Home Buying Tips with Famous Shelly

Michael Gaddie  0:00  

As our guest Shelly Gardner likes to say, marriage has a way of messing up living arrangements.

Kristina Stubblefield  0:06  

If you are planning to buy a house anytime in the future, please don't miss this episode.

Sharon Rumsey  0:11  

Make sure to listen as our real estate expert shares all of her best tips and tricks to get those house keys in your hand and make you a homeowner.

Kristina Stubblefield  0:20  

You got engaged. Congratulations. Happy. Yes, joyful time. Of course. Now what timelines to do lists and checklists. 100% Don't worry, you're in the right place. Welcome to the ring, the bling, and all the things. Hi, I'm Kristina Stubblefield, one of your hosts, along with my two good friends, Michael Gaddie and Sharon Rumsey. We have over 50 years of wedding industry experience between us. We have seen it, heard it, done it and found a way around it. We are here to get you from down on one knee to down the aisle. Our podcast will cover everything from you saying yes to the I do's and all that happens in between. So buckle up and enjoy the journey. Now let's get started with this episode.

Okay, you all are in for a real treat. Today we have one of the top realtors in our studio with us, Shelly Gardner. Thank you so much for coming on and being a guest of ours. Mike Sharon, are you excited about this?

Sharon Rumsey  1:48  

I am so excited because I do not know jack diddly about buying house. I haven't bought a house in over 30 years and I am ready to learn.

Michael Gaddie  1:56  

I'm gonna play stupid because I I don't know nothing either. Well, no, that's normal. But I'm excited to hear the news and what

Sharon Rumsey  2:06  

I really look forward to this because I haven't bought a house in a really long time.

Kristina Stubblefield  2:11  

Okay, well, Shelly, I'm gonna make sure you get a word in here since Mike and Sharon have taken over your intro. Shelly tell everybody about you who you're with and all that good stuff. Well, hello, everybody.

Shelly Gardner  2:21  

I am Shelly Gardner. I'm famous Shelly to my friends here in the Louisville Kentucky area. I am a licensed real estate agent in the state of Kentucky and I work for Keller Williams least specifically the Rhonda Roberts team.

Kristina Stubblefield  2:35  

Well, thank you very much for taking time to come in and talk to us. I know that this is a crazy market. One thing you might not know about me is I did mortgages for about eight years. That's in my past. Fantastic. Yes. So I'll be ready for some good questions. I am ready for excellent questions. Bring them on. I know this is a very fast paced market with what things are going on right now. And for those out there, I love one of your sayings. Will you share with them what you always say about weddings?

Shelly Gardner  3:08  

Yes. So for folks getting married, weddings have a great way of messing up your living arrangements. So as you are trying to go through and plan your wedding, you're planning your big day, you're figuring out the caterer and where are you getting married and honeymoon details? At some point, you are going to need to figure out your living arrangements. Whether you're buying something together, whether you have you each have houses before the marriage, if everybody's still living at home with their folks. But at some point, it may be sooner it may be later. But I can be a great resource for couples who are tying the knot on their schedule.

Kristina Stubblefield  3:47  

Well, and for our listeners that are here in the local area, the four of us are actually members of the St. Matthews Chamber of Commerce. Yes, shameless plug for Josh and his team over there right to be so happy here. And I was with them with you at a meeting recently. And I really like how you said you whether they need you right now. Yes. Or they need you down the road? Yes. I think a lot of times people tend to think a realtor only comes into play when you're ready to take action immediately.

Shelly Gardner  4:22  

That's right, because here's the thing about buying a house. People are in all stages of buying house at all times. So I meet folks all the time who are kind of either floating the idea around, they don't really know they're just kind of pie in the sky. They're just kind of talking about it. I meet people, they're ready to pull the trigger right now. Let's do it right now. Let's look at houses were pre approved. Let's go. Or I look at I work with people say, you know what, I'm two years out. I need to work on my credit. So I work with people kind of in all kinds of stages. And I think that's the great thing about what I do is I I work on my clients schedule. And I also work from a position of service, I don't work from a position of money. And I think that provides better service for people. Plus being flexible with their schedule. And I feel like people really appreciate that.

Kristina Stubblefield  5:14  

One of the first things since we have people that listen all over, we love our local listeners. But we're fortunate to have people that listen to us all over. If they don't know where to start researching for realtors, what do you recommend, if if they don't know to look up their Chamber of Commerce or something like that? Do you have a resource?

Shelly Gardner  5:35  

You know, there's all kinds of resources. So one thing, if you are considering buying a house, and you don't know where to start, you could reach out to me. And even if you're not in the Louisville, Kentucky area, I can connect you with a realtor. So that's very easy for me to do. It's totally a free service for you. And I can do a little research and see who does a great job in your area. I can connect you with the realtor. But I have people all the time that tell me I don't know how much money I need to buy a house. Can I buy a house? I don't even know what my credit is. So the next thing I'd have you do is definitely talk to a mortgage lender figure out because it's kind of like going to the mall. Okay. So let's say you're going to go to the mall, and you want to buy a pair of shoes. And in your pocket, you've got a $50 bill, you left your purse at home, you left your wallet at home, you have no credit cards, all you have is a $50 bill. So into the mall, you go, you go into your favorite department store, and you see the most amazing pair of shoes. They're $75 How much money do you have in your pocket? $50. Right. Can you buy those shoes? No, no. Are you sad? Yes, yes. Because you know, there she is the sad Yes. And I would be sad too, because you know, those shoes are not going to be there when you come back with your credit cards in your wallet. So it's kind of like buying a house. If you go out and you start looking at houses online because the majority of people nowadays, start online, because it's super easy, right? sitting on the couch watching TV. thumbing through your phone, you're looking through various platforms, looking at houses online, you see a house you love. Oh my god, I love this house. Let's go see it. Do you know how much you can afford? Nope, I have no idea. But I love this house, I show you this house. And then we find out that's a $300,000 house, and you're approved $475,000. And now you might be sad. Because much like those shoes. It's out of your budget, you can't get it. And now you're sad. And I don't want anybody to be sad. So it's best to talk to a lender first to see exactly where your budget is. And then figure out what you want to look at.

Kristina Stubblefield  7:53  

Well, Sharon, I know as a wedding planner, you we've talked about how stressful planning a wedding can be. So I imagine for a lot of people, if it messes up their living arrangements. Dealing with that while planning a wedding. That could be a whole lot.

Sharon Rumsey  8:11  

I've had several couples, I've had several couples that end up buying a house while we're wedding planning. And it is very stressful. And I've heard them comment how thankful they are for good, a good real estate agent who kind of guided them, just like I'm going to guide them through wedding planning, this real estate agent can guide them through purchasing their house. And I think what I love about what Shelly saying is, I think Mike and I would both tell you that the wedding business is relational. It's 100%. relational. Exactly. And someone's putting a lot of trust in you for for probably what's going to be a once in a lifetime thing, their wedding. And it's a big chunk of money, probably the biggest chunk of money they've spent to date in their life. So for you, it's relational. They're putting a huge amount of trust in you. And it's probably the biggest purchase they're ever going to make is their home. So I mean, that's that's a very, very similar business that that you have to have your the trust and people's faith in you before you can move forward.

Kristina Stubblefield  9:12  

I would think that would be with any realtor. Yeah, with Shelley or with anyone,

Sharon Rumsey  9:18  

whatever their local trust is huge. Yeah,

Shelly Gardner  9:20  

here's the thing. And so I you know, one of my realtor friends and I were just talking about this this afternoon, and he was absolutely right when he said this, can you as an individual person, go out and buy a house yourself? Just on your own? You like a house, it's for sale, you can go out and buy yourself? Yes, you can. Can you as an individual person just put your house on the market and sell it yourself for sale by owner 100% you absolutely can do that. I sell 30 houses a year, hopefully more. But I sell houses all the time. As a wedding planner, you plan hundreds of weddings what I do all the time, it's, it may not be easy for you, but it's right up your alley, it's right in your niche, you do an amazing job. It's kind of like working with a great realtor. We do this all the time, it's much harder. If you have to do it yourself. It's rockier, it's more challenging. It's more stressful. But if you work with a with a professional, you work with a professional lender, all of your ducks are in a row, you can be a homeowner, in four to six weeks. If you're a cash buyer, you could be a homeowner in much less time, couple of weeks. So take advantage of the professionals in your life, whatever you're doing, whether you're planning a wedding, you're buying house, get with a professional, because it's going to make your life so much easier,

Sharon Rumsey  10:50  

less stressful. And I would imagine that you also can help guide your clients and protect them from making mistakes that they might not otherwise know. I mean, I know that we do that with wedding planning all the time. For sure. Yeah.

Shelly Gardner  11:02  

So if there's a if there's a house, or there's something that, I think is an incredibly bad idea, I will never tell them, they can't do it. But I will say Here are some pros, here are some cons. And you know, you need to think about these and you need to make your decision. I don't make decisions for people. I'm more of an educator, I like to give them the information. And then they can figure out what they want to say.

Kristina Stubblefield  11:27  

Like, what's wrong? Are you scared to jump in? No hurry, ladies, come on, let

Michael Gaddie  11:30  

me say this. Let's go back to the beginning for a minute. So a couple comes to you. And we just got married. And we've been living in apartment for a year, right? We want to buy a house. So do we go to you first? Or the bank? The lender? So do do you help us process do that? Or do we need to go to the bank, make sure we have money? And the next question I have with that is what happens if I've got $30,000 that I have saved up over the last year to put a down payment? Or mom and dad gave me $30,000? Nice. How does that how does that know help? Do it or get alone or not get alone? Hey, Shelly consequences, their

Kristina Stubblefield  12:13  

chili, we invited you to come talk about being a real estate agent. But Mike just asked you about being a financial planner, a mortgage lender, a real estate a well

Sharon Rumsey  12:20  

she probably wears.

Michael Gaddie  12:22  

Sure that's good questions that you get asked all the time,

Shelly Gardner  12:24  

your amazing questions, I do get get asked those questions all the time. And here's what I tell people, as a realtor, I basically have to stay in my lane, I always tell people on the house girl, right. And I have great mortgage lenders and great financial planners that I can share with my clients. Because I'm not in the position, nor what I want to do this, but I'm not in the position to be able to advise people on money. But what I do is, sometimes people will come to me. So let me see if I can answer all those questions. Sometimes people will come to me and say, I've been pre approved, I'm working with a lender helped me find a house. Fantastic. Let's go. People will come to me and say, I've got $30,000 to put down on the house. I don't know what to do next. Awesome. Let's get you a lender and then start looking. Excuse me. So it just kind of depends on where people are, what they come to me with what their situation says it's going to be very situational. But never ever, ever Am I going to say Well, I think you can afford this much. Or I think you can spend that much or, Oh, you want your monthly payment to be x, well, then you need to do this. Because I am not licensed to give that kind of information. But I have great resources who are. So when I work, I work with teams of people to make sure our clients move through that house buying process. And we all work together to get them to the end goal, which is keys in their hand.

Kristina Stubblefield  13:49  

You know what this comes back around to is one of our very first episodes. fenders. Oh, yeah, about using professionals. Right? When your wedding planning in the home buying process, having those professionals that that's what they do seems to be very important.

Sharon Rumsey  14:07  

You know, it's just like we said on another one of our episodes, if you were going to have surgery, would you just go find whoever's cheapest on the street corner to do your surgery or a neighbor? Or would you want a professional trained surgeon? Same thing you can't just hop in, I wouldn't have a clue where to start with buying a house, I would have to have guidance. So I know when I bought my house back to kind of what Mike was saying, we found the house and then we went to try to get the mortgage. I hear today that the way the market is you're going to lose the house you want if you do that. So do most people get pre approved first

Shelly Gardner  14:46  

well in this market. So let's say you've you you're pre approved, and you find a house that you like when I submit the offer at least here in the state of Kentucky when I submit the offer, I must Submit it with a pre approval letter or proof of funds if it's a cash offer, because of that market, because this, the sellers are not going to be interested in me giving an offer. And who knows if these people can pay for it or not, they don't have time to fool with that, because the market is so vibrant right now. And it's so strong for the sellers, which doesn't let the buyers out though. So if you're listening in, in the state of Kentucky, whether you're in the local area, or you're in Bowling Green or or wherever you are, it's a great time to buy a house interest rates are so favorable for buyers, please don't think oh, well, I'm going to wait. If you can, and I tell all my people this, if you can swing it right now, it is not going to behoove you to wait. Interest rates are still floating around the low threes. It they're forecasted by the end of the year, to be creeping up close to four. So if you can buy a house, now, you will save money. If you just can't do it, then you can't do it. And it is what it is. But if you can, and you're considering it as a buyer, it will save you money. Now. If you are a seller, the market has never been better for you to sell.

Kristina Stubblefield  16:12  

Well, what you are saying, even though that doesn't sound like much from low threes to going closer to four, yes, that can keep you from a few more $1,000 on a house. That's right, being able to afford, you know, being in your budget

Shelly Gardner  16:28  

and a lower monthly payment. And the federal government in terms of student loans, they have just dropped their percentage on FHA loans from 1%. I hope I'm saying this right, on 1%. Because they look at your total income. And they, they look at it for debt to income ratio, it wasn't 1%. Now student loans, they're looking at it as a half a percent on your total debt to income ratio. That is a huge savings. If you have student loan debt, and you're going in and an FHA loan, which is a government backed loan, it's gonna save you a ton of money. So if you previously earlier in the year, tried to buy a house, and we'll stay in the state of Kentucky for this, tried to buy a house and you you were denied, because your debt to income ratio was too high because of student loans, circle back around with a mortgage lender, it could be that you may not be denied now, it you know, there's all kinds of things that go into it. But if you were denied before, because of student loans, check it back out.

Kristina Stubblefield  17:30  

Shelley's just driving home the point about professionals, people that work in those fields day in and day out, are going to be a vital asset. Whether you're planning a wedding, or purchasing a home,

Michael Gaddie  17:42  

why don't you tell our couples why it would be so much easier for them to hire a realtor than just going out and trying to do it on their own?

Shelly Gardner  17:53  

Well, one reason is your stress level. It's kind of like, think about surfing. So for you is listening right now, think about what you do in your line of work. Maybe you work at the electric company, or maybe you are a banker, maybe you're a teacher. If you're an engineer, think about me now. Trying to step into your shoes and be an engineer. First of all, that would be disastrous. Because I can't build anything or anything like that. I'm very mechanical. But whatever you do, think about me just some random person off the street trying to come and do what you do at work every day. Yeah, and you're going Oh, yeah, that wouldn't work. Well, it's kind of like with people trying to buy a house. I meet people all the time. I'm gonna buy the house on my own. Or I'm gonna sell the house for sale by owner. Can you do it? Yep, absolutely do it. But it's hard. Because you don't know what you don't know. I go into houses all the time that people are trying to sell. And you're supposed to have at least in the state of Kentucky, you're supposed to have a set of sellers disclosures. It's a document that says the tells about the the systems of the house, how old is the roof? How old is the air conditioner? Have you had any flooding problems? Have you had any problems with termites? You know, there's all kinds of things by page document asks a lot of questions. I go into houses that people are trying to sell they most of the time, do not have a seller's disclosure,

Kristina Stubblefield  19:20  

they don't even know what it is. They don't even know it exists.

Shelly Gardner  19:23  

So again, it's a situation of you don't know what you don't know. And as a buyer, you don't know. Do I need to talk to a lender? Well, how do I know how much money I can afford? But I like that house so much. I get it. But it's really best to work with a professional, really in everything that you do, whether you're buying house planning wedding, buying a car, you know, just it's a lot of it's a lot of work and a lot of money.

Kristina Stubblefield  19:49  

So one question that might be going through people's mind, does it What does it cost to use a realtor is there you know, some people that have never done this they He may think that it's something they can't even afford. So break it down for him. Shelly,

Shelly Gardner  20:06  

I know that Sharon bought a house a long time ago. And I know Mike bought a house some time ago. And Christina, and her husband bought a house from a family member. So all these folks in this room are homeowners, including myself. How much do y'all think it costs? to buy a house to, to use a realtor to buy a house? How much do you have to pay me to buy house

Kristina Stubblefield  20:33  

0%

Sharon Rumsey  20:36  

to buy a house, the seller would pay you correctly.

Shelly Gardner  20:41  

So the ladies win? Okay, unfortunately, Sherry always wins. Mike, we're gonna we're going to fix your okay.

Kristina Stubblefield  20:50  

This is exactly why I asked that. Right. Oh, my God, I love

Shelly Gardner  20:53  

that you asked this question. So as a buyer, you pay me nothing. It's totally free. I drive around, I show you houses, I spend a bunch of time with you. And I love showing houses to people. So believe me, it's not a hardship, I really do enjoy it very much. But you pay me nothing. Now as a buyer, and will stay in the state of Kentucky, you have to pay for home inspection, or you have to pay for the appraisal. If your mortgage lender says, you know, you have to have an appraisal, you might have to pay for a termite inspection. So all of those inspections you have to pay. But again, you're not paying me you're paying the inspector or the appraisal. Who pays my commission? Do you think seller, the seller, and that is arranged between the seller and his or her agent, that whole commission thing is is arranged I have nothing to do with it. If it's a great commission, fantastic. If it's less desirable, it is what it is. But I have nothing to do with it. Well, I

Kristina Stubblefield  21:58  

have more about this, because I think this is really important. Huge you invest in people that's with no guarantee of anything in the end. That's right. So if they can't find a home, and you've shown them 10 or 12, and they've missed out, it's not been what they've needed, or what they wanted, I should say. They don't pay you per time you take and go to all these homes, if they don't end up buying a home, you've invested that time with them. And I think that's really important for people to know,

Shelly Gardner  22:28  

I had a couple last year who really relocating here from another state. And I showed them houses for three months in the middle of the pandemic because in Kentucky, we were deemed essential workers. So we continued to work safely with all the proper protocols met, but I showed them houses for three months. Honest to God, I probably showed him 100 houses. And I didn't just show them houses in the Oval area. I showed them houses from Bowling Green, which is two hours southwest of Louisville. I showed them houses almost all the way to Cincinnati, which is almost an hour and a half north. I showed them houses almost all the way to Lexington, which is about an hour east. and everything in between. In the end, I still don't know what they did. But they just stopped. And they never responded to me again. They never returned my phone calls again. I don't know if something happened. But as you know, we all say in common speak they ghosted me. And I, I still don't know what happened to them. I hope all as well. I don't know if they went back to the state from whence they came. I just don't know. I spent a lot of time with them. I spent a lot of gas on them. But the great thing is, as I was doing all that I did learn a lot about all kinds of random things. But I got a good education out of working with them. So

Kristina Stubblefield  23:57  

I just felt like that's really important. Because when you're invest in someone or a couple, with no guarantee of anything, you're not paid by the hour, you're not anything. It it's a whole different level that you're bringing to that. And the reason I wanted to mention that is because I don't think newlyweds people that are engaged people that haven't bought a home before. I don't think at all they know how the process works.

Shelly Gardner  24:28  

They really don't and or if you haven't bought a house in a long time. So I work with couples all the time, and their parents will come with them to see the house. And their parents are great sources of information, sometimes accurate up to date information and sometimes information that could be updated. That's very much like our jobs. Yes. And I frequently hear well, 30 years ago when I bought my house, or the last time I bought a house, you know in 1978 Absolutely. It was like that then but it's a little different now The markets a little different now. And you know, we have to kind of educate our clients on the market, kind of what's going on, it would be much like if I came in to your line of work and tried to say, Well, you know, when I did this, when I was an electrical engineer, now, I have no idea what I'm talking about. But um, you know, it's, it's interesting, I think, though, when you come from a place of service, you don't worry about not getting paid. It doesn't occur to you that you're not going to get paid. And I didn't get paid with that couple, I sure didn't get paid. I did get things out of it. I got I got education, I got education, I learned a lot. Some good and some, but all things you needed to develop mental, we'll call it developmental. But all things that were good for me to know,

Kristina Stubblefield  25:48  

in this just is that you are just isn't realtors in the state of Kentucky. This is everywhere, in every industry, if you work for something that that you have no guarantee of getting paid.

Shelly Gardner  26:03  

Some people look at that differently. You know, I, I come out of a hospitality background

Kristina Stubblefield  26:08  

I was gonna ask about that's where your background

Shelly Gardner  26:11  

is, yes, I come out of a training and development slash hospitality background. And, you know, I come from a position of service, I just do. I grew up in the restaurant industry, my family owned a restaurant, I worked in a restaurant since I was a little kid. And I didn't know anything else. I mean, I knew customer service and hospitality. That's what I knew. I bring that with me to my clients. Because I find that I find that sometimes customer service isn't provided in all kinds of industries as much as it should be maybe. And that's something I bring with me is very strong customer service ethic. So it never occurred to me, those people weren't going to pay me. And so they didn't pay me. So then I found somebody else to help. And I got paid. Right. And it was fine.

Michael Gaddie  27:03  

So how I mean, this might be a stupid question, but you look for houses for people I do. And then say, if Pam and I wanted to sell our house, I could contact you. And we could tell you to, you know, help us sell this. Right. So that's the part that you would get paid on for sure.

Shelly Gardner  27:19  

Yes. So as a general rule, so I want you all to think that I don't ever get paid. Because I do of course, and my son eats very well. But so. So if I, so for example, I have a house is coming onto the market tomorrow, which is great, right? So I have negotiated with those sellers, the commission rate, and basically it's it's generally a 5050. split, that's super easy math. So it's generally 5050 split. So between the seller's agent, and the buyer's agent, we so we split it down the middle. So in this case, I'll get 3%. Well, the selling side will get 3% and then the buyer side will get 3%. And that's just the deal that was negotiated at this particular house. And then hopefully, so let's say it's you and Pam. Right. So hopefully then you and Pam need somewhere else to live, unless you're going to live in your your floral delivery truck, right. Which I think Pam would kick you out. But you're going to need somewhere else to live. And then I would then I would function as a buyer's agent, because then I would find you a house to live in. Because I'd be representing you the buyer. And then we'd go through it all over again, though, from the other side of the table.

Michael Gaddie  28:31  

That's very interesting.

Kristina Stubblefield  28:32  

I didn't want it to make it seem like Shelley didn't get paid. What I was trying to deliver the point to is, real estate agents have a lot invested in clients, no matter how serious they are, or not serious.

Sharon Rumsey  28:49  

A lot of not all, but a lot of our listeners are younger couples that this is probably going to be their first home purchase. So they don't have a home to sell. But so it is good for them to know that they can know the details of what Yeah, and that they can use a real estate agent and they don't have to come out of pocket to pay that agent.

Shelly Gardner  29:09  

And I'll tell you as a as an agent. So I'm a mama I have a 19 year old son. And for the most part with my clients, you get very invested, working with people same so it's not just like, hey, I want to buy a house and then I hand your keys tomorrow. And I never see you again. I show you houses you might want to buy the second house I show you. It might be 20 houses down the road before you find one you like. So it's different for everybody. And then it's a four to six week process to get the house closed with the mortgage lender in the title company and all the people that are involved. It could be a couple of months. Right? And you get to know people, you become their friends. You become their mentor you become their I need to talk to you. I talk people down

Kristina Stubblefield  29:59  

sometimes Hi, I'm Sharon Does this sound familiar?

Shelly Gardner  30:02  

I'm relating, yes, they're super stressed out, you know, I, I'm there, you know, the whole family and the dynamics. I know their dog's names. You know, I know all kinds of things about people. And I love that it is a big deal. To be able to hand somebody keys. Whether you're a first time homebuyer, there's something very special about first time homebuyers. And to give them a key, I'm not even gonna lie. Or if you've bought five other houses or 10 other houses, I still love it. But let me tell you what, I don't know how many people when they get to their when they get to their goal. My goal is to give you keys, when you get to the goal, and you're crying. Because you're so happy that you're handing somebody a set of keys. I just changed somebody's life, it is a huge thing. Huge. It's a huge deal. And I don't take that lightly. I get all the goose bumps. And I cry, because I'm a big baby. And, you know, Sharon, you know me a long time, you know, I'm a baby. So it's no surprise. But so

Sharon Rumsey  31:03  

let's just say I have a couple they're getting married this summer. goal is to buy a house before 2022 Sure. What, what it what step 123. Just to like recap everything, what do they need to do?

Shelly Gardner  31:20  

Well, the first thing I would love to do is I would love to meet your couple. And by the way, and I just want to say this, because I'm a firm believer in this. I love all couples. Couples, to me are two people who are together, they're moving forward, they're married, and they're happy, happy. I don't care what you look like, I don't care who you're marrying. I'm super happy, you're a couple and we'll just move on from there. So you got a couple, they want to buy a house, send them my way, I want to sit down with them and see what they want. Because you know what, y'all I have a house. It doesn't matter what I want, right? It matters what you want, as the buyer. So let's find out what you want. How much house can you afford? So I'm going to ask you a bunch of questions, I'm gonna take a bunch of notes. And then based on the information you give me, I'm going to recap it for you. And then I'm going to say, Now let's get you a mortgage lender. And or Luckily, if I can, I can get a mortgage lender in there at the same time. That's super great when I can get all the parties represented. And then we start looking for the house. And then we go from there. So lots of questions, getting to know each other starting to build that relationship,

Sharon Rumsey  32:29  

that relationship

Shelly Gardner  32:30  

because it's it's very, I am not a transactional agent. Some agents are more transactional, I'm very relationship based, which is probably why I cry when I give people case, that's also why you're successful.

Michael Gaddie  32:42  

I had no clue that there was so much detail in what you do. Because after you get everything all the information that they want, then that's when you really start your job the next day starting to look and they leave as they leave, you're trying to look for houses for them to take them on a tour. That's right,

Shelly Gardner  33:02  

I set up a little search, I feed the computer the information they gave me. And then the computer starts to come back with houses. And we might have to tweak it, it might not be exactly what they want. Or,

Kristina Stubblefield  33:15  

um you know, we look around and we go see houses and we we find what they want. And I am very patient, I am on your schedule. And I think the other thing too is how many hours and stress and everything you're saving them because they're not out on all these different platforms look in are these old listings, new listings, that's your job, you're bringing them active listings that they can go, you're setting up appointments, you're scheduling all of that for them.

Shelly Gardner  33:47  

So as I look at the multi Listing Service or the MLS, so a lot of people notice that. That's the, that's the vehicle that I get all my information from, okay. And every licensed Realtor. Wherever you are, wherever you're listening to this, they have some kind of MLS that they're affiliated with. And they're going to go on the MLS, that MLS is going to be the most updated vehicle. It's got the most updated data, the most updated information. People love to go out to the internet and look for houses. Everybody does it. No problem. Keep in mind, the information that you see as a consumer online was some of the most popular real estate sites. I don't know if I can name them, so I'm not going to name them. But the most popular real estate sites, the ones that everybody go to, and you're scrolling through looking for houses while you're watching, you know, whatever's on Netflix. You're looking, keep in mind that data frequently is not as updated as you would think. So I had a guy that wanted to buy a house and he says I want to go see this house. I'm like okay, great. So I go out and I look at this on online site and I'm looking at I'm looking at And I'm like, I can't, I can't find this house. So if I finally find it, and I can't find any information about the house, and I see an agent was listed on this, so I call the agent up. This was the first of May, this is what I was doing. This was the first of May. So I called the agent and he goes, Oh, girl, he goes, that house has been sold since January, it was still showing active on that site that everybody loves to go and visit, it was still showing active five months later. So I just caution you, if you're going to go out and look for houses yourself, again, totally fine to do that. But take it with a grain of salt. It's kind of like window shopping. When you're ready to start looking for real,

Kristina Stubblefield  35:42  

let's talk. Don't fall in love. Just because the listings online, that's right here. That's what you're saying. And again, for someone that's not listen, this for someone that's listening, my goodness, for someone that's listening, yes, that is not local, they can still reach out to you. And you can help find them a specialist in their area. Yeah, so

Shelly Gardner  36:08  

let's say that you are a bride or groom, and you're listening in Los Angeles, or you're listening in Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania, that's where I went to college. You're listening somewhere, not in the Louisville, Kentucky area, you can call me up. And as a free service, whether you're my real client or not, I can go out I can do some research. I can say, listen, based on what you told me, here are some agents that you should try. And I will hook you up with those agents, I'll let the agents know you may call and then it costs you nothing. It costs me nothing. But I do get a referral fee. So if that agent is connected with you, and that agent helps you find a house, I get a referral fee off of that agents commission. And it's a totally free service for me to provide to you. Super awesome.

Kristina Stubblefield  36:58  

I don't know, all over the country. I don't know about you, Mike and Sharon. But I think this is going to be really helpful to people that have not purchased a home ever, or that it has been a long time that they can get a little refresher course on how things work. I learned a lot.

Michael Gaddie  37:17  

I did too.

Sharon Rumsey  37:18  

Like I said, it's been a year since I bought a house.

Kristina Stubblefield  37:21  

So Shelly, thank you so much for explaining what you all have this whole process. I really appreciate you taking time to come in and talk to us. And if you want to find more information about Shelley, where can they do that?

Shelly Gardner  37:36  

You could call me. So my number in Kentucky and in the United States is 502-232-5054 or you can email me. So my email is famous Shelley. But I'm gonna tell you it's spelled kind of funny. It looks like it says famous heli. So it's f AMOU s h e l l y

Sharon Rumsey  38:00  

i love it.

Michael Gaddie  38:01  

Hi, Michelle. Well, I

Shelly Gardner  38:02  

only put one s in there. So my son sometimes likes to call me famous Halle. Nice.

Kristina Stubblefield  38:07  

Is there a website that they can reach? They can look you up?

Shelly Gardner  38:10  

Yes, you can go to www dot Shelly Gardner sh e Ll y, GA r d n er dot Rhonda Roberts team.com.

Kristina Stubblefield  38:25  

Perfect. Thank you very much Shelly. And all of her links will be in the show notes. You can find her on social media. She loves doing video. So go out there and check her out. And thank you again, Shelley, for sharing all the great information. Wait,

Sharon Rumsey  38:38  

wait, we forgot our rapid fire questions. Oh, yes.

Kristina Stubblefield  38:41  

You have questions. Yes. So hit her up with it. Sharon. Okay.

Sharon Rumsey  38:44  

I list my favorite part. Okay. Okay. So you're not allowed to say your son or your family? Because that's a given. What do you love? What can you absolutely not live without?

Kristina Stubblefield  38:59  

A Pepsi? Okay, I love you. You attend a wedding? Yes. Do you run towards the dance floor or away from it when it's that time? Have I been having beverages? That's a good enough answer. Mike, come on hitter with Andre.

Michael Gaddie  39:16  

What's your favorite drink when you head for the bar to the bar.

Shelly Gardner  39:22  

I love Malibu and cranberry with lime. It's weird, but it's okay. We're heading

Kristina Stubblefield  39:27  

to our own bar. Make sure you check out our video on YouTube to see this recording and all of our others. Thanks again. Thanks to all of our listeners. Thanks. And thank you. See ya.

Thank you for tuning in to this episode of The Rig The Bling And All The Things if you like what you heard, make sure to hit the subscribe button to get notified of upcoming episodes. You can also visit our website, theringtheblingandallthethings.com for past episodes, and make sure to connect with us on social media. If you would like to help us get the word out about this podcast, make sure to share with your family, your friends and anyone you know in the wedding business.

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