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Real Talk with Sterling Real Estate Group is your go-to resource for all things real estate. In our episodes, we break down the latest market trends, share insider tips, and provide expert insights to empower your property journey. Whether you're buying, selling, building, or investing, we're here to help you navigate the dynamic world of real estate in New York's Capital Region and beyond. If you have any questions or topics you’d like us to cover in a future episode, we’d love to hear from you! Reach out to us at info@sterling518.com.
Welcome to Real Talk. I'm so excited today. We have Kerry Loiselle with us, one of our agents here at Sterling Real Estate Group. And Kerry, today you're going to be talking about what sellers need to do to get their homes ready on the market, right?
Yeah, absolutely. I'm excited to be here.
Welcome, Kerry. So let's start from the beginning. How long have you been in real estate and how did you get into real estate?
So I've been in real estate for about 17 years. 13 of those years I've been here at Sterling. Very nice. ⁓ I got started when I bought my house. I worked with a fantastic Realtor at that time and I just fell in love with the process. And when my position was eliminated at Blue Cross Blue Shield, because that's what I was doing at the time, I decided to get my license. And I said, this is the time. May as well get started.
And you've been doing phenomenal, right?
Trying to.
Successfully year after year, you've been top new construction agent, top resale agent, top new construction and top resale agent in the same year. So that consistency. So you're killing it. I tell you that all the time. So I'm so excited to have you here today.
Thank you.
So let's start with, so we're talking about sellers getting their homes ready. What's the first thing that you talk about or bring up to a seller? when they call and or you're at their house.
Sure. So usually when we first meet, you know, we walk through the home, I get a feel for the layout things of what's going on, see what's all around. And then I'll sit down with them and say, you know, your home is wonderful, great space, whatever the case may be. And then we'll go through. Let's try to declutter this room or clean up this space or.
Have you thought about maybe planting some flowers out front for, when we do pictures, you wanna make sure it's nice and bright? We kinda go through that process.
And so how do they react? Like, cause some sellers have a lot of stuff. Absolutely. Right? And now they have to go through the process of packing. And then there's some sellers who've already decluttered and now there's really nothing in the home. So how do you have those conversations?
I'll usually ask them, do you have a place you can store things? albeit in the garage or the basement, when buyers are coming through and they see boxes, they see you're ready and prepared to move. So it's not a deterrent for them. It's better for them to see the room and the space where they can put their items, their pictures, their furniture, rather than seeing yours.
But for those people who have already decluttered and they don't really have much, my conversation with them is a little different in the sense that I'll say to them, just make sure you put your mail away. You want to make sure you don't have any medications out. You don't want anybody to see those kinds of things. But other than that, the house looks great. We just want to keep it nice and bright for pictures.
And we won't give away Sterling Real Estate Group's trade secrets and what we do. Right. Right. So we've always, you know, our fantastic marketing department, you know, works with you and the seller to make those spaces look great.
Absolutely.
So you mentioned earlier about planting flowers. Let's talk about curb appeal. Everyone is so focused on the inside of their house, but the curb appeal, why is that important and what are things that sellers can do that won't break the bank for the curb appeal?
So let's face it, the first opinion you're going to make of a home is when you drive up to it. And with that being said, that presents curb appeal.
So you wanna make sure that at the very least, if there's any paint that's been chipping around your window frames or on your deck or your porch or whatever the case may be, you wanna touch that up. You wanna make it nice and bright. You want people to look at it and say, wow, this house looks wonderful. Flowers, who doesn't love to see flowers? ⁓ It just brings brightness and joy when you're walking into a home to see some kind of pop of color.
Or just a really nice manicured, we'll say a bush or a hedge or something like that. It just gives people a little bit more of a feel of home. And that's what you want to present is home.
Feeling of home and pride of ownership. Absolutely. That they see, know, if the outside looks well maintained, you were under the assumption the inside is to the inside is well maintained.
You know, cost effectively, quite honestly, you can go to a Walmart or a Target or someplace like that that sells flowers for four, five, three dollars even, and put them in a nice little pot that you might have stored in your basement that you haven't used in years. Yeah, in 10 it out. You're going to use it someday. Pull it out, clean it up, put your inexpensive flowers in there. Just gives it a nice pop of color. And again, with like paint and things of that nature, you've painted at some point in time, so you probably have that extra paint sitting.
Make sure it's good first of all, sometimes paint does go bad. However, just reuse that paint. Don't go out and paint a new color. Just touch up and freshen up what you already have.
So we're talking about, so budget friendly, right, for the landscaping. What are some budget friendly updates that a seller can do to show the home in a better state? what are some things budget friendly?
Budget friendly, really a gallon of paint is what, $20, $30? A fresh paint job in a room is definitely...
Oh, it goes a long way.
It goes a really long way. And quite honestly, the paint today is such a quality that you could use one gallon paint and probably paint two rooms. Now you've updated and, you know, freshened two rooms for $25. And a little bit of sweat.
And a little bit of sweat, exactly, sometime. Really, you don't wanna get too into over-improving. That is a mistake that some sellers make. They'll go and spend a whole bunch of money over-improving a lot of things and come to find out that's not what buyers really want. And now you're not gonna recapture what you've spent. Some don't, yeah. So you really just wanna really tidy things up, clean real well.
If you can paint a couple walls, great. ⁓ Have your carpets cleaned. That's a big one. Yeah, you can have Stanley Steamer come in, $100, they do your whole house.
They even do hardwood floors.
They do, you're right. And they clean your vents now too. ⁓ that's right. Yeah, I don't know what the cost for that is, but it is important. Dryer vent cleaning and yeah.
We just went off on a tangent on that one.
We sure did.
Yeah, keep in mind folks, get your vents cleaned and your dryer vents. That's great.
But yeah, those are really inexpensive ways that you can tidy up a home and get it ready for showings and for the new buyers. So I know we touched on early about paint. You don't have to go and change the paint color.
⁓ You know, we both been in the business a long time. You walk into a house and there's ⁓ different colors, right? Maybe a bright orange, you know, or a pink from a little girl's room or a different type of blue, whatever.
Do you think, and I know the answer, but all of our listeners want to know, neutral colors, to invest, right, and paint those in a neutral color.
It does go a long way. Especially, so I have three daughters. You might have three sons. They don't want to come into a pink, purple, and yellow room.
Right, right.
You know, they're more up looking at gray or blue or whatever the case may be. So if you go with a neutral color, people can then visualize what they would make it after they've moved in. Right now, they're looking at a clean slate, and it's very visually better and helpful for them to be able to place their things.
How many times have we heard it? I've painted the whole house and I made a few updates. I don't want to move now. Yes. Right? Because I like everything. So that does happen.
It does. You fall back in love with your home once you've put a little sweat equity into it and a couple of dollars.
So when a seller says, Kerry, I was thinking about remodeling the bathroom. So maybe it's an old dated bathroom. Maybe the cabinets are cracked. How do you approach that?
I mean, bathroom Remodels nowadays are very expensive. They are. The seller is very handy. They can do it on their own. It's still going to cost quite a bit of money.
Without having to gut the entire bathroom, what can they do budget friendly just to give it a little shine and updating?
You know, really, I don't want to sound disrespectful to certain people in any way, but a really good scrubbing.
You don't think about it, but underneath your vanity gets stuff in the grout or in the floors or in your shower. Might be, you know, maybe you have some soap buildup or whatever the case may be, but a really good cleaning, maybe some, a bottle of CLR and get rid of that lime and build up. Vinegar.
Vinegar, yeah. Right, which is great for, and in fact, a friend of mine who is notorious, she can clean dirty grout. I'm like, how do you do that?
And she said, don't use hydrogen peroxide that you buy in the drug store. Go to a Home Depot or Lowe's and buy the hydrogen peroxide there, but wear gloves because it'll burn your hands. my bathroom, it was a gray grout and she was in there. She goes, I can get that clean. I go, we have tried everything. She goes, you haven't tried what I do. I was like, all right, take a crack at it. So I can't wait for her to come over. But she's like, that's what I do.
Yeah, really, it comes down to that. But again, maybe a fresh coat of paint. Maybe the vanity is saveable and you just change out the hardware. Or paint it, right?
Or paint it. Yeah, or both for that matter. Maybe buy an inexpensive, updated faucet. Good point, right. As opposed to going out and buying a whole new vanity and sink and faucet and like you said, gut the whole bathroom. Little things can make something look so much different.
Now, if it comes down to a situation where the bathroom is in need of being gutted, regardless of how much you try to touch it up, there's always the opportunity of saying to a buyer, we'll offer credit at closing towards you doing that. Because my taste and your taste are gonna be entirely different. So there's always that opportunity too.
We're pricing the house taking in consideration that the bathroom may need some repair. We see that a lot.
We see that a lot. You do. You see that in the comments all the time. Priced according to updates needed.
And even so, you do a lot of new construction. You probably have reasons being one of our top new construction agents. And when you're building our quick delivery homes, right? You're working with the designers and the builder and like, oh, let's do white, let's do this and that. And a buyer comes in and goes, I don't want a white kitchen. Yeah. Right. So you're kind of the quick delivery is much different than a remodel, but it goes hand in hand.
Sure. Particular buyer may not want a white you know, bathroom or kitchen. And so let them pick. Exactly. Same with carpet. You know, carpet need, rip it up. If there's hardwood, great. Get the hardwood finished. If not, leave it. Seller giving a credit at closing or not.
Or they don't. Right. So we see. And again, like you said, you just price the house accordingly. Yeah.
Yeah. And, know, in this market, it's great. Yeah. You know, mean, everyone is pricing homes right. And then, you know, the buyers, you know, they're paying for what they feel is worth, which right now in this market, knock on wood, is great for the sellers, a little tough for the buyers. But I think, you know, things might turn here. You never know.
Getting your home, so now you've worked with the seller, right? You've determined a price. ⁓ They've decluttered, they've depersonalized the whole bit. What is some advice that you give to them to get the home ready for photos, Matterports, whether it be virtual tour, drones? How do you approach that? Because there's a lot of work that goes into getting a home ready for photos.
Absolutely.⁓ The biggest thing is making sure all of the clutter is gone. Right. I'm not opposed to, and I do this with the photographer we work with, I have a basket that I bring with me and we're scooting things off the counters and picking things up and putting it in the basket. Pictures get done and then we're putting things back.
You're putting everything back, yeah. Throwing it in cabinets, taking pictures so you know where everything goes.
Exactly. Especially if your seller's not there.
And you're meeting the photographer and you're, oh boy, where did that go? Where did that go? I would always take pictures and put everything back. We put a lot of work into getting the pictures done, just as much as the seller does. But ⁓ but really, back to advice to the seller, just make sure your personal pictures are not out.
You don't want to completely depersonalize the house because you want people to realize somebody lives there, but you also don't want a whole wall of family pictures because people will tend to gravitate to the wall of pictures and see the pictures as opposed to seeing the house.
Right, right. ⁓ Or there's too much, again, it looks like clutter. It looks like clutter and they can't see their things there. So it's really making sure the windows are clean so that the natural sunlight comes in. Lines are up, curtains are open.
Yes. We wanna make sure all of that kind of thing is bright and shiny as best as possible. Make sure your ceiling fans are clean because we turn them off for pictures because it changes the light. So when it's stopped and you've got this bunch of dust.
Everyone forgets about the ceiling fan. You're like, oops, forgot about that, which is important right when the house is going to go on the market.
Absolutely. And it does show in the picture if you don't do that. ⁓ Really, it's really just little bits of it.
Little bits of things. There's quite a few homes that I've gone into that there really isn't much advice to give because the sellers are ready. You do definitely have your fair share of people who aren't and just need that advice and guidance. again, let's get a bunch of boxes and we can start packing. And then it's already started for when you get an offer, you're not having- Stress. That extra Having to pack. Because sometimes people want a 30 day close, right?
I don't know if I could be ready in 30 days. I know I could not. Maybe if started packing now, right? Your three dogs and toys, let alone is going to take quite a long time. To get that ready. What about, I'm on the fence, setting a dining room table or not setting it?
So it depends on the space. I feel like a smaller dining room with in an intimate setting is quaint. I think it's pretty. A bigger dining room with a big table with too many plates and too many things on it looks cluttered. So I really, I look at it according to the space. So yeah, that's really kind of, Yeah, so really depending on the space.
I'm gonna throw a, not a curve ball, because I know you'll be able to answer this. When you're selling a home during the holidays, some sellers are like, we don't want to put up a tree. What do you tell them?
Do you celebrate every year with a Christmas tree? If the answer is yes, then put your Christmas tree up. ⁓ I feel like it's welcoming. It again helps a buyer to feel at home because they've got their Christmas tree up in their apartment right now. And now they can see what it would look like in their home as opposed to not having one and, okay, well, where would I put the Christmas tree?
And know, when sellers are like, no one buys houses during the holiday. That's wrong.
Exactly, right? If you have a buyer coming through your house in December, they are 100 % serious.
Absolutely. And what do you tell sellers, and we hear this all the time, I'm going to wait till the spring, right? So my comment to that is your true serious buyers are coming to your house in the wintertime.
They're coming to your house during the holidays. They're serious because otherwise they'd be spending their time at home with their family and friends. Right, right. They're not getting out of their car at 20 degrees to come see a house just to kick the tires. Today?
Yes, like today. Hello spring. Too funny. Did you have snow? Woke up, I'm like, you gotta be kidding me.
Yeah, two days in a row. Yeah, well you live up there. Yeah, we had snow yesterday and today.
It's got to break at some point.
I hope so.
Yeah. I'm going back to Aruba. You want to come?
Yes.
All right. Let's go. I want you to think about that just for a minute, okay?
Let's go. I'm ready.
That's great. Yeah.
So no, your real serious buyers are out there in the winter. And the other thing too that I tell people, and correct me if you think I'm wrong, ⁓ we're in an area where industry and schools and all those, they have transition people.
And they tend to start coming in January because they're starting the new quarter in their new position in the new place. So I feel like our area, especially in the winter time is one of the best times to sell because you are also gaining those transition workers that are coming.
And there's no inventory. And we always say, real estate is local. So we can't be focused on what's happening in Florida or in the Carolinas or in California. Right.
You know, when people tend to throw market data at us, but when we, know, is that, you know, a national data or is that our local data? they typically say national. And then when you start showing stats for our area, I think it's pretty eye-opening. So, you know, advice, you know, to sellers and buyers, you know, all real estate is local.
You know, just, was it yesterday morning? I was looking, I think there's only 1400 homes on the market for sale right now in the entire capital district. In our whole MLS coverage, which is the Capital District. That's not a lot.
It is not. Yeah. So when people say, I'm going to wait for spring, don't. I mean, buyers need homes now. Yeah. And our area is growing.
It is, absolutely.
So you have Amazon, right?
Yes. Coming in Amsterdam. Yeah. Global Foundries is getting ready to gear up. That may take a year or two, but they're recruiting buyer, know, people to come there and work now.
Already, yeah. I think there's, they have like 2000 people they're bringing in.
Yeah. Wow.
Yeah. One of my inspectors actually works for Global Foundries. He does the inspections on the side and he was saying, yeah, they're getting, they're getting really, really ramp up. Yeah.
Right. I know they've got, you know, Brian, know where he works and you know, on standby. So, you know, that will be probably another 2,000 workers getting the plants ready in the clean rooms and everything. it's a lot of work.
Our area is always busy. And that's one of the things with our real estate market, when I'm explaining to buyers is, or to sellers, excuse me, we are always pretty steady. Yeah. Do we have a downtime? We've been lucky. But we do. We do have downtimes, but not like other states, not other areas. Our downtime is okay, well, I only signed three contracts this week as opposed to seven or 10.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
So we're always busy. And it's great because you do stay steady and houses will always sell in our area. Right. Because there's always buyers coming.
I love when I was actively, know, listing and representing buyers, especially in that Saratoga market. They all think they're going to put their homes on the market in August for all the people that come in. I would tell you probably when I was doing this, August was my slowest time.
Absolutely. They're here for the track. They're here, you know, the track, the parties, the horse sales. That's all they're really focused on. I remember having to do open houses on Tuesdays. They all went home. You know, anybody who lived here, the owners and trainers, they all went home on Tuesday. Because it was a dark day. Yeah. And now they have two days off in a row. So even more going home.
So, you know, that was always fun. I would always get busy towards the end of September, October. I was here in August. You know, we want to look at buying a home here, second home, third home, you know, really. So I would think August was my slowest time. But even here about August, dropped off a little, not a lot.
Right. For me, I don't always do the Saratoga Market. I'm all over, as you know, I'm all over the capital. ⁓
July and August, yeah. Usually by July, and I know I don't have anything to worry about, it's coming back around, but in July I start panicking. my goodness, I'm too slow, I'm too slow. But instead of relaxing and enjoying my summer.
Right, right, yeah, yeah.
But July and August are always slow here, and I feel like you're right. The end of September through December-ish, we're always busy. We have a little downturn in January. Not a lot.
Yeah, usually between Christmas and New Year's and that week after. And then you're like... And then all of a sudden... Yeah. You're busy again. Well, look at the memes that me and you send each other, right? A real estate agent on vacation, what it looks like. You're in the ocean with your laptop, the phone in your hand, right? Sitting in the pool relaxing, right? Laptop, putting, you know... And that's the truth. It is, you know... 100 % the things like, oh, you know, I get to walk through pretty houses all day and...You know, and I can set my own hours. Yeah, you sure can. You work 24-7. You know, seven days a week. it's a...
And not complaining. We're in this business for a reason. We like doing it. We enjoy it. I know when you came in the office today, you had, I don't want to say a challenging week, but you know, that's real estate. Nothing is easy. And if we sit here and say, it is easy, we would be 100 % lying.
But you're a professional. You get through it. Right?
Yep. Tomorrow's another day.
Yep. Tomorrow's another day. Five o'clock somewhere. Yes. So let me ask you a question about you. ⁓ Do you recommend sellers getting a pre-home inspection?
You know, I never used to. But recently I have started recommending for certain properties. OK. For example, I had a very large estate property in Melrose.
I remember that.
Yeah. And my seller, ⁓ she was very tight on where she could be. So in order to know potentially what might come about, we did a pre-listing inspection. So she already knew what to expect. Challenges, right. Yes. And we were prepared for that. And it actually, when we got the offer and accepted it, it made it an easier conversation because she already knew what to expect coming with the buyer's inspections. So it made it easier. And some sellers are able to actually fix some of those items.
Right. Ahead of time. Right. Yeah. So there are no surprises.
Exactly. But really, I just think a lot of it comes down to the property. We see so many homes that when you walk into one that's been meticulously maintained, you know that. Yeah. As opposed to one who may be a little bit older house. Yeah, it's a little bit older. Maybe it hasn't been as well maintained. Maybe the sellers are aging and they just can't, you know, those things. Those are type of people that I would recommend. Just so that, again, there's no surprises. They know what's coming.
Like, to your point, they could potentially have some of those things resolved prior to. Prior to.
Prior to. So it really comes down to the client and the property. Again, you know, it...it's just being a professional and knowing what you're looking at to be able to recommend those things.
And that's the key word a professional, right? So, we're going to leave that there, right? Septic inspection. I don't know about you, when I used to, you know, list, I always tell you have a septic, when's the last time you had it pumped? When's the last time you had someone look at it? Those are big ticket items, right? That's a pass or fail.
That's it is, it's a pass or fail. There is no in between. And that can be a really big ticket item. ⁓ So the important- That's a surprise. I mean what? Absolutely. Most septic companies do a minor inspection every time they pump, but they don't do a full inspection. ⁓ And then to your point, yeah, when was the last time you had it pumped?
Maybe let's get it done and have them inspect it now. it prior to. Yeah, and then we can, that could be a benefit to a buyer to say, look, the inspection's already been done. And pumped. And it's pumped. I don't have to worry about doing that. That's an expensive inspection. Yeah. Could be $500 or more, depending on. Yeah, depending when's the last time you had it pumped. Exactly. Or when's the last time you had your septic pumped and they don't know. Right.
And then it comes into, oh, well, the baffle is bad or you have a bad leach field or whatever the case is. is cracked. Your tank is cracked, yeah. I recently had buyers buy a home that had to have the whole septic system replaced. And that was a $25,000 hit to the budget. Yeah, yeah. And they did the septic inspection. knew. Yeah.
So you were representing the buyer. Yes. Right, because some buyers like we don't need a septic inspection. yes you do. Yes you do. Everyone. Yeah. I actually was speaking with another one of our agents this morning who was telling me about a property she showed. I know the area because I've sold homes there. And I said the first thing you need to do is get that septic looked at because every house that I've sold out there, they've not been to code. They're not the right size. Ooh. So that's the other thing that could come up depending on the age of the house.
and the number of bedrooms, right? Yeah. And let's face it, if you're buying a house that was built in, we'll say, early 1900s, how many additions have been added onto that house that have never been accommodated in the septic? So septic, yeah. So now you're working on a 500 gallon septic tank that really requires 1500. Yeah, that has like four or five bedrooms, and they've added a bathroom. Always. Yeah. So that is a huge, huge thing.
to definitely look at. So with the regular normal home inspection. Mold, right? The inspector comes down from the attic and you're almost holding your breath. Every time. For the most part, it's good. But you know, who really goes in their attic? Some people do. Some people go in their attic and whether it's storage, but it's good to always check. Yes. Right? Just in case you have a leak or something wasn't done right. Because mold remediation can be...
costly. expensive. So if you catch that early enough, I ⁓ guess right, just going through your maintenance. And I know Sterling Real Estate Group, send out fall maintenance, spring maintenance, summer maintenance, ⁓ just some things to look at. And you know, just to kind of touch on that, Home Depot sells a really cheap test kit, and it's like ⁓ hand sanitizer wipes. That's it looks like. It's not what it is.
that you can go into an area that you think might be mold and you just swipe it and it comes back, it'll tell you whether or not you have mold in your house. And then you can get it remediated prior to this whole situation. Do you remember what it's called at Home Depot? I do not. Okay, well, if you know, let us know. I will. We'll it into the comments. Exactly. know, before this goes. I didn't know that. I really believe it's literally just called a mold test kit.
Okay, well that's easy enough. I really think that's what it's called because I know that they also have a water test kit. So if you have well water, right, and this is another inspection situation. If you have well water and it has certain bacteria in it, ⁓ the well needs to be shocked, right? So if you do a water test prior to you'll know.
ahead of time, okay, well, my well needs to be shocked. For them too, what they're living in the house, drinking the water. Or maybe you need to add a water filtration system. And it can be as simple as, you know, a small filter that goes onto your faucet. the Brita or something like that. Yeah. But still it gives you an idea of... You're being prepared. What it could be coming. Yeah. Absolutely. There's no curve balls coming at you. So finally, let's... What's your best piece of advice?
for sellers who want a smooth transaction through. I mean, I think we pretty much covered it, but one good piece of advice, what would you do? Rely on your professional who's trying to help you. ok. Don't listen to your neighbor, your uncle, your father, your sister, your friend from 20 years ago who sold a house 10 years ago. ⁓ Things have changed. yeah.
Everything has changed. Every day it's changing. Absolutely. So I would recommend always listening to your professional, whether it's myself or another person, listen to what they have to say. We're educated, we're kept up on everything that's going on in the current market, and we can help guide you through this and make it an easier transaction. And we're in the field. Well, every day. You guys are in the field all day, every day. You see everything.
you know, it does help, you because it's your experience. It's not your opinion, it's your experience. So, yeah, which is key. OK, well, Kerry, could you tell everybody how can they get a hold of you? You can get a hold of me by either calling, texting or emailing. cell phone is 518-322-6650 and my email address is my name, KerryLoiselle518@gmail.com. I'm sure we can put that in the comments for anybody to pick up.
All that information will be in the show notes for our listeners to get a hold of you. And certainly you can call the office and we'll get you guys in touch with Kerry and Kerry. Thank you so much. I'm so excited to have you here. Thanks for having me. You know, we're going to have you back. Okay, so start thinking about what you want to talk about. And to any of our listeners out there, if there's something you want to know about, send us a message, you know, put it in the comments and we will be happy, you know, to get one of our professionals here and get them on the podcast for you. Okay.
Great, so that's it for Real Talk. Thank you, Kerry, and ⁓ till next time. Thank you.