Disclosures with Nick & Dave

Most people tour a house the way the listing agent wants them to: kitchen, primary suite, backyard, done. Dave spent years in construction before he sold real estate, and he tours a house the way a builder does — water first, structure second, systems third, and the pretty stuff last.

In this episode he walks through his method, using a 1960s house we toured together the week before as the running example: patchwork plumbing, a stone facade pulling off the wall, floor joists replaced with the wrong size, and a ceiling hump where somebody took out a wall.

We cover:
– Why the age of a house tells you what to look for before you walk in
– "Think like water": roof, gutters, downspouts, grade, and where the rain ends up
– Flashing, siding, and the window corners where rot starts
– What to do with smell when you open the door
– Floors, ceilings, and the difference between a drywall crack and a structural one
– HVAC, electrical, and plumbing: what ages out, what insurers flag, and how to tell a pro's work from an uncle's
– Sewer lines, septic, and wells — the part nobody budgets for
– The floor plan: the other thing you can't change
– Why market conditions decide whether any of this is leverage or just eyes-open budgeting

Download the touring checklist: https://www.thetartanteam.com/home-touring-checklist
Book a Strategy Call: https://www.thetartanteam.com/book

Nick Aufenkamp — [email protected]
Dave Miller — [email protected]
The Tartan Team, affiliated with Real Broker, LLC | Clark County, WA

Chapters:
00:00 Who gets to do the intro
01:27 This week: how to tour a house
02:21 The listing agent knows the house; the buyer's agent is walking in cold
04:31 Why Dave drives this one
07:12 Before you walk in: age of the house and where it sits
11:38 The 1960s house we toured last week
13:33 Why agents steer people to new construction
18:33 Market conditions decide what this list is for
21:11 Bring an inspector's checklist
22:10 Think like water
23:48 Walking up: roof, gutters, downspouts, grade
25:32 Basements, crawl spaces, and why concrete isn't waterproof
27:08 Siding, flashing, and the window corners
29:37 The stone facade that's pulling off the wall
32:22 Windows, and why they're sneaky expensive
34:41 Through the door: staining and smell
37:07 Floors, joists, and squeaks
38:36 The ceiling hump where a wall used to be
40:06 Drywall crack vs. structural crack
44:46 The three mechanical systems
45:29 Knob-and-tube, galvanized pipe, and old copper
48:08 Pro or uncle? Permits and the orderliness test
50:38 Take a photo, ask a friend in the trades
52:01 Electrical capacity for EVs and heat pumps
52:43 Sewer lines, septic, and wells
56:23 What you didn't hear us mention: finishes
56:45 The floor plan is the other thing you can't change
1:00:20 Wrap-up: triage, and tour a house with us

#RealEstate #HomeBuying #HomeInspection #FirstTimeHomeBuyer #HouseTour #WashingtonRealEstate #ClarkCounty #VancouverWA #OldHouse

Buying a Home Without an Agent — Why, How, and Who Shouldn't

Two agents on whether you need one. Short answer: no. Longer answer: it depends on the market, the property, and you.

In this episode:

Why people do it. Money first — an unrepresented buyer typically shows up with 2.25–2.75% of the purchase price that a seller would otherwise pay to a buyer's agent. On a $650,000 house that's about $15,000, usable as a stronger offer in competition or a lower price when a house has been sitting. Beyond money: protection from a bad agent, and no one whose paycheck depends on you closing.

How you get in. Open houses, showing services, portal tour requests (expect a pitch), or the listing agent directly. The key is the client/customer distinction: the listing agent already has a client. You're a customer, and showing a listing to a customer is part of their job.

The non-agency disclosure. Offer to sign one. It's not an agreement; it recognizes who represents whom and heads off the listing agent's biggest worry.

Why listing agents push back. Some of it is commission. Some of it is real: implied-agency liability, and the risk that an inexperienced buyer doesn't perform. Show up with a pre-approval, know the terminology, and name who's in your corner.

Writing the offer. The listing agent can supply the standard forms and explain the mechanics — on the seller's behalf, not yours. What they can't do is advise you. Not even "you should include an inspection contingency." If they won't help with the forms, a real estate attorney will, usually for under $1,000.

Who shouldn't. Buyers of complex properties (acreage, septic, wells, historic homes, luxury systems) without the knowledge to evaluate them. High earners whose time is worth more than the commission. Anyone who knows they get emotional in negotiations.

The pitfall. Tunnel vision. Finding the house that checks every box and losing the clarity to negotiate.

Questions to ask yourself: What's the market doing right now? How complex is the property? Do I have the time, and the temperament? Who's my outside voice?

Coming up: Dave's takeaways from Build Show Live, and an episode on listing agents who don't do their jobs.

Book a Strategy Call: https://thetartanteam.com/book

Reach us: [email protected] | [email protected]

Chapters
00:00 Take two, and Dave's back from Build Show Live
02:15 This week: buying a home without an agent
05:29 Is it really like performing your own surgery?
07:20 Two agents, honest about representation
08:33 The market matters: 2021 vs. now
11:15 Why do it? Money — and who really pays the buyer's agent
17:21 The $15,000 math
20:13 Beyond money: protection from a bad agent, aligned incentives
26:59 How do you get in the door?
30:14 Client vs. customer (the car-lot test)
32:08 The non-agency disclosure
34:46 Why listing agents hesitate — the cynical take and the real risks
38:23 How to be taken seriously
41:45 Writing the offer: what a listing agent can and can't do
44:28 When the listing agent won't play ball
48:06 "It's my job to protect the seller, not you"
50:22 Who should — and shouldn't — represent themselves
57:43 The EQ factor and the tunnel-vision trap
1:02:18 Can you buy without a Realtor? Absolutely.
1:04:09 Wrap-up

One agent representing both the buyer and the seller in the same transaction. It's legal in Washington, it happens constantly, and most people consent to it without knowing they did — it's a checkbox buried in the listing agreement.

In this episode, Dave and I break down what Washington actually calls "limited dual agency," why the state added the word limited, and what it means for you when your agent can no longer advocate for either side. We walk through a real pricing scenario to show exactly where the conflict lives, and we talk honestly about why an agent might want the arrangement anyway.

We also draw the line between limited dual agency and designated dual agency — two different agents at the same brokerage — because those two things get lumped together and they carry very different risk. One we'd avoid almost every time. The other is mostly fine, with a couple of specific exceptions worth knowing.

Plus: the six duties your agent owes you under Washington law, and the one duty that never expires.

We also correct two things we got wrong in last week's First Look episode.

⏱ Chapters
0:00 — A short week, a building conference, and $18 shipping
1:56 — Recap: last week's First Look episode
2:53 — Is a "disclosure" actually disclosing anything?
5:54 — Correcting the record on dual agency bans
7:50 — Are Washington agents fiduciaries? Not technically
10:10 — What "limited dual agent" means in Washington
11:11 — Why the state added the word "limited"
14:07 — A $720K example: where the conflict actually lives
16:54 — So why do agents do it? Double-ending the deal
18:54 — Does a discounted commission make up for lost negotiation?
19:49 — The open house scenario and the unrepresented buyer
23:47 — The one case Nick would consider it
26:13 — Designated dual agency: two agents, one brokerage
28:52 — Why brokerage size changes the risk
33:43 — When designated agency should concern you
36:36 — Confidentiality leaks happen regardless of brokerage
37:36 — The verdict on both kinds
40:06 — OLD CAR: the six duties your agent owes you
45:22 — The duty that never expires
47:02 — Incentives, and why understanding them matters
50:46 — Next week: unrepresented buyers and private listings

Thinking about buying or selling in Clark County? Book a strategy call: https://www.thetartanteam.com/book

Nick Aufenkamp & Dave Miller | Brokers, The Tartan Team (affiliated with Real Broker, LLC)
[email protected] | [email protected]
360.281.8938
thetartanteam.com

Writing on real estate incentives and reform: realtorgonerogue.substack.com

Disclosures is a weekly conversation about how residential real estate actually works — the paperwork, the incentives, and the parts nobody explains at the closing table. Nothing here is legal advice. Real estate law varies significantly by state; confirm anything that applies to your own transaction.

Compass and Northwest MLS just ended a 16-month legal fight over private exclusive listings. The result is a brand-new listing status called First Look, live in NWMLS as of September 4, 2026. In this episode, Dave and I walk through what actually happened, what First Look does, who benefits, and what to ask your agent before you agree to it.

We cover:
– How the lawsuit started (fines, feed cutoffs, and Compass's three-phase marketing strategy)
– Compass's "seller choice" argument and why NWMLS called private exclusives bad for consumers
– What First Look is: up to 21 days in the MLS with no public days-on-market, no price history, optional syndication, and showings and offers allowed
– First Look vs. Coming Soon — similar names, different rules
– The best-case argument for First Look (testing a price when comps are thin)
– The part agents don't volunteer: lead capture, Zillow's referral fees, and why a limited-exposure listing is good for the brokerage
– Dual agency in Washington and why you don't have to consent to it – What this means for buyers who don't have an agent yet
– Clark County note: most of us are on RMLS, not NWMLS, but you'll still hear this pitch

The short version: First Look isn't good or bad on its own. It depends on the property, the market, and the agent's motivations. Ask them to defend the strategy.

Book a Strategy Call: https://www.thetartanteam.com/book

Nick Aufenkamp — [email protected]
Dave Miller — [email protected]
The Tartan Team, affiliated with Real Broker, LLC | Clark County, WA

Realtor Gone Rogue (Nick's Substack on real estate incentives and reform): https://realtorgonerogue.substack.com

Chapters:
00:00 Catching up: whale watching and BC wildfires

02:50 Compass settles with Northwest MLS after 16 months

05:07 Why Clark County (on RMLS) should still care

09:20 How the lawsuit started: private exclusives, fines, a feed cutoff

13:01 Compass's argument: seller choice and "negative insights"

16:09 NWMLS's argument: the cooperative, appraisals, fair housing

21:31 The settlement: what First Look is

26:46 The best case for First Look

34:54 First Look vs. Coming Soon

38:15 What's in it for the agent: lead capture and Zillow

41:37 Dual agency is still legal in Washington

47:56 What sellers should ask before agreeing to First Look

55:00 What this means for buyers without an agent

56:27 Next episode tease and closing thoughts

#RealEstate #Compass #NorthwestMLS #FirstLook #WashingtonRealEstate #HomeSelling #ClarkCounty #VancouverWA #DualAgency #PrivateListings

"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