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8: Meredith McMahon, real estate agent and GCW member
82 Plays4 years ago
Grit and Grind podcast is brought to you by Grit City Women - A female forward organization that nurtures a creative approach to empowering female entrepreneurs, small business owners, and leaders in Tacoma. Join host Krystle Edwards and Meridith McMahon while they discuss:
Learn more about Meredith at https://meredithm.johnlscott.com or follow her on instagram at meredithmrealty.
- Buying and selling during the COVID-19 pandemic
- Insight for first time buyers
- Commonly asked questions
- Local Market
Learn more about Meredith at https://meredithm.johnlscott.com or follow her on instagram at meredithmrealty.
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Transcript
Podcast Introduction
00:00:09
Speaker
Welcome to Grit and Grind, a podcast by Grit City Women where gritty is the new pretty. Grit and Grind is empowered by Columbia Bank and Melissa Newell, financial advisor for Edward Jones.
Introducing Meredith McMahon
00:00:24
Speaker
me right now, I have Meredith McMahon. She's a Grit City Women member and also real estate agent from John L. Scott. So welcome Meredith. Thank you for joining us. So why don't you just tell us a little bit about yourself? Okay, I am real estate agent agent, not agent in Washington. For John L. Scott, I primarily am in Pierce County, but work anywhere in Washington. And then in
00:00:54
Speaker
2021 I'll also have my license in Oregon and Vancouver. So I'll be able to help people make that transition if they need to. And yeah, that's me. So you'll be commuting down to Oregon or doing it virtually? Yeah. Yes, all of the above.
00:01:20
Speaker
Thank you for that intro. Obviously you're a Great City Women member, so we really appreciate having you on.
Real Estate Market Changes Due to COVID-19
00:01:25
Speaker
And I think now with COVID-19, so many things have changed. And let's talk about how real estate has changed since COVID and what even that whole process looks like for you. Well, there are some things that have changed and some that really haven't. So the thing that's changed the most is now when selling a home,
00:01:46
Speaker
we can't really have an open house. I mean, we can do like a live video like we're doing and people can ask questions if they're tuning in, but there's no like go to the house that there for a few hours, talk to anyone that comes in. There's none of that. So for new agents, that's a little bit tough because that's usually how we find new clients and things. So it's, it's challenging to say the least.
00:02:14
Speaker
And then other things that have changed are you now have to be pre-qualified for any kind of home loan to even go in and look at a property or two or one, which has its, its pros and cons. And then also, I mean, obviously masks are required in any home, not just if it's vacant, which I mean, I kind of like it's sanitary.
00:02:42
Speaker
I feel like for my sellers, they like it because people aren't breathing all over their things, but I don't think that's anything anybody really
00:02:51
Speaker
are not very many people worried about before. I don't know, but people go through cabinets and things. And so I think it's more people feel like there's more privacy, not really. Yeah. So there's that. Um, yeah, the real, the only thing that's really changed with that is that the open houses and there's only one person and the real estate agent
00:03:16
Speaker
allowed at a time in homes. So any homes with inspections happening, it's the buyer and the inspector and that's it. So I had an inspection last week and I had to stay outside in my car for the entire thing, which is, it's a little, it's interesting. We'll just use that word.
Current Market Dynamics
00:03:39
Speaker
Are you normally present during inspection? Yeah. So that's really the time for a buyer to ask all of the questions you could possibly think to ask about the house because it's about to be your new house. And so I always encourage buyers to be there anyway, but to follow, kind of follow the inspector around and ask questions. And when I'm there too, I, I also, I take it as a learning opportunity. So I get to learn.
00:04:07
Speaker
things that the inspectors go over with the buyers, what to look for, so that when I'm looking at houses with buyers, I can catch on quickly of what the inspector might find, things like that. So when I'm not allowed to go in, it's like, all right, just chill outside. It's fine. Do you give them a checklist? Sort of. Yeah, I try to make sure that they have even
00:04:35
Speaker
the faintest idea of what to expect and then kind of prep them for if they know what they're looking for or what things might be red flags for them for a home on top of what we've already discussed. So if they go in and the inspector's looking at the roof and has lots of problems with it, if that's just a red flag for them, I'll still have them wait to get the report back before we make any like final decisions, but at least then they know.
00:05:05
Speaker
what they're probably going to do. And I tell them to ask questions. It's their future home. So it's good to nitpick in that instance. What's the market like now? It's crazy now. It's really busy. There's a shortage of inventory for buyers still, even with COVID happening, which means that there's more buyers than there are homes.
00:05:33
Speaker
homes right now in Pierce County, there's like, I think two days of inventory, maybe. So are they selling in two days? Is that kind of, would you put a house on the market? I have a buyer right now who's, they're looking to move back to Washington in November and anything they find usually goes pending in about a day or two. And is that
00:05:58
Speaker
all over Pierce County or are there certain areas that are... It's all over Pierce County and then in Lewis County as well. It's a problem. I mean, it's not a problem for sellers. It's great. They're going to sell our house in three days, but for people that are buying, there's multiple offers on every house. You have to be the most desirable buyer.
00:06:20
Speaker
you gotta be ready to go right now. Not, oh yeah, it's Tuesday, we'll go look at it Saturday. It's like, oh, it's Tuesday, let's go look at it in an hour. So it's a lot.
00:06:33
Speaker
I read something that said that now with COVID-19, a lot of people are being allowed to telework, which before maybe their company didn't necessarily promote that. And so that a lot of people are actually now looking to move out to the suburbs where it's cheaper and more affordable.
00:06:52
Speaker
Is that, are you finding that's a lot of your clientele or is it still like a lot of just Seattle and Californians trying to come here? It's still both, but a lot more people seem to be fine with looking at houses that are further out because they work from home, which it's, I mean, I think it's great, honestly. Working from home or that it's a seller's market? Both. I mean, both because people are
00:07:17
Speaker
figuring out what actually makes them happy in a home and not just like, oh, I have to be 10 minutes. Right. So I am working on turning my garage into an office. Yes. Now that the gym is closed. And I kind of realized that, you know, that might be something really sad out in the future because
00:07:40
Speaker
of the teleworking in COVID. This could be used as a garage, a nice garage if that's the case, or someone's home office. So what other features in houses are really popular?
Popular Home Features and Selling Tips
00:07:55
Speaker
I know it used to be like the kitchen and the bathroom. The kitchen is still, it's usually still numero uno, which I understand. I need a good kitchen too. For me, it's been the yard and outside area.
00:08:10
Speaker
this year so far. I've had a few people looking for properties with actual property and a shop and things like that. Mostly it's just that they have the space for everything they want to do, which I think still with COVID, that's something that people are really looking forward to. They're looking for space to do what they want to do because we've all been home.
00:08:38
Speaker
and probably will be from the foreseeable future. So it's more that they're just looking for what they really like in a house instead of just, well, you like this and it's 10 minutes from work. It's, we really like this. Yeah. And they probably want to be able to have like people over outside so they can social distance and be safe about it. It's kind of what my thought process is of the patio. Cause the reality is Washington's not that nice. No, what are we all going to do in November?
00:09:08
Speaker
God. Um, you know, that's going to be a serious issue for a lot of people. I think, you know, a lot of people tend to get kind of the seasonal effect disorder and now the gyms are closed. I mean, if the gyms stay closed, most of them are mine isn't, but it's a pretty small like competitor. Yeah. Yeah. Um,
00:09:36
Speaker
Okay, so kitchens, patios now. I've noticed that most people are looking for kind of an open layout of a house instead of one that's not as open. So I've had a lot of people look at ramblers that have a good sprawling floor plan, which I always enjoy. That's kind of what I like too. So it's nice for me. But yeah, it's mostly I've noticed people want a little bit more than
00:10:06
Speaker
a quarter of an acre. Yeah. Which is nice. I mean, I don't have complaints about that.
00:10:17
Speaker
houses as is or so I know in the past people used to be like, Oh, I need to do these updates before I put it on the market. But if it's a seller's market, is there really a need to do that much work? Yes, I know. It just depends on the house. That's the that's the hard part about real estate is the answer is always it depends. It's like, thanks. Um,
00:10:43
Speaker
It just, I always err on the side of fixing it up because you're going to get a better price. It's probably going to sell quicker even though things are selling quickly. It'll most likely sell in five days instead of 14 or more.
00:11:04
Speaker
as is, it just depends. If it's something that is really a good one and priced right to be a flip or something like that or an investment opportunity, it'll still go quickly. But if it's one that's kind of somewhere in between, I have found that they don't sell as fast. They're still selling quickly, just not in three days. So I always recommend cleaning it out, getting it ready and putting it on the market. Yeah.
00:11:34
Speaker
cool. Yeah, that's helpful. I think we're trying to sell my fiance's house. So I first thought about renting it out.
Renting vs. Selling Properties - Pros and Cons
00:11:45
Speaker
And but just, I was like, that seems like a nightmare right now. And with COVID-19, you know, we don't know if we'd be able to get renters or if we would end up having to be mortgage on top of our mortgage. So and it's in South Hill. So
00:12:03
Speaker
that's a little far for us to maintain. I was just like, yeah, there's, I mean, there's good and bad to both sides of it. Um, I mean, the South Hill area still has people that will rent who are trying to live near JBLM. So that's always nice, but you just never know what you're going to get in a renter. And if you can take the capital from selling it, take it. Especially right now it's a seller's market. That's one of those things where I'm like, you know, it's,
00:12:33
Speaker
probably not going to be worth our stress and any troubles that we come across when just sell it. Plus your house is so cute. Just keep yours. And I bought it before the market went up, so I got really lucky on that. If we stayed here for a few years, we would end up being debt free. I always go for that option.
00:12:59
Speaker
That's always what I advise. Yeah. So we're really trying to make that work. It's a lot. It's a lot. That's the thing I try to tell people that haven't sold a home before or are our first time buyers is it's a lot. It's a big process, but that's why there are real estate agents. We're here to make it easier and more seamless.
00:13:25
Speaker
Um, I try to really instill that if you are freaked out or nervous or have questions, just call me. I have the answers and if I don't, I'll get them and I'll, we'll chill out about it. So, but it's big. It's the biggest purchase most people are going to make. Um, so it's emotional. It's hard. Yeah. It's a lot. It's yeah. I mean, even just figuring out.
00:13:51
Speaker
I mean, I'm in a house and we're not planning on necessarily moving right away, but just thinking about, okay, we may want to expand in a couple years, but like even just thinking about that is stressing me out. I'm an agent and thinking about buying my own house. I'm like, Oh God, this is a lot. Yeah. Yeah. It's, um, I don't know.
Tacoma Real Estate Insights
00:14:14
Speaker
This house, I fall like the market was right. Um, but I was still pretty young. I was 20.
00:14:20
Speaker
fine when I bought it. And I literally didn't know what I mean. Nobody does. I signed on every line. Yeah. I mean, I feel like a lot of people, and I don't mean this to sound like rude or shitty, but I feel like a lot of people think they know and then they get into it and they're like, Oh God, I had no idea it was this intense. And it's not
00:14:48
Speaker
It's not, the average person doesn't like look into real estate contract forms and try to figure out everything you need for it. Only those of us that are, that's enough to do it, too. And it's like both forms are like this thing. Yeah. I, um, I've taken a contracts class twice now. I take it every time it's offered in my office. Um, and it's, it's this and we go through every single form and every single line and what they all mean. Um, because there still are agents that
00:15:17
Speaker
don't know. And I don't want to be one of them. I refuse. I like to be the best at what I do. And that's good. I mean, you have to perfect your craft and especially when it comes to selling. Yeah. I bet you could really upset some people if you didn't know what you were doing. Yeah. And I don't want to be one of those. I want it to be a good experience when someone buys or sells their house.
00:15:48
Speaker
So how has your experience been so far doing real estate? Because you're pretty new to it. It's been mostly good. There's frustrations in everything on the planet. So there's no point in really focusing on those. It's been good. The first house I sold, the people are really, really happy in it. And they were really happy with me. So that was really rewarding. It's a lot of work.
00:16:18
Speaker
when I got to hand them the keys and they walked inside and I got to give them their six pack of beer and cleaning supplies for their new amazing house. It was so good. And I follow them on Instagram here now and I get to see that they have a pool and they're living it up by their pool. So it's just like, it's really like,
00:16:43
Speaker
Good job, guys. I help you by that place. They've invited me over for beer and I need to do that. But yeah, no, it's just it's great. I love it. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So cool. I've been looking at a lot of houses in the Tacoma area. So what's the Haps in Tacoma? I like the lip gloss.
00:17:11
Speaker
Sometimes that comes out of my mouth popping and I'm like, I don't know who I am. Anyway, it's busy. It's nuts to me to see, it's wild to me to see some of the things that are selling for what they're selling and I get it, it's the market, but it's just like, oh.
00:17:34
Speaker
So there's houses. I just saw a house. It was pretty much newly redone and it's pretty close to where I'm at in the top area. And it's going for about 649. Yeah. And I mean, I would be like, I move into that house because it's big and it's brand new, but I still
00:17:57
Speaker
I have a hard time thinking about that price because in this area, I know when I bought my place, it was, oh my God, I lived in a studio in Tacoma and paid $400 for it in like 2008. And so now I'm like, well, my mortgage. Yeah, my mortgage is cheaper than. Yeah, I believe that. Yeah. Yeah. It's gotten wild for sure.
00:18:24
Speaker
I do, however, I do appreciate all of the people that are putting love and affection into Victorian homes and homes that are kind of been neglected for a while in Tacoma and redoing them because
00:18:40
Speaker
I will sit here and look through them just for fun because that's who I am. And I just like drool over them. I'm like, man, I wish I knew someone that wanted to buy Victoria other than myself. There's some really great houses here that, you know,
00:18:56
Speaker
Tacoma's actually pretty old. And so there's a lot of the craftsmen homes in England. Some of them do just need a little TLC. There's a lot of good deals in Tacoma right now, too. Some of them, like I go through the hot, well, the hot list is what it's called. And some of them, the price is not what I would price that. And then others, they're a screen deal.
00:19:22
Speaker
Yeah, I kind of saw a mixture. I've been looking the last couple of days just out of curiosity. And I've seen some that I'm like, oh yeah, I would totally move into that house. I would totally move into that house. But I'm also at the point in my life where I want to move in to move in ready. Like I do not want to. You've done all that. I've done a lot of cosmetic stuff and it's just a lot. It is.
00:19:47
Speaker
Unless it's a complete remodel and it's within our budget, you know, and we, we go in and we have a timeframe and like it all gets done to how we want it. And at that point, you might as well just have a custom home. Right. So, so, okay.
Advice for First-Time Home Buyers
00:20:08
Speaker
Well, what about first time buyers? What, what do they need to know? Well,
00:20:13
Speaker
Uh, so I have, I've noticed with first time buyers or even people that aren't ready to buy, but talk to me about it. Um, there's not a lot of, not, I don't want to say not a lot of knowledge, but there's just not a lot of things that are common knowledge that even when I first started, I was like, you can do that. Oh my God. What? Um, for example, right now it's a little bit harder to do things like this, like state bonds because of COVID, but normally.
00:20:44
Speaker
There's down payment assistance. So if you have earnest money, for example, which is always something you're going to need when buying a home, and earnest money is usually about 1% of what you're going to be paying. So if you're buying a $400,000 house, you would pay $4,000 of earnest money, which usually, not always, but usually you get back, but it goes towards your mortgage.
00:21:12
Speaker
Um, or your closing costs. Um, but you with down payment assistance, you would only need to have earnest money and you don't need to have that like 3% down payment or whatever, which a lot of people don't know. So they're like, well, I want to buy a house. We don't have a down payment. And it's like, well, you got a few thousand bucks falling around. Can use that's all you really need. If you qualify for the down payment assistance, which is really helpful for people to know. Um,
00:21:42
Speaker
And it's not, it's not actually as hard to qualify to buy a house as people think that it is. Um, the paperwork's a lot though. So, and you have to be employed for two years. Yeah. And in the same field. So for example, uh, I can't buy a house right now because I haven't been a real estate agent for a full two years, which I've been employed for two years for
00:22:12
Speaker
I mean, for a lot, a long time. So that's the other thing people are running into, especially right now with COVID, is the consistent employment. But if you're someone that's been consistently employed and you're still working from home or whatever, and you do have that earnest money, there are still lenders doing down payment assistance, which is state bond. They're one and the same.
00:22:39
Speaker
So you could technically get a house and move in and pay the same as your rent to own a home. Yeah, and then it's yours. You can paint the walls whatever color you want and get a cat or dog or three. Get some chickens, you know. So what are some major do's and don'ts of buying your first house? Oh gosh.
00:23:06
Speaker
Do have some money set aside for earnest money. Do not buy a new car or get a loan for anything until your house closes. If you want to buy a home and you wait 30 days for closing and your house closes today, the 19th, you can go out tomorrow, the 20th and buy a car, but don't do it before. It messes with your debt to income ratio and your credit.
00:23:36
Speaker
It's just a big, big don't. I would say do have an open mind. You might think you know what you want, and then seeing different things that you might not have thought you would have been crazy about, you are crazy about, or the things that you thought you really wanted in a home turns out you don't. Don't have your heart set on looking at one house and buying it.
00:24:05
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. Patience is key for buying a new home. Yeah. So when I bought mine, we looked at a lot of houses and obviously I was on a budget and I told the real estate agent I didn't want to live in Hilltop because back when I was in high school, Hilltop wasn't the best area.
00:24:31
Speaker
And, um, I was going to be living alone and I was, I was just worried. I was going to be scared. I was like, I just don't want to feel unsafe. And so, but we had been looking at a ton of places that were in my budget down by like, and they were so tiny and.
00:24:54
Speaker
I was like, I don't want to live by the mall. Like I don't like the mall. You know, I know that's the time when he likes to go to the mall. I know. It's not my jam either. It's not my jam. So, uh, and then after a whole day of looking, my agent was like, there's this house that has everything that you have said that you wanted and it's in a hilltop. And I was mad because I was just already, I was already tired from looking all day.
00:25:21
Speaker
I was disappointed. I just wanted to get my own place. Yeah, it's hard. And it was starting to feel hopeless. And she was like, my daughter just bought a house a couple blocks away. This street is a really great street. Just come look at it. And so we did. And as soon as we pulled onto the block, my mom and I were both just like, this is it. Because it was a really cute street.
00:25:49
Speaker
I was kind of shocked. Like I just didn't really know the area and that was kind of like, you know, I wasn't open-minded to it. I also didn't know what was happening in the community. Like I didn't know that things weren't as bad as they used to be. It really was kind of out of touch at that time. Now I'm a lot more involved in the community. So I know what's happening. Right. So I, yeah, and it had everything I wanted and I was just like, well,
00:26:18
Speaker
Yeah, this is it. And I wanted it. I knew it. And I absolutely love it here. I love the neighborhood. My neighbors are great. Like everything is a good spot. Yeah, it's really sweet. You know, I have access to all the freeways and downtown. That's kind of that's one of my rules of thumb, especially that is like be open minded because like, I mean,
Home Buying Do's and Don'ts
00:26:45
Speaker
I've had people that are like, no, I don't want to live in Auburn. And I'm like, okay, I know. But there's five acres with a giant shop and everything you're looking for. And it's like half the price of what you're looking for over here. And it's realistically, it's still it's the same 30 minutes away from where you're trying to go. But it is what it is. And I'm
00:27:10
Speaker
Um, I feel like people know when they know too, just like you said with your house, you knew it was your house. So it gets tiring, but then all of a sudden you walk into a house and you're like, Oh, this is mine. So mine. Thank you. Are there still a lot of squatters? Cause I know at one point squatting was. Yeah, it doesn't really matter that the area I've noticed, they just, I mean, if people need a place to,
00:27:39
Speaker
be sheltered, they'll find one. It's an interesting job for sure. What do you do if there's a squatter in the house? Have you ever had that? I haven't yet. I actually don't go to showings by myself if I'm going to be alone with a buyer. I take my
00:28:09
Speaker
my partner or my uncle who's my mentor. I have gone alone with a couple, but I've never, I don't go by myself with just one buyer. And if I have to, I let people know where I am at all times. But if I found a squatter, I don't even know what I would do in that situation, to be honest. I'd probably ask them to leave. And if they didn't, I would leave myself.
00:28:39
Speaker
Yeah, I would probably just leave and let the agent know like, hey, there's there's somebody in there and it's not necessarily my job to take care of it. So do you think that the market will right now it's obviously a seller's market. Do you think that it'll drop again? Not for a while.
Real Estate Market Predictions
00:28:58
Speaker
Not for a while. It's not showing any.
00:29:02
Speaker
trajectory in that direction at all. And right now with COVID, interest rates are so low that there's just no reason for it to change for another couple of years anyway. Yeah. So if you want to sell your house, hit me up. Yeah. Message me here. Call me email. I don't care how you get ahold of me. I'm everywhere. So what's the most common question you get from
00:29:32
Speaker
clients? Oh, the most common question I get right now, especially is what I think the market's going to do. That's like bar none, the most common question. And it's the same answer. I think it's going to be like this for another couple of years. So make a move if you're going to make a move. The other most common question I really get is,
00:29:56
Speaker
People ask me what their credit needs to be, and people ask me how much money they need to buy a house. Your credit, if it's like 600 and above, it can be a little bit lower than that, but I would work on it if it's under 600. And above, you could buy a house for sure.
00:30:22
Speaker
And then the money you need is earnest money. So if you're comfortable with a few thousand bucks based on the price of your house, you're set. So that's really all you would need for a down payment. Yeah. If you qualify for down payment assistance, yes. If you don't qualify for that, if you're doing what's called a conventional loan, so it's not like a first time home buyer loan, you'll still need a typical down payment of it's about
00:30:53
Speaker
So no matter what way you're paying for the house, so for example, if you're paying all cash, you still have to have earnest money. I mean, you don't have to have earnest money, but it's best if you do. So even VA loans will need earnest money, but typically they don't need anything down. The home does need to be qualified for VA though, so some homes
00:31:18
Speaker
They don't allow them. Some condos don't. It's just in their bylaws or their HOA laws and things like that.
00:31:27
Speaker
just depends. So you have to get pre approval just to recap before you can go look at a home now because of COVID. And it's only the agent and the potential buyer to tour the home at a time. But a lot of times now they're doing virtual. Yeah, a lot of listings have virtual reels on them that I or any other agent can send you and you can take a virtual tour of the house.
00:31:54
Speaker
that's helpful. That's kind of cool. Not all agents are doing them, which like, not to dog on other agents by any means, but I don't understand that right now. Last time you were on, we talked about Redfin a little bit on the estimates. Can you speak to that a little bit more? They're just not accurate.
00:32:18
Speaker
Like that's the easiest way to say that. One thing I've heard about Redfin lately too, is that their agents are not as, they're not as attentive as an agent working for another brokerage would be. Right. They're just, they're not going to get you an accurate price for your home. So if you went and looked at your address, obviously, in your house, what, it's probably not going to be accurate. Is it typically lower or higher?
00:32:48
Speaker
It's typically lower. Yeah, and I have on my website, on my personal website, I have a spot where you can do that too. And it averages like red, fens, yellow, and one other one. And it'll give you a pretty good average. And it's just a tool so that if you do that and you're interested, I see that you've done that and I can contact you and be like, hey, I see that you are looking at what your home value is.
00:33:16
Speaker
Do you want an accurate one? Right, right. Yeah, even the one on my website, which most of us at John O. Scott have, is a little bit low, but not too bad. Well, that's kind of probably better because you don't necessarily want to highball people and then jump out down into something.
00:33:39
Speaker
That's my greatest real estate fear is eyeballing somebody. I mean, just don't be scared to do it. And if you need help, ask your agent. Your agent should be helping you. And if they're not, get a new agent. Right. When you feel like you don't know what's going, like you don't know about real estate and we don't, I don't know about real estate.
00:33:59
Speaker
it becomes kind of intimidating because you don't really know if they're helping you. So what does that look like? I guess maybe what does that look like?
Good vs. Bad Real Estate Agents
00:34:09
Speaker
What does a good real estate agent look like? What does a bad real estate agent look like? That might be helpful. I mean, I know a good real estate agent, depending on what you're doing, will contact you at least... Well, okay, so for example, I have somebody who's trying to sell their home and I contact her every other day.
00:34:27
Speaker
I have left her a little bit alone because she has some work to do on the house. But I still check in and make sure it's getting done. And I explain every step of the process thoroughly. And even then, if she has questions, I make sure she knows she can call me. A good real estate agent should be doing that. If you have questions, you shouldn't be afraid to call them. I understand that we all are always afraid that we're bugging each other. That's a real thing. But if your real estate agent says, call me if you have questions,
00:34:56
Speaker
then call them if you have questions. They shouldn't be getting mad at you for asking questions. I mean, it's just basic good customer service is really when it comes on too. I've heard of agents that just kind of peace out after certain points in the process and it's just like, that's just not okay.
00:35:21
Speaker
they put in offers on the home. Yeah, they'll do that. And they won't hear it. They won't talk to their client until there's word from the other agent. I've heard them after inspection, just kind of not say much. And I, I don't get it. I can see sort of because there is a couple week period of time where there's just, you're giving the seller enough time to get done what you wanted on the inspection.
00:35:51
Speaker
but you still should be communicating with your people. So do you sign a contractual agreement with that? Actually, a listing a home? Yes. Yes, is the short answer. If you're listing a home, you do. But there are ways to terminate that agreement. You're not necessarily locked in, especially if you're really unhappy with your agent. And for buyers, agency is technically, it's
00:36:17
Speaker
started when you first act as a buyer's agent. So it's by action, but there are also buyer's agency agreements that some agents have their buyer sign. I do most of the time. And all they really say is that like, I'm your agent. I'm helping you find homes. This is my commission. And that way,
00:36:41
Speaker
For example, that way, if I have a buyer that I've been working with and showing houses to you and I just stop hearing from them and I find out they bought a house, I showed them within that six months from somebody else, I can claim, like I can get commission on that. I can say, you owe me commission on that. I showed you that house. So that would be like in the event that they maybe went directly to the seller. Or ghosted me for a different agent without telling me why or whatever.
00:37:10
Speaker
It's just kind of to prevent us from having to do a lot of work for free. Sure Yeah, I do a lot of work for free. I work for free a lot It usually pays out in the end but there's been lots of times especially this year with everything going on that Has not that's just part of the game, but it is the most for sure and yeah, I mean I get along with
00:37:39
Speaker
almost everybody. So there's, I've never had an issue with a buyer, not that I know of anyway, not liking me. You're not wanting to work with me, but of it is that they get kind of freaked out. Your agent really should like, they should be in your corner. They should be reminding you that like, Hey, we're on the same team here. So like, don't worry. I got your back, which I, I know happens. I just, uh, I also know it doesn't happen quite often enough that I've seen.
00:38:09
Speaker
Right.
Podcast Wrap-Up
00:38:10
Speaker
Thank you so much for joining us and troubleshooting with doing the podcast and Instagram live. Now I know and we'll have to see how it turned out. Sweet. Yeah, I really appreciate it. I really appreciate you being a Good City Women member. It's really awesome to have that
00:38:34
Speaker
have you as a member and also just be able to support you. I love it so much. I know, I know. Well, social distancing outside. I know, I know. I'm going to have to do a little road trip. But yeah, thank you again so much. Hopefully we'll see you. Yes, yes. Oh, sorry. One more thing. How do people find you if they want to get in touch with you?
00:39:04
Speaker
What's your social media account email? This social media account you can always reach out to me on. It's just Meredith M Realty. Um, and my email is always good, which is Meredith M at Johnelscott.com. Pretty easy. If anybody messages me here, I'll probably just give them my phone number and they can call or text me. Yeah. Yeah. And if anybody
00:39:27
Speaker
needs my contact info from you, you can give them either one of those. Yeah. So yeah, we'll put the podcast out there and have that all in there and take it from there. Yeah. Cool. Thank you again. Of course. Of course. Anytime.
00:39:42
Speaker
Yeah, and good luck with your selling. Thanks. Thanks. Okay. To learn more about Grid City Women, visit gridcitywomen.com or follow us on Instagram at gridcitywomen and we look forward to getting gritty with you.