#654: Win the Toughest Real Estate Markets with Georgia Tusch

Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
Seven figure success starts whenyou start thinking like a CEO.
Welcome to the JohnKitchens Coach podcast.
Experience this your host John Kitchens.
Get ready to think bigger and transformyour business into a path to lasting free.
What is, what's happening?
I love that intro.

(00:21):
Like
Yeah, it's pretty cool.
It's pretty cool.
I know.
Uh, we're.
I'm kind of in the mix of,of updating everything.
So that'll, we'll get a, we'llget a, a little bit of an overhaul
with it, so, uh, that's awesome.
So it's good.
How, uh, how are you?
I'm doing great.
Thanks for having me.
Absolutely.
I'm excited to be here, so, yes, so cool.

(00:45):
So, uh, um, I wanna jump in a little bit.
I mean, navigating uncertaintimes, right as it's pretty, uh.
Pretty weird timing, you know,time of things right now.
Here we are, you know, first quarterof, of 25, and, um, a lot of in
interesting things happening in yourneck of the woods, north of the border,

(01:07):
and just everything that's going on.
And I was talking with, um, I was talkingwith, with Greg earlier this morning,
and, you know, they put six dealsunder contract in the last 24 hours.
So I was like, okay, tell me more.
Like, you know.
Kind of the perception looking in andyou know, obviously conversations with
you, conversations with Brandon andyou know, all of, you know, all of our

(01:28):
other Canadian friends and clients and,you know, it's just seeing them, seeing
what's, what's, you know, we see through,you know, the media or outlets that you
kind of trust and, and it's just like.
What the heck is going on?
And then, you know, Greg's saying,Hey dude, we put six deals under
contract in the last 24 hours.
I'm like, okay.
All right.
Homes are still selling.
So being able to, to continue tonavigate those waters, I mean, what

(01:51):
is, what has it been like, um, kind ofcoming in, you know, seasonality and
coming into the first part of the year?
Yeah, well, we're going.
For me, it feels like we're going backto the market well before pandemic.
Um, seeing more days on market.
Um, home home's, obviously not sellingas fast as possible and just not
as much inventory getting moved asquick as they, as we like to see.

(02:13):
But I. You know, we're in the springmarket, so if we're gonna see any
movement, uh, like Greg seeing that, uh,that, that movement there in kw uh, in
Guelph there, that seems pretty typicalfor the time of year that we're in.
Um, but I, I will not lie in my area,I think the sales have been down crazy.
Um, and it's just price point and peopleare getting really scared of the tariffs.

(02:35):
Like, as much as I wanna believeit won't make a big difference.
Um, we've had a lot of buyers pull backbecause they're maybe working for a
company that is manufacturing and theyget their products from the states.
Um, and they're worried about whattheir cost is gonna be at the end
of the day for their consumer andif they're gonna be down next year.
And what that means for themon the buying process because.

(02:56):
Our prices are still so saturated.
Uh, so it's still a crazy hoop tothink about getting yourself into Yeah.
What you know.
I know you.
What I always, I always tell peoplekind of, you know, introduction
to you and, and everything.
Um, I mean, you're just a, you'rejust a world class storyteller and
you know, just layer that into kindof all of, all of the marketing and,

(03:17):
and, and all the things that you do.
And I, I, I look back and, um, we wereworking on some things and I threw some
re-engagement strategies into chat.
GPT very first thing chat, GPT even spitout is tell this in the form of a story.
And so how are you navigating andtelling the story when people's
perception and their belief in themarketplace has maybe caused them either?

(03:42):
Decision, they're, they're not ableto make a decision or they're just
basically paralyzed through fear.
Like what, how are you telling thatstory to be able to navigate, be
like, listen, you know, if, if you,you have to sell, homes are still
selling, there's still buyers out there.
You know, transactions will stillhappen, but how are you weaving
that into the conversation?
How are you weaving that into marketing?

(04:04):
Um, well, the conversation, I mean,for one-on-one with the clients, you
know, either storytelling unfoldseven when you're on camera or not.
Um, this is the real estate market.
It goes up and down and you justgo back into the history and the
story of the real estate market.
You're never gonna sell on the high,you're never gonna sell on the low and.
Depending on the position thatyou're in and what their end goal

(04:26):
is, that's how you have, that'show you navigate your clients.
Um, and I would like, it doesn'tmatter what market we're in, there's
always going to be a majority of peoplethat need to buy, that need to sell.
Unfortunately, usually the peoplethat need to sell are the ones that.
It's divorce, it's a separation.
Um, there's death in thefamily, there's inheritance.

(04:47):
You know, one thing I wanna say aboutthat, there's so many millions of dollars
of inheritance money still coming down.
I mean, even with the pa like the boomergeneration, my lawyers that are calling
me and passing me deals, keep remindingme of this and like getting me excited
about that coming into the market.
Um, making it a lot easierfor people to jump into homes.
Um.
The story with, I'll tell you agreat example would be this morning.

(05:10):
Um, I used the advantage of the factthat there is so much inventory coming
to market as the intro to my video.
I said, um, I looked at thecamera and I said, I see you.
I see you scrolling realtor.ca, sofor you realtor.com every single day.
And you're probably noticingthe large amount of inventory
hitting the market right now.
But there's one thing that youwill notice, and this type of

(05:33):
property is not a dime a dozen.
It's a three acre horse farmand you'll never scroll fast.
Too many of those.
So I just tried to use what's happeningwith all the inventory that's happening.
There is still rarity in the marketfor what you're maybe looking for.
Yeah.
There's always going to be thatpiece of property that comes up.
There's always gonna be that specialbuy that anybody will make a move

(05:55):
for, because only certain amountof properties like that come up a
year, or maybe in that street or thatneighborhood that you die to be in.
You know you're gonna waittill that property comes up.
So properties are moving and selling.
And the stories with the marketingthat I try to play on, I try to
play on current times, but again, Ialways try to stick to the root of.

(06:16):
What makes that property stand outamong the rest, and there is a lot
right now to make it stand out against.
Yeah.
So you gotta get little crappy with it.
Yeah.
And I mean, you said I think a veryvalid point there at the beginning
and, and you know, there's still awindfall of money through certain
channels, through certain avenues,be it inheritance, you know, divorce.

(06:38):
There's just, there's situations,right that really trigger,
trigger the moving, uh, process.
And you, you talked about theimportance of key relationships and,
um, Leanne and I were talking about thisyesterday and she's got a really great
relationship with, um, an attorney whowas starting to make introductions.

(07:01):
And it's like, that's like introductionsto where there's a lot of money.
And needs to be on point tohave those conversations.
So it was, it, it was just a reallygood reminder that no matter what's
happening in the market, there's,there's always the opportunity.
There's you, you just gotta be able to,you know, open up the blinders, don't put
the blinders on, don't, don't sit backon the sidelines, but really lean in and,

(07:25):
and find, you know, the relationshipsthat can make the connections for
you to where those opportunities are.
Yeah, I get to nurture those relationshipsand you know, I mean, it took me so
many years to nurture this one withthis lawyer of doing, I don't know how
many free letter opinions I have done,but I have sent out a lot of ships,
but they're all coming back and, um,he puts a lot of deals in front of

(07:46):
me that I probably wouldn't usuallydo, but I'm finding myself taking
on these challenges, uh, and being alittle bit more flexible with kind of.
What I'm taking on, for example,would be a co-listing, um, a
nursery, uh, a garden nursery.
Um, my, they want my marketing, but I'mnot a commercial expert, but to, you
know, bring two people together and onthat, um, big investment portfolios.

(08:08):
You know, I don't usually take those on.
It's a lot of numbers, but.
Pulling in some people in my expdownline that are working with
me or any partnered with me that,you know, let's do this together.
And I'm finding myself, you know,being more versatile even though I
don't want all the pieces of the pie.
I want a little bit of the experience,but I know I bring to the table
what that client might be missing.
Um, and there's just so many opportunitiesright now at the properties that have not

(08:31):
sold to bring your expertise in there.
And that's when, if you do big, ifyou do really big on marketing, like
storytelling or anything that youdo that makes your brand stand out.
You're almost the only choicefor them to call at this point.
And we're getting a lot ofthose calls and that be it.
It's not always the best situation.
They've been on themarket for a long time.
Um, their motivation's down.

(08:52):
A lot of those factors come in,but they also help you position
them the way they should haveprobably been in the beginning.
And you, I don't, I love being thesecond and third agent on properties.
It's just sometimes.
The time they needed me and thetime we align, we get more than
what they even expected in thebeginning when they first listed.
So it's a beautiful thing sometimes.
Yeah.
And I think they, they, they maybehave gotten through their own ego

(09:14):
a little bit to where they're,they're really open to, okay, we're,
we're, we're, we're ready to listen.
Like what do we, whatdo we truly need to do?
And I think it's, it's interesting tosee and hear conversations, especially
with, um, with individuals that.
May have a little bit more, um, a littlebit more wealth, a little bit more, you

(09:35):
know, um, in the, in the way that theyreally look at, at real estate agents.
I've had, you know, a coupleconversations just in, just in
the last week around still thatperception of real estate agents that,
you know, all they do is, and, andthat's been their experience, right?
They've only dealt with agents thathave just put a sign in the yard and,
and just let it syndicate throughthe MLS and they just kind of sit

(09:56):
back and wait, and they're like.
No, I, I mean, we need an aggressiveagent that, that knows how to market
that can get the maximum amountof eyeballs to, to this property.
And I mean, as you start to seekind of the, the, the season of real
estate, are those agents gonna survivethat are just kind of sitting back?

(10:18):
You know, and it's funnyyou brought this up.
It's, it's, you know, as challengingas this market can be for some that
aren't used to having, you know,lower end, like lower sales at this
latent season already, um, it doesseparate, uh, what is that saying?
The dogs from the packer?
The, but I guess it's the wrong waythat men from the boys, that's not.

(10:40):
You know, we had so many agentscome in during the pandemic and they
just have never experienced evenhaving the conversation sometimes
of having a price reduction.
Um, setting expectations, havingthese long listing periods, and
being able to manage emotions.
I mean, that is such a strong tool.
I literally just had three conversationsthis morning of managing expectations

(11:01):
and emotions to keep my clients at bay.
Um.
Especially in a market rightnow where a lot of people are
in a really tough situation.
And if you're not getting those salescoming in, you know, at the end of the
day, like this costs so much to be astrong listing agent in the marketing.
And if you can't provide that, thenyou have be really strong buying agent.
And if you don't have the means tomake it for the next three months,

(11:22):
the pressure, I know I felt thepressure, um, to get those deals done.
You gotta get a desperate.
Smell around you.
Mm-hmm.
And some people, you know, they takethat and they dive in and they do
the deals that they wouldn't havedone or, you know, had those calls
that they wouldn't have actually madeor totally changed their routine to
create an entirely different business.
Or there's the ones that, youknow, maybe don't advise the best

(11:44):
way they possibly should have.
Maybe price the property too low andmaybe did those quick deals, which
we all know those quick deals alwaysend up with more problems in the end.
Sometimes they do and, and likeyou said, you end up saying yes
to things that just Absolutely.
Um, consume you, right.
Consume your time and, andyou know, it's just almost an
unrealistic, you know, um, situation.

(12:07):
And it's really theopportunity cost, right?
'cause the of the time invested thatit doesn't even end up going anywhere.
And, you know, it's funny how, youknow, we'll, we'll, uh, you know,
just kind of talk ourselves into,okay, this is gonna make sense.
Maybe I can get other deals from it.
I can do my, but just like, yeah,what are you really missing out on?
By saying yes to that and,and really knowing what.
Is a real opportunity in today's marketand just not getting caught up and, and

(12:30):
better off being, like you said, secondor third agent because go, let, go.
Go let all these other agents thatare desperate, that are saying
yes to these people that are notable to get them the results.
'cause they don't know how to negotiate.
They don't know how tomanage expectations.
They don't know how to market.
They don't know how to sell.
They don't know how to do reallyanything other than take orders
and just kind of check the boxes.

(12:51):
And so you're, you're right, you'rebetter off being the second or third agent
coming in and, and when they're absolutelyready, uh, you know, to be realistic
with what they're trying to accomplish.
Yeah, we're going through, I, I amfeeling that with some of my agents
on my team, you know, they've saidyes to some buyers that are just, you
know, dragging them through the mudand they're just hanging onto these,

(13:12):
well, maybe other opportunities arehanging that are so much better and, you
know, you need to realign and let go.
Sometimes you're so far into something,it's like, I can't let this person go.
I've already invested too much time.
Um, and sometimes like when you takea listing on and you price it because
maybe, you know, just, maybe theymight get it and then they say they'll
do a price drop and then they'll,you'll have that plan built out and it

(13:35):
just doesn't go to plan and all thattime and energy out the window, uh,
learn the hard way with those, honestly.
It does, and it, and it also doessomething to your confidence.
And, and, and you really startto feel that as you try to
recover and bounce back from it.
And it's the, it's the whole thing, right?
Like.
If you stop working out for amonth, it doesn't take a month to

(13:57):
get back to where you were, right.
It takes twice the effort.
It takes two months.
So it, it's, it's the same thing with,with your business and especially if
you let it kind of stall out with theseagents that have been in that situation.
I. If you have a conversationwith them, what do you, what,
what advice are you giving them?
What do you tell them?
That, you know, these agents that arestruggling, that are out there, that
that, that you said got licensed since20, they haven't had to experience any

(14:20):
market or market conditions like this.
When they come to you or youhave those conversations,
what, what are you conveying?
What are you telling them?
Well.
It's hard to say honestly.
Like it's, it's such a diff like thatquestion for me, like as if for a
listing or for buyers, um, they're sodifferent breeds right now because.

(14:41):
Listing right now.
There's uh, there's no formula for it.
Um, it's changing every week right now,especially when we're going into the
spring market, we're starting to seeoffer dates starting to pop up again and
different strategies popping up, and youcan really put your sellers in a really
bad situation if you're not navigatingthat to the best of your ability or.

(15:02):
I mean, so with, when I'm givingadvice to my agents that are asking
for it, when the listing side ofthings, you gotta be so, so savvy and
strategic with your listing price.
Right now, your listing pricedetermines if you're gonna sell or not.
Um, and if it is a touch high,you have to have that open, honest
conversation about doing a, a pricedrop within a week or two weeks.
Depending on the feedback and the traffic.

(15:23):
I literally just did this this morning,listed a property, we were just a touch
high, but the only reason we did that was'cause we have a super long closing day.
So we have a long, um, we have a longplaying field here that we can work with.
Time.
Other than that, I wouldnever have tried that.
They came to their own realizationbefore I even called it.
Within one week we have it down tothe price where I wanted it to be to

(15:43):
begin with, but that was all put intothe pre-talk before I even committed
to taking this on at that price point.
Sorry, I have it on Do not disturb.
Um.
And then with the buyers, you know,we just had a lot of lessons this
week of our prequalification process.
Um, my a like, they got to the offer pointand the a, the client they were working

(16:04):
with didn't have a big down payment.
And we lo we were wonderingwhere did that I. Come.
Where did we miss that?
That you've been working with themfor so long, but because they had
bought and sold before that wasn'tasked because they said they were
working with the mortgage broker.
That didn't come up.
And it's like, okay, now weneed to really sharpen our
skills on the prequalifications.
Not only on the sell side, but it'sjust especially on who you commit

(16:27):
with when you're buying and creatinga much stronger buying process.
'cause we're trying tominimize the time wasted.
Um, because I think weall know as strong agents.
How much buyers can take upthree to six months and mm-hmm.
Walk off or not have the stepsin place that you needed.
It is the most defeatingthing in the world.

(16:48):
It's like sending them out to pasture.
So I guess my advice wouldbe the prequalification.
I think it, I think everythingalways comes back to that, um, those
conversations you're having before yougo to market, you know, what's expected.
Um, setting those expectations,because if you don't know them and
you're new, you better learn thembecause having those difficult
conversations is the hardest thing.

(17:09):
As a new agent, I remember having this.
I would, my dad used to make me have to dothe calls of a price reduction and I would
like be sweating and I would just hate it.
Not the worst thing in the world.
Call and get a price reduction.
Um, and that's what makes it, you know,I do everything to avoid that now.
Right?
I prep that.
It's like, okay, we're probablygonna need to like, so prep

(17:30):
in that is so, so important.
And then also with the buyers,you know, just signing up anyone
and running up the gate with them.
It's not like that anymore.
There's so many things you haveto take into consideration.
Especially with evengetting the financing.
Is it pre-qualified?
Is it real?
You know, is that going to stick andgoing into the offer process because.
Um, you can be super savvy withbuyers right now, but also if

(17:51):
there's a really good deal, it'sprobably the same in your market.
You're gonna go to multiples if it'sa really good deal and you gotta be
prepared to have those conversationsor you're gonna go through the
whole thing again, putting all theseoffers in and not winning any of 'em.
Where, where are you kind ofdrawing the line that, yeah, we
can move forward or, no, this is.
This isn't gonna work.
I'm, I'm not the, I'mnot the agent For you.
And even kind of conveying that with your,with your team, like what, what questions,

(18:14):
what, like you said, the qualificationthings, what are, what are you trying to
pull out of buyers and sellers right now?
That they need to say yes to thesethings or it's, it's gotta be a hard no.
Well, I think you, I thinkwe know I'm about $2,000.
As soon as I sign that contractwith any listing, I already know
that's going out the window.
Mm-hmm.
Um, and then it just goes up from there.
And that involves my video marketing,my ads, um, my transactions,

(18:38):
everything to get it to that point.
So I, I need to know that thishouse is going to sell because we
might list, uh, 10 homes a month.
There's 20,000 out there that I needto make sure we're getting back.
Yeah.
So knowing, knowing your numbers, um, andactually having a goal plan in your head
of what this is worth to you as well, so.

(18:59):
I guess on the listing side of things, Ineed to know that we're gonna actually get
this property moved and if we're not gonnamove, we have a long-term relationship
that we're gonna be working with together.
Um, and ultimately I think everythingcomes down to right now is price
and how the home is prepped.
So when do I walk away whenwe're not aligned on price?
Like if we're a hundred, if we're 75,000or even 25,000 out on pricing, depending

(19:23):
on the price point that we're in.
Um, and.
There's just no budging andmoving on that, and you know,
I'm stuck in, I'm stuck in whereI'm at and they're stuck there.
We're not meeting in the middle,not even in a little bit, you
know, why am I gonna go to market?
Why does someone wanna workwith me when we're not aligned?
It's a team effort at the end of theday, and I tell my clients that all
the time, like I. This is a team andyou're not wrong, and I'm not wrong

(19:44):
and I'm not right and you're not right.
But here's what we're seeing.
This is what makes sense and thisis where I think it needs to be, and
let them let me live my lane of beingthe professional where I need to be
so I can advise them accordingly.
Yeah, it's, it's.
I mean, there's no, there's noa hundred percent slam dunk.
This thing's gonna buy sell.
It's just, you know, thehighest probability, right?

(20:07):
We're giving ourselfthe highest probability.
And I think that's why we want tohave great processes, because great
processes, great systems give usa higher probability of success.
And I couldn't agree with you more.
I mean, it is the qualificationside of things and.
I used to always joke and it reallywasn't a joke because it was so true.
You know, the one question youdon't ask is the question you're

(20:27):
gonna get hit with, right?
It's, it's the thing thatyou're gonna get hit.
It could be the two by four that, youknow, makes the deal fall apart if
you don't do all of the homework andthe due diligence on, on the front
end and the front side of things.
And it's getting back to, youknow, really having a set process
and being able to go through that.
And I know, you know,even for you, right, even.

(20:49):
You know, you do so much marketing andstuff and such a great job that people
just reach out to you and it's like,Hey, Georgia, come, we're ready to sell.
Right?
It's, you know, you still get intocompeting situations, but, but fewer,
um, even if you are in a competingsituation, they're already kind of
leaning towards you just with your,your marketing and your branding.
And if you don't follow theprocess, even to that point

(21:12):
where you feel it's a slam dunk.
Gonna, it's, it is gonna be a disaster.
It, it really is gonnabe a disaster for us.
Um, you know, moving into, moving intothis climate, this kind of market.
And, and to touch on that too, becausethe one thing with following the
process is everyone will say something.
I just, I have a big example version.

(21:32):
So I was at a house yesterday,no, sorry, last week.
I'm gonna meet with them this week.
And they said, I onlywanna buy this property.
If, you know, we get over1.3 million for our house.
I'm looking at them, I already know it'snot worth 1.3, but you know, a lot of
people will go, we're never gonna get 1.3.
You know, it's never gonna happen.
But I wanna follow my process becauseonce I walk them through the comparables,

(21:53):
once I educate them on what I'm seeingand show them where I'm coming from,
that number can change just like that.
And I think we can all relate toa lot of situations like that.
But follow the process because you canlose a lot of gold because I, if you don't
do it that way, you're gonna see someoneelse's sign up on that front lawn, maybe
with the price they originally wanted,but you know, they might do that price

(22:14):
drop really quickly and it might sell.
Yeah.
And they may do that process thatthey needed to do through it.
So always, always followevery step that you take.
And don't write anything off until youfeel you're so far in the process that
this dish isn't working or making sense.
Um, yeah, I dunno.
Everyone in the world last weeksaid their house was 1.3 to me.
I don't know.
It was something in the world.
I'm like, okay, we have some work todo and it's a lot of homework, right?

(22:37):
Yeah.
So much homework to educatethem on that pricing.
Um, but I, I truly, but yet, but yet, ifyou say yes and you don't do that work
on the front end, it's two to three tofour times as much work down the road.
And you maybe don't even getcompensated for all of that time in

(22:57):
that work, being able to do that.
Probably don't.
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Uh, it's, that's exactly that.
And that's, again, just working smarterand, um, and I, and every time that
I've walked away from a deal we justdidn't have, I. Our minds just didn't
meet on a number that didn't make sense.
You know, it always comesback even with a referral.
I literally lost out from amultiple listing opportunity.

(23:18):
There was five agents.
I don't know why they endedup going with another agent.
I think he, they were, it was fivepeople involved, but the one guy
that asked me to do it already gaveme a referral, and I didn't even
get the one to represent his family.
And it's hilarious how thatall works because he saw my
process and he loved that.
It's, it's amazing.
Yeah.
And I think, I think too to that, to thatprocess and I think where the climate is,

(23:41):
um, there has to be real motivation there.
And you know, if they're coming inat 1.3, they see the numbers, they're
still fighting you a little bit.
I know for us, our, our defaultin tougher markets, right?
Where things sit a little bit longer.
It was, was, was real motivation.
Um, if they, even with supporting thedata, the data's out there, everything,

(24:03):
they still weren't quite as realistic towhere you wanted to position it, but they
were still a little, a little aggressive.
Um, and still having that conversation,we're gonna have to get in into line when,
what the market tells us a week, two weeksin, if there was real motivation there.
And I think that's, that's where you, youhave to really dig in the qualification
side of things to really uncover whatis, what is their, their real goal

(24:28):
and are they moving away from pain?
That, that I think is so important forespecially agents right now, or even
in tough climates and tough marketsas a, as a business owner, it's the,
you know, you and I have talked aboutthis, like, you don't wanna be a vitamin
company, you wanna be a painkiller.
And because we all knowhow important vitamins are.
However, when you ain't got nomoney, you ain't buying no vitamins.

(24:51):
And so you've, you've gotta reallylook and see, and I, I just, I really
believe in, in the market, I mean, foryou in, you know, in Canada, um, us even
here in the states, like if there's notreal motivation and they're trying to
move away from pain and they have to dosomething, I just do not believe it's
worth your time to, to waste unless you.

(25:15):
Create the condition to wherethey're gonna compensate everything
if it doesn't sell right.
Your, your 2000, like you said, example,2000 marketing expense, that's low end.
Like, listen, I'll take this thing.
If we're not gonna get realisticon price, I can, I can help you.
However, at the end of thisagreement, if it doesn't sell.
You're on, you're on thehook to reimburse for that.

(25:36):
I think being able to protectand do some things like that
is, is really, really important.
And most people don't wanna havethat conversation and they won't ask.
So listen, just don't even take theproperty, you know, move on and, and
maybe put yourself in a position to benumber two or number three, uh, when
they really do have to make a move.
That's a, that's a really greatpoint because you can, it's
like you can put up anything.

(25:57):
I love that.
And it's like, okay, I know you guys areout to lunch, but you still wanna try.
Let's do this.
If it doesn't sell within six months,you know, my marketing expenses are
giving back, but I will give it all.
And I, and I, and I do that a lot.
I just did that twice lastweek with, with staging.
Um, staging is such a toughthing around here, like.
It's about 4,500 to five grand perlisting for staging, like done, right,

(26:19):
3,500 depending on the size of the home.
That, on top of my marketing expenses,it just doesn't make sense for me
at the end of the day to include it.
A lot of differentcompanies are including it.
Um, that being said, I don't know thequality of staging or whatever they're
doing, but what I've done lately is, youknow, I say, okay, I'll pay for staging.
Um, but that comes off,uh, that comes out of.

(26:42):
On closing, you pay me back thaton top of, uh, my commission fee.
Um, and the home doesn't sell, thenyou guys pay me back my staging.
And, um, honestly, it works really,really well in a lot of situations.
'cause a lot of people are verystrapped when they're selling.
They're trying to fix up a lot ofdifferent things that on top of that,
another five grand, they're, they'reworried some, but then, uh, but divorces,

(27:02):
like one won't pay, one will pay.
Um, it takes the stress away from that.
But it also.
Solidifies you the listing, whichsounds really bad, but at the same
time you are like, I'm committing toyou not only this and that, but now
you're in the long haul with them.
They don't wanna pay you back theswitch agents and then they kind of
become a little bit easier to work with.
It's kind of this reallyweird phenomenon you get.

(27:23):
Um, I mean just, just, you know, allthe concessions on the negotiating
side of things and I think that'sthe really the important, um.
The important aspect, um, one, one ofthe key skills to develop as an agent
that maybe you didn't have to sharpenas much being licensed since, since
20, being able to, to have that andunderstand, you know, negotiation at,

(27:46):
you know, just even a fundamental levelto be able to, to be able to have that
and yeah, it's a, it, it, it really is.
Um.
Key with that, you said with the stagingand I, I think this is really important.
You can also look for, and if you can finda great staging company, but you know,

(28:07):
they may be in a situation, uh, as wellto where they're not able to do this.
Um, our stager in, when we were inDallas with the brokerage in Frisco.
Uh, Janna Olston, she was janna'samazing and she model my home.
Um, and she would, um, when she would goin, so we offered kind of two services.

(28:27):
One, one of the staging servicesthat we offered was what we called
a two hour touch up, and that senttwo, two of their certified stagers
in and they used what was ever inthe house and they just got it.
Yeah.
Picture worthy.
Picture ready.
And so we would just, thatwas just part of you hire us.
That's what's gonna happen.
Now, if you really need full onstaging, Jana's gonna come in.

(28:49):
Her team's gonna come in, they will do it,but they're gonna tie it to the back end.
When it closes, they're gonna get paid.
She would do that, but now it would bea premium versus if they wanna pay for
it upfront, they got it at a discount.
So you can, you can kind of navigatekind of the situation you shared,
or you have a great stager thathas, you know, that capability.

(29:14):
Um, and, and I don't know how rare thosetype of stagers are out there to be able
to, to find that will, that will do that.
But hey, maybe, maybe they will,um, you know, um, just part of their
business strategy to continue to grow.
That's, um, I never even hadthe stagers, like the stagers
fronting the cost for that.
But I mean, why not?
Right?
Yeah.

(29:34):
And especially for the neweragents, you know, it's, it's a
lot of cash to have floating outthere, not coming back right away.
Um.
That's a really great optionand especially, you know,
have those open conversations.
We do the consultation we pay for.
Um, but the two hour touch ups reallygreat actually having them go in and,
you know, I would love to discusswhat that would cost with some of

(29:54):
the stagers in my area just to.
Because I know what I, I I've sentpeople in and paid for them to do what?
Fluffing pillows and changing bedsheetsand just rearranging can truly do for
a property on It's, yeah, it's magical.
It's, and you know, and you just, you,you've got your, you know, you got,
then you got your, your, you know,photography, you know, videographer,
everybody coming in right on top of 'em.

(30:15):
So it's just back to part of the processbeing able to really, to really lay that
out, you know, so you look at kind of.
You know, kind of your, your expertisein something that, like I said, you,
you know, you're world class at.
Why real estate, like for you, whatwas the, the passion, the desire

(30:38):
to even come into, to real estate?
Yeah, I, it's savvy.
Anyone nosy.
It's my dad.
Um, when I was in high school, I wanted togo to school for art, but I think that's
where I love the creativity of the sideof real estate that I'm able to have, and
that's where I find my passion in that.
Um, but no, I hated real estate.
I never wanted to do it.
I was forced into it.

(31:00):
Um, and I really didn't like itfor the first three to five years.
I mean, I was 20.
Uh, none of my friends could afford homes.
Uh, they're just being ableto afford them now, actually.
And, um, you know, and my dad kindof showed me it, like taught me real
estate as a, as a back burner job.
He always had another career.
So it was something you did on the sideand never really took it that seriously.

(31:24):
But early on in my stages, I learnedhow to renovate homes and flip homes,
which absolutely set me up for mycareer now because I am educated
that I have flipped the homes.
I've laid my own hardwood, I've paintedwalls, I've done all that, which
honestly, anyone going into this reallyyoung that really wants to take on that.
I mean, I'm not saying yesor no, but it is a great.

(31:44):
Way for you to be able to educateyour buyers going into the next couple
years is get your hands dirty, buy acouple flips, and be in their shoes.
Um, and do it when you're reallybroke because, uh, you can get
really crafty and it's amazing.
So.
Sorry.
That was my motivation to get in,came later and, and, and way years

(32:05):
later, while I was already in it.
Um, and I just decidedto take it seriously.
Um, and it wasn't because Ihad, it was because I had to,
um, I had no money coming in.
I literally had just bought a houseand I realized, oh my goodness,
I make way more money sellinghomes than I do flipping them.
'cause it takes way moretime for that return.
And I decided to pick up my phone and.

(32:26):
Do is everything I could to makesure I must up enough business
to, you know, get by that year.
And by having a right coach inplace teaching me how to grow my
business like an actual business,not using it as a side burner job.
Yeah.
Overnight I was able to have the best yearI ever had in real estate year after year,
after year, even in a downward market.

(32:47):
Um, and I, I actually put allof that on coaches for teaching
me the right way to do it.
Yeah.
It's amazing.
Um, yeah, it really is.
And it, it just, I mean,it's a, it's a collapsed time
type of, type of moment too.
And, and you know, the faster that youcan get into your lane, what you are the
best in the world at, then you can startto build the business and start to build

(33:10):
the pieces and the things around you.
And it, it, it really is.
And I, I love what you said abouthaving, having that experience.
I was just thinkingthrough like, you know.
We had to do everything just becauseof our average sales price was so
low that, I mean, we, we had to doeverything just to even survive.
And, and so that meant, you know, the, therehab, you know, the flipping, flipping

(33:32):
of the homes, buying and holding ofhomes, developments we did, you know, in
in, in city rural developments, I mean,completely opposite, dealing with, you
know, polar opposite, you know, policiesand politics and, and regulations and.
New construction and um, youknow, just, just really doing
it all because we had to.
But it gave such a, a, an amazingperspective when now you're talking

(33:57):
to a different type of clienteleyou can, I mean, you're a little
more educated and understandingthe process and understanding kind
of what they're going through.
And so, yeah.
I, I, I mean I absolutely love that.
And it was, as you were saying that, Iwas laughing 'cause I was thinking of.
You, you know, he said you got intonine, you know, nine when you're 1920.
I mean, it's just kind of, you know,Leanne got in later in life, but

(34:17):
you know, she was a homeowner at 19.
Right.
And, and, you know, multiplehomes by the, you know, by the
time she was in her mid twenties.
And so being able to have that experienceand then it just, it carries over into
this industry to where you're really ableto, to put yourself in, into their shoes.
And that's what really also helpsme in world class at marketing
is when you can put yourselfinto the other person's shoes.

(34:40):
And it helps you be worldclass selling it, you know?
You know how many homes I've talkedmy clients out of and moved them
into different ones because I knewthis was the best choice for them.
They really wanted the brand new kitchen.
They wanted the bathroom,but they're newlyweds.
They had no money.
Yeah, they just wanted to go maxbudget and you know, they helping
them build that sweat equity andbeing that person in their ear that.
It just, it when you, when you'reable to speak that freely and you've

(35:04):
been in their shoes or whatever itis, the confidence just comes out.
And anytime anyone wants to workwith you, they just immediately trust
you and your whole transaction is,is so incredible from the A to Z.
'cause the trust is there.
Yeah.
But if you don't have, if you're arealtor right now and you don't have
any experience flipping or renovating,just be so present for the, for the

(35:24):
home inspections and have a huge list ofroster of people that you can pull on.
Everyone's got a flooring guy.
Everyone's got like a Tyler and just.
Be more present when they'retalking about these things.
You can be educated so quickly and thenbring that to your meetings and we're,
and that, use that as your resourcelist of when you're dealing with buyers.
Our seller guide that we have, honestly,the back of our book, it is incredible

(35:48):
how much, we have five pages in thereof all our preferred partners that we
use and every time I go to a listingappointment, and it's gonna be in
our buyer guides as well, it's like.
The people in that book, you know, theyknow when they call from the TI Real
Estate Group, they're gonna show up,they're gonna be there on time, they're
gonna give them the best deal possible.
Um, and.
It's really important, I think,as a buying agent and a selling

(36:09):
agent, to make sure you have astrong list of preferred partners.
Um, especially if you'reworking the lower end.
Just like John, when you were sayinglike you had to have, be resourceful
for all these things that needed toget done prior to the listing of it,
or working with buyers to get quoteson things to get the deal done.
Yeah.
Yeah.
It's, it's crazy in, you know, I thinkwhen we were, when we had this dialed in

(36:29):
the best that we ever had it dialed in.
We, we took the approach, especially, youknow, talking about the preferred vendors.
We, we took the approach of, you know,adding so much more value to them
that in exchange of whatever we werewanting from them, it was, it was, it
was, it was irresistible offer, right?
And it was just pouring into them.

(36:49):
But we took the approach ofpouring into them, into, into
their business and helping themnavigate and grow their business.
And it didn't matter.
It didn't matter if it was,you know, mortgage company.
It didn't matter if itwas the title company.
It didn't matter if itwas the locksmith company.
Like we treated them allthe absolutely the same.
Now, was the, the, the compensationor whatever the arrangement in

(37:11):
return, was it, it, was it different?
Of course.
I mean, you know, the locksmith guyain't making much money and so you don't
want to try to, you know, take themfor everything that they, they possibly
have in that, in that relationship.
But there was a lot of bartering.
Um, I remember, I'll never forget, thiswas one of the best lessons for me when it
was, you know, having those relationships.

(37:33):
And, you know, we had, we, we hadthe old traditional vendor program.
This is this tier, this tier, this tier.
You know, you can be, you know,a preferred vendor at this
price per month, this price permonth or this price per month.
And, uh, I'll neverforget our, um, our, uh.
Pest pest guy comes in and hewould always bring his cash.

(37:54):
It was the funniest shit.
He would always bring his cashin a, in a white envelope.
And uh, I'll never forget, he walkedin one day, he said, what's up boys?
We said, what's going on, Mac?
And he said, listen.
I ain't bringing you nomore money ever again.
We said, okay.
He said, but here's what I will do.
And um, you know, he took care ofour, he took care of our remodels,

(38:15):
he took care of our personal home.
I was like, Mac, I got spiders.
He's like, bro, I'll be overthere this afternoon now.
So like that's, I think just as, as abusiness owner, and especially in real
estate and like you said, you gottahave those, those preferred vendors.
There's just creative ways to make,make it a win-win relationship.
And that goes back to,to the fundamentals of.
Win-win doesn't mean it's 5050 and what it does is mean.

(38:39):
Yeah.
He's getting value.
We're getting value.
And that's a great relationship and it'sone of the things, I mean you and I've
talked about it, but it's one of thethings that just infuriates me with,
with real estate agents that are, thathave figured out customer acquisition
and they know how to acquire the client.
And then they just give their client tosomebody else that makes money off of it,

(39:01):
and they didn't pay for that opportunity.
It just infuriates me.
Exactly.
And it's like, it's like,listen, get something in return.
Make it a win-win relationshipbecause right now that person
is just taking advantage of you.
It is not a fair relationship.
So make it, make it a a, a reallygood win-win relationship and
something that you could buildon and something that you feel.

(39:22):
You're confident when you, likeyou said to that point, like,
I genuinely, they're the best.
Like if you're, you're a foolif you don't use this company.
And I think when you have a reallygood trade off, then, then you feel
good about, about that relationship.
Such a good reminder, I think.
We all can push those relationshipsfurther than what we have.

(39:43):
Like I just got a quote from my pool guythis morning for an early spring opening,
and I'm like, I don't even cover my pool.
So I am, first time I'm like, I knowI've been paying the other rate, but
I'm like, I don't even have a cover.
Can I get like a discount?
'cause you're never putting a cover on it.
He's like, oh yeah.
But I'm like, wait,you're in my seller guide.
I should be getting free pulls.
Purpose potentially becausehow many people I give you.

(40:05):
But it's just because I haven'thad a conversation like that.
And it's not like I'm asking forsomething free, but it would in sanitize
me to actually push his name more.
So what a well, that, that goesback to knowing your numbers, right?
And then it goes back to being ableto track and you're like, listen, you
know, how many people have we sentto you in, in in the last 12 months?
You know, what is your average clientele?

(40:26):
What, what, what's the average transactionvalue for every client that you have?
So.
Great.
So do you feel that this is, is,is a, is a fair relationship?
And, and most of the time when youstart talking through it and you know,
most people just aren't problem aware.
They're just not, they're not aware.
And when you start to have thatconversation with them, I'm like, oh shit.
Yeah, you're right.
Um.

(40:47):
Let's make a better relationship.
Let's make a better deal.
Cool.
I, I would love that.
I don't, I don't wanna stop usingyou, but I just wanna make it a, a,
you know, a relationship to whereI don't build resentment because
I'm sending, sending you, and thenyou're still doing that in return.
And it's, it's nothing personal, right?
It's just business.
And I think it's just having greatbusiness relationships to where, you
know, it's a, it's a win for both people.

(41:08):
It's funny, we, we fight so hard to learnhow to win every commission, uh, battle.
But to have a conversation withsomebody that you're hitting off
free business to is so daunting.
It's hilarious.
And it's just business.
And they get it.
Like, it's like, yeah, so this is dumb.
But you gotta, you also gottaremember, you know, they're
dealing with their own shit.
They're dealing with their own business.
They're dealing with their own fires.

(41:28):
They're dealing with their own clientele.
They're dealing with their own employees.
They're dealing with, they're dealingwith so much stuff that if you don't.
Put it in front of them and havethe conversation just because
the conversation needs to be had.
Like we, we talk ourselves up to it.
We build up to it too, too much.
So it, it's super important, especiallyright now when business is really tough.

(41:49):
Um, you, you gotta really lean in onthose, those other relationships to make
sure we got other revenue coming in or wedon't have, we're not paying too much out.
It's super important.
No.
Great reminder actually, and justtouching in on your preferred partners.
I don't remember last time I'vecalled every single one of them just
to see how they're doing, you know?
Yeah.
I think, you know, we used to, wellthis one I was kind of alluding to

(42:12):
when we were really had this dialed in.
Uh, I think we had close to, we were mid.
22, 23 preferred vendor programand every time we learned
something we gave it back to them.
So this was kind of in the dayswhen we were going really deep
down the rabbit hole with JayAbraham and we flew out to la I.

(42:36):
We, we came back, we copied, we made 23copies of everything that we got and we
learned, and we sat down for a half a day.
We invited everybody in.
We paid for lunch.
We gave it to 'em.
We talked to 'em about it, howit's helping grow our business.
We hope it helps you grow your business.
And so that's what I mean.
I mean, it's just not a monetaryexchange, but how can we, what
we're learning that's working forus, how can we pour back into you?

(42:57):
And that just strengthen, thatjust makes a, a stronger community.
And that's really what anchoredus in, in our local market.
When we were still in Lawton, we wereable to really anchor in and we had
great business relationships throughoutthe whole, the whole community.
And it served us really, really well.
Um, and most power relationships.
Yeah.
Especially when, when, when the, theclimate is tough like it is right now.

(43:20):
You know, really being able to lean inon those relationships are, are key.
I love that idea.
I'm gonna steal that.
Uh, just having at night, honestly,just having only get preferred
partners in one room alonewould be runable for networking.
Um, and for their own businesses as well.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I mean, you kind of create, youknow, everybody kind of knows the b
and i groups and, you know, exchangereferrals, but it was more about

(43:43):
exchanging, it's not exchanging referral.
We're, we're exchanging business.
'cause you're preferredthe only one in this room.
Um, and, and, but.
We wanna be better here.
Our belief was Georgia.
This was, this was what our belief was,is because it was our responsibility
at the end of the day to control theentire experience because we tied
that experience to lifetime value.

(44:05):
When we look at, you know, the truelifetime value of working with,
um, a buyer or a seller, say, saya buyer comes in and, and let's,
you know, Hey, I'm gonna be inthis game for the next 20 years.
Okay, well, how many referrals,how many people is that one
person gonna know that's gonnabuy or sell in the next 20 years?
How many times are they gonnabuy or sell in the next 20 years?
You know, they're gonna, if they havekids, are their kids gonna buy and sell?

(44:28):
So there's just so much valuein that one transaction.
But we knew we were the, the, the, thecenter linchpin of the entire experience.
And if I send you the pool guythat just destroys your pool,
does a shitty job that doesn't,that just destroys the experience.
Who does that look bad on?
Yeah.

(44:48):
It looks bad on you as, as, as the agent.
So we felt compelled to make thembetter, to make them the best that
they could be in their industry.
That way when we sent somebody thatwe were thinking long-term thinking
lifetime value, that they were gonnahave a world-class experience with them.
And so that looked, you know, shine thelight back on us in our favor as well.

(45:10):
It, it's one of the, the biggest.
Missed opportunities that I see so manyagents miss, even massive, these massive
mega teams, they still miss that as well.
There's so many ways to increaselifetime value by having a great
dynamic affiliate network, um, thatyou're pouring into as much as you can.
Yeah.
It's just like one more thing ontop of all the things to take care

(45:33):
of the beast, like to even decideto, you know, but it's not like if
you just lay it out like at that.
The best reminder I've gotten today is toreally sharpen my pencil on, on my paper.
I don't have any type of, uh, Iknow you used to do tears, right?
So, yeah.
But, uh, mine's just good faith.
Like maybe one day all mypainters will paint my house.

(45:56):
I mean, and that's not bad, right?
You mean you're making, you know, uh, youknow, deposits, deposits into, into there.
But sometimes you know it's okayto make a withdrawal, especially
if you've made a lot of deposits.
It's okay to go ask for a withdrawal.
Yeah.
And, and so, you know, don't, don't gotry to make a, a withdrawal too quick.
No.
Prefer, I just love the idea of makingthem more world class for your clients.

(46:18):
'cause I think that's the biggest fearis 'cause that can ruin that entire
transaction for life is like, I usedGeorge's painter, they were horrible.
Right?
And like.
You know, and when we sold, you know,that was, that was what also made part
of the brand more valuable when wesold, we sold the company in Lawton.
Um, it that those relationshipscontinued to, continued to carry over.

(46:42):
And served for them, you know, oninto the future because the clientele,
you know, the database, the pastclients, they would come back to
the brand because the brand was, youknow, so well connected and focused
on the experience and lifetime value.
It, it really is, um, superimportant to take into consideration,
especially if you're gonna bein the game for a while now.

(47:04):
I mean, if you're doing thispart-time like you were before, like
your dad was before, maybe not somuch, maybe, maybe some different
relationships that kind of take.
Take, take care of you.
But really thinking lifetime value,thinking long term, you've gotta
think of all the touch pointsthat they're gonna have a possible
derailment of an experience becauseit's gonna come back to you.
It's not gonna be, they're notgonna, like, they're gonna,

(47:25):
they're not gonna use that.
They're gonna talk bad aboutthat, that particular vendor,
that particular, you know, trade.
However, they're still, they'renot gonna look at you the same.
And because it's like, man, thatjackass referred that person to me.
I can't believe they did that to me.
Why would they do that?
And so it's super important totake that into consideration.
Oh, just what did I do yesterday?
We sent over our wall techguy 'cause there was a little

(47:46):
bit of water in the basement.
Got that fixed up.
The, the everything'swet and gross right now.
So we sent over Gary Faulkner to put aload of gravel in the lane way and like,
you don't even think about how manypeople you call in a pinch when things
need to get done really, really quickly.
And yeah, it's so important.
Georgia, what are you, you know, askind of, kind of wrapping up here, um.

(48:10):
For you Definitely kind of positionedand, and storytelling and marketing
kind of climate conditions.
I mean, where, where do you see kind of,you know, the evolution into the future?
Um, Greg and I were talkingthis morning and I've had a few
conversations over the last coupleweeks and, you know, a lot of the.
I don't know, talking heads, buta lot of the people, kind of some

(48:33):
perspective and some insight.
I mean, it's gonna be toughfor the next 12, 18 months.
What are you kind of seeing to almost,how do we continue to kind of put a
moat around our business and kind ofprotect our business and our business
model as much as we can, you know,navigating the next 12, 18 months?
Um, what I've been fully focusedon is not letting anything fall

(48:54):
to the cracks business wiseright now, because, you know.
It's so hard right now to get thepeople that are ready to buy and sell.
The opportunities are coming,but I wanna make sure that we
crush every single opportunity.
So I'm dialing in our, our sellingprocess and our buying process.
And that goes back to theprequalification process that we
were talking about earlier, earlier.

(49:16):
I know you used to havean incredible one as well.
So my focus right now, I think everyone'salways is, is on systems and processes.
But my listing process to know thatevery time I'm going in there, I'm
walking out of there with the listing.
And if it's not, it comes down tocommission and it comes down to price.
And I feel like the commission isalways a negotiation because maybe it

(49:37):
wasn't articulated the value the best.
So articulating the value we bring.
As a brand to your company,sorry, to your property.
And then also I think that willslash out anything to do with that
conversation if it's presented right.
Just the way that you'vetaught me as well.
And then it comes down to pricing.
So, and that should bearticulated in the best way.

(49:59):
And I think that can be, I. A problem thatcould get solved really quickly if it's
just brought to the light and it's talkedabout in depth and educated the right way.
If not, then maybe theyare just out to lunch.
That's a time saver.
And then the same with, samewith the buying process.
Really, I have lived by the edgeof my seat with the buying process.
I really have never had a solidbuying process, but going into

(50:20):
the more competitive times, um.
Securing those buyers, gettingthem under contract number one,
so they're not shopping around andthey're not just calling any realtor
to actually just open up a door andthen building up that process so you
can get deals to the table faster.
Um.
A lot of the time, those questionsand those answers just weren't done.

(50:40):
And the prequalification process, and thatslows down deals, it loses offers, and it
makes the whole time stretch out longerand it can get exhausting and people
can get tired and they can fall off.
So I would say for me, the next 12to 24 months, and I am looking into.
Really knowing my numbers as much asI pretend, I think I know my numbers,
I don't, um, I'm the worst agent forthat 'cause I don't like numbers.

(51:03):
So dialing in on the numbers,really learning what my cost is to
bring on a listing cost of a buyer.
Um, honestly, the, and, and if there istrimmed fat to be done there, but I don't
believe in letting off the gas right now.
Um, when it comes to building upthe brand, picking up talent maybe
with other agents right now and.

(51:25):
Not letting off the gas with contentand making sure my exposure is growing.
Um, because it's fairly easyto cut that cost right off the
top, which is your marketing.
I think that's probably thefirst thing that people do.
Go to cut.
'cause it is more expensive.
But I think it's probably thelast thing you wanna do going
into the next 12 to 24 months.
'cause it's where you can really buildsome really great brand awareness.

(51:45):
Yeah.
Spot on Georgia, you're amazing.
I appreciate you carving out the time,jumping in here and, you know, um,
chopping it up and adding a ton of value.
As always, thank you for having me.
You're awesome.
Awesome.
Thanks guys.
We'll see you.
That's a wrap for today.
I hope you got somethingvaluable from this episode.

(52:05):
If you did, hit follow andvisit John kitchens.coach for
more ways we can work together.
See you on the next episode.

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}#654: Win the Toughest Real Estate Markets with Georgia Tusch