Why I Wrote Prepped to Sell
- Elisa Cool Murphy
- 1 day ago
- 5 min read
A Q&A with Elisa Cool Murphy
Why did you write Prepped to Sell?
I don’t think there was one singular moment where I thought, I need to write a book.
There were hundreds of conversations. Recurrent conversations. Sitting at kitchen tables explaining why buyers react the way they do. Walking sellers through why preparation matters. Explaining why pricing is strategy and not emotion. Why some homes create momentum immediately while others struggle to connect. Why marketing is more than putting something online and hoping for the best.
At a certain point, I realized we had already written the book.
Not intentionally. But through years of blog posts, consultations, newsletters, listing prep conversations, videos, trainings, market observations, and client experiences, the philosophy was already there. The patterns were already there. The lessons were already there.
The book was really about pulling it all together into one place. And you can get your copy here.
Who did you write it for?
Sellers, first and foremost.
Especially overwhelmed sellers.
The people who know they probably need to make a move, but the process feels so overwhelming that they stay stuck where they are for years longer than they intended.
I wanted there to be something someone could read before we met. Or right after that first consultation, when your brain is spinning because suddenly you’re trying to process timelines, pricing, repairs, contractors, emotions, photography, moving trucks, family opinions, storage units, paint colors, and seventeen other things all at once.
Selling a home asks a lot of people emotionally and logistically. Most people only do it a handful of times in their lives. Of course, they don’t automatically know how all of this works.
I kept wishing there was a way to transfer experience faster. And so I began to write.
What do you mean by that?
I kept thinking about Dumbledore’s Pensieve in Harry Potter.
The scene where he taps the wand to his head and drops memories into the bowl so someone else can step inside them and experience them firsthand.
That’s what I wished I could do for sellers.
I wished I could instantly show people:
what buyers notice immediately
how pricing changes psychology
what happens behind the scenes during strong launches
why preparation creates confidence
how small decisions compound
what successful listings actually feel like before they ever hit the market
Because once you’ve seen enough homes launch, enough buyers react, enough deals come together or fall apart, certain patterns become incredibly obvious.
But sellers don’t get the luxury of doing this every day.
So the book became the closest thing I could create to handing someone those accumulated experiences all at once.
What frustrates you most about the real estate industry?
The biggest misconception that baffles me, frustrates me, and honestly presents a huge opportunity all at the same time is that clients should be able to expect far more than what they often receive.
People have become so conditioned not to expect much from real estate professionals that they end up taking on a tremendous amount themselves. And because of that, they miss out on the direct benefit of somebody with actual expertise helping guide the process strategically.
That’s where I think the industry is changing.
Access is no longer the value.
Access now lives in everyone’s pocket.
Through an app or a website on your phone, you can instantly look at homes, price histories, taxes, maps, comps, photos, and listing data. We no longer live in a world where the agent’s primary job is sitting behind a desk pulling information out of a database.
What people need now is interpretation.
Strategy.
Clarity.
Opportunity.
They need someone who can take an overwhelming amount of information and distill it into a plan that gives them an advantage, removes obstacles, and helps them see opportunities they might otherwise have overlooked.
That’s why I don’t think the future belongs to attractive door openers. Certain people will always enjoy working that way, and there will always be a market for it, but the agents who truly thrive long-term will be the ones with strong strategic and marketing acumen who understand that consultative sales is a privilege.
The best agents have always done this.
They take pride in the matchmaking between homes and homeowners.
What do you think most sellers underestimate?
How much help they can actually ask for.
A lot of sellers assume they’re supposed to figure everything out on their own, while the agent mostly handles paperwork and access. But moving is stressful, whether you’re buying, selling, or doing both. It creates decision fatigue. It rarely comes with complete clarity.
And when someone is hiring a professional to help them spend or make a substantial amount of money, what they’re really looking for is clarity and opportunity.
Not a parrot.
What do you think most agents underestimate?
How much value they’re capable of bringing to the table. I can't tell you how often I hear ''how'd you get the seller to do that?" The answer is often, "I asked."
A lot of agents become people pleasers. They shadow and mimic what they’ve seen other agents do. They become hesitant to step on toes or offer strong guidance. So instead of becoming interpreters and leaders, they become pets.
That sounds harsh, but I mean it lovingly because I think many agents are capable of far more.
Clients don’t need somebody to repeat information back to them.
They need somebody who can help them see clearly.
Did writing the book feel like legacy-building?
Honestly, it felt cathartic.
Maybe it’ll become a legacy. Maybe systems-building. Maybe it’s protection. Maybe it’s all three.
But what kept me going was the desire to share things I had taken for granted from my years in advertising, publishing, media, marketing, consulting, and brand strategy.
Copywriting. Art direction. Video. Consumer psychology. Account management. Storytelling. Launch strategy. Learning how people emotionally connect with products and ideas.
At a certain point, I realized that if we applied the best of those disciplines to real estate where they’re relevant, we wouldn’t just improve outcomes.
We would improve the experience itself.
Clients first. Agents second. But honestly, even lenders, title companies, contractors, vendors, photographers, painters, and everyone else involved in the process benefit when things are more thoughtful, collaborative, strategic, and clear.
What do you hope people feel after reading it?
Energized.
I think people put off selling homes for long periods of time because the task feels mammoth and the emotional energy required feels difficult to access in the middle of everyday life.
So I want someone to finish the book and feel a can-do attitude.
I want them to feel empowered.
I want them to feel motivated to finally pick up the phone, start making moves, and begin preparing their home for what comes next.
Not because the process suddenly became easy, but because it became visible.
I never wanted this to sound like chest-beating or self-congratulation or some polished advertisement disguised as a book.
I wanted it to feel like a bridge between feeling stuck and making moves.
Like the beginning of a really great adventure story, where the journey changes the hero for the better, and the hard parts are worth it.
And in this story, the hero is the client.
Or the reader.
Or the agent who wants to raise their game and build something more meaningful.
What makes the Cool Murphy approach different?
We don’t believe preparation is about perfection.
We believe preparation is about alignment.
The right buyer.The right positioning.The right story.The right momentum.
And understanding that you only get one first impression with the market.
That’s why we say we don’t just list homes.
We launch them. The formula for launch? You'll find it in the book. You'll find the book here.
Celebrated for her next-level creative approach to real estate, Elisa Cool Murphy is the author of Prepped to Sell: What Works Even When the Market Doesn't. She is an award-winning, top-performing real estate broker in New Orleans and the founder and owner of Cool Murphy Real Estate.
Contact Her -
email: cool@coolmurphy.com
Facebook: @homeinneworleans
IG: @coolmurphynola
YouTube: @coolmurphynola
phone: 504-321-3194
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