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Brittany Kimble

Updated: Sep 26, 2023



Calling all homeowners!


This one’s for you. You may own a home that you are considering selling now or even a year from now. No matter what market you are in or when you decide to sell your home, you will need to take the steps required in order to get your home sold in the shortest amount of time possible and for the most amount of money.


Take a step back and think about what you can do to appeal to buyers. Think about the mind frame a buyer is in right now. What would you want to see in your new home? Today, I am going to share some tips on how to get your home ready to sell.


Let’s start with the free improvements you can make to your home right now. The first thing you should do to prepare your home to go on market is declutter and brighten the home. Go around the house and get rid of those random items you barely look at.


Put boxes, containers, baskets away in the closet or in storage. You want to give the buyer as much opportunity to see themselves in the home as possible. Open up the windows and eliminate all shadows.


Next, you need to depersonalize your home. I know you spent good money on that new wine cart; unfortunately your new buyer doesn’t need to see it. Take down excess photos of your family and put away children’s and pets toys. Offer a fresh slate to your potential buyers. And keep it CLEAN and TIDY.


The last free tip I will mention is your curb appeal. Do you have trash around your yard? Are there toys, grills or other items cluttering your yard? Does your grass need to be cut? Are your windows clean and are there things being stored in your window-sill?


These are things to correct before going live on the market–people will be turned off by the pictures and won’t even think about stopping by.


Now, if you want to get top dollar for your home and you have the funds to invest, I highly recommend two things.

  1. Correct deferred maintenance

  2. Stage if possible


Correcting deferred maintenance simply means going around your home and fixing those 7 year old holes in the wall or the chipped paint on the cabinets or the heater that you have to tap on a few times to get it running. Fixing those things now will save you a headache later.


Next, staging. Did you know that most sellers receive up to 10% more money when they stage their home versus when they don’t? Staging does so much for the buyer. Not only does it help them see themselves in the homes but it gets their imagination going. They can think about what they want to change, repaint or how they’ll make the space better with their own personal items. It’s a no-brainer if you can afford it.


Here’s a bonus piece of advice. Hire a licensed Real Estate Agent to work for you. I know with do it yourself sites like Zillow.com, Realtor.com, and Redfin, homeowners are more likely to attempt to sell on their own.


While this may be the fastest way to get moving, it may not be the best way to get the most out of the transaction. Allow me to explain. Agents have a fiduciary duty to protect your interests throughout the entire process, negotiate on your behalf, and get you the best price and terms.


The agent who represents you is obligated to share any and all information about the other party as possible. Now imagine going into this transaction unrepresented while the other party is represented by an agent. Wouldn’t you feel underprepared?


I am not saying that you can’t do it. But having a licensed professional vouching for you in a hot market could mean the difference between $2,000 and $40,000 (and so much more) with an experienced agent on your side. If you want to know how much your home is worth, click the link below. Let me know what you think about this one!


Click below for an estimate of what your home is worth:






Click below if you are interested in having a conversation about taking the first steps in the home buying process.


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Brittany Kimble

Updated: Feb 27, 2024



All too often, I hear about real estate agents entering into relationships with buyers and sellers, then they go MIA. When joining the real estate industry, I was honestly surprised at the amount of times I heard this from clients.


I don't understand why. I get it, real estate agents are bullied daily by rude prospects. But when you decide to become a real estate agent you sign up to do your job and serve your clients. Buyers and sellers, I want you to know that you have the ability to fire your real estate agent.


Your agent owes you. In fact, once you have a contractual relationship with your real estate agent they have a fiduciary duty to serve you. The list of fiduciary duties apply to a broad range of obligations that your agent owes you.


Your agent is responsible for the following:

  • Loyalty

  • Obedience

  • Disclosure

  • Confidentiality

  • Reasonable care and due diligence

  • Accounting


Let’s go into what this means to you as the buyer/seller. Starting with loyalty, your agent must act in your best interest and avoid any and all conflicts of interest.


What this means to you is that your agent cannot put their own interests before yours either. Meaning, if your agent is planning to sell a house of his own and it may be desirable to you, they are not able to sell it to you for their own financial gain.


Loyalty in your relationship is EXCLUSIVE. If you have a great real estate agent, he/she will provide security for you in the transaction. Next is obedience. Real estate agents are obligated to carry out all legal instructions of their clients. (Emphasis on legal)


Although your agent is meant to be a trusted advisor and help guide you toward the best decision, ultimately every decision to be made is yours and your agent MUST follow your final instructions (within legal reason).


Your agent also owes you disclosure. This not only applies to contracts, but all information. Any information that could possibly influence your decision making must be made known to you. Whether it be rumors or facts, all known information must be passed over. (If you don't plan on using an agent, keep in mind that your competition is, and their agent is giving them all of the information and is keeping that information away from you, tread lightly if you don't have representation.)


Another responsibility owed to you as a client is confidentiality. This is self explanatory. In real estate, it’s vital to know what to say and what not to say in negotiation situations. Unless you have an exclusive relationship, the agent on the other side is using all your information to nourish their client. (Keep that in mind if you were considering buying or selling without a REALTOR®) However, your acting agent is going to make sure your information stays protected at all costs.


Lastly, I want to talk about the last two duties together. Reasonable care and due-diligence and accounting. Your representing real estate agent should strive to consume and understand more real estate knowledge than the average person.


He must stay informed about all things that could benefit you, harm you and/or affect your decision. This is what we call reasonable care and due-diligence. Accounting for all funds, property, documents, etc. is also the responsibility of your REALTOR®.


With all of these solid duties in place, there should really be no room for error. But I want to explain something briefly:


1. Agents don’t learn how to do business in real estate school.

Most agents are accustomed to the corporate environment where you have a chain of command or hierarchy and a manager who keeps you on track and tells you what to do.


Unfortunately, real estate is an independent contractor position. Meaning, you run your own business. You are your own boss. I think this can be a culture shock for some agents and they don’t always perform well in that type of environment.


2. There is a difference between a real estate agent and a REALTOR®.

Every real estate agent is not a REALTOR®. Let me explain. A real estate agent has taken all of the required education and paid the required fees. A REALTOR® is a licensed real estate agent who volunteered to join the Realtor Association and follow The Code of Ethics.


REALTORS use specific contracts to keep us and our clients protected and we contribute to the real estate industry from the inside. REALTORS® abide by a Code of Ethics, regular agents do not. This is something to consider when hiring your agent.


You are definitely less likely to experience your agent going MIA on you if they take their business that much more seriously as to agree to volunteer to be a part of the National Association of REALTORS®.


As a client, you also have responsibilities to your real estate agent, but I’ll dive into that in another blog. Let me know if you have any feedback on this or book a call with me if you need any consultation!


Click this link if you are interested in having a conversation about purchasing a home or selling your home.





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Brittany Kimble

Updated: Sep 26, 2023



According to a National Association of REALTORS® study, 87% of new real estate agents quit or fail in their first five years of real estate. I’ll go so far as to say that 90% of the 13 that don’t quit or fail, just don’t produce; which is ultimately still failing right?


But I want to briefly talk about the why. Why do 87% of agents fail and why are most active agents not selling anything? Well, I cannot speak for every agent but I can speak for myself. As an agent of three years I can speak on my experience and why I think agents are not succeeding.


In my first year of real estate, I hardly sold anything. In 6 months I managed to squeeze out 3 transactions which was very hard to achieve. I was not only new to real estate but I was also new to the area. With no family, friends, or connections in Georgia I relied mostly on social media to find potential clients.


Social media alone gave me ONE client. My efforts were inefficient and I didn’t know what I didn’t know and that's what I believe is the core of the issue with most agents. You don’t have any guidance or direction, so you don't know how to prepare yourself.


The solution to this issue is to get proper training. If your brokerage does not offer training, maybe consider hanging your license with another brokerage. I’m kidding, however training is one of the most important aspects a company can offer in my opinion.


But in the event that your brokerage really doesn’t offer training and education, you need to find a third party that does. There are tons of coaches out there waiting to help you. Do not be afraid to reach out.


Lean into your mentorship as much as possible and take full advantage of your education. I see lots of agents who have the, “I can figure it out by myself” mentality, but the truth is that we achieve very little on our own. Openly receive the mentorship, put your ego aside and admit that you still have learning to do.


Another reason why I believe real estate agents fail is because they fear rejection. The thing about real estate agents is: we play many roles and wear many hats. We are agents, therapists and sometimes we serve as punching bags.


You need to be able to digest the abrasiveness of some of your leads who aren't expecting your call; and don’t take anything personally. You must learn to change your mindset into believing that every “no” brings you that much closer to a “yes”.


It may not seem like it’s worth the stress right now, but getting through those no’s can mean the difference between $0 and $10,000+ in gross commissions.


TIP: When you pick up the phones, keep your goal at the forefront of your mind and remember WHY you are calling. You are only trying to help and give value.


Last, I believe agents fail because they get stuck in the education phase and end up taking no action. This is common especially in analytical personality types. BEWARE.


This is a disease in which I’ve named Analysis Paralysis and it basically means, you are attempting to learn everything before you make any moves. The reality is, you will NEVER know everything in real estate.


Just when you think you have it all nailed down, there will be changes made to the contracts or the law. Just be sure to continue your education daily and pair your education with actionable tasks to put you to work.


Honestly, I could rattle off and name 101 reasons why I believe agents fail but I personally related to the reasons I’ve listed. These things have slowed my progress and growth but now that I am aware, I can move past these issues and run a successful business.


I hope you can learn from my mistakes and save yourself some time. If you ever need to talk about the things you feel are stopping you from being great, book a 30 minute consultation with me by clicking the link below ! Talk to you next time!


Click this link if you are interested in having a conversation about being a Realtor.



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