(02:29):
Carolina specific return oninvestment improvements you
could do to your house.
That show again you can listento.
But today we want to bring itall together, put a big bow on
it and talk to the people whoare actually buying a house.
And people who are buying ahouse are going to need somebody
that's very important to dothat process and that is a real
(02:49):
estate agent.
And Donnie, you had theconnection, so please introduce
our guests.
Speaker 2 (02:53):
Yep, today I have the pleasure of introducing local
real estate extraordinaireAshton Dixon.
Ashton is a friend of mine butalso, I would say, my personal
realtor, because that's veryfair.
I send folks her way all thetime and I get nothing but rave
reviews.
And, ashton, I can't thank youenough.
I know you have a busy life,but thanks for coming in today
and talking to us.
Speaker 3 (03:11):
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (03:13):
Well, let's start this off real quick, because
people buying a house today,ashton, don't know the first
step to take, and we want toalso address some of the fears
that people have about thepossibility of buying a house
they think is out of reach.
Before people go to find arealtor or buy a house, what do
you recommend they do to startthat process?
Speaker 3 (03:33):
Do the research education.
It could start from looking uplocal realtors, looking at
reviews, asking family, memberor friends hey, what do you know
?
Who do you know?
Look on social media that'sanother huge thing that people
do to look for realtors.
I would say 100%, look uprealtors and look at their
reviews, because we know everyrealtor is not going to be for
(03:54):
everyone.
Everybody has their own methodsof doing things and really just
finding somebody that clickswith you and, you know, has that
education that you're going toneed to get you where you're
going.
Speaker 2 (04:07):
Yeah, definitely I'll second that, Ashton, because
realtors are all over the placeand, just like you said, not
everybody is right for everybodyelse.
That goes both ways.
So you know I'm sure that yourun into homeowners that are
very demanding and some peopleare just go with the flow,
pretty darn easy.
But yeah, do your research.
Folks and realtors are, I wantto say, a dime, a dozen, but
(04:27):
that's not really true becauseeverybody you've got them.
I'll just be blunt about it.
There are a lot of lazyrealtors out there and if you're
really trying to sell or buy,you want to hustle her and I've
said that before on the show butsomebody who really gets after
it and that's in tune with themarket and basically just well
connected.
I know that you and yourhusband tied into the community.
(04:47):
The boys play every sport inthe world, so you're constantly
at games and I think that givesyou a big advantage and I know
how well tied in you are.
So I think that's superimportant for folks to do their
research and get somebodysimilar to yourself.
Speaker 3 (04:59):
Absolutely.
I mean, you can't get out thereenough, to be honest.
But I agree, you really justhave to find that person that's
going to work with you for you,and you'll be able to tell you
know you need to interview agood amount of realtors If you
feel like the first one or twois I don't really know Cause,
when you know, it's like theysay, when you know, you know.
Speaker 1 (05:18):
Could you start off a step-by-step process?
When someone comes to you andthey say I'm in the market to
buy a house, what's the firstthing that happens?
Speaker 3 (05:26):
The first thing that I always do and this is
obviously just etiquette,because things happen.
So I always say first questionout of my mouth are you working
or have you spoke to sign anyany with any other realtor?
Because I don't want to be thatone stepping on somebody's toes
where they have a client andthe client comes to me and then
(05:46):
I have them come into me like,hey, why are you helping my
client?
So we're going to find out ifthey are talking to a realtor
and, if so, kind of lead themback to that if they are indeed
getting help.
If not, I'm going to set up aninitial buyer consultation.
There's a lot of ways you cango about it.
You could go about it by saying, okay, do you have a lender in
(06:06):
mind and have you gottenpre-qualified?
Or you can say, okay, let's seta time where we can meet for
coffee.
We can do a Zoom, we can do aphone call, whatever is best for
you to do a buyer consultation,which is what I would recommend
.
I wouldn't necessarily throwthem to the wolves and the
lenders, because that stuff canbe scary if you don't know what
you don't know and you're goinginto a full-blown conversation
(06:28):
and you don't even know what duediligence money is.
So that's where I come insetting up that initial buyer
consult which basically goesstart to finish, every little
detail of what the process is,what my specific process is,
what makes me different.
It's going to go over even myfamily.
I introduced me.
(06:49):
I have two little boys that areseven and eight, my husband,
because I want them to know I'ma person too.
So I get it.
Life happens, things happenalong the way, so I want you to
know me as a person and then youknow, in business, I want you
to know me as your realtor aswell.
So it would start there and Ihave a 20 page buyer
(07:15):
consultation that they get, thatit's there for them.
But we go through that and thattypically takes about 45
minutes, depending on how manyquestions they have.
You know you have to answer allthe questions and make them
feel at ease, teach them andeducate a lot of them, because a
lot of people don't know whatanything is, and that's most
important, and I feel like thatsets the bar really high.
After doing that and saying, ok, if you don't feel like I'm the
person for you, go andinterview other realtors.
(07:38):
They go to other realtors whodon't even have a process or a
consultation or anything.
But long story short, the buyerconsultation that's going to set
up.
It's going to tell you, it'sgoing to show you a contract.
It's going to tell you what duediligence is, earnest money,
the definitions of all of those.
It's going to give you thestart.
To finish, it's going to giveyou three lenders that you know
(08:01):
I personally work with on adaily basis.
If you have somebody, great, gowith them.
But these are ones that I'veworked with.
I've did 12 to 24 deals a yearwith.
Haven't had any issues.
They're highly recommended andit just goes into every little.
We could do a session in itselfon just a buyer consult and all
(08:22):
of the details that you gothrough and what we're seeing in
the market, which changes,obviously, weekly.
Speaker 2 (08:28):
How many realtors don't do that?
I would say a lot.
Speaker 3 (08:31):
Probably a good amount.
I can't say a number, because Imeet with a lot of.
I have a lot of, I wouldn't saya lot.
I have a good amount of qualityagents that I talk to on a
weekly basis that are just thebest people around and they have
great reputations and they'reall doing consults and they're
all.
But I know there's a ton ofagents that I've never spoke to.
(08:53):
I don't know who they are.
They're showing my listings orthey're up against me as far as
when I go to present a buyeroffer, but they aren't doing
half of what I'm doing, which isit gives me I shouldn't say
this, but it gives me moreenergy for my buyer because I'm
like, yeah, bring your offer,because I know that we're
bringing it, plus 10 otherthings behind it, like we're
(09:14):
good with that.
You know, I would have wishedto say that 90%, 80 to 90% of
agents do what I do and I know agood amount do, but I probably
not even half of them, to behonest, just because everybody
does think when you get in realestate easy, quick money, big
dollars, and while when Istarted really getting into it
(09:35):
at COVID, that was the case, butthat had a whole different
other factor you had to winthose houses up against tons of
different offers and peopledoing crazy things, so that was
in itself a whole differentballgame.
But as far as that goes,probably not enough.
Speaker 2 (09:51):
They're just trying to get that quick paycheck which
is I'm very much set apart withthat, because this is not
paying my light bills, luckily,and I don't know the answer to
this and I actually just thoughtabout this before we got
started, so I don't want tosurprise you with a loaded
question.
But the MLS a lot of peopledon't even know what that is and
that that's a thing.
But what is the advantage ofhaving exposure to the MLS
(10:12):
versus just an internet search?
Because you know you've gotZillow and some other sites out
there.
You know realestatecom orwhatever it is, and I know a lot
of people just like to searchthat way before they contact a
realtor.
But what are some advantages ofMLS?
Speaker 3 (10:26):
Major advantage is when you're just searching like
realtor in Zillow, it's going togive you that generic
information.
It may give you the listingagent, obviously, that you could
call and talk to.
But if you have a realtorthat's within the MLS, it's
going to give you documents likethe residential property
disclosure which is typicallygoing to tell you a bit about
(10:46):
the whole house.
It's going to tell you the roof, the HVAC here you know,
depending upon what the sellersknow and can fill out.
If they don't know it, they'reputting no representation or you
know that they don't know.
Otherwise it's going to giveyou every bit.
I mean I can't remember howmany pages it is because they do
update the forms, but it'spages of information on the home
(11:08):
.
So it is.
I think it's a very key part ofeven before I go show a house to
a buyer.
I'm looking up that house, I'mgetting all that information and
I'm sending it to my buyerbecause if they know they don't
want to buy a house, that let'sjust say a roof that has a
40-year roof, they're not goingto want to have to replace it.
(11:29):
And I'm seeing an RPD where thehouse was built in 1980 and
there's nothing about a roof andyou go to look and it looks
pretty bad.
They're probably going to rulethat one out before even wasting
their time to go see it.
But it gives you a lot ofinsider information.
As far as the home, a lot oftimes agents will put private
agent remarks which are thingsthat the seller may want to put
(11:50):
in there but not necessarilywant to put for all of the
public to see.
But if you have a realtor,they're going to see that
private agent remark and thenthey're going to be able to
relay that information to you.
Speaker 1 (12:00):
Ashton, when it comes to the buyer, and they find the
house and we know that houseshave multiple bids, let's say
all the bids are relatively inthe same range how do you make
your buyer's bid stand out?
Speaker 3 (12:14):
There's a lot of key factors.
That's like a loaded question,but I'll give you a prime
example.
It's going to kind of give youthe process and the layout of my
style, going from when we'regoing to go look at a house to
when we're offering, because itkind of you got to tie it all in
.
So if I know we're going to golook at a house, first and
foremost I'm obviously going toschedule it and then I'm going
(12:35):
to reach out directly to theagent.
I'm going to introduce myself,say thank you so much for
letting us see the housecompliment, it's a great listing
.
So much for letting us see thehouse Compliment, it's a great
listing, congratulations.
Everybody likes to hear thatand people cheer everybody on.
It's a good thing.
So after that I'm going to findout from the seller standpoint,
because everybody talks aboutwe want to click, quick, close,
(12:58):
we want cash.
Well, that's not always thecase.
Sometimes somebody may bebuilding a home and they need a
longer close.
So I'm going to reach out.
I'm going to say is thereanything specific as far as that
the seller is looking for thator that you want to disclose, to
let us know?
Sometimes they will say youknow, we need a seller
possession.
It would be great if they couldget that and didn't have to pay
anything.
Or we would love a 28 day close.
(13:20):
This is an investment propertyor this is a property that they
inherited.
They're not trying to hang onto it, it's just you know.
So finding that out, that'sgoing to be the most important
for me.
At that point we go, we look atthe house.
They love it.
I'm then going to leave thehouse and I'm going to call the
agent again, probably after aday or two, telling them that
(13:40):
we're going to go view it andfind out that information.
So this is going to be like mysecond touch to that agent and
I'm going to basically verballygive them the feedback that my
client you know my client lovesthe house.
You know they could, they couldsee it being their home.
They could see themselvescreating memories there.
You know, thank you again forletting us show it.
(14:01):
Just going to give you a headsup.
We're going to send an offeryour way.
You again for letting us showit.
Just going to give you a headsup.
We're going to send an offeryour way, wanted to verbally let
you know.
Like they are overqualified Alot of times my people will I
will recommend going to a lender, talking with the lender.
It depends on their financesbecause it can get sticky, like
if they're an FHA loan and thisis going into banking world, so
I won't get that far into it.
(14:22):
But if I know their loan islike kind of sticky sometimes
I'll even go to the extent ofcalling the lender if it's one
that I use regularly and I'vedid it multiple times and say
hey, do you want to ride and seethis house with our client?
I'll let them know verballywhat our offer is and let them
know I'll be following up withan email.
In the email that I do, becauseI can't tell you how many times
(14:44):
on listings I've gotten offersand I've almost jumped over them
in my email and that may soundbad, but it's because they're
sent through like our dot loopsystem.
They're not sent via email.
It's just like send an agent anoffer and there's no
information.
It just shows a contract.
So it could very well, you know, get tangled in with my own
(15:06):
contracts.
Or they'll send an email and belike thanks for letting us see
the house, here's our offer andthere's nothing.
So in my email I'm introducingmyself once again.
This is the third time, sothey're going to know my name
and probably be annoyed with whoI am, but they're not going to
forget me.
Introduce my clients, telltheir name, tell again they love
the house.
I'm going to put all of ouroffer terms the offer price, the
(15:28):
due diligence date, the duediligence amount, the earnest
money, the you know the type ofloan, any contingencies,
anything we're asking.
I'm going to put that all in aparagraph so literally the
listing agent can just scan itand see what our offer is
without having to scroll throughthe contract, which they're
going to do.
But that makes it a whole loteasier.
(15:49):
Then I have a paragraph againon why they love the house.
I have a paragraph on such andsuch is working with such and
such at such and such's bank.
They're pre-qualified.
Here's all of her informationand then basically just saying
we really would love the chanceto work with you.
So that's kind of going aboveand beyond.
It's setting up a presentationof an offer.
(16:10):
So even if an offer comes alongthat outbeats us with a
stronger due diligence, but theyjust send an offer and it's
kind of sloppy and otherrealtors going to see the on the
listing side they're going tobe like this is really put
together, you know, and you'rekind of just setting the tone of
how a transaction will be.
Speaker 2 (16:27):
I was going to say if I were the seller, I would and
I know this isn't for everyhouse, because some people don't
like their neighbors.
I love my neighbors and if Iwere the seller and you came to
me with that and I remember, youknow we were doing some of the
flip houses and I remember howthose offers came in, all over
the place and they may be alittle more due diligence, but
this one was a sure thing andthere's a lot that takes place
(16:49):
between the offer acceptance andthe deal closing.
So that's another questionthere.
But what I was going to say,the one thing you said, or my
takeaway, would be that youwould make me feel like that
couple was a good fit.
You know what I mean.
If you have a good neighborrelations, you don't want to
sell the house to some crazy.
Everybody wants the most moneythey can possibly get, but I
think most people that aredecent people have good neighbor
(17:10):
relations and you know youdon't.
You care about who buys yourhouse is what I'm trying to say,
because that's been your homewith your family for however
long.
Speaker 3 (17:22):
So that would make a difference to me.
And with fair housing you haveyou kind of have to be careful
with that.
Like I know, some people arefor writing letters and some
people are like, no, you can'tdo that.
Well, if I have a client that'slike I want to put a letter
with my offer, please, I'll sendit to the agent and say this is
totally up to you.
I won't read the letter.
I'm like they just want me tosend this along.
If you don't want to pass italong, that is totally fine.
If you do pass it along, justbecause I'm not going to tell my
(17:45):
client, no, but I'm also notreading it.
So, with that being said, we do.
That's a sticky situation, butpeople do do those things still
because, like you said, people'shomes are their personal prize
position, no matter shape, size,what they are, that's their
home, so that's the mostimportant to them.
(18:06):
So of course, they're going towant to pass it along to
somebody that really is going totake care of it.
Speaker 1 (18:12):
What are the risks of not using Realtor?
You see for sale by owner.
What's the risk for a buyertrying to buy a house without a
Realtor?
Speaker 3 (18:20):
There's a lot of risk .
Well, one, now, with everything, it's going to be really hard
for a buyer to look at a housethat doesn't have an agent.
With the new law that came outlast year when everything about
the commissions came out, youhave to have somebody show you
(18:42):
that house.
You have to have somebody showyou that house.
Now, if somebody went to ahomeowner that had a house and
said, hey, we want to see yourhouse, we see you have a sign in
your yard for a realtor, thosepeople are more than likely
going to contact their realtorand say, hey, such and such
wants to see this, and Sallyfrom next door really wants to
see it, but like they're notworking with a realtor, what do
(19:03):
I do?
That realtor that's listed inthe house is probably going to
say shoot me their numberbecause they have to have a
signed document to get in thatfront door to see the house.
Now they could sign thatdocument and it could only be
for a one showing listing.
So you're not signing anythingthat's tying you to an agent for
a number of months, but you'restill going to have to sign it.
(19:23):
And I don't know a ton ofrealtors that are going to be
jumping at the thought ofshowing somebody a house that
does not want to work with arealtor.
But in that case I would be onethat would do that because in
my mind, in hindsight, I'm goingto think, okay, they don't want
a realtor, but do they reallyknow what a realtor is?
So if I'm going to get them andI'm going to show them that
(19:44):
house for one time, I'm going tomake sure that time matters.
I'm going to let them know hey,I can help you, and more than
likely.
I mean there may be a slimchance that you may have to
compensate me a little bit, butmore than likely this seller may
work with us to compensate me.
So you just get me as an addedbonus and on top of that, like
(20:06):
I'm going to be able to makesure everything's compliant,
make sure you're not gettingtaken advantage of, because you
know these days that you hear itall the time a lot of people
don't know what their home isworth.
So as a buyer, you know youdon't want to be overpaying.
It's great to underpay, but ifchances are, if you're going to
look at a listing that has arealtor and you don't, you're
going to be the one you knowthat's fallen behind.
(20:29):
Because when you you don't knowall of the documents, you don't
know what's compliant, you'rereally just trying to buy a
house and more than likely thatlisting agent I don't want to
say you is going to takeadvantage of you, but they, they
know what they're doing,they're working for their client
for a reason.
And it could be that thelisting agent and I've had it
before where I've had somebodythat wants to see we're going to
(20:50):
flip it that wants to see a forsale by owner home and I'm
representing them as a buyeragent I'll call the for sale by
owner and I'll say hey, I'm abuyer agent and I have a buyer.
If I'm able, know you a willingand able buyer?
Would you be willing to pay mea 3% commission if we bring you
an offer that you know that'saround what you want.
(21:12):
So it's kind of flipping it alittle bit.
But also some agents will sayyou give me 4% and I'll handle.
You know I'll handle thepaperwork.
But then that gets into dualagency and that's a whole nother
topic too.
Speaker 2 (21:24):
Hey, I wanted to say this, so I don't ask you to say
it.
I know that there's been a lotof shakeup in the legislation
with real estate law and thatwhole who gets what commission
is.
There's a lot to be determinedin that area, but I'll say I
always pitched it this way and Ithink a lot everybody that I'd
say out of everybody, I told 70%of people didn't know that the
(21:46):
seller, in most cases beforethis legislation shakeup, the
seller paid the commission.
So what you just said is ifthat is in fact the case, they
get you as an added bonus, and Iknow that I've.
When I turned you on to people,they said, well, my God, I
don't know if I can afford arealtor.
And I used to say look, youknow, the person selling the
house is paying the fee you get.
You're basically getting a freeprofessional to be your liaison
(22:09):
through this whole process, anda lot of people just didn't
know that and I'm careful withmy wording because I know that's
not the case anymore and that'syour, your world, but it still
works that way sometimes, Right?
Speaker 3 (22:20):
Yeah, it can be a sticky situation, but it's also
very situational.
As far as that goes, you couldgo into, you know, hey, I'm
going to show you this house.
Let me have this conversationand this is a part of my buyer
console of hey, if, if per se,the seller is not willing to pay
, a buyer agent, do you havewilling to pay a buyer agent?
(22:44):
Do you have and this would beme keying in the lender too,
because sometimes the lender hascredits that are able to help
offset everything Do you havetwo and a half or 3%?
Because, at the end of the day,I don't want to stand in
between somebody being able toget a home, but also, like I
don't want to do it for freeeither.
So, you know, just having thatconversation with them up front
of hey, can you afford it?
(23:04):
If this is the case, and thenalso talking about other
situations, we could offer onthis house and we could offer a
little above.
If comps pulled above, we couldoffer a little more and we
could ask for a seller creditthat's going to pay for your
closing costs, slash commissionfees.
So there are ways around it andthat's just where you have to
(23:24):
get really creative and youreally have to dig down deep
with their lender and figure outwhat they truly could do.
But I would say somebody,whether it be a first time
homebuyer or a homebuyer thathas not did it in a while, just
to reach out, because you neverknow, you never know.
I just helped somebody lastyear at the end of last year,
just graduated college.
He said I know that I'm notgoing to be able to buy a home
(23:46):
for two years.
I have to work and have incomefor two years and you know that
whole two year mark and that wasnot the case.
I got them with the lender.
They had a letter from theircurrent employer that they had a
contract.
We were able to get them undercontract to brand new home with
closing costs and concessions,and he thought he wasn't going
to be able to buy for two years.
But he would have never knownthat had he not just reached out
(24:08):
and just made that one phonecall of I'm just getting
information.
Speaker 1 (24:12):
This is Carolina Contractor Show and we've been
talking with real estate agentAshton Dixon.
I want to do a quick speedround.
What this means is I'm going toask you a couple of questions.
You got to give me a 30 secondanswer.
You think you can do it.
Speaker 3 (24:24):
Probably not.
I like to talk, but we'll try.
We'll try.
Speaker 1 (24:30):
Well, let's try to do it, because these are common
questions.
I want to make sure people hearan answer from a pro, from when
they come to you and say howmuch is my home worth.
Speaker 3 (24:43):
What are the quick variables there?
Quick variables are give meyour address and that's
basically all I need.
What's your address?
And if you want to get into thenitty gritty, you can tell me
how much you owe, so I can tellyou, when we do figure out your
CMA, how much you can net fromthat.
But really just your address.
I'm plugging that into the MLS.
I'm looking at the houses thatare pending, that are on the
market and that have closed andsold.
I do ask them specifics as tohave you had any updates, the
(25:05):
roof age, all the tiny littlespecifics that they would need.
Or, hey, what do you want totell me quickly as far as what
you've done to your home?
And then I'm going to plug allthat in and get it to you and
generally I'm going to give itto them within 30 minutes to an
hour after, and schedule a calland go over it and all of that.
Speaker 1 (25:24):
Question number two realistically, how long is it
going to take to sell my house?
Speaker 3 (25:27):
That's going to be variable.
So, when we essentially go tosell your house, are we choosing
the method of we're going toprice it low to get people on
the door to drive the price upto what you want, or we're going
to price it at market value towhere we should be getting
showings and offers?
Are we going to price it alittle higher to see it as far
(25:48):
as if that works, knowing thatif we're pricing it a little
higher, we got to keep in mindthat it's probably going to take
us a little longer and we couldhave to price reduce it once or
twice.
If we're pricing it at thecorrect market value, it should
go under contract dependingbecause everything is so
situational.
It could be anywhere from oneday, depending on the price
(26:09):
point, to two to three weeks.
If we're pricing it undermarket value, it should fly.
Speaker 1 (26:15):
From your experience, what are three things top of
your head that a home seller cando to prepare their house for
sale?
Speaker 3 (26:25):
First and foremost, deep clean.
That's going to get rid of anysmells and it's going to make
everything just look better.
Declutter A lot of peoplecannot see past clutter.
As an agent in the buying world, I'm able to walk some of my
clients through and I know ifthey can't see past it I will
talk them through it.
Hey, remember, all of thisstuff won't be on the counter.
(26:48):
You won't have that lime greenwall, you know.
But declutter is a big thing.
A second big thing but noteverybody wants to remove their
personal belongings and thoseare their prized possessions in
their house.
So I'm not one to push that toomuch.
So what did I say?
Cleaning and decluttering?
Well, I mean, you know that's.
(27:09):
That's dependent on the buyer,because some people don't even.
They're just like oh yeah,we'll replace it.
Or you know, storms will comeand insurance no.
But third, I mean I don't know.
I mean you could paint, butit's depending on what it looks
like, because you don't want andthis is where it gets hard, you
don't want to throw yourclients into doing stuff on the
(27:33):
house.
And then there's really, itdoesn't hold as much value.
You know like, paint your wholehouse, spend five thousand
dollars, but you're not going tomake $5,000 back to spend.
You know, I, for me, personally, I would say landscape the
outside of the house, make surethat, and I kind of.
The reason I didn't say it isbecause I lump it in with
(27:53):
cleaning, but I guess Ishouldn't, because a soft
pressure wash and a pressurewash and blowing the, you know,
the driveway and trimming thebushes, those aren't cleaning
things to people.
So I would definitely say thatto make sure your yard doesn't
need to be immaculate, but theoutside does need to be inviting
, it needs to be clean, it needsto look put together, because
(28:13):
nobody's gonna wanna see theinside of your house if the
outside looks like the Addamsfamily.
Speaker 1 (28:18):
We've always stressed curb appeal.
I love this house and I haven'teven walked inside of it yet
You're setting the tone for theinside, definitely.
Very good.
Well, ashton, I appreciate youcoming on the show.
I'm glad Donnie was able tomake connection because I think
there's a lot of people, as wewanted to stress, that don't
think they can buy a house rightnow, whether it's interest
rates or they seem to be dipping, or they're not in a position
(28:40):
to it or they go.
I ain't got no money and youhave lots of ways and
information and just from beinga pro at it, to say, actually I
can find a house for you.
You can do this.
You just can't be afraid to aska realtor to come in and talk
to you and explain yoursituation.
And next thing, you know, as Igave the example with my niece,
they said we're not ready for ahouse for a few years.
Speaker 3 (29:02):
Yeah, and throwing this just really quickly, just
because you brought a light bulbinto my mind.
I work with two lenders andthere are programs that they
have that are paying 100% downand they are not NC housing.
So it's not tying you to thehouse for 15 years that if you
had to sell it you had to payback all the interest.
It's literally 100% down, nocatch.
(29:24):
Sometimes they even get $5,000closing credit too.
So there are a lot of programsout there that are paying 100%.
So those first-time homebuyersthat think we don't even have 3%
, you may fall into thatcategory or you may find that
house that falls into that 100%financing too.
So I've literally had a fewclients last year that have
gotten checks back at theclosing table.
(29:46):
They've gotten money back.
Speaker 2 (29:47):
I told you, Eric, the girl is good.
Let me tell you how good she is.
She found a really nice housefor my ex-wife and she didn't
even have a job.
So I mean, it doesn't get anybetter than that.
Speaker 3 (29:59):
That's why it matters who you work with and the
lenders that you work with.
That is key.
Speaker 2 (30:04):
I'll put your information out there.
I've got your email, I've gotyour number and a link to your
website, so I'll put all that onthe Carolina contractor, all
the pages, rather, and I cantestify to that.
I have been fortunate enough tobuild Ashton and her husband's
home, so I have watched her gothrough this whole process.
She described, and she neverturns it off, and you know,
casey, he was giving her a hardtime.
(30:24):
He said, man, she never stopstalking about real estate, but
if you're looking for a realtor,I think that's what you want.
So all good.
Speaker 1 (30:33):
You know what I want to do, ashton is, in the near
future we'll have you on anepisode and we'll take it from
the seller's perspective becausewe did a deep dive into the
buyers.
So if you want to do that,we'll have our people call your
people and we'll schedule a timewhen you can come on and say
hey, instead of you're buying ahouse, you're selling a house.
Why do you need someone likeAshton on your side to make that
sale?
(30:53):
So sound like a deal we can doin the future.
Speaker 3 (30:56):
Yeah, that sounds good.
Speaker 1 (30:57):
Well, I want to thank everybody for tuning in and
again, we'll have herinformation up on the website
and all the social media and youcan contact her if you're
buying or selling a house andyou want a pro someone on your
side.
She gave great insight and thenin the near future we'll have
her on again to talk to all youpeople who would like to sell
your house and have a pro realestate agent represent you, and
we thank you for tuning in tothe Carolina Contractor Show.
(31:19):
Thanks, Ashton, Great.
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