"What should we fix before we list?" is the question we get right after "what's my house worth?" — and the honest answer is that it depends on which of two very different problems you're solving.

Defensive spending is the roof, the furnace, the panel, the crawl space. It doesn't make anyone fall in love with your house. It keeps your deal from dying during inspection or appraisal. Right now, with fall-out rates where they are, this is the side that's underrated.

Offensive spending is the kitchen, the paint, the flooring, the front door. It creates the emotional reaction that makes someone want the house. It's also where people lose the most money by overspending.

What we cover:

• Why the same repair swings value wildly depending on the neighborhood — Evergreen Highway vs. a Ridgefield subdivision built since 2020
• FHA and VA appraisal rules on roofs, and why conventional loans get held up too
• How to figure out who your likely buyer is, and why that determines your repair list
• The inspection period, and how a surprise turns into a credit demand
• Competing against new construction going up down the street
• Why you rarely get a dollar-for-dollar return on defensive work — and why it can still be the right call
• Two identical 1997 houses, one with a new roof, listed $15,000 apart. Which one sells?
• Why cheap work is often worse than no work at all
• The modest kitchen remodel vs. the full gut, and where the return falls off a cliff
• The Cost vs. Value report, what it measures, and how to read it
• Why flippers can make the math work when you can't
• What renovation actually costs, compared to what HGTV tells you it costs
• The two highest-return items in most 1990s houses, and they're both doors
• Staging: the industry stats are oversold, and it's still close to non-negotiable

Running example throughout: a 1997 Fisher's Landing home, original condition, comps in the low $600s.

Part two of two. Last week we covered how homes actually get priced.

Cost vs. Value report (Zonda, 2025 edition): https://www.costvsvalue.com/

Book a strategy call: https://www.thetartanteam.com/book

Questions or episode requests: [email protected] | [email protected]

00:00 Intro

01:50 What should I fix before I list?

04:11 Evergreen Highway vs. Ridgefield

05:35 Defensive vs. offensive

07:46 Why defensive matters more right now

08:58 Offensive: creating desire

09:58 Trends, and the 10% who don't follow them

13:12 The example: a 1997 Fisher's Landing house

15:07 FHA, VA, and the appraisal

19:43 Surviving the inspection period

20:28 Competing with new construction

22:19 The timeline problem

24:06 Why you rarely get a full return

27:16 Two identical houses, $15,000 apart

28:10 Cheap work is worse than no work

31:05 The modest kitchen remodel

37:08 Cost vs. Value: the numbers

40:42 So why do flippers do it?

42:04 HGTV budgets aren't real

44:09 Where renovation projects go wrong

47:31 The highest-return items nobody thinks about

50:18 The hardwood floor problem

51:07 The takeaway

53:13 Staging

59:36 Where to find us

Real estate school doesn't teach you how to price a home. That's not an exaggeration — the licensing course spends almost no time on how to build a comparative market analysis. So agents figure it out on their own, which is why three agents can walk the same house and give you three different numbers.

In this episode we break down how a broker price opinion actually gets built, and then get into the part most agents won't say out loud: there are two well-known playbooks for pricing a listing appointment, and neither one is about getting you the most money.

What we cover:

• What "fair market value" actually means, and why nobody can hand you a formula for it
• Appraisal vs. broker price opinion — and why appraisers get to see the contract price before they value the house
• How we build a CMA: 12-month comps, adjustments, and why sold comps outweigh pendings and actives
• Why the listing down the street at $775 that's been sitting 120 days tells you almost nothing
• The roughly 20% of pricing that no data set captures — light, layout, finish quality, what's behind the house
• Zestimates: what they're good at and where they lag
• Buying the listing — inflating the number to win your business, and what it costs you six months later
• Phoning it in — weighting comps low to guarantee a fast sale, and why a great track record can be a performative metric
• Who should actually price high, and what it requires of you
• Who should price low, and when that's a legitimate trade-off rather than a giveaway
• Why fair market is the default recommendation, and the one case where it isn't
• The plan B conversation to have before you sign anything

Running example throughout: a four bed, two and a half bath home around $690,000–$700,000 in Clark County.

Part one of two. Next week we get into condition, prep, and which improvements are worth making before you list.

Book a strategy call: https://www.thetartanteam.com/book

Questions or episode requests: [email protected] | [email protected]

00:00 Intro

01:21 Real estate school doesn't teach pricing

01:42 The three pricing strategies

03:55 What "fair market value" actually means

06:32 Appraisal vs. broker price opinion

08:21 How a CMA gets built

10:46 Sold, pending, active — what counts and how much

13:53 The 20% no data set captures

17:25 What to ask your listing agent

18:42 Zestimates and where they lag

19:31 Why walking the property changes the number

22:42 The playbook: buying the listing

29:04 The playbook: underpricing for a fast sale

34:35 Do your own research

35:58 Pricing high: who it's for, what it costs

43:49 Pricing low: who it's for, what it costs

47:30 Pricing at fair market

51:45 The takeaway

54:17 Plan B, before you sign

56:55 Where to find us

Most buyers see a full breakdown of their closing costs for the first time at signing — a few days before they get keys. By then there's nothing to do about it.

In this episode we walk the buyer/borrower closing cost estimate sheet line by line and sort every item into three buckets: fixed, negotiable, and negotiable-but-not-worth-your-time.

What we cover:

• Why you'll see several versions of what looks like the same sheet, and who sends each one
• Down payment minimums, mortgage insurance, and down payment assistance programs
• Lender and origination fees — the one line where shopping can save you $3,000–$5,000
• APR vs. the advertised interest rate, and why the total is the only number that matters
• When the cheapest lender is the right call, and when it isn't
• Appraisal fees ($500–$900), why the lender picks the appraiser, and why you pay for it anyway
• Home inspection ($600–$1,100), when it's worth going further, and the one market condition where buyers skipped it
• Title insurance: two separate policies, who pays for which, and why one of them feels redundant
• Escrow, recording fees, prepaid taxes and interest — and why your escrow account looks so big
• Homeowners insurance, the one prepaid you actually get to shop
• Why buyer agent commission doesn't appear on this sheet — and why that's worth understanding

If there are two takeaways: negotiate your agent's compensation, and shop your lender. Those are the numbers that move.

Book a strategy call: https://www.thetartanteam.com/book

Questions or episode requests: [email protected] | [email protected]

Walk into a model home in Clark County and you'll see a headline number: $30,000, $35,000 in "flex cash." Nobody hands you thirty-five grand out of generosity. Here's where it comes from, and how to actually use it.

Nick spent two and a half years at New Tradition Homes before starting The Tartan Team, and has since represented buyers with most of the builders in the county. This week we walk through the full menu of builder incentives — temporary rate buydowns, permanent buydowns, closing cost credits, design center allowances, and straight price reductions — what each one is really worth, and which one fits which buyer.

Along the way: why a builder will give you $35,000 in almost any form EXCEPT off the purchase price (it's about comps and appraisals, not stubbornness), why the model home isn't the base model, what your design studio upgrades actually return at resale, the $700 trim-color charge and the surprisingly reasonable explanation behind it, the lending cap that can quietly send part of your incentive back to the builder, and why the sales rep in the model — who isn't your enemy — also isn't your agent.

Run your own offer through it: https://www.thetartanteam.com/calculators/builder-incentives

It takes one incentive amount, deploys it all five ways side by side, checks it against your loan's legal cap, and ranks the options by what you actually keep over the years you'll own the home. Change the hold period and the answer flips — which is the point.

New to the show? Episode 6 covers the Vancouver vs. Portland tax question, including the excise tax that shapes a lot of the math here.

Questions about a specific community or builder? https://www.thetartanteam.com/book

Disclosures with Nick & Dave · Episode 7

CHAPTERS

0:00 – Intro

1:03 – Nick's builder background

2:34 – The $35,000 headline: where does it come from?

3:55 – Option 1: temporary rate buydowns (2-1, 3-2-1)

5:58 – You still have to qualify at the full rate

6:53 – A buydown is really prepaid interest

7:52 – Option 2: permanent rate buydowns

9:49 – What a point actually costs

11:47 – Option 3: closing cost credits

13:53 – The fees first-time buyers don't budget for

16:41 – Why it can't go toward your down payment

19:44 – Option 4: design center and upgrade credits

22:20 – Pre-sale vs. move-in ready: where the room is

23:40 – What upgrades return at resale

25:40 – The design studio as a profit center

27:10 – The worst way to use an upgrade credit

28:36 – The model home isn't the base model

30:30 – Buy from the builder, or after closing?

31:23 – A buyer who took the base finishes

34:45 – The $700 trim color, explained

35:45 – Option 5: just take it off the price

36:42 – Why builders resist a price cut

39:23 – Comps, appraisals, and the recorded sale price

41:56 – How builders can afford any of this

45:37 – So which should you choose?

47:57 – The case for a permanent buydown

52:06 – The cap nobody mentions

54:19 – Where unused incentive money goes

55:00 – Register your agent before you tour

57:24 – Builder commission vs. our flat fee

58:47 – Wrap-up

Everyone in the Portland metro "knows" Washington wins on taxes. But in truth, it's more complicated than that — and for some people, Oregon actually comes out ahead.

This week on Disclosures, we put Clark County (WA) and Multnomah County (OR) side by side: no income tax in Washington vs. Oregon's tiered income tax, Washington's excise tax on selling (roughly $16,855 on a $1M home in the Vancouver area vs. nothing in Oregon), the property-tax gap that's smaller than most people think, Portland's stacked local levies (SHS and Preschool-for-All), estate tax on both sides of the river, and the remote-work question a lot of Nike and Intel employees are quietly asking: can I live in Washington, work for a Portland employer, and stop paying Oregon income tax?

The short version: over a 10-year horizon, Washington usually wins. But if you're earning in Oregon, selling quickly, or flipping, the math can flip on you. We walk through when each side makes sense — and roughly where the break-even lands.

Run your own numbers with our rent-vs-own calculator: https://www.thetartanteam.com/calculators/rent-vs-own

New to the show? Episode 5 covers whether buying still beats renting at all — the groundwork for a lot of this one.

Not tax advice — we say so about six times on the show, and we mean it. We're brokers, not CPAs. If you'd rather talk it through, or want a referral to a good local CPA, reach out: https://www.thetartanteam.com/book

Disclosures with Nick & Dave · Episode 6

CHAPTERS

0:00 – Taxes: the topic everyone thinks they've got figured out

2:57 – The short answer, before we complicate it

3:47 – No income tax in Washington vs. Oregon's tiered rates

5:30 – The excise tax that surprises every Washington seller

6:18 – Excise vs. "deed tax": what the charge actually is

8:27 – How the excise brackets really work

10:00 – Property tax: Clark County vs. Multnomah

14:01 – Portland's local layers: SHS and Preschool-for-All

15:53 – "Portland's Weirdly High Taxes" — second only to NYC

19:19 – No sales tax in Oregon (and where the jobs are)

19:59 – Live in Washington, work in Portland — do you still owe Oregon?

20:50 – The rule that decides it: presence, not paycheck

24:56 – Oregon's real win: the Best Buy run

27:38 – Break-even: how many years until Washington wins?

29:38 – Rent vs. own, and the tax that eats your gains

32:08 – Estate tax on both sides of the river

36:42 – What the excise tax does to house flipping

40:26 – Landing: where you earn changes everything

42:51 – Money isn't everything (the honest caveat)

45:26 – Wrap-up

Renting a home in most major metros right now is about 37% cheaper per month than owning the same home. We're realtors, and we're telling you that anyway.

This week on Disclosures, we dig into whether homeownership is still the American dream — or whether the dream itself needs redefining. We get into the dispute over the average first-time buyer's age (NAR says 40; the Mortgage Bankers Association says closer to 32 — and the difference in how they count matters), the $141,000 household income now required for the median U.S. home, why the buy-vs-rent break-even has stretched from 5–7 years to roughly 10 at today's rates, and the transaction costs that quietly eat $50,000 of equity faster than most sellers expect.

Then we take on the "dream home" itself. The house with everything you could imagine often comes with a payment that kills every other dream you have. We'd rather help you find the home that funds your life than the one that displays it.

Talk through your own situation with us: https://www.thetartanteam.com/book

Also mentioned in this episode:
Nick's coverage of Zillow v. MRED at Realtor Gone Rogue: https://realtorgonerogue.substack.com

CHAPTERS
0:00 – Back from Chicago: Zillow v. MRED

1:21 – A July 4th phone call from Compass CEO Robert Reffkin

2:51 – Is homeownership still the American Dream?

6:01 – Is the average first-time buyer really 40? (NAR vs. MBA)

8:05 – $32k gifts and the $141k income question

10:38 – Renting is 37% cheaper per month — the math

12:08 – The net worth gap: $430k vs. $10k

13:40 – Why the buy-vs-rent break-even is now ~10 years

14:40 – The forced-savings effect (and the disciplined-renter loophole)

17:06 – The real reasons people buy: stability, control, roots

23:19 – The "forever home" myth

25:57 – Transaction costs: how 9–10% eats $50k of equity

28:02 – Is 6% actually an outlier? Rates in historical context

30:31 – Redefining the dream home

36:00 – Buy what's important, not more

38:38 – Why most agents won't tell you to rent (we will)

40:19 – Frenzy regret and the lock-in effect

43:21 – Don't rush: our closing advice

45:56 – Wrap-up

Last week we made the case for flat-fee, retainer-based buyer agency — so why does the listing side go back to a percentage? Because when you're selling, a percentage points in the same direction you do: you both want a higher number. Flat-fee listing rewards closing fast, not selling well.

Nick and Dave break down how the Tartan Team represents sellers across three tiers — full service, limited service, and hourly consulting — what it actually costs to market a home, the value of a negotiation buffer, and where the flat-fee MLS platforms fit in.

Chapters
00:00 — Cold open: rain, fireworks, and the PNW
01:41 — Teaser: the Zillow–MRED hearing in Chicago (more next week)
03:04 — Why the sell side goes back to percentages
05:37 — Aligned incentives: when commission actually works
08:32 — How flat-fee listings turn into a volume game
09:24 — Full service: 3% to $600K, 1.5% above — and why
10:24 — What it actually costs to market a home
12:50 — Who full service is for
16:21 — Limited service: judgment and legal cover, less in-person
18:24 — Open houses and the negotiation buffer
23:31 — Emotional pricing and stale listings
26:57 — Flat-fee platforms, and why we don't compete there
33:10 — Non-agency consulting for true FSBOs
34:50 — Pushback welcome + how to reach us

Mentioned in this episode
Listing fee comparison calculator → https://www.thetartanteam.com/pricing
How we sell → https://www.thetartanteam.com/sell
Last week's buyer-agency episode → https://youtu.be/Z749WWb_gJQ?si=L-e7RhDaMhMRfXgq

Thinking about selling? Book a strategy call → https://www.thetartanteam.com/book

Reach us directly: [email protected] · [email protected]

Every other buyer's agent in Clark County will work with you for free up front and only get paid when you close.

So why do we ask for a retainer before we start?

Because "free until closing" isn't actually free — it just hides the cost, and worse, it quietly works against you. When an agent only gets paid if you buy, every month that passes without a deal turns into pressure: pressure to overlook the water in the basement, to talk you into the house that's good enough, to close something before the contract runs out. A lot of the complaints behind the NAR lawsuit came out of exactly that dynamic.

In episode 3 of Disclosures, Nick and Dave break down how the retainer fixes it.

When we're fairly paid for our time regardless of outcome, we can do the thing a good agent should be able to do: tell you not to buy. Re-sign the lease. Walk away. No hard feelings, no hidden incentive pulling the other direction.

We also lay out the full model for the first time — three tiers of buyer representation, what each one costs, who each one is for, and the honest tradeoffs (including the parts we're still working through, like making the retainer workable for first-time buyers).

If you've ever felt your agent get a little too eager as the clock ran down, this one explains why — and what a different model looks like.

The model, in plain numbers:
• Full Service — $15,000 flat (not a percentage), $3,000 retainer up front, credited toward the total at closing. We're with you for everything: search, showings, inspections, offers, negotiation.
• Limited Service — $9,000 flat, $1,500 retainer. Virtual buyer agency for confident buyers who tour on their own; you're paying for our judgment, negotiation, and contract protection, not our drive time.
• DIY Consulting — $450/hr, non-agency. A sounding board when you want to run the process yourself but check your thinking at the key moments.

Retainers are collected at signing and exist to keep our incentives aligned with yours.

Want to connect further?
Reach out directly: [email protected] | [email protected]

Book a strategy call: https://www.thetartanteam.com/book
More at thetartanteam.com

Timestamps:
00:00 Recording in person for the first time

01:12 Recap: what we covered in episode 2

02:39 The core problem with how buyer agents get paid

05:23 Why "free until closing" works against you

09:48 How this fueled the NAR lawsuit

14:17 The fix: a retainer (and where the idea came from)

19:24 Why the retainer protects you, not just us

23:47 The full model: three tiers and what they cost

31:23 The hurdle we're still working out (first-time buyers)

34:11 "That sounds expensive" — and the real math

41:38 The agent who tells you no

42:52 How to reach us

The 2024 NAR settlement was supposed to bring real estate commissions down. Two years later, buyer-agent commissions have barely moved — by some measures they've crept up. So what actually changed, and why does the day-to-day still feel the same?

In episode 2 of Disclosures, Nick and Dave walk through the history that got us here: how buyer agency was invented in the first place, why buyers historically had no say in what their own agent got paid, what the Sitzer/Burnett settlement actually required, and how steering worked when commission offers were hidden on the back end of the MLS.

Then we get practical. If you're buying a home, the single most useful thing to understand is this: what you pay your buyer's agent affects your leverage on every offer you make. We break down a million-dollar example showing how a flat fee can either come back to you as a price reduction or make your offer more competitive at no extra cost — and why most buyers never have that conversation.

Whether you're buying or selling in Clark County or just trying to understand what the lawsuit really did, this one's for the people who read the contract.

Book a strategy call: https://www.thetartanteam.com/book
More at thetartanteam.com
Connect with Nick: [email protected]
Connect with Dave: [email protected]

Meet Dave Miller — cabinet-maker, finish carpenter, electrician, and the newest co-founder of The Tartan Team — who recently traded Minnesota for Southwest Washington.

First episodes are mostly introductions, and this one's no exception: Nick sits down with Dave to get into how he came up in the trades (general construction with his father and uncles, cabinet-making school, his own electrical company) and how he ended up buying his first house at 22 and renovating it room by room while living in it. So when Dave talks about what's worth paying for in a home and what isn't, it isn't theory.

Along the way: how century-old Minneapolis housing stock differs from the newer homes out here, why house hacking still holds up for a first-time buyer, which upgrades earn their cost before the drywall goes up, and the line Dave keeps coming back to — the cheapest quote is often the most expensive one. Plus how to spot a house that's been polished up to hide what's underneath.

(You'll hear us call this the "Mostly True Real Estate Podcast" a couple of times — that was the working title. We landed on Disclosures.)

Hosted by Nick Aufenkamp and Dave Miller of The Tartan Team, brokered by Real Broker, LLC. Serving Clark County and Southwest Washington.

Thinking about a move, or just have questions? Book a strategy call: thetartanteam.com/book