Keeping It Real Podcast • Secrets Of Top 1% REALTORS ® • Interviews With Real Estate Brokers & Agents

George Doulamis with Blankenship Group talks about his unique experience and transition from property management to real estate agent. George discusses how his experience as property manager helped him to get connections. George explains the importance of being forthright and maintaining the key communications skills with the clients and shows his strategies on how to sell a home. Lastly, he emphasized that a good agent should have innovative and creative ideas for selling a home, and why you should not be pushy to the clients, just wait and listen. If you’d prefer to watch this interview, click here to view on YouTube! George Doulamis can be reached at (561) 402-9123 and george.doulamis@evrealestate.com This episode is brought to you by Real Geeks. Transcript D.J. Paris 0:00What’s different about selling a $300,000 property versus a $30 million property? We’re gonna find out today. Stay tuned. This episode of Keeping it real is brought to you by real geeks. How many homes are you going to sell this year? Do you have the right tools? Is your website turning soft leads and interested buyers? Are you spending money on leads that aren’t converting? Well real geeks is your solution. Find out why agents across the country choose real geeks as their technology partner. Real geeks was created by an agent for agents. They pride themselves on delivering a sales and marketing solution so that you can easily generate more business. There agent websites are fast and built for lead conversion with a smooth search experience for your visitors. Real geeks also includes an easy to use agent CRM. So once a lead signs up on your website, you can track their interest and have great follow up conversations. Real geeks is loaded with a ton of marketing tools to nurture your leads and increase brand awareness visit real geeks.com forward slash keeping it real pod and find out why Realtors come to real geeks to generate more business again, visit real geeks.com forward slash keeping it real pod and now on to our show Hello and welcome to another episode of Keeping it real the largest podcast made by real estate agents. And for real estate agents. My name is DJ Paris I am your guide and host through the show and in just a moment we’re going to be speaking with Top Producer George dilemmas before we get to George just a couple of reminders first, actually this is a new thing we finally now have an Instagram account. I know it’s embarrassing I have had social media experts on the show for like six years and off air they were like why do you not have Instagram finally we do and not only do we have an Instagram account we’re actually doing some cool stuff with it. So I want everyone to grab their their device. Go check out Instagram and look up top agent interviews. That is our handle top agent interviews and every single day we post a short form video clip cold from one of our episodes and that has a short little take little tactic Tip of the Day. We do that every weekday although I think I missed yesterday but anyway most weekdays I have a new one there so top agent interviews on Instagram We are also on Tik Tok LinkedIn YouTube Twitter, Facebook, probably everywhere else but we post a post them everywhere so find us you can just whatever you know social media app you use search for keeping it real podcast hit that subscribe button. But the reels and the stories that we’ve been promoting the short form video clips have just gone gangbusters. I really wasn’t expecting so many people to to really be drawn to that but it seems to be scratching an itch for our listeners. We are so grateful to you. So hopefully you can find some value there. So follow us on Instagram top agent interviews but you know what, that’s the only thing I really wanted to get through today because we need to get to the main event my conversation with Georgia lamas. Today my guest is George blomus from the Blankenship route, angle and Volkers in Destin and the 30 a corridor in Florida. Let me tell you more about George George was born in Massachusetts, 30 minutes north of Boston. Gosh, I love I love the Northeast. But aside from that he was he also he really grew up in Florida as a child but moved back to the Boston area as a teenager, parents were both blue collar and passed on their work ethic. Georgia unfortunately lost his father when he was 16. And this hurt but it helped him understand loss early in life. Soon after his father’s passing, George began to work part time for his older cousin managing his apartment buildings. And eventually, George relocated to South Florida and worked for Ritz Carlton. This was a real education in the world of service and how to apply to anything he would do in his future endeavors. From there, George would relocate to Destin, Florida, the 38 corridor, short time spent a short time as a property manager which led to the transition to being a full time realtor. Now we’re going to get into George’s story because it really doesn’t even stop there. But for everyone who is listening watching, I would like you to please right now. Go visit Instagram and follow George it’s George dilemmas are II don’t worry about spelling that. I’ll spell it right now but it will also be in our show notes but it’s George do you LAMISR e so again link to that in the show notes. Follow him on Instagram. George, such a pleasure to have you. George Doulamis 5:05Yeah, I’m super excited. I can’t wait to kind of tell my story, see if I can help out. Anybody will, wanting to listen, and it should be exciting. D.J. Paris 5:13Well, I have the only time I’ve been to your area was back in high school where many people from my hometown, which is pure Illinois, which is like Central Illinois, would go down for spring break to Panama City. So that was the closest I got. And that’s the last time I’ve actually been in that area. However, I have had several different people on our show from that area, the 38. area, the destin area, and oh my gosh, I cannot believe how much real estate transacts there, and the price points and just a whole nother world that is really down there. So I’m excited to hear about that. And how you. And also, by the way, highly competitive for anyone listening if you think your area is tough, which I’m sure is, oh, that area is because the price points are so high. There are a lot of agents who are fighting for that business. And George is one of the very successful ones down there. So we’re excited to have George you on the show. But let’s start at the very beginning. Like how did you get into real estate? George Doulamis 6:12Yeah, good question. So like I said, you, you were nicely to describe my background, really, when it started was the Ritz Carlton, I started learning service. And then as I was there, I think that was postcrash back in like 11 or 12 when the economy was starting to come back and South Florida. I wanted to move on and manage manage properties, manage associations. So I ended up trying I ended up finding a job in Destin. It’s funny when I got the phone call over the interview, I said with it, where the heck is Destin, Florida when I was in South Florida. We made the trip we loved it. Stay up for a weekend became property manager. Every weekend, though, I would get phone calls from agents. Hey, can you tell me everything about the association that condos? When D.J. Paris 6:55you were talking to agents all the time as a property manager? Sure. Well, I probably George Doulamis 6:58did what probably half your audience said, Oh, I D.J. Paris 7:00can do this. If these guys are calling me. If these morons can do it, I can do it. George Doulamis 7:05Exactly. So that’s how the transition started did. I’d say for the first year and a half after I got my license probably like a lot of agents that listen to this. I was part time as I did my full time job. And then I just took the leap. That’s how I got into it. I think having the experience of working a little bit real estate when I was younger, but that was more of maintenance. But collecting rent, this was the full time want to get the big listings like anyone else wanted to get the big commission checks, and just jumped into it. D.J. Paris 7:35It’s amazing. I you know, I was thinking as you were telling that story. I was going I’d read some of that obviously at the beginning, but hearing it you know really solidified what instinct I had, which you’ll have to correct me if I’m wrong, which often wrong. But this idea of working for such a white glove company like Ritz Carlton, I mean, this is top of the food chain, you know, right right there at the very highest level of service in the hospitality, and you know, vacation space. And I had a similar experience. When I when I graduated college, I went to work for Anheuser Busch right out of college. And again, different. Sort of I know those companies are seen differently, like Budweiser and Bud Light was predominantly the beers I worked on. And I don’t think people consider that in the same Echelon as a Ritz Carlton or Waldorf Astoria, for example. However, from a sales perspective, they are at the top of the food chain, or I don’t know if they still are, but they were. And I learned so much about perfection from Anheuser Busch. I know it’s kind of a silly thing to say, because we don’t think about those beers as being perfect beers. But there’s a reason why they got to the very top. And it’s not just because, you know, they’re the marketing was great. I mean, the marketing is great, as well as Ritz Carlton, the marketing is great, too. But there is a level of service that you must have learned there that I would almost say you must have a servant’s heart, which is I like an expression of temperament. Because you have been in the service industry for long and you’ve worked for some tough companies, meaning tough, meaning very demanding companies. And I just curious how that sort of, you know, as a property manager to like, that’s a thankless job where you’re constantly just taking an anger and trying to make everyone happy. And it’s not an easy life, or an easy job. But I’m curious, did that did those skills you developed at those places help you as a realtor, because a realtor is a surface job, too? George Doulamis 9:29Absolutely. And then it was the biggest thing. While you’re there, it is very tough. I mean, you actually saw people get dismissed all the time, because they couldn’t live the standard. We had certain ways certain things had to be done. You couldn’t say no, for example. And you’d have to navigate around problems because sometimes something like a property, something could be wrong. They’re paying an extreme amount of money just to stay there. They want to stay to be perfect, perfect. And you might be the first person of defense to have to hear this wasn’t ready. This wasn’t ready. How dare you I came to this property, because, but long story short, they always had a saying, we want to create a world where the consumer could not live without Ritz Carlton in that world. Wow, they had to be there. So I started thinking, as I probably it was probably internalized. But once I started going to real estate, how do we create experiences? How do I create a one on one experience where they couldn’t even imagine me not handling the transaction? So I think even from there, we started going, and then there was always whenever you went out into any of the ballrooms or the general areas, smile, you’re on stage. So right there, you’re like, Okay, it’s go time when I walked through the door, if I have a bad moment in the hallway, that’s fine. But once you walk through there, customers are, number one, D.J. Paris 10:44have your bad moments in private. Yeah, I, you know, you said something, I just want to say it. Again, I want to repeat something you said, because it’s simple but profound. And really, I hope our audience takes it in you said, I want to create a business where my clients literally cannot transact in real estate without me or that they, I mean, obviously, they can, but they feel that I am the guy, there’s no other option. I’m the top of the food chain as far as what their expectations are. And you learned all of that as not only a property manager because that is that is the toughest job. You know, property managers don’t get a lot of things. And by the way, if anyone is working, or sorry, if anyone is living in a condo, and you have an HOA or any you have in a property management team, the best thing you can ever do is like be super grateful and thankful. And like send the property manager like you’re awesome. Well, you know, once in a while, because that’ll get that’ll actually work well, because they don’t get a lot of that they only get the problems. And same thing with obviously anyone in the service industry, you know, tell them how special they are. But I’d love to learn about how you actually took some of those principles, you know, that you learned at as a property manager working in hospitality? And then also like, how did you actually implement that? Like, what was the plan, just to really prove to your clients that boy, they need you? George Doulamis 12:08I’d say from day one, like the Ritz Carlton like any major company has SOPs, right standing operating procedures. So I decided, whenever I got going, whether it was from from the point I started lead generating in the morning or taking a listing, there is going to be non negotiables that we take care of for that client. Anything from as simple as photos have to be top of the line, not the cell phones, not buying the cheapest photographer, you can find every property regardless to even when I started, had to have a video had to have some sort of video trailer and not on a camera, someone had to professionally do it. Those were non negotiables communication. Again, these are non negotiables. Because if we were going to talk to somebody who flew in on a private plane, to stay at the Ritz Carlton communication, it’d be top notch, they expect that when they walk in a property. So I started taking these for us at the time because we it was so learn, we started I started taking these values and implement them, like you just said, if it’s communication, the very best communication they’re going to get. If I was to sit down in your living room and lay out this game plan, how to sell your home and make these promises. Well, you better I told people all the time, you can fire me anytime you want if I don’t uphold these standards, because I’m so I’m so regimented in doing those. And truthfully, growing up with an Irish mother probably helps out a lot too. Because if you don’t, if you don’t follow your promises, it’s not going to be a good day for you as a kid in that house. D.J. Paris 13:34Yeah, well and Ireland to just I don’t know if your mom was born in Ireland or when she came when her family came over but visiting Ireland it the whole country and again, it’s obviously there’s a big tourism economy there but but just even just meeting normal people. There’s this sort of hospital hospitable nature to the Irish Greeks are the same way. Again, I’m, I’m getting like positive stereotypes, I guess. But but the reality of it is, is this idea of, of being of service is so important. And I I’m just going to make a guess. And you’ll have to again, tell me if I’m right or wrong. I, you talked about standard operating procedures, which I think is a brilliant idea, this idea of knowing exactly. Every time somebody is a client of mine, not just I’m going to do a good job because of course, but it’s like no, here’s exactly and mate, whether you share that with them, or it’s just internal. You have that list. And I bet, my guess is that if when you have a listing, let’s just say it isn’t getting a lot of attention, there isn’t a lot of showings, you’re just not getting a lot of interest for whatever reason, maybe not even had nothing to do with you just you know, whatever reason, it’s not getting a lot of attention. I suspect you have a standard SOP, a standard operating procedure about how often you communicate with that seller to you know, make sure that they’re aware of what’s going on. I suspect you have some sort of process in place, even when nothing’s happening. George Doulamis 14:54Absolutely, yes. So they’re going to get a phone call, email or text whatever their preference is. It least once a week, of course, after showings, we tell them we’ll be in touch within 24 hours, we want to keep them along the process. The problem is, again, this will probably ask this later. One of the problems I saw when I first started in real estate in diagnosing listings, communication is always the biggest problem, because they have nothing to talk about when they talk to the client. I’m sorry. We had a slow week, we had no showings. Thank you. Well, what did you do from my house that week? What are you doing? What are you being innovative? How are you doing now. And those were subtle things that I knew from the Ritz, and from property management, like when someone came to show up to their condo here locally, hey, by the way, this week, while you were gone, we had all the trees trimmed, we had this done, we had this done, we had XYZ, and I started applying those whenever I dealt with a listing. So yeah, so that weekly call wasn’t, unfortunately, like 85% of the agents out there would just go, sorry, we had no traffic today. But hey, when it gets busier, I let you know, you’re gonna let the market we’re going to do everything, almost overload them, in a sense, we want them to make sure that they understand everything we’re doing, and everything going on in the marketplace to what D.J. Paris 16:10and how I’m gonna, I’m gonna pause you again, because you just said something else that was that was brilliant. And to you, this is like just how I operate. But I want to make make step on this point a little bit, because I want our audience to really, really hear this. So not only is George call texting or emailing once a week, right, even if there’s no activity, he’s not just saying, Sorry, no activity this week, he’s actually okay, I still have to justify my job, I still have to let them know that I am actively working on the property. And here is the information I’m going to provide to them. Aside from the fact that, you know, we it’s been it’s been light and traffic, I’m going to talk about that. Maybe, you know, maybe I’ll have an explanation for why that is happening. Maybe even a suggestion about how to fix it. But also, by the way, this is all the other things we are doing currently for you. It’s it’s a subtle thing. But it’s very important, right? Because you’re giving somebody news they don’t want to hear and you’re also giving them news, they do want to hear, here’s what I am doing for you. And here’s what I think is going to happen going forward. So having the idea of like you were saying people will avoid their clients, because maybe they’re they don’t have anything else to say they haven’t given down a reason other than I’m just going to be delivering bad news. And maybe I should just leave them alone. It’s so funny. I’ve said this before. And I’ll just I’ll just make this really quick story. It’s a very short story. But I talked to one of the top producers in Chicago a few years ago on the show. And she was very soft spoken and very humble and but literally very top of the food chain like top 10 agents out of 46,000 agents here. And I was like, What’s your secret? Like? What do you think you’ve done? That’s so different. She goes, DJ, isn’t going to be embarrassing to say this. I call every client every week. And I was like, yeah, she goes, yeah, that’s pretty much. And I said, doesn’t everybody do that? And she goes, No. So I know, it’s a lot more than that. But even if that’s a standard operating procedure, which is for you, obviously huge, but I want to switch gears because I want to spend time. Now, for anyone watching or listening, you may have an inclination to want to shut this off at the next topic, I am going to encourage you to not shut this off, because George does something that I am absolutely crazy about. But if you get a little reaction inside of you, that’s like, oh, I don’t like I don’t like what I’m hearing, fight through it, because he’s going to possibly give you an opportunity to really take your business to the next level and fight through some of the fear that you may have around this. And of course, we are talking about phone prospecting. everybody’s least favorite topic. But it’s an important one, because since almost nobody does it, there’s a huge opportunity here. And by the way, we should talk about the kinds of properties that George is working on here. These, these are huge, high net worth individual properties down in that area. These are people that like you said, George was saying when he was at Ritz Carlton, you know, sometimes guests would fly in on a private jet. This is same sort of experience George has dealing with some of his buyers and sellers now, because that’s a destination where a lot of high net worth individuals play and and there’s, you know, normal side normal price properties there too. But George plays in a very, very exclusive space. And the idea of doing phone prospecting, to me is fascinating at that space. So, George, let’s talk about this. Please tell us all about phone prospecting. George Doulamis 19:26Sure. Well, to give a quick backstory, when I started, I was trying to figure out what to do, right? Should I go to buy or should I write blog? Should I do this? Should I do that? Because as we all know, when you get into real estate, yes, you have to study to take a test, but it has nothing to do with how to get business, right. So what I decided to do, I started watching YouTube, there was a guy from Massachusetts where I’m from, and he speaks fast like I do. He was like a bull in a china shop. So I liked that style. And I would literally pause thing, write it down, pause, write it down. Then I would Whole people. And now I can call people very freely. But it would the phone ring, don’t answer, don’t answer, don’t answer, because I didn’t know what to say. I was probably like, half the people listen to this. I was scared, they answered, my tonality would dip, DJ, you know, now, of course, I’m more polished. I’ve done this for such a long time. But that’s what happens. That’s the transition. So I started looking at listings in stunning them. Bad photos, bad description, I would interview sellers and say, you know, I understand you’re not going to sell now. But I just have to ask what went wrong? And they would start telling me, oh, I never heard from them. Everything was below rate. And I started figuring out, okay, if they say this, I want to get on their side as quick as possible, where a lot of people who call, they want to do objection handling. If you say this, I say that if you say this, and now we’re going like this, D.J. Paris 20:52right? At this point when there’s objective, sorry, just to pause for that. Object. objections are great to have an answer to but you are at a logger horn, right? Or I think that’s expression, you’re butting heads, right? Because you somebody’s coming at you one way, and you’re trying to counter and it becomes a force issue. You’re kind of like each trying to force your way in whoever has the strongest argument wins, which is tough. It’s a tough thing to do. George Doulamis 21:16And growing up in New England, confrontation is very easy. It’s normal, right? So I would do this. But then I started practicing doing script practice with people from California, with people that had different so I would start applying and say, Wait a minute, instead of asking, with this tonality? I’m going to shift it I’m going to say like this, I’m going to have a downswing upswing. I’m going to whisper when I had to say certain things. So it’s just a transformation. So over the years, I start getting up. So you’re right, I would start calling 500,000 million dollar houses, I can get them. Right. Couple of reasons. Energy over the phone. People have to understand how important that is. I used to say things now the back and like, how the heck did I get that listing? I know what I was saying. But the energy was there in the seller who just went through a bad experience said in their subconscious, I don’t want to get too boring into this will get bored. But the subconscious is saying wait a minute, this is different. 10 People just called me but this guy is different. Because his energy is different. His tonality is different. He’s asking questions that people generally don’t ask. So throughout the process, I just every time I had something, I’d fine tune it. And I would find angles not and that’s not unethical. What I’m saying by an angle, like if I knew I called you, and what was the old scripts? When are you going to hire the right agent to sell your house? Well, I used to hear that hidden cringe. I’m like, well, if I’m talking to my friend, because that’s what I would try to set it up as I’m not going to say, hey, DJ, Sell Your House came off the market? When are you going to hire the right agent? D.J. Paris 22:47Like George? My friend? Yeah. Talk to me like a human being? Yeah, George Doulamis 22:51exactly. So I perfected a line I really like to use and it works like gold. And I’ll give it out. People can use as much as they want. I’d get to the opening the call. And the question would be TJ I’m looking at these photos on the MLS right now. The kitchens gorgeous. How in the world did this thing not sell? And what I started finding out that’s an implied compliment rather than you hired the wrong agent. What starts going on subconscious, you’re an idiot, you hired the wrong person. I’m smart, I can help you. Right? Like Wait a minute. Now it’s confrontational. Their their sales resistance will build up now. And now for the next 1015 seconds on the phone. If you don’t shift that what happens? Have a good day, or if you’re in South Florida were first sold click. So well. D.J. Paris 23:41What’s brilliant about that? I mean, it is brilliant. So let’s let’s let’s repeat that line because it is a brilliant line. And as soon as you said it, I was like That is brilliant. Because you said you know hey, I hate Mr. or Mrs. Seller. Hey, I was looking at at the photos of your property unbelievable. Like the kitchen insane. How did this thing not sell? Or what? What was what what happened in the world? So yeah, how in the world did this not sell. And by the way, I just want to make another point about tonality because we’ve kind of moved on from that. The best thing that anyone who deals with with, you know, phone conversations or even just in person conversations, take a class on tonality understand how your voice and your inflection, as George says, going up and going down. Understanding how things become questions become statements become demands, understanding that it’s not that hard to understand, and you can practice with people. And yes, you can change the way you talk. So if you’re going to be delivering bad news, there’s a way to do that, that will decrease someone’s anxiety. And there’s a way to do it while you’re there. It’d be really anxious. You know, you can you could do it like that. And no matter what I say you’re gonna go, right and then if you say, Hey, we’ve had a tough week, you know, but you know, here’s all the things that has a different feel to it. And so sling tonality is everything. So I just wanted to honor you for that because very few People I’ve had on the show talk about tonality and talking about the way that they’re projecting their voice and anyone can learn. But I’m sorry. But back to back to your, your your script idea. That is a brilliant question, because what you’re really going for it sounds like is you want the story. Hey, what’s the story here? What what happened? George Doulamis 25:16Yeah. And that’s really the connection, right? We’re going to build rapport. We’re going to go a little bit deeper, we’re going to repeat and referrals. So I say how in the world that’s not so Oh, my agents, the biggest idiot in the world, he couldn’t get it done. Which is probably not right. That was probably overpriced. But anyways, we never jump on that we never jump on the agent. Of course, we’re not going to say, oh, yeah, I agree with you. But I could say, Wow, I’m so sorry to hear that this house definitely should have sold like just just, you know, we want to give them a little compassion get on their side. And then the next part of the scripting is rapport building. So we’ve already kind of got on their side, we went from like this face to face to like, arm around them. Wow, how this happened. So we’re like getting them saying, Hey, listen, I’m different. I want to hear what’s going on. I don’t have commission breath. I’m not salesy. I’m not pushing you. It’s more of here’s the process. So tell me what happened? D.J. Paris 26:10Well, it’s very much like, similar to what a consultant might do at a company, a consultant who’s brought in to rescue a company or fix a problem the company’s having, they might walk in and go, This place seems great. Like, what’s the problem here? Like what, like what’s going on here. And really, what you’re wanting to do is, is you’re out you want, you want the story, you want the person to tell you without feeling pressure, or stress or your right, or that, that they may feel stupid, that they hired somebody that maybe they feel didn’t do a good job, they could be angry at that person, that agent, they could also feel stupid, you mentioned that. And that’s important thing for people to realize, when you ask questions about, you know, the previous agent, you know, it’s kind of like when when people are in a bad relationship, and they break up and you say to the person Oh, I’m so sorry, that happened to you. And they go, I feel so stupid. I was in this relationship. And you’re like, you shouldn’t feel stupid, but people do sometimes. So that’s an important thing to realize. And the other thing that that you said that that was so so smart, or sorry, the other implication is that you have a solution. But you haven’t yet told them you’re like, how did this not sell this should be selling this should have sold, which means you know, something that they don’t know yet, which is also a very subtle way to project yourself as a leader, as somebody who knows a little bit more than they do. And they’re gonna be like, I know if my home didn’t sell, and I had hired an agent and somebody called me and goes, how did your place not sell? And I said, I don’t know. They just maybe they didn’t do a good job. I don’t know. And you’re like, This place should have sold, I would have been like, great. Tell me, tell me what you’re gonna do. Because that’s all I want. So brilliant, George, I really it’s not. Here’s what I’m gonna do for you. It’s this should sell and a lot of times, they’d be like, Oh, great. Let’s talk. I want to hear what you’re gonna tell me. So anyway, I’m just, I’m just honoring you for all of this. Sorry for stopping so often when it’s so important. George Doulamis 27:54Sometimes, you know, most of the time calling gets such a bad name, right? They’ll say cold calling doesn’t work. They’ll call it cold calling. Some people call it prospecting. Keep in mind what I just asked that question How in the world does not sell? Recently, I got a $7.69 million listing out of that. And when I when I sat down with him, after we signed everything I said, quick question. I’m always wondering, what led you to, you know, list with us? When you asked me a question, no one ever asked me how in the world in my home, not so. And they remembered it? Yeah, they remembered it right away. So I know it works. I probably said that question now. 25,000 times. D.J. Paris 28:33By the way, by the way, George is being authentic. He’s not saying it because it’s it’s part of the script. I mean, it is part of the script. But George is legitimately curious, what why did this place not sell? And that comes through? Right? If you say it, and it’s part of your sales tactic, maybe it’ll work. Maybe it won’t. But when you’re authentic, and George is like, genuinely interested, like, what happened here? I can’t figure out what happened here, George, like, it’s probably the price. We all know that. But I want to hear it from their perspective. I want to know what they think went wrong. So brilliant, George, George Doulamis 29:05and I will say this really came from this part of my growth to where I’m at now came from an agent. He probably doesn’t remember I listen to a podcast. His name is Michael Ferraro, Ferro in Connecticut luxury agent. I was probably like a lot of agents listening to this or watching it. He would say, I’m getting $5 million listings by expired calls. I was like, how the heck nobody sits down I called him told me he’s like, Hey, listen, I’ll coach you for two months. I don’t have the time but I’ll coach you for two months. He actually turned me on. He got trained by Jordan Belfort The Wolf of Wall Wow. D.J. Paris 29:40Well, yeah. That’s that’s like the tonality. George Doulamis 29:43It was like on steroids. And, like there’s the scene from Wolf of Wall Street when he sells the penny stock, right. Jordan I because I took Jordan Belfort training after they paid for it. And he talks about he trained Leo on the whole sales thing. Sure, and he comes up and he As the fists down when you elongate words, so there really is such a profound skill set to this, if you want to do it. Now, you may get kicked in the teeth a few times on the calls, you’re like, Oh, it doesn’t work, which is fine with me, especially if you’re in my area don’t call. But you know. So. D.J. Paris 30:18Yeah, it’s it’s interesting. I’ve actually, you know, when I watched Wolf of Wall Street, I was I was obviously I was turned off to the way he conducted business. But I was fascinated by his sales techniques. And he still teaches I think he’s in Australia now, but he still teaches this stuff. You know, I don’t know how good you know, I don’t know what he’s training people on these days. I’m sure it’s great. But, but the idea of paying attention, not so much to as much of the words that we’re saying is how we’re saying things is really I mean, the, the the research is really clear that how we say things is infinite, almost infinitely more important than what we’re actually saying. George Doulamis 30:55And you know, part two, where he talks about it during his training, like, if you do what I did, in the 80s, this stuff is so good. It’s so easy to manipulate, you can get yourself in a lot of trouble. It goes, I’m evidence number one. And that’s why when I come back and coach and tell everybody, you we want to be truthful, we want to be very careful we do because I’m not calling to manipulate. Yes, I can call it tonalities to get you to open up because at the back of aminos. If I can get you to list with me, I’m your number one option. I’m better than everybody else, because I know how exactly why this house didn’t sell. Now, if you have that here, right? If you have the inside, you can get it. If you’re going with falsehoods and everything else, you’ll be exposed eventually, because you can answer the questions the detailed. So what’s going on my listing what’s happening? What’s this? What’s that? Well, eventually, competition who’s going to beat you? D.J. Paris 31:48Right? That’s a you know, you settle you said things that are that are really quite brilliant, too. Because this idea of studying listings, and going through and trying to figure out maybe an expired or Fizbo? What’s what’s going on here? Why is this thing not selling? And yes, we could always come down to price because everything is always price. However, there’s a story that leads you to price that usually is a lot more intricate. And this idea of getting curious about that is is fun, it must be really fun for you, because you’re like, I want to figure out what is going on with this property. Is the seller crazy, and they just are never going to lower their price. Is the the agent not do a good job. What are the photos look like the video, you know, what was the marketing efforts that were done. But I also want to talk about your area is somewhat unique, because a lot of times that my understanding of your area and correct me if I’m wrong, is that, you know, getting listings is great. But when you’re having, you know, a $7 million listing, there aren’t a lot of buyers just walking around going, Hey, when’s the next $7 million listing going to hit the market? You have to sometimes go out and find those buyers even as the listing agent, right? And so I’m curious on what that process looks like. Like once you get one of these, these mega, you know, high high net worth listings. What are you doing to to find the buyer or do you not really have to because they come to you George Doulamis 33:0712 months ago, I wouldn’t have to do much looking right at the song in the ground, even if I mean, I didn’t sell it on the team. But the team, the gentleman who runs the team sold a $24 million listing sign in the ground. You know, amazing when a normal market, which probably a lot of your viewers and listeners are used to, especially here what we’ll have to do is we met we’re going to identify who’s going to buy the house right, we’ll do a buyer profile. For us, for example, we know it’s 90% chance and artist stain owner who may use it two weeks out of the year. Now some may use it a full month or two months. So we know okay, they’re probably not going to use it. They may even decide to rent it because we have such a short term rental market here. homes get rented per week, some on the weekends. So okay, we know that now we know what four or five states are our feeder states, right? Just Alabama, Tennessee, Texas is now big. Georgia has always been there. Not so much parts of Florida, maybe parts down the other Panhandle that want to upgrade, maybe they bought something in Panama City Beach. And so you know what, that doesn’t get the luxury feel that 38 does. So maybe I’ll trade my condo and want to get on the sand. So first we have to do is identify the buyer. And then we can go out different ways to market. We can’t call a neighborhood like we just do in West Palm Beach or Jupiter, Florida where we’d say hey, I know you live in a neighborhood now that has this, this and this, we just listed here and you could trade up. So we had to identify like Nashville. We obviously have companies there. But more importantly, we can market who directly buys from Nashville here. We can do zip codes, we can search that we can send marketing material, and we go along those roads and of course networking with other agents in those areas. We can call them Yep. D.J. Paris 34:53I was gonna say how important is it to have a network of agents in those feeder areas like whether it’s in New York City Eddie, you know, Boston, Nashville, you know, Charleston, maybe you know, I don’t I’m just making these these up maybe Chicago. But But how important is it for you to have like a dedicated network, so you can call and say, I’ve got a new listing, you got to tell your clients about this kind of thing. George Doulamis 35:16Certainly, it’s critical. I mean, especially if you want to stand out here, the last two years, we’ve been the number one team here. Last year, we beat the competition by 100 million the year before a little bit closer. And a lot of times, which is funny, the higher end agents in Nashville, Aspen, they’ll actually call us and say, Hey, I know you guys have some of the better listings. Do you have anything market right now? Or do you have anything that I have a client looking up to, like 18 million? Can you send Can you send whatever you have right now. Now, of course, having those other relationships where you can get on the phone, say, Hey, listen, we just listed X, Y, and Z. If you have anybody looking, oh, by the way, I’ll send you the video right now the video trailer, you can send it out to them. So yes, I mean, if you have that, it’s almost like a cheat code. Because then when you’re selling the listing presentation, part of it is our network second to none. I mean, there’s a reason we sell, you know, 445 million a year. You know, so there’s, there’s definitely value in that where I think if, if you haven’t sold that, or if you haven’t been part of a team and got to see how the machine works, you don’t really value having that network that strong. D.J. Paris 36:27Right? Right. So this idea of, of working on some of these higher priced listings, requires a different sort of skill set than maybe a price point that you don’t have to necessarily go out and secure the buyer, you just have to price it correctly. Make sure it’s the site is in the ground, and and that it’s visible online somewhere. So in the other thing, too, let’s talk about working with the sellers or buyers, really, it doesn’t matter. Because you’re you’re dealing with a lot of high net worth individuals, some of these people this is their third, fourth, fifth home, like you said, maybe they use it a few weeks a year, maybe they rent it, maybe they don’t. But regardless, you are often I’m guessing, dealing with teams, right? So a lot of these people have a manager or maybe an accountant or an attorney or some sort of financial planner, somebody that probably if not more than one or two people, they a lot of times you’re probably dealing with not just the buyer or seller, but also their their business team. George Doulamis 37:25Oh, absolutely, yeah. And you had to find out who the decision maker is. You know, even though some of these people are extremely wealthy, and they do have layers to them. Sometimes they still want to know everything. They want to be the person, I think where that part really comes in, is finding that person who’s a gatekeeper to get to that seller initially. But most of the people in this area, I would say, a lot of them are. They’re not old money, a lot of them. So they’ve worked for it. They’ve sold the businesses. Heck, I know, somebody who has one of the biggest houses on the beach, I think he owns every McDonald’s in Alabama. So he really worked up and now he has and he’s one phone call away where you can connect with him. So it’s a case by case thing, but you know, obviously, they have different layers, that is going to make it harder. But then you have again, it goes back to tonality and leading to that ego so that you know the person who is in charge of the property who you have to intermingle with. And they have a strong ego, well, how do I play up to the ego? How do I make sure they understand the number one option for them without getting them angry without being this or that. And I think that’s a crucial thing I think a lot of agents don’t think about, because let’s be honest, we’re just selling houses, right? We’re trying to make a dream happen for them, or in this case, sell their biggest asset. But a lot of times, I think agents get a little too full of themselves right there, we think that we’re more special than we are. And I think that can really hurt you too, when you’re talking to some of these managers or accountants or financial planners. So I think understanding who we’re talking to who the audience is, and how to handle that. D.J. Paris 38:57And it’s probably also that you come across as somebody with a very mild to non existent ego. And I think when you’re dealing with, with some people who may have an inflated sense of self because of their success, obviously, you’ve had a ton of success too. So you should, you know, anyone should have it, it should be you but obviously understanding you’re in the service business, you have to tamp that down, or and you just don’t seem to be the kind of person that that has much of that, which is awesome. But I imagine that that leaves room for the buyer or the seller to be able to express their ego if they want to and they’re not in competition with you, you are there to support them. And and you’re also analyzing every part of that person, right? You’re constantly thinking, you know, how do I best communicate with them? What’s the best way to say or do a certain thing so that it fits in with their worldview? You’re constantly analyzing and strategizing in order to meet that client’s need. George Doulamis 39:56Absolutely. And that’s really the biggest thing. Like do I have an ego When I need to coerce, but with most people, I’m here to, I’m there to serve them, right? And we know like, I know sellers who need more attention versus some that are like, Hey, give me a call when I get an offer. It’s all I care about, please don’t bother me during the week. I’m very busy. And then there’s others, every four days, hey, what’s going on? How’s this going? What’s with that? So, I think dialing into that personality, knowing exactly who you’re dealing with. At the end of the day, I don’t take it personal. I’ve actually had sellers complain about other agents, oh, they take me so personal. When I do this, when I do that, they start crying to me, I don’t want that in the next person. So that’s fine. If we want to have no feelings, I’m good at that, too. Because a lot of times I get accused of well, you don’t seem that happy when you first meet people. I’m like, Well, I’m just trying to look at the circumstances, how do we how can I help you as fast as possible. And I think some agents, they take everything so personal that guides, we’re really here for the clientele. Our feelings are secondary. Now you don’t want anybody screaming at you get that part. But sometimes, these are high stakes for them. These are high, high, high emotions, you get the gist of it, we’re about to close. Oh, by the way, they didn’t disclose there was a $50,000 assessment do? Well, now the seller has to pay for because he didn’t, you know, but the emotions are so high, and you’re the person in the middle, that has to take this abuse. While that’s happening. Yeah, so you just have to internalize it, hey, this isn’t me personally, I’m here to do a job. When it comes to that, and maybe a few cocktails after the transaction, you laugh it off, but you just try your best not to get take it personal. D.J. Paris 41:35Well, I think I think one of the easiest ways to overcome that feeling of something being personal, because I think anyone listening who has had a disappointment in a transaction, or maybe their best friend shows another agent, as opposed to them, you know, those kinds of situations can feel very personal. I, you know, when you were talking about, you know, making cold calls, that is a really easy way to understand. It’s a very intense way. But a quick way to understand that things aren’t very personal. Because when you’re calling for sale by owners expired listings, you are going to take a little bit of abuse, sometimes because people are angry, they’re, you know, I don’t want to talk to an agent, or I just hired one, and they screwed me over or whatever the reasoning is. And they by the way, they probably had gotten 10, other phone calls that day as well, because a lot of these, there’s a lot of services where you can pay for those leads to come in every day. And they sell them to many, many people. So the idea is you’re not even usually the first phone call. So it’s a tough, it’s a tough phone calls my point, the challenge. Or what happens though is is you really quickly realize, oh, I survived, you know, the guy told me to eff off, because I couldn’t even get my name out before he slammed the phone down. It wasn’t even your fault. But But and you’re like, Oh, well, obviously, that’s not me, that’s just that person was having a bad day. So I think all the cold calls you’ve made have probably helped make you a little bit have a little bit more of a Teflon. Because you’re like, it just happens, it’s not the end of the world. George Doulamis 43:00In the way I look at it too. If I’m making all these calls, when I’m talking to somebody, like in my earlier part of my career, when I’m doing a lot more opens, or I’m doing a lot more this, I want that interaction to be great. So the cold calls prepare you for that. So I’ll talk to people, I can’t call anybody, I can’t do it, I’m only good when I meet them in person. Well, what if you’re proficient with a stranger? How good you think you’re going to be when you’re with somebody who you meet face to face, you’re gonna even better. That’s all the way I looked at it. If I can get you There’s nothing. There’s no greater feeling in the world. When I call you in Nashville, I convince you to sign a listing agreement over the phone, I never meet you, I sell house, you get your wire. And we’ve never met to do that. It’s just, it’s just a great feeling. Because you convince somebody you’ve never met. D.J. Paris 43:48It’s kind of like the ultimate sale because also you’re dealing at a high net worth sort of transactions, not not that any transaction is better or worse than another. But certainly, you know, the stakes could be considered higher at at a higher price point. And and the idea of being able to do that sight unseen. Is is is an incredible, really victory. And and I don’t think it’s lucky, I don’t think it’s well, you just called somebody who didn’t need to meet with you in person. It’s like, no, no, George is extremely strategic about the way he communicates. And communication is is obviously the name of the game. I also before we get close to wrapping up here, I want to mention that I forgot to mention this earlier. So if anyone out there would love to be trained and George isn’t taking on everybody. He’s only going to take on one or maybe two people. But he is wanting to share some of his knowledge that he has learned from all the trainers he’s worked with and all of his own expertise and experience to possibly work with agents to teach them what he knows. By the way, guys, let’s just go back to this one fact that wasn’t even in George’s bio. That is like really crazy. His team outsold the next biggest team by $100 million in a year’s time like that’s pretty Press have. So if you ever were like, I wish my coach was actually out there producing, you know, George got got his, you know, he had a mentor who was successful and, and helped him and he wants to do the same. So if there is anyone who’s like, I want to learn what George knows, George, what’s the best way somebody could reach out? And again, you’re not taking everybody might only be one to one person. But you know, what are you looking for? And how should they reach out to you? George Doulamis 45:23Sure they can, you know, for now they go through Instagram, I think it’s probably the easiest. What we’re looking at really do. Like I said, I’m not trying to take on 1000 people, we’re trying to get people who may be either stuck, maybe they’re getting in. And I know the feeling you’re getting your teeth kicked on the phone, you don’t know what to say you don’t know how to say you don’t know how to go out and get business. That’s the really the worst thing about this business. What is the old saying 90% of people come into real estate with no sales training. 90% of people leave with no sales training. That’s true. We get into a brokerage. The brokers like hey, best of luck, go out there, go kill it. How do I do that? So we’re looking to help those and we’re also looking to help those that I used to do I could get to the $5 million tree, I could get to the door, I get the appointment. But then I don’t even know what saying the appointment to get it. Like when they ask a simple question. Why should we choose you over this and you start just verbal diarrhea, but I can do this, we can find I can fine tune that I’ve set before big time sellers. And we can help people get to that level they want. So I’d say if you’d like go through Instagram message kind of what you’re looking to do, we’ll connect we’ll see if we can be a value because we may not I may not be the best value for somebody. Right. But at the same time it was a connection, they want to talk further, I’d love to see why can help out? D.J. Paris 46:39Well, for anyone who is interested in learning from what George the knowledge torch has, and everybody should be interested in this, go to Instagram and follow him. George dilemmas are ie George like George D OULAMISRE, by the way, link to that in the show notes. So you don’t have to type it in or just search for George dilemmas, easy to find, and reach out to him and say I would love to learn what you learn. And possibly you guys could connect. And also by the way, George has clients buy and sell homes, not just in their area, the Destin 38 area, all over the country. These are high net worth individuals. So George also wants to keep expanding his network as well of agents. So maybe you guys could trade clients. Maybe somebody’s moving to Destin and George has people that are looking for properties and other areas that he doesn’t service. So if you would like to connect with George possibly for on a referral basis, George, what’s the best way? So is that the best way Instagram, they say? George Doulamis 47:40My name is so long, and then you start going George de la missa Blank, blank blank. Easiest way. D.J. Paris 47:47Awesome. So George dilemmas are E again, link to that in the show notes on Instagram, find George George, this was incredible. And you know, I know you’re just talking about your process. But for somebody that’s done almost 500 episodes of the show this this was an incredible episode. So I am so grateful to you, our audience is grateful to you. So on behalf of the audience, thank you for coming on the show, we really appreciate it, you gave so much value, that I suspect this will be one of our most downloaded episodes ever. So thank you in advance for all of the great traffic we’re gonna get because of you. And hopefully we can help you as well. On behalf of Georgia and myself, we want to thank the audience for sticking around to the very end. We appreciate you, we love you, we are here for you. And we are grateful that you tell a friend about our show. So think of one other Realtor in your office or somebody you know, in the industry, who’s maybe struggling right now it’s 2023. This is a tough year to be in real estate. Let’s help other agents so that, you know we get some good karma sent our way, send them over to our website, keeping it real pod.com Or just tell them to pull up any podcast app search for keeping it real, hit that subscribe button. And one last thing guys, we just started clipping our episodes. And by the way, we’re going to have a lot of clips of this one. But we are now posting those short form video clips just in case you don’t want to sit through a full hour of me, which I don’t know why anybody wouldn’t want to sit through the I don’t want to I don’t even want to sit there will pull out of me. But for anyone that wants to see some of our bite size content, which by the way, super easy and super fast, digestible, go to Instagram or on actually all the social platforms. But Instagram is our big push right now. So top agent interviews is our Instagram handle every single day, we post a short form 62nd clip from one of our episodes, and we will have a lot of them from this one. So be on the lookout for that. So go go to top agent interviews. And also while you’re on Instagram, go visit George George dilemmas, ar e send him a message tell them how awesome he was on the show because he is and was and maybe he’ll want to work with you and maybe you guys could train together. So George, thank you so much. This was a pleasure. And we will see everybody on the next episode. Thanks, George. George Doulamis 49:57Thanks so much. Really appreciate it.

Welcome to the April episode of Learn with a Lender with Joel Schaub of Guaranteed Rate! In this episode Joel talks about the mortgage rate increases, and how this situation is creating a little confusion for the buyers. Next Joel discusses how agents should advise their clients properly, not to rush into the decision of purchasing the property just because of the current low rates. Last, Joel emphasizes the importance of communication and showing the clients different alternatives of loans. If you’d prefer to watch this interview, click here to view on YouTube! Joel can be reached at joel@rate.com and 773.654.2049. This episode is brought to you by Real Geeks. Transcript D.J. Paris 0:00What’s going on with lending rates? And where do we see them heading for the rest of the year? Stay tuned. This episode of Keeping it real is brought to you by real geeks. How many homes are you going to sell this year? Do you have the right tools? Is your website turning soft leads and interested buyers? Are you spending money on leads that aren’t converting? Well real geeks is your solution. Find out why agents across the country choose real geeks as their technology partner. Real geeks was created by an agent for agents. They pride themselves on delivering a sales and marketing solution so that you can easily generate more business. Their agent websites are fast and built for lead conversion with a smooth search experience for your visitors. Real geeks also includes an easy to use agent CRM. So once a lead signs up on your website, you can track their interest and have great follow up conversations. Real geeks is loaded with a ton of marketing tools to nurture your leads and increase brand awareness visit real geeks.com forward slash keeping it real pod and find out why Realtors come to real geeks to generate more business again, visit real geeks.com forward slash keeping it real pod. And now onto our show. Welcome to another episode of Keeping it real the largest podcast made by real estate agents and for real estate agents. My name is DJ Parris. I am your guide and host through the show today. Once again is our monthly series called Learn with a lender with Joel Schaub, one of my favorite people in the whole planet. So you’re so lucky to get to listen to Joel because I am lucky to get to listen to Joel he’s from guaranteed rate. Let’s talk about Joel Joel is the vice president of lending a guaranteed rate he’s been doing loans at a high level since 2003. He’s got to that level because of what he does specifically for agents, which is he gives back part of his commission to the buyer on every transaction. Last year alone Joe gave back over $300,000 in closing costs to his buyers who worked with him and that put his volume in the top one 10% of all lenders nationwide. By the way, if you’re watching this, you’re probably listening but Joe’s lovely wife, Christine just walked back and forth. And I would feel sad that I was talking because I would have loved to have said Hi Christine. We love you. Everybody loves you. But anyway, back to Joel. And let’s see where were we Oh, Joel is in the top 1/10 of 1% of all lenders nationwide. In fact out of 400,000 loan officers in the country Joel is in ranked number 137 guys. Last year he closed 319 transactions that was 2020 to its highest amount ever. He crushed it. He’s doing well this year as well. He is just constantly doing it. Joel is a legend here in the Chicagoland area, but guaranteed rate is licensed in all 50 states. So if you meaning our listeners are watching or viewing, watching, listening rather, are wanting a better relationship with a lender, somebody that can actually help you grow your business. Joel Schaub and his team are the kings of that they want to talk to you. And even if you’re not going to work with them directly, they have an amazing email list that we’re going to get you to subscribe to, because it’ll give you some talking points you can use with your clients. But if you are looking for a loan officer, we cannot highly more recommend sorry, we cannot more highly recommend Joel. He’s the very best we’ve ever worked with. He did my mortgage. I’ve sent people to him. He’s the very best out there. No full stop. Joel can be reached, reach out to him at his email joel@rate.com joel@rate.com. Or you can shoot him a text message or call him at 773-654-2049. Let’s say hello to the biggest Cubs fan. I know Joel Schaub Joel welcome, Joel Schaub 4:05DJ, thanks so much for having me on. I love it when we go through the numbers, but I really like being here and giving back and this is what we were talking about. Before we got on the air. It’s being able to educate and learn just one or two more things that will help agents close another deal or help a buyer or maybe even get another seller. So I’m excited. D.J. Paris 4:26I want to start but we always put the plugs at the end. I want to put the plug at the beginning this time because speaking of giving back, you and your team put out y’all this is so funny, I have to have actually interrupting my own story because I started to send this to you earlier this morning in an email. I got an email from a very, very famous like a famous mortgage lender, kind of a celebrity mortgage lender on the East Coast. I won’t mention his name. He’s apparently a very nice person. Somehow I got on his email list. He sent me the longest email full I mean it was just chock full of stuff, and I looked at it in my mind, sort of I went dizzy. And it was just so much content in one email that I literally was like, I don’t know what to do with this. And it, and I was gonna send it to you because I was thinking, I’m so glad you don’t do that. But you do have an email that you send out every week that your team sends out, that literally gives you a several different data points of what’s going on in the mortgage world and the lending world. And so I want everybody who’s listening to our show to subscribe to that, because I’ve seen what other lenders send, and it’s not that good. But what you send is awesome. So where can people go to subscribe to that? Joel Schaub 5:39On Tuesday, we call that information overload, right? There’s just too much information out there. And right now, especially with buyers, they have all these different news sources talking to them about interest rates, and it’s all lagging data, right? They literally are being told one week, mortgage rates went up. And they’re actually lower than they were the and so having some bite sized education pieces that you can look at weekly, make all the difference in the world if you’re an agent, and we’ve created that list. So you can literally subscribe by just sending an email to joel@rate.com. And say, sign me up for your newsletter. And on a weekly basis, we give you digestible DJ, things that you can speak to in terms of not just the rates, but different programs and trends that are happening so that you can see my top of the market and do it in a way that sets you apart from others in your market. D.J. Paris 6:35Awesome while everyone go send that email to joel@rate.com. And they will get you on their email list. And then you when you’re talking to your clients, and they ask what’s going on in the lending world, you will have bullet points and you will not have to Oh, I have to send you this email. There was like seven videos in the email anyway, tons and tons of stuff. It’s information overload. But that is not what we do on this show, we distill down to the most important details because realtors and lending are intricately related and connected and one depends on the other. And we all need more business. So what’s going on? What should we be talking about this month? Joel Schaub 7:16Well, we got an action packed show because right now there’s so much volatility in terms of interest rates. And so it’s really important if you’re an agent to kind of be on top of what’s going on in the market, because buyers are asking, right, should I wait right now with rates being too high? If you’re an agent listening to this, I know you’ve heard that a buyer says I think I’m gonna wait until rates come down before we buy and DJ this. The problem with that is when rates do come down, we’re gonna see a flood of buyers back into the market. Okay. And we already know that the data points for the Fed are indicating that we’re going to drop rates over 100 basis points next year. So you’re hearing at first, that that probably has gone too far already. But they have to stay on track, at least this year with the rate increases. And as soon as it’s done, we will see a big drop. That doesn’t mean that clients need to wait until that day to get into the market. Even though we don’t really like this phrase of buy the home, right where you’re getting in. And I don’t even like this, but it’s married the home and date three, okay. However, you can literally use this exact same strategy, whether rates are going to drop in six months or two years. We shouldn’t be buying just specifically because of rate. And you know that? D.J. Paris 8:37Yeah, it’s you know, it’s so amazing. So we were looking at our numbers at our brokerage Today we have over 700 agents. And this this peel back the curtain a little bit, we were looking at our numbers, and we saw something that kind of stuck out at us. And it was really, really interesting. And so last week, with our agents, we only had nine new listings, which was very, very low for us were like, Oh, wow, that’s really low. This or I’m sorry, two weeks ago, nine, nine listings last week, 21 new listings, and we looked and we’re like, what’s going on? Is it the spring market? Is it? It’s it’s a lot of things, right? And the good news is, it’s a great time to list your property because, yes, there’s a little bit more competition, but rates are not again, I just I don’t think six and a half percent or six, even even higher than 6% is something to cry about. I just don’t think it is I think we need to readjust. We need to re educate our buyers and say, Hey, this is where it is. And there isn’t a whole lot of inventory. It’s starting to ramp up a little bit. But I still think I still think rates are fine. Joel Schaub 9:45And there’s a lot of ways to get rates that are lower. Okay, so let’s just have a conversation here. buyers aren’t shocked anymore, that rates are in the low sixes that’s absolutely one of the things that I’m hearing more and more as Yeah, I expect that this isn’t news, unlike last year where it was every single week, it continued to go up, and it was a shock to people. Now it’s kind of the norm. But there’s a lot of ways right now, to get rates that are lower than 6%. So if you’re an agent, you want to have your clients look at two things. It’s not just a 30 year fixed rate mortgage, okay? Especially on the smaller loan amounts, there’s not that big of a difference in the payment on a 15 or 20 year loan, it seems like people just forget about this. And they shouldn’t, a 15 year loan is in the low fives and a 20 year loan is in the high fives. So when you talk about rates being in the sixes, there are plenty of fixed rate options in the fives TJ. And then on the other end of the spectrum, when you’re in these larger loan amounts, you can look at the jumbo adjustable rate mortgages that are easily in the fives as well. So clients that are borrowing in most cities and states over 726,000, they’re going to do themselves a favor by shopping this around, they don’t need 30 years at these rates, the flavors come in five, seven and 10 years. And if you lock a rate for the next seven years, I’m fairly certain that we’re going to see rates lower in the next seven years than what we have today. So why take a fixed rate mortgage, as long as you can sleep well at night, you can take a rate in the sixes, or you can take a rate down into the fives and just work with a bank that will promise to do a free refinance for you. And there’s plenty of banks out there. So make sure you’re partnering with those people, whether it’s me or not, there’s so many banks currently, that no matter what they’ll do a no cost refinance for your clients. And that could get them over the hump too, if they’re afraid to buy now. So some good strategies there in terms of rates. D.J. Paris 11:49Yeah, that makes makes a lot of sense. What are you seeing any hesitancy is the hesitation that buyers had last year as rates were steadily increasing? We’re seeing that level off now. Are you seeing that the attitudes of buyers changing? Joel Schaub 12:07Well, they’re still very price conscious, right? It literally is hundreds of dollars more per month DJ. So we still do really want to dig in and make sure the clients come from with the monthly payment. Because there are a lot of people that because of this rate increase, probably shouldn’t buy. And they don’t hear that they just continue to be told, Oh, everything is fine, let’s get you into a home. And that’s not the best way to build a business. That’s a great way to be a salesperson. But there’s a lot of people that probably should not buy until rates do come down. And just working through and finding out what somebody’s comfortability is, is a lot more important than whether they qualify, because a lot of banks will lend him money. But if it’s hundreds of dollars more than they’re comfortable with, and you know that as an agent, you can set the expectation as to what they can go out and look at, okay, because the pricing is a lot different today than it was before. If they were only approved before and a 250,000 or $350,000 place. Now that rates are higher, that approval amounts come down a lot. So it’s important to be working with them and understand what their qualifications are. And really where their comfort level is. D.J. Paris 13:17What would you sell a you know, homeowners right now that are thinking that they maybe they will sell but they’re worried about inventory, right? So they sell their property, they might be worried? I don’t know if there’s enough inventory out there to buy something else, what what would you say to them, Joel Schaub 13:36I’ll tell them, they can come live with you until they find a place. Let’s get the home sold and DJ will put you up, D.J. Paris 13:43I’ll put you up myself. Now, Joel Schaub 13:45it is a problem, it is part of most conversations that I have. And what I always recommend people do is make sure they know what they can buy before they list their home because it’s gonna be a lot quicker on the sale right now you’re gonna sell your home a lot faster, then you’re probably going to find the home that you like in this market. Right? So with that said, though, just a little further on that conversation is that if you know what you’re going to sell it for, you don’t have to have it listed, you can go out and shop for the properties that you’re getting ready to buy. And as soon as you do go under contract in that place, be ready with your agent to have the place listed. Because if you’re in most markets, these are quick sales. And so there is a strategy to finding the home first that you want to buy. As long as you have the photos taken of your home. You can delay that putting it on the market so that it times out perfectly. D.J. Paris 14:44I’d love to talk also about some of the more creative products that lending institutions are are or that are offering that are popular these days by downs. I know we’ve touched on these before. I don’t think we can talk about this enough. cuz I don’t hear agents because I, I do speak to a lot of agents, not just through the show, but but even just out in my own personal life. And I mentioned the buy down thing. And I swear half of the agents I talked to go, what’s that? So I want to educate everybody about these buydown options, because I think this is such a cool way to mitigate some of the interest rate environment we’re in. Joel Schaub 15:25So let’s cut through all the data and like actually get down to the numbers and actually understand what what it means, right. So if developers are giving the money to the buyer, or the seller is giving the money to the buyer, this works, that if you’re just increasing the purchase price to cover the cost of the buy down. I’m not a proponent of that. So let’s do a strategy. Right now our little quick breakdown of a $500,000 purchase, the client is going to put 20% down, and then I’m going to give you a pop quiz on the savings because this is fun, I’m going to put you on the spot here. Because if you have a $500,000 home, and we wouldn’t be doing a $400,000 loan, we’re going to ask the seller for a 3% credit. And that 3% closing cost credit DJ will fund a two one rate by now. And that to one rate by down drives the rate down to full percentage points in the first year, one point the second year. And then the borrower pays the note rate in the final 28 years. So buyers will say well, why don’t I just take 15 grand off the price. Okay, if the seller was gonna give me 15 grand, I just want to pay 15 grand less for the home? Sure. And so I run that calculation. And I say that that will save on a monthly basis. $92 a month, which is good. So now the pop quiz comes in. And if you’re doing it on a two one buydown DJ, do you think it doubles the monthly savings? Do you think it’s a little bit less than doubled? Or do you think it’s more than doubled? D.J. Paris 17:10I would hear, I would say it’s more than, Joel Schaub 17:15yes, it’s more than but it’s a lot more than so you actually take this, it saves $496 a month, in our first year, to save $254 a month in the next year. And that’s where the problem is, it’s the first two years, we really feel that the feds gonna get this under control and rates will be lower. If we’re wrong, the sellers have still funded the buy down. So that’s a great strategy. And it does save a lot of money. Now, the big thing here is that the buyer still has to qualify on the higher payment. Sure, it’s not an excuse to get into a home that’s over your head. Ladies and gentlemen, we don’t want buyers having to have this to one buy down to qualify. But it’s a really nice bonus when the seller or we can negotiate. If it’s not even a developer, just individual selling the home to fund a to one buy down and it’s 3% of the purchase price. And then it takes 2% off year one and 1% the next year. D.J. Paris 18:20That’s great. And then I know that there’s you were mentioning before we got on air another strategy about parents who have children that are going off to college. Now, I will tell you what you’re about to mention. My I dated a woman many, many, many years ago whose family did exactly this. And it was a great investment for them. It worked out really well saved them a lot of money over the years. But let’s talk about that. Well, it’s called The Family Joel Schaub 18:46opportunity loan. And most banks that you’re already working with if you’re a realtor, and they do have this even if they don’t know it. And what it allows people to do is it’s twofold. The first one is Mom and Dad buying a home or a condominium for a college bound student. It can be enrolled right now or enrolling in the next semester. And they’re allowed to buy that property even though the client is not living in the son or daughter is not going to go on the mortgage. And you’re allowed to do that with just a 5% down payment. What that means is we’re essentially buying an investment property because in a year or two, the son or daughter probably won’t continue to stay in that price property. And so now we’ve created a situation where we’ve bought a home with only 5% down and you’re fully and legally allowed to rent it even after 12 months. D.J. Paris 19:44Yeah, it’s a great opportunity to have you know your child living live rent free, collect the rent from from the other tenants, and then continue to rent out the property as the child moves on. And I know I switched places I lived every every year in college as well. But this isn’t, you know, these are where a lot of people can save money on the room and board, right. So this is a great opportunity to invest a little bit and collect all of the tax deductions, which is nice about having income producing properties as well. So this would be another really great opportunity to talk to anyone that you know, that has children that are nearing the end of their high school years, or maybe their first couple of years of even college. This is when you know, you could start saying, Hey, has anyone ever talked to you instead of, you know, paying for rent for you know, your children at school, that maybe this is another option, this would be a great reason to reach out and just have that conversation with everyone who has a child in high school, you know, getting to the end of going off to college, Joel Schaub 20:50DJ, can you imagine how much money your I would have if our parents, instead of paying for the room and board at college bought a place and literally just kept that place. And that’s the point right now is a lot of people, you’re not doing this for the 18 year old that’s moving to college for the very first time, it’s usually the move up, they’ve been in college for a year or two. And maybe they’re a junior or a senior. And the other thing that I did not mention is that you are allowed to collect rents. So a lot of my clients have their daughter, and then they have two or three roommates, and they’re fully allowed to collect rents from the bedrooms that are there, as long as the parents qualify, that’s not a rental property. And it really allows for generational wealth, you’re buying something, and you’re not putting money into the room and board. Now the other side of that, which, unfortunately we see is a lot of times we have maybe a client whose mother or father unfortunately passes away. And now mom or dad needs to downsize, right, and mom or dad is elderly isn’t working. And the parents are making the choice, you know, your time, you’re at a point now where you become your parents parent, and you have to figure out am I going to pay for a lease for my mother for the next couple of years. Or, gosh, if I’m paying two or $3,000 a month, I I’d like to buy something for her. And I can afford the payment. I don’t want to put $100,000 down. So that’s the strategy again, you can just put 5% down and have mom or dad living in the property. And it’s completely different DJ than it being a second home or an investment property. These are priced as a another primary residence. And it’s the only time that I know of that any underwriter allows you to have a second primary residence. And that means the rates are a lot lower, the mortgage insurance is next to nothing. And it can count for 5% down. So there’s some strategies there again, it’s called The Family opportunity loan, I take it as an opportunity if I was an agent to reach out to the lenders that I’m working with right now and say, as listen to a podcast do you have this loan program and the good ones that you’re working with know all about it D.J. Paris 23:10because so the family opportunity loan allows an individual to possibly purchase another property for someone in the family, it’s it becomes a another primary residence you’re allowed to collect. Obviously, there’s qualifications and you need to fit into this very specific bucket here, but it you’re allowed to collect rent, but it’s not considered a rental property. Joel Schaub 23:36No, you have to have the parent in that property or the son or daughter in the property, what we can’t do is call it this and literally just have it be an investment property. So that goes against the nature of it. And so it does allow for somebody to move in you could collect rents, if there were bedrooms for sure. And then after one year, the son or daughter moves out or mom or dad moves to another location you’re fully within your rights to have that be an investment property as long as for the first 12 months it was occupied by the person that was on the upfront paperwork. That’s an D.J. Paris 24:11amazing strategy. So you live in the property for a year that cements it as a residence and and then from there on out you can kind of do do what you want with only and only starting the whole thing with only 5% down that is an incredible option. Guys these are the kind of creative ways that for lending and for real estate transactions that has really taken Joel from you know from from start to where he is now at the very very top of the of the lending food chain because he is always thinking about creative solutions for his clients. That’s That’s incredible. You kind of blew my mind with that I did not know that was that was an option so I’m I’m really one more Joel Schaub 24:55thing about this though ready DJ because I know right now people are thinking in their mind Well, if I put 20% down on that I don’t have to pay mortgage insurance. Okay, so let me tell you about why this program is amazing is that with 5% down and it’d be considered a primary residence. Let’s take a $400,000 property, yes, you could put 80 grand down and not have mortgage insurance. But I had a client recently just do the 5%, down, where they put down $20,000. And that mortgage insurance was about $51 a month. So $51. And yes, that money is going right out the window, I’ll be the first to admit that we don’t ever want to pay mortgage insurance. But the decision was, if I’m only putting 20 grand down instead of 80 grand, and I’m getting the exact same rate, I don’t want to put down 80 grand if it only cost me 51 extra dollars, exactly. That’s the solution. And if I’m an agent, now, I know two strategies, and I’m keeping my antennas up. I’m thinking of people that are getting older, and I’m thinking maybe they have a parent that needs this. It doesn’t need to be somebody who passes away. It just needs to be a situation where you want to put mom or dad into a property, or a son or daughter who’s college bound or enrolled in a property. And this is the strategy to do it without 20% down. D.J. Paris 26:20It’s amazing. Yeah, that is an amazing, you really are getting your balloon blowing my mind with those I did not I did not know that product existed. And what a great opportunity for anyone with with aging parents or who have worked, or who are parents themselves and have kids who are in college and you’re tired of paying that that room and board rent of let’s let you know, I also would, you know, it’s funny, I just saw the National Association of Realtors, Lawrence Yun the basically the head economist, he just said that he was very happy with inflation, the numbers most important are recently released. And he said he believes rates are on the way down. So the very top guy at the National Association of REALTORS believes rates are are going to be coming down at some point and didn’t say when. But we hope we hope soon. But again, I still think this is not a time to get discouraged. This is just a time to get work a little harder, right? i This not not Joel Of course, Joel always works hard. But for everyone listening, this is the time where lots of people are sitting on the sidelines, lots of agents are not moving forward. You know, they’re they’re paying attention to only what’s happening in the news. And they’re just maybe they’re they have a little fear. This is the time to keep to bring these kinds of options to your clients, whether or not it’s the right fit for them that you know, you guys will figure out. But this is a time to commute over communicate versus under communicate. Joel Schaub 27:56You’re exactly right. When we think about what happened with inflation and what the Feds historic move up in rates, right? Maybe we see a little bit of volatility here where they go up a little bit before they come down. But the likelihood that the Fed does the same amount of rate increases that they’ve already done is next to nothing, there’s a very little chance that the rates continue to go up that much. Okay, it is much more likely that the worst of the inflation is behind us. And that means at some point in time, next year, we’re going to see rates come down. And they might come up a little bit. But the situation really truly is that we should stay positive. We know that rates here in the 60s aren’t something that makes you want to jump out of a tree, everything is okay. And in the near future rates will be lower. So let’s go out and get all the deals we can right now. And let’s help all the clients we can now because when the floodgates turn on again, you better be ready. Because rune rates are down. We’re gonna see that again in the future. And we had a lot more activity, so get ready for it. D.J. Paris 28:58I started as a financial advisor on September 12 2001, which of course we know what what happened the day prior. But it was also aside from the terrorist attack that happened. It was also the tech bubble had already started crashing significantly if we were if we if we were alive during those times. And I will tell you that people would told me at that time, this is the worst possible time to get in. I was coming in when people were losing 85 90% of if they were heavily invested in tech technology at that time. The turn of the millennium that people were down significantly, and I was told worst time you could possibly get in. It was the best time to get it actually because as a result I worked really hard. I didn’t know any different and as a result I just pounded through and I found people that were like me that were new to the market that you know didn’t have a history by Find me to say like, well, I made 80% last year, and now I’ve lost it all. This is a great time to pick up. What I’m really talking about is first time homebuyers, this is a great opportunity to pick up first time homebuyers. When people are ready to buy, they’re ready to buy, you know, rates be damned, you know, quite honestly, like when people need to move they need to move. So now’s the time to get in, I would encourage all of our listeners, find out where you’re the people in your contact list where they work. And I would, I would partner up with someone like Joel or Joel himself. And I would say, I want to go to visit some of these companies, I want to, you know, bring in some lunch, I want to do a whole pitch on, I want to talk to people who are in their, like late 20s or early 30s, who are thinking about buying who haven’t yet done it, that’s going to be my market. And if you do that this year, you’re going to be golden right now. Joel Schaub 30:54And that’s the reason if I’m an agent right now, like I continue to tune in to the cube into real podcasts, you’re getting information, you’re getting one extra thing that you can actually put in place right now. And if you’re in a market like we are, rents are not cheap, and I don’t really know a market. Now that I think about it, where rents are cheap. And if you are renting, the rate that you’re paying is 100 and DJ I like 6.5 or 6%, a lot more than I like 100%. Right. So remember this, when people complain about where the rates are, and they’re renting, remind them that the rate that they’re paying right now is 100%, all of that money goes out the window. And if you own the place, 6% is going out the window, and everything else is actually going to pay down your mortgage, and you get a tax deduction. So remember, the sky is not falling, if somebody is renting, you can help them and just work your sphere. There’s a lot of opportunities right now, and stay positive. And that’s my advice for you. D.J. Paris 31:59And guys, what I would recommend and when I say guys, I should stop saying that because obviously we we actually have more female listeners than than male listeners who say girls, but but I’ll just say everyone, this is this is what I would do if if if I was if I were you, and I meet with a client and they’re not sure, I would say you know what, I’ve got the group, the best mortgage person, the best lender, I’m gonna, we’re gonna have a conversation and they’re gonna try to figure out a creative strategy for you. You don’t have to know everything, you just have to know the right lender. And when you pass that person over, believe me, lenders love those kinds of introductions. So you what you want to do is partner with somebody who is this creative, somebody like Joel or just partner with Joel himself. That’s what I did. That’s what you should do. But if you’re if Joel isn’t, you know, able to help you, you can find someone else. But Joel, for everyone else who’s going to follow me and follow you. What’s what’s the best way that they should get in touch with you so that they can find out about out about these creative strategies and these different options. Joel Schaub 33:05But I love to keep it in real community because I’ve literally had personal conversations with dozens of listeners, they’re shocked when I actually return the emails to them and personally talk to them. And I love it. I mean, it’s just part of who I am. And it’s just one of those things where if you want you can email me joel@rate.com JO el@rat.com. And remember, if somebody’s paying, let’s say $2,500 a month in rent, their biggest objection isn’t that the payment that they can’t afford a mortgage is that they don’t have the downpayment. And so coming up with the strategies to do 3% down, or 5% down, where the rates are really attractive on these first time homebuyer programs, that’s going to make all the difference. They’re already paying a mortgage, they’re just paying somebody else’s mortgage. So help them get on the right track to homeownership. The more people you help, the more you’ll help yourself. And it all goes back to that givers gain mentality. If you can give and you teach and you educate people are going to follow you. And those people are gonna refer you more business. So get out there and put the people first and teach them and help them D.J. Paris 34:20agreed everyone out there grab while you’re probably on your phone if you’re if you are go to your email app and send an email to joel@rate.com asked to be placed on his weekly mortgage update lending list and you will get a market update once a week and it’s too much full of information where you can’t like the example I gave earlier today. It was very beautiful email I have to share it with you but it was yes. You got to see it was so overdone so much data, so much data. But the point is is most people you know look, we want two or three pieces of information We can lock into our brains. That’s what your, what your your weekly market update does. And it gives us a way to actually make more money meaning more clients helping more people. So everyone, and by the way, too, if you’re a realtor, and you want to partner with a lending a loan officer who can actually help you grow your business, Joel and his team, they’re very, they’re the best out there the best I’ve ever found, please give them a shot, reach out to Joel joel@rate.com. Or you can eat you can Joe give that you might give him the phone number one more time. Joel Schaub 35:34Now 773-654-2049. And we’re just happy to be giving back. It’s really great to be on I hope everybody got some useful information, today, we covered a lot about rates that covered the sky isn’t falling, and that rates probably will be coming down. But even right now where the rates are at, if you’re renting a home, it’s still much better to go out and see what we can buy. As long as you have a small down payment, you’re gonna be in the door. D.J. Paris 36:01And some creative strategies for people who have children in college as well as elderly parents who might need a residence. So, you know, pass this episode over. Oh, by the way, guys, we are now on Instagram. I want everybody to follow us please on Instagram at top agent interviews, I wish it was keeping it real. But that was already taken. So at top agent interviews, and we’re post in the reason I mentioned this is not because I want a big Instagram following. But because we actually, every single day we’re pushing out a short form video clip, usually under 60 seconds on actually all of our social platforms, including Tiktok. But Instagram is what where we find most of our audience is hanging out. So please follow us top agent interviews on Instagram, and even get a daily dose of this podcast. So Joel, thank you so much for another episode, another month. Another great episode of content is you know, everyone, get on Joel’s list. joel@rate.com email him now. Now Now tell everyone in your office to get on that list as well reach out to him with your buyer questions right. He is the man he’s got a whole team in place, they will work with you one on one. And, you know also on behalf of all of our listeners, we want to end viewers want to thank Joel for spending time with us today took time out of his busy day to be on the show, as well as we want to Joel and I want to thank the audience for continuing to support and listen and please tell a friend they could one other realtor that could benefit from this conversation and send them a link to our website keeping it real pod.com And also follow us on Instagram again top agent interviews. All right, Joel, great to see you and we will see everybody on the next episode. Thanks Joe.

Amy Corr the Executive Vice-President of Culture and Agent Development for @properties and Christie’s International Real Estate, talks about her journey and her experience from tech firm to getting a real estate agent license. Amy explains how important is to give so much love to clients and get to know them better. Next, Amy talks about her passion for coaching and an innate ability to push people to do their best. Last, Amy emphasizes the importance of being authentic towards others. If you’d prefer to watch this interview, click here to view on YouTube! Amy Corr can be reached at 312.254.0200. This episode is brought to you by Real Geeks. Transcript D.J. Paris 0:00What do buyers and sellers really expect from their agent? We’re going to find out today. Stay tuned. This episode of Keeping it real is brought to you by real geeks. How many homes are you going to sell this year? Do you have the right tools? Is your website turning soft leads and interested buyers? Are you spending money on leads that aren’t converting? Well real geeks is your solution. Find out why agents across the country choose real geeks as their technology partner. Real geeks was created by an agent for agents. They pride themselves on delivering a sales and marketing solution so that you can easily generate more business. Their agent websites are fast and built for lead conversion with a smooth search experience for your visitors. Real geeks also includes an easy to use agent CRM. So once a lead signs up on your website, you can track their interest and have great follow up conversations. Real geeks is loaded with a ton of marketing tools to nurture your leads and increase brand awareness visit real geeks.com forward slash keeping it real pod and find out why Realtors come to real geeks to generate more business again, visit real geeks.com forward slash keeping it real pod. And now on to our show. Hello, and welcome to another episode of Keeping it real the largest podcast made by real estate agents and for real estate agents. My name is DJ Parris. I’m your guide. I’m your host through this show. And in just a moment, we’re going to be speaking with Amy core. But before we get to Amy, just a couple of reminders, oh actually got an announcement. So we finally have an Instagram account, which sounds silly. Everybody has an Instagram account. But we actually created one very diligently and intentionally so that we could provide more content to you the listeners. So we have a team now that goes through our episodes and clips out the very best moments. And we post those video moments usually 30 to 60 seconds on the various social channels including Instagram. So we’re on Tik Tok, Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, probably some other places. But anyway, please follow us on Instagram, which is at top agent interviews at top agent interviews every day, we’ll be serving you up a short form video with a tip from one of our great great guests. Please also tell a friend about our podcast keep us expanding by telling other realtors about keeping it real. So send them over to our website keeping it real pod.com Every episode we’ve ever done, we have almost 500 Now can all be streamed right from a browser window Okay guys, let’s get to the main event my conversation with the great Amy core right today on the show we have aded core with AP properties in Chicago also Christie’s international real estate. Let me tell you more about AMI AMI core oversees the development and delivery of branded coaching, training and business planning solutions that help agents consistently and sustainably grow their business resulting in genuine agent satisfaction and a thriving brokerage culture. Amy’s curriculum tackles every stage of the agent lifecycle from broker fundamentals to leveling up to top producer status to building and running successful teams. Her programming is practical, engaging and actionable, based on 20 years of experience as a six as successful sorry about that successful agent of her own right and award winning managing broker. She was born and raised in San Francisco, Amy graduated from Santa Clara University lives in Wilmette, which is basically Chicago with her husband and her two daughters. Guys, this is a really special episode for me. I am very very honored to bring Amy on. If you’re if you’re not from the Chicagoland area most of our audience is not at properties started as an independent brokerage and has as quickly or over their lifecycle of their business has become one of the most successful brands for real estate in independent brands in the entire country. So this is really, really exciting. We’re huge fans about properties. Amy welcome. Oh, by the way, everyone go visit@properties.com at properties.com. Also, Amy does a show every week with Kevin Vanek and that is at on it. Follow her on Instagram at coffee with Amy and Kevin. So at Coffee with with Amy and Kevin, I will have links to all of these in the show notes. So you don’t have to write this down. Amy, welcome to the show. Amy Corr 5:07Oh, thank you so much for having me. Thank you for such a nice intro. You made me sound so good. D.J. Paris 5:13Well, you, you are incredibly impressive. And I am so so happy to chat with you today. So let’s I want to hear about you. I want to know your journey. So tell us how you started in real estate. How did you get involved? Amy Corr 5:30Yeah, no, that’s a great question. A lot of people usually start with how the heck did a California girl? D.J. Paris 5:35Yeah. How did you go from the west? How’d you not end up in the tech world? Amy Corr 5:40Yeah, well, I kind of started in the tech world. But yeah, so I actually moved from California out to Chicago, a couple years out of college. And I actually started in technology, I was moved out here by a tech firm and enjoyed it, you know, did technology for a while with a company called SSA. In fact, I looked them up to see if they still existed, they were just function bought by somebody else. So a while. But then I moved to a cool startup. And I think it was 98 or 99. And worked a ton in tech. And it was super interesting worked so many hours. But after about three years, I kind of was at this point where you know, I was getting old enough to think what the heck do I want to do with the rest of my life? And is this you know, is this what interests me? And I was I didn’t read the What color is your parachute? But it was definitely trying to figure that out. And my now husband, who was my boyfriend at the time, kind of just planted the seed. And he said, you know, you’ve always seemed like you kind of like real estate and you know, like looking at houses and I wasn’t I didn’t own anything at that point in time. And I thought, huh, that’s kind of interesting. So I explored it a little bit. Next thing you know, I enrolled at the place on Halsted Street in Chicago darkness was the gentleman who owned that company, the yellows, Hanson Yes. And really had some real estate. Yes, yes, yes. So I had no clue what I was doing, right. So I decided, Alright, I’m gonna go ahead. I still work full time. But I went, you know, in the evenings to study and get my license. And then I got, I got my license, I got licensed. And I just I actually, I don’t know if you know, Jan Smith, who owned J. Smith and Associates in Bucktown, she actually her old offices now are at properties Bucktown office, she was my first managing broker, I love her, I still see her often. And I just kind of hung my license with her because she was a friend of our family members. And I kind of didn’t even know what I was getting into. But I was sort of excited by the idea of I was working so many hours in technology. And what I remember hearing at the time, it was like 2002, and the market was moving was you know what, if you work really hard, you can be really successful, and you’re your own boss. And so I found that really interesting, because I was working so so hard to make somebody else a lot of money. And I loved my people and where I was at, but I just felt like you know what, if I’m going to do it, now’s the time, I don’t have kids, you know, I’m still single, why not make this change. So I jumped in and worked with Jan for a little bit and then moved over to a different brokerage firm. I worked with Suzy minor for about a year, which was great. That’s where I went met one of my very best friends who really kind of mentored me. And then she and I moved to add properties in 2002. No, sorry. 2004. So, you know, I’ve been with ad for a really long time, I was probably maybe agent 150 at the time. So think about how far I’m like blown away by how far we’ve come if you really think about it. I mean, I remember being in the basement of the Clyburn office selling real estate in the city, and now now look at us as a company, but it’s been a really phenomenal journey. I feel really fortunate and lucky that, you know, I’ve just sort of been given the opportunities that I have in in this industry because I’m just really passionate about it. D.J. Paris 9:09It’s an incredible story and I’m curious, so at properties has Gosh, I don’t know more than 3000 agents, I don’t know here in the local Chicago area, at least 3000 Probably more You’re certainly one of the biggest players and and yet you know, this sort of grassroots built business which you know, competes with Compass and and Coldwell Banker and at you know, and all buyer Baird and Warner and all of these other big players in the space and you guys came in like, it just sort of took over and what I what I see having what I saw have has happened in in here in Chicago is this the branding of ad properties is so immersive what it does. So App properties did something that I thought was brilliant, which, as a marketer, they basically said, what what is, and again, I don’t know, the conversations that led to this. So I’m just, I’m just pre presupposing. But they basically, you know, took one of the deepest, you know, experiences in human existence, which is love. And they said, We want to brand around love we want when people think about our brand, when they think about buying homes, when they think about our agents, when they think about our sort of processes, we want to be the happy, loving, fun sort of group. And they’ve they focused on the one word love, and that became your brand. And it just absolutely took off. And I’ve never, I’ve yet to see another brand in any industry, capitalize on love, and use it as their mascot as their bread and meat is literally your mascot. And it is such a strong message. Because of course, all of us have a connection to that word, you know, and we see it and you guys have it all over the city, you can’t go here in Chicago, you can’t go too far, in at least here within the city limits, without seeing the word love somewhere with the add properties kind of logo there. And they don’t even necessarily talk about real estate in most branding efforts. That’s what’s really cool. I love Amy Corr 11:33that that’s also intentional. You know, it’s also intentional. So I wasn’t in the room when it happened. But I was here when it did. And, you know, we were talking earlier about bad Wong, you know, I think one of the things that you you know, we have to incredibly credit him for is that, you know, he is the mastermind from the very beginning with so much of our branding and marketing strategy. Natasha, Pat Lowe, who’s, you know, our CMO now is incredible, and the two of them together, but he really drives that it’s, it’s what he loves to do. And, you know, all of our fun campaigns, if you’ve watched them throughout the years, you know, we don’t take ourselves too seriously, I think that is really sort of at the root of our culture is We laugh a lot. And, you know, we joke a lot, even in a lot of our management, you know, our different management meetings that we have, you know, we just really have an enjoyment of working together. And we really want that communicated out not just to our agents, but to the consumer. And, you know, because when we’re selling real estate, yes, it’s a transaction. But think about what is related to the home and what everybody thinks about homeownership and life. And so he was sitting down with Natasha, and he was like, I want to come up with a word that would just resonate with everybody something that everyone, you know, can relate to. And he ultimately, I think, even said, everything that’s, you know, something that everyone would love. And then he was like, Wait, that’s the word. Yeah. And, you know, we use our intention was, we’re going to use it as, you know, a campaign, we obviously aligned ourselves with Matthew Hoffman, who was the artist who actually designed the script for love, which we then you know, licensed and purchased through him. And we just started it as as something that we thought would be a cool campaign for, I don’t know if it was 2016 or 2017. And then it was just like, the response was crazy. So then we were like, Okay, why don’t we start taking this a little bit further. And we do a lot of the love magnets, people like to put those on their car. And I remember I was driving somewhere and I pulled up into to get gas somewhere in the in the suburbs. And I pulled in, and this guy pulls up next to me and kind of this kind of beat up car. And I’m like, Okay, I don’t know what he’s wanting for me. And he rolls down his window, because I’m pumping gas. And he was just like, where did you get that love magnet, I’ve been looking for one forever. And I was like, you know, buddy, today is your lucky day, I’m gonna give you my love could have mine. Yeah. And so it just became this thing that we realized, had this amazing experience, and it created this amazing emotion for people. So we have continued to use it, but we really try to use it in a way to that, you know, really pushes ahead of our brand. Like when COVID hit, we started doing signs that were Love is the unity in your community. And you know, it didn’t even have that properties on it, but it was like everybody just knew. And you sometimes I think when you lead with the right intention to focus on others, to give back to figure out how can we help other people instead of serving ourselves first, the universe opens up for you and I really do feel like that’s one of the things that I have learned and developed, you know, not just in my career but as a human working here at at you know, because we all work really hard but I think we’re always asking like, especially for our agents, what do they need from us right now? You know, how can we support them? You know, as independent contractors in you know, great markets, but also challenge In markets, and so, you know, the love is extended amongst one another, but then it you know, and it’s also a great branding opportunity for agents to use as they’re trying to connect with their clients, you know. And so it’s it’s kind of taken a life of its own. And so many of our affiliates, it’s one of the things that they really anchor to and have just really loved, loved having the opportunity to use in their own communities. D.J. Paris 15:25Yeah, I would love I would also love to talk about, sorry for the pardon the pun, would love to talk about teams, because I’m switching gears kind of abruptly only because, you know, this year with rates being where they are and inventory being less than what most markets would would prefer. We are now seeing a lot of agents moving around, right agents are starting to feel oh, maybe I’m if they’re on a team, maybe they’re not on the right team, maybe they’re a different brokerage, maybe there’s better options. And what what we’re seeing is this, this fractionalization of agents, the the the migration of agents who are sort of, on their own maybe thinking maybe I would be better in a collective, maybe I would be better in a group versus just me running everything myself. And at properties is obviously embraced. team mentality. There’s lots of teams that properties, lots of teams at many brokerages. I’m curious on what suggestions you might have to agents who are thinking about joining a team or creating a team? Amy Corr 16:37Ah, good, two very different kind of mindsets, very D.J. Paris 16:40different. Amy Corr 16:41You know, I think, I think it’s, you know, so first of all, I think that, you know, our industry, we are definitely seeing that the team model, you know, is definitely not going away. If anything else, I feel like it’s getting a lot stronger. And I think, you know, for a couple reasons, I think just the speed at which real estate is going now with technology, even if you think 2025 years ago, where we were just on the cusp of things being in the MLS, things being electronic. But I remember when I first started, I would still go and get signatures at night, right? Or the pace was just not quite as fast. And I feel like the consumer expectation was also not quite so high. I mean, think about what they expect now from print advertising to digital advertising to a full blown marketing strategy to where is the exposure, you know, there’s a lot of expectation. And so at some point, as a sole practitioner, you know, we can only handle so much, right, because we’re having to move so fast in order to compete with everybody else. So I think at some point, what I say to so many agents is that if you’re going to grow, there’s only one of you. So you have to figure out what is going to be your plan to scale. And you know, in some time, and what I oftentimes see is that they don’t always scale the right way. You know, I think it’s sometimes just getting bodies to help is the answer where, you know, we actually have a two day workshop that I built with a consultant that is a team’s workshop. And it’s for team leaders for them to really kind of understand like, Am I doing this the right way, because oftentimes, they just sort of develop the team, and have some people that are sort of all working together. But you know, no one has ever really evaluated, what’s the strategy behind this. And so what we really help a lot of team leaders take a look at and what I would encourage most team leaders to do is take a step back and see where your team is at. But what I would have them do is to almost take a sheet of paper and write down on one side, what are the things that I like to do most and I am most effective at? And then on the other side, what do I not like to do or what should I not be doing because it’s not the best use of my time. So many of the team leads that I see and consultant work with, you know, they’re great rainmakers, they’re great at bringing in the business reaching out to clients, they are phenomenal at that. What they aren’t always great at is managing the rest of their people, maybe creating structure for their people. And so what I find is they’re so busy out getting the business and fueling the pipeline. But then there are people who are feeling lost because that team lead just doesn’t have the time to help to develop them. Or what they also don’t always have is a good operations. Person operations are key, right? You’ve got the person that is out drumming up the business, but somebody has to be the backbone to make sure that business is being serviced correctly. And so, you know, I really encourage agents to take a step back and start looking at what roles do I need for the type of team that I’ve either midway built or really want to build. And sometimes what you can look at is some of your people, you’ve got really great talent, they’re just in the wrong spot. And so you know, we’ve we’ve got Um, lots of different, you know, ways for team leaders to really look at stuff. But I feel like sometimes they just sort of throw people into a group. And there isn’t really a strategy behind the growth. And so anybody who’s you know, has a team, I would really encourage that, you know, and I can dive into it for hours, but really just take a step back and understand at the end of the day, what do you want to be doing as a team lead? And what is your role going to be because you cannot be everything, and you need to figure out what roles need to be filled, you fill yours, and then you find great people to fill those other spots. And I will tell you, you will create some amazing synergy. So that’s really, I would say, for team leads for people who are thinking about being on a team, you have to ask yourself, you know, what is the reason for being on a team? Is it simply because I can’t figure out how to fish for myself. And I don’t like reaching out in prospecting. Before that is necessarily your only factor, I almost would even ask you, is this the right business for you? Right, because a big part of being in real estate, let’s face it, you’ve got to learn how to fish on your own. And I’m also a big believer of you cannot expect a team leader to just hand you leads, I think, the best run teams, it’s not that you won’t get them. But at the end of the day, that isn’t their sole responsibility. And that might be some team models of overflow. But my thought is, is that if that ever goes away, if that overflow or the Zillow leads, they purchase, if those dry up and suddenly the team is struggling, to me, it’s all hands on deck, and you better know how to fish. So the best teams I think are ones where team members come in and learn how to cultivate business from the best who is their team leader? And that team leader teaches them? And then I think, yes, definitely, there’s overflow. But you know, so I think when you’re a team member, or somebody who wants to go onto a team, I would ask those questions, I would you know, and if somebody just says, Hey, we’re gonna give you leads, that’s great in the short term, but if you’re in this business, for the long term, you’ve got to learn how to develop your own book of business, that’s your biggest safety net. Because at some point, if that team goes away, and you’re standing there and never develop the tools that it takes to be a great agent, you’re gonna be starting from the ground up again. D.J. Paris 22:19Yeah, I’ve, I’ve, I’ve had many, many people on the show over the years who have talked about purchasing leads versus handing leads out organically versus, you know, working referral based business. Of course, everybody who’s listening would love to have 100% of their business be referral based. And, of course, that is ultimately the goal, because it’s the most cost effective way to to run that, that this business. But it takes a tremendous amount of effort to get there. I but I also think it’s something we probably don’t talk about enough, which is raving fans, like how do how do you encourage your agents to because at properties here in the Chicago market is, if they’re not the highest producing real estate brokerage, they’re number two, they’re number one or number two. So you know, we have an opportunity here to talk to Amy and ask her what are you telling your your agents about? How to create raving fans? Amy Corr 23:23Yeah. I always tell people that you need to focus on the give. You know, I think as agents, you know, especially when we’re new in the business, and I was there, I still remember that panic attack of am I going to be cert able to survive and really grow a career. And there’s a lot of self doubt. I mean, we have all of these CEOs out there, right? They’re CEOs of their own business, but they sometimes barely believe in themselves. And so it’s, and I think for a lot of them, they feel like God, I have to go out and ask for business, I have to ask that question. Do you know anybody who’s looking to buy and sell? And so I actually remove that from the equation sort of all together? My big belief is, look, yeah, I mean, it’s, you know, focus on the person in front of you, and figure out what can I give to them today that’s going to change their life, you know, maybe even just a little bit, you know, and I play this fun game, we have a program called the road to Rolex, and we’ve got over 100 agents that are in the program for the year. And it’s an accountability program, and they’re in small groups of five, and they meet for the entire year. And I am coaching them, like I coach each of the groups kind of once a quarter. And so I was meeting with some of them. And I said, here’s what I want you to think about doing. I want you to like we have this amazing opportunity known as social media, Facebook, Instagram, we get to know more about the people that are in our sphere than ever before. Use it. Don’t use it in a bad way or feel like it’s self serving, but figure out what’s going to move the needle with people. You know, I had a great example I had an agent who had a somebody on Facebook who posted we’re going on Spring Break, and our, our dogs that are the place where we bring our dog, it’s full. Now we’re in a panic, we need somebody to come and you know, watch our dog for a week. So one of this agent who happened to know this woman who posted on Facebook, I said, Be the connector. Focus on the give this person needs something. Do you know anybody? She said, I actually have a girlfriend who does dog sitting part time. I said, Awesome. Or actually, she told me this scenario. So she said she connected and call the woman who does dog sitting and she said, Are you available the week of the 27th? How much do you charge? Can I get this person in contact with you? So sure enough, yep, it worked. She called this other person who posted on Facebook and said, Hey, I have somebody that can take care of your dog while you’re gone for the week. So the beauty of that situation, she just had the opportunity to make authentic contact with two people in her database. And all she did was focused on the give focus on how can I, you know, create an opportunity for others. And maybe she didn’t get a deal that day. But I’m telling you, if you do that all day long, that is going to change the trajectory of your business. D.J. Paris 26:08It’s that law of reciprocity thing, right? Like I do good for others, without the expectation of doing good to me. But people are pretty hard wired to want to return favors. So this idea of being real estate adjacent, I always I always like as this like, I’m going to be yes, I’m going to help you with your real estate transaction. That’s obviously the job of the realtor. But all the other stuff that exists all the ancillary, you know, things that come up, or, Hey, I need a pet sitter for my dog. Amy Corr 26:47And it’s all related to home. related. Yeah, well, I will say, sorry, no, I was just gonna say I always say to agents, it isn’t just the buy and sell. It’s everything in between, that in between is the secret sauce, if you take care of them in between those deals, like not only are they going to work with you again, but think about all the opportunity that that comes with that. And it’s you know, it’s taking the transaction out of it. It’s really focusing on the relationship piece. And, and yeah, it takes a little bit of lead time. You know, I think sometimes agents get a little antsy with it like, Well, nothing’s happening right now. It’s like, just continue the action, and it will happen, it just, you know, if you throw something out into the universe, at some point, it has to respond, you know, just sometimes as agents, we get impatient. So it’s just let it ride, keep doing it. And you’ll see the change. I’ve seen it in agents that I’ve coached over the years, you know, and some of the biggest agents that I’ve really seen and work with are the best connectors, I call them super connectors, you know, they’re the person that is called for everything. Do you have a guy for this? Do you have a girl for this? You know, who would you recommend in this situation, it’s like, Ah, you got to call Amy or you got to call DJ, because he knows everybody, right? That’s who you want to be. And then the rest takes care of itself. D.J. Paris 28:02You really want to bring people into your Echo system, you want to create your own echo system, so that a home buyer or seller or homeowner, or renter, anyone, whenever they have needs around, you know, home related items, that you become obviously the person that they that they go to. And therefore, it’s it’s sort of a simple but difficult thing, right? Like, so you have to, you have to It’s simple. It’s like push ups like good idea hard. So I so I think I think creating an echo system is really, really important, because what you’re really doing is you’re solving these micro problems along the way. And maybe they’re not like maybe they’re massive problems, but you’re solving problems outside of real estate outside of the transaction along the way. And that’s to me, I see that is really the job. The job is how do I solve problems in between transactions for or how to provide value slash solve problems? For for my, my sphere of influence? How do I do that, because if I do that, I can make a reasonable assumption that a vast majority of those people, if I’m consistently adding value to their lives, are going to feel and let’s just be honest, they’re going to feel that they owe you the opportunity to hire you for for a brokerage transaction. So for so I thought that that, you know, the the home selling process is is its own thing. And then but and we focus a lot on that because that’s what we’re in the middle of at any given moment when we’re dealing with a client. But if we can focus if we could really expand to focus on providing value outside of that transaction as much as possible. It’s actually number one. It’s really fun because you can you can, you know, accumulate and And, you know, start to put all of these different vendors and services together and start to create these these guides that you can then project out to, to your clients. But you can be reaching out to them consistently saying, what’s going on with your home, how’s everything going? Do you need anything? Like you can actually reach out to them not ask it like you were saying, not asking, Hey, are you thinking about buying or selling? But hey, how’s everything going with your home? Do you guys need anything, I’ve got the best plumbers, I’ve got the best, etc. I think that is so tremendously valuable. Because number one, every homeowner always has projects that are ongoing, right? Like, we all have ongoing projects, if you are a homeowner, there’s something that you’re like, I need to get to that one room and paint that one wall. And it’s not one thing. And everybody’s got that. So if I was an agent right now, I mean, I am an agent, but I’m not a practice. If I was a practicing agent today, what I might do if I was in between sales, I’m curious to get your thoughts on this, I might come up with my vendor list of all the people that I’ve worked with, and you know, different services related to home, you know, home stuff, and I would have that list. And I would be calling my friend saying, hey, just checking in. Are there any projects currently in your home that are unfinished? Or are you need to work on? Or? Or, or hey, also, if you want to meet to check the value of your home, I can do that, too. But I just wanted to see how everything’s going with the home just checking in on the home. How’s it going? You need anything I’m gonna accent? I mean, could you imagine nobody has ever made that call to me, by the way? Amy Corr 31:41That, here’s what I want you to, here’s what I want to identify. No one has ever made that call. So Kevin, and I just did a coffee last week. And the first thing on the coffee was pick up the phone. I’m telling you, if you were asking me which agent is going to win this year, is the one that picks up the phone and start, you know, face to face man to man voice to voice contact. You know, it’s the fastest way to get into a yes or a no. And we’re so afraid of no. But what if the answer is yes. And you’re missing all of those yeses. That’s what drives me crazy. And it’s funny because agents that I do coach, they get really nervous about the phone. And there’s a lot of them that do like they can talk to anybody until the cows come home. But the minute that they feel like oh my god, I’m calling somebody, and I’m interrupting them in particular. D.J. Paris 32:27Also, if they haven’t been following up with them, consistently, paths are like, Oh, I haven’t called that person in a year. It’s gonna feel weird. It’s good. Yep. Amy Corr 32:36Yeah, it’s like they would rather like rip off 10 band aids out there are as opposed to make that call, you know, but so it’s funny. So what I had encouraged a lot of agents to do is, you know, there’s those straight to voicemail apps fly dial. And so I said, You know what, let’s warm up with this. And so then they would push back with on me, and they would say, Yeah, but they know that I’m going straight to voicemail. So then I said, then just own it. Call them and say, Hey, Bob, you know what I wanted to give you a phone call. And I wanted to go straight to voicemail, because I know, oftentimes, you’re in the courthouse. But gosh, I would really love to connect with you and see how you and Susie are doing, how are things going with the house? Is there to your point, DJ, is there anything that you guys are thinking about during the spring? And can I provide any vendor recommendations? Give me a call back when you have a second, there is nothing that will ever replace the sound of my voice, the tone being inflection, my excitement and energy to be trying to connect with them again, I don’t care how hard you try how many exclamation points on text. You’re never gonna get it. And there’s so many agents who are so afraid to do it. It drives me crazy. D.J. Paris 33:45You are so right about the voice, straight to text voice, like the slide dial it straight to voicemail. You are so absolutely right. So I want to make this point because you just made it I want to I want to reiterate it and it’s a good one. People want to hear your voice. They also you if you want to do a straight to voicemail via sly dial or any of these other straight to voicemail services. And you might think oh gosh, like Amy said, Well, what if they know that I’m not actually calling them going straight to voicemail? Here’s how you would say it. And Amy just gave a great script there. What I would add to that, as well as saying, Hey, I didn’t want to bug you. I know you’re at work. I’m just shooting this right into your voicemail, but super excited to catch up with you. You know, bah bah, and then and so you don’t have to. I always say this about it’s kind of like the dating apps. I always say you don’t have to worry about being perceived as a creep. If you’re not a creep. Like if you’re not a creep, you don’t have to worry about it. So so if you’re going to someone’s voicemail, you don’t have to pretend that you’re not you can explain why you are doing that because you don’t want to bug them. Yeah. And by the way, most people aren’t going to answer the phone anyway. So you’re gonna get their voicemail Amy Corr 34:54to their voicemail right? And all of you out there you can thank us when you try this later today and you You get a client calling back? Who’s super excited to talk to you? Right? D.J. Paris 35:04But I mean, isn’t it really this idea of value? Right? Like, it’s I, I’ve done 500 of these episodes. And I would love to say that, that I’ve, you know, sort of extracted this this secret elixir of how to be a successful real estate agent over all these episodes. And it seems to be if somebody were to put me on stage and say, What did you learn from interviewing hundreds of top 1% agents in the country, I would say, they work really hard. And they’re constantly thinking about how they can add to their customers lives, like add some sort of value. And that’s pretty much it. Like, there’s a lot there. I mean, with those two things, that’s kind of everything. And it’s not easy, but it’s this consistently. Like, like, Amy, like, you were saying, How can I add value today? I mean, it can be as simple as, you know, if sometimes it’s funny, too, because people are like, Well, how do I how do I find more? Leads? How do I get more leads? It’s like, Well, okay, do you go to the grocery store? Yes. Okay. Do you run into people at the grocery store? Well, there’s people at the grocery store, I try Amy Corr 36:13not to, I hate when I hear them say I try not to Yeah, D.J. Paris 36:17right? Well, and I’m not saying you should talk to everyone at the grocery store. But I’m saying, if you can think about forget about leads, if you think about smiling at people or or acknowledging them, or complimenting them or saying something affirming, that is genuine, authentic, you know, something that moves you like I was, I was at a committee meeting with the Chicago Association of Realtors yesterday, and a friend of mine, or one of the people on my committee had purple hair. And I was like, I gotta remember to tell her I love that purple hair. If there’s always ways we can add value to people’s lives, and if we consistently do that, whether it’s a compliment, whether it’s being of service, whether it’s, you know, checking in on them, this is what wins the race. It’s always about effort. I think Amy Corr 37:08it’s effort, and it’s care. You know, I mean, and, you know, you had said there was, what you would say about agents is, you know, constantly providing value and working really hard. But I would also say, really being authentic, you know, I think as agents when you are looking at top producers, and I’m not saying you shouldn’t look at sort of your real estate heroes, or you see a top producer, you know, in your office and you say Dang it, you know, I really want to be like so and so, yes, there are certain things about that person that you’re attracted to. But don’t lose yourself. Because the thing is, is that and this is what I also say to agents is, look, you have a great engine behind you with App properties, Christie’s international real estate, you know, we’ve got a lot of stuff that you are able to go into a listing presentation, or sit down with a buyer and feel super confident. But here’s what I want you to work on. Who are you? And why are you bringing them the value? Because the thing is, is that they’re going to pick you because of you probably not much of anything else. Yes, you’ve got all of this other great stuff, which is going to add to that confidence. And you know, I think what I love the most in coaching, is when I get to that point where I can work with an agent, and I help them find themselves. You know, not everybody can just pick up the phone and be super confident and be able to say certain things doesn’t mean you’re not going to be successful, or does it mean that you don’t have to start slow start with a sly dial and be as nervous as all get out? It’s okay, it gets D.J. Paris 38:34okay. It’s okay to be where you are. So in other words, if you are scared, if you if you’re messing up. I mean, look, you know the the reality of it, is it. The phrase that I’ve hated my entire professional career career has been the fake it till you make it. I don’t like that phrase. Because it implies that we’re going to pretend that we have competence when we do not. I think I think it’s way better to acknowledge insecurity fear. I think people relate to that I think people now ultimately we want to develop skill and we wanted to, you know, hone those skills and develop those. But I think the being authentic, if I could make any sort of suggestion to our audience, whatever you’re into, I don’t care what it is, whatever you’re passionate about outside of real estate, somehow figure out a way to incorporate that into your real estate practice. If you’re into horses, if you’re if you’re into racing cars, whatever it might be your dogs, Amy Corr 39:41whatever it is, yeah, kids. Yep. D.J. Paris 39:45Yeah, bring that figure out a way to put that into your bring that into your business and you will attract other people who of course, also have those interests, but also people we we demand authentic. The city from our from our service providers, we want to know what you are like, we want to know what you do at home you don’t, you can set boundaries around what you’re willing to share. Privacy, of course, is important. But you know, we want to know who you are as a human being. And thankfully, we have technology that allows us to share those things. But people want to know who they are working with. They don’t, the skill is important, of course, but also the human side of it, who are you as a human being, and if you can demonstrate that, along the way of also providing value as as you continue to work with your clients, you’re just going to have a massive success. Amy Corr 40:41Yeah, I think especially just because, you know, we are in an industry that is so personal for our clients, you know, I mean, there is personality related to, you know, the selling of a property, you know, when we go in, and we are evaluating their house and giving them a price, there’s a lot of sensitivity to that, because there’s a lot of pride, and when, you know, when the price isn’t maybe what they expected it to be, you know, it’s a personal thing for them, right, because they believe, you know, gosh, but this was so special to me, I don’t see why everybody else can see it. So, you know, I say a lot that I think one of the biggest things for you know, being in real estate is that high emotional component, and really being able to lean in and understand you know, who these people are, because it is personal under, unlike other industries, and so, you know, back to your point, DJ, you know, the more authentic you can be, and the more that they can, you know, you don’t want to show them all of your flaws, but like when they’re feeling a little imperfect, if they’re feeling like, Ah, okay, I’m seeing the human side of this person, I feel more comfortable sharing my imperfections, or some of the things we’re worried about, because they have to open up about a lot. And you know, so I think as agents, again, you know, it’s, the more you are you, you are going to attract the people that are like you and you’re going to actually enjoy working with them more instead of working with people that are constantly pushing back on you or not believing you know what you’re saying. But it kind of starts with us figuring out who we are. And I remind my agents all the time you are CEO, you get to pick out all this stuff, you get to decide, you know, what you want to wear, who you want to focus on how you want to prospect, you know, you get to pick out the how, but you still have to do, and you know, and sometimes it takes a little while, you know, and what we were saying before, you’re gonna screw up, you’re gonna feel stupid, you’re gonna get nervous. But you know, I was talking to an agent earlier this morning, who just got her first eluxury opportunity. And she was like, I was so nervous, I’d wear all black because I felt like I was sweating everywhere. And she said, but what I told myself, is that this is a growth moment. I am growing, as I’m sitting here as terrified. And I said, Yes, you are. D.J. Paris 42:54Well, that’s true. Both things can be true, I am scared, and I’m excited. And both of those things can be be present at the same time. Yeah, I think I think it is so much about going all the way back to giving right we can always come back to value, like how do we improve people’s lives, right, we’re going to help them buy a home, we’re gonna help them sell a home, we’re gonna help them rent a home, we’re also going to allow them to, to come to us when they need, you know, things, fix things, things move. And, and we’re going to let them in on our how we how we cope with the ups and downs of, you know, a real estate transaction, for example. So I think the emotional sort of component or the emotional maturity of of, of an agent is really important to be able to anticipate the emotional reaction of like disappointment in advance. So I think really good agents. I’m curious to get your thoughts on this. No, okay, I’m about to deliver some rough news. Because we know that at any part, at some point in every transaction, there’s bad news, every transaction, there’s one at least one piece of bad news. So this is something we get to practice a lot. So the my point, what I’m trying to get to is, if you can identify, Okay, I know what the experience is. Or I’m going to ask other agents who have been through this kind of thing. What’s a typical client reaction to you know, not getting a home or having an offer come in goofy or whatever, whatever the the bad news is, being able to, to predict that that may be happening really makes because because I like I bought a home a few years ago, was not my first purchase. And I had forgotten because it had been a few several years. Amy Corr 44:49You forgot the pain. D.J. Paris 44:53And it was a really pretty easy transaction. And I was like, it was so stressful. And I was I was thinking god, I forgot I forgot how stressful this is. I mean, I’m not practicing agents. So I don’t know what a lot of our agents know. But boy, I really needed somebody to like, kind of give me a hug at certain times during a metaphorical hug, I guess. But, but the point is, is I think agents, it’s such, it’s, you know, we’re talking about a huge financial, you know, huge financial decisions here with respect to home ownership could be the largest financial purchase, possibly in you know, in the family. But understanding what the emotions are that are at stake, and understanding how to cope with those ups and downs, I think really separates the wheat from the chaff with respect to top producers. Amy Corr 45:45I agree. And I think what I would also say is, and this is something that I feel like I had on sort of my own journey of growth in my professional career, is I sort of felt like God, I’m supposed to just know how to do all of this stuff, if I’m gonna be really good. And you know, what I really learned is, you know, you’ve got to continue developing your craft, and you know, you don’t come out of the gate brand new knowing how to really be really solid when it comes to the emotional piece to your point, TJ, people may not necessarily know like, how do I respond or what should I anticipate, but you know, continuing to learn, read books, get mentored by other agents, but then also, it’s just you kind of have to go through enough transactions to then know, I know what’s going to happen this time. But one of the people that I really love is, it’s Chris Voss right with a V. The FBI hostage investing, hostage negotiator negotiator read is, yeah, so read his book. And we actually did kind of a workshop, Kevin and I were, we took some of his top tips, and kind of tried to apply them specifically to real estate situations, and sort of like how to use his scripting, because we aren’t saving a life. But sometimes we are saving a house, right. And one of the ones that I love to your point DJ was, I think it was called the accusation audit. And you know, where it kind of was like, Look, DJ, I know you’re not gonna love me, and you’re gonna be really upset when you hear this news. You know, it’s sort of where you put that into their psyche, where you’re already setting them up for a level of disappointment, or they’re already thinking, Well, I can’t be that disappointed at you. Right? So you kind of you but that was a technique that I probably used at certain points without even knowing it. But once I learned that, I thought, oh, my gosh, I use it on my kids. I wish I could use it on my dogs. I use it on my husband, you know what I mean? But suddenly, it was like, this is a communication technique that I can use that allows me to get the person on the other side prepared for something so bad so that when I deliver the actual news, it doesn’t feel quite as awful. Right. And he has a lot of interesting techniques. D.J. Paris 47:48Yeah, Chris Voss This is the never split the difference author, famous FBI hostage negotiator, guy, definitely read this book. But But this, this is what we’re talking about emotional, sort of competence, I would say or emotional coping competence, like real estate agents, you know, if anything, yes, they’re going to sharpen their skills with respect to, you know, market related data, right? They’re going to know, hopefully, they’re going to know, their, their, their numbers, but also knowing sort of the touch points of the clients understanding sort of, what are the motivations? What are the emotions, what are the personality types, and trying to cope ahead, I like the word cope ahead, say, Okay, tomorrow, I have to deliver some bad news to so and, you know, ex client, and like Amy said, I’m gonna maybe I’ll use one of the techniques to sort of maybe soften the blow a little bit. But I also, you know, you can cope ahead and start to think about how might that feel to somebody, okay, they’re gonna, they’re they lost, they lost the deal. Okay, how might that feel them, they’re gonna feel probably pretty defeated, they’re going to feel sad, they’re going to feel maybe angry. Maybe they’ll blame me. You know, you sort of need to go through all of these different instances in your mind and put yourself in their position and say, Okay, let’s let’s cope for all of these. Let’s cope ahead for all of these different inevitabilities. We don’t know which, which one’s going to actually turn out, but I’m going to prepare ahead so that when they respond with whatever their emotional responses, which is going to be probably severe, I am going to have a Don’t worry, it’s okay. Because x and that that I think is is really the key because I know if and as a homebuyer, myself, and home seller, I’ve done that several times. I just all all I ever want in a transaction. So think of me as more of like a lay person. I just want somebody to go it’s all going to be okay. That’s all I ever really want somebody to say somebody who I trust Amy Corr 49:53that and then here’s what we’re going to do next. Exactly, no, it’s going to be okay. And then they’re the ones that are going to move have the ball down the field. And that’s what we have to do as agents, we say it’s okay. But here’s the plan. And I loved your idea of as an agent, kind of taking in the shock of the bad news first, because let’s face it, there is an emotional component that we go through, we get so tight and close to these clients of ours, and their loss, let’s face it is our loss, it’s you know, the better the agents, sometimes, the more emotional or, you know, the harder we can take it, but the best agents understand that take the emotion in, allow themselves to be sad, be frustrated, be all the things that you need to be, allow it to pass, and then recognize I have to be the one that can go in with, we got this attitude, there’s something else for us out there. And you know, be able to remove the emotion to allow the clients to have as much emotion as needed. And I think that’s important, because sometimes an agent will get the bad news, and doesn’t take that time to process it and get to where they need to. And they’ll call the client too fast. And then everybody’s emotional, right? And then no one’s helping anyone. So you know, and I think that is practice, right? I think there’s a million times probably early on, that I was super emotional and called the client right away. Oh, that didn’t go so well. So, you know, it’s a lot of this. And what I also say, to so many agents is, you can be a serial student, though, too, you can read books, you can, we have a lot of classes, we’ve got a lot of programs that you can be in, at some point, you got to jump off the diving board straight into the deep end. And you got to just start, you know, working and trying to figure it out and make a ton of mistakes. And, look, we’ve also arrived DJ, you’re sitting here, I’m sitting here, how many times have we blown it? D.J. Paris 51:45Probably, like five times today, even I’ve blown it many, many times. Today, it’s a it’s a matter of effort, and, and discipline and, and discipline, I don’t want to say discipline, that’s a word. Nobody likes a habits, habits, let’s let’s build good habits. Discipline is a word that we should probably just get do away with Amy Corr 52:07ourselves some grace, you know, the other thing that I see so much with agents is, we’re so hard on ourselves, you know, I was in this group earlier. And this agent was just sort of not beating up on himself a little bit, but he just was just talking about his lack of confidence. And it was so great, because we have these accountability groups that meet every other week, it’s five of them. And, and two of his other team members were like, Robert, you are like amazing, because he was talking about reaching out to an agent in his community that I think is retiring from the business, and a mutual friend of theirs had said you guys should meet because maybe you’d be a great agent to take his business over. And so this guy, Robert was like, Oh, I don’t know, like, what if I’m not a good enough agent, or I’m not the personality type that he would want. And somebody from his group said, Robert, you know what, instead of you thinking that he may be your lucky star, you might be his don’t cut yourself, you know, so you know, you need to cut yourself some more slack, you are amazing. And so I just I see that so often amongst our agents. And, you know, I think one of the things that is also really important, you know, this is a lonely business, as a real estate agent, you know, we can come into the office, and we all sit around the watercooler and talk about our clients. But a lot of times we go back, and we’re really the ones dealing with a lot of these people’s situations. And that’s really hard. And so, you know, on our end of things, when we really try to support from management standpoint, is really being able to see the agent as the individual, you know, how are things going how’s work, how’s life, you know, that means so much for an agent to feel like they are really seen, you know, and it’s just to never underestimate that, because, you know, you’d be surprised some of the agents out there the things that they’re have going on, and how they are still able to carry themselves with such grace, running businesses, you know, and are all CEOs having to support themselves. It’s just, you know, it’s just amazing. So I just think for so many agents that are out there, you’re all rockstars and just recognize, you know, what you do is incredible and just believe in yourself because I don’t I don’t think agents always hear that enough. They should hear it from themselves, but they don’t. D.J. Paris 54:17Yeah, and they should, you should be in community, find your community. Even though you may be an individual producer and you’re producing big big numbers, find your tribe find people that can help support you, whether it whether it’s your your brokerage, or whether it’s just a community of other agents. You know, we are in a sort of communal kind of business, it’s I mean, it’s cooperative for sure. And or at least it’s supposed to be and so this this is an opportunity you know, you even though you might be working remotely, which pretty much everyone is these days you know, you don’t have to not be you don’t have to be apart from from people. So right This idea of you know, get support get an app properties does a great job of this. So we should really talk about, you know, if anyone out there is an A, you guys are not just in the Chicagoland area anymore. You’re kind of all over. Let’s talk about that. So if agents are wanting a different experience, maybe they’re not getting a certain amount of of support or training or resources at their current brokerage, and maybe thinking about switching, looking to see what other options exist. This is the year we’ve seen a lot of movement. How should agents start to explore Christie’s at properties? Amy Corr 55:36Yeah, absolutely. So obviously, locally, we’re at properties, Christie’s international real estate, and around Chicagoland, Wisconsin and Michigan, but we do have affiliates. You know, we’ve got properties in Indianapolis at properties in Dallas, we’ve got an amazing affiliate in Detroit, up in Wisconsin, we’ve got an amazing affiliate in Madison, in the Madison area. And then now the cool thing is we’ve got some really great agents just across the country, Christie’s Cirino, out in California, down to John our woods in Naples, we’ve got a lot of really great people and, and really what’s happening, and what I’m enjoying so much is what we have built as a culture and an opportunity to, to train and develop agents, we are really figuring out how to take that and expand that out into our affiliate network. So a lot of the programming that we do a lot of the support that we try to give to our agents, from accountability to you know, how to develop a great listing presentation, you know, we’ve got a really comprehensive approach to training and our technology, you know, platform has been really phenomenal to support the back end of our agents. So I would just say, if anybody is interested, it’s easy to find me on social media or, you know, you can email me but, you know, we’re, we really feel like, it’s also the idea that attraction, you know, I, I don’t recruit as actively anymore. But when I did, you know, I would always say, this is about you finding a great fit, but it’s also about us finding a great fit, right, it should really feel like a partnership. And I also feel like it isn’t so much as hiring agents, but it’s really them deciding who do they want to hire to help them run their business? And how can we be that little engine pack behind them, just to really make sure that they can take off. And, you know, I feel just so fortunate because I think, you know, culture for us has always been a really big thing. And DJ, you said this earlier, we kind of just, you know, we’re growing and did a lot of things. And I think one of it is like we really just focused on not so much what everybody else was doing. We really just took a look at like, you know, what should we be focusing on as a company? And you know, the question that we always have is, are we doing it good enough? Or can we be doing it better? And are agents feeling supported? Or can we be doing better? And, you know, and so we really kind of just came from that vein and, and I think the funniest is we’ve just never taken ourselves, you know, we are very serious about creating successful agents. But we also have a lot of fun. And, you know, I think sometimes that goes out of people’s lives too fast when it comes to work. And I think it’s finding the fun again, even though the market has its challenges. There’s so much opportunity out there and sometimes when we let ourselves go to have a little fun, it’s amazing how the universe will open up for us, you know, D.J. Paris 58:20a great, perfect, perfect way to wrap up the show. Amy, thank you so so much. Yes, go out. Have fun. Oh, I am so happy to I hope to have you on in the future as well. When everyone who’s listening who has made it this far to please please subscribe to Coffee with cat with Amy and Kevin’s you can find that on Instagram and YouTube should they do a weekly show talk about the sort of state of the market what you can do to keep your business moving forward at coffee with Amy and Kevin. We will have links to that in the show notes. If you are in any of the markets that Amy mentioned, you’re interested in exploring other brokerages at properties Christie’s international would love to talk to you. So please check them out@properties.com at properties.com. And, and behalf of our audience want to thank Amy for her time today. She is a busy, busy woman. And she was kind enough to be on our show. So thank you on behalf of the audience Amy. And on behalf of Amy and myself who want to thank our audience for continuing to support our show. Please tell a friend to think of one other realtor that could benefit from hearing this, this conversation with Amy and send them a link to this episode. The best way you can do that send them over to our website keeping it real pod.com is where all of our episodes live. Also on every podcast directory out there, just search keeping it real hit that speciated Amy thank you so so much. I had a great time with you. Excited to to have you on in the future because I want to talk to you about more more things related to how to be how to become a success. on real estate So, Amy, thank you. We will see everybody on the next episode. Amy Corr 1:00:05Hi everybody.

Trish Arcaro the Holistic Real Estate Pro, Maine’s Holistic Realtor & Industry Disruptor talks about her experience as real estate agent. Trish describes her transition from marketing manager in California to a real estate agent with a team. Next, she discusses the importance of being part of a group and having a mentor. Trish emphasizes, as a holistic agent, the aspect of serving and guiding people through their real estate experience while taking the well-being of the whole person into account. Please check out Trish on Instagram here. If you’d prefer to watch this interview, click here to view on YouTube! Trish Arcaro can be reached at 626.716.2351. This episode is brought to you by Real Geeks. Transcript D.J. Paris 0:00What does it mean to be a holistic real estate agent? Stay tuned. This episode of Keeping it real is brought to you by real geeks. How many homes are you going to sell this year? Do you have the right tools? Is your website turning soft leads and interested buyers? Are you spending money on leads that aren’t converting? Well real geeks is your solution. Find out why agents across the country choose real geeks as their technology partner. Real geeks was created by an agent for agents. They pride themselves on delivering a sales and marketing solution so that you can easily generate more business. Their agent websites are fast and built for lead conversion with a smooth search experience for your visitors. Real geeks also includes an easy to use agent CRM. So once a lead signs up on your website, you can track their interest and have great follow up conversations. Real geeks is loaded with a ton of marketing tools to nurture your leads and increase brand awareness visit real geeks.com forward slash keeping it real pod and find out why Realtors come to real geeks to generate more business again, visit real geeks.com forward slash keeping it real pod. And now on to our show. Hello, and welcome to another episode of Keeping it real the largest podcast made by real estate agents and for real estate agents. My name is DJ Paris, I am your guide and host through the show and in just a moment, we’re going to be speaking with top producer Trish arcaro. Before we get to Trish, just a couple of quick reminders. Actually, I got an announcement to make we It’s only taken me six years to do this. But finally, I guess Better late than never finally we have an Instagram account. Please, please, please, please, please pause this podcast, go to Instagram and follow us not because I need the followers although I do need the followers. But I want you to follow me not just for me but for you because we’re actually posting daily content on Instagram that are short form video clips of these episodes. So if you want to just get the little nuggets of wisdom, I’ve got a team that is combing through the episodes finding the best parts and putting them on Instagram actually, they’re not just putting them on Instagram. They’re putting them on Facebook, tick tock YouTube, LinkedIn. I think that’s it everywhere basically every social channel. So anyway, please follow us find us on Instagram. It’s at top agent interviews at top agent interviews. I know keeping it real was taken so I had to find something else. Top agent interviews on Instagram. Thank you that would help us out a lot and please let us know what you think of the short form content. We are so excited about this. And also please tell a friend about the podcast tell anyone you know in your office Hey, listen to the show. It’ll help you increase your production that’s our goal. Alright guys enough for me. Let’s get to the main event my conversation with Trish arcaro Hey, today on the show we have Trish arterra With next home experience in Maine. Let me tell you more about Trish. Trish. Our Kara is Maine’s holistic realtor and industry healer. Her unorthodox approach to real estate is rooted in holistic principles, which means she takes a look at your life and helps you manifest a home that aligns with your values, your aspirations and your lifestyle. It doesn’t matter if you’re a first time homebuyer or seasoned seller Trish will guide you through the process with compassion, care and expertise. Visit Trish at her website which is Trish r keroh.my. Next home experience.com We will have a link to that in the show notes. And also please follow her on Instagram she is at holistic real estate pro again holistic real estate pro on Instagram link to that as well in the show notes Trish Welcome to the show. Trish Arcaro 4:17Thank you for having me, DJ Paris. This is D.J. Paris 4:21we were we were both just laughing because Trish his last name is Italian and she goes I’m not really Italian. And I said well my last name is Paris and I’m not French. Go figure. But I’m glad we’re talking to people with with with unusual last names that don’t match their ethnicities. But tell us I would love to learn a little bit more about you and tell or expose our audience to to to your sort of way of doing business. I’m really excited to chat with you. I’ve I’ve been I love the fact that that I think in real estate. A lot of times people don’t have enough fun in the sense of with the things that may be thought to be not as aligned with real estate. So in real estate, we like to think like, oh, the headshot needs to look perfect, I need to be sort of more conservative and buttoned up and just, you know, a more sort of traditional business stuffy kind of approach. And you are like, No, my authentic self is I am into some interesting, cool things that are important to me. And I’m going to embed that into my business. And I just love that. So nobody probably knows what yet what we’re talking about. So I’m excited to get to that. But before we get to what you’re doing today, I want to hear about how you got started. So tell us how you got into real estate. Trish Arcaro 5:38So I, back in 2003, and four, I was working as a receptionist for a salon and there was a hairstylist there that does mortgages on the side. And I was like, how do you manage yourself doing mortgages and doing hair at the same time, I just don’t even know how she got it. But, you know, that started this, that seed was planted in my head, I was like, Oh, maybe I should try it in California. So was when I was in California. And fast forward to 2014. I just jumped right in, there was an opportunity to be a marketing manager for a team for real estate agency that I first started out in, and I grew with them. And then somehow, it’s so weird, because the universe just kind of aligns you and connects with you. Put you in the right place at the right time. So the team that I was working for, or working with their family lives around the block from my parents house in Los Angeles, it is so I’ve never met them. Yeah, never met them in my life before until I moved to Maine. And then they had California ties, Los Angeles ties and so happens that they lived around the block from my parents house. It’s so weird. So weird. And now we’ve become really friends. And I’ve learned so much from starting out as a team member, and then developing my own brand, successfully on my own since I’ve left the team. So how D.J. Paris 7:05did you go from West Coast to East Coast, you made a huge shift there. Trish Arcaro 7:09That was a quantum leap for me. So yeah. So when we literally decided to move to California to make we my husband and I were like, We don’t want to raise our kids out here. We don’t you know, in LA, I wanted something different. So we decided to move closer to his family here. And I, I dropped everything to pick up and then move really. And then I started real estate maybe six to eight months later. And I just went went on. And I barely had anything there like nothing. Sure. D.J. Paris 7:52Well, I always know that about. Yeah, there’s something about the idea of sort of having to make it work. Like for people that are there’s like a gift they call it like the gift of desperation in a sense. And I’m not saying you are desperate. Not having a safety net is is definitely like a huge risk. And, but but I always find it in some ways. Like it sort of forces people to get really, really, you know, sort of in line with their goals. And and then they can Yeah, and there’s no other option as a lot of times you just figure out a way to make it work. Trish Arcaro 8:27Yeah, it was very, you know, scary, you know, when I know feel like it’s the right thing to do. And there’s something better on the other side, once I get through this past this fear. And so, you know, moving from Los Angeles to Maine, just was the best is the entire family. My mom and dad bought a house out here followed me and their grandkids out here too. Yeah. So they have two properties, one in LA and then one here in Maine that I manage, me, my husband take care of while they’re gone. And they go back and forth. So I mean, it’s a whole win win situation for all you know what I mean? It’s all for the highest good. So it’s for my family and my parents. D.J. Paris 9:09Yeah, no, I mean, that’s amazing. And the culture is very different. Right? So you were like Southern California and then you move to sort of, you know, mid to northern parts of Maine and people are different. Values are different, everything’s different. Trish Arcaro 9:23Everything was different but the one thing I can say about Mainers out here when I first they’re so welcoming so friendly I stuck out obviously you know coming from D.J. Paris 9:35the west coast granola Girl Yeah, Trish Arcaro 9:37yeah. So I was like, you know coming from Pine like you know, palm trees the beach to Sandy tan all the time to like to like pines, trees and snow. Yeah. Then my experiencing i There’s a lot is that I’ve since living here in Maine and I would never change. And like I said it was just The best decision best Quantum Leap decision that I’ve ever made in my whole entire life so far. So that was D.J. Paris 10:08I love it. Yeah. And and now Yeah, you get to see the you get to see the colors change, you get to see the seasons, you get to eat a lot of lobster there’s, there’s, there are some benefits to living in Maine. You’re buying the mountains, you’re by the water. Just everything I just Yes. Such as everything’s, by the way for anyone that has not seen the colors change in the northeast, starting around like September October ish. If you’ve never done that, like I had a friend who I mean, it was one of those things that people told me for years, you got to see the colors change. And I was like, Yeah, you know, whatever. Yeah. And then finally, I had a friend in Boston, and she goes, you’ve never seen the colors change. And I’d been I’ve been to almost all the states, not all of them. But there’s like five or six I hadn’t been to at that time. And those happen to be like New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine where I still haven’t been to Vermont, but New Hampshire and Maine I had never been to and she’s like, Oh, perfect flying to Boston and drive up. And I legitimately was just the whole entire weekend, or however long. I was I was just constantly ping pong, my eyes were like, I have never Yeah, colored neon colored leaves I’d never seen like that color yellow, or green, or red or orange. I it’s just exquisite. And it’s, it’s we’re so lucky to have that in this country. And anyway, that’s my little go to Maine, and go see the colors. Trish Arcaro 11:29They actually they, you know, they actually have a map of like the levels of bright, though as, as the state changes, they have levels of the colors like, Well, you shouldn’t be here, this is the highest like you can see the colors and then it goes down, down down. And then it’s just so rad to see how our state just changes from one thing to another. D.J. Paris 11:54Well, it is funny, because it’s a small, it’s kind of a small window, and no one’s ever exactly sure what it’s going to hit or exactly like until you get really close to it. And then by then like everything books up. So you have to, you have to sort of make us somewhat of a guest like in the summertime or whatever. But so I was we were on all those sites, and oh my gosh, I just just such a beautiful part of the country. So tell us a little bit of So you moved west coast to to to Northeast, and then you had to start over. So I want to hear what it was like to start over in a new state where you’re not from no sphere of influence, really. So how did you how did you build. Trish Arcaro 12:30So I literally I didn’t put it into like perspective until I started really thinking about it, like, you know, you start thinking about your past and how you did it, I was like, Well, I really just took like, three steps in, which is the manifestation process. And it’s really just really getting clear on who I want to be around with getting clear on my vision and who I want to serve, and surrounding myself with those kinds of people and gaining so much information. And that’s why joining a team was so valuable to me because I had mentors that I can like, go to every time. And you know, it’s just for me it was more about there’s a goal, I want to serve people, I want to be able to dive myself into this community because this is where I’m setting my routes. So I might as well just embody myself as a real estate agent at that time. And then taking step number two would be taking those action steps. So doing the classes going out and meeting different people, you know, obtaining leads lead generation doing whatever I have to do as a real estate agent during that time, I did that. And then number three is just being open to receiving whatever is meant for me. So whether it’s the commission checks, whether it’s the actual clients that you attract, and you become lifelong friends with them and you start developing this brand and I didn’t really be wasn’t really in tune with myself then when I was on a team because I was representing a brand for someone else. It was not my brand. But now that I’m by myself and you know, part of a culture here at Next time, my experience is just just pretty much rock and launch me to where I am today. So those steps on my beginning days are so vital. So I knew I had to know what I needed to do. And then kind of just, you know, elaborated and collaborated with other partners in the industry to help me become who I am today. D.J. Paris 14:38I love that and it’s really, it’s really apt I was this you’ll you’ll appreciate it. You’ll probably find this interesting. So last night I was I was I was gonna just listen to some sort of more of just entertainment style podcast in the evening while I was relaxing. And a friend of mine said, you really should. I think you’d find this interesting. There’s a podcast by Sam Harris. Who’s more of like a Phyllis sort of a philosopher, but really just kind of a deep thinker. And some people like him, some people don’t, I’m not here to say whether he you know, you should listen to him or not. But anyway, he did a whole a 45 minute piece about freewill. And what was interesting was he was like, he doesn’t believe in free will, which is really interesting. And then he makes this case for why we don’t actually have free well, and he’s able to make that case pretty logically. And so what’s interesting is he says, It’s not that you don’t have some semblance of control over over parts of your life, of course you do. But for the overall sort of part of your life, really, things just kind of happen to you. And, and then it’s about what you do with what happens, you know, like, it’s like, things are just gonna happen, good things, bad things. And then it’s about what you make of those things. Yeah. But But he also said about getting clear with intention starts to sort of set in motion, you know, this idea of attraction and not in like a woowoo II kind of like, metaphysical way, but he’s like, no one, it actually activates, you know, certain parts of the brain that then start to look for those things. So this idea of getting really clear about what you want. Step one, is really important. And by the way, it’s what every consultant does, when they first talk to somebody, they’re like, Okay, tell me what you’re looking, what do you what do you want care at? What’s the problems? What are you looking for? Let’s get clear about that first, and then let’s figure out how to get you you know, those next few steps. So you’re absolutely right, it’s like, figure out what you want, then take the steps necessary. And then the hardest part may be for a lot of people’s being willing to receive, I think, yeah. It seems like that would be the easiest step. But for me, I think that would be the hardest part for Trish Arcaro 16:38me, you think so it for me, it’s a totally opposite. So like, it’s, I’d be happy to open to like, I’m open to receiving whatever is meant for me, like, I accept that the hardest thing for me is the how and the when is when I think five most of my clients have a hard time with is just, you know, like, When is this gonna happen? Like, how am I gonna get I was like, You hurry up and wait. It’s like, you can’t choke hold the universe. In that sense, where you’re like, you can try, you can try but it’s not going to the outcome is not what you want, or what you think you want. So it’s just, you know, again, releasing that control piece, and like just just letting it flow. And that’s what I did to build my business now was like, Okay, I got really clear, you know, my action was to I hired, you know, two different coaches, like, for me, so do self, like self development, get in with my inner child, do all that, like Shadow Work, all of those things, and then, you know, applying it to my business, and you know, for personal reasons, I doing it for it, but then, like, why can I just put it into my business? Like, why can I just inflict it, fuse it and then somehow I just one thing led to another, I get connected with a brand strategist who helped me develop the name, holistic real estate pro, like, and she was aligned with me, like minded all of these things, and it just so crazy, and how the universe just connects you. And I truly believe in divine timing, hands down, whatever, whatever you’re doing, whether it’s in business or in personal, it’s all about divine timing, it’s, it’ll happen when it happens. And you’ll know and, and you’ll know, just, D.J. Paris 18:27and I think, too, once you get more, and I’m going through this process myself, it’s like starting to make more space for for silence and a little bit of alone time, where, but but not alone time where I’m listening to other things or watching other things or just sort of taking time to sort of just allow things to emerge from within. And that idea that we have this sort of wealth of creativity and knowledge and, and just feelings in sort of intuition. You’re gonna I know, you’re really big into intuition. Yeah, what I will talk, I want to I definitely want to talk about how you apply that in your business. What I’ve what I found with intuition for me, is we live in a very noisy world, right? Like our phones are constantly asking for our attention, they’re begging for that attention. There’s a you know, there’s a lot of tech companies that you know, are vying for that, that space where they want your attention. And if I don’t give myself attention, if I don’t actually make space for these, like thoughts and ideas to emerge, then they’re just not going to be heard by my unconscious mind. So, so this idea about about get making some time is really important. Because like, again, that’s intuition. The signals are there, but if you’re not to, Trish Arcaro 19:42yeah, if you’re not listening to your heart or your, or looking at the science, there’s so many signs that people just miss. And I just think, for me, I have to really be in tune with myself and really know that you know, look beyond my third eye and just So make sure that like, Okay, what is my gut tells me that’s my first instinct is what is your gut tell you? If it’s like a hell yes, then hell yes. Then if it’s a heck no, no, don’t even don’t even go there. Or if it’s an unmanned middle, just sit with it a little bit. It’s okay to sit. If you’re totally right. Yeah, I totally get that. Yeah. D.J. Paris 20:19So like, for me too, with intuition, I find that what can be challenging for me is understanding what is real intuition. And also what might be anxiety, fear, things that like, for example, the most obvious example is when I go to the gym, which I don’t ever want to do, of course, but but I do it because I, it’s a good idea. So I go, and then I’m literally going to be diving headfirst into like, physical pain, right? That’s like, that’s the reason I don’t want to do it. Because it hurts. It’s terribly hard. But of course it is everything in life that’s worthwhile is hard. So no, you know, that’s, but I don’t like it. But I like the way I feel when it’s over. But my point is, is sometimes I’m just like, oh, I don’t want to go. And I’m like, Well, okay, and that’s fine. Of course, I don’t want to go. It’s painful. That makes sense. But is that really my intuition? Is that my wisest self? Or is that just a little fear? Part of me that’s just doesn’t want to, you know, do heavy weightlifting, of course. Yeah. And then I go, Oh, that’s actually just anxiety. And then the wisest part of me says, It’s okay, you can be anxious, but go anyway. And that’s really by intuition. Right. So so it’s idea of, of developing that in that sort of understanding of intuition versus, you know, oh, this is like a fear that I have that, you know, I’ve had since I was a child or something like, okay, it’s okay to have both. And, and so I’m curious on how you utilize. Oh, I wanted to ask you a question about intuition. Yeah. So it has your what is the hit rate or the success rate that you found with your intuition? In other words, how often is it? Would you say correct or right? Versus Oh, I followed my gut there. And it just didn’t lead me in the right path. Like, what’s the percentage of sort of, you know, outcome that you wanted versus outcome that you’re like, Oh, nope, I got that one wrong. Trish Arcaro 22:0680% are pretty great. Right there. Yeah. 20% I’m like, why not done that? Yeah. No. 80% D.J. Paris 22:16Well, nothing’s perfect. But like, percent is pretty close. Trish Arcaro 22:19It’s really close. And I you know, when I look back, I was like, ah, and I write down everything. Like I write down and I try to do things the goals that I want an outcome that I want that I desire, like a clear to close it or any no I’m like, right there, but I was like other something that is, you know, I’m preparing for the best obviously, in the you noticed that phrase expect the worst or? D.J. Paris 22:45Yeah, yeah, yeah, prepare for the worst expect expect Trish Arcaro 22:49that. And so, but there are things where just the universe just like, oh, no, we have this thing, we have this thing to deal with. You know, work, can we not, you know, be like that anymore. So there’s just just 80% of the time. I’m always right. My intuition. My gut is always right. Yeah. And 20 D.J. Paris 23:12dopes, it, probably you probably see yourself in some ways, and I know you do a tremendous amount of action. So I’m not suggesting that you just kind of let things come to you. Because of course, life just doesn’t work that way. Now, most of us, maybe if we’re really lucky, I guess. But most of us don’t aren’t that lucky. So, so this, this idea of, you know, sort of being this almost like a leaf on on a river, just kind of, I’m paying attention, I’m doing things but I’m also not the river. I’m just going to let the river take me. Yeah, I’m going to pay attention. I’m going to take action when I need to. But I sort of suspect that that reduces a lot of fear and anxiety that you might have going, this is all going to work, like everything’s going to work out. I’m not going to fight against what is right. It’s that like, what is is like what is is I’m on a river and I Okay, and I’m gonna just let the river take me and I’m gonna pay attention and make changes when I need to. But I suspect you sort of see yourself a bit that way. Trish Arcaro 24:06So the phrase I love and it’s from a song is everything is is as it should be. Yeah, that’s it. Everything is as it should be. Every time my buyer’s or seller’s are like, I’m just so anxious that you know, everything is as it should be right now. It is fine. We are meant that if this house was meant for you, we would have gotten it if it wasn’t, you know, if it is it is it is not it’s not you got to accept that and that’s okay. It can you know, and yes, you know, this, we all know this mark is crazy, and people are not, you know, manifesting their house or they’re not getting the house that they want or they put so many offers in and so that fear and that discouragement, you know, this is where I come in and be like nope, I am positive. We’re going to find something like my enthusiasm, my my, my glow, my vibe. I’ve really keeps them together. And I kept them up and just making sure that you know, things are supposed to be like this things are supposed to, you’re supposed to experience these things before you get to the, you know, your goal. Like before you attain this goal, you need to experience certain things, rejection, fear all of these things, but yes, still have an open heart to receiving whatever is meant for you. You know, that, you D.J. Paris 25:26know, it’s it sounds sort of like some of the language you’re using sounds sort of subtle or maybe wordplay in a sense. Yeah. But it isn’t. Because I know that I get calmed down a lot when, like, you know, if something happens, and somebody’s wise enough in the group, if I’m in a group that says, Don’t worry, it this probably just wasn’t meant to be, but don’t worry, like things are going to work out. And if I trust that person, then will usually the person ends up being right, I found that to be the case, maybe something? Well, it’s it’s that old joke it. This is my favorite joke of all time. And it’s not a religious joke. So I apologize for anyone that might take this as like a religious thing. Trust me, it’s not, or at least not the way I think about it. But it’s just it’s a really simple joke. I think it’s the truest thing ever. It’s called, we make plans. God laughs right, which I always I love that. Because like, what’s more true than that? Like, yeah, we’d go for something and it just, that’s not what the universe or whatever. And, and it’s okay, because there’s going to be something else that does this, Trish Arcaro 26:30or something better. Yeah, this or something better. And that’s what it is, like, you know, today, you know, one of my clients, we put an offer in, and she was like, we put it in two days ago. And there’s, like 16 offers on this. And it was, yeah, and I was like, it’s this or something better. Honestly, if this or something better. And if it’s not, then we just move on to something else that you know, it may come back around, you just never know the universe are so funny in that way where, you know, you could become a backup lover, and you end up with the house, you just never know, D.J. Paris 27:04I am so impressed by that, that phrase, this or something better. And it’s not just a cute thing to say, to placate the you know, the client, it’s actually what you believe, because it’s what you believe it doesn’t come off as a cute little slogan or something that they tell you to say in sales, school or whatever. It’s literally what you believe, at your deepest part of you, because you apply those same principles yourself. And, and, and so if I, if I have somebody who’s congruent with their words, and their beliefs and their actions, where I know, they’re not just giving me a line that they you know, no, this will help placate the me. If I’m like, if I trust that person, I’m like, you just you just made that this disappointment slightly easier for me. Yeah, because I trust that you know what you’re doing. And if you’re confident about it, then I’m going to be like, okay, good, it’s not so so tense, your Trish Arcaro 28:02vibration, your vibration, your energy that you put out there in front of your client, or who your friend or whoever, they, they, they feed off of that in a lot. For me, my energy is so loud. And so you know, I attract these are all my clients the way I want them to like the way the type of client that I want, I attract those. And so they feed off of my energy, and they tell me time and time again, you have this calming aura about yourself, you have this positivity, where I feel down and all of a sudden, you just come up and have me look again and see and be like, Okay, this is not the end of the road. This is or just, you know, wanting one day at a time, one showing at a time kind of thing. It will, this journey is just not always going to be perfect. It’s going to be perfect for you, and how you experience it. So D.J. Paris 28:57well. Almost nothing in life is linear anyway, right? Almost everything goes up and down, up and down wild swings, peaks and valleys. Yeah, you know, heartbreak and love and everything in between, you know, death, birth, I mean, yeah, truly difficult and wonderful things happen to us, which are going to happen to us anyway. And this idea of, of not fighting the current that’s already taking you is it’s a lifetime of practice. I am not good at it. I try to control every area of my life because that’s the human condition. Yeah, Trish Arcaro 29:32you’re it’s up constant, work it within yourself. Especially as for me, in my line of business and my brand. It’s like I’m constantly working on myself every day to to make someone else’s day. You know, feel good. And, you know, that’s that’s the goal for me is to serve these families in my community and to help them achieve their goal. So their success is my success in that sense. And so I You know, I wouldn’t be here without, you know, the help and support and love from my clients and my friends and family. I just, you know, I just decided to embody myself as this and just, you know, let go and forget the fear of what people might think. And I think that’s what people do to me is because I don’t care what people think of me, especially in this market, like in this, you know, I’m not, I’m not your typical agent, in that sense. Like, it’s like I said, it’s like, unorthodox approach to real estate and, and it’s something that stands out and people are curious of what I do and and that’s how I attract these clients are like, Oh, you’re like me, you think you sound you you do things that I like to you love crystals. You love manifestation law of attraction. You love all them, like, Sure, come talk to me, I’ll talk about it all day long with you, whether it’s a house about houses are not I’ll talk about it. Yeah, D.J. Paris 30:56well, and and it’s, you’re attracting people who are into into that. And so as a result, you know, you’re you’re not having to even convince them that you’re this professional that has kind of a, I don’t want to say quirky, because that’s has a negative connotation, you’re not quirky in any in any way, you have this more unorthodox sort of style, which, really, at the end of the day, you don’t, because you’re a hard working realtor, and you’re working, you know, into the, you know, you’re working hard. But at the same time, you’re also like, Hey, I I’m not going to, I’m not going to be pushing against what is I’m going to just be guiding you to what, you know, what we think is what, you know, your next home. And if things don’t work out, don’t worry, we’re gonna we’re, boy, it’s very calming, I would say, yeah. Trish Arcaro 31:42Yeah, that’s a lot of people have, you know, the reviews I get, they’re like, you’re so calming. And just, you’re just there to, you know, if I call you frustrated, or I’m like, you know, I’m like a psychologist, coach, and like, everything that they want to dump on me, you know, and that will filter out the noise. And I know, they’re coming from a place of desperation, a place of lack, sharp fear, all of those things, and just somehow just let them sit in it. And I’ll tell I’m saying that it’s okay. You know, sleep on that, call me tomorrow, see how I just needed to just to just, of course, dump that on yo, like, it’s, D.J. Paris 32:22yeah, and then again, people need to get things out. Mm hmm. Trish Arcaro 32:26And then for myself, for me to digest all that, too, because I absorb a lot of energy from other people. And so for me, I do mind modalities, I’ll just meditate for a little bit, do a tarot reading for myself, write in my journal. And just remember that, you know, Trish, you’re manifesting and attracting like minded individuals, whether, you know, they’re on the same level as you or if there might be, you know, there’s a little struggle, there’s a little anxiety, there’s a little fear, but you are here to help them and guide them, your, your or their reason to move forward. Not me necessarily a reason but like, I’m part of their, you know, a huge part of their journey. So yeah, I just kind of remember, like, what I do, every time I remind myself, Who am I survey, and you also, D.J. Paris 33:18you take that responsibility very seriously, I can tell and that’s an important thing, like whatever somebody’s authentic self is that they want to bring into their real estate practice, they have to really be find the courage to sort of say, This is who I am, this is what I’m about, here’s why I think it serves you know, you Mr. Mrs. client, or here’s why it’s important for my business, but at the same time, like you what you’ve seen, authenticity seems to be the, the, the, the word I would put with you is you really are that person and as a result people are attracted because people are always attracted to authenticity, whatever the authentic self is, Trish Arcaro 33:58yeah, whatever it is, I mean, you know, you can have a different niche, different brand or whatever you do, and even other realtors asked me like how did you like manage to niche down to this like it’s really a lot of you know, it is a lot of work it’s a lot of self development and it was this was in the making, you know, years to come and I didn’t do this at the drop of a hat like I didn’t do this overnight this was like years in the making to actually deciding to come out like this as you know, especially in an industry that is so traditional and for me to come out like as a holistic realtor and there are many people out there that practice holistic real estate, you know, just like me or a little bit different than me but for me to be actually naming myself and becoming it you know, mains holistic realtor and an industry healer like that took a lot for me to just say out there and just put it out there. And you know, not hopefully The best but I’m just, you know, it’s just it’s it’s a risk for me, you know, maybe people won’t like that maybe it’s too woowoo maybe it’s too new agey, but you know, there’s so many people that deep down inside, they do practice some of these things that I do I just say it out loud. That’s it. Yeah. D.J. Paris 35:20But but the courage, the courage to say it out loud, I think is the secret sauce, right? Like, it’s, it’s like, I don’t have to hide this part of me. I don’t have to pretend that I’m not this way. And you’re not, you’re so different, really, than most of us. You just talked about the things that most of us just read about Trish Arcaro 35:37this talk about it? Yeah. And, and people have seemed to be really receptive. And even colleagues were like, how do I manifest this? I go, you’re manifesting every day. D.J. Paris 35:47Your thoughts create your reality you like it or not? Trish Arcaro 35:51Exactly. And then D.J. Paris 35:54what and that’s why if you if somebody accepts that, that premise that we’re all we’re Coke, well, maybe we’ll call it co creative universe, and they’re creating, and we’re sort of part of the creation process, then, then, if that’s the case, then you start to get really careful, or at least aware of what you are bringing what you are thinking about where you are putting your attention, because there’s a lot of ways where we especially right now, with the market, the way it is, we can, we could easily be putting a tremendous amount of our energy and attention into low higher interest rates that our clients don’t love. Lower, you know, less inventory for opportunities there. It’s, it’s, there’s a lot to feel crappy about if you want to, I mean, there’s plenty of it plenty of reasons. And that’s okay to acknowledge that it’s like, you don’t want to say, well, there’s no weeds in my garden, obviously, you want to take the weeds out. But at the same time, you don’t want to over focus on those weeds and miss some of the beauty that’s going on at the same time. Mm hmm. Trish Arcaro 36:54And, you know, a unique thing that I have my clients do, I had one my current client right now, because we’re searching and still looking, and still like, doing things. Because we’ve we lost out on like, a couple of deals. And I was like, listen, we have to do something different. So I want you to do this assignment. And this assignment is write a gratitude letter to your house that you’re living in right now. Even if you don’t own it, but it’s a house that you’re living under the roof of it’s giving your shelter, give a just write out your gratitude. On paper, it, see what comes up for you and see, see how it’s you know, giving you shelter through cold and, you know, keeping you warm, you know, you have a place to sleep, like all the things that you know, that you can think of give gratitude to your space and see what happens and I think that really opens up everyone’s mind. And just really like, kind of like, okay, now I have respect for what I have now. And now the universe can like open opportunities for me to be like, okay, yeah, here we go. Like, here’s some some listings that we can probably look at here. Some, you know, maybe you’re interested in change. You don’t I mean, there’s so many different things if you don’t show gratitude right now for what you have. How is the universe gonna give you something better than Yeah, I D.J. Paris 38:13could not agree more. I think I think gratitude is is just a great way to sort of flip the mindset quickly, it’s the quickest way I know to get out of distress, right and and there’s nothing wrong with with acknowledging distress of course, like of course, we need to acknowledge bad things that happen, but at the same time, you know, this idea of going Hey, in a year will I have found my perfect place like at worst case scenario, it’s like getting fired from a job Yeah, it’s like yeah, devastating at some time. Oh my God, my worlds over I don’t know what I’m going to do. And then a year from now, you’re usually in a better job with a better position. And we look back and go God, why was I so stressed? Well, because the unknown is stressful. So this idea of of acknowledging Okay, right now, it’s unknown, you know, you’ve lost a couple deals, but let’s, let’s let’s sort of think forward like once you get that poem, because you’re gonna get home we’re going to get you something let’s think about how you’re going to feel about that at that time and and and let’s be appreciative for what you currently have. I I don’t think that sounds odd at all. Like it’s it’s an odd thing for maybe not odd it’s an unusual thing for maybe a realtor to suggest what is it is it forget about you know, whether you believe in manifestation or evidence or whatever, but regardless, just practically, does that change your mindset? Of course it does. If nothing else, you just put them in a better mood for some some news that they didn’t want to hear. Trish Arcaro 39:37Yeah, and I think it’s just also too like for them for someone that is renting and showing appreciation for their space but then now it puts them into a mode of like homeownership or like, embodying so I embody this as a main holistic realtor. I want them to embody themselves as a homeowner. So like doing the things what a homeowner would do like, what would a homeowner gonna do, you know, get their money mindset straight, like Get, get their financial straight get checkout things that don’t serve them anymore and clear space and just again, showing that peace of gratitude and appreciation, huge goes a long way, like 100% of the time goes a long way when it comes to anything that you want in your life. And so that’s like one simple thing that one person can do, which is show gratitude. And but again, the second thing would be just maybe try embodying yourself as a homeowner, you know, like, you just never know, once because your thought, when do you have that thought in there? Now you have to put that into action, what are you going to do? And you’re basically telling your subconscious mind that this is real, like, Okay, I’m, you know, consciously Yes, I’m in this reality right now. But subconsciously, I’m going to be here. So I need to bring that out into the real world. D.J. Paris 40:58And I need to figure out what I need to do to actually get there. Yeah, Trish Arcaro 41:01yeah. And so you’re not mind tricking your subconscious. But you know, your thoughts, as soon as you think about what you want, and you know how you’re going to get there, or you don’t know how to get there. But you’re going to take a step anyway. It’s the your path will lead you to where you’re supposed to be. D.J. Paris 41:19And we’ll look, I mean, every professional athlete or not every professional athlete, but most professional sports teams have psychologists or lunch or coaches that will do visualization exercises where people can, you know, these top athletes, the people who are the very most skilled at their profession, in the entire world, basically, are also doing these kinds of exercises where they’re visualizing their outcome that they want. And they’re not all doing it, because they’re all in the New Age stuff. They’re doing it because it works. It works at the highest levels of athletics, which is a meritocracy, it’s all merit based and you don’t, you don’t get into being a professional athlete, unless you’re really, really good. So this idea isn’t so unusual, really know, this idea of getting clear. Yeah, it’s not it’s not it’s really not airy fairy. Trish Arcaro 42:07No, it’s not, it’s just your typical, you know, you’re just, everyone’s doing it and subconsciously, or consciously, they’re doing it, it’s just, I word it differently. And it’s, it means the same thing in that sense. So like, you know, getting really clear on your intentions are is a huge thing, like you, if you don’t know what you’re not clear about who you are as a person, or not clear what you’re going to want to desire, like what your goal is, and, you know, your loss, like you have to really get that understanding within yourself, and then surround your people to help you understand, if you don’t understand, get clear, you know, like, use your resources and talk to people and that you, if you want to be in this, you know, in a certain category, if you want to get yourself to the next level, you got to talk to those next level people, you know, like, you know, if you want to have higher income, talk to those people that how did they get to that higher income, or, you know, wherever, whatever, industry, it doesn’t matter if it’s real estate, it doesn’t matter where if you’re a medical, whatever, it’s still the same process, those three step processes, same anyway. And so what’s D.J. Paris 43:18what’s what’s great too, about talking to those people who are maybe one level above or more is that you find out what their mindset is, and what their thoughts and their beliefs and how they react to disappointment. And, and it’s usually a much like, what, whenever I love going to see, like, you know, concerts, obviously, I think a lot of us do, but but I’m a guy who’s been playing guitar my whole life, the reason why I like going to concerts, aside from just listening to the great music is also it’s not that I ever want to be a professional musician, but it’s very inspiring to see somebody who’s at that next level, and how seriously, they take their craft. And as a result, they have the success that I won’t have, because I’m not willing to put in that kind of effort. But this idea of, you know, we’re so lucky in real estate where, you know, we get to talk to top realtors, I mean shows like mine exists that that talk to people like you and, and so but you know, it’s you’re right, it’s this idea of, of figuring out the mindsets of the people that are a little bit further along the path than me is really could save you a lot of headache a lot. Yeah, Trish Arcaro 44:22and really tuning in to that, like, don’t just take it with a grain of salt, like really like, take do like, you know, take it away, like really implemented into your life and try you know, certain certain tasks or tips or something from a higher level may not work for you, but at least you tried and seeing like, okay, maybe I can tweak that a little bit a little bit to, you know, benefit me in that sense of my brand and my business and, you know, like there’s so many you know, we had an ex home conference in Houston and there were so many speakers and, you know, the the president of the A National Association Realtors was there. And this guy is amazing. We have the best right now President right now in our association ever. And you know, I’ve learned so much just five minutes speech, it was eye opening for me. And, you know, everybody comes from somewhere, everybody starts from the bottom. And you know, and they work themselves up and, and you’re right, if you’re willing to put in that energy to get up there, like that’s on you. For me, I’m like, I don’t want to feel burned out. So I do whatever I feel that is best for me and my family. And that’s the thing like I, to me, I Yes, I am a top producer, but in my life freaking number one in the company. No, I don’t, I’m not because I don’t want to be I want to be able to just to serve who I want to serve. And, you know, attract the clients that are meant for me and not not feel drowned in overwhelm, and just burnout from the real estate hustle. Like, that’s not what I’m all about. I’m all about common flow, and just, you know, moving with ease, like this job shouldn’t be hard at all. And it can be stressful, but you know, it’s how you respond, right? It’s how you respond to certain reactions, and, and you control what you can control. And I feel like I’ve been doing that, and tweaking it and working on it every day. But, you know, I’m successful. So thus far, and I’m so proud to like, even just talk about the way I approach real estate, because it’s a different thing. It’s it’s, it lights me up, every time I talk, if I’m the one someone was talking about it, I’ll talk about it all day in it. It’s a passion of mine. Now, it’s turned into something bigger than me. D.J. Paris 46:46I’d love to talk about social media, how, how do you approach social media to be an extension of your authentic self. So I’m curious on the content that you’re that you’re putting out there is just curious on your thoughts on that. Trish Arcaro 47:02So social media, I’ll do like the reels, I’ll pick a trending thing. And you know, I’ll do I’ll do a lot of I’m, I’m okay to be in front of camera. So it doesn’t really matter to me, I’ll invite a lender that who is aligned with me to join on them have fun, but I’ll do you know, I’ll share the steps that I take, you know, to becoming successful. So three steps to becoming or manifesting your house. So I’ll put it in slides, I’ll give them the verbiage that I use on a daily basis. And I don’t put out the market analysis, I don’t put out that stuff, I do that I have that for myself. So I can have the knowledge and expertise on my market, but the numbers and the grids and all that stuff. And that’s not for me, like, mine is more of just like being funny, being real, being raw. It’s not always sunshine and rainbows, you know, for being in real estate and or even on the holistic side is not always sure Ooh, whoa, you know, it’s I, you know, normal human beings do is just, you know, I just use a lot of my energy and my time to creating content with people that will grasp that, you know, like, you know, I have, you know, I have, like I said, I’ve partnered up with a lender, and she and I do tic TOCs and rails together that, that make it funny and seems like we’re like a married couple, or like, you know, just like a dynamic duo just just doing fun things. And I’ll throw in the verbiage of manifestation I’ll do the hashtags, all those things did get it out there. So that way people know about it. And I don’t know if social media is a great platform for me to express more of my, to my audience, and joining like, podcasts and things like that guest speaking is, is a huge thing for me too. And, you know, I’ve been doing it for the past, you know, two years now, like just guess, podcasting and just reaching out to a different audience. And people find me somehow they’re like, I want to move to Maine. And I want you I’m like, Oh, where do you find me on a podcast or on Instagram? And like, it was a you know, they’re not it’s very far few. You know what I mean? But that far, few turns out to be really cool. Like, I was like, Oh, someone actually was listening to me, or seeing what, you know, holistic real estate is about like this is where if they, if I can make an impact on them somehow to move forward into manifesting a house as I’m like, you know, my job’s done in that sense, like, yes. Okay, let’s do this. So, D.J. Paris 49:35well, we should also mention, before we wrap up that, you know, people do move to Maine from other parts of the country. You did, certainly a lot of your clients have or sometimes they have vacation homes in the Northeast. And so, you know, for anyone out there who’s listening who may have people that are exploring the Northeast for you know, vacation home or maybe move, Trish would love to opportunity Yes who work with you? Might as well let’s put that out in the universe too. So any agent out there with interest, by the way has clients that retire and they don’t always retire in Maine, they might go somewhere else like Florida or Texas or wherever. Arizona rubber people, Trish Arcaro 50:16mostly Mainers the snowbirds go to Florida. They go down south, so yeah, D.J. Paris 50:21so does everyone here in Illinois, they all go to Florida. So, but But my point is, is that, you know, look this, this is a referral based business also with agents. And, you know, let’s put that out there that if you’re looking for, you know, a good referral partner in, in Maine, uh, Trish is is is awesome. And she’s super well respected. Her clients love her. Obviously, she’s a top producer, and she’s fun. So I mean, if nothing else, she’s fun. And fun goes a long way in my book in real estate, because very few people are willing to be fun. So I love that. So if if Trish if there is another agent out there listening who either wants to refer business to you, or maybe wants to, you know, see if you have business for them. What’s the best way that or by the way we also it’s not only a realtors who listen to us, although I I suspect it’s 99% 9% Trish Arcaro 51:16of your your listing? Is somebody D.J. Paris 51:19who’s not an agent who’s maybe thinking about going to Maine, and maybe they want to work with you? What’s the best way that anyone who wants to connect with you should get into Trish Arcaro 51:29I’m usually on my instagram at holistic real estate pro but my website it’ll be in the show notes down there. You can connect me with me there my number my bio, everything is on there all about me. But it all in there too. Yeah. I mean, it’s just so you know, if you want to come to Maine, you know, I? I’m right here. D.J. Paris 51:50Everybody should go to Maine. I was it just go in the fall, go see the colors change? I promise it’ll blow your mind. And even if you’ve just just Google the images, and then when you see the images on Google realize that doesn’t doesn’t even do it a lick of justice. Like, it’s so much more intense than that. Yeah, it’ll be it’ll blow your mind. And it’s really the only part of the country that really has that. Trish Arcaro 52:18There’s a train actually, there’s a war train from Boston, all the way up. Like I think there is like a, they call it papers, the paper tour. And so it goes all the way up to Maine and then come back down, down to Boston. So there’s so many there’s so many tours and attractions or you know, companies out there that will take you on a tour through mass, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine and see everything I mean, but Maine has, you know, the best lobster so you can still get lobster during that time. And yeah, I mean, yeah, if you guys want to come hang out with me on Instagram, I’m there all the time. D.J. Paris 52:57Fine. Trish on Instagram at my sorry, I’m sorry, holistic real estate pro. So at Instagram, holistic real estate pro also find her on her website, which is Trish r keroh.my. Next home experience.com. Again, links to all that stuff in the show notes. So, Trish, I want to thank you for allowing yourself to reach out to us and be honest. So we are you manifested this How exciting. Trish Arcaro 53:24I guess I did again, you’re like my freshman. This year. I was like, I need to manifest myself to be D.J. Paris 53:29done a lot of shows. Yeah, but first one of the year is a big one for me. I’m excited. I’m so excited. You’re not a newbie to podcast. So Trish Arcaro 53:37no, and I’m so excited to be on the show with you. And by the D.J. Paris 53:41way, you need to have a show. You know, Trish Arcaro 53:44somebody told me so my D.J. Paris 53:46realtor, just call it the holistic realtor or something. I am telling you, holistic real estate pro whatever. I am telling you, that would be awesome. You should you should consider it. Okay, I’m gonna have one more thing to do just just another like 10 hours a week. You got tons of time. Just a suggestion. I’m throwing it out there. Trish Arcaro 54:08That actually crossed my mind. And now it’s a sign again. should do this. I’m like, okay, so I think you know, having myself in my office. Yeah, D.J. Paris 54:20I could see you building a giant team, attracting a lot of other agents, if that’s what you would want. I don’t know if you would even want that. But I could see, I could see a lot of people being very, very much attracted to your mindset, your attitude, the way that you approach and I think that would be of tremendous service to other agents. Also to your clients, like here’s how to process disappointment. Here’s how to, here’s how to, you know, handle the ups and downs. I think you have a lot of wisdom that you could provide any good you’re doing it to your clients anyway. I just think if you put it, you put it on a podcast, I think it could live forever. So something to think about. Anyway, Uh, well, on behalf of our audience, speaking of our audience, we want to thank Trish for spending a good hour with us we really appreciate. So on behalf of everyone, we say thank you Trish for your time we know how busy you are. And it was really a bright spot in my otherwise busy day. I appreciate you your energy add coming onto the show. And then on behalf of Trish and myself, we want to thank the audience as well. Obviously, everyone who has made it to the end of the show, we love you, we appreciate you. Please help us by telling a friend think of one other realtor that you know that could benefit from hearing this great conversation with Trish and send them a link to this episode. Or you could ascend to our website keeping it real pod.com Every episode we’ve ever done can be streamed live there. If they’re not a podcast person, they can stream it from their browser. If they are a podcast person just have a pull up any podcast app search for keeping keeping it real and hit that subscribe button. And one last thing if you want to be able to get extra special credit 10,000 gold stars leave us a review let us know what you think of the show. This really is important for us it’s not just me begging for reviews so that we get more exposure although that is great too. But it’s really to help us continue to improve the show so you know unless you’re gonna leave us a one star review then you don’t have to do that but now I’m teasing but really do let us know what you think of the show because I only know what you guys tell me so please please let us know what what you would like to see more of less of etc I want to keep making the show better for you leave us a review let us know what you think. All right Trish It was a pleasure I next time I’m in the Northeast I am coming to see you because I’m sure I will need an attitude adjustment at that point anyway. And you are going to be my you’re gonna be my guru while I’m there. And you have to show me around but I absolutely love the Northeast so everyone go visit and also reach out to Trish follow her look check her out on Instagram, holistic real estate pro she does some really cool content on there. Check it out. Trish thank you so much and we will see everybody on the next episode.

Casey Napolitano the founder and CEO of NDA Real Estate discusses her experience in the business coming from a multigenerational real estate family. Casey explains the knowledge she gained growing up and skills she possessed by her family and how these helped her career. Casey also discusses the importance of privacy and guarding your client’s information. Last, Casey talks about social media and how to use it to promote your business for free. If you’d prefer to watch this interview, click here to view on YouTube! Casey Napolitano can be reached at casey@nda-re.com and (818) 404-5090. This episode is brought to you by Real Geeks. Transcript D.J. Paris 0:00Have you ever wondered what it’s like working with celebrities and high net worth clients for their real estate transactions? Well, stay tuned. This episode of Keeping it real is brought to you by real geeks. How many homes are you going to sell this year? Do you have the right tools? Is your website turning soft leads and interested buyers? Are you spending money on leads that aren’t converting? Well real geeks is your solution. Find out why agents across the country choose real geeks as their technology partner. Real geeks was created by an agent for agents. They pride themselves on delivering a sales and marketing solution so that you can easily generate more business. Their agent websites are fast and built for lead conversion with a smooth search experience for your visitors. Real geeks also includes an easy to use agent CRM. So once a lead signs up on your website, you can track their interest and have great follow up conversations. Real geeks is loaded with a ton of marketing tools to nurture your leads and increase brand awareness visit real geeks.com forward slash keeping it real pod and find out why Realtors come to real geeks to generate more business again, visit real geeks.com forward slash keeping it real pod and now on to our show Hello, and welcome to another episode of Keeping it real the largest podcast made by real estate agents and for real estate agents. My name is DJ Paris I am your guide and host through the show and in just a moment we’re going to be speaking with top of Beverly Hills producer Casey Napolitano before we get to Casey just actually got a brand new reminder for you guys. Normally, I just repeat the same stuff every time support our sponsors, tell a friend and yes do those things too. But we are really excited about this announcement. I finally out and this is embarrassing, because I should have done this like six years ago, but I’m finally doing it now better late than never we finally have an Instagram account. Now why should you care about that? I don’t even really go on Instagram that much. But a lot of realtors do. Right. But more importantly, we’re we wanted to start clipping out our episodes meaning finding those moments of each episode. That could be bite sized formats for good, you know, short form video. So we hired somebody new to the team and they are making short form clips, usually like 20 to 60 seconds about our episodes and we’ll be releasing those every day we’re releasing one of these clips. So you can follow us on Instagram our have to think about what our name is it’s top agent interviews, top agent interviews, because keeping it real was taken so top agent interviews on Instagram, you can find us on Facebook, we’re posting these clips, literally to like six or seven different social channels. We’re on Tik Tok. Now we’re on Instagram, linked in Facebook, you can find links to all of our all of our social channels on our website keeping it real pod.com. But please, please follow us on Instagram, we just started the account I think we have like 12 followers, which is crazy because we have 10s of 1000s of you listening to the show. So please find us on Instagram at the very latest and you’ll be getting these daily little nuggets of wisdom from our amazing amazing guests. So again, top agent interviews on Instagram, please subscribe, we would love to see you there and provide great content to you every single day. Alright guys, enough from that. Thank you for listening to this super long intro but we’re really excited about giving you guys some more content. So let’s get to the main event my conversation with Casey Napoletana. Okay, today my guest is Casey Winchell and Paula Tonto with NDA real estate in Los Angeles. Let me tell you more about Casey. Now Casey Winchell. Napoletana is a real estate broker and the founder of NDA real estate, a luxury real estate agency serving California’s elite under her belt are hundreds of sales in Los Angeles ranging from probate fixer uppers to multi million dollar luxury estates. And in addition to working with such a wide range of properties, including Arios single and multifamily residential homes condos trust sales, she considers herself a short term rental expert. Beyond her exciting property investments and thriving real estate career. Casey is also a dedicated wife and proud mother to her three beautiful children Sienna Gemma and Jack. I was actually with my friend who has a jack a son Jack just this last weekend by the way. Along with being a foodie and an architecture and tennis enthusiast. I am also a tennis enthusiast by the way, she is proud to donate her resources to various charities supporting Women and Children in Need, everybody needs to follow Casey on Instagram, which is at KC annapolitan. Know that see a sey and a politan. Oh, also check out her real estate brokerage website, which is NDA hyphen r e.com. We will have links to all of this in the show notes. You don’t have to write it down. Just scroll to the show notes, follow her on Instagram, check out NDA real estate. Casey, welcome to the show. Casey Napolitano 5:29Thank you so much for having me. D.J. Paris 5:31I am very excited to speak to you because you are the great granddaughter of one of the best. And I’m sorry, because we are going to get to your superstardom very shortly. But we need to I want to go all the way back to your great grandfather. In fact, I almost just just took some of your thunder away, but I have well, we will we will get to this. But Casey has a very impressive family history, and something that I was telling her offline but let’s let’s let the audience in on everything. So let’s go all the way back to the very beginning. Because I would love to know, you know, your real estate career obviously starts, you know, you have your own story, but you actually go back several generations. So I’d love to hear about how real estate was part of your family for all these years. Casey Napolitano 6:17Yes, so growing up, I moved like five times with my parents because they were always like buying homes and fixing them up and selling them. And I just, we’re constantly moving like in my younger years. And I was just like, wow, this is it at a young age that like really fascinated me. And then I had my great grandpa Vern Winchell, who founded lentils, donuts. And I never really thought anything of it. Honestly, probably until I went to college did I know like, how big of a thing that was. And so I like to bring it up now because people think it’s fun. But he also did real estate. I feel like he had like, dozens of homes like all over and it was just always so cool to me. Just real estate in general, that you could just be your own boss and find deals and, and every kind of deal is just so different. Like you could just like decide what you want to do. And then my parents when I was like row 10. I remember they bought a apartment building that needed everything. It was like just a wreck. And I watched them like redo all the units. And still to this day, like if they get a vacancy. I’ll come in and I’ll fix it up so they can get more rent. I’m kind of like become like the design Person of the family. And growing up. My dad did probate auctions. And also in New Home Sales auctions all over the country. Eat We even went to Portugal at one point. And I worked for him from a young age like I think I started working his auctions at like, maybe 1010 or 11 years old. They’re called probate auctions. And basically, if he would get a certain amount of properties every couple months, and then the auction would be out front of the house. And the house would be sold as is and everybody would have a better card. And there’d be no contingencies at all. So you’re buying all this stuff like it’s you. That’s it, you get what you get. And it was so exciting. It was just super fun. And then at one point, he was doing a lot of like, new home sales. So we would go to like Seattle, and there’d be like 50 condo units that weren’t selling and he would come and do like a new marketing program. And we would sell 50 units in one day in a hotel ballroom. It was super fun. Like it was super cool. It was different. So yeah, and then my mom she worked at or still works at rodeo Realty in Calabasas, and she does high end homes and then my grandma growing up, her name’s Brenda Winchell. She would be driving around like with her red nails and her platinum blonde hair and she’d be taking notes on her hands. I’ll never forget it. She would always have like notes on her hands, looking for like the next property to sell her clients. And also my Aunt Mimi is like a big time agent in Hollywood. So I was kind of like, I kind of like had to do it because I knew so much about it that it was like if I don’t do this, like I’m gonna really like start fresh somewhere else. So yeah, I went to Pepperdine, for writing for journalism. And then I was like, I think I turned 18 I got my real estate license, my salesperson license and then should I just go keep going or? D.J. Paris 9:39No, this is this is excellent. And you know, I was just no yes. I mean, all of this is great. I was thinking when you said Pepperdine. I remember Pepperdine is like right on the water too. Isn’t it like it’s Casey Napolitano 9:51amazing? D.J. Paris 9:52Yeah. If you if your child ever wants to go to Pepperdine, they are going to have an incredible is it matter? taboo or it’s in your mouth. It’s relevant. Yeah. Yeah, I have some friends that went there. They said, anyway, but but but aside from that, so it’s either donuts or real estate. You had to go into one of those one of those two industries. And yeah, yeah. And by the way, if anyone there are still a few windchills stores, or shops, where are they for anyone out there? Because if you haven’t had a windshields donut, I have had one. They are incredible. They are literally the best donuts you’ll ever have. Where can they find them in SoCal? Casey Napolitano 10:29So in Los Angeles, there’s one in Tarzana, Arthur receita, right off the freeway. And then there’s one on Melrose in Hollywood, that Oh, I think there’s, there might be one on Vine still. But back in the day, like there were every exit, like every exit off the one on one and there was a Windows doughnuts. And still to this day, if you see a donut shop, and the sign is shaped like a triangle, you know, it was a windshields at some point. So back in the 80s, when he sold the whole company to yum, yum donuts, you would start seeing that they would just keep the sign but then just a new new name was on it was that? Well, that D.J. Paris 11:07was that’s a very big brand. And so you know, I what I what I know a lot of our audience might be thinking as she grew up in a real estate family, this is all going this is all must be so easy for her because she’s just been involved with it for her entire life. And it goes back generations, you have grandparents and great grandparents. And in fact, I do want to make a point, your great grandfather, who did start winches doughnuts had said, Yes, that’s my business. But real estate is really the best investment. And he really, he really hammered that into the family. Right? So the idea was the doughnuts were what paid the bills, but then also wanting to build sort of multi generational wealth through through these real estate investments. And it obviously spread to like every member of your family. Casey Napolitano 11:54Exactly. 100%, for sure. D.J. Paris 11:58So you, you’ve been a broker, or you’ve been a realtor now for about 13 years or so, which is amazing. And you’re you’re crushing it in, in Beverly Hills, I would love to know, you know, I guess what our audience wants to know, is like, how did you grow your business? Right? So you came from a real estate family, but at the end of the day, you still have to build your own business, you know, how did you go about doing that? I’d love to know, like, what steps you took, I mean, because you’ve been a broker for 13 years, but you’re still relatively new as an agent, even though you’re crushing it. So I’d love to know, like how you got started. Casey Napolitano 12:35So in my early 20s, I did a lot of event promoting and Hollywood. And I feel like that was a good starting point to like build my network. Just I met 1000s of people, you know, just who wanted to go to the event and befriended them. And it was just all like, I don’t know, just like a natural kind of social thing that was like a good baseline. So I worked at my real estate company, it was like a big, commercial and acquisitions company, but I was like part of five people who do residential sales. So get there at like nine in the morning, and then work until like, six at night, like standard corporate job. And then I would go home, get ready for the event. And I was doing events at like, there’s like a famous club called Hide. And I would just like walk over there and work there from like, 10 o’clock till two in the morning. And then I would get up and go back to work, like get up at you know, 630 and get ready and go to work. I had like multiple outfits in the trunk of my car at all times, like for my many hats that I was wearing. And so I feel like that was a good way to like start the hustle of just like networking. Because in say, in real estate or sales in general, like you really just have to go for it and be confident and know as many people as possible. So I was doing that. And then honestly, my first client ever is my husband right now, which sounds kind of silly and dumb, but it’s D.J. Paris 14:12not at all it’s because I always say if you’re going to make mistakes, do it with family. They’re the ones that are if you’re new, you know, a lot of times people think, Oh, I don’t want to work with my friends or family right now. I don’t feel very experienced. And I always say Who’s most likely to forgive you? And it’s gonna be friends and Casey Napolitano 14:31I’m just saying you learned a lot with every single deal. Like even now like every single deal, like something new comes up and it’s just important to like, just keep going. But like I matched with him on Tinder. You know, I was in my early or mid 20s and my best friend was like you are dating like the worst guys like go on Tinder. And I’m like, but aren’t the worst guys on Tinder? D.J. Paris 14:53Exactly. Let’s go into the lion’s den where the worst people are. Casey Napolitano 14:57And he was like, dude, just try it. So Mind, D.J. Paris 15:00you found the good guy. Casey Napolitano 15:02I found the good guy like, which is like an understatement. So my first and only Tinder date. D.J. Paris 15:08His program we had only Yeah, Casey Napolitano 15:12it’s crazy. Or I was just super desperate. Like you never know. D.J. Paris 15:18We’re all super desperate. Now we knew Casey Napolitano 15:20like we knew. So when we matched his, his profile picture was him speaking at a wedding, like he was the best man. I was like, okay, like, this guy’s this guy’s like looking, you know, for something real. And so we went on the date, and it was like a three hour day the valet Parkers had to bring in my keys. They’re like, you, you guys gotta go like the restaurant go home. Yeah. And he was like, how many? How many homes have you sold? Because I was like, just talking about because he’s older. He’s seven years older. So I’m like, yeah, yeah. Like, I’m just like, big time real estate. And he’s like, how many homes have you sold? And I’m like, Ah, what worked on like, 20. You know, but I haven’t sold any thought myself. Right? Sure. So months past, and he’s like, we’re very serious. And he’s like, I really want to buy my first place. And I’m like, okay, cool. So we started looking at Sherman Oaks, and he was my client. And at the first one, like, he liked, we walked out front and he put his arm around me and he was like, this would be perfect for us. And so at that moment, I was like, oh, okay, so we ended up getting it together six months into dating before getting engaged or anything like that, D.J. Paris 16:30which everyone says never do that. And it worked out for you guys. Casey Napolitano 16:34Yes. And it just it just felt right. And it was a huge remodel. So to make matters worse, we moved in with my parents. So he’s like 3034 year old man right? Well with my girls. Yeah. And that was like a great test to see if we could last but D.J. Paris 16:53that is a that is a stress test for sure. Casey Napolitano 16:55Yeah. And my and my parents are super great, but we’re really close. So it’s like a lot. And so living through that remodel was amazing. And cut to we got pregnant like after we got married and we were living there. A month in we were like we want to live in Calabasas. Like we want to raise our kids in Calabasas. It’s so safe, Calabasas, like a great community for families. We don’t we want to be closer to my parents because they’re let’s be honest, free babysitters. And on the weekends, we would be traveling we would rent out the house on Airbnb. Like we were those weirdos that were like, it’s fine. Like, let’s just let’s let’s run it. Let’s rent it out. We had an owner’s closet while we’re living there. And that turned out to be an amazing lead generator for me. Really? So yes. So once. It’s such a crazy story. So like, when we decided we want to move to Calabasas, there was nothing for sale. And we just walked the neighborhood and we put about like 20 handwritten letters in mailboxes. And were like, Hey, I’m pregnant. Like, let me buy your house. And like, I think three people called me out of 20. And we ended. Yes. And we ended up buying the house that we’re in now. The tenant there was it was a rental property and the tenant gave it to the landlord. And the landlord called me like two weeks later, and he was like, I heard you want to buy my house. So I’m like, Yes, I do. Anyways, we ended up buying it like within we saw like it for we saw it for like five minutes, all the lights were off. It was just it was a wreck. And we were like, We’ll take it. And we got a great deal. And another It was another remodel. But we ended up keeping our first house. And so that became a full time rental property. So we started doing the Airbnb short term. And that was great. I would like a random celebrity would write it. And this particular celebrity is someone I actually like, went to middle school with like, so random. And she was like, by the way, we ended up connecting and she’s like, by the way, while I’m in town, I want to look for houses. Can you show me some? So then that’s when I started showing her houses. And then I got another celebrity in there. And she was like, I can’t find a property. I only want to live in this particular area like what can you do? So I started going on the MLS and finding expired cancelled withdrawn listings, hitting them all up. Got a lot of people angry. A lot of people hanging up on me. Like, what this is my privacy, like, I’m gonna do not call list. But then I would get like maybe two yeses. Oh, we’re still interested in selling it wasn’t the right time. So I’d give her those leads. And she’s like, damn, like you’re really hard working. Like I’ve never had this before. So then, the best part about that story is that something hit the market and she sent it to me. And she was like, can we get this house? And I’m like, Sure, let’s go see it. So she ended up buying that house that was listed. She could have gone I’m with her agent she worked with before, but because she knew I was like constantly thinking about her like that, that trust and that like hard working thing, she used me on that deal. So D.J. Paris 20:12it’s like at that time you guys were a team almost right. And she actually found the property, but you had done so much work and heavy lifting prior to that, that that didn’t matter who found it, she she was with you. And that that is such a wonderful compliment to you. Casey Napolitano 20:28It’s really important, though, to build trust more than anything with your client. Because there’s a lot of people out there that like, don’t have their clients back, like fully. And if you show them like, they’re your client, but you’re also their friend, like you literally care about their well being, then they’re gonna stick with you forever. And I just think that is the most important thing. It’s like, when you pick a doctor to do an important surgery on you, you go with the one that’s like, the most trustworthy, you know, you don’t go with the one who’s like gonna give you a discount. D.J. Paris 21:04Right? You know, it’s funny, I just started thinking about this, in the last couple years speaking of, of health, and I think this relates to real estate, because, you know, I have a number of doctors like everybody, you know, I’ve got a dermatologist, and I’ve got my general practitioner that does my physical every year, and I’ve got my you know, I’ve got the orthopedic person when I have a sports injury or whatever, right? So you have these, this, this team of people, a psychiatrist, you know, things like that. And, and all I really want, I mean, I want them to be competent, but more importantly, I want them to care. And I, I’ve had experiences with with physicians where I felt like they did care, and I’ve had experiences where I felt like they didn’t, and I will take somebody who cares about me even over somebody maybe who’s considered a more a better doctor, or maybe has more accolades or more accoutrements, you know. And I think the same applies for real estate. Like, if if your clients like you, like you were saying, you know, your friend saw all the hard work you did also had a benchmark, because they had worked with an agent prior and said, Well, my agent, my previous agent didn’t do this that, you know, that is that is what usually wins the race, in my opinion. Casey Napolitano 22:20Yes, for sure. So since then, I was working at like that big corporate office, all say it a boys club. And I started bringing in a bunch of deals, and people were like, noticing and wondering, what is she doing different? And I literally would do marketing, like social media photo shoots in the office, and it gets people talking, and honestly, DMing you, which gets you clients, like you would never in a million years think like, oh, I’m going to post me showing a house that someone will buy a house just from that post, like, like, there’s a new thing that’s happening, I’m sure it’s happening, where you live with agents, there’ll be going to brokers opens on Tuesdays, or it’s Tuesdays here, Tuesdays and Fridays. And they will just fully just show it on their story. And boom, someone will message them and say, Can you show me this? And then by D.J. Paris 23:18the way, can we can we pause for a second is that not the greatest idea that anyone who’s not busy, as a realtor should be doing in their local market go to the like, in the past, it was a little bit tougher to get brokers or I guess we call them broker opens here in Chicago. And by the way, for our audience, if I use the word broker, I It’s synonymous here in Illinois with realtors, so I apologize, I don’t want to confuse anybody, I’ll try to use the word realtor, just because I think that’ll be less confusing. But whatever these are called realtor opens broker opens. These, these are really like 15 years ago, when we didn’t have like, as much technology. It was kind of a headache to go to those things. And like, if you had a fancy client, they wanted to see something, maybe you’d go check it out, or you’d go to support someone else in your office or a friend of yours in the industry. But now you can go there and actually use it to your own benefit by posting. And by the way, a Casey I’m curious, I think people shouldn’t even just do this for those broker opens. But they should also do it for every time they go to a showing like you can find something about any property. That’s interesting. And you could do a quick little 32nd video, right? Casey Napolitano 24:29But there’s always like this fine line. So when I show a house to like my number one client of the moment, they’re my number one priority, and we find the house I’m not posting it, you know, because then someone might message me and say, Can you show me that and then and then sure, and then your script so? Yeah, so if it’s not one that my clients buying, like Yeah, I’m all about posting it is so important, and it’s actually like ends up being great for the listing agent as well because you’re bringing more eyes to Generally, D.J. Paris 25:00it’s a win all the way around. And again, for people that are in between clients, this is a great way to drum up some possible activity. Because if you, you know, and it’s also a great place to cut your teeth, doing video, because, you know, we now have our phones are very powerful. And even if you’re not going to have a professional lighting crew, you know, there which probably you’re not for a, you know, a broker open or something, you can, you can just shoot a quick, you know, you can shoot and edit and, and make these these short form videos and really excite your your your bass. Casey Napolitano 25:38Yeah, so the easiest editing app that I use is called an Shah. And it’s free, totally free, just download it, and you click on your phone, you could shorten it. And I just highly recommend making these reels on Instagram and make less than 30 seconds, quick shots. But another thing that I think is really interesting about real estate nowadays is the homes that were showing and we’re seeing are just cooler than before. So there’s a lot of competition, which makes it hard to be a seller. But if you have the opportunity to like stylize your home like you should, because it will stand out in a big way. D.J. Paris 26:17You have any suggestions of ways people can do that, that aren’t, you know, terribly invasive or don’t require, you know, tremendous, you know, reconstruction, like even just smart home, where things are are kind of exciting. And even though they’re not new anymore. You know, being able to control things with voice is kind of a cool feature. Casey Napolitano 26:37Yeah. One listing I can think about that was on the market before and didn’t sell. And then we took it off the market when our client allowed us to paint the cabinets and fix out. Switch out light fixtures like literally from I like to go to Lowe’s, like Lowe’s has like trendier light fixtures, than most other affordable places. And so I would switch those out and literally just paint the cabinets. And even though someone might walk through and say I’m going to redo this kitchen in a year or six months or tomorrow, they will get it, they will be able to feel what it’s going to look like. So like it’s worth every penny. And you could do all that like for under, you know, five grand, or 10 grand, if you if you put 10 grand into every listing, like it would just go a long way. Staging is like the most important thing. But then again, you get clients that are like, I can’t leave my house or I live here, I don’t have anywhere to go. So you just kind of have to roll with it and figure out the best scenario for your client. And the photos go a long way. Like even if you don’t change anything, if you just get a really high end photographer, which you should cover the costs up for your client. It will it could transform the property without even doing anything. D.J. Paris 27:58Yeah, it’s it’s it. I mean, we live in an Instagram world. I mean, we’ve been living in an Instagram world world. And remember, every one when we look at photos, now we look at images, we’re probably looking at images on social media, images, for anything, any part of life is now is really best or most most commonly viewed or absorbed by consumers by the American public, via social media. And all of you know, we expect perfection in these pictures. We expect things to look right we expect them to be filtered correctly. For better or for worse. That’s where we are. And so if you’re not putting that sort of thought into your your, you know, your staging your photos, you’re really doing your client a huge disservice because it’s not about the property. It’s about how people consume information people want to see now with video, oddly enough, I don’t think people expect perfection, especially for reels and some shorter form video where it’s like, Hey, this is what I’m doing today. Yeah, you can, you can get away with a little bit of imperfection there. But when it comes to staging, and listing a home and getting the photos, yeah, step it up. You’ll make more money for the client to plan everything, everything will work, and it’ll only cost you a few $100 More like it’s not it’s not Casey Napolitano 29:18money, like Time is money like it, sell it in a week sell it in a week. Everybody wants. D.J. Paris 29:24So as you’ve been growing Yeah, exactly. As you’ve been growing your business, I You’re a hustler. And that’s that’s what I’ve, you know, sort of garnered from from our conversation so far is you’re willing to do a lot of the things that, you know, like that, you know, other agents aren’t willing to do or maybe that you had to do to sort of stand out in the boys club and sort of get your foot in the door. You were writing personal notes and putting them in mailboxes like that. 99% of realtors are never going to do that. And it’s a shame because if they did, they would likely get results like I mean, you had a tenant in a building, take a handwritten letter handed off to the landlord, which by the way, never happens. Right? They were just very random. Yeah, like super random, but it did happen because you put in the effort, and you were calling expireds Fizbo for sale by owners, you know, people that were off the market and getting screamed at going I don’t want to talk to a realtor and yet you’re putting in that effort because you never know. And that’s the job the job is is a lot of rejection. And and here you are now and so. So I’m curious to find out what you’re doing today. So you’ve grown this incredible business, MDA real estate, you know, you guys work with celebrities, you work with non celebrities, you work in every area of real estate, also investment properties to what’s what’s your what, what are you doing these days for marketing purposes to get more clients? Casey Napolitano 30:59Social media number one, for sure. You know, as a requirement, every agent on NDA has to go to three brokers opens every Tuesday, if their schedule allows, like, if they’re free that day, they’re going and it’s working like you just you’ll just never know who you’re going to attract. And it’s just free advertising. That’s actually very natural. And it works. So yeah, that for one and then number two, we do these fun, NDA boxes like we give to clients. So it’s like, it’s a branding thing. But then it’s super like curated like go to that influencer. We call it like hashtag gifted by NDA. So like people will see these videos of the NDA boxes, which could they vary. So they’re very curated, like, I’ll get to know a client and I’ll be I will just start making notes of what to get them like, which is so like, funny because it’s like, beyond like real estate, but it’s important for them to know that you know them and you care about them. So like, for example, my clients that are in escrow right now are buying their dream home and keeping their first home as a rental. But we realized at their, at their first house that are both houses, you can see each other so it’s like, it’s just across the canyon. So like, just for fun in the box, we’re gonna get them some binoculars like, D.J. Paris 32:26Oh, that’s great, because I love money. It’s Casey Napolitano 32:28like fun, right? Like, not really to spy but like that. And then we’ll get them like, whatever it is a bottle of patrol. And recently, I got like a client, just like designer, keychain for their new keys, you know, stuff like that. And people love it. They just, they just eat it right up, and then use the video on your social media. And other people will see that and be like, wait a minute, I want an NDA box, like I want a home. But I also want the box. So I’m gonna hit them up, you know. So that’s one thing. D.J. Paris 32:59So when I’m curious, what’s the what are the differences when working with celebrities versus non celebrities, as far as helping them buy and sell homes is do celebrities tend to have an output celebrity and high net worth individuals in that in a same similar category? Because you work with both? And do they tend to have more of a team that you then have to sort of work with the entire team? Or is it I’m curious what the differences are. Casey Napolitano 33:31So everyone is totally different. It’s just like real life like celebrities, some have like business managers that you have to talk to. Exclusively, like, you don’t even really talk to the client, you just show them some houses and you talk to the business manager to make it happen. Others, you’re just dealing directly with them. Some literally have an entourage. But I would say like working with celebrities versus non celebrities. Everyone is just so different. Like there’s no no one’s in a box. Like no one’s in a box at all. Celebrities have been like really great to work with honestly, like just super chill and like eye on the prize and like big picture in my experience. And I feel like I have like an eye for what they want. Like recently, I sold a house to this amazing girl and it needed literally everything. But it was such a cool house that you could you literally you couldn’t find it anywhere. If it was built to this day, like it wouldn’t have all everything that it had that charm. And she was down to do the project. And we just like we’re just so in tune on it. So that that makes me super, super happy when I can find something super special like that, and then see a client transform it. D.J. Paris 34:50And so, at what point did you decide to sort of build your own brokerage have your own brand and really just make it your own thing as opposed to working under someone else? Casey Napolitano 35:01So it all started in 2020. You know, COVID was crazy. I was seven months pregnant. And for about a month if there was nothing, right, the whole world was just shut down. There was no, there was no real estate, no one was there was it like it was March to me, I would say March to May, debt. And I was just like baking all the time, just like strawberry bread, whatever I could do with it with my little girls. And so then in May, I was like, eight months pregnant. And then my phone started ringing. And people were like, Hey, I’m from Seattle, and I want to move to LA COVID is like getting me excited to like, be close to my family. Can you can you help us? And I’m like, Can I help you? Yeah, I can help you. And I’m like, I have this big Tommy and I have my mask on. And they at the time, you had to work gloves. And you had to schedule a showing and sign the COVID waivers. It was like a huge ordeal. So that was going on. And so I had one of the biggest month ever in June of 2020. Like of my career, and I was nine months pregnant. Even at the hospital, I was dealing with two escrows, which was great, because you’re just like, your mind isn’t like focused on what’s happening. It’s just like, you’re doing it all. And so you don’t have time to like stress. So at that point, I was like, Why do I need to work anywhere other than my own company? So that is when I signed up to get my broker’s license, which is a second kind of step in California. Yeah, and run my own brokerage. Why can I do that? I literally do all my own marketing. I have my own clients. I never got my clients from my company, private company. So I signed up for the test and you had to fly to Sacramento. Really? Yes. There was no testing in Los Angeles because the COVID Oh, right. Headquarters. Yeah. So I had my baby. And then I don’t know, maybe like a couple of months passed, and I got my test date. And got there. And it was just a huge ordeal. You have to leave it like four in the morning, wake up at three get there at seven. You get your you get your thing, and it says congratulations. And and then that was like the starting point. And I was like, Okay, let’s go. So then, I don’t know, a couple of weeks went by and I was like N D A, that’s it. And I looked at my husband, I was like it’s NDA. And he was like, yeah, it’s NDA, like I had no other ideas. It was just, it stands for non disclosure agency. And I really wanted to just like be different. And with my clientele, we we really know how to protect their privacy based on my experience with all of these cases before. So like, for example, when celebrities go to my house, you have to have a trust so that people don’t stalk you like it literally happens. And they hang out outside of your house if you don’t have a trust, again, paparazzi as well. Yeah, yeah. All kinds of weirdos watching you. And so that’s, that’s not cool. Like your house is supposed to be a place you want to just feel safe and inspired. And you don’t want to worry about any of those things. A lot of these people too. They’re just so busy working, that when they go home, they just want to chill, they just want to sleep. And if you have 20 people standing up front, like you’re not sleeping, so. So that client I was telling you about earlier that used me after I was sending finding her off market deals. I found out that on her last sale this that it was leaked. And and the reason why was because she kept the same trust on her previous house that was leaked by one of the agents. And she didn’t change the trust. So these media people have it saved, like this is a trust and they have an alert with the title company. Anytime this closes under this trust name. That’s her house. That’s her new house. It’s so creepy. So on the next one, I was like, Dude, you need to get a new trust. And you need to change the name completely like, and even the person who signs for the trust is somebody it’s somebody that they trust, but it’s not any same. Yeah, it’s not anyone with the same last name. So you have your mom or so just someone totally random that you trust D.J. Paris 39:32make the trail harder to follow. Yeah, Casey Napolitano 39:35yeah. So they will do they will sign everything on their behalf. And so I just got really good at figuring out how to keep these things private. D.J. Paris 39:43And there’s a lot of stress associated with that because a lot of that really goes beyond your control, right like you. You know, you might not know about trusts. You’re not a real estate attorney. You’re not You’re not an estate planning attorney. You’re not a business manager. And so You some of these things you probably learned along the way. But but but knowing that now it’s got to be so incredibly valuable to somebody who’s who is buying, like maybe their first property or, or something that hasn’t gone through this, like, oh, we need to, you probably have conversations about privacy, and publicity and all of that. Casey Napolitano 40:19Yeah, even even like every everyone, I recommend getting their house put it in a trust. It’s just important. For many, D.J. Paris 40:27it is a great a great idea whether it’s an investment property or not, and, you know, talk to an estate planning attorney or someone who knows how to do those things. Curious on. So you have a team, you have many agents on your team, of course, you’re looking for more agents as well. But I’m so our audience where you know, we’re realtor audiences are realtors, and I’m curious, you gave a really great suggestion would go to the open houses, take videos post on social, anything else? Are you still doing personal notes? Are you still doing the things that you were doing? At the very beginning? Curious what else is working for you? Casey Napolitano 41:07I mean, coming up with your own personal brand is so important. So like, for example, I have one agent on our team, and she’s such a hustler. And she also teaches yoga. And I am like, run with it. She was like, Really? Yes, go do a photo shoot at the yoga studio, like that is your audience. You know? Yeah, it could be beyond that. But focus on that, because that’s what she’s, that’s what she’s known for. And her, you know, community. And yeah, the whole like, and don’t be afraid of the camera. Like, it’s so lame that we have to like be models or whatever, and start like taking photos and stuff. But it’s important because people feel like they know you. And they want to know you if you’re if you aren’t afraid to just be who you are, and just be authentic and confident. Just, it’s just so important. So come up with your own personal brand. And run with it like social media, if you could just schedule a day, every week where you take content, like even just with your phone, it it will get you clients it really well. D.J. Paris 42:17i It’s such a great idea. And the yoga one is is a really good example because I could I could hear I know a lot of people listening to our show have other jobs, right? They do real estate part time, they want to do it full time, but they have to pay the bills. And right now real estate isn’t paying the bills for a lot of people. And so as they’re building the real estate practice, they have these side jobs, and maybe someone’s you know, an Uber driver, or maybe they’re a yoga instructor, or maybe they have a full time career is doing something else. Regardless, I don’t think it’s a bad thing to talk about that stuff. I actually think it’s quite endearing. Because if I can see someone who I who I believe is working two jobs, like, especially like a yoga instructor, as well as you know, realtor, I’m like, I’m doubly impressed. Like, that doesn’t make me think less of them, it actually makes me think more of them. Because I’m like, wow, they must really be hustling. Because in order to do two things, you got to put in a lot of work. And so for anyone listening, that’s like, even if you’re an Uber driver, I think there’s a way to brand that in a way that’s like, Hey, I’m doing this right now. Because I you know, there’s ways to frame it. If you’re if that’s your your side hustle. And there’s ways to frame it that isn’t necessarily going to make you look like you’re not a professional. There’s always ways to frame things. If you’re authentic, and you’re you’re proud of what you do, you should absolutely be talking about it. Maybe not every part of your life, right? You should have privacy too. But like this idea of like, Hey guys, I am a hustler. Anything that demonstrates I work hard. And I work for you, I think is is it again, if it’s authentic, absolutely people we all want our the people service professionals in our life, to be hustlers we want we want our accountants to be hustlers. We want our attorneys, we want our financial advisors, we want everyone who are doctors, we want all these people to be really, really skilled. And we know that the way to skill is through hard work. So anything that demonstrates hard work is usually a win. Even if it’s like, Hey, I’m doing this other job that I don’t want I really wish I wasn’t doing. I think there’s a way to even brand those things and say like, Hey, this is where I’m at right now. And I think you’ll still attract the right people at the right time by exposing being vulnerable, being vulnerable and saying this is who I am, you know? Casey Napolitano 44:43Yeah. And And on that note, being a mom I always like was afraid oh my gosh, like I’m gonna get pregnant people are gonna stop calling me like they’re gonna think I’m like have a headache or whatever. And and then once I read realized that people will say, Oh, can you help me with this, they will say it like gently, and then you go yes, then they’re not afraid to use your help. But with that, being whoever you are in your family life, for example, a mom, run with that as well. Go to as many mom events as you can with your kid, you know, use your time for multiple reasons, like, have fun with your baby, like help your baby like have do all these fun, like mommy’s but then it’s also literally going to help your business in a really natural way. So and then also another thing I want to say is, have lunch with somebody completely random, every one time a week, like someone that you met five years ago, or you just met them last week, like go to that lunch, even if you think oh, I don’t have anything in common or I don’t really know them. Just do it. The more people that you speak to, on a daily basis is the more business you’re going to get. And the more you’re going to learn and it’s just good. Just all around, you know, and like, D.J. Paris 46:13Yeah, I mean, I’m thinking back to the beginning of our episode, where you were talking about being an event planner, and meeting tons of people who are, you know, at these events and wanting to get into these events. And I mean, there isn’t, that’s a bout his greatest strategies I’ve ever heard to building up a real estate database contact database, because you’re literally just meeting people and in a fun social environment, you’re capturing their information, and then you can market to them or take them to lunch or develop a relationship or a friendship with them. You know, it’s really up to you what you want to do, but none of that can really happen unless you’re out there. Meeting people. And I think there’s, there’s ways that introverts can do this as well. So I don’t want anyone listening thinking, oh, gosh, I you know, being you know, going out in public is is taxing for me. I’m an introvert, believe it or not, most people wouldn’t probably know that about me. I’m an introvert as well. So are I’m more introverted than extroverted, I would say, I mean, I’m both I both but I’m more introverted, I need a lot of alone time, a lot of rest. But I’m really clear that in my life, you know, getting out in with other people is just, it’s just good for my, my overall health, my business, everything. So this idea of just the more things you can social things, and it could be online, you can be can do it online, you could do it in person. You know, I know, I know, realtor moms, speaking of moms, who have developed Facebook groups for like, here’s all the cool mom events that are going on in my area. And that becomes it’s not even a real estate thing. It’s a mom sort of resource up, and they get all the other moms to sort of contribute to it. And then they get all this business as a result of adding value to moms that has nothing to do with real estate. Casey Napolitano 48:04Yeah, it’s because of that trust that building that trust that’s just completely natural and authentic and real. D.J. Paris 48:11Well, let’s talk about your brokerage because you are growing, and you guys are just crushing it. And I know there’s gonna be a lot of our listeners who are SoCal agents. And they would are, you know, this is the year I mean, this is the year of recruiting and joining teams and switching firms. You know, markets changed, rates are different. Inventories different. Everyone’s a little uneasy right now. So a great opportunity to explore other options. And, Casey, I’m curious if you were looking for another agent to join your team, you know, what would you be looking for just in case any of our audience thinks they might be a match? Casey Napolitano 48:49Yeah, so NDA is always looking for new talent. And we’re looking for hustlers like our favorite word. Where you just like, want it, you just want to keep working and you’re hardworking. We’re, we hired quickly in the beginning to end and I learned a lot of things. Like for example, I hired someone and I literally, like got him a listing and he was like, I don’t have time to do. D.J. Paris 49:18Here’s, here’s a here’s a free $10,000 Check. No, I’m good. I don’t do a lot more than that. It was more than that. Yeah, Casey, I will fly out there. I will get my license and you can hand me any deal you want. And I will tell you, Casey Napolitano 49:32yeah, so we’re looking for people who like to work and they like people. Yeah, and just whatever makes you unique. We want to know about that. Like that’s, that’s super important. Yeah, I don’t know how to describe it. It’s like I can just tell when I meet someone that they have it that just the work ethic and the positive attitude is something thing that is so huge, like, I’m seeing that a lot of people are like super negative and, and I get it like, it’s a crazy time, it’s the world isn’t saying. But if you just are like glass half full person, things are gonna start happening for you and we want to work with you, D.J. Paris 50:19or at the very least, if you’re a glass half full person, I mean, you recognize the the weeds in the garden, you’re supposed to see the weeds, okay, there’s weeds in the garden. And there’s also some flowers there too. And if you can sort of see it all and see the beauty and some of the challenge at the same time, you know, it’s just going to be less stressful. Like, it’s, it’s still going to be hard. Life is hard work is hard. Business is hard. But it’s all about reducing distress, right. And so like, if you’re a glass half full person, you know, at least you’re paying attention and you’re going to get through it with a little bit less anxiety and stress. So that’s I always think it’s also infectious for the office to when there’s positive energy around people kind of feed off of that. So I’m right with you. If anyone out there is thinking about maybe exploring other options, you’re in the you know, the LA area, you’re an agent, maybe you’re not getting what you need from your current brokerage or your or your team or, you know, maybe you’re on your own and just kind of doing it yourself and, and really want to team up what’s the best way someone should reach out to you in case they think they might be a fit for you. Casey Napolitano 51:26Just call me or email me like I’m always available. And my goal is to have an agent representing NDI in every area of Los Angeles. So like, you know, we have Joe and Santa Monica, I have Steven and Silverlake, Justine in Woodland Hills. So I want someone everywhere. And then when I get a lead, I tend to be very like giving with my agents like I just got a lead in Santa Monica and I shared it with Joe just because he was there you know proximity and he really ran with it and he just did such a great job. So if you’re in Los Angeles and you want you want you want leads from like genuine leads, true leads from a great brokerage and then also like the support that would be that would be NDA. So just hit us up on email or D.J. Paris 52:22actual brokerage who hands out leads, this is a unicorn, this does not happen. We know this right? Casey knows this because she started at a firm and built it all up on her own without any leads. So she knows just how rare and valuable this is. So you have to prove yourself if you want to join her team meaning show why she you need to be part of the NDA team. Reach out to her the best way to do that go to her website, which is NDA, hyphen, R E NDA slash r e.com. I’ll have a link to in the show notes. There’s a contact us form. Also follow Casey on Instagram, Casey apartado will have a link to that as well in the show notes. But Casey, this it was such a pleasure chatting with you. And really fun to watch your ascension as you continue to grow the business and do well. So we are thrilled to continue. And we didn’t even get into your Johnny Knoxville story which I will have to do at a different time. Because you have some great celebrity stories that aren’t under NDA that we can talk about. So we will an NDA, get non disclosure agreement. I think we covered that. But the reason she she said that is she works a lot of celebrities and she has to sign NDAs all the time for her clients to protect their privacy, but she’s got some good stories that she can share. So we’ll we’ll have to have you back some time to hear some fun celebrity stories. But anyway, if anyone and by the way, I’ll wrap up with this if anyone out there is. Now again, Casey does work with high net worth individuals. So they sometimes have multiple properties in multiple locations. So even if you’re not an agent in Southern California, but maybe you have, you know, you’re in a different part of the country where people also have vacation homes, other properties, Casey would love the opportunity to work with you and refer business back and forth. So even if you’re a New York agent, or you’re down in Miami or wherever you are in the country, Nashville, Austin, all these, you know, fun destination places that people are buying multi, you know, second, third, fourth homes. Yeah, referrals happen. So reach out to Casey let her know how you can provide value to her clients, and she might be able to return the favor as well. So Casey, really appreciate you being on the show today. We want to have just as everyone ever wrapping up here, just want to remind everyone to please follow Casey on Instagram, Casey Napoletana, Instagram, and you can find all of this on her website as well, which we’ll have in the show notes. We want to thank Casey for coming on the show today on behalf of the audience. And on behalf of Casey and myself. We want to thank our audience Thanks for continuing to stick around and continue to make. Our numbers are still going up after five years, which is incredible. So I’m so grateful to everyone who is listening or watching at this moment. So thank you. Thank you. And please tell a friend think of one other realtor that could benefit from this conversation with Casey. She’s a hustler. Think of one other agent that needs to hustle a little bit and send them a link to this episode. You can find us at keeping it real pod.com all of our episodes can be streamed there, or if they’re a podcast person, just pull up any podcast app search for keeping it real. Hit that subscribe button. We would appreciate it Casey, thank you so much. I had a great time with you. And we will see everybody on the next episode. Thanks, Casey. Thank Casey Napolitano 55:42you so much. Have a great day.

Welcome to another episode of Video Boot Camp for Real Estate professionals with Kim Rittberg. Hiding from the camera means hiding from clients! To grow your business in today’s market you need to show up on camera! According to the National Association of Realtors, an overwhelming majority of buyers and sellers want an agent who is using video. Kim Rittberg is an award-winning Digital Video Expert who teaches real estate agents how to grow their leads, revenue and credibility with video. Kim will help you go from Camera Shy to Camera Shine and crush those self-limiting beliefs holding you back. To grow your business in today’s market you need to show up on camera.Grab Kim’s Free Download: Improve Your Video Quality to Increase Your Revenue! Grab 10 FREE tips from a former media executive so that you can take your videos from mediocre to magnetic. Plus when you download these free tips, you’ll also receive an additional PDF on how to go from camera shy to camera shine.Grab the free download here. Kim Rittberg’s ‘Grow Your Business with Video’ Boot Camp wait list is open! The live coaching course will begin mid-April, apply today to save a spot! This episode is brought to you by Real Geeks. Transcript D.J. Paris 0:00Are you reluctant to get in front of the camera for social media videos? Well, today we’re gonna get you past that fear. Stay tuned. This episode of Keeping it real is brought to you by real geeks. How many homes are you going to sell this year? Do you have the right tools? Is your website turning soft leads and interested buyers? Are you spending money on leads that aren’t converting? Well real geeks is your solution. Find out why agents across the country choose real geeks as their technology partner. Real geeks was created by an agent for agents. They pride themselves on delivering a sales and marketing solution so that you can easily generate more business. There agent websites are fast and built for lead conversion with a smooth search experience for your visitors. Real geeks also includes an easy to use agent CRM. So once a lead signs up on your website, you can track their interest and have great follow up conversations. Real geeks is loaded with a ton of marketing tools to nurture your leads and increase brand awareness visit real geeks.com forward slash keeping it real pod and find out why Realtors come to real geeks to generate more business again, visit real geeks.com forward slash keeping it real pod and now on to our show Kim Rittberg 1:29I’m so happy to be back on keeping it real. I always have so much fun and please keep following me on social everyone has reached out to me I love engaging with and I love hearing from you. I’m Kim Rydberg I help real estate agents grow their leads income and credibility with video and podcasts. And I got here from being a TV news producer for about a decade, I launched the digital video unit for Us Weekly meaning I turn an office into a live TV studio, which is basically what every single business owner has to do today. And I worked in video marketing at Netflix and Pop Sugar. And so now I take all of that experience to empower and teach real estate agents, how they can leverage video and podcasts to grow their own business. It’s really, really fun for me, I do one on one and group coaching. And one thing I really want to focus on today is about being camera shy, and how you can go from camera shy to camera shine. I recently spoke at the Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices National Sales convention in Las Vegas. Yes, I flew to Vegas, I was like the only person not participating in sin city in the world. I really was there just to speak and meet people. And anyway, it was really, really fun. There were 1000s of agents there I met so many incredible people looking to grow and invest in themselves. And one of I taught two sessions and one of the sessions, I want to drop some of the lessons that people really responded to here. And it’s about how to cut through your camera shyness how to go from camera shy to camera shine. And I want to start by saying, obviously, I’m a believer in video. But not just because I come from video and TV. But rather, there are all of these studies and all of these statistics that show that if you’re using video, you’re getting better conversion rates. And like over 85% of buyers and sellers want an agent who’s using video 90% of companies are seeing video convert to sales. So it’s just a better sales tool. And when you think about a filtered headshot with three sentences on social media, versus a video of a real estate agent, talking about their neighborhood, why they love it so much walking their dog letting you get to know them, when you think about those two agents, if you were a buyer who you want to work with. So I love teaching agents how to really grow with video. But one of the things you got to get that band aid off, you got to rip off that band aid. I personally was camera shy when I started my business when I left corporate. But I realized very quickly that you can’t be shy because hiding from the camera means hiding from clients. So today, I’m going to give you a couple of tips on how to get over that fear and some tactical ways to get you on camera. So number one, I want to say by the way, when you start showing up on camera, you will have some early wins. But the truth is it’s not like you make one video and suddenly a bunch of leads come in. But when you start using video in a consistent and effective and strategic way like you have a plan, you know your messaging you know who your ideal client is and you understand broadly the things you’re talking about. And then you’re showing up consistently whether that’s twice a month or seven times a month. It really will unlock a lot of leads. I’m seeing this with my one on one real estate clients I’m seeing with my group coke group coaching clients, the people who are showing up consistently are having dormant leads meaning people who I hadn’t seen in years come back, see their content reengage with it. And they’re connecting to new people because if someone is considering you then they go to your social page. You’re in their consideration set they’re checking you out on so Marshall, they’re getting to know you better there. So the more you can show up is, the more you can be competitive. And the reason why it’s so important to put yourself on camera is because you are your unique special sauce. Basically, if I have one video idea, and I give it to 100 Real Estate Agents, I’m gonna get 100 different videos back because you each bring your own unique, special something. So don’t forget that, you know, sometimes I think people feel like, oh, every idea has been out there, but you are what makes it unique? Your perspective? Your why, why you’re an agent, why you love that neighborhood, why you’re why you love helping people. So I want to I wanted to start with that. So I’m going to start with being on camera. Basically, hiding from the camera means hiding from clients. I was very camera shy when I started my business. I really had all those negative voices in my head that you all have. I feel self conscious of my voice, how do I look, I feel awkward acts of normal feeling everybody feels it. I’ve mean, I’ve trained on camera coached CEOs, members of Congress, celebrities, every single person feels that way. So you’re in great company. And then I basically, once you get your mindset, you have to really think about getting out of what I call supermodel mode. So get out of supermodel mode, stop thinking about how you look and who’s looking at you, and get into teacher mode. Start thinking about who you’re teaching, how you’re educating them. Basically, if you’re showing up on camera, it’s to speak to your ideal client. It’s to tell them what you’re about. It’s to tell them who you are, it’s to bring your experience and personality to the forefront. So step one, quiet those negative voices. And the best way to quiet those voices is to remember why you’re putting yourself on camera. Sure, you can keep just doing home tours, you can keep posting photos of homes, but the truth is you’re going to be more effective as a salesperson, if you’re putting videos out there. And additionally, think about this. How many meetings can you have in person each week, with one video, you can reach hundreds or 1000s of people while you’re out doing your business, while you’re having lunch with your spouse while you’re walking your dog. So just remember, the power of social media is that is working in the background. You know, those of you who are doing social life, you look, you’re like, oh, even if you’re not posting a lot, you’re still having hundreds or 1000s of people see your content. So the time you put in gets exponentially grown. Anyway, so I’m gonna return back to the concept of camera shy to camera shine. I felt that same way I was self conscious the limiting beliefs I had. I’m self conscious, who wants to hear from me? Am I really an expert? I mean, I do think of an expert. I was one of the beliefs I had less. But I know a lot of people feel like who am I? Why does anyone want to hear my perspective, but you have to remember, you’re only talking to your ideal client. So you’re going to ignore any of those negative voices you’re hearing in your head. When you’re feeling self conscious. you’re envisioning, Nancy from high school who was mean to you in the cafeteria. Or you’re envisioning John, the colleague who stabbed you in the back. Those people are not following on social if they are, and you feel like they’re writing mean things. It’s in their own head, it’s their negative, it’s their negativity. But truly attention is so hard to get. It’s so hard to get attention. So probably they’re not paying attention to you. They’re probably thinking about what they’re cooking for dinner. Right. So don’t give them any power. Don’t give them any any weight, really talk to your ideal client, identify who you’re talking to, and make every video for that person. And then the more you do that, you’ll start realizing that they’re responding, they’re there, they’re there for you. So we’re gonna stop hiding from the clients. Once personally, once I stopped hiding from the camera, and started putting myself on camera, and I’m seeing this for all of my clients. I had one video, bring me three new clients. I did one video, I immediately got three new clients. I’ve tripled my speaking engagements. I’ve quadrupled my inbound leads meaning on LinkedIn, on Instagram, I get notifications, I get emails for discovery calls every single week, because I’m out there on podcasts, because I’m out there speaking because I’m out there putting myself on social so but it took me a while to get there. So it’s not like it just happened overnight. And so I want you to get there. I’m seeing the habits. My agent or my agents, David, he had somebody pop into his phone. Hey, loving what you’re putting out there. You want to grab lunch somebody hadn’t seen in years, the CEO of his company had messaged him saying He’s liking his content. So it’s both for your clients, but it’s also for peers. It’s for referrals, you know, you’re building up that big referral network. So now we’re getting out of basically to go from camera shy to camera shine. We’re getting out of supermodel mode. We’re getting into teacher mode. That’s the biggest biggest thing. That’s the number one mindset thing. I cannot stress it enough. I’m not a huge person who like reads books about mindset and self help, but I’m very much in touch with who I am and fighting through the things that hold me back. back, I had a lot of fear to start my own business, I had a lot of fear to put myself out there. I’m now speaking on national stages. I’m now contributing to Fast Company Magazine. I’ve been written up in Business Insider, those things are all happening because I started showing up. So I’m such an advocate of bringing yourself out there, putting yourself out there, telling yourself, you deserve it, and you’re worth it, because it’s worth it to push through. So you have to get through that mindset. And then after you’re getting through that mindset, you’re repairing your body. So you have to remember that when you’re talking, the camera is stealing our energy. So the best way to counteract that is to practice being authentic on camera. And I realized this a little ironic, but people were like, just be yourself. Don’t try to be yourself. Try to be yourself on video. It’s a different version of you. It’s one where you have to practice breathing, and get yourself psyched up before you go on camera. But remember that we all are a little frozen, a little robotic on camera at first, that’s okay. Video number one will be worse than video five will be worse than video 10. But like, once you’re 10 videos and 20 videos in 30 videos, and you’re gonna be like, Oh, okay, I’m showing up more as myself. But yeah, it takes practice. It takes practice, just like every other thing. So preparing your mindset is you’re getting out of supermodel mode, you’re getting into teacher mode, and you’re preparing your body you are actually preparing and practicing. And the best way to practice is by putting yourself on camera. So I’m going to give you a challenge this week, I’m going to check in on you. I know a lot of you are following me on social net, which is amazing. I love it, you are going to put yourself on camera. And basically putting yourself on camera can be any of these things. The best way to do it is just just start talking to your camera in a very like casual way. You just like what is your day look like. So for example, I would put my camera up, I’ll hold it out as far as I can hold it up a little higher than eyeline. So we’re not getting that up the nose of the chin angle. And I’m just gonna bring bring my social followers into my day. Hey, everyone, I’m back from Vegas. I’m super jetlag, I’m going to drink lots of coffee, my kids are on spring break. So I’m gonna spend some time with them. And then I have a lot of follow up emails from all the great people I met I met, and a couple of a few calls. And then I’m going to take my kids to paint art at a new craft studio in Brooklyn. And then I might also here’s a tip, we put that video out on Instagram Stories. Basically, Instagram Stories disappears after 24 hours. So if you hate the video, don’t worry, it’s gone. But Instagram Stories is a great way to really connect with people and bring them in in a more sincere way. It’s less filtered. It’s not necessarily like a home tour. And it’s not necessarily even commentary on the market. It’s just you being bringing people into your day, obviously, you want to tie it a little bit to your job. So you know, as I mentioned, in that video, I just shot I mentioned, I just went to a speaking engagement. I mentioned I’m a parent, because that is a part of my life and other parents really connect with that. So in those videos, you can mention things about your life, if you have a pet, if you play basketball, if you love football, if you know you have kids, something that lets people connect with you on a personal level. And then my other tip is, in Instagram Stories, there are these things called stickers. It’s that little smiley face square. If you put out a poll, like if I wrote, I’m having my coffee, I’m super jet lagged. I love coffee, I can’t live it on my coffee, a poll you could put in there is coffee or tea. And people will vote coffee or tea. This is just a way to engage with people just to say actually who’s watching my stories. And you’ll you’ll be surprised. Sometimes people will respond to the poll. I’m like, Oh, I didn’t realize that person is following me or engaging with my content that’s interesting. Maybe you want to reach out to that person, you should engage with their content. So we’re bringing that social aspect back into social media. But again, the best way to do that is by putting our face in there because you want to give people a chance to get to know you. So there’s that was my first tip on how to get yourself on camera, I want to see you putting yourself on an Instagram story. And if you’re not on Instagram, Facebook also has like a similar feature where it’s just you putting it up just for today. and tag me in it. First of all tag me It’s Kim RITTBRG Kim Rydberg tag me, I will share it I will engage I will cheer you on. I love seeing people get on camera because as I mentioned before, showing up has completely skyrocketed my business. It’s skyrocketing the business of my agents. I’m seeing it all over. So I really want that for you too. So tip number one, you’re gonna show up on Instagram Stories. You’re going to use that engagement sticker to encourage people to interact with you putting the social back in social media. Another thing to do is practice talking to your camera. So even if you’re not going to run the video on social media, which I think you should but basically Every time you’re introducing yourself, every time you’re thinking of something that you want to talk about, practice, sing it to your camera, your mouth, and your body is a muscle just like anything else. So you actually have to say the words. Basically, if I asked you who you are and what you do, and I hear likes and arms, it means you didn’t practice it enough. As I mentioned, before, I do a lot of on camera coaching. We all say arms and legs, when we’re, when we’re reaching for words, we’re trying to figure out what we’re going to say, if someone asks you a little bit about yourself, you should have that pitch, ready to go. Like basically, I worked in TV, I would get to pick people who got to be on camera, I would select our guests. If I can’t be confident that you can, like have a really strong sound bite, you can’t get on TV. So likewise, similarly, you’re going to present better would you really understand your message and message messages like a phrase but message means Hi, I’m Kim Rydberg I help real estate agents grow with income leads and credibility with video and podcasts. I came from 15 years in media and marketing. And now I love helping business owners grow because I’m a business owner, too. It’s important to me to help people, business owners, let their content work harder for them. Do more with less. So I love empowering people to make great content that stands out without the burnout. So a little bit of that, to be honest, I was kind of making it up on the spot. But you hear there’s not a lot of ohms and likes, because I’ve been practicing my pitch, practicing what I’m saying a lot. So when you’re going on camera, your voice should be comfortable saying those things. So those are a few of my tips today about getting on camera one, you’re going to put yourself on video, you’re gonna bring people into your life on Instagram stories to you’re going to start talking to your camera and recording it, you’re going to record it. Because that red light, like I said, when you record, everyone feels uncomfortable. The red light steals your soul a little bit to record it. And then the third step, once you’re really doing this a lot, I recommend watching it back without being super judgmental, you know, do you is your area lit enough? Are you standing in a dark room? Do you know what you’re saying? You know, do you need to practice saying what you want to say more? It is really important to watch it back. But I recommend that for people who are really doing it for a while because I know everybody hates watching their footage back. But it is a really important aspect of improving. So that’s a couple of tips of ways to improve and practice your speaking. My last tip on practicing being on camera is the same as practicing public speaking. Anytime you’re in a room with other people consider that an opportunity to be on camera to be presentational to speak in a presentational way. So let’s say you have a caravan or you have an agent meeting a broker meeting and you’re talking in front of 10 people, or 20 people don’t mumble casually like you would to colleagues, which is something I always did, I didn’t like really think to take those opportunities when I was in a more corporate setting. Take any opportunity where you’re feeling a little nervous, a little sweaty baby, maybe your heart’s beating a little faster, take that opportunity to be an opportunity where you’re saying this is practice for me to get my message straight, to really speak confidently to speak presentation only. And by presentational I mean just like a little more energy a little more confidence that you might then you might at lunch with a friend. So any time you’re about to speak in front of a group, start using these tips before you go on. So basically, before you go on camera, you’re going to practice your breathing, you’re gonna breathe in for a count of four or five, and you’re going to breathe out for a count of four or five. That’s a great way to regulate your body. And you’re going to practice what you’re saying. You’ve already been practicing what you’re saying in the privacy of your own home recording it, then practicing it out loud to people. These things seem small, but I’ll tell you, those small moments in life adds up, they add up more comfortable you can get on camera, the more you’re attracting those ideal clients and letting them get to know you. Again, we’re talking about bringing your expertise and your unique perspective and letting people see that. So all right, those are three great tips to be on camera. So now I’m challenging you be on camera, put yourself on camera, no matter your social platform find me I’m at Kim Rydberg tagged me in it and say, you know, you know, just whatever you’re gonna say just message me and say I heard you and keeping it real and I will cheer you on. And I wanted to let people know that you can give a free download. From my website. It’s Kim rydberg.com I have tips to make high quality video content that grows your revenue. And when you get that you’re also gonna get a bonus download. We’ve had to go from camera shy to camera shine tips like these. So make sure to check out my website Kim rydberg.com and I also have a video bootcamp that you can apply for it is launching very, very soon, applications are open. I only run this boot camp a few times a year. So if you seem like a person who really needs to get your, you know, gear get on camera start growing your business with video. This is It is perfect for you. Okay to keeping it real Audience is the best so message me Tell me what you want me to hear from me next. I love teaching you all and you’re so fun to connect with. So hope you have a great day and don’t forget to go from camera shy to camera shy and get yourself on camera.

In our April episode of Monday Market Minute, Carrie McCormick from @properties, talks about the financial crisis due to the bankruptcy of a large bank in the US. Carrie emphasizes the importance of starting to talk to buyers and listening to their concerns while learning about their lifestyle. Carrie also discusses the inventory shortage and how to find creative ways to help people move. Last, Carrie gives some advice to find rentals that are on the market without landlords living in it. If you’d prefer to watch this interview, click here to view on YouTube! Carrie can be reached at carrie@atproperties.com or by phone at 312.961.4612. Please follow Carrie on Instagram by clicking here. This episode is brought to you by Real Geeks. Transcript D.J. Paris 0:00How have the recent bank failures affected the real estate market? Stay tuned. This episode of Keeping it real is brought to you by real geeks. How many homes are you going to sell this year? Do you have the right tools? Is your website turning soft leads and interested buyers? Are you spending money on leads that aren’t converting? Well real geeks is your solution. Find out why agents across the country choose real geeks as their technology partner. Real geeks was created by an agent for agents. They pride themselves on delivering a sales and marketing solution so that you can easily generate more business. Their agent websites are fast and built for lead conversion with a smooth search experience for your visitors. Real geeks also includes an easy to use agent CRM. So once a lead signs up on your website, you can track their interest and have great follow up conversations. Real geeks is loaded with a ton of marketing tools to nurture your leads and increase brand awareness visit real geeks.com forward slash keeping it real pod and find out why Realtors come to real geeks to generate more business again, visit real geeks.com forward slash keeping it real pod and now on to our show. Welcome to keeping it real the largest podcast made for real estate agents and buy real estate agents. My name is DJ Parris. I am your guide and host through the show today is our monthly series called The Monday market minute. It’s not Monday today when we’re recording it but that’s okay. The Monday market minute with Carrie McCormick from the Carey McCormick Real Estate Group with at properties here in Chicago. Now let me tell you about Carrie Carrie is a superstar top 1% producer here in Chicago with over 20 years of experience helping buyers, sellers and investors. In fact, in the past 12 months out of 47,000 real estate agents in the Chicagoland area Carrie is in the top 15 Not 15% Literally the top 15 out of so it’s like top 99.999% of all realtors in the area. She’s a true superstar whose cows cow you know, I’m gonna count one of these days, I’m going to actually have that number because I want to know just how amazing you are as far as rank not that it’s that important. But I am so honored to have you on the show. But anyway, Kerry’s a true superstar. She’s an expert in everything from first time homebuyers, veteran investors, luxury properties. And also she works with a ton of developers the place I live right now is one of Karis developments. So I am so such a big fan of Carrie, she’s been with our show, since the very beginning. I want everybody to follow her on Instagram. We were just talking about this beforehand, because I need some help with my Instagram. And Carrie was like, Can you believe I do all of that myself. And she does. So check out her on Instagram, Carrie McCormack real estate, we’ll have a link to that in the show notes. And also check out our website Kerry McCormick rt e.com. Carrie, welcome once again to the show. Carrie McCormick 3:08Thank you. I love that introduction. It makes me D.J. Paris 3:12Don’t we all need like an introduction like that, like all of us need one friend in our life that just, you know, maybe once in a while goes, let me tell you about all the great things about you that would be that would be that would actually be a fun way to start a start a morning. But I’m glad I get to start my morning with you today. You are an incredible superstar and I am always will I always take the temperature of the market by talking to you because you are the market in the way I think about it. So how are you feeling right now? It’s it’s we’re at the end of March. It’s been a goofy couple of weeks banks have failed. There’s been some weird stuff happening. But how is how are things going? Carrie McCormick 3:52Yeah, it’s it’s actually not doing too bad here in Chicago, you know, and I do agree like I’m in the market. 24/7. Right, I’m always in it. So from talking with buyers and sellers from all different age groups from all different, you know, income brackets, and I listen. And that is I will tell you, one of my biggest strengths, of being successful in the business is, is listening to people and when you listen to people, you learn so much about them and about the market and how they’re feeling. There’s a lot of funky stuff going in the market, but things are moving here. So but what I wanted to talk about was his inventory and everyone hears this word and you know, I’m sick of hearing it to have you know, there’s no inventory in the market. So, you know, instead of talking about it, let’s do something about it. How do we get more inventory in the market because I think in this spring and summer market that the folks that are the listing agents are going to be the winners in this market. So we need to find creative ways to get people to move. And one thing that has been difficult to get Get people to move are two big two big reasons. One, that there is no inventories like, where are they going to move to? Right? So they don’t want to sell their house. And two is their interest rates. So they did lock into an interest rate, you know, ones, twos, 3% interest rates, and they’re like, gosh, if I, if I move, I’m going to give up my interest rate, where am I going to move to, and I’m going to be stuck with a five or 6% interest rate, then you know, so we’ve got is, and I get it. So you know, put a credit to at properties Christie’s international because they a podcast to talking about inventory, and they had some great tips. And so I’m going to talk about those tips for all of us to use. And number one, is think about the rentals that are in the market. Right now, the landlords that own these rentals, the landlords obviously don’t live there. So that’s not their primary residence, they may have a higher interest rate on that property. And they’re not that emotionally tied to that property. So find those landlords, maybe they want to sell it, maybe they want to do a 1031 exchange, which means they trade the property, basically, they sell the one property, and then they identify another property. So you can get two deals out of that one person. So again, you can look in the MLS of properties that have been rented for years and try to find those landlords, especially if those leases were up, you can see that, you know, if you look at the history of properties, rented every March, let’s say or April, so you know that either they just signed a lease, and then maybe put them on your schedule, here, and and reach out to them. There’s so many ways to find these owners, right? How do you D.J. Paris 6:53find the owner? So that’s a good question. So we could go through the MLS and see especially like luxury buildings, people who have condos, were renting them out. Obviously, they’re already working with an agent, maybe the agent didn’t do a good job, we don’t know. But how would we then source the owner? What would you recommend there? Carrie McCormick 7:11Well, the internet’s a fun thing these days, right? So you can look in tax records, you know, the tax bill, and usually on that tax bill, that bills not coming to the investment property, the tax bills going to their home. So that, you know, look at the tax records, you can find them there. The white pages, actually, there’s something called been verified. Social media, you know, you can find them on social media, there’s just, it’s really kind of a little bit of detective work. And that’s kind of the fun part about it is of course, when you find I’ve actually there’s one property that a client of mine wanted to acquire, I could not find the owner could not find the owner, I actually went to the property and spoke to the tenant knocked on the door and spoke to the tenant and gave the tenant my information said, you know, I’m wanting to get in touch with your landlord. And the tenant passed along the information to their landlord, the landlord called me. So sometimes, again, it’s is having that, that drive to, you know, to find the people, but that’s what sets you apart because other agents won’t do that. D.J. Paris 8:22Reminds me of the story. I asked you a long time ago about how you started to work with developers, you’re like, Oh, I walked over to a development. And from downtown, I think you walked all the way from downtown to the development and said, Hi, I’m an I’m a new real estate agent, what’s going on here, and then that that is how you. So that’s a really good idea. If you can’t find somebody knock on the door, and say, Hey, I just wanted to pass this over to the landlord. Brilliant. Oh, I love that. And the other thing, too, is you can even partner up with management companies as well. property management companies, who are you know, you could build good relationships with them a lot of property management company. The property managers themselves aren’t necessarily practicing agents. So this is another great opportunity like, hey, when your owner is ready to sell, I would you know, and you can develop a little sort of back and forth kind of reciprocal thing going on. And you can refer does this to them and they can refer to you. Carrie McCormick 9:21Absolutely. So it’s, you know, it’s again, thinking out of the box. So rentals are a great source to find inventory. The other one isn’t, I’ve got a really great success story on this one is, you know, there’s a lot of people moving just on the move, right, in general, they’re moving out of Chicago, they’re moving to Arizona, Florida, Tennessee, wherever it is, and there’s just there’s mobility in the United States right now. In and out of so, obviously connecting with an agent in another city. So for example, I had was in Arizona and I flew out to meet with an agent and I you know, introduced who I am what I’m doing and she’s like, Oh, my client out here, she’s like, I think they have a house in Illinois in Chicago. She talked to them. And she’s like, Oh, my clients aren’t using their condo in Chicago anymore. And she talked to them. And they wanted, they’re like, Yeah, let’s just sell it. So I was able to find inventory of place that’s sitting here vacant, that people live in Arizona. And I connected with a broker who had a great relationship with those people. And she convinced she convinced them to sell the Chicago place. So again, it’s just it’s networking with other with your peers and networking with other brokers. Because, again, if you no broker in Montana, sold a client a home, and they’re done with a transaction, but I call that or any of your clients have places in Chicago that they’re willing to sell, I’m happy to give you a referral fee, if you just put that message out to your clients out there. And they’re gonna get a call. And, you know, it’s, they’re not using their place here in Chicago, and you’re gonna get another listing out of that. So, again, all of this is putting a little effort and work and digging into it, making those phone calls, taking the time and the effort. But that’s what it’s gonna take to get some more inventory in this market. D.J. Paris 11:16You know, what’s so funny, I was thinking about this, because I live in a development that you represent it and I love it. And I will hope to be there for quite some time. But you know, what would be kind of an interesting marketing idea is I’ve never had this happen. And all the years of homeownership, and I’ve rented and I’ve owned, and I’ve never received this in any way, ready for your next like some sort of marketing message that’s like ready for your next home. You know, something to the effect of like, the condo I purchased probably won’t be my forever home. So I think that people who buy condos typically, you know, I don’t know what the amount of time that they average American spends in a condo. But if you’re in a condo, odds are, if you’re not a retiree who’s looking to downsize, odds are you’re probably looking to upsize at some point to a more traditional style home. I think this would be a great opportunity to start talking to condo owners about what are your plans? What’s the plans right now? You know, do you want to live in the city for the rest of your life, especially if you’re in an urban area? Most people move out of the city at some point, right? Most people move out, they want more space they have maybe children get in the way they want, you know, more education opportunities, things like that. So I think there’s there I have yet to really see anyone talking about, you know, that transition from city to suburbs or and then returning sometimes people as they retire, come back to the city. But curious if you’ve kind of explored or seen any trends there? Carrie McCormick 12:50Oh, absolutely. I mean, there’s, that’s why I’m saying is that there’s all this movement, and, you know, part of our job as a real estate broker is to be, you know, consult with them. Because, you know, where are they going with it? You know, are they staying in this condo for five years? What’s their next step? And how can we get them to, you know, their next step, and that was gonna be my last tip about inventory is kind of being a matchmaker. I had a meeting the other day, or it was a couple of weeks ago, actually, with a dating matchmaker, not for myself, but she you know, she’s a very well known matchmaker and just kind of learning about her business and how she does it. And it just made it dawned on me of that’s what we do. I mean, we match people with the right lifestyle with the right house. And it was soon after that meeting, where I have a client of mine that lives in the Gold Coast here in Chicago, and they really aren’t unhappy with their house because I didn’t sell it to him. But because they there’s not enough light in there. It’s really dark, and it makes them depressed. And I was in another house that had a lot of light. And I called him and I said, Listen, I know that you’re not looking to move, but I know you hate your house because it doesn’t have a light enough light in there. Come see this home. It sits on a corner lot. It’s got south facing windows, they fell in love with the house. So again, I just started putting two and two together. I’m like, Oh my gosh, like that was just my client didn’t want to move. But you know, just knowing what people want in their life and where they’re going and what’s important to them and presenting an opportunity to them. Yeah, we’re a matchmaker. D.J. Paris 14:29I think that is such a such a good point. Because you know, when when I bought my most recent condo, one of your development opportunities, which which I’m thrilled the these years later, I I wasn’t specifically looking but as soon as I walked in, I was like, Okay, this is the one I want. And I was lucky enough to get it and I was also lucky enough timing wise to have with the current rates at that time were very low. So I have I have kind of, I’m disincentivized to move however, knowing my if you knew my why or what I was looking to do in my life, and eventually I probably will, at some point go out to the suburbs, I’m sure like everyone else. At some point, I’m going to make that transition anyway. And the rates are going to be what the rates are like, I won’t have any choice over it, just like I didn’t have any choice over it. Anytime I’ve ever gotten a loan, it just is what it is. I don’t think I think as Realtors we tend to focus on the rates, because it’s so interesting. It’s a, it’s a very tangible number that we can use as a reason for why things are the way they are. But when people need to move, they will date the rate, the new rate, and then they’ll refi. And so rates aren’t that much of a stopper. But I’m curious how you talk about that with your clients? Like, how do you sue the client that’s like, Oh, I missed out on the 3% days? And? Carrie McCormick 16:03Well, I mean, the reality is, they did miss out on it. You know, I mean, there’s, there’s nothing that we can do, you know, so I think sometimes people just want to be heard, or they just, you know, they just want to complain about it. But the reality is, it’s gone. But also when those rates were high, pricing was a little bit different, you know, so you know, they people were buying houses at higher prices, they were waiving inspections, they were waiving appraisal contingencies, now we’re in a more stabilized market where they can negotiate the home to some degree. And again, rates will change, just like everything, you know, its rates are not going to stay at 6% or 7%, they’re gonna end up coming down briefly, and then they’ll pop back up. And it’s just, it’s, it’s the market, but I always tell people to I mean, a house is so important of where you live, don’t stop your life, just because the rates at 6% I mean, it’s, it’s going to adjust and it’s going to change. And if someone is truly that concerned about their finances, and every point, interest rate point, then we probably should be looking at a less expensive property where they’re comfortable. So again, it just becomes of a consultant to them of what’s the right, fit and match for them. D.J. Paris 17:15Yeah, I I just I’m, I’m around so many agents these days. And all they talk about are rates, rates, rates, rates. And yes, that stops some people who don’t have to move maybe from from making a choice. It does block some people, but I don’t really think it blocks motivated buyers and sellers alike, it made my bum them out a little that they’re not getting quite the same rate that they could have gotten years before. But what if the human race is very resilient, right? Like, we deal with what’s in front of us, we don’t have an option. But what I was what I was getting to was, I could be incentivized to move even with a 3% rate going to a 6% rate. If it made sense for my why? Why would I do that. If it if it ticked off enough boxes, it would absolutely be the right move. And I would just have to get comfortable with that. So the idea is, I think realtors can start learning how to coach their clients. It’s kind of like, kind of like when you go to buy a new TV, and you do all this research. And then, you know, you spend months looking at this waiting for these TVs to go on sale, and you pick the perfect one. And then and then it just becomes your TV after like a week you don’t even think about it again. It’s just your TV. So it’s one of those things where we get fixated on, you know, comparing and contrasting and rates and blah, blah, blah. And at the end of the day, what’s most important is how does the person feel in their home? What do they really want? And, and that that tends to override the financial part of it. Carrie McCormick 18:51Yeah, but there’s some people that just they want the win or they want it, they want the win, you know, so it’s, I love what I do. I truly do. I love consulting with clients and talking with them about this. And it’s like being a coach, you know, a real estate coach with them, you know, of what to do and how to do it. So it’s it’s the best job in the world. D.J. Paris 19:15Yeah, be a coach. I like that coach consultant. That’s, I mean, we have those for, you know, our finances, we have those for legal matters. We have those for, you know, working out, you know, dietary stuff. It’s like why not have a real estate coach as well. I think if you position yourself as a coach, I think our audience could really benefit from that really thinking of yourself as like, Hey, before you make a real estate decision, talk to me, I can give you some some guidance, right? Because I do think that most people make real estate decisions on their own with and use a realtor to make the decision, but I don’t think a lot of real I don’t think a lot of can Zoomers really go to the realtor and say I need you to help me find x or or help me sell X, Y or Z. I think most people tend to want to do it on their own. And this, we’re a realtor who’s really comprehensive can come in and say, I’m going to be your guide throughout the entire process, right? Carrie McCormick 20:19There’s so much involved in it. So, and I don’t think they know that D.J. Paris 20:23they don’t. And this is an opportunity for the agent to step up. Now my marketing tip of the week. So I’ll just kind of peel back the curtain a little bit. So we at our company, here, we have two companies, we have a holding company for agents that are exiting the business want to keep their license active. And we have seen an incredible spike. In signups to that company, we’ve been doing the same marketing for that company since we started. So it’s not like we’re doing anything different. But all of a sudden, in the last third, 90 days, so it’s been since the beginning of this year, we’ve seen 100 Realtors join our holding company, which is normally we would see maybe 30 to 40 realtors. So we’re seeing a pretty sick significant increase. And what does this mean? These are agents that are leaving the industry. So what does that mean to you the listener who is not leaving the industry? Well, it’s kind of a good news, bad news thing. Good news is people are leaving the industry. So there’s market share up for sale, the bad news is, it’s still hard to get that market share. Here’s what I would recommend doing, I think now is the time to start offering as people are now coming back to work, I have a few suggestions. We are starting to see some companies are mandating in house working, or in office working mandates. So if you have clients, people in your sphere, that are going in back into the office that weren’t before, I would reach out to those those clients and ask them to introduce you to their HR department. If it’s a large enough company, and say, Hey, I’d love to come in and talk about, you know, the current state of the market, renting, buying, selling, etc, I’ll bring in, you know, sandwiches or whatever, I can do a little presentation. HR departments love this, because it makes them look like they’re putting on something for their agents. Obviously, you can get a lender to help pay for that, or an attorney or title company. So it doesn’t have to cost you anything. So that’s one suggestion is find out where everybody works, and say, Hey, can I talk to your HR department, maybe I can come do a little webinar or seminar. Another idea I have is back to the basics. This is something that everyone can do, and everyone should do, which is you should have at least a five data points for every single contact that you have in your database. So what I mean by that is I’m going to give you the five that I recommend that you have, obviously, I’m going to assume you already have somebody’s name, their email, their phone number, so we’re going to assume that, but I want you to know everybody’s birthday, I want you to know, their if they have a spouse, the spouse is birthday, of course the name as well. If they have children, I want you to know the children’s birthdays. I also want you to know where the parents or the the adults work, what name of those companies and their home buying or selling anniversary and or rental anniversary will say. So basically what you’re going to know is their birthdays, where they work and their work, their buying and selling and or renting anniversaries. If you know this, by the way, called just go down a list in your database. This will give you opportunities to reach out all throughout the year to say hey, I know it’s your son’s birthday today just wanted to wish so and so happy birthday. You can also set up Google Alerts. So once you know the name of the company that your friends work for, or your clients work for you, you can put those in Google Alerts and have it send you notifications when anything substantial happens at that particular company. That way you can reach out say Hey, I just saw you guys acquired this or you were just in the news for that or, and even better go into LinkedIn. LinkedIn will show you once. I would go every day, but you could do it once a week and look to see all the people that have had job promotions, all the people have changed careers. All of those kinds of things give you reasons to reach out. So again, we haven’t said one thing about real estate but I’ve given now you you know, many, many reasons to reach out throughout the year. And I don’t think I’m going to carry I’m going to ask you one last one question to round out the show. Do you ask for business? Yes. Ah, tell us how you do that. Carrie McCormick 24:46I’m pretty blunt. D.J. Paris 24:50will just say hey, DJ, do you need to? Like if how would you ask me for Carrie McCormick 24:56years to do that? I will tell you it’s Anyone that really knows me knows that I do not have an ego. I’m actually a pretty shy person. And I don’t like to talk about myself, I really don’t. And I don’t like to be photographed, believe that or not, I do not like to be photographed. But it took me feel comfortable with just asking people the straight question, and I learned to ask it around a purpose. And the purpose of it is kind of, like you said, is like, What’s your why don’t ask that specific, but what’s important to them? And have you ever considered moving, you know, like, you know, whatever the conversation leads to, and, you know, I’d love an opportunity to talk to you about that. Because Because of XY and Z, or because the markets doing this, and, you know, wrapping the whole question around the reason of why they should move or should sell, and make it more conversational. And, you know, some people say, no, or I appreciate it, but no, thank you, or whatever it is, it’s, you know, it’s usually a very nice comment. And then I’ll say, Well, can I follow up with you in a year from now, because life changes, you know, and I just, I’m not shy about that, you know, you know, I’m, I’ve got very thick skin, and I can take no for an answer. And actually, someone texted me the other day, and he said, You are the most persistent realtor I’ve ever. And he said, but you’re very professional. And I appreciate that. He’s like, why don’t you come over on the ninth. And I’m like, I mean, this is someone I’ve kept asking and asking and asking in a nice way, and I provide value, I provide information. And it was nice that he recognized it’s all very professionally done and persistent. And now I’m gonna go meet with him on the ninth. So we’ll see what happens D.J. Paris 26:55persistency wins the game. It just does. I, I had a similar thing where I kept reaching out to expand our podcast, I kept reaching out to real estate schools, because I want to do get real estate students who are entering the business hooked on our podcast, that would be a good thing for the show. And so I reached out to all these different schools, and I said, Hey, I would love to do these free. Here’s what I learned after interviewing lots of top realtors, like webinars for your students so that they know what they’re getting into. And I kept hitting this one particular school for two years, basically. And finally, they were like, Yes, look, we’re ready. Let’s do it. So sometimes things take time. If you just keep dripping on people in consistently adding value, that’s, that’s that’s the key, right? Like consistently giving, giving, giving, giving, and just hope, hopeful, but then asking, I love the idea of asking. I asked what like some people say you shouldn’t ask for business. Others say you should. I was having was at a presentation. Actually, Carrie, you were not at. But you have somebody you know, Stephen NATO, who’s a Chicago agent here who said, somebody asked him do you ask for business? And he says, not until recently. He said for the first like 10 years of his business, he never asked, right? Because he’s like an introvert. He just kind of likes to you know, he’s not an extrovert. And so he said, and you carry your your, your your introverted as well, pretty much aren’t you? Are you Would you consider yourself an introvert? Carrie McCormick 28:35I am. I am. Yeah, yeah. D.J. Paris 28:38Me too. Me too. Believe it or not, I am as well. Introverts can can do really well in this industry. And he goes, I never used to ask for business. He goes the worst. And he was saying, but he goes, he said, I started asking for business because he wanted to see like all these Beyonce shows this year. So he goes, guys, I’m not going to be able to go see all these Beyonce shows if I don’t have enough sales, and he just made a joke, made a joke about it. And he said, people really responded well to that. They were like, no, we want you to be successful. And he’s, of course is very successful. But I thought he goes I guess I flipped the script on asking. He goes, I totally asked now. He’s like, there’s no reason not to ask, right? It’s uncomfortable, but you have to do it. And you’ll get you’ll get some nose and Carrie McCormick 29:23yeah, you have to know the appropriate time to do it. You can’t just, you know, barge into a room and do that. But it’s it’s a it’s an art form. So D.J. Paris 29:33what, how? Give us one thing, one last final tip about social media, like what’s been working for you recently? Anything that or it’s something that you have or something not to do? Have you learned anything I Carrie McCormick 29:49don’t know about not to do? Because my tip is honestly is to be your own brand ambassador and be organic with your content. Um, you know, I think the reason, my and I don’t have millions of followers, you know, I feel like I’ve got a good following and my social media, but I think it’s because it’s truly me. You know, it’s, it’s, I try to curate each of my videos I, I’m the one that writes the scripts, I’m the one that comes up with the, the storyboard if you will, of them. And it’s, it’s truly who I am. So I think that’s, and I think if everyone when you do your own social media, and you are you’re true to yourself and your brand. So what I say is be your own brand ambassador, don’t when you start copying other people, I’m inspired by a lot of other people that are out there, and you take that inspiration and turn it into your own. So I think that’s important. D.J. Paris 30:55Yeah, it’s great tip authenticity, consistency. Yeah, let’s, let’s, let’s make this year, the year of doing more video to for all of our listeners do more live videos. And each time you’re at a showing, if you have a minute or so show something interesting about the house, hey, I want to show you guys this, people love to see those little short form videos of look at this really cool thing. Every house has some cool feature feature in your videos. Carrie, I think that brings us to the end of another Monday market minute. The I guess the lesson for today is get creative, get creative, to get more listings, get creative in your marketing. And don’t worry too much about rates just go out there and people still need to move. So get out there and talk to people find out their why’s. And also hopefully with the marketing tips I gave give you a reason to reach out just celebrate people this year. This is the year you know, it’s so funny, I will say this as one final thing. I’ve done so many of these episodes. And at the end of the are usually at the beginning of the episode. It’s almost clockwork, when I read somebody’s intro, which is you know, a list of their accomplishments and why they’re important and why we’re having them on the show. And they always go Gosh, I wish you could read it like almost every time so because gosh, I wish like you could see it in their face, they get so excited to hear and maybe slightly embarrassed. But it’s one of those things that you can really make people’s day by paying attention to their accomplishments. So, so obviously, in a podcast, we can, you know, there’s a structure for that. But as a realtor, you can do that through some of those marketing suggestions I gave, which is pay attention to other people’s accomplishments because not everyone gets to be on a podcast. And if you call them up and just say, Hey, I saw your company just won this big account. That’s, that is gonna go a long way with people. So anyway, pay attention to what your your your sphere of influence is doing and celebrate their successes with them. Everybody should be following Carrie McCormack on Instagram. So go to Instagram Carrie McCormack RTE link to that in the show notes. She does it all herself. She has an incredible social media following and she wants you to follow her as well. So check her out there also Kerry McCormack rt e.com For everything if you have clients, luxury clients, any any type of client that is moving the Chicagoland area that wants to work with a top real estate agent here in the area. Carrie is our recommendation. So if you’re a broker from another state, another area you have clients moving here, consider passing those over to introducing them to Carrie, Carrie, what’s the best way that an agent can reach out to you Carrie McCormick 33:46always call me 312-961-4612? I pick up my phone all the time. D.J. Paris 33:54Awesome. Well, thank you Carrie. Once again, on behalf of our listeners, you are amazing. We love having you on every month and on behalf of Carrie and myself. Thank you to the audience. Please tell a friend about our show. Think of one other realtor that could benefit from hearing this episode and send them a link over to our website. Keeping it real pod.com Every episode can be streamed right from our browser or any podcast app has our show as well. Carrie, thank you so much. We will see everybody on the next next episode. Thank you

Russ Cofano the CEO at Collabra Technology talks about his long experience with law school background working in a law firm legal hotline. Russ discussed the importance of eXp model and how the timing is incredibly valuable to effectiveness of this model. Next, he talks about a tool that his company has developed with the purpose to help agents build their digital marketing part of the job. Last, he explains why sales without marketing and branding is only half of the equation of digital marketing. If you’d prefer to watch this interview, click here to view on YouTube! This episode is brought to you by Real Geeks. Transcript D.J. Paris 0:00Wouldn’t it be cool if there was a tool that existed that measured all of your social media channels and effectiveness and engagement and compared it among the top Realtors in your marketplace and then told you what to do to get to their level? Well, stay tuned. This episode of Keeping it real is brought to you by real geeks. How many homes are you going to sell this year? Do you have the right tools? Is your website turning soft leads and interested buyers? Are you spending money on leads that aren’t converting? Well real geeks is your solution. Find out why agents across the country choose real geeks as their technology partner. Real geeks was created by an agent for agents. They pride themselves on delivering a sales and marketing solution so that you can easily generate more business. Their agent websites are fast and built for lead conversion with a smooth search experience for your visitors. Real geeks also includes an easy to use agent CRM. So once a lead signs up on your website, you can track their interest and have great follow up conversations. Real geeks is loaded with a ton of marketing tools to nurture your leads and increase brand awareness visit real geeks.com forward slash keeping it real pod and find out why Realtors come to real geeks to generate more business again, visit real geeks.com forward slash keeping it real pod. And now on to our show. Hello, and welcome to another episode of Keeping it real the largest podcast made by real estate agents and for real estate agents. My name is DJ Parris. I’m your guide and host through the show. And in just a moment we’re going to be speaking with Ruska Fano about his new venture sphere builder.io. Before we get to Russ, just a couple of quick reminders. As always the best two ways that you can help support our podcast. Number one, support our sponsors, check out what our sponsors are offering we love our sponsors, they pay the bills, and please check out their products and services and to tell a friend about the show. Tell one other realtor that you know you gotta listen to this episode. Specifically today we’re going to be talking about how to measure your social media presence against all the top producers in your marketplace. Very very cool stuff. So tell someone else about our show. That’s always the best way that you can help us keep going. But guys let’s get right to it my conversation with Ruska Fano? Right, today our guest is Russ confido With Collabra technology. Let me tell you more about Russ now. Ruska. Fido is the CEO of Collabra technology, a digital marketing technology and analytics firm, which operates sphere builder, a comprehensive digital marketing platform that instantly provides comparative ranking and personalized insights about an agent’s online presence. Now Cabano has more than 30 years of senior leadership experience in nearly all facets of the real estate industry including brokerage technology, MLS associations and affiliated businesses go find his previous roles include President and General Counsel of EXP world holdings, Senior Vice President of industry relations at move dot inc, which is the owner of realtor.com By the way, I always thought realtor.com was owned by the National Association of REALTORS not not so anymore move dot move dot inc sorry moved attic move Inc owns and Russ is also was the Vice President and General Counsel at John L. Scott real estate and CEO of the Missouri Realtors Association. Kobato holds a Bachelor of Arts and Juris Doctor from the University of Washington. Welcome Russ to the show. By the way, before we welcome Russ, everyone, I want you to go to sphere builder.io Sphere builder.io. And I want you to put in your information to download their white paper, specifically referencing and this is an incredible white paper about digital marketing use cases for real estate agents, you’re going to see what top agents are currently doing to expand their digital presence and engagement and improve their business. Russ, welcome to the show. Russ Cofano 4:31Thank you, DJ, thanks for having me. And looking forward to a great discussion about marketing for real estate agents. D.J. Paris 4:37Yeah, let’s let’s let’s dive into it normally, I mean, you’ve done you’ve done everything in this industry. You’ve been on really all different sides of the business. I’d actually I’d love to first before we get into marketing. We’d love to learn a little bit about your journey, sort of how did you get involved in real estate? Obviously, you know, you you’re an attorney, you’ve run Businesses and also worked in various aspects of real estate. So just walk us through kind of how you got involved Russ Cofano 5:07by at complete accident. So after law school, I was a lawyer that went into and my, I really wanted to be a developer. That was where my thought my calling was, I felt I, I, as a young boy, I really enjoyed going on vacations, my family, you know, was a middle class family. And so, you know, we would go on on car trips, and a lot of plane trips, and occasionally, we would stay at, you know, a decent hotel, never real luxury stuff that was not within my family’s means. And, and I wanted to build hotels, I thought that was really cold people like love going into hotels, and I thought it would be great to be a developer of some luxury hotels. And it the time I got out of law school, the commercial real estate industry was, you know, interest rates were, you know, hovering around 20%, it was just not a great time to be in the building business. And so got some great advices and you want to go be a lawyer and, and help developers from a legal side and then learn the business. And then once the market gets better, then you can, you know, actually move to the business side, I never intended to be a lawyer long term ever. And I got into this law firm, and by chance, a pure by chance, they were in a really good real estate specialty. And that’s what I wanted to do. They operated the legal hotline for the Washington Association of Realtors. And, you know, for those agents that watch, they know that in many states, there’s a legal hotline where you can call and get, you know, answers to your questions, etc. And so this law firm, basically had the contract for providing the Legal Hotline. And as the newbie, I that became part of my job, D.J. Paris 7:05you got to be the guy that answered the phones, I got to be the guy that answer Russ Cofano 7:08the phones. And so And initially, I thought, come on this is this is not I’m not building hotels here, I’m, I’m talking to realtors, right. And yet, I fell in love with I fell in love with, with the people in the industry. They are people that are glass half full people they have to be because it’s such a tough job. And they were so appreciative of of information that we gave them, I would get calls many times before they would call their broker, but they didn’t want their broker to know that they sold the house twice. Or, or, you know, other really challenging scenarios. And, and I just fell in love with the business, I fell in love with the people, all those things. And so that was sort of an entree sort of diverted the path. And then this law firm also did a lot of work representing realtor associations and multiple listing services, and brokerage companies. And I just, my my career just fell into that path. And that’s through sort of it just, you know, sometimes you get into a stream, and it takes you downstream and you don’t really decide to go there. It just takes you there. And I’m really fortunate that I’ve had a wonderful career that didn’t end up being a hotel developer. And, and I practice law for about 10 years. And then I during the the time when the internet actually became something of a commercial medium. I was became fascinated. I had a brother who was very much on the technology side and he kept on sending me things and I just I couldn’t get enough of where I thought this thing called the internet was going to be the 90s Right. And I started developing a specialty around data licensing and it was what at the time when multiple listing services. So realtor.com started you know, it came on to the scene homes.com Cyber homes if people remember that I mean just arrived the initial portals and and they were going to the MLS is and seeking to license data and MLS at the time. And many of them were still operating off literally computers and big rooms as opposed to the PC. Right. And so this was, you know, a long time ago, relatively speaking, and they didn’t really understand IP intellectual property and what it meant to date licensed data and all that and so I became that guy I started doing work for MLS across the country and helping them live Since their data, and I remember I was at one of the very first inland conferences, late 90s. And I was doing a speech on data and IP and real estate. And there were some guys in the audience that were running a little startup company in Seattle, they had gone down to San Francisco. And they heard me talk. And when I got back, I got a phone call from them. They said, hey, you know, we’re some extra Microsoft developers. We’re building this new application, it was one of the very first virtual tour applications. And they, they said, we need, we need some help, right? We know how to build great technology, but we don’t really understand this real estate world. And so I started being their lawyer. And then shortly thereafter, I got so enamored with what they were doing, and the opportunity to build some really cool technology that I jumped for my law firm became CEO of this little startup company, and we did the whole startup thing and eventually failed. You know, we, we almost got bought by one of the big players, but NASDAQ and the crash of NASDAQ really took the sales out of that process and learned a ton about technology development, learned a ton about bringing product to this industry. Some great lessons learned even though we ended up failing as a startup, wouldn’t trade it for the world. It’s helping me today, learning going through the things we went back literally 20 years ago. And, and I don’t know all the right answers. But one thing that experience does is it tells you what alleys not to go down, right? And because if you go down that alley, you’re gonna get beat up, right? So the wisdom that I learned is what not to do. There’s still a lot of learnings about what to do in a very dynamic environment. From there, I went back into the brokerage side and my career ventually took me into organized real estate with the Missouri Association of Realtors, and and then back in 2014. Zillow was really making some headway against realtor.com Real Talk comm went from the number one portal to the number three portal I remember. Yeah, behind Zillow and Trulia. And, and some major execs left Zillow, and went or left realtor.com and went to Zillow. And that opened up a spot to come in and, and so I joined realtor.com. And at a time when they were going through some changes and being acquired by Rupert Murdoch, and and, and that organization and learned a lot again from from a technology portal standpoint, leads and all that and then left realtor.com and got the chance to, to help exp in the initial growth phase with the company, which was tremendously exciting and interesting. exp is a great company. You know, bringing a new model to real estate and the challenges around that. Again, another great learning opportunity and eventually left them and took some time off and got rejuvenated and then got this opportunity to come to collaborate and build what we think is a is a truly groundbreaking application for helping real estate agents be better marketers. D.J. Paris 13:35I’m really excited to dive into that I did want to touch since you you were, you know, part of EXP and helping them in really in their growth phase, which seems like they’re always in growth phase and they have just been skyrocketing. But that is a true success story. I mean, I am We’re an independent brokerage here in Chicago, so we’re not affiliated with anyone but we have about 800 agents or so here. And I know how long it took us to build that and I if I had one regret it was boy I wish I would have come up with the EXP model before exp because boy, are they just taking the ball and running with it. Basically the way I understand exp model is they took what Keller Williams had attempted to do in the past but didn’t quite have it fleshed out in the same sort of program, this idea of having a downline and having agents kind of underneath you and really just leaning into that model and realizing what exp realized I think that no other brokerage realized is that they leaned into this whole influencer kind of idea where people can build these online presences on YouTube on tick tock and really become this broker that or agent that other agents follow. And then that draws people in. I mean, I’ve interviewed some exp agents. I’ve had them on my show who have like 1000 Plus team members, because they’re a real popular or a person online and they provide all this value to other agents and then agents sign up is really an incredible thing that sort of caught fire. And I’ve always thought exp is really a b2b brand a business to business and not really a b2c brand. I don’t think I don’t think they care that much about the consumer because they focus all of their effort for their marketing on the b2b side, which again, it’s just such a brilliant idea. My hats, my hat’s off to them. I think exp does some really, really neat things. And they’ve really caught lightning in a bottle. I think very, very impressively. Russ Cofano 15:33Yeah, you know, the, the model, what, what exp is a perfect example of is how timing is so incredibly important to the effectiveness of a model. So Glen actually started exp in 2009. I think 2008 2009. And I met Glenn, when I was@realtor.com, I ran what was called our broker advisory board. And Glenn was on that that board, which was kind of weird, because not that Glenn’s not a smart guy, but but we had, you know, the biggest companies in the country on our brokerage doors, and we had this at exp, which was at the time at 500 agents in a kind of an odd model. Nobody got Yeah, nobody really understood it. Yeah, it stood it right. And so exp really kind of bumped around for about six, seven years. Before a variety of things came together and and the model took off and it was Right Place Right Time. For that model to come to the industry when the industry was looking for an alternative to agents were looking for an alternative with can be multiple streams of income, give me autonomy, it’s not about your brand is about my brand, my brand new agent. All those things leveraging a digital environment there exp world as and using the savings from that to be able to fund these alternatives, streams of income better, you know, revenue share model versus profit share model of kW stock you know, all those things were were groundbreaking right, Brett groundbreaking and, and it was just a perfect storm, in a good way. Good storm for the for the folks at exp that really got it going and continue to do quite well. D.J. Paris 17:31It’s funny, you say that the timing thing. So we’re at our brokerage here in Chicago. And I know we’re getting a little into the weeds. But just for people, I think this is kind of interesting for them to hear. And then we’ll dive really deep into marketing and branding. But we’re 100% firm, which which just means we have a transaction fee versus splits for our brokers. And we’ve made friends with pretty much all the big 100% firms all over the country. And we sort of do a lot of these mastermind meetings. And what we found funny enough from talking to all these, these big 100% firms is that usually almost in almost every case, they were first to market, they were just happened to be the first one in their city to do it. And so you’re right. And same with us. I would love to say that we are so brilliant that we had this thought and we executed it and the reality of it was it was perfect timing. We just got we got lucky. And you know, it’s well Russ Cofano 18:23yeah, I wouldn’t say you got lucky. I say you I mean I think luck is a is a function of of strategy, right that effort and effort you put your you make your luck. And so congrats. 100%. Agree, D.J. Paris 18:42I just need the timing was very fortunate. Had we done it six months before, after it might have had a different result. So sometimes the timing, timing works out. But you’re right, it’s ultimately it’s a marathon, not a sprint. But anyway, let’s talk about sphere builder because I am a big believer, and I’m quoting one of our frequent guests on our show Ryan de April, I don’t want to steal his words. But it’s probably not probably not even his initial words. But he’s something he professes to all of his agents, which is your network, your net worth is or your network is your net worth, right. So the idea that your sphere is really where you’re going to build your business, maintain your business, that is your asset. And so this idea of deep, sort of figuring out how to further deepen those relationships, create more bonds, more connection is only going to help grow the business. But you need help to do that. And that’s what you guys do. So let’s talk about sphere builder. Russ Cofano 19:43So, sphere builder is a we’ll talk about the application. But I want to talk more about sort of this, this movement that we’re trying to create around this idea of building a digital sphere. And it’s got sort of multifaceted to it. The first is that as to your point. Agents, when you go into a room, if you say to a group of agents, do you have a sphere? One out? They all they all say yes, I’ve got Yeah. And they know what it is right. And they know it is because it’s so important to their business and, and, you know, just this last week, some data came out. Zillow now owns 50% of the search market. And, and when you look at 98% of search is owned by big portals and by some large brokerage companies, only 2% is owned by the rest of the the entire rest of the industry, right? It used to be that and what is search search is today’s version of the Sunday paper from 20 years ago, that acted as a place where people could get outreach to or from, and so the industry, whether it’s right or wrong, lost the search battle, it’s gone. It’s now owned by other people that, you know, the traditional industry view is non traditionalist. So the question is, does that mean that the industry is subservient to those folks? And the answer is no, because the sphere, who agents know, in their local communities, their local presence, cannot be matched by a portal. And, and it’s that group of people that know like, and we talked about this all the time that know like and trust the agent, you’re walking down the street, you’re in your local environment, and and you’re the expert. You’re the influencer in your local community. And, and yet, when we talk about spheres of influence, most agents are really able to talk about how that sphere works in real life, you know, the 100, or 200 people that are in their quote, unquote Rolodex, or a CRM, that if they walked down the street and bumped into him, they could have a conversation. But what we’ve seen is that today, with the emergence of the digital world, social channels, Google, all those things, there is another sphere of influence. And that’s what we call the digital sphere of influence. And we believe, and our data shows that the tools and strategies and tactics used to build your sphere in real life, where you are engaged, your personality comes out, all those things are different than the tools and tactics and strategies that are that are necessary to build your digital sphere. And yet that digital sphere, the breadth, and the scope of that sphere can be 10 101,000x, the number of people that can be in your real life sphere. And and can do this by can do the same thing. It can create that know like trust relationship, that that is not reliant on search engines or portals or paid lead gen or all that to generate great word of mouth referrals. And at the end of the day, the best and most sustainable businesses in real estate, operate off those word of mouth referrals and repeat business. D.J. Paris 23:37So if I just to recap what you said, because you said a lot, and I want to make sure that I caught it correctly. This idea of having a digital sphere will say is can get the same results as a in person sphere, we’ll call it we’ll just I’ll just use in person and digital as as opposites. And in person sphere, we know we understand that we understand the value of that we also know that there’s a value to the digital sphere. What what I guess the distinction we’re making is that both can get you incredible results. But with the digital side number one, your reach is exponential, because of course, the way that technology connects us via social is obviously apparent to everyone but also the techniques or the practices to cultivate the digital sphere is going to be a different set of practices or some degree different than what you might do in person to develop those relationships. Russ Cofano 24:36That’s correct. And, and most agents today do a very poor job of being a digital marketer. Now I want to I want to, and it’s not because they’re not able to, I mean, they’re certainly capable. They just haven’t learned the tools and the techniques in order to do that. D.J. Paris 24:56Right. I was laughing because I put myself in the poor digital mode. I couldn’t category as well. So I am one of one I am one of, I am just like the listeners, Russ Cofano 25:07and you have lots of friends. So don’t don’t feel alone in that in that category. And it’s important that one thing that we were one of our mantras is this in, in every organization, there is a sales function, there’s a sales department, and there’s a marketing department. And they’re different. They’re they’re managed by different talent sets, the the deliverables are different sales is about lead gen and conversion, and the driving of revenue. And marketing is about positioning and branding. And, and creating a fertile ground for the salespeople to to work off of, they work synergistically and collectively together toward the same result. But they’re fundamentally different functions in any organization. A real estate agent is an organization, it’s a business, right? And, and what we believe is that, and it’s, it’s a sales business. So the people that come into it, tend to be great on the sales side, they know how to lead generate, they’re good at it. It’s, you know, the technology tools that have been built today are focused on lead generation, if you go to any Facebook group, and you talk about you throw out the word lead, Gen, you’ve got people from a variety of different perspectives, talking about the best, the next, the coolest, the newest lead generation scenario, big companies talk about the leverage of lead gen lead gen lead gen, all great. But lead gen without marketing. Sales without marketing is only half of the equation. And, and so our perspective, and our technology is designed to help agents not be better lead generators, there’s plenty of stuff out there to be lead generators, but actually help agents be better digital marketers. And that’s what we’re trying to solve a sphere builder. Because we want the business to come to agents through building of great spheres, as opposed to an agent having to go cultivate that business, your lead generation. D.J. Paris 27:18Interesting. So how do you do that? Russ Cofano 27:21Well, first of all, the cool thing about the digital sphere, and a digital agents online presence is it’s measurable with data, we can actually look and we have a tool called sphere index. It’s the first tool of its kind, it’s groundbreaking. It’s a real time analytics tool, where an agent will come in and provide to us their social handles their Google business profile, their Zillow review page variety of places where they show up online, they give us those public profiles, and then we have an application that goes out and essentially crawls those sites, takes looks at the at the publicly accessible data, we don’t look at private stuff, we’re just looking at what anybody would see. If I went to your, your Facebook page or Instagram page, we have a we have a way to look at that we capture it. And then we run it through an algorithm that basically measures and puts different I’ll call it emphasis on certain activities. And then we come up with a score. And that’s what we call our sphere index score. It takes about three minutes. It’s free. And it’s it’s the first like I said, real time scoring mechanism of an agent’s digital presence. It’s important that when you begin a digital marketing journey, you begin with a baseline, because what happens what’s happening in the industry today, agents will go to a conference or they’ll see something on Facebook or they’ll go to the watch somebody somewhere they say you should do this. And so they’ll throw that piece of spaghetti at the wall, and then it will generate immediate results. They go, Oh, that didn’t work. And then they’ll go see somebody else saying something else and they go, they’ll take that other piece of an Italian guy, so you know, the it won’t be spaghetti. It’ll be rigatoni. They’ll throw rigatoni at the wall. Right? And, and that didn’t work, right, that didn’t produce a lead, oh, shoot, then they’ll see somebody else. And they’ll say, Well, that’s some vermicelli and then throw those vermicelli at the wall. And and, and so they’re constantly throwing things at the wall. We want to get them off of that of that treadmill and say look at let’s look at where you are. Let’s measure it. Let’s measure it against a benchmark. And this is the cool thing that we developed. We have what’s called a local pro benchmark. And the idea is that and if you go to our site, you’ll see We We essentially create a score of zero to 100 as to how effective an agent is in their digital marketing presence. But if we just said to you DJ, your score is 45, you’re gonna go, great. What does that mean? Well, honestly, it means nothing because there’s no relevancy to it. There’s no comparison to it. So what we do when we go into a local market, and we launched this application first and in Denver in Huntsville, just a couple of weeks ago, and it’s going to be going nationwide. We go into create, we actually look at top producers. So in Denver in Huntsville, we went out and collected data around the top 5% of agents in those two market areas by volume production, these are the agents that are doing production, right. And we ran all those agents through our algorithm. And we then developed a score that reflects how those agents are doing digital marketing. What is their what are their Facebook profiles look like? What does their Instagram profiles look like? How do they show up on on Zillow? How many reviews? Do they have? All those things? Do they have a Google profile? What’s on their Google profile? What are their reviews in Google or Facebook or Instagram? A massive amount of data and we created a score that basically is this benchmark that says if you’re a top producer in these markets, your marketing looks like a 72. Okay, now, when I say to DJ, you’re 45. Yeah, you say, Okay, I’m gonna 45 compared to people that are the top 5% of the industry doing 72. And we want you to the next question to be, how do I get better? How do I actually get from 45 to 72. And we patterned the application off of a very popular consumer application called Credit Karma. I’m not sure if you’re using Credit Karma, but we love it. And Credit Karma basically gives consumers a credit score. And, and says, Okay, you’re a 675. Right? Well, good, you need to get to 700 to be good. And if you want to get to excellent, maybe you want to be to 800. And then they take you through this prescriptive journey in doing things to help you have a better credit score. And as you do those things, when you go back to credit, karma, your 675 just became 700. And then it became 725 became 750. And now you have this, this scoring incentive around your credit score that helps you go through this, this journey, right, because it’s not a 90 day, get fit, quick scenario. It’s a journey, it’s a long term approach. And so we say, credit, karma is for consumers on their credit journey, as sphere builder is for real estate agents on their digital marketing journey. So we start with a score. And then we create what we call recommendation cards. And we help agents based on their data, not other people’s data, their data, how they can improve their profiles, how they can create content, both non listing and listing content, to create more engagement, more followers to build it. And over time, as we re measure them, that’s that four year 45 will become a 50, and a 55 and a 60. And all of a sudden, you’re going to be at 70, which is similar to a benchmark. And we’ve seen a tight correlation between digital marketing activities and production. D.J. Paris 33:33So as there’s a positive correlation, then between the score as it rises, you’re seeing income, production volume increase, as a result of tightening up some of the practices. You know, this is, this is very, very interesting, because it’s, it’s, it’s so it’s so interesting. So I know talking about measuring, and we don’t really measure social engagement as a whole, or sorry, I just say, digital marketing, we’ll just say, we don’t really measure it, we measure it in little silos, right? We say, Well, we did this one post, and here’s, here’s the results. And I like it, or I don’t like it, or here’s what I need to fix for the next time. And then over time, you can maybe start to see some trends in videos that are produced or static images that you’re throwing up on Instagram, Facebook, tick tock even. And you can start to start to figure out what your audience is into. But what what you guys have done is actually say, we’re going to actually, we’re going to actually benchmark the most successful agents in your area and kind of show you what they’re doing and guide you from where you are today. Almost like a Credit Karma repairing your credit score repairing your social media credit score over time, and as you increase, we’re going to be checking to make sure it’s going up and you’re just going to do these Several things that we’re going to suggest to you, and then you’re going to get the results of that. I mean, it’s it’s a very simple idea. But it is it is brilliant in a way, because it really does. It’s like, you know, I can step on the scale every day. And it will tell me how what my actual weight is. And it might also tell me my body fat and whatever metrics it measures. But if I only look at that weight measurement, I don’t really know what that tells me, right? It tells me what my overall weight is. But it’s not particularly helpful to to know if I’m healthy or not. I mean, yes, it would tell me if I’m overweight or underweight. But other than that, it’s kind of like, what do you do with that? And what do you want it to be? And that’s where people then go to personal trainers or dieticians or people that can actually make sense of this, this information, and say, Here’s where you really want to be. And here’s how to get there. I love the fact that you guys are like a prescriptive kind of service where it’s like, hey, you know, we’re gonna, we’re gonna, you’re gonna go see the doctor, we’re gonna give you your weight. And then we’re gonna tell you what you need to do to, to get to get, you know, more fit, so to speak, in the digital marketing space. Super exciting. And I don’t, to my knowledge, I don’t know of any company that’s that’s currently doing that for realtors. Russ Cofano 36:08No, we’re, we are the first we won’t be the last. I mean, we every good idea has other folks that want to replicate it, but we are the first real time analytics and and marketing platform that, you know, there are some things that we do that other people do, nobody has put the package together. And what we’ve found is that Realtors don’t, they want easy, and they want things to be very intuitive. And one thing we’ve done in the design process is try to put everything in one platform. So an agent, you know, is not having to navigate from one platform to another platform to log in, log out Log In Log Out. The hope is that this becomes their digital marketing platform. You know, we have content creation opportunities, it’s, it’s very Canva. Like in from a content creation standpoint, we connect to an MLS. And so the moment an agent takes a listing, that listing shows up in our in our in our application, so an agent can then create marketing materials around that listing. We have an both an organic sharing function so we can take content, and seamlessly. If you’ve got multiple social channels with one click share that content out in one click in a very effective way. And we also have an advertising platform. Obviously, organic sharing is great because it helps your current followers know that you’re doing things. But if you want to grow your sphere, you’ve got to advertise, you’ve got to reach new people with new content. And, and so our system essentially replace replaces Facebook Ads Manager, which is for most agents a nightmare. And now you could take content that’s created in the platform, and with a couple of clicks get advertising campaigns created. So it’s designed to be kind of a one stop shop that begins it’s wrapped around data and analytics. And that’s the thing that we as we’re iterating around the idea, we actually went out to this industry called martec marketing technology. It’s a $500 billion worldwide industry. And we looked at martec applications outside of the real estate industry. So now what real estate was doing, but what other b2b and b2c companies were doing with Mar tech. And the two things we found that really kind of drove how we ideated around the technology was one automation was critical, right. And today, automation is very possible. And quite frankly, it’s going to become even more interesting with the chat GPT stuff. And then analytics, analytics were interwoven with all of the automation and drove with with data and machine learning the ability to be smart automators. And so we’re bringing those two things together. In an application, the the metaphor that we use internally is we built an iceberg. We want agents to see the tip top of it above the water that’s beautiful, and easy and to navigate around. But underneath it is a massive amount of of application data and tools that the agent will never see, but we’ll help them be better at at this marketing game. D.J. Paris 39:52I think that’s great. This idea of just getting a score. There used to be a social score, sir So that was popular about 15 years ago, and I can’t recall the name of that cloud clouds. Yes. With a K. With a K. Yeah. And thank you, that is a thank you. And if anyone who’s listening remembers cloud, you would get a score, and you wouldn’t know what to do with it, you would see it, and you would go, Okay, I’m a 77, or whatever it was, and you’re like, I don’t know what that means. And they, and they never figured out what to do with the number. And I don’t know if clouds still around or not. But but but yeah, they, they had a really neat idea, the metric of it, and then they weren’t able to sort of say, well, here’s, here’s how to improve that score. That’s what you guys are essentially doing, and which I absolutely love. So what are some of the lessons you’ve learned from studying some of these top producers in the various markets that you guys have explored? What are some of the things they’re doing well on on social or digital marketing? So any suggestions, just overall suggestions that you are or even mistakes that you see agents making? Russ Cofano 41:09Well, we talked about the mistakes, let’s talk about the successes, because it’s a far more positive thing, right? We actually, as we were building the application, we said, you know, there’s, there’s a bunch, there’s people out there that are being successful in this digital marketing endeavors. And we need to go out and find them and do some research around them and, and bring their stories to the rest of the industry. And so we spent months researching and writing a industry paper that you mentioned, thank you at the beginning of the show, you can you can go to it at sphere builder.io. and navigate to the paper and download it. It’s about an 18 page. It’s not it’s not a two pager, it’s it’s a very in depth paper at the end, it’s a deep D.J. Paris 41:57dive, and it’s a it’s a worthy read, it’s everybody should go to sphere builder.io and scroll to the bottom or you’ll see it’s actually right at the top, put in your information, you you’re going to want to read this. Russ Cofano 42:12And we found me there’s we found many we can only highlight for Nikki Beauchamp, Stacy Stob, Pinky Benson, Brad Allen, a couple of folks run brokerage companies, some are individual agents, different parts of the country, doing things all incredibly successful, all very successful, but doing things differently. And so the first learning is that there, there is no one size fits all approach. And we don’t, when we talk about being prescriptive, we don’t tell agents, this is who you need to be online, that the thing that stood out with all of these folks, and I think if you were if they were your guests, they would say there’s an authenticity that comes through in who they purport to be online. Because, again, think about this, in this in the sphere building in real life, you meet somebody in your church group, or your kids soccer team, or whatever environment and and it’s you and them and your personality and who you are, is coming through. Well, now you’ve got to replicate that in an online digital environment where you’ve got to provide snippets of information about who you are, and what makes you you and, and everybody is different and unique. And so what we found is that they all approached both the platforms that they used, that they relied on, some were heavy, YouTube, others heavy Instagram, others, heavy Facebook, some Twitter, others combination of all the all of the above and more Tiktok. Find the platforms that you really want to excel on, that matches who you are, and the method and that you want to share content. And then the second piece is be consistent. And over time, because this is not a 90 day diet, you’re not going to become a successful digital marketer. By approaching it with a 90 day lead gen mentality. You won’t so you might as well not do it. It’s like It’s like going on, you know, a 90 day diet, you may lose weight, right and then 90 day diet, but guess what, if you don’t change your lifestyle, that weights gonna come right back on. Yeah, you can, you can fix your credit score. And yet, if you go back to the same spending patterns, your credit score is gonna go right back to where it is. And the same analogy holds true for digital marketing. If you don’t build a sustainable approach Due to developing the know, like trust persona, online, then you you may make short term inroads, but long term if you’re in this business for the long term, and that’s who our customer is what we’re not. And you know, I hate to say this, but we really don’t want to serve agents who are in the business to make a quick buck. That’s not who we’re marketing to. We want agents that are serious about being real estate professionals. A lot of quick buck agents are leaving the business because it’s not as easy to make that quick buck anymore, right. And so we want to help those agents that truly love this business, are professionals do great service for their clients, and need help being better marketers. And the four people that we highlighted in the paper, I think, are great lessons for agents in your, in your watching this podcast to go and read about how they’re approaching this marketing approach and being very successful and in different ways. D.J. Paris 46:01Yeah, so So walk me through. So let’s say I sign up, I submit my my social channels to you guys, you start, which by the way you can do for free, you can go to the website, again, also to check out the white paper, sphere. builder.io is where you can go to do this. But anyway, let’s say I sign up, I submit my my social accounts to you to your team, you start to analyze it, you assign me a social score relative to the you know, an agent in my agents in my market, who are who are have a strong digital presence as well as a strong business. And so now I know where I’m at, where some people I might aspire to be or at, then how do you help get me from here to there. Russ Cofano 46:49So we have these recommendation cards. And so we’ve analyzed your data. And for example, we will analyze your social profiles, there’s a ton of information on your social profiles, that it’s important to be consistent in how you provide that information. And a lot of agents are not consistent, the first thing I will tell you is that we asked you whether you have a Google business profile, if you do not have a Google business profile, you will not score well in our in our system. Because if you don’t have a Google Business Profile Google in Google Search, how somebody’s going to find you. They punish you, right in from a search algorithm standpoint. So the very first thing we will say is get your Google profile, and we provide a link to go do that. We also analyze the data that’s on your profile. So if you don’t have a website, link there, if you don’t have a phone number, if the information is not consistent, we we show that to you, again, lots of agents, maybe got their Google profile Google Business Profile three years ago, and then move brokerage companies. Well, guess what, they probably still have some of their same, they haven’t updated it. So there’s somebody who goes or Google profile Google business profile, sees broken information from three years ago, well, well, that’s not good, right. And, and so consumers are smart, especially the younger consumers, they They stalk agents, right? Before they make that phone call reach out, they’re looking at your online presence. And if they see inconsistent profile information, that’s a sign that you are not on top of how you present yourself to them. How well are you going to be on top of presenting their property and a listing? Right? It means something to consumers today. So we go through that process. And then we start analyzing, you know, what is your follower base? How engaged are your followers? How often are you posting? What are those posts doing for you, and then we help you get better at that through content, both listing content, not listing content, it’s, it’s not hard, it’s just something that requires a bit of training. And we want to make it fun at the same time, right. So hopefully, the fun comes in. And in seeing that score, tick up as you do these things, and hopefully generate some business in the, in the context. And you can see this, this, we call a virtuous cycle of, of feedback that breeds activity, more good feedback, more good activity. It’s like getting I mean, your analogy to stepping on the scale. If you if you’re if you’re trying to lose weight, and you step on the scale in the morning, and you see that you’re two pounds lighter, you’re gonna be psyched to go on that evening run. Right? That’s true. And that’s what we want to create that that measurement over time is that dopamine hit that we want to deliver to the agent to keep them on the train down this path. D.J. Paris 49:50I think that is so well said it really you’re a coaching company of sorts, but in a different way. You’re a digital coaching company, in the sense that and an analytics company I don’t I don’t want to lump you in with with all the other coaching programs out there because that’s not really what you do. But in a sense, you are a consulting firm, I guess maybe that’s a better way to say it. Because what you’re doing is you say, give us all your dad, not all your data, but all your social channels so we can analyze the data. And we can take a look and see what works, what isn’t working, where there’s room for improvement, and then come back and say, Hey, by the way, we noticed your LinkedIn hasn’t been updated in three years. And it’s still showing you with your previous firm. By the way, your your Zillow, you have three different Zillow profiles, they’re all over the place, we need to get all of this working cohesively because we don’t know where someone’s going to look for information for you. But certainly Google, you know, is is Google My Business, for example, is a place that that, you know, people don’t think about. But of course, we all utilize when we’re searching for local things. So the idea is you guys are going to give suggestions and not just the top 10 things to do to get your digital marketing health in order, but really saying very prescriptively. Here’s based on what you’re currently doing, and we’ve analyzed everything, here’s what the exact steps you Mr. or Mrs. Agent need to take? Russ Cofano 51:11Yeah, so two things I want to I want to clarify one is, is we are not, we’re a SaaS technology company. So we don’t provide managed services, we don’t charge agents for talking to a human that is that’s not what we’re about. In fact, we, we want to support coaching organizations, our application would be a great I mean, if you’re a coaching organization, you should call us. And here’s why. Because today, you have zero ability, because I don’t think you have our tool, it took us a long time and a lot of engineering to build the tool that we have, we can help you help your clients, if you’re a coach, understand their their digital presence and manage it over time. To the extent that there’s specific things that a coaching organization is helping their agents or their clients do, we don’t want to replace that. We want to augment that right? And so really, there’s a place there’s a really synergistic place for us to work with coaching organizations because of the approach that we take to data analytics. So that’s that’s number one. And and number two is you know, in terms of of right now we’re I want to make sure that we’re clear with your your viewers. We’re in Denver in Huntsville. Today, we’re going to be doing a national launch in the next quarter and available to agents around the country. So there’s a place on our website that if you’re interested in this technology, you can let us know. And part of of us developing why it’s so slowly roll out is we need MLS data, right and, and MLS working with MLS is they’re great to work with, but they’re not the speediest organizations in the world. And so we’d love if there’s an MLS, listening to this, we’d love to talk with you. Because these are this is the kind of application that we’re the partnership with MLS, we can bring it to all your agents and get them going on the application. And then finally, the third thing I will say is, we’ve had really great conversations with brokerage companies who want to integrate the application as a productivity tool. We’re being told by brokerage executives that agents, especially today are looking for ways to build market share. And you know, back to my old business school days, there was this old adage that in at the top of the cycle, you drive revenue, that’s when you you put you put your foot on the gas pedal, and you make as much money as you possibly can. And at the bottom of the cycle, you drive market share. People are going out of business, you capture their market share so that when the cycle recovers, you can step on the gas pedal. And so now is absolutely in our opinion, and we’re hearing from brokerage companies, executives as well is that we’re in a down cycle. Nobody can change that right and we know it will get better and the cycle will wrap up again. Now is when smart brokerage companies and smart agents will be building market share and there’s no better way to do it than traditional marketing. D.J. Paris 54:34Yeah, this is the year to capture market share it is we get as Russ said, we know there’s been an exodus started already. We also have a holding company for agents that don’t actively practice and now it’s the weirdest thing I never thought I would say this but our holding company actually has more agents that are actively producing company. They’re not related. They’re separate entities but, but we we never thought that This little holding company that we created would now have like 900 agents it’s because the conditions of the market have changed and people are the onesie twosie agents, the the part timers are starting to exit and sunset out. And it’s a great time for agents to pick up market share this year. So this is a good time to get your digital marketing health in order. And and you know, again, I always I have this fantasy recite, it’s so funny because what you guys, what you do in real estate is kind of the always the fantasy I have around the service providers in my life. So like my accountant, all I mean, I want my accountant to keep me out of prison, and to make sure that I’m not being audited. Of course, yes, that’s that’s the job of the accountant. But I would I would, my fantasy is that my accountant goes, I have a few ideas for you this year. Right? My accountant doesn’t do that. And I’m not I’m not disparage, I’m not trying to say anything pejorative towards towards my account, I love BioCarbon. But that would you know, those are what, what I would be looking for, I would like to know, you know, here’s what you could do to, you know, this next year to really increase you know, your, or decrease your tax exposure or whatever. So basically, you guys are a prescriptive service. And I love that and you’re utilizing technology. And really, you’re not reinventing the wheel, you’re not saying, Well, this is what we think works, you’re literally just going market by market and say, here’s what the people in your market are doing. And that and I understand, also, the challenge of connecting to all the MLS is to get this data, I can appreciate that all the MLS has have different API’s, it’s gotta be a nightmare. I can’t imagine what your engineers have to deal with there. But this is something that you definitely want to be on the waiting list for because once they do open up in your market place, the top agents are going to subscribe to this service, because it’s the only one that exists out there. So now’s a great time to learn about it. Also learn some best practices, if you read the white paper, they have four case studies that are just incredible reads of really successful agents and for different markets, what they’re doing digitally. And they’re doing things a little differently, as Russ said, and you can take some of their, the their suggestions and actually apply it to your own business. But I want to know my digital marketing score as well. So if you go to sphere builder.io, you can see the white paper you can get on their waiting lists to see if when they open up in your your market. And by the way, if you’re in Huntsville, Alabama or Denver, and we have listeners, I’m sure in both of those markets, we should reach out because they are basically almost good to go there. So they are ready to launch. Russ, is there anything else that that we should know about what the tool does? Russ Cofano 57:47Know I think this has been a great conversation DJ and I think we’ve we’ve covered right place right time for a new piece of technology. You know, we we know that agents are inundated today with people looking for their attention. And, and so this is something that is worth a few minutes of agent’s time to come in and investigate just the white paper in and of itself is, is worthy of spending an hour with and reading it and, and it will generate ideas for you. Even if you never use our technology or ever become a subscriber, you’ll get some great ideas. And, you know, we’re a company that is built with people who have been around the industry for a long time who support the industry. We’re not about disintermediating the realtor in fact, we’re about empowering the realtor i i As I said in the beginning, I fell in love with the industry and the people in the industry 30 years ago and I think that the United States needs effective Realtors helping consumers and this is just one way that we can help that process. D.J. Paris 59:10I agree. So everyone who is listening, please visit sphere builder.io By the way, we’ll have a link to that in our show notes. So you can just scroll there and click and get read the white paper get on their waitlist, continue to follow collabora which again is the company that that is putting out these products and see if it would be a good fit for your brokerage. And by the way, if you volunteer or work at the local state or national association level, great conversation to have at your next meetings with whatever committees you might be with to say, hey, this might be something we would want to bring to an association or in MLS directly as well. So I imagined that that could happen for you guys. So that’s very exciting. Russ Cofano 59:56Well, we are all heirs and DJ thanks for having me on today really appreciate the conversation. And hopefully some of this has been helpful to your listeners. D.J. Paris 1:00:06Definitely. And so before everyone leaves, just a couple of quick reminders, please help us continue to grow by just telling a friend about one friend about this episode, maybe somebody who’s struggling with their digital marketing in your office, somebody you know who’s an agent that could benefit from hearing this great conversation with Ross, send them a link to our website, which is keeping it real pod.com. Or if they’re a podcast person, just pull up any podcast app search for keeping it real, hit that subscribe button. And also, please leave us a review. Let us know what you think of the show that helps us continue to improve and grow as well. On behalf of the audience want to thank Russ for his time. Amazing conversation. Russ, thank you so much. On behalf of Russ and myself. We also want to thank the audience for continuing to support also, by the way support our sponsors. We love our sponsors. So please continue to listen to the show support us let us know we can do to help keep making the show better for you. And we will see everybody on the next episode. Thanks Ross. Russ Cofano 1:01:03Thanks, TJ. Talk to you soon.

Ivan Estrada with Ivan Estrada Property Team explains that he understood that real estate was his passion while completing his Bachelor’s Degree in Finance & Accounting at the University of Southern California. Ivan discusses the importance of transparency with the client and using communication techniques like creating a weekly marketing calendar or making content videos helps strengthen relationships with clients. Last, Ivan emphasized commitment to a client is the key to a great bonding with clients. Check out Ivan’s course “Brand With Video” and get 25% off using the code “REAL”. If you’d prefer to watch this interview, click here to view on YouTube! Ivan Estrada can be reached at Ivan@IvanEstradaProperties.com and 323.574.2317. This episode is brought to you by Real Geeks. Transcript D.J. Paris 0:00What are the strategies to market and effectively sell a 1020 $30 million home? And can you use those same strategies for all of your clients? Stay tuned. This episode of Keeping it real is brought to you by real geeks. How many homes are you going to sell this year? Do you have the right tools? Is your website turning soft leads and interested buyers? Are you spending money on leads that aren’t converting? Well real geeks is your solution. Find out why agents across the country choose real geeks as their technology partner. Real geeks was created by an agent for agents. They pride themselves on delivering a sales and marketing solution so that you can easily generate more business. There agent websites are fast and built for lead conversion with a smooth search experience for your visitors. Real geeks also includes an easy to use agent CRM. So once a lead signs up on your website, you can track their interest and have great follow up conversations. Real geeks is loaded with a ton of marketing tools to nurture your leads and increase brand awareness visit real geeks.com forward slash keeping it real pod and find out why Realtors come to real geeks to generate more business again, visit real geeks.com forward slash keeping it real pod. And now on to our show. Hello, and welcome to another episode of Keeping it real, the largest podcast made by real estate agents and for real estate agents. My name is DJ Paris, I have your guide and host through the show and in just a moment, we’re going to be speaking with top Beverly Hills luxury agent, Ivan Estrada. Before we get to Ivan, however, just a couple of quick items to mention. First, thank you for continuing to listen and support our show, please check out our sponsors what they offer and provide we only work with brands that are going to help you grow your real estate business. So please support them because they support us and also tell a friend, think of one other agent specifically, this episode is going to be a lot about branding and marketing. So gosh, we all know agents that could use a boost in their in those efforts. So please send this episode over to them to send them over to our website, keeping it real pod.com. Obviously, we’re on every major podcast platform as well just search for keeping it real, hit that like and subscribe button, we appreciate it. And also just a quick sneak preview, I am going to or our team rather is going to start clipping our episodes and finding the best moments from each episode and start promoting that or pushing that content out via our various social channels. This will include tick tock Instagram, Facebook, Instagram, said Instagram twice, LinkedIn, YouTube, all of the major social channels are going to start receiving this content. So this way, whatever is your preferred social channel of choice, you can start getting regular content from us. Our goal is to push out a couple of these a day with little short 30 to 62nd clips. So stay tuned. We’re not quite ready for that couple of weeks, but this way, you’ll get regular daily tips and advice from the top agents in the country super excited to do that. And really the only reason we’re able to do that is because our listenership and viewership has increased so much that we now have a bigger budget to spend on these kinds of efforts. So thank you, thank you, thank you to our sponsors. Thank you to our listeners. But let’s get to the main event my conversation with Ivan Estrada. Today on the show, my guest is Ivan Estrada. He’s a top 1% Realtor author and what you know and he does a lot of things. So I want to talk to you about Ivan here. So just to give you some more information. Ivan Estrada is a highly successful real estate agent in Los Angeles with over 14 years of experience, and this is an incredible and more than half a billion dollars in sales. He has a degree in finance and accounting from USC as well as a CPA and broker’s license. Ivan’s tailored approach to each client and expertise in business, finance and marketing has allowed him to work with a diverse range of clientele from luxury sellers and buyers to international investors. And of course, first time homebuyers. He’s a branding expert for high end luxury homes, and he has been featured in numerous news outlets including ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox 11 News. Ivan is a frequent speaker communicator and panelists for various organizations has established himself as a mentor of I’m sorry, a member of several boards, and has received numerous accolades. Oney is a mentor as well. He’s also the author of the book brand with purpose which you can find on Amazon. Also, we have a link to that in the show notes and he’s also got a video course called brand with which has 15 modules to help you take your business from video clueless to video prowess. Visit Brand with.com and use the promo code real for 25% off. But to learn about everything Ivan’s doing, go to go to his website, that’s probably there’s two websites, and we’re gonna link to both of them. One is Ivan estrada.com. So that’s IV anestrada.com. And also brand with.com. But Ivan estrada.com is a great hub for everything, Ivan, what a such a pleasure to have you, thank you for being on the show. Ivan Estrada 5:27No, thank you for thank you for having me. It’s, I’m ready to have some fun, let’s have some fun, D.J. Paris 5:33let’s have some fun. And there’s not there’s not enough fun in real estate, I think so that you can always use more fun, and I love talking to marketing and branding people because that’s my background. My sister, I only have one sister, she’s a brand branding person, a CMO outside of real estate. And so this is what I live for. I love talking to agents who specifically are really involved in their branding and marketing. And you You’ve not only you’re involved with it for yourself and your clients, but you also teach this to other realtors and other businesses, as well. But before we get into the meat of everything you know, and your expertise around video and branding and social media, I would love to learn a little bit more about you. Do you mind going all the way back to the beginning of the story for how you decided to get into real estate? Ivan Estrada 6:20Absolutely. So for me, I was born raised in Los Angeles. parents immigrated here from Mexico. And so the American dream is to go to college, right, which I did, I ended up going to USC, here in Los Angeles, majored in finance and accounting, worked at a big firm, got the CPA license, did what you were supposed to do, to work up your you know, to for the American dream, and, you know, about three years into it. I just realized, I think I made a mistake. Like, this was not what I thought it was going to be. And don’t get me wrong, I’m great with numbers. I’m great with people, but it wasn’t my purpose. It just was not my purpose. And a friend at the time, it was Season One of Million Dollar Listing and he said, I was watching the show, and why don’t you should do you should get into real estate. And I thought you’re absolutely nuts. Like that is definitely not my thing. I’m not in sales. I you know that that was a complete opposite of what I went to go to school for, right. And of course, that little, you planted a seed in my head, I read I think about 33 or 34 books on real estate, I went to Barnes and Noble. I went to the library, I just got a bunch of books, educated myself, and I thought, You know what, I think this could be my thing. You know, my guy. I love networking. I love business. I love branding. I love people, I love real estate, especially here in Los Angeles. And then I just decided, I left the accounting world behind me and jumped into real estate. And it’s been the most incredible, challenging, amazing, scary, and life growing to the, to the degree that it’s completely changed my life. And I mean, I’m so grateful for real estate for the life that it’s given me. And for what it’s allowed me to do. I’m literally living my purpose and my passion. D.J. Paris 8:17Wow. While you just said you said quite a bit. And we just heard heard some of your why that you know what’s interesting too is you have these these very to it, you know, the way I’m thinking about it, these sort of diametrically opposite skill sets with the CPA hard objective number driven, an analytical mind. And then you also have this incredible creative mind, which, which allows you to, you know, produce content and really have fun with your branding and, and be very intentional about sort of, you know, the messaging you’re putting out there. And where those two worlds meet is a really nice center, because usually agents are good at one or the other. Right? They’re either good at the analytics or they’re good at the people side of things or the marketing side. You sort of have both of that. So I love the fact that you’re teaching people who don’t have maybe both of those skill sets fully fleshed out that they can develop them over to absolutely Ivan Estrada 9:13you can absolutely develop them because I’ve heard this before. Well, I’m not good at numbers. I’m not good at planning. I’m not creative. But I’m like Baloney, you definitely are. We just have to find your creativity. We have to figure out okay, so you’re not good with numbers. That’s fine. What are you comfortable with? Are you good with planning? Oh, yeah, I can plan and then kind of figuring out how to kind of find those holes in their business and trying to fill them with something that’s going to create an incredible brand incredible real estate brand. I mean, that’s why we’re here and an incredible future no matter the recession, inflation doesn’t matter. Build a really solid business. That’s recession inflation proof. D.J. Paris 9:52Yeah, I agree. And everything is skills, right. And there’s certain predilections people have where they’re going to take certain skills more easily than others. But, you know, video, I think thank goodness technology has maybe maybe one of the best parts about technology is that it’s moved so quickly that it’s enabled, even the least savvy of us with respect to creating, you know, content, you know, maybe some of us aren’t people who have ever had to light a set, or had to worry about, you know, which camera angles to use for a particular shoot, right. Most Realtors probably don’t deal with a lot of that they’re probably hiring other firms to do the photos when they have listings. But I am so interested in, in, you know, the fact that now technology has allowed it so that agents can really can do this at any any level, they can create video content, we all have these phones, you know, attached to us almost like an umbilical cord that are as powerful as some of the equipment that you know, 10 years ago was was 1000s and 1000s of dollars. So it’s really been more, it’s probably never been more accessible and more easy to get into creating video content, even if your skill sets low. Ivan Estrada 11:05Oh, absolutely. I mean, when I started 14 years ago, I was lugging around one of those Sony handycams shirt, the big tripod, with the microphone that was not wireless, that you had to like, you know, I had to make sure I got like a nice 15 foot wire, wire microphone. And there was no lighting because it was too expensive. We didn’t have like those light rings that now you can put on your phone and right and just as a tripod and take it anywhere with battery operated. And so it was a lot harder back then, you know, in order to create content to do editing in order to come up with concepts, right. That was I think the hardest thing for a lot of people was like, What do I talk about? You can go on Google. And I was probably the number two agent who started using video that I know of, because no one else was doing it. And so there was like no instruction, there was no manual. But nowadays I tell agents, I said, just like what you said, we all have a phone, we all have. I don’t know if we’re going to talk about chat GPT. But if you don’t know what to talk about chat GPT will let you know exactly what to talk about. It’s the easiest way to come up with content, we’ve actually been using it for blogs and other marketing materials. And it’s absolutely amazing. But there’s literally no excuse, there is no excuse for not creating content, there’s no excuse for not using it and building your brand. And building your real estate portfolio. Because these days, buyers and sellers, regardless of what generation they’re from, they are Googling and they are looking for videos. And if you do not have videos, at least one that introduces yourself of who you are, what you doing the business, they’re gonna think this person’s not credible. Next, D.J. Paris 12:48well, and let’s talk about what an introductory video does for the consumer. So we you know, I think this is something that, that agents probably do want to be very intentional about if you’re creating a welcome or an introductory video of not a specific one to a client. But if you have a general one, that one you probably do want to think through I’m assuming, and that’s if that’s going to be somebody’s first impression of you, for example, if it’s on your website, you know, I assume that when we want, we want sort of to look a little bit better than some of the more quick form videos that we might do that are more throw away based on you know, something going on in the market today, we might do a little video there. But if we’re doing an introductory video, what’s your sort of advice on how to how to think about putting that together? Ivan Estrada 13:34So I would create both two videos, one for buyers and one for sellers, right? Because we’re both doing different things. So I would start there two different videos, one for buyer and one for a buyer and one for a seller. And then get in, get into the shoes of a buyer and a seller. And think to yourself, I would write down notes. If I was looking to buy a home. What would I want to hear from an agent? Like what are the things that are going to trigger me to call that agent amongst the ocean of realtors. Same thing for sellers. And the thing is that we have to be very careful. They don’t care about our awards. They don’t care about your achievements. They don’t care about any of that they care about. Are you a good negotiator, right? How long have you been in the business? And what are your results? Do you have any case studies? How do you differentiate yourself? Right? What type of branding and marketing do you do for the listings? Let’s say this is for a seller. That is that’s different from other realtors in your neighborhood. Are you part of a team? And if you are, why is that of a benefit to a buyer or a seller? So trying to talk to them instead of I’ve you know been 14 Like for example me? I’ve been 14 years the business like now it’s like 600 million in sales people are gonna be like I don’t care. Like what can you do for me? Like why should I work with you? I want to make sure at the end of the day They want to know, as a seller, I was able to get as much money as possible for my listing. And it was as easy as possible to get through the process. And for a buyer, I was able to get the best deal with a seamless process that was painless as possible. D.J. Paris 15:18Yeah, that makes perfect sense. I was thinking what while you were talking about this, that I just was hearing objections from our audience, which, of course, are not live now. But I was hearing. And I was and I had an answer to this. So I heard an objection, I came up with an answer, I want to give you the answer. And I want you to tell me what you would say it whether you would agree or disagree. So you had said, mate, you know, if you’re making this value proposition, I’m gonna make a video for buyers video for sellers, where you’re going to say, here’s what I do for you this is, this is what I have done for people in the past very specific stuff, here’s what I will do for you, here’s been my results. Now, which is great. I love all of that. What happens if you’re a brand new broker where you’re not going to have that track record? And, and and you might not have, you know, hey, I’m only been in the business six months? And I was my aunt, my thought of an answer and want to get your answer to that is I always like the it’s an old marketing principle. And I don’t know if it’s still as relevant it used to be, but it was called, if you can’t fix it, feature it. And so I always love that. So I know if I was newer, I might say, hey, just so you know, I am newer to the industry, but are and here’s why I actually think that might be a benefit to you, because I’m going to devote all of my time to you, because I don’t have as many clients as you know, somebody has been the business. Also, I work for a company that’s been around for 80 years, or whatever that might be, and I have a team there that’s going to work with me, blah, blah, blah, I would I would have I would address that. And I don’t maybe I wouldn’t step on it quite that hard. But I would do something to say, hey, here’s why I knew and here’s why it’s not a problem. I’m curious on what you might do. Ivan Estrada 16:53Absolutely. Because there’s no way with the way that that we have that we run the web and social media, they’re gonna know if you’re green or not, they’re gonna know, right, so might as well just tell them, and like what you just said, this is why it’s of a benefit to you, you know, I’m not working with as many clients, so you will have my full attention, right? I am hungry, I am the eager, right, I’m here to make sure you are part of, I’ll tell you what I tell my clients, you’re helping me build my business. And I want to make sure that you are going to be so, so happy with me that you’re gonna want to refer your friends, your brothers, your sisters, your minister, your priest, whoever. And then the other thing that I would also include in that video is a lot of new agents have been in other businesses where they have acquired skills that are complementary to our real estate business. By the way, this is what I did prior right? It could have been a teacher or a paralegal or whatever. And what are the skills that you learned there in that business? That that just absolutely make you shine in real estate and bring those out. Because at the end of the day, it’s real estate, we have mentors, right? We have people that especially if you’re a new agent, you’re part of a team, you can always showcase your team. But peep, every real estate agent is not the same, right? We’re all very different. We all it’s the same business, but how we market ourselves and how we actually provide the service is very different. Right? And, and so showcasing some of your previous experiences and how that’s going to help your buyer seller is incredibly important. D.J. Paris 18:30Yeah, I agree. I you work on a lot of very high end luxury homes, kind of in the ultra high net worth space, which is always so interesting to me, of course, because it’s such an unusual event, you know, these these big massive sort of compounds. In the West Coast, of course, all over the country. You’re in the West Coast, you’re in Los Angeles area, but Beverly Hills, specifically. I am curious, what what is different about marketing a luxury property versus a non luxury property? As far as how you think about the marketing the overall marketing strategy? How is it how is it different from a, like a $20 million property, something, you know, really on the high end, high net worth side to a, you know, three to $500,000 property? Is it the same strategy, or are there different techniques curious on what you’re doing? They’re completely Ivan Estrada 19:21different strategy. So when you’re dealing with people of that price echelon, a lot of them may be busy business men or women themselves. They have business managers, they have lawyers, I mean, these are people who, who have a lot of wealth and how they’ve gotten there was with the plan. And so if you are their real estate agent and you want to list their property, they’re going to say great, I would love to see your marketing proposal, and they want to see what you’re going to be doing daily, weekly, monthly. And if this is a really big property, let’s say it’s a one or two year con attract what is going to happen yearly. And they want to see a written plan and a written commitment from you saying, Okay, for the first month, we are going to be on this magazine, this magazine is going to be advertised here. Here is I’ve had people ask, I need to see the marketing budget for the first month, okay. 50 Doubt, whatever it might be, depending on the size of the property. Sure. $10,000 $5,000, I know that there’s agents in my office who have spent hundreds of 1000s, the first week of the launch of the property. And so those sellers, they want to know that you are committed with the plan with the marketing budget. And trust me, they will be checking if it’s if it’s not them personally, there people will be checking that it was on that magazine, that it was advertised that sometimes it gets a little invasive sometimes where they’ve said, Oh, you did spend $10,000, or $5,000. Great, we’d love to see the invoice. Right? Sure, it sometimes gets to that point. And so I think with a smaller property, it doesn’t get as intense than as a much larger property and keeping in mind that sometimes these larger properties do not sell, it might be the second third or the fourth agent that sells the property. But the marketing budgets are very high for these. D.J. Paris 21:21Yeah, and, you know, are there some lessons that agents who don’t play in the ultra high net worth space could learn from agents that do in other words, things that they could bring from from these, you know, these massive sort of marketing proposals that the high net worth clientele expected, and their teams maybe more even than they expect? Because they might not even be reviewing it? It might be their their advisors, their, you know, agents that are attorneys or their accountants. But I’m curious if there are some things that we could extract from from those high net worth proposals that we could bring in to the the lower end, I don’t even say lower price property, because they’re not lower priced properties, but more average price properties? Are there things that agents could do that would actually make it easier for them to win even more modestly priced property? Yes, Ivan Estrada 22:12absolutely. I mean, the marketing proposal that we talked about, for example, we create marketing calendars for all of our clients, it doesn’t matter the price point, will daily, weekly, monthly. And we commit to what we’re doing. And at the end of the end of the week, we send them a report of everything that was done. And why that is so important. I feel transparency in our business, especially with our clients, regardless of price point, is very important, especially when it comes to the marketing because, you know, for example, I I like to do a lot of research and I look at other people’s listing proposals and reports. And, you know, they’ll say we’re going to do photography, and it’ll be on Zillow and you know, kind of line item everything through. But then that’s it, right? They’ll tell you what, like, some people will say, Okay, well, you just told me everything that you’re doing, but show me on how you’re going to do all of that for my property. So there’s been times when we will, upfront in a listing appointment, depending on the property, we’ll run everything as if it were already our listing, right. And this is a report that you’re going to be getting weekly, like let’s say it’s week one, this is report that you got, this is what the marketing proposal looks like, this is the marketing calendar that you’re going to get every month that the property is on the market. And these are all the things that are going to be checked off. And so I think that’s incredibly important. Because the more transparency you have with your clients, the less they have to worry about, and the more that they’re going to feel comfortable during the whole process. And if you have a client who’s comfortable, let’s say it’s been on the market for three or four months, right? As long as they know that you’re doing everything on the list saying, hey, this was what we did this week, hey, this is what we did this week, you’re probably going to get an extension instead of you know, it’s been sitting on the market for two or three months. And I’ve had people in the past say, I haven’t heard from my agent and like, whole month, I don’t know what they’re doing. And so the less that you can, the less worry that you can provide to a client, the more they’re going to feel comfortable with you. And then we referrals, right? You want to make sure that that’s going to lead to future referrals. D.J. Paris 24:20I mean, I just I’m just thinking that any anybody who is selling a property, the friends, or the Friends of that seller, everybody knows they’re in the process of selling, they’ve probably told their friends and family of course, you know, maybe they’re even posting about it on social media. So people know, the home is is in the process of being up for sale. And as a result, friends are going to ask how’s it going, how’s the home sell going? Right? And imagine if every realtor on the planet who had a listing contacted their client in some fashion every single week, in your case, you you know, you have a report that’s here’s what we’ve done for you this week. Eat. And then here are the results. There’s what’s happened. Imagine if every real I mean, I’m almost sort of chuckling because 99% of Realtors do not do this, right? They’re not or I’m making that number up, but it’s probably close to accurate. Where it’s low. Yeah, it’s single digits, probably. But, but the top agents do. And it’s funny, it reminded me of I had a top one of the very top agents here in Chicago, we’ve got about 47,000 agents here. And she’s in the top 10, like, literally the top 10. And I asked her, How do you think why do you think you’re in the top 10? And obviously, everyone else really isn’t. And she goes, I hate to see because this is gonna sound really stupid. But I call every single person that’s a client of mine every single week, and say, here’s everything that’s going on. Here’s what I did. Here’s so very similar to sort of your approach a different way that she does it. And I go, and what what else? She’s like, Yeah, that’s kind of it. And she’s like, it’s a lot of work. But she goes this idea of of staying in touch with them, letting them know, imagine, you know, I’m at a cocktail party, hey, DJ, how’s your home sale going? Well, I can tell you, because my guy sends me a thing every single week telling me exactly what he did. And like, it’d be like he did, like no one else has that experience. So it’s such a great way to even just get noticed among that person’s friends and family, because they’re gonna be bragging about that. Ivan Estrada 26:12Exactly. And if when it comes to let’s say, you have to do a price cut, right? We’re in a different market. They’re going to know well, we you’ve done everything that you said you were going to do, and then some so the only thing we can left we have left to do is cut the price. D.J. Paris 26:27Yeah. I love that. What are some of the mistakes that agents make? With video on social media? Because we’re talking about video, so much video, I think we associate that with social media content more digestible. Here today gone tomorrow content? We see agents making videos all the time, what what do you think when you see good examples of this versus examples where you say I would have done that differently? Ivan Estrada 26:55So I mean, for anyone who’s just doing video, it doesn’t matter the quality or the, you know, just the time or whatever. Good for you. Because that’s a step. One thing that I would say that is not benefiting a lot of agents is they’ll do videos when they feel like it. Right? Let’s say they get super busy for two or three weeks. Well, I didn’t do any videos this week. So I’m not going to put anything on social media. Consistency in the video game is key. Having a marketing plan for your videos is key. Since I started producing content, there hasn’t been one week, maybe here and there, right? Maybe during a holiday week, where I didn’t have at least one video posted. on all my social media, we actually have I believe it’s three videos that go out Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, different content, different style, different audience. But we have a set schedule that goes out every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, on social media. Just producing one video, every once in a while for a listing or market report is not going to work. So having a set schedule of this is what I’m going to produce my content. And this is what I’m going to put it out there. Because even with Facebook, like Facebook Studio, you could put all your videos in there and schedule them to go out during certain times of the week at a certain time. And so consistency in the video game is what’s going to create results, not just on the fly videos every once in a while. D.J. Paris 28:33Well, I can I can attest to that here, just with my podcast. We, you know, we started out there was we didn’t do video at all, it was only audio. And it took a full year. Before we got any real traction. I used to have to fudge the numbers when people would ask how’s the show doing? And I’m like, you know, we would have 60 people that listened. And I’d say we had 100 I don’t have to do that anymore. So I apologize for those that I’ve liked in the past. But the point was is is that it did actually work because I focused and I’m not here to say of the best podcast on the planet for realtors. But thankfully, we have a lot of people that do appreciate it. And thank you for that. But it was just focusing on meeting the audience’s needs. I’m not particularly gifted at being a talk show host or a radio host. But I just thought gosh, if I were a new agent, what would I want to know from top producers? And and that also is probably a good way in a similar way to actually get content. So I’ve been you had mentioned chat GBT and I thought this is so interesting, because, you know, we worry a lot about chat GBT and what it’s going to do to you know, sort of jobs and so all of us it’s, it’s going to affect everything but but one really, really great way to use it is to use it to to create content. So, you know, if I was an agent, and you know, you were saying, Hey, you got to post regular video content you were doing let’s say you’re doing two videos a week and by the way, these can be 62nd videos, they don’t have to have a certain amount of time. It’s all about, you know, the the quality of the content. And if you’re thinking well, right, yeah, and I was I did this earlier today because I found I have to create a deck, I need to create a PowerPoint presentation for this thing. And I went to an AI powered up like, PowerPoint building company where you literally type in a question to that you would type into chat GBT and then it creates a slide based on the answers really cool. But anyway, so I had written a question I had written in there, you know, what are what are the do’s and don’ts of conducting an open house and I got about 50 different answers. And I thought this could be a 10 different videos, you know, because you can make these videos okay, if you’re doing an open house and by the way, you could send these to other you know, other agents or again, I work on the more the b2b side, so I would be doing content for other realtors. But it could be for for you know, people buyer’s or seller’s maybe a seller’s here’s how to get your home ready for an open house. And you could literally use chat GBT to get a whole list of of answers there. And, you know, just kind of saves you time. Ivan Estrada 31:12Oh, absolutely. And then if you want if you really want to get traction, because like Chachi Beatty can give you like a set of questions that you could ask that are pretty standard to real estate. But if you really want to do something timely, I always ask I asked my friends. Hey, quick question. What are some questions you have about real estate right now? Like, right right now in this moment, and then create a video about it. That’s timely because, right like with what’s happening with what happened with SPV bank? I had clients asking me, yeah, how does that affect me? How does that Okay, great. Let me go do some research and figure it out. And let me do a one minute video, maybe two minute video, put it on Instagram, and make sure you put that in the caption and I promise you that will get a lot more hits, then here are some rules for open houses, even though those are great. Those are great. Yeah, right. Those are evergreen videos. More evergreen. Yeah. But something it’s very timely is what’s going to go what they say viral, or you’ll get a lot of hits and a lot of traction. And it also shows you as a knowledge broker who really knows their stuff. D.J. Paris 32:191,000,000,000,000% could not agree more. And I would be talking about well, the Fed just raised rates again, for the ninth time, consecutive time last week, right? They raised at 25 basis points. That was in the news, you know, the euro, everyone who’s listening, if even if you didn’t know it, your clients saw that. And if anyone is in the process of buying or selling, they may be wondering what does that mean for lending rates? And that could be a video. And my suggestion is to find a lending partner that sends you the agent weekly information about here’s what you as an agent need to know about the three banks that collapsed? What’s going on with Credit Suisse? What’s going on with, with the Fed raising rates, like get information from your partners, convert that into video content and make short form content that, you know, you know, yeah, chat, GBT isn’t going to give you really reliable answers to things like that. But that’s where you would then go and and find that information yourself, which takes maybe five minutes of reading about it online, or ask one of your lending partners, hey, what’s going on? What do agents need to know about this? Or what is one of my clients needs? Ivan Estrada 33:25100% 100%. D.J. Paris 33:27I love that one. So we let’s talk about so the idea of finding video content is actually we just came up with some ideas. If you want more evergreen content, maybe there isn’t much going on. Right now. When you’re thinking about creating content, then you can go back to your sort of, you know, whatever your clients are regularly asking you about over the years, you can just put those in a little folder and say, what about this or in Illinois, we have transfer tax and like I don’t I still don’t understand how it works. But anyway, that’s sort of thing that that people get confused about? And how do I how do I choose certain? How do I determine like, what schools are in what, you know, what areas what districts? I mean, there’s a million evergreen things that people are always going to want to know, you know, where? How do you know like, this could be a good one, you know, I’m just sort of having fun with these. But it could be like, Hey, should you go see your home that you’re about to buy at night on a Friday at 1030? It just to see what the neighborhood is like, especially if you’re in like an urban environment? What’s the noise level? You know, there’s like little tips and tricks that are evergreen things that you can just put in a spreadsheet and then whenever you’re like, I don’t know what I’m going to do today for a video. Just go to one of those. Anytime your client asks you a question, write it down and just go that’s going to be a video or find out what’s going on in the market or in the industry. That moment right now. High rates, right, low, low inventory. Those are the two big things people are curious about. I would be making videos about that all day long. Exactly. Let’s talk about Got your video course? Because you are a branding expert. We didn’t really talk too much about branding. Well, let’s let’s define what is let’s just define what branding is for real estate agents? Like, how would you think about branding when you’re talking about realtor stuff? Ivan Estrada 35:16So the easiest way I could put branding is, I always tell agents think about, what are people saying about you, when you’re not in the room? That’s your brand. And that could be positive, or it might not be positive. And so figuring out who you are on a foundational level, and what separates you from on a business, if we’re talking about business, what separates you from everyone else as an agent, right? Like, what why are people going to go to you, instead of anyone else. And I think that’s probably a part of, that’s the most important for a real estate agent, when they’re building their brand is really diving, it’s, it’s like personal, it’s personal development, right? It’s really diving deep into who you are. And and this is something we do in the course, to figuring out, okay, what makes you special? Like, what are the things that you want people to say about you, when it comes to your service, when it comes to your product, when it comes to your social media? When it comes to your delivery? When it comes to your website? When it comes to every every perspective about you as a brand? What do you want people to say? And then we work our way backwards, right? How do you want to make people feel, oh, I want to make them feel like this? Okay, great. These are the things that you’re going to have to do in the next six months to a year in order to get that, that that to that finish line. And so when building a brand, I tell people, Look, we’re all brands, believe it or not, even you know, the single mom with a three year old child, she’s a brand, she doesn’t know it, but she’s a brand. And so really understanding who you are as a brand is key in order to be successful, not just in real estate, but anywhere, right, really knowing what you’re good at. And that’s something that we put together in the course, and you know, it is a video course. But at the end of the day, it’s building a brand, and a goal and a vision, and then creating video content to support that brand vision. Because that how point, D.J. Paris 37:19how important is it to determine the brand prior to create because, you know, we have this inclination to want to jump right on, I have a video idea, I want to jump right into it. And that’s great, but might not align with the overall strategy or the vision. Right? Ivan Estrada 37:34Exactly. I mean, like, for example, let’s say the St. Regis right there a hotel chain, they only create videos that are in line with their brand, they’re not going to do something, oh, let’s talk about sneakers today, because I want to talk about sneakers, they’re not going to do it because it’s not in line with their brand. In the course we create brand pillars. Every company usually has about four to five brand pillars. And that could be like, for example for myself, its real estate, its technology, its community, its travel. And then under those brand pillars, there’s all these, then we go we dive deep into what those mean to us. And so when we’re creating content, when we’re updating my bio, when we’re writing blogs, when we’re doing creating flyers or updating our flyers, we look at those brand pillars. And we and we always say, Is this in line with our brand pillars, Is this our brand pillars, or this is our voice is this in line with our voice because if it’s not, I’m not going to do it because a it’s going to confuse people. And B, it’s not going to support the brand and and brands that we know that have been here for a very long time. They stick to their brand pillars, and that’s why they’re so successful. D.J. Paris 38:46Yeah, they stick to it. And then going back to the consistency piece. They, they understand that there’s a time delay on getting acceptance and traction. Just like there’s a time delay when you start your real estate business and having wild success. Most people Ivan Estrada 39:02don’t years, it takes years years. D.J. Paris 39:05And the same sort of thing for for social media or video content is we live in such a immediate sort of, we get immediate feedback and we get immediate metrics. And so you know, when we post something on social and it has a low number of likes, we feel a certain way about that, you know, some of us feel more deeply about it than others. But all of us have a reaction, whether it’s it’s probably more of a reaction than we ought to have. But it’s but it’s a reaction. And so people have this tendency to to put a lot of time and energy into a video. It doesn’t perform at the level they want. And it might not be because the videos not have good content or good quality. It might just be that they’re not favored in the algorithm yet because they’re rarely putting up content or their audience hasn’t gotten used to it yet, or just hasn’t been seen. And they get discouraged and they stop making things. Ivan Estrada 39:54Exactly and that’s when you have to go back to the intention. Why am I creating these videos for life? for comments, or am I creating these videos because I know it’s providing value to my current and future clients. And it’s also helping build my brand. Because if it’s about the likes and the comments, then you’re going in here with the wrong intention. And so I it’s very important to really be clear with that. Because, you know, I have friends, and I’ve gotten people asking me, well, these types of videos are getting a lot of likes, right? They could be real estate agents doing parodies, or, you know, things that are funny, and that’s great, right? As long as all your video content is not that and you’re not just going after the likes, and the comments, because I know a lot of real estate agents with a lot of likes, and a lot of comments and a lot of views, and no business. Yeah. So you’ve got to be very careful, very intentional with your content and be very patient. D.J. Paris 40:51Yeah, it is, it is a marathon. It is not, it is not a sprint. But boy, it’s it’s one of those things that, you know, has so much opportunity, because I noticed that I’m in I’m not even a social media, I’m not really a heavy social media user. But I’ve noticed that I’ve started migrating over to back to Facebook and Instagram, and I’m not somebody that just infinitely scrolls, but I do check out the stories and reels for about a minute a day. Because you can cycle through those pretty quickly, within a few seconds, I can, I can get a sense of what the video is about, I can see what my friends are up to. And some of you know, just other brands and what but I’ve noticed that even I when I’m like, I’m not gonna I’m not somebody that just you know, is on Facebook all day. Even I am now looking at these at the short form at least short form video content, what is your opinion between short on social media short form versus long form? Ivan Estrada 41:45So you should be doing both. And but both of them go on different portals. So the long form should only be going on YouTube. So you people use YouTube as a search engine. So that’s where you want to create all your, you know, long, long version q&a videos about real estate questions, answers that you have to questions. Maybe like your company, video, your team video, anything where you want to have it live on for a long period of time, a community video, for example, that is evergreen, three or four minutes, you want to put it on YouTube, but still also have a short version, short version for Instagram, Facebook, tick tock, LinkedIn, LinkedIn, LinkedIn is probably the where I’ve been getting a lot of viewership. So make sure that you don’t forget about LinkedIn. But the short term videos that’s that’s for those, those portals that I just said those social media accounts, the tick tock, Facebook, and Facebook, sorry, Instagram, Facebook, tick tock and LinkedIn. And the only the long versions go on YouTube, because YouTube actually prefers the longer videos. Sure. D.J. Paris 42:59They do. And they and now and YouTube even has has little shorts, shorts. Yeah, which is, but But you’re right. And this, this idea that now and there’s technology, like we’re actually using technology right now where we’re streaming to four or five different platforms, as we’re recording this, and it’s like the the technology is there, and you can learn how to use it. Now what about video editing? Right? So we Yes, we have phones, we know we can film things? And but for those of us that aren’t skilled at editing, do you have in your course you guys talk about that? Or give some suggestions about how people can get things edited? Ivan Estrada 43:38Absolutely. I mean, we have a partnership with a couple of companies iMovie I’ve been using. For the longest time there’s another app called cut. But honestly, when I’m creating content, like like on the fly content that’s not highly produced. What Instagram has is vary and tick tock, I don’t really like to go outside of that. Because sometimes it actually doesn’t favor your algorithm if you use another app to do editing, and then you embed it. So you don’t really need complicated editing software, if you’re using complicated editing software is because you’re doing a more highly produced type of video. I always tell agents, look, your time is valuable. You should be prospecting and lead generating in this market to not take classes on editing. Unless this is something that you want to do as a part time job on the side. There’s no time for that. Go out prospect, lead, generate network, do all that. If you need to do complicated editing. I would be doing that with a videographer. There’s so many applications out there websites, where you can go on there, you give them the the raw content, like Upwork, right? There’s so many people on Upwork are looking for work. It’s all over the world, by the way all over the world and it’s super cheap. So that way you don’t have to be doing any The editing, and they can do some really cool stuff at a very low price. D.J. Paris 45:04Tell us about about the program bandwidth. So talking about which by the way you can learn about a brand with.com. But tell us about the the video program and how it turned somebody in, you know, from a novice into into more of an expert. Ivan Estrada 45:17Yeah, absolutely. So the idea came to me, right before the pandemic, this was going to be an in person coaching seminar, two and a half days, to eight to 10 hours a day. And I already had the idea of okay, well, first, for the first section of the course has to be breaking those mental blocks and the mindset and the fear. Because I could do all the teaching, I can teach you how to be in front of a camera, how to talk, how to write script, how to edit, how to syndicate how to track and measure for results. But if you don’t get over the fear, the hurdle of you saying, Well, I don’t like the way that I look today, or I don’t like by the way how my voice sounds, or I’m just afraid of judgment. So I’m not going to do the, none of the the rest of the courses useless. And so once the pandemic hit, then we thought, Oh, crap, I can’t do any in person trainings for this. So we put together a system, there’s no system like this in the world, where it’s, we have the 15 modules, and we have it divided into four sections mindset. And then we go into the mechanics. And then we go into actual, the actual filming and the editing. And then the last part, which is super important is, like I said, before, having that marketing calendar, tracking for results, and constantly measuring, to make sure that all the work and all the effort and everything that you’re doing is actually working. And the course which is really cool, it’s you’re not just watching videos, because you’re not gonna learn by watching. It’s not, you know, you can’t learn how to play basketball by watching a ton of basketball videos. So every module is, is connected to each one, there’s a lot of work that you have to do, there’s a lot of typing. It’s it’s pretty much it’s like a college course, it’s everything I’ve learned for the last 14 years on building your brand. And I’m testing you and I’m asking you questions, and I need to see the answers. And then you’re actually filming video, and you’re submitting your video and you’re seeing your progress. As you go through the course, you’re doing daily video diary. So it’s a very robust system that we have set to make sure that people have all the training to feel confident to not only create videos that they’re proud of, but videos that work because like I said, you create all the videos you want. But if you don’t have a plan, you don’t have a brand that it’s attaching itself to. Then what’s the point? D.J. Paris 47:46And you you know, you’ve had it you’ve had TV experience, you’ve you’ve been on NBC is open house, a house honors Million Dollar Listing, Ivan Estrada 47:54I just did a TED talk last year, like the training that I got for my TED Talk, which we have in here on memorization like I had to learn of you. By the way TED talks are 100% Memorize. So 18 rows memorize, and it takes strategy that I thought I was like, There’s no way I can learn a one or two minute video by memory, but 1314 minutes, there is no way. And everything that I learned in there is in this course. D.J. Paris 48:22Amazing. Yeah, I want everyone to check this course out. It’s brand with.com Use the promo code real for 25% off. I’ve been you know, what would you say to an agent who says I know I need to do video I haven’t yet started? What’s the best first step for somebody to start getting involved in coming up with a video strategy? Ivan Estrada 48:45Well, other than taking the course, the next best strategy would be you need to have some type of accountability to yourself that you are at least going to start with one small video from a camera doesn’t have to be anything produced. But you need to have an accountability partner in order to just put out your first one because I’ve you know, even people who have had on my team, it took me weeks in order for them to pull the first one out because again, we go back into our head of I don’t like how I look. I don’t like how my hand gestures were all over the place. My left thigh was a little weird. And I’ve told my clients what you’ve got my agents, you’ve got this all wrong. You’re making this about you. This is not about you. This is about the value that you have to provide to someone else. So we first you need to have that mindset shift. And then you’ve got to have me as your accountability partner saying where’s the video? Where’s the video? Did you publish your video so someone in your office, it could be your manager if you have a coach? Well if you have a coach they’re making you do video so if you have a coach I’m pretty sure you’re doing videos but if you’re not asking your coach, I need to do a video. This is I need to do it by Friday, make sure that you have the goal, right? By Friday, I’m going to put a one minute video out that’s going to go on YouTube, Instagram, tick tock be very specific, by this time, in order for it to get done and have there be some type of consequence. And if I don’t create this video, by this time, I am going to send $100 to my, you know, a charity that is not one that you support. Let’s just put it that way. So that that way you have some type of accountability and a little fire to make it work. D.J. Paris 50:31I love that it’s accountability is so important. We just it’s not any sign of weakness. I think we’re, we look at it sometimes as I need somebody, I used to think about that having a personal trainer, I used to think, what’s wrong with me that I and it’s like, no, because now with a trainer, I actually get to the gym because I have accountability. And also, I have somebody that shows me what to do. But most importantly, I have somebody that I don’t want to disappoint. I’ll disappoint myself all day long. But disappointing, someone else is a lot harder for me. So that accountability piece, it will help shore up this like, I’ll do it later mentality, which we all have we you know, and we all you know, it’s just a normal part of the day to want to think that and having that accountability that check in. Also in the same thing you have, you have weekly accountability with your own clients that you’re helping them sell or buy homes, you’re checking in with them weekly as well. So this is this is a great approach, get an accountability partner and come up with a goal and say, here’s, here’s what I’d like you to hold me accountable for and here’s the consequence, and maybe even put a reward at the end of it if you get it done. But definitely put a consequence so that it gives you a little bit of the carrot and the stick. Absolutely. Let’s um, yeah, let’s I think this is a great place to to wrap up. I really want everybody to check out the brand with.com website, this really goes through Ivan’s program, you know, this is a guy who does very, very serious marketing and branding proposals and executes them is very, very strategic does this for high end, luxury homes, he sold over 600 million himself, him and his team. And they also now we’re going to show you the 14 years of experience that Ivan has wants you to learn from him. And these are tips and techniques you can use to really separate yourself from the competition. You know, we’re we’re all I think a little tired of seeing standard posts on Facebook and Instagram that are just listed just sold. Nothing wrong with that. But that’s typically the majority of the marketing I see for realtors out there is look what I just did. Look what I’m currently doing. And that’s all great. But there’s, I think there’s more that you can learn. You can solve problems you can create value without just only bragging about accomplishments. As Ivan said, you know, the clients don’t really care. I mean, I guess it’s a good thing to say I’m busy. And here’s what I’m doing. And that’s great. But you should also it should be a certain percentage of it should be educational. Here’s what you could learn today. Here’s what you might be worried about. And Ivan’s going to show you exactly how to find that content, cultivate it, shoot it, edit it, produce it, and consistently drop it, drop it live so that you can of course get people hooked on your content, which is the whole point right? We want people hooked on your content, but it takes time. The good news is it doesn’t really take any additional equipment. It just takes time but it also takes creativity and Ivan’s going to show you how to do that. And again, you can use tools like chat GPT to give you some ideas of what type of video content you want to create. Ivan’s going to go through all of that for you so I’ve been telling for anyone wanting to explore the video program again is that the best website brand with.com Ivan Estrada 53:47Absolutely So brand with.com is where you’ll find the course brand with video my book brand with purpose. It also my podcast brand with podcast and we also have a copy of my latest TED talk on there to inspire you. D.J. Paris 54:03Yeah, we will have links to all of that in the show notes guys subscribe to his podcast check out his book if you’re not yet ready to invest in the program and guys you should be because I’m gonna go through it myself. I am super excited Believe it or not, I had do a terrible job of video content for our podcast so I am like a lot of you going I should be doing more and this is the year that I’m going to commit to doing that because guess what, it’s going to bring me more listeners so even Podcasts can benefit from this of course but of course your real estate business can as well and so check out the podcast brand with podcast check out the the program brand with just go to brand with.com or Ivan estrada.com For all things Ivan check out his TED talk as well. We will have links to all these in the show notes. You can go check these out. And you should just be following Ivan on all of his social channels as well because guess what, that’s where he’s posting a lot of his video content. So great place to see what Ivan’s up to and you know, you can borrow from the Masters check out what he’s up to. Everything can be found at Ivan estrada.com or brand with.com. And again, remember to use the promo code real for 25% off the brand with video program. On behalf of our audience. Ivan wanted to say thank you so much for being on our show. Really appreciate you and all of the tips and advice you have given to the audience. It’s been awesome. And on behalf of Ivan and myself, we want to say thank you to the audience for making it all the way to the end of an episode here. Please, outside of checking out all the cool things Ivan’s involved in. Also, tell a friend about this episode. I know you know somebody in your office that’s not that is frustrated with their own branding or marketing efforts, send them a link to this, this might be just what they need to make 2023 a better year and let’s face it, it’s up to half a year for realtors. Let’s make it a little bit easier for them. Send them a link either over to our website, keeping it real pod.com Or just tell them to pull up any podcast app search for keeping it real. Hit that subscribe button and also leave us a review. Let us know what you think of the show what you like what we could do better that helps us improve as well. Ivan, thank you so much, sir. It was a pleasure having you on and we will see everybody on the next episode. Ivan Estrada 56:13Blast. Thank you

Cyrus Seraj with The MG Group Chicago talks about his experience with law school and then working in real estate business. Cyrus explains his journey working with his father when young, in finance later and real estate and how affection and connection with people started to grow. Cyrus emphasizes that it’s in people’s DNA to belong to a group and how great it is to share the responsibilities with others. Last, Cyrus discusses the importance of finding life-work balance in your life. If you’d prefer to watch this interview, click here to view on YouTube! Cyrus Seraj can be reached at cyrus@mggroupchicago.com and 773.495.3303. This episode is brought to you by Real Geeks.