11: In this episode, Heather and Misty discuss the issues with APPRAISALS in the 2020 Real Estate Market and talk flooring with guest Brian Thompson from Phillips Floors
This transcript was exported on Sep 02, 2020 - view latest version here.
Scoreboard 8.9.20 LIVE (Completed 08/17/20)
Transcript by Rev.com
Page 1 of 12
Speaker 1:
It’s time for the Central Iowa Real Estate Scoreboard, right here on 1460 AM and 106.3 FM, KXnO. Now,
Misty SOLDwisch and Heather Burnside.
Heather Burnside:
Good morning, and welcome to another edition of the Central Iowa Real Estate Scoreboard. I’m
Heather, she’s Misty. Good morning, Misty?
Misty SOLDwisch:
Hi, Heather.
Heather Burnside:
We have a guest in the studio today too, Brian Thompson from Phillips’ Floors will be joining us coming
up in the second half of the show. Good morning, Brian?
Brian Thompson:
Good morning.
Heather Burnside:
Glad to have you here. In the meantime, we’re going to start with a topic that seems to be coming up a
lot these days and that is, when people are looking to maybe renovate their home that they’re in
already or they’re looking to buy a new home, the home office has suddenly become extremely,
extremely desired by a lot of people.
Misty SOLDwisch:
Home office space is really key right now in the home buyer search, and even in our existing homes,
what are spaces that we can turn into a home office if we didn’t have one?
Heather Burnside:
What are some ways that builders are addressing this? Because I have to assume that even as you’re
sitting there watching homes go up, everything has suddenly changed in the last eight to nine months,
especially when it comes to making a home office, something that you may want to build into your
plans.
Misty SOLDwisch:
Right. Gone are the days of wanting just this completely open main floor that everyone can see and hear
everyone. All of a sudden, we need a little sound proof space that we can call our ownHeather Burnside:
We need a few walls.
Misty SOLDwisch:
… to sit on our computer all day, yes. And we’re seeing already that national builders are putting
together home office packages as an upgrade and certain that’s going to be hitting our market soon, and
This transcript was exported on Sep 02, 2020 - view latest version here.
Scoreboard 8.9.20 LIVE (Completed 08/17/20)
Transcript by Rev.com
Page 2 of 12
just having some different items that packaged together for everything you need for your perfect home
office space.
Heather Burnside:
Yeah, I’m looking at it. You can get this home office package that has built in workstations and cabinetry,
upgraded electrical package, ultra high speed, USB outlets, charging outlets.
Misty SOLDwisch:
Right. I love this extra windows sound proofing and even a beverage center.
Heather Burnside:
To go along with your data collection ports and custom lighting. Oh, I even… Yeah, you can even get a
half bath and doors that go directly to the outside from your home. If you literally want to act like
you’re, you can out your front door and then turn the cornerMisty SOLDwisch:
I’m going to the office honey.
Heather Burnside:
Yes, and go in your office door.
Misty SOLDwisch:
I think that’s a great idea.
Heather Burnside:
You mentioned that the open concept is kind of, it’s probably not going away entirely if you’ve done it,
but you are realizing that there are homes, if you look around and you have made it completely open
concept that, yeah, we need a couple of places to be able to just go, whether it’s to work, unwind for a
little bit, whatever.
Misty SOLDwisch:
Right. I think it’s great. It’s supply and demand, builders are already responding to it. Definitely seen it in
the requests as we tour different homes and we’re good at being creative, we can figure it out.
Heather Burnside:
If somebody is listening right now and they’re thinking, we’re thinking about putting our home on the
market coming up and we do have a couple of extra bedrooms, one of which we could turn into one of
these home offices. Would this be worth installing or at least starting to do this yourself, make it into a
home office to make it more desirable when it goes on the market. Would you get your money back, if
you decided to put in some of this cabinetry and the extra USB ports and things like that?
Misty SOLDwisch:
I think you can accomplish it. If you’re doing it for the purpose of putting your home on the market, I
would do it with staging, rather than putting a lot of construction into it, just because it’s going to
This transcript was exported on Sep 02, 2020 - view latest version here.
Scoreboard 8.9.20 LIVE (Completed 08/17/20)
Transcript by Rev.com
Page 3 of 12
inexpensively give the impression of it. I think where it can really be smart as a seller if you don’t have
extra bedrooms, would be to look at different found spaces like a little storage room that really isn’t big
enough for a bedroom, present that as a home office space, maybe change out the door from being
solid to a glass door, so that it lets an extra light, so it doesn’t feel you’re in a dungeon in the basement.
So something that gives that impression of a home office, I think that’s the best way when you’re
preparing to put your home on the market.
Heather Burnside:
Now, if you have already done it for your own use and then you’re putting it on the market, could you
expect a little bit of return on your investment because you’ve been using it yourself for the last year
and you were going to do it anyway, now it’s going on market.
Misty SOLDwisch:
I think it would definitely pay for itself. I think it’s also something that when you’re competing against
other homes, it would definitely give you an edge to have that little special touch.
Heather Burnside:
Again, when you listen to Misty too, these are just some of the things you can pick up on like a glass
door, would have never thought of that for one of those small spaces you may decide to little cubbyhole that’s your office and place to get away.
Misty SOLDwisch:
A walk in closet.
Heather Burnside:
Right.
Misty SOLDwisch:
That sort of thing.
Heather Burnside:
Exactly. Another thing that we are seeing because interest rates are so low, not only is the demand for
homes far outweighing what’s going on the market right now still, I’m sure that there’s probably a lot of
people refinancing.
Misty SOLDwisch:
So many people are refinancing. It’s really smart if you plan to be in your home for the next few years,
even if you’ve purchased it in the last two years, talk to your mortgage professional about what a
refinance would do. Because with rates averaging nationally at 2.88% record lows, you can really be
saving on a monthly basis. And a lot of people I’ve heard have moved from a 30-year fixed mortgage to a
15-year mortgage because they’re able to pay off their home that much sooner, leveraging those great
interest rates.
Heather Burnside:
This transcript was exported on Sep 02, 2020 - view latest version here.
Scoreboard 8.9.20 LIVE (Completed 08/17/20)
Transcript by Rev.com
Page 4 of 12
So maybe the payment itself goes up a little bit, but you’re seeing the end in sight, yeah.and half.
Misty SOLDwisch:
But cut the amount of time in half, yes.
Heather Burnside:
Right. How are appraisers keeping up with this demand?
Misty SOLDwisch:
Barely.
Heather Burnside:
I imagineMisty SOLDwisch:
Barely. They’re having a hard time. Because they’re not just working on refies, they’re working on all of
this purchase business. When we talk about stats in a little bit, so many more homes sold in the month
of July 2020, as July 2019, so they are really spread thin right now, and we’re having lenders say, “Hey,
plan on it being four to six weeks out because of the appraisal timelines that we’re looking at.” So it’s
making it, so people even if they have a contract of timeline, they’re having to renegotiate it because
the appraisers just can’t keep up for the banks.
Heather Burnside:
Oh, wow. Now what is an appraisal waiver?
Misty SOLDwisch:
So that’s one thing that’s coming into play because of the high demand. An appraisal waiver is a
situation where if the borrower has fantastic credit, they show a history that they pay their bills on time
and that they take care of any credit that they use. If they’re also putting at least 20% down on the
home, banks are doing waivers saying, you know what? We’re going to make an assumption that this
person based on the responsibility they’ve shown and the amount of money they’re putting down the
value is there, we’re not going to have anything more than an automated valuation done.
Heather Burnside:
And those are apparently increasing because of the demand andMisty SOLDwisch:
Yeah, it’s for very practical reasons because otherwise it would cause a whole bottleneck in the process
of purchases.
Heather Burnside:
All right. Now, walk me through the appraisal process and when you’re satisfied with the results and
when you think, well, this is low and this is going to end up hurting my buyer, my seller, whatever?
This transcript was exported on Sep 02, 2020 - view latest version here.
Scoreboard 8.9.20 LIVE (Completed 08/17/20)
Transcript by Rev.com
Page 5 of 12
Misty SOLDwisch:
Right. Well, it can be a tricky part of the process when we’re in an upwardly trending market, because
prices are increasing and when there is short supply, it’s so typical for multiple offers to happen on a
home and they’ll bid at least the least price if not more, it still has to appraise if they’re getting a
mortgage. An appraiser takes a little different approach to value than I do as an agent because they
have to prove a value to the bank and they have strict guidelines they need to go under. So as a result,
we see different situations where an appraisal will come in low, I had that just this past week on a home
that had multiple offers, the appraisal came in 8,000 less than what the offer was and the other offers
were as well. What we have to do our choices are, first, we can dispute the appraisal if we feel they’ve
missed key informationHeather Burnside:
How often does that end successfully?
Misty SOLDwisch:
Hardly ever, because the appraiser takes professional pride in what they’ve done in the research. Where
it’s most successful is if you have information that wasn’t readily available to them. In my situation, I did
research with the specifics of the comparables that were used and I found out some information about
motivation and some issues that weren’t part of that, they didn’t show on the MLS as part of the
transaction, but we’re key to the value, so crossing my fingers I hope that it helps. But the other thing is,
the buyer and seller renegotiate the price and the concessions, and if you can’t make that work, if you
have that appraisal contingency in your purchase agreement, no one’s obligated to move forward. We
hate when that happens, but it happens sometimes.
Heather Burnside:
Yeah. Is there anything else you can do besides renegotiate the price or dispute the process, which isn’t
very successful?
Misty SOLDwisch:
Well, sometimes you look at, okay, well, we were at this price and we had $3,000 in closing costs and we
were also including XYZ or an additional refrigerator or some sort of personal property, maybe we look
at kind of shuffling around what’s included to get that price lower to meet that appraisal. We are so
incredibly lucky, I say this, I feel every week, just Iowa we don’t have the huge highs, we don’t have the
low lows that other markets have. It’s super common in other hot markets that in the purchase
agreement, a buyer has to say, “I will pay up to 25,000 over appraised value. Because I know there’s no
way it’s going to appraise, but I know I need to buy this house.” Denver, Colorado, that’s been a regular
part of their market for the last four years.
Heather Burnside:
Wow.
Misty SOLDwisch:
Yeah. When it’s a rapidly upwardly trending market and we just know appraisals are not going to…
Because appraisals reflect what happened in the last 30 to 60 days, not what’s happening today. People
This transcript was exported on Sep 02, 2020 - view latest version here.
Scoreboard 8.9.20 LIVE (Completed 08/17/20)
Transcript by Rev.com
Page 6 of 12
have to be creative and acknowledging what kind of obstacles they’re going to come across, so that
they’re able to get their deal done.
Heather Burnside:
And I’m telling you, this is one reason why you want to hire Misty SOLDwisch and her team if you are
buying or selling a home, because there are so many things that you might think, well, how complicated
can it be? I just need to put the home on the market, get it sold, find my other home. Oh, wait a minute,
it’s already starting to sound moreMisty SOLDwisch:
And how great I got this great offer and then, yeah.
Heather Burnside:
And it’s that, even just saying the simplest process started to sound a little more complicated than you
might think, just saying it out loud and then you add in all these extra layers and yet you know how to
negotiate your way around and through all of these things.
Misty SOLDwisch:
Exactly. There are transactions that happen that this doesn’t come into play, but my goodness, when it’s
your home that you’re buying or selling and it comes into play, if you have an agent that hasn’t dealt
with this before, that doesn’t know what to do, it can completely jeopardize how the whole process
goes.
Heather Burnside:
284-5966, you can also tweet at me @HeatherRadio, if you have any questions for Misty. Coming up we
have a lot of stats to break down here in the July and early August real estate market here in central
Iowa. Plus we’re going to be talking to Brian Thompson from Phillips’ Floors, what kind of flooring should
you be installing in your home to sell? What kind of flooring should you be looking at if you want to buy?
We’re going to break it all down coming up next on the Central Iowa Real Estate Scoreboard on 1460
KXnO, now on 106.3 FM.
Barbara Corcoran:
Hi, I’m Barbara Corcoran. Are you thinking of selling your home, but you’re not sure which agent to hire,
you have a lot of choices, but really, the choice is simple, because there’s only one agent I would trust to
sell my home. Go to SOLDinCentralIowa.com and check out Misty SOLDwisch’s guaranteed to sell your
home or she will buy it. And there’s no risk working with Misty, she will let you out of your contract if
you need to for any reason. Go to SOLDinCentralIowa.com and get your home sold.
Heather Burnside:
All right. It’s time to get Misty with it, here on the Central Iowa Real Estate Scoreboard is Misty
SOLDwisch breaks down the real estate picture in Central Iowa.
Misty SOLDwisch:
Yeah. All the information is in year to date through the end of July. Like we’ve talked about on the show,
July was an incredibly busy year this year. The interesting thing is homes for sale in the month of July,
This transcript was exported on Sep 02, 2020 - view latest version here.
Scoreboard 8.9.20 LIVE (Completed 08/17/20)
Transcript by Rev.com
Page 7 of 12
there were 2,788 that were on the market during the month of July, 30% less than the same month, last
year. And yet we had 20% more sales than we did in July of 2020, just further created an inverted
market. So if you have thought about doing something, selling your home and even if you’re not quite
ready yet, you might be really pleasantly surprised by what kind of pricing you can get. As we just
touched on, we can help you work through the appraisal issues.
Misty SOLDwisch:
The past week in Des Moines, 397 new homes hit the market, 471 sold, and then there were 524
closings, and most of those were ones that wanted a contract in July. So it’s a hopping market, it’s a
really exciting time, and just the way supply and demand is right now, it’s really important to work with
someone who’s on their toes and can get you into properties quickly if you’re wanting to buy.
Heather Burnside:
And that is Misty SOLDwisch, call her today 515-575-9950. We have a guest in the studio, because
another thing that always comes into play the aesthetics of a home, how practical it is for your family
and that includes flooring. And today, we have Brian Thompson in from Phillips’ Floors. Good morning?
Brian Thompson:
Morning. Thanks for having me.
Heather Burnside:
All right. So tell us a little bit about Phillips’ Floors in Indianola?
Brian Thompson:
Phillips’ Floors has been around since 1993, so about 27 years. Tim Phillips started a wood flooring
business out of his garage and it’s evolved to a one stop shop today with tile, and carpet, and vinyl, and
all different types of flooring come a long ways.
Misty SOLDwisch:
Gosh, I love working with Phillips’ Floors, they were just at my home a couple of weeks ago, and we did
luxury vinyl planking, like the plushes carpet that my kids were so excited, but just great to work with.
Brian Thompson:
Yes. Thank you. Yep. LVP has been very popular, the soft carpets have been very, very popular.
Misty SOLDwisch:
We want cozy right now.
Brian Thompson:
Yes. Definitely. Exactly.
Heather Burnside:
Break it down a little bit more to me about these LVPs, it stands for again?
This transcript was exported on Sep 02, 2020 - view latest version here.
Scoreboard 8.9.20 LIVE (Completed 08/17/20)
Transcript by Rev.com
Page 8 of 12
Brian Thompson:
So there’s an LVP, which is a Luxury Vinyl Plank, it’s a wood look. And then there’s also LVT, which is a
Luxury Vinyl Tile, it’s a tile look. So a lot of people categorize the whole thing as an LVT, but I usually
when I’m talking to homeowners, I try to break it out that way.
Heather Burnside:
So people are getting away from traditional real wood floors, because I’m assuming that the
maintenance is different, it’s the price is higher and going with this luxury laminate, which again I’m
guessing, by site you couldn’t tell the difference between a real wood floor and a…
Brian Thompson:
A lot of the stuff that’s being made now the realism of the wood looks and the tile looks is, yeah, a lot of
people they would double take to see that, oh, they’ve got a hardwood floor, but it’s actually a vinyl
floor. Waterproof, very easy to maintain, people with pets and kids, high traffic, it holds up really well
versus a real wood floor. But we’re doing a lot of sand and finishing also, probably each week I have
three or four people are at home and wanting to refinish their hardwood floors too, that’s a lot of stuff
that we do too.
Misty SOLDwisch:
Well, and hardwood floors had been extremely popular for many years. So as we’re spending more time
in our homes and just as those floors age, they are something that can be really easily spruced up, and
that’s something that Phillips’ does a great job of.
Brian Thompson:
Yes. Thank you.
Heather Burnside:
What is the process of redoing a hardwood floors? Say, somebody is listening right now and they’re
thinking, we’ve been spending a lot more time at home, we’re not going on that vacation, let’s get these
floors spruced up. What’s the process like?
Brian Thompson:
So a lot of people are very leery about doing a sand and finish because they’re thinking it’s going to dust
the whole house up. So for us, we actually have a dust containment unit that all of our hoses are
collected to a van with a dust containment unit, so all of our sanding equipment are hooked up to those
hoses and it’s collected outside, so it’s about 90% dust free. Typically, if we’re tearing out your carpet or
installing a hardwood floor, we make more of a mess than sanding and finishing.
Heather Burnside:
If you want a reason to maybe get it professionally done, instead of renting a sander and trying to do it
yourself, 90% containment onMisty SOLDwisch:
The mess that you’re avoiding.
This transcript was exported on Sep 02, 2020 - view latest version here.
Scoreboard 8.9.20 LIVE (Completed 08/17/20)
Transcript by Rev.com
Page 9 of 12
Heather Burnside:
… dust. And yes. And oh, that you have to be there. So you were talking about pets and I’m sure that
Misty is also just familiar with normal traffic in the house. What are the best kinds of carpet to go with?
Because obviously, when you’re talking about the luxury vinyl planking or vinyl floors those are easy to
maintain and clean. But as a pet owner, I also know that it’s very challenging sometimes to have pets
and carpet, but yet you’d like carpet, you want cozy, how did the two mix successfully?
Brian Thompson:
So the carpet that I recommend is a solution dyed polyester. So I always tell people it’s kind of like a
carrot, if you break a carrot in half that color is through and through. So a solution dyed polyester is
virtually, you can’t stain it. A lot of the stains will come out of it, a lot of them you can use diluted bleach
to get it out and people are like, wow, bleach on my carpet? Yeah. It’s aMisty SOLDwisch:
It would be one way to sanitize it.
Heather Burnside:
Right.
Brian Thompson:
Yeah. Exactly. But yeah, the solution dyed products, the polyesters are just kind of naturally stain
resistant with a nylon. They have solution dyed nylons, which are great too, they wear better, but
they’re not naturally stain resistant, so you’d have to add something to those. But a lot of the trends too
is, seven to 10 years that’s when carpet lasts as a soft surface, so people want to change it out then too.
So there’s a lot of very affordable different types of solution dyed polyesters out there, styles, I like the
thicker plush kind, the frizzies have kind of gone away, the shaggy looking ones.
Misty SOLDwisch:
I think it’s interesting what you just said of carpet is supposed to last seven to 10 years because a lot of
people use it much, much longer than that, don’t they?
Brian Thompson:
Right.
Misty SOLDwisch:
I think it is something to think about in the maintenance of your home. We walk on it every single day
and that it may be doesn’t last 30 years like some people think it does.
Brian Thompson:
Right. Yeah, and it depends on your household too. They recommend for every living organism in your
house, you should vacuum every day. So my house, I have me and my wife, two boys, three cats and a
dog, so there’s eight animals in our house, so we have to vacuum eight times a week, which you don’t,
but they recommend it.
This transcript was exported on Sep 02, 2020 - view latest version here.
Scoreboard 8.9.20 LIVE (Completed 08/17/20)
Transcript by Rev.com
Page 10 of 12
Misty SOLDwisch:
Gosh, I’m failing so badly in my housekeeping.
Heather Burnside:
So if somebody is listening right now and you’re right, and I think for a variety of reasons people just
don’t get around to changing the carpet, it’s money, it’s time, it’s thinking about the process. But say,
they’re listening and they have decided, you know what, maybe this would be a good investment, not
just for the future, but for the present and enjoying our home. What kind of timeframe are you looking
at? What does the process look like to come into someone’s home, rip up old carpet, or rip up old
laminate, old tile and redo floors?
Brian Thompson:
So carpet wise, we are actually stocking three different styles. So turnaround, I usually tell people
roughly two weeks. So we come out and measure it, and then if they give us a half payment then we
proceed and then we order it and get it on to scheduling. And yeah, on average two weeks, roughly.
Heather Burnside:
So that’s to order it and get it into your home?
Brian Thompson:
Yep.
Heather Burnside:
What does it look like when you’re installing? Obviously, is it better that the homeowner’s not there?
Should they be prepared for… And what can they do before you get there as far as preparation for new
carpet, new flooring?
Brian Thompson:
So we ask a lot of homeowners to move personal belongings of course, we will move heavy furniture
depending on how big of an area they’re wanting to carpet. They can still be there, we’re just kind of in
and out of the way, but the process is pretty, pretty quick, we take out your old carpet and your pad,
dispose of it. And then typically within the next day or so, or that day depending on how big the job is,
we can have the carpet and pad down, it’s a quick turnaround typically.
Misty SOLDwisch:
What are you seeing for trends, what kind of things people are liking here in Central Iowa right now for
flooring?
Brian Thompson:
Obviously LVP is very popular, the wood look vinyl planks. I’ve had a few lately with a brick look tile, like
a herringbone pattern people are really liking that, even for backsplashes that’s been popular. And
actually, recently they’ve started coming out with LVP treads to put on steps.
Misty SOLDwisch:
This transcript was exported on Sep 02, 2020 - view latest version here.
Scoreboard 8.9.20 LIVE (Completed 08/17/20)
Transcript by Rev.com
Page 11 of 12
On stairs. Oh, nice.
Brian Thompson:
Yeah. And a lot of these are made to go over your existing plywood of your steps. So it’s kind of neat, it’s
starting to be more and more popular, before it was kind of, there’s only a select few companies that
were doing that.
Misty SOLDwisch:
Well, it makes sense as that type of flooring has shown to be so user friendly.
Brian Thompson:
Yes.
Heather Burnside:
And Misty, I’m assuming that a new flooring is a huge asset, whether you’re buying or selling.
Misty SOLDwisch:
Oh my gosh. Anytime a seller says, “You know what? I just want to give a credit, I’ll give a carpet
allowance.” I always say, “You are leaving thousands of dollars on the table when you don’t.” Because
people have an emotional connection to new flooring versus something that someone has been walking
around on with their pets for the last 10 years, it just creates this whole completely new feeling of the
home. So much wiser to actually change something out that needs to be replaced rather than giving an
allowance.
Heather Burnside:
Yeah. When you’re looking at photos of potential homes like, oh, it has pink shag carpet, are you kidding
me?
Misty SOLDwisch:
Exactly.
Heather Burnside:
So also maybe stay away. And this is another thing that Misty can help you out with, walk you through
the latest styles, colors.
Misty SOLDwisch:
Right. Here’s what you should do in order to maximize your value.
Heather Burnside:
Refer you to somebody like Brian Thompson at Phillips’ Floors.
Misty SOLDwisch:
That’s right.
This transcript was exported on Sep 02, 2020 - view latest version here.
Scoreboard 8.9.20 LIVE (Completed 08/17/20)
Transcript by Rev.com
Page 12 of 12
Brian Thompson:
Yes.
Heather Burnside:
All right. It’s time to look at our featured property this week and it’s in Madrid, and we keep talking
about these smaller towns within a commute to Des Moines that are becoming more and more
appealing.
Misty SOLDwisch:
Yes. This property is 13290 Northwest 121st place in Madrid. It’s actually, it’s a Madrid address, it’s a
small acreage just over an acre, but it’s near Jester Park and it’s in Woodward-Granger School District. So
in a really nice, just North of the Metro location, but just a beautiful spacious yard with mature trees. It’s
three bedrooms, two baths, over 1,900 square feet, and it’s just an absolutely adorable home.
Heather Burnside:
It looks like it’s a lot of updates, it looks like newer flooring and more modern feel.
Misty SOLDwisch:
The owner put in new flooring, they freshened up painted all of the woodwork to make it bright and
cheery. 324,999 is the price on it, just a great property.
Heather Burnside:
And again, you can go to SOLDinCentralIowa.com to look at all of this and more. And my friend Misty is
just a phone call away two 515-575-9950. We will be back next week with another edition of the Central
Iowa Real Estate Scoreboard. Misty, Brian, thank you.
Brian Thompson:
Thank you.
Misty SOLDwisch:
Thanks.
Heather Burnside:
It’s The Morning Rush tomorrow morning at six, 1460 KXnO and now on 106.3 FM.
Speaker 6:
KXnO AM Des Moines. KXnO FM Ankeny. KKDM-HD2 Des Moines.
Speaker 7:
On iHeartRadio station.