Month: April 2025

It’s all about trust & credibility

by John Rice

Well, it finally paid off today. In a big way too!

I am all about keeping the trust I work so hard to establish with my clients. I want them to know I am looking out for them. I often look for ways to reinforce that vibe.

Let me give you a little background about this story so you’ll understand how me spending the money for a service call to have an air conditioner looked at turned out to be a fantastic decision.

I have a client who is buying a house. We had it inspected. The inspector said the copper had been cut out of the air conditioner lines. After informing the seller’s realtor about it, they had their HVAC person come out to inspected the unit. Their HVAC person said the lines were there and all was well. 

 Since we had opposing opinions about the lines, I decided to send my HVAC person out. I told my client I had no reason to believe what the seller’s realtor said was untrue, but I wanted to prove it to them. I was really expecting the lines to be there and all to be well. It was really about putting my client’s mind at ease that all was well………..

Only all wasn’t well. Turns out the copper lines were missing. Probably recycled by now and the thief that took them has already spent the money. My HVAC guy said it would be a few thousand dollars to get it working again.

I am so glad I decided to get this checked out myself. Not that I thought there was any deception here. This was just one of those things where the person checking it earlier didn’t investigate all that well and my realtor-friend passed along the info they were told. If anybody is to blame it would be the HVAC person who said it worked just fine. (So, realtor-friend, I am not pointing any fingers at you if you are reading this.)

Can you imagine if my client had closed on the house tomorrow, turned on the air, and it not work? Then find out they needed to spend that much money? Not only would that have been devastating, it would have killed any credibility and trust I had built with them. In the end, it was worth every penny of the service call to guarantee that my client’s wallet wouldn’t be drained, their house to be cool, and to maintain the trusting relationship we have.

What is the 2025 Spring Market Like?

by John Rice

I have no idea what the rest of the year is going to be like in real estate, but the spring 2025 market is super hot in and around Lexington Ky.

I have sold 12 houses in the past 9 weeks. I think that might be a record for me. Five have been cash purchases. Five have been in multiple offers. Two went $60,000 or more over the list price.

If you see a new listing that looks amazing, be prepared to be in multiple offers and view the list price as the starting point for any offer.

Don’t want to get in a bidding war? Well, don’t look at houses that are newly listed. Stick with the inventory of homes that have been on the market for at least a week.

I am going to take a nap now.

    What 2 things make any house sell fast?

    by John Rice

    We are in a market now that feels like two markets: One where a house gets multiple offers the first day and the other where a house lingers on the market forever.

    Want to know the 2 things that will put you in the better half of this market? Price and Presentation…..If you get those two things right, you don’t need anything else to sell a house. Those are the hardest things to get right though, so most realtors focus on the minor things like open houses, fancy brochures, TikTok videos….you know, you’ve seen it all too. See, if you don’t know what price a buyer will consider fair for a house nor do you know how to make the listing stand out among other similar houses, that’s all you have left.

    I once sold a house for a friend who lives out of the country. He trusts me and knows I know what I am doing. He gave me free reign to get his place sold.

    He had rented it out for a few years, so it was a little rough on the eye. It needed a fresh vibe or we just weren’t going to be able to sell it for anywhere near its potential.

    Soooo, I had the house painted and the carpet cleaned. We replaced the flooring in the kitchen and bathrooms. We then had the main rooms staged with furniture that would appeal to the typical first time buyer.

    Want to know what happened next? Well, we sold it. Yep. Didn’t take long either. Multiple offers too.

    Was  this a special house? Not really. Did we price it too low? Nope. Can this be duplicated? Yes and no. See, what made this such a success was that the seller was willing to do everything I told him to do in order to sell his house. I hate to say this, but what ultimately makes a sale successful is the seller. No amount of advertising or positive thinking makes a house sell. The best realtor can’t sell a place that doesn’t show well. It really takes a good seller who is willing to take the advice of a good realtor.