August 25, 2025 • 11 mins
HOW IS YOUR HOME VALUE DOING? In a situation like we have now where there are a TON of homes on the market and they are sitting a lot longer than they used to you'd expect to see sharp price drops, thus devaluing your home. That's not happening...yet. I've got super star realtor Ed Prather on the show today at 2:30 to talk about it. Find out more or hire Ed by clicking here.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
My next guest is here to talk about something. And
I said this at the very beginning of the show.
I realized that a lot of people in this listening
audience don't like love real estate and don't follow it
like I do so obsessively. But ultimately, our homes are
our largest asset for many of us, right they are
our wealth building tool. And if you think, Okay, I've
got this much equity in my house and nothing can happen,
(00:20):
you're crazy. Because I lived through the housing crisis in
two thousand and eight and two thousand and nine in
the number one market in the country for foreclosures. I
saw houses that sold for nine hundred thousand dollars sell
again for three seventy five. So do the math on
that in your head, and then you begin to understand
why I obsessively follow the real estate market, because this
(00:41):
is not just about what homes are selling and how
much you're selling for. It's about how much my assets
are worth. And joining me now to talk about that
is my realtor and smart guy himself, Ed Prather. And
before we got on the air, Ed you and I
were chatting about the fact that from a purely spectator,
you know perspective that this is what I have. Just
(01:02):
as a hobby, I follow the real estate market. This
market is fascinating. There are a lot of things happening
in this market that almost shouldn't be happening, but are.
And it really goes to show that you better have
a plan if you want to sell your home. But
if you have a good plan and you have a
good strategy and you have an aggressive reealtor, you can
(01:23):
sell your home in this market. So let's do a
big overview right now of where we are.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
Well, absolutely, and you know, Mandy, first and foremost, thank
you for having me. It's always a pleasure to be
on And you know, you and I were just talking
about the fact that some of the properties that hit
the market, you know that are are priced well, you
know that that look good, are the ones that sit,
and then other ones that you wouldn't expect to move
quickly move move very quickly. And you know, I think
(01:51):
it's more important, you know, first and foremost, we need
to remind ourselves. I mean, homes are selling each and
every day, but it is more difficult, and it's more
difficult because we've got more inventory than we've had for
many many years, and so when you've got you know,
instead of in your neighborhood you've got a few for sale,
maybe you have a dozen for sales. So you need
to be able to differentiate as a seller. You know,
(02:15):
when people are walking into the property down the street,
how is yours going to compare her?
Speaker 3 (02:20):
And you know whether that be finishes.
Speaker 2 (02:23):
The lot the curb appeal, you know, because the last
thing we want to do is to get to that
point where we have to differentiate through price, and that's
where you see reduction after reduction and properties sitting for
longer than they should.
Speaker 3 (02:36):
But you know, overall, what I will say is this.
Speaker 2 (02:40):
You know, on the sales side, we are seeing seller
sitting more than they have in the past. But historically speaking,
you know, it's still I hate to say it because
it seems crazy, but it is a seller's market. And
I say that based on the three point eight months
of inventory that we have. I mean, historically speaking, in
(03:00):
four to six months is a balanced market.
Speaker 3 (03:02):
So we're still below that, but it's just so.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
Different than it has been over the last few years.
It's hard not to notice that contrast, and especially when
you're trying to sell your home and it's taking longer
than you want.
Speaker 1 (03:14):
So from my perspective, and I told Ed, I watch
my neighborhood. I've been watching my neighborhood for the twelve
years that we live there. I want to know what
people are selling their homes for. What I am seeing,
what I am perceiving to see. If your house in
pictures looks like it needs a lot of work, it
is not necessarily going to sell unless it is something
(03:35):
that can be flipped, right, unless you're going to get
those investor dollars. But say it's a great home in
an older neighborhood that is just super dated. Those are
the ones that are sitting in my neighborhood. Is that
what you're seeing in other places as well.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
It's such a good point, Mandy. And in this market specifically,
you know in the Denver metro area, what we have seen,
and it's very clear and more so than ever now,
is that the consumer, the buyer in this market wants
a fixed up They want a remodeled property. And you
know that's not to say that a property that is
(04:09):
priced well or even below market that needs some love
isn't going to move. But when we start talking about
the investor route. You have to understand that there needs
to be a profit involved there. So, you know, if
we're trying to get the very most for our homes,
when our sellers, when we're working with our folks, and
usually that's over months as we get ready to bring
the property to market, because we want to have it prepare,
(04:31):
we want it to present.
Speaker 3 (04:31):
To the market the right way.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
Anything that was sort of hey, should we do this,
should we hold off?
Speaker 3 (04:37):
Should we touch up paint? Should we not?
Speaker 2 (04:39):
Almost always now it's go ahead and do it, because again,
we want to differentiate through finishes, you know, through the quality,
through the feel you know, because it's it's.
Speaker 3 (04:50):
Not just the photos. I mean, Mandy, you've seen this before.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
Where you know it looks great in photos, you walk
into the house and it's something completely different.
Speaker 3 (04:57):
You know.
Speaker 2 (04:57):
We need that perception, you know, to match the reality.
So we are making sure that we're presenting and coaching
our sellers to do those things that maybe.
Speaker 3 (05:09):
They wouldn't have had to do in the past.
Speaker 2 (05:11):
As far as some of the repairs and upgrades, Yeah,
I mean there are.
Speaker 1 (05:15):
Some things that people can do and these are such
small things. One are the things I always notice ed
and this is probably just me, like being a neurotic person.
You know what I notice is old light switches, and
old light switches make something seen. And by old light switches,
I mean the traditional ones with the little you know,
little guy that goes up and down instead of the
(05:35):
flat switches. Those right a space for me. And that's
like the first thing I'm like, well, this house was
built before at least nineteen ninety one or nineteen ninety right,
So what are there little things do you say to
people like, hey, you know what, that's not going to
cost you a lot of money. Maybe change out those
light switches or something else that other people notice. Is
popcorn still a huge deal?
Speaker 3 (05:57):
You know it is.
Speaker 2 (05:59):
I don't know that I would say it's a huge deal,
but it's something that we notice. And just like you said,
you walk into home and there's some things that sort
of go oh, this is an older home. And again,
if we've got a number of properties nearby that are
are listed for a similar price, you know we want
to differentiate. And if we can remove popcorn and ceilings that,
you know, great, Obviously we want to get that tested
(06:21):
before doing so. The switches, of course, you know, take
that one further, Mandy. I mean, if they're the beige
switches in outlet covers and outlets, god is easy to
switch out to the to the bright white. Also, if
you're talking about trim and doorcasing, you know, if we
go to the squared off white versus even sort of
some of that wood tone. And I always say this,
(06:43):
you know, when I'm working with our sellers, I say, hey,
the last thing I want to do is be critical,
but I want you to understand what the consumer sees.
And you know, the consumer these days again wants a
very fresh, new feeling product and it doesn't need to
be a brand new house. In fact, you know, sales
in this market in Colorado is huge because people like infill.
(07:04):
You know, they like the mature neighborhoods, and they like
the older properties to that extent as well, but they
need to feel newer, they need to feel fresh, and
they need to feel well taken care of.
Speaker 3 (07:16):
And you know, good bones go a long way.
Speaker 2 (07:19):
But in this market, I would say, let's go that
extra mile and freshen up, whether that be even you know,
going as far as is you know, repainting carpet touch
or redoing flooring, whether that be wood floor carpet.
Speaker 3 (07:32):
But the biggest thing is we want.
Speaker 2 (07:34):
To be sure that what we're advising and suggesting that
we're getting a return on because I completely understand it's
not convenient being your home to market and it's not
cheap to do this stuff. So we want to make
sure that we get a return on that effort in time.
Speaker 1 (07:49):
And this is one of those things like what it
does the neighborhood that you're living in right now or
you're you know, you're wanting to sell in. Are their
neighborhoods that are moving quickly?
Speaker 3 (07:59):
Still?
Speaker 1 (08:00):
Are there neighborhoods that almost feel like a sure thing?
Speaker 3 (08:04):
Absolutely?
Speaker 2 (08:05):
But I would say it's so specific it's hard to
say because you've got neighborhoods say like the you know,
the Highlands or Cherry Hills where you know it's incredible.
Speaker 3 (08:15):
Like in Cherry Hills, you're still.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
Saying very expensive homes move very very quickly because it's
somewhat of a closed market.
Speaker 3 (08:21):
You know, there's not a ton of these houses.
Speaker 2 (08:23):
But it's it's very specific to the street and very
specific to the house. And so it is we're beyond
the time where you can just say, well, you know,
this neighborhood, no matter what happens, moves moves very quickly.
Like you know, we do some business in for example,
apple Wood West, which is a really really nice area,
and and a lot of the areas that have a
(08:45):
little bit of land, you know, larger lots, older homes,
with character. You'll have a lot of desire, have a
lot of demand. But I'll tell you what, you can
still mess that up by by marketing, you know, incorrectly, inappropriately,
and certainly miss pricing. Because if we want a price
above market and it sits, it's like you.
Speaker 3 (09:05):
And I were talking about before jumping on here.
Speaker 2 (09:07):
You know, the longer it sits, in almost every scenario,
the property is going to be worth less. Whether that's
fair or not. You and I see it the same way.
I mean, why is this house sitting? Something has to
be wrong, even if there isn't anything wrong.
Speaker 1 (09:20):
Ed, Brather is my gift or my gift. He is
my gift, he's my guest. Also, we're talking about the
Colorado real estate market, you know, ed, is this another
period in your industry? And I'm not asking you to
disparage anyone else in any stretch of the imagination, but
is this going to be another period in your industry
where we sort of separate the wheat from the chaff
a little bit, where we have professionals that this is
(09:42):
your career who are going to be around, versus folks
who may have gotten their license, who previously may have
sold one house a year. Are we going to kind
of get rid of that sort of extra in your
industry if that makes sense.
Speaker 3 (09:56):
It absolutely does, and we already are.
Speaker 2 (09:58):
You know, in twenty twenty towards the end as things
really heated up with rates going down, and certainly through
twenty twenty one and part of twenty two, you saw
a huge amount of folks getting their license and you
can't blame them, you know. It was almost like you
could throw a sign in the yard and you'd get
multiple offers at almost any price.
Speaker 3 (10:20):
That is not the case now.
Speaker 2 (10:22):
So you're seeing a lot of distress in the industry
where people are sort of looking around and going, well,
you know, what am I supposed to do now? And
that's where I would say, also, you're getting you know,
I mean, gosh, buyers and sellers are smart, and in
times like this, it's less likely that you're going to say, hey,
(10:42):
why don't I give my friend of a friend a
shot who's not sold the house. It is not the
time for that. You know, we need experience behind it.
And again you know properties are selling every day, but
it is it is not through happenstance, and we're really
intentional on how we bring these.
Speaker 3 (10:59):
Properties to markets. So you're absolutely right.
Speaker 2 (11:01):
I mean you're you were seeing the number of folks
renew their license and that's kind of what we look
at and you can kind of see what's happened there.
Speaker 3 (11:11):
Decrease is substantially.
Speaker 2 (11:13):
And to give you an idea, we have about forty
thousand agents across the front range and just over seven
thousand agents did one deal or more and a lot
of those fols only did one, so you can see
a huge security are sitting on the sidelines.
Speaker 1 (11:29):
Ed is the guy you want to call if you're
ready to sell your home. He could walk you through
the process, get you what you need, and I'm relatively
certain he can get your household or I wouldn't do
commercials for him. So Ed, I appreciate your time this
morning or this afternoon. Ed Prather dot com, Edprayther dot com,
Ed p R. A. T. H. E. R dot com.
I'll talk to you again through my friend.
Speaker 3 (11:51):
Hey, I appreciate you, Mandy, take care all right.
Speaker 1 (11:53):
Thank you. That is ed Prather
My next guest is here to talk about something. And
I said this at the very beginning of the show.
I realized that a lot of people in this listening
audience don't like love real estate and don't follow it
like I do so obsessively. But ultimately, our homes are
our largest asset for many of us, right they are
our wealth building tool. And if you think, Okay, I've
got this much equity in my house and nothing can happen,
(00:20):
you're crazy. Because I lived through the housing crisis in
two thousand and eight and two thousand and nine in
the number one market in the country for foreclosures. I
saw houses that sold for nine hundred thousand dollars sell
again for three seventy five. So do the math on
that in your head, and then you begin to understand
why I obsessively follow the real estate market, because this
(00:41):
is not just about what homes are selling and how
much you're selling for. It's about how much my assets
are worth. And joining me now to talk about that
is my realtor and smart guy himself, Ed Prather. And
before we got on the air, Ed you and I
were chatting about the fact that from a purely spectator,
you know perspective that this is what I have. Just
(01:02):
as a hobby, I follow the real estate market. This
market is fascinating. There are a lot of things happening
in this market that almost shouldn't be happening, but are.
And it really goes to show that you better have
a plan if you want to sell your home. But
if you have a good plan and you have a
good strategy and you have an aggressive reealtor, you can
(01:23):
sell your home in this market. So let's do a
big overview right now of where we are.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
Well, absolutely, and you know, Mandy, first and foremost, thank
you for having me. It's always a pleasure to be
on And you know, you and I were just talking
about the fact that some of the properties that hit
the market, you know that are are priced well, you
know that that look good, are the ones that sit,
and then other ones that you wouldn't expect to move
quickly move move very quickly. And you know, I think
(01:51):
it's more important, you know, first and foremost, we need
to remind ourselves. I mean, homes are selling each and
every day, but it is more difficult, and it's more
difficult because we've got more inventory than we've had for
many many years, and so when you've got you know,
instead of in your neighborhood you've got a few for sale,
maybe you have a dozen for sales. So you need
to be able to differentiate as a seller. You know,
(02:15):
when people are walking into the property down the street,
how is yours going to compare her?
Speaker 3 (02:20):
And you know whether that be finishes.
Speaker 2 (02:23):
The lot the curb appeal, you know, because the last
thing we want to do is to get to that
point where we have to differentiate through price, and that's
where you see reduction after reduction and properties sitting for
longer than they should.
Speaker 3 (02:36):
But you know, overall, what I will say is this.
Speaker 2 (02:40):
You know, on the sales side, we are seeing seller
sitting more than they have in the past. But historically speaking,
you know, it's still I hate to say it because
it seems crazy, but it is a seller's market. And
I say that based on the three point eight months
of inventory that we have. I mean, historically speaking, in
(03:00):
four to six months is a balanced market.
Speaker 3 (03:02):
So we're still below that, but it's just so.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
Different than it has been over the last few years.
It's hard not to notice that contrast, and especially when
you're trying to sell your home and it's taking longer
than you want.
Speaker 1 (03:14):
So from my perspective, and I told Ed, I watch
my neighborhood. I've been watching my neighborhood for the twelve
years that we live there. I want to know what
people are selling their homes for. What I am seeing,
what I am perceiving to see. If your house in
pictures looks like it needs a lot of work, it
is not necessarily going to sell unless it is something
(03:35):
that can be flipped, right, unless you're going to get
those investor dollars. But say it's a great home in
an older neighborhood that is just super dated. Those are
the ones that are sitting in my neighborhood. Is that
what you're seeing in other places as well.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
It's such a good point, Mandy. And in this market specifically,
you know in the Denver metro area, what we have seen,
and it's very clear and more so than ever now,
is that the consumer, the buyer in this market wants
a fixed up They want a remodeled property. And you
know that's not to say that a property that is
(04:09):
priced well or even below market that needs some love
isn't going to move. But when we start talking about
the investor route. You have to understand that there needs
to be a profit involved there. So, you know, if
we're trying to get the very most for our homes,
when our sellers, when we're working with our folks, and
usually that's over months as we get ready to bring
the property to market, because we want to have it prepare,
(04:31):
we want it to present.
Speaker 3 (04:31):
To the market the right way.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
Anything that was sort of hey, should we do this,
should we hold off?
Speaker 3 (04:37):
Should we touch up paint? Should we not?
Speaker 2 (04:39):
Almost always now it's go ahead and do it, because again,
we want to differentiate through finishes, you know, through the quality,
through the feel you know, because it's it's.
Speaker 3 (04:50):
Not just the photos. I mean, Mandy, you've seen this before.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
Where you know it looks great in photos, you walk
into the house and it's something completely different.
Speaker 3 (04:57):
You know.
Speaker 2 (04:57):
We need that perception, you know, to match the reality.
So we are making sure that we're presenting and coaching
our sellers to do those things that maybe.
Speaker 3 (05:09):
They wouldn't have had to do in the past.
Speaker 2 (05:11):
As far as some of the repairs and upgrades, Yeah,
I mean there are.
Speaker 1 (05:15):
Some things that people can do and these are such
small things. One are the things I always notice ed
and this is probably just me, like being a neurotic person.
You know what I notice is old light switches, and
old light switches make something seen. And by old light switches,
I mean the traditional ones with the little you know,
little guy that goes up and down instead of the
(05:35):
flat switches. Those right a space for me. And that's
like the first thing I'm like, well, this house was
built before at least nineteen ninety one or nineteen ninety right,
So what are there little things do you say to
people like, hey, you know what, that's not going to
cost you a lot of money. Maybe change out those
light switches or something else that other people notice. Is
popcorn still a huge deal?
Speaker 3 (05:57):
You know it is.
Speaker 2 (05:59):
I don't know that I would say it's a huge deal,
but it's something that we notice. And just like you said,
you walk into home and there's some things that sort
of go oh, this is an older home. And again,
if we've got a number of properties nearby that are
are listed for a similar price, you know we want
to differentiate. And if we can remove popcorn and ceilings that,
you know, great, Obviously we want to get that tested
(06:21):
before doing so. The switches, of course, you know, take
that one further, Mandy. I mean, if they're the beige
switches in outlet covers and outlets, god is easy to
switch out to the to the bright white. Also, if
you're talking about trim and doorcasing, you know, if we
go to the squared off white versus even sort of
some of that wood tone. And I always say this,
(06:43):
you know, when I'm working with our sellers, I say, hey,
the last thing I want to do is be critical,
but I want you to understand what the consumer sees.
And you know, the consumer these days again wants a
very fresh, new feeling product and it doesn't need to
be a brand new house. In fact, you know, sales
in this market in Colorado is huge because people like infill.
(07:04):
You know, they like the mature neighborhoods, and they like
the older properties to that extent as well, but they
need to feel newer, they need to feel fresh, and
they need to feel well taken care of.
Speaker 3 (07:16):
And you know, good bones go a long way.
Speaker 2 (07:19):
But in this market, I would say, let's go that
extra mile and freshen up, whether that be even you know,
going as far as is you know, repainting carpet touch
or redoing flooring, whether that be wood floor carpet.
Speaker 3 (07:32):
But the biggest thing is we want.
Speaker 2 (07:34):
To be sure that what we're advising and suggesting that
we're getting a return on because I completely understand it's
not convenient being your home to market and it's not
cheap to do this stuff. So we want to make
sure that we get a return on that effort in time.
Speaker 1 (07:49):
And this is one of those things like what it
does the neighborhood that you're living in right now or
you're you know, you're wanting to sell in. Are their
neighborhoods that are moving quickly?
Speaker 3 (07:59):
Still?
Speaker 1 (08:00):
Are there neighborhoods that almost feel like a sure thing?
Speaker 3 (08:04):
Absolutely?
Speaker 2 (08:05):
But I would say it's so specific it's hard to
say because you've got neighborhoods say like the you know,
the Highlands or Cherry Hills where you know it's incredible.
Speaker 3 (08:15):
Like in Cherry Hills, you're still.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
Saying very expensive homes move very very quickly because it's
somewhat of a closed market.
Speaker 3 (08:21):
You know, there's not a ton of these houses.
Speaker 2 (08:23):
But it's it's very specific to the street and very
specific to the house. And so it is we're beyond
the time where you can just say, well, you know,
this neighborhood, no matter what happens, moves moves very quickly.
Like you know, we do some business in for example,
apple Wood West, which is a really really nice area,
and and a lot of the areas that have a
(08:45):
little bit of land, you know, larger lots, older homes,
with character. You'll have a lot of desire, have a
lot of demand. But I'll tell you what, you can
still mess that up by by marketing, you know, incorrectly, inappropriately,
and certainly miss pricing. Because if we want a price
above market and it sits, it's like you.
Speaker 3 (09:05):
And I were talking about before jumping on here.
Speaker 2 (09:07):
You know, the longer it sits, in almost every scenario,
the property is going to be worth less. Whether that's
fair or not. You and I see it the same way.
I mean, why is this house sitting? Something has to
be wrong, even if there isn't anything wrong.
Speaker 1 (09:20):
Ed, Brather is my gift or my gift. He is
my gift, he's my guest. Also, we're talking about the
Colorado real estate market, you know, ed, is this another
period in your industry? And I'm not asking you to
disparage anyone else in any stretch of the imagination, but
is this going to be another period in your industry
where we sort of separate the wheat from the chaff
a little bit, where we have professionals that this is
(09:42):
your career who are going to be around, versus folks
who may have gotten their license, who previously may have
sold one house a year. Are we going to kind
of get rid of that sort of extra in your
industry if that makes sense.
Speaker 3 (09:56):
It absolutely does, and we already are.
Speaker 2 (09:58):
You know, in twenty twenty towards the end as things
really heated up with rates going down, and certainly through
twenty twenty one and part of twenty two, you saw
a huge amount of folks getting their license and you
can't blame them, you know. It was almost like you
could throw a sign in the yard and you'd get
multiple offers at almost any price.
Speaker 3 (10:20):
That is not the case now.
Speaker 2 (10:22):
So you're seeing a lot of distress in the industry
where people are sort of looking around and going, well,
you know, what am I supposed to do now? And
that's where I would say, also, you're getting you know,
I mean, gosh, buyers and sellers are smart, and in
times like this, it's less likely that you're going to say, hey,
(10:42):
why don't I give my friend of a friend a
shot who's not sold the house. It is not the
time for that. You know, we need experience behind it.
And again you know properties are selling every day, but
it is it is not through happenstance, and we're really
intentional on how we bring these.
Speaker 3 (10:59):
Properties to markets. So you're absolutely right.
Speaker 2 (11:01):
I mean you're you were seeing the number of folks
renew their license and that's kind of what we look
at and you can kind of see what's happened there.
Speaker 3 (11:11):
Decrease is substantially.
Speaker 2 (11:13):
And to give you an idea, we have about forty
thousand agents across the front range and just over seven
thousand agents did one deal or more and a lot
of those fols only did one, so you can see
a huge security are sitting on the sidelines.
Speaker 1 (11:29):
Ed is the guy you want to call if you're
ready to sell your home. He could walk you through
the process, get you what you need, and I'm relatively
certain he can get your household or I wouldn't do
commercials for him. So Ed, I appreciate your time this
morning or this afternoon. Ed Prather dot com, Edprayther dot com,
Ed p R. A. T. H. E. R dot com.
I'll talk to you again through my friend.
Speaker 3 (11:51):
Hey, I appreciate you, Mandy, take care all right.
Speaker 1 (11:53):
Thank you. That is ed Prather
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If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
New Heights with Jason & Travis Kelce
Football’s funniest family duo — Jason Kelce of the Philadelphia Eagles and Travis Kelce of the Kansas City Chiefs — team up to provide next-level access to life in the league as it unfolds. The two brothers and Super Bowl champions drop weekly insights about the weekly slate of games and share their INSIDE perspectives on trending NFL news and sports headlines. They also endlessly rag on each other as brothers do, chat the latest in pop culture and welcome some very popular and well-known friends to chat with them. Check out new episodes every Wednesday. Follow New Heights on the Wondery App, YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to new episodes early and ad-free, and get exclusive content on Wondery+. Join Wondery+ in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. And join our new membership for a unique fan experience by going to the New Heights YouTube channel now!
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.