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Are you ready to uncover the truth behind the seismic shifts in real estate commissions? Join us as we dissect the aftermath of a landmark lawsuit settlement that's flipping the industry on its head. With the insightful guidance of Tessa Jarvis, a seasoned real estate agent, we navigate the unknown waters of real estate transactions post-settlement. Tessa offers a treasure trove of knowledge, from the implications of removing buyer's agent commission advertising in MLS listings to an insider's perspective on the indispensable value of buyer's agents in a digital age where listings are a click away.

This conversation takes a technological twist as we contemplate the marriage of artificial intelligence and real estate. Wondering how AI might revolutionize your property search? We've got you covered, examining its role in data analysis and decision-making, without overlooking that human touch—emotion and tailored advice—that only an experienced agent can provide. The dialogue ventures further, with personal anecdotes reflecting on significant purchases that highlight the importance of expert guidance, whether you're buying a home or a luxury car. Technology's impact on the tools of the trade and the art of marketing in real estate also comes under scrutiny, as we assess the tech that amplifies our business and the strategies that keep us ahead.

Lastly, let's talk shop about the nitty-gritty of running a real estate business. Ever wondered how agents like me juggle finances and strategize as an S-corp owner? You'll get an insider's look at forecasting, budgeting, and the strategic inclusion of expenses. We also contemplate how the ripples of that pivotal lawsuit may shape the future of our profession. Reflecting on the emerging trends in Washington State, we invite you to join us in pondering the future trajectory of the real estate industry, ensuring you're informed and ready for what's coming down the pipeline.

Hosts: Sam Maule & Maia Bittner


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Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Sam Maule (00:03):
This is Essential Audio.
Hey everybody, Welcome toArtificially Intelligent, a
podcast brought to you by Money2020.
I'm one of your hosts, SamMaule.

Maia Bittner (00:16):
And I'm your co-host, maya Bittner.
Today we are talking about realestate, given the recent news
about real estate commissions,and we have a special guest
today.
So Tessa Jarvis is a realestate agent based in Skagit
County, Washington.
She was recently nominated tobe one of the top agent brokers

(00:39):
in Skagit County and, moreimportantly, she is my sister.
So, Tessa, welcome to the showand, more importantly, she is my
sister.

Tessa Jarvis (00:46):
Hey, good morning.
Good morning Sam.
Good morning Maia.
Thank you so much for having me.

Maia Bittner (00:53):
It's exciting to be here this morning and just
have a chat with you guys.
We are going to jump right in.
So the news for the real estatecommissions Sam, correct me if
I'm wrong, or Tessa, correct meif I'm wrong but it's that
they're no longer allowingsellers to advertise a
commission for buyer's agents.

(01:13):
Is that right?

Tessa Jarvis (01:17):
Yes, so we're no longer allowed to publish what
the commission, a seller, iswilling to pay to a buyer's
agent in the MLS.
Now where there's some grayareas is can I publish that on
my personal website?
Can I publish that on myInstagram?
Can I publish that on Facebook?
And so I think, if we rewindreally quickly, there's a

(01:39):
lawsuit and these changes arepart of the proposed settlement
for the lawsuit, so nothing isfinalized yet, but the proposed
change is that we are no longerallowed to publish what a seller
is willing to pay the brokerwho brings an agent that
represents the buyer in atransaction.

Sam Maule (01:58):
So this lawsuit that you're mentioning, I mean, and
the news kind of broke towardthe end of March in 2024.
So the National Association ofRealtors, they agreed to pay
$418 million to help compensatehomeowners.
But the settlement of that,like you said, is still kind of
refining the details out andagain.
Correct me, I love restatingthings to see if I actually

(02:20):
understand it.
So, basically, agents work witha buyer or that typically split
the commission.
That's normally around five to6%.
I'm sure that varies all overthe U?
S, but that's my understandingright.

Tessa Jarvis (02:32):
Yeah, so the way that it used to be, and so I can
.
So the difference is so this isthe national association of
realtors and so this is going toapply to everyone who is a
member of NAR.
I am only licensed inWashington State and so
Washington State has made somechanges to the way that we do

(02:53):
real estate business, kind of inanticipation and in advance of
this lawsuit.
But traditionally the way thatit worked is you would hire a
real estate agent to sell yourhome and that real estate agent
would say I'm going to chargeyou X to sell your home.
It's a percentage of the salesprice.
Of that percentage, I'm goingto share a portion of that with

(03:14):
the broker who brings the buyeras a cooperating compensation.
So all of the commission ispaid to the listing agent and
they agree to share a portion ofthat with the buyer broker.
So the change is that now I'mforgetting what the original
question was.
So where the change is is thatnow they want to decouple that

(03:36):
and so you're going to have anamount.
So, as a seller, you're goingto hire a listing agent, you're
going to pay them a percentageand you're going to say I'm
going to pay you X and I'm goingto offer to pay the buyer,
broker Y.
So we're going to decouplethose commissions.

Sam Maule (03:50):
So there's a term that Maya and I love TAM.
Right, maya, we love TAM, ourtotal logistical market.
So when we're talking about theNational Association of
Realtors and the research I waslooking at, you're looking at
like 1.5 million members in theUS.
So I mean we're talking about asignificant number of folks
potentially impacted by this.

Maia Bittner (04:15):
And I think there's like another 106,000 or
7,000 real estate brokeragefirms in the US.
That's how many people areagents or brokers.

Sam Maule (04:19):
Yeah, about 1.5 million, and that's just members
of the National Association ofRealtors.
You don't correct me if I'mwrong.
You don't have to be in thatassociation, so it's probably a
little bit north of that,correct?

(04:45):
Not all real estate brokers arerealtors but all realtors are
real estate brokers, so therecould be a real estate broker
who is not a member of theNational Association of Realtors
.
Basically, we're talking abouta lawsuit that affects a ton of
people and, as usual, it's oneof those.

Maia Bittner (04:53):
Okay, that's great , there was a settlement.
Now what, right?
Yeah, well, let me ask you adifferent question.
So I see all over Twitter andstuff like that, people are
saying, in this age of Zillowand Redfin, you don't need a
buyer's agent, right?
What are they even doing?
People are like look, I can goon, I can use the filters to say
like has a view, has at leasttwo bedrooms, why are buyer's

(05:14):
agents making so much money?
Why are they making apercentage of the house?
Do they even do anything?
So I'm curious, like do youhave any examples of things that
you've done as a buyer's agentor things you've seen other
people do, to kind of providevalue there that a buyer
wouldn't be able to do on theirown?
They might not have the skillor the knowledge.

Tessa Jarvis (05:32):
Totally, and I think what Redfin and Zillow
have done is really great,because real estate brokers used
to be the gatekeepers ofproperty.
So this was before my time.
I've never actually experiencedit, but what they say is you
would have to go into a realestate agent's office and they
would have a whole book with allof the properties that were
available for sale and you wouldflip through that book and see
which ones were interesting.

(05:53):
So that was like our value,right?
We had the properties.
The only place you could findthem was going to a realtor, and
so Redfin and Zillow have takenthat and they've said here's
all the properties that areavailable.
And they've made it.
Everyone can see everythingthat I can see.
So as soon as I publishsomething in our local MLS, it's
going to get dispersed toRedfin, zillow, realtorcom,

(06:19):
remax, wherever the buyers arelooking for properties.
That's where it's going to showup.
And so when I'm having a buyerconsult with my buyers, I'm even
going to tell them you knowwhat?
I'm probably not going to findthe property.
You are going to find theproperty and then I'm going to
help you acquire that propertybecause you have access to the
information, most likely beforeI do?
You're on a 10 minute break,you're scrolling Zillow, you're
scrolling Redfin, you're goingto find that property and then

(06:42):
I'm going to help you with thestrategy to acquire that
property.

Sam Maule (06:45):
Yeah, Tessa.
My favorite SNL skit, I wouldsay over the past three years,
is when they were scrolling atnight on Zillow.
I don't know if you've seenthat one.
We'll have to put that in thelink.
It is one of the funniestthings I've ever seen.
It's people scrolling on Zillowon homes they could no way
afford.
So they have about 2 millionbase and just going oh God great

(07:08):
, I can't afford that or that orthat, but it's one of the
funniest skits I've seen in along time.

Tessa Jarvis (07:16):
Well, and I think, once you find the property
right, that's the first step,and then the next step is how do
we get that property?
And it's going to be reallymarket specific.
I can only speak for my marketbecause that's the one that I
know and the one that I work in,but our market shifts pretty
frequently and so it's knowing.
Is this the type of propertywhere I can really negotiate for

(07:39):
my buyers?
I can ask for closing costs, Ican ask for seller concessions,
I can ask for inspectionrequests, inspection repairs, I
can ask for a contingent offer.
Or is this a property where weneed to come in really
competitively because there areother buyers that are interested
in this property?
Do we need to do our duediligence ahead of time?

(07:59):
Do we need to waivecontingencies?
Do we need to come in strong onoffer price?
How strong?
$ 100,000 over 20,000 overright?
So if a buyer was out on theirown, one of the challenges I
would see if you're saying, hey,we don't really need buyer's
agents Is this a property whereI need to offer more or I can
ask for less?
And so, having a pulse on ourlocal market and knowing what

(08:23):
was the story for the recenthomes.
What's the story for the homesthat are pending?
How can I take that story andapply it to this one that my
buyers are interested in, sothat I can secure it for them at
the best possible price?
No, Maya.

Sam Maule (08:34):
What I equate this to is the same disruption that's
taking place in media right nowand news where, if anything,
what we're learning now,especially with the 24-hour news
cycle and literally every storyon any of these cable news is
breaking, because it's alwaysbreaking news is the importance
of the local media in your localnews channels and understand

(08:55):
what's actually happening in thecommunity, which affects you
even more than anywhere else.
And I would say that sameargument Tessa applies when
you're dealing with real estateis understanding that.
And I'll give you an example Inthe midst of COVID, when the
real estate market just lost itsmind.
I live in Florida, tessa has abunch of jokes she can make on
that and I'll do them too.

(09:15):
But my home, at the height ofCOVID in March, when it first
broke out and everybody waslosing their minds and moving
all over the place, first brokeout and everybody was losing
their minds and moving all overthe place.
I, when my house hit the MLS, Ihad close to 20 offers within

(09:36):
the first day and none of themever saw the house.
Actually, the people that boughtmy house by that Monday came
from Las Vegas.
They knew nothing about theneighborhood.
They knew nothing about youknow it was a iPhone.
Take your iPhone and the cameraand FaceTime the home.
But literally the neighborhood,the schools, everything else.
They were just trying to pickup from Zillow or I guess what
the agent was telling them soyou can see the value.

(09:57):
You know that, especially inthat type of situation, the
agent would bring.

Tessa Jarvis (10:03):
Absolutely, and I've helped a lot of out of you
know, non-local buyers rightwhere they do rely on us to go
in.
They find the house on Zillowand they say, hey, tessa, this
property just hit the market.
I come in, I will do a videotour for them and send that to
them so that they canessentially feel like they've
walked through the house.
I'm panning the neighborhood,I'm telling them about the

(10:23):
neighborhood, you know, sharingwhatever insights I have.
Hey, this property came on.
You know it's super similar to123 Main Street.
I know that 123 Main Street hadseven offers.
They only took one and theytook a backup.
So that means there are fiveother buyers who are going to be
interested in this right, inaddition to the new wave of
buyers that has just come in.

(10:44):
So that will give us an idea ofwhat type of competition we're
looking at for this specificproperty.
Or it's like hey, it's been onthe market 137 days, let's see
how much negotiating we can do,right.

Maia Bittner (11:00):
Tessa.
So yeah, we're alwaysinterested in sort of the tech
angle and where there's anopportunity there.
What do you think is the mostpainful part today of the home
buying process?

Tessa Jarvis (11:13):
Oh gosh, as a realtor or as a consumer, it's
like asking what's the best partabout going to the dentist.
Yeah, I think you know myhusband and I are pretty big
investors in real estate.
We like buying houses.
We bought a lot of investmentproperties and the part that is
always just the biggest painpoint for me is the loan process

(11:33):
.
It feels like the lenders wantso much paperwork and you give
it to them and then they don'tlike it and they want something
different.
And then you got to give them aletter of explanation and then
they need this bank statementand that clear check, and so
that is a pretty big pain point.
Uh, I feel like it's just goingthrough the process of getting
the money that you need to buyI'll say it from personal

(11:55):
experience, which I findfascinating is the the less
expensive of a home.

Sam Maule (12:01):
So when early in the early in your life cycle you're
getting your first home, thatstarter starter home or that
second home, the process is muchmore painful than when you're
someone like me in their 50s,buying a home, which was rather
interesting because the price ofthe home I'm in now as compared
to my first home.
My wife just got a Volvo XC90car.

(12:21):
I paid more for that car than Idid for my first house Back in
the 90s I think I paid.
It was in Atlanta.
I think I paid like $63,000.
I'm not going to say how muchthe next C90 is, but, folks,
it's more than $63,000.
I wish I could finance thatover 30 years.
But that process is fascinatingto me because we're seeing this
weird shift happening in the USand you read about this all the

(12:44):
US and you read about this allthe time.
I mean Professor Scott Gallowaytalks about this on the Pivot
podcast how we're seeing thismigration of wealth from younger
generations to oldergenerations.
It's imbalanced.
We hear constantly, especiallywith younger people, that they
can't afford to get on thehousing market and I would think
having an agent's help,especially with the largest

(13:04):
purchase you're going to make inyour life, is I mean, it's just
vital.

Maia Bittner (13:09):
Well, sam, I mean, it's funny you bring up cars,
because that's I was thinking,just about cars.
And here's what I was thinkingis for me buying a house I
bought two houses, both withTessa, and my number one thing
is I want to make sure I'm notgetting screwed over, right,
it's like this is the biggestthing I'm buying, One of my
biggest investments.
I don't really know what I'mdoing.

(13:30):
For me, having an agent was agood like hedge against kind of
getting screwed over.
And so here's the car tie-in.
I almost kind of wish I couldget an agent for buying a car,
and I think a lot of peopledread it, right, they're like I
don't know what the market is, Idon't want to negotiate against
a car salesman like notoriouslykind of a cranky person to deal

(13:53):
with.
And so, yeah, I almost wishthat, like you know, we had more
assistance to help make surethat you're not getting screwed
over there.

Sam Maule (14:03):
Yeah, I completely agree.

Tessa Jarvis (14:04):
Well, and I think I was going to say I just
completely agree.

Sam Maule (14:08):
And, tessa, this is the part where you go.
Oh Lord, I actually think overthe next decade or so, maya,
that AI is going to play moreand more of a part in this,
because we're talking data right, crunching data, crunching
those data points and seeingthat.
So the amount of data analysisthat's going to start to go into
this and being fed back toagents who are going to act as

(14:31):
your advisor.
Personally, I don't want Siritelling me how to go out and buy
a house.
That's something I want to dowith somebody like Tessa, right,
somebody I have a relationshipwith and someone I trust.

Tessa Jarvis (14:45):
Well, and I think there's, I think there'll be a
lot of ways that AI will supportus in our work and really help
us dial in with that data.
But there are so many latenight phone calls, early morning
text messages, right, wherewe're really playing the role of
therapist or counselor, or youknow.
I mean it's a, it's a bigpurchase and it's people buy on

(15:06):
emotion.
Big purchase and it's peoplebuy on emotion.
And so, even though there is aton of data with it, they're you
know, we're there to help guideyou through that to say, hey,
you know what buyer's remorse ispretty normal.
A lot of people.
They go under contract and theygo, oh, you get that gut punch
of is this the right move?
Right?
And then I'm going to take youback and revisit what you said.

(15:27):
Your goals were, how we feellike this accomplishes those
goals and what additionalinformation do you need to move
forward?
Maybe that's the data that AIhas supplied so we can say, yes,
you are getting a great deal onthis.
Here's what the market shows.
Are you still comfortablemoving forward?

Sam Maule (15:41):
I'm curious, tessa, what have you seen where Maya
and I are eyeball deep in thepayment space and the tech space
when it comes to financialtechnology?
So, maya, you hit on a coupleright Redfin and Zillow and what
they've done, influencing howwe look at homes.
But on the flip side of that,have you seen tools to help

(16:02):
agents out from a technologystandpoint?
other than your iPhone, which isa fantastic tool, by the way,
and a great way to allow facetime standpoint other than your
iPhone, which is a fantastictool, by the way and a great way
to allow FaceTime, but have youseen others that really help
you out as far as like localdata on neighborhoods or
communities, or what is a gapyou think that's out there?

Tessa Jarvis (16:21):
Yeah.
So as far as local data istough, because every house is so
specific and every home sale isso specific and there's going
to be really unique things aboutit um, most of the tools that
we see are transaction based, soways to help us in the process
of buying and selling, uh, andthere's a.

(16:44):
There's a lot of technology outthere like I could spend a ton
of money on tech that would helpme.
I say air quotes help me be abetter agent.
I don't invest in a lot of it.
I'm pretty specific in theareas in which I invest my
resources, but I would say thecaveat to that is that the cool

(17:05):
thing about being a realtor isthat I can run my business any
way that I want.
There are some really reallytech heavy brokers who invest in
the website.
They have really big, robustwebsites.
They have really big, robustclient management software that
have drip campaigns and propertyspecific websites and really
dig deep into that.

(17:25):
That's not my forte, so I don'tinvest a lot in that.
I use BombBomb as a videosoftware that I use to help my
clients, and so it's cloud-basedvideo, so I can go do a
property tour through BombBombon my iPhone and then it just
uploads to the cloud and I cantext that right to my client and

(17:46):
it can be a 20-minute video andwe're not taking up a ton of
data, or I can get back on mycomputer and send an email.
That's one I use a lot.
Ammetry is another one that Iuse that helps me with
transaction coordination, and soit builds digital timelines.
That kind of helps keepeveryone in the transaction on

(18:06):
the same page.
So we create a digital calendar.
You get digital updates of hey,your earnest money is due, hey,
your inspection contingency isexpiring.
Hey, remember to change yourutilities.
Back to the original question ofwhere there's a gap.
I think I know one of thebiggest fears folks have when
buying a home is is theresomething wrong with the

(18:27):
property?
And so if there was a way toaccess, you know, maybe we say
all of the service records fromanyone who has ever visited that
property or any of the permitsthat have been available, right?
Some counties have reallyrobust websites and you can log
onto the county website and youcan see a lot of the information
there, but they also I knowthat they have more information

(18:47):
than what is publicly availableonline.
You just have to physically goin and talk to a permit tech,
and when I make thatrecommendation, most people are
like, yeah, I don't really wantto go down to the county and
talk with a permit tech, right,but if there was a link where I
could click on that and I couldsee everything that was
available, right, when folks arelooking at homes, they're in an
information gathering stage,and so I feel like the more

(19:10):
information that's available tothem, the better they can make a
decision right and the clearerthey will feel moving.

Sam Maule (19:15):
It gets back to your analogy, maya, of buying a car
because you get the car factsright.
Let me know, let me see thehistory of the car.
You know what's funny, tessa,you were talking about video.
That's the one thing thatpersuaded me to sell, to buy the
house I was buying, and help mesell my home was drone footage
was going up over the homeshowing the whole property,
showing the neighborhood and thesurrounding neighborhood.

(19:36):
That was the kicker for meselling a home and for buying
the home that I have, because Icould see the entire roof, you
know.
I mean I could see the propertylines and and the adjoining
property.
I knew that there, you know,i-95 didn't go and a railroad
track didn't go right by my home.

Tessa Jarvis (19:56):
Well, how often do you jump to folks, jump on
Google Maps, right, and you walkaround, you want to see what
the neighbors look like.
Is there a junkyard rightbehind you?
Because, as a listing agent,we're pretty creative in the
photos that we will highlightthat you can see and you show up
and next door you're like, waita minute, that is not what the
photos look like online, right?
So, having that informationavailable before you call your
agent, before you even go to adrive-by of the house, I was

(20:18):
going to say that drone footage.

Maia Bittner (20:19):
It's so high up.
So in this part of the world,right Northwest Washington state
, I feel like it makeseverything look like an ocean
view, even though it doesn'thave an ocean view absolutely
it's like, yeah, if you're ahundred feet above your lot, you
can have a beautiful view ofthe ocean my husband always
jokes and he goes great, I havean ocean view from my drone.

Tessa Jarvis (20:39):
But if I don't have a drone, yeah, just just
move to florida.

Sam Maule (20:42):
Everything's an ocean view, or will be soon enough at
the rate we're at the racemoving.

Maia Bittner (20:50):
Tessa.
Let's talk about.

Sam Maule (20:51):
Oh, go ahead, Vanna, I'm sorry.

Maia Bittner (20:52):
Yeah, I was going to say let's talk about being a
real estate agent and thefinancial side of that.
So you don't make a salaryright, or do you?

Tessa Jarvis (21:03):
I don't know.
So my business structure is setup, that I am an S-corp, and so
my S-corp, that is funded bymyself, pays me a salary.
Do you pay yourself a salary?
I pay myself a salary.
There is nobody out therepaying me to go to work, except
for myself Right, so the moneycoming in is just
commission-based.
Yes, 100% commission-based.

Maia Bittner (21:24):
To me it sounds a little crazy to manage from,
like, a cash flow perspective.
How do you think about that?
How do you forecast what you'reexpecting to receive in
commissions?
How accurate are you on that?
I'd love to kind of dig in onthat side.

Tessa Jarvis (21:39):
So I set goals every year, of kind of where I
would like my production to be,just to have a driver, you know.
Going forward, my accountantkind of helps us forecast.
We look at previous years andsee how those were done.
I was raised with a prettyfrugal mindset and so that
really carries over to thebusiness.
I try to be pretty mindful inmy spending.

(22:02):
I don't particularly have acashflow.
I don't have a cashflow problem, I guess I would say, because I
build up my reserves and I havereserves and those are kind of
untouchables, and then I buildup a basis to work off of those
reserves problems, for you knowwho's covering the cost of, say,

(22:27):
staging.

Sam Maule (22:28):
Who's covering the cost of the advertising.
Is that done through thebrokerage or is that done
through the seller?
I mean, how does that typicallymanage, or is that just
negotiated?

Tessa Jarvis (22:35):
It's totally negotiated and typically
depending on which listingpackage.
So if I'm working as a listingagent, depending on which
listing package my clientselects, sometimes that staging
is included in my fee that Icollect and so I pay for that.
Other times the seller will payfor the staging.
It all really just depends Mostof the marketing.

(22:56):
You know.
So all of the photographypackage, the drones, the video
tours, the Matterport, those 3Dtours that allow you to walk
through the home, that's allincluded in my marketing, in my
listing commission, so I pay forall of those.

Sam Maule (23:11):
So what do you think is going to be the impact
overall of the lawsuit and thesettlement?
Because I've read everythingfrom we're going to lose half
the real estate agents inAmerica to home prices are going
to crash to.
This is a nothing burger, inyour opinion.
And now I'm asking you toforecast.
So I apologize, it's tellingthe future sucks, it just does.

(23:34):
But what do you think theimpact is going to be, let's say
, over the next year with this?

Tessa Jarvis (23:40):
I think it's going to be pretty minimal.
If I'm totally honest, I thinkthat it will be harder for some
brokers and so I think some ofthose part-time brokers who just
sell one or two houses to theirdad or their cousin, I think
it's going to be a lot harderfor them to stay in the industry
.
So I do, and part of me hopesthat we will lose some brokers.
There are a lot of real estatebrokers and there are some that

(24:02):
do not do a very good job.
You can I mean, just like anyprofession, right, you can have
a great accountant, you can havea great account and you can
have a terrible account, and youcould go get a great pedicure.
You could have a terriblepedicure.
But I think if we lost somebrokers, that would not be bad
for the business.
I think it will help elevatethe service that folks are
receiving.
Uh, because you're gonna haveto be really good to stay in.

(24:24):
But yeah, I mean, the news isall over that prices are coming
down.
Prices are going up in.
But yeah, I mean the news isall over that prices are coming
down, prices are going up.
I will say so, washington State, where I'm located.
We're a little bit ahead ofthat, and so we have already
decoupled compensation we havealready required so this was
effective January 1st.
There's a requirement that ifyou're working with a buyer, you
now need to sign a contract,that buyer and broker need to be

(24:47):
in contract to work together.
And so that's one of theproposed changes for the NAR
settlement.
And in all of the networkinggroups in the face, people are
freaking out over this, but it'sbeen a practice I have
implemented in my businessbefore.
It was required by state lawand it totally makes sense,
right?
Say, hey, sam, if you and I aregoing to work together, here's

(25:08):
the contract that's going tocover the terms of our agreement
.
It's going to covercompensation, location and
duration.
And you're like oh yeah, I'mhiring a professional.
It would make sense that I'mgoing to sign a contract to work
with that person.
But for folks who have never hadthat as a part of their
business practice, it feelsreally scary to require those
agreements to work with thebuyer.

(25:29):
Because it could.
It used to be prettywilly-nilly, right.
Oh yeah, I'll show you somehouses.
Oh yeah, I'll write this up.
Oh yeah, you bought withsomebody else over there.
Okay, right, I mean there's.
Yeah, it used to be prettywilly-nilly, now people are
gonna have to level up.

Maia Bittner (25:41):
Yeah, I mean, they're like getting rid of,
like, the tourists.
Um, you know, that's somethingthat people are talking about in
venture capital too.
Right, it's like with thechanging interest rate
environment, people who likeweren't really in it, aren't
professionals, aren't experts,might choose to do something
else at their time.
I wonder if we'll see somethingsimilar to travel agents, where

(26:04):
it used to be that everyoneneeded a travel agent to travel
and now it's really sort of amore specialized or more luxury
experience and I think we'vehinted at that.
Right, like you're evenproviding a specialized
experience.
It's like you are an expert inNorthwest Washington State.
Right, you've got a low-techbusiness, high-touch, relational
thing.

(26:25):
That is the service that you'reproviding.
Emphasis on negotiations andthings like that and that people
will be able to choose kind oftheir specialty and what they
want and get more diversity,more specialization in the
industry.

Tessa Jarvis (26:41):
Yeah, and I guess one of my concerns I work with a
lot of first-time homebuyersand the news is pretty great at
sensationalizing all of this,and my concern is that if you
were going to buy your firsthome and you didn't know that I
would be able to negotiate forthe seller to cover the cost for

(27:02):
me to represent you, if a buyerdidn't know that they might go
with more of a discount typestyle brokerage because they
were like, well, this is all Ican afford.
But if you work with someonewho is great, right, and there
are plenty of great brokers inour area right, but they will be
able to negotiate for theircompensation to be covered and

(27:23):
you could get that expertiseservice.
And so that's my biggest fearis that people are going to be
stuck with somebody who's notgoing to be able to advocate for
them very well, because theythink that's all they can afford
.

Sam Maule (27:34):
If I could, make a recommendation for those of you
that are early in this cycle andbuying your first home.
Please don't get your adviceoff TikTok.
Can I just go ahead and makethat statement now?

Maia Bittner (27:45):
I know they're entertaining, but not the
greatest fiduciary I've beenthinking about or even resource,
you can get all of those likehome flipping shows, like they
make it seem so, um, normal andeasy and chill, and even I'm
thinking about tiktok.
You know people are like look,I redid my kitchen and they've
edited the video of them redoingtheir kitchen so that it takes

(28:06):
12 seconds and it looks like oh,that would be really easy and I
bet anyone could do that.
I'm going to go buy you know ahouse that needs to be remodeled
.
Yeah, I really.
I don't know, tess, have youseen this impacting?
Sorry, I feel like this is asegue.
We're going to wrap it up, butI'm worried about this.

Sam Maule (28:23):
It's a fantastic segue, though.

Tessa Jarvis (28:26):
Well, and I think so, like you know, if I go, I'm
in a pretty service orientedbusiness.
Right, I want to make theprocess of buying a home feel
really straightforward andsimple, right.
But if we go on a little bitmore serious note and this was
something I saw on TikTok, sodon't, but it was you know, if
you were, let's say, you wereinvolved in a $400,000 lawsuit,

(28:49):
who would you want representingyou, representing your interests
, right.
And so part of what I do isprotect you from any legal
ramifications that go along withbuying or selling your house.
Right, we are held to thestandard of care of a lawyer.
So if our contract goes infront of a judge, they are going
to review that as if we are alawyer.
Goes in front of a judge, theyare going to review that as if

(29:13):
we are a lawyer.
So pay attention to who youhire, right, because you could
be involved in, let's say, sam,maybe you bought a million
dollar house in Florida.
You could be involved in amillion dollar lawsuit for the
purchase or sale of that house.
And so your representation, whoyou hire for that it matters,
right, and you want themcompensated for the severity of
the negotiations that they'redoing in my humble opinion, you

(29:36):
know.

Sam Maule (29:37):
Excellent advice and, I think, a great way to
actually wrap up this episode.
Tessa, thank you so much foryour time.
It's like you said it's alwaysinteresting to kind of cut
through a little bit of hype tosee what's really happening.
You said it's alwaysinteresting to kind of cut
through a little bit of hype tosee what's really happening on
the ground.
That said everybody, thank you.
That's going to wrap it up forthis week's episode.
Please go out and give us areview.

(30:00):
We'd really appreciate it Ifyou want to reach out to me and
talk about maybe some futureepisodes you'd like to see us
lean into.
Linkedin is a great spot, andso is Twitter.
Maya, how about you like to?

Maia Bittner (30:09):
see us lean into LinkedIn is a great spot.
So is Twitter, maya.
How about you?
I'm on Twitter, I've got openDMs.
I'm at Maya B on Twitter andyeah, hey, thanks for listening.
This week, don't freak outabout real estate news.
That's my summary.

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