November 8, 2024 • 24 mins
Imagine achieving financial independence through real estate. Paulina Hurtado from Century 21 Global Connections Realty joins us to reveal how she's helping clients do just that. With over two decades in the industry and a rich background that started in banking, Paulina shares her journey and the strategies her team employs to empower individuals in South Florida and beyond. This episode covers everything from finding the right properties for passive income to understanding the dynamics of networking within a vast realty network like Century 21. With Paulina's leadership, her team spans multiple counties, making waves in the ever-evolving market landscape.
This episode doesn't just stop at real estate tips; it ventures into the heart of market fluctuations and personal growth. We discuss the tough lessons learned from historical market crashes, the impact of new regulations on condo markets, and how the recent NAR settlement is reshaping real estate transactions. Paulina also opens up about her love for travel, sharing future destination dreams and unique experiences she's eager to explore. Whether you're a seasoned investor or new to the world of real estate, Paulina's insights offer valuable guidance on choosing the right agent, adapting to industry changes, and ensuring your real estate journey is both informed and strategic. Tune in to learn how to navigate this complex landscape with confidence and foresight.
Call: (954) 284-3400
Visit: https://c21gcr.com/
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Like: https://www.facebook.com/Century21GCR/
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place
where local businesses andneighbors come together.
Here's your host, Jeremy Wolf.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Hello, hello, friends , family, great community.
We are back with anotherepisode of the Good Neighbor
Podcast.
I am your host, of course,jeremy Wolf, and today I'd like
to welcome to the show.
Podcast.
I am your host, of course,jeremy Wolf, and today I'd like
to welcome to the show.
I am here with Paulina Hurtado,and Paulina joins us from
Century 21 Global ConnectionsRealty and she's right next door
to us in lovely Pembroke Pines.
(00:34):
Paulina, welcome to the show.
Speaker 3 (00:37):
Hi Jeremy, thank you so much for having me.
It's an honor to be here todayon your show, so looking forward
to it.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
Pleasure is all ours, as I like to say, and thanks,
as always, to our listeners fortuning in to learn more about
our great community and thebusinesses that serve us.
So, paulina, without furtherado I guess everybody out there
I say this.
Every time I've interviewedquite a few realtors, I find
myself like a broken record.
Everybody knows what a realtordoes, but why don't you tell
(01:04):
everyone a little bit about whatyou do with your business?
Speaker 3 (01:07):
So one of the things that makes us different from
anybody else is the fact that wefocus on making sure that we
teach our customers how to notonly purchase a home, but how to
achieve financial independencethrough real estate.
So we make sure that we arethere every step of the way
until you close on the property.
But the most important thing is, how do we get you to the next
(01:31):
step so you can have incomeproducing properties and you
start making passive income?
Speaker 2 (01:36):
I like that.
I like that.
My experience with real estatehas been very positive
throughout my life.
The only regret I have is Iwish I accumulated more and I
actually didn't sell some of theproperties I've sold along the
way.
But I am looking to enhance theportfolio, if you will.
So you're in Pembroke Pines.
What areas do you typically?
(01:57):
Do you have specific areas thatyou hone in on?
Is it all of South Florida?
What is your, I guess yourniche within the market?
Speaker 3 (02:11):
So I am the real estate broker, but we have
agents that are working all ofBroward, palm Beach, st Lucie,
dade County and even Orlandoarea, as well as Tampa.
Speaker 2 (02:18):
Say that one more time, so we do.
Speaker 3 (02:21):
Broward, we do Dade County, broward, palm Beach, St
Lucie, as well as Orlando andTampa, and the good thing is
that through Century 21, we havea vast majority of networking
that we have with differentbrokers and different agents.
So, whatever area that we don'twork with, we know somebody
that specializes in that area.
Speaker 2 (02:40):
Okay, so you're the broker.
Is this the Global ConnectionsRealty?
I guess that's a team underCentury 21?
Is that how that works?
Speaker 3 (02:50):
So every Century 21 is independently owned, so I'm
the owner of this branch, butthen you have different owners
throughout Florida and otherdifferent states and even
international.
Speaker 2 (03:02):
Okay, how many agents do you have in your branch, in
your organization?
We have 40 agents right now.
Oh, wow, okay, and you're thehead of that whole team.
Speaker 3 (03:15):
I am the head of the team.
Yes, Very cool.
Speaker 2 (03:18):
Good for you.
How long have you been doingthis for?
Speaker 3 (03:21):
I've been in real estate for 21 years and I have
been a broker for 14 years now.
October actually was ouranniversary from the brokerage.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
Very cool.
So how did let's go back 21years, take the time machine
back?
How did you get into realestate?
Is this something that you gotinto like right out of school?
Talk a little bit about yourjourney that led you up to where
you're at today.
Got into like right out ofschool.
Speaker 3 (03:46):
Talk a little bit about your journey that led you
up to where you're at today.
So when I um I started in thebanking industry and when I was
16 years old, I started workingfor bank of America as a like uh
as a collector, uh making phonecalls uh to the customers that
were not paying that we weregoing to be repossessing their
houses or their cars.
Speaker 2 (04:03):
Fun, fun, fun.
Huh, yes, it was.
Speaker 3 (04:06):
It was actually very challenging, especially as a
16-year-old, to hear all that,but it also was very humbling to
know that.
You know, I had that positionat that age.
You know most people startedeither you know being, you know
working at a restaurant orbartending or any of that.
I actually was working at thebank.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
And then right here right, exactly.
Speaker 3 (04:32):
And then from there which I transitioned to becoming
a teller.
And when I was working as ateller, I started seeing how the
mortgage brokers made so muchmoney.
Right, the bank, the bankers inthe branches started making so
much money.
So I was like you know what?
That is what I want to do.
So I went.
So let me tell you a little bitabout the real estate.
(04:53):
Industry used to be mortgagebased, so, basically, you would
go to the bank, you would meetwith a banker and then the
banker would refer you over to arealtor.
Right, at some point weswitched over right realtor.
Right At some point we switchedover Right when now the
customers or the clients comeover to us, first the realtors
or the brokers, and then werefer them over to a mortgage
broker or a loan officer, right.
(05:15):
So now the real, more realestate based and mortgage based
Interesting.
So I started looking at thisand I was like, let me, you know
, one of the things that I wantto definitely do is I want to go
ahead and I want to, you know,be a banker.
So I started looking intogetting my mortgage license.
Um, and I started I was likethis is what I'm going to do,
(05:37):
I'm going to open up my ownbusiness.
And then my dad got his realestate license and when he got
his real estate license, he saidyou know, you would really be
really good at this.
Um, and I was like, no, that,like most of the real estate
agents that I know are notmaking any money and I don't
want to be broke like, I want tohave a financial independence.
And you know, he there's powersabout listening to your parents
(06:00):
and does that thing that saysthat your parents know best.
It is something that we shouldalways listen to it.
So he nagged me every day likeit was just an everyday thing as
I was studying for the, for themortgage license.
So I said to him.
You know what to get you on myback?
I'm going to get both licensesI'll get my mortgage license and
I'll get my real estate licenseso I did right and um, after I
(06:24):
got the real estate license andthe mortgage license, I did one
transaction being a mortgagebroker.
Um, and that was enough for meto tell me that that is not
something that I wanted to do.
Um, so I was like, I don't likethis.
This is not what I thought itwas it was going to be.
So I guess I'm going to have togive real estate a chance, and
(06:46):
that's how I ended up becoming arealtor and then a real estate
broker, and then I let themortgage license expire.
Speaker 2 (06:54):
The rest, as they say , is history.
Yes, so after 21 years in theindustry, what are some of the
most common things that you'veheard?
There has to be some commonthreads that come up from your
clients and from peoplemisunderstandings, myths that
people have about real estate inSouth Florida.
Speaker 3 (07:14):
Well, the most common myth is I'm going to wait for
interest rates to go down beforeI purchase again.
Or when interest rates weredown, people were waiting for
the market to crash right.
So when interest rates weredown and I was like this is a
great opportunity for you topurchase, people were like oh no
, but the bubble, you know we'refacing a bubble.
(07:37):
it's going to burst right and,you know, go back to 2020, when
the interest rates were at aboutyou know, two, three, three
percent god, it was so cheap toborrow money back then right.
And then not only that, but theproperties were inexpensive.
And then 2020 happened and thepandemic happened and we thought
we all thought.
(07:58):
I can tell you that I've been inthis industry for 21 years and
I've seen the good, the bad andthe ugly, and we all thought,
well, yeah, you know, after thepandemic, this is going to be it
, this is going to be what'sgoing to start having the prices
go down.
And it is quite the totalopposite.
So that goes to just kind oftell you that every time that
(08:19):
we're in a different market,we're always continuing thinking
the market is going to go downor the interest rates are going
to go down, and we continue topass up opportunities, real
estate opportunities that arecoming and that are right in
front of us that we are soblinded to see it, because we're
so focused on whether the realestate is going to go down or
the interest rates are going togo down or there's going to be a
(08:40):
market crash.
Speaker 2 (08:41):
the interest rates are going to go down or there's
going to be a market crash.
Yeah, I've spoken with manyrealtors about that very topic
and the right time to buy iswhen the opportunity is right,
when it presents itself.
Trying to time the market orinterest rates or anything for
that matter, I mean I myself cansay that I'm terrible at that
across the board, witheverything from stocks to crypto
to real estate.
(09:01):
So, yeah, the best thing to dofrom my experience is, if you're
going to invest, is to have astrategy in place, take the
emotions out of it and actuallyjust have a plan and you know
that you're going to dosomething when you're going to
do it, regardless of the otherfactors that creep up in your
mind.
So every time I have a realtoron the show, I always ask them.
I like to play a little crystalball time.
So this is a little tongue incheek pull out your crystal ball
(09:25):
and tell everyone what yourpredictions are.
Where are we at six months downthe road?
We have an election.
It's today's election day,actually, right, a lot of things
are changing.
Where's the real estate marketin South Florida six months, 12
months?
Speaker 3 (09:40):
So it's going to depend right, there's no right
answer here, just you're good.
So the way that I see it is.
Right now, for example, we'reseeing a transition where we're
in a more stable market.
Right For a very long time, youwould put a property on the
market and properties would flyoff, like you know, right away
within.
Speaker 1 (10:00):
Fire sales.
Speaker 3 (10:03):
Right, you would have an open house and you would
have 50 people waiting outsideyour open house.
So it was a very crazy anduncertain time for buyers and
even for the sellers, cause youknow what ended up happening
into?
The sellers always thought thatthey would should have gotten
more money out of the propertythat they were selling.
Um, so one of the things thatwe always tell people is right
(10:25):
now we're in a little bit moreof a stable market.
Okay, we are seeing a littlebit of a shift in the condo
market Because, as you know, bythe end of 2025, by January 2026
, the condos are going to haveto be fully, fully reserved.
So they're going to have tohave reserves.
So what's happening?
Until that happens, a lot ofthe condos are having a special
(10:47):
assessments going on and theirproperties Can you back up a
second?
Speaker 2 (10:50):
Sorry to cut you off.
You said they're gonna have tobe.
You said research research,research.
Speaker 3 (10:56):
Well, like they're gonna have reserves on their
budget, like they're okay.
Speaker 2 (11:00):
Um so what that?
What?
Okay, got it.
Speaker 3 (11:01):
Okay.
So what that has done with thecondo market is a lot of people
have started to sell theircondos because they cannot
afford the special assessments.
So you have seen a little bitof a drop on the condo market
from last year, like if you lookyear over year.
However, the medium sales pricehas gone up over year, over
(11:25):
years.
So one of the things that youhave to be mindful is if you are
able to get into a condo rightnow and kind of ride the wave,
um, once they're fully fundedand once they have reserves, the
good thing is that what's goingto happen is that FHA buyers
are going to be able to buycondos right right now.
(11:46):
If the condo does not haveenough reserves.
They have to come up with 20 to25 percent down right once
these condos are fully reserved.
Now you can come up with threeand a half percent down and
whatnot.
So that's going to allow a lotof people that they cannot
afford to buy a condo right nowto be able to purchase the condo
(12:08):
.
So the opportunities are therenow in condos right.
Speaker 2 (12:12):
It's interesting what , what's the impetus of this
condo reserve, this thing that'shappening across the board?
Where is this coming from?
Speaker 3 (12:18):
So you know the power that fell in Miami.
Speaker 2 (12:24):
Okay.
So after the building issues.
They've got to go in and fixthings.
Speaker 3 (12:31):
So now they have to have a research study, they have
to have their four-yearcertificate, which they should
have always had it.
But now, you know, theregulations got a lot tighter
after that, yeah, which is good.
I mean, it's good for thecondos we should have always
voted for, you know, havingreserves at every condo, so then
you don't have specialassessments, but you know when
(12:53):
people you know 40 years agowhen the buildings were being
built or 50 years ago, when theywere being built, you know, the
homeowners got together andthey said no, we don't need
reserves, we'll worry about thatwhen the time comes Right.
So now the time has come and nowwe have to worry about it.
(13:14):
So that's where the condomarket for the single family
market you still see that.
You know the price.
The median sales price yearover year has gone up from last
year If you look at thedifferent condo, if you look at
the different market reports.
But what we're seeing is we'renot seeing it go down.
What we're seeing is just amore stable market.
So it's taking the propertiesthat are sitting a little bit
(13:35):
longer on the market like twomonths, three months, three and
a half months in order for themto sell.
But definitely, if you are,let's say that my comparables
right now say this property isworth 500,000.
Right, and you come to me andyou say no, I want to list it
for 600,000.
We're not in that marketanymore.
Nobody's gonna come in pay$100,000 or even $150,000 above
(13:59):
appraised value, like we werelooking at 2021.
$50,000 above a face value,like we were looking at 2021.
Speaker 2 (14:10):
Yeah, it was.
It was a crazy time.
I sold my old house right asthe market was was going up and
literally like two, three weekslater I was looking at comps and
they were unbelievably inflatedfrom what I sold and I beat
myself up for a while over that.
I remember looking back, I wasso much I was traumatized by it.
I would drive by and all I waslooking at real estate.
I had to unplug from it for awhile.
It took me a little bit to getpast that, but a great
experience, great learningexperience anyway, nonetheless.
(14:30):
So when you're not working,paulina, what do you like to do
for fun here in sunny SouthFlorida?
Speaker 3 (14:39):
I love to travel.
Speaker 2 (14:42):
Favorite place to go.
Speaker 3 (14:45):
So far.
I love Dubai, I love Japan andRwanda Island, which is in
Honduras.
It's beautiful there, so thoseare my favorite top places to go
.
Speaker 2 (15:02):
If I would have to go back to them, Well, I have
never been to any of thoseplaces.
I do have a cousin that livesin Japan and I've heard
wonderful things about theculture and just the way, the
lifestyle there.
It's totally different, so hesays, from our fast-paced,
instant gratification society.
It's a totally different.
I definitely want to get outthere for sure.
(15:23):
So what's on the?
What are some places that youhaven't visited that you want to
go to?
Speaker 3 (15:32):
So that I have not visited.
Well, I would like to actuallygo to Argentina.
I have not gone to Argentina,um, and I definitely want to go
to Africa, and I also want to goto Alaska and I definitely want
to go to Africa.
Speaker 2 (15:43):
And I also want to go to Alaska.
Ah, alaska, I want to go do anice bath in the oceans in Alaska
.
Yes, yeah.
Speaker 3 (15:55):
They just say the Alaska cruise is beautiful, so
I'm hoping that maybe next yearwill be something that you know
is in our bucket list that we'llbe able to do, Looking back
through your journey.
Speaker 2 (16:08):
So oftentimes in life we're defined by our most
trying experiences and some ofthe most challenging times that
we have turned out to like.
When you're going through them,it seems like the walls are
closing and the world is ending.
But then, with hindsight, many,many years later, you could
look back and say you'regrateful for having gone through
that experience.
Is there something that comesto mind through your journey
(16:30):
that kind of fits?
That bill Is there?
Speaker 3 (16:32):
something that comes to mind through your journey.
That kind of fits that bill.
So we have two things right.
Like I said, in 21 years I'veseen the market.
So in the midst of 2010, whichnobody was buying because, you
know, we had just had the bubbleburst and we had the market
crash I decided to open the realestate company and I just
(16:55):
remember how much doubts I hadinside of me of doing that at
that time, and then I had somany people like come to me and
said you're crazy, you're goingto be closing the doors within
six months.
Nobody's going to purchaseanything.
And you know what?
I actually missed those days,because that was the days when
customers would come into theoffice office and you actually
were able to interact.
(17:16):
And then you fast forward to2020, right, 2020 was, I think,
a very uncertain time foreverybody, and I remember me
having to tell our team and ouragents and say, hey, we're going
to be, okay, we're going to bewe're going to get through this
and everything is going to befine.
Speaker 1 (17:37):
And in reality.
Speaker 3 (17:38):
I did not know whether everything was going to
be fine or everything was goingto be okay because we had no
idea how long I mean.
Thankfully we live in the stateof Florida and we were deemed
essential within the first twomonths.
But at the beginning you had noidea, right, like nobody could
come into the office, we had toclose down.
We couldn't do business.
(17:58):
We could show properties.
Everything had to be donethrough video, if that, if they
would even allow you to go to avirtual tour.
So that was extremelychallenging.
And then this year was the NARsettlement, and I don't know if
you know a little bit about it,but I can talk a little bit
about it.
Speaker 2 (18:19):
Tell me about it.
I think I've heard of it, butnot enough to really know what
it is, so please enlighten us.
Speaker 3 (18:32):
Customary for the seller to pay the compensation
to the listing agent and to thebuyer's agent.
Yeah Right, and that wascustomary and has always been
customary, and it was neveranything about it.
So on August 17, there was well.
This lawsuit has been going ona few lawsuits have been going
on for the last five years andon August 17, we had to change
the way we did business as weknow it.
So the way that it works now isum customers and clients are no
(18:57):
longer called customers andclients, they're called
consumers, and um commissionsare no longer called commissions
, but they're calledcompensations.
That's not the biggest change.
The biggest change that we haveis now, if you're a buyer, like
Jeremy, you're my buyer.
You come to me and you say, hey, I'm pre-approved and I want to
go and look at properties.
(19:17):
Before I could take you out tolook at any properties, you have
to sign a, an agreement withyour realtor, whether that's a
showing agreement, whetherthat's a touring agreement or
whether that's a buyer's brokeragreement.
The buyer's broker agreement,the buyer's broker agreement,
which would be the one thatimpacts the buyers the most, is
(19:41):
the one that states that if theseller is not offering any
compensation for the buyer'sagents, then the buyer will have
to pay for the compensation fortheir agents.
So that has been the biggestimpact.
And what happened to that?
People panic With this changewe had.
(20:01):
Our company has been ready forthis change since January
because I kind of already knewthat this was going to be
happening.
I'm very involved with theboard of realtors, so it was
something that we've known foryears that this was going to be
happening.
I'm very involved with theboard of realtors, so it was
something that we've known foryears that this was going to be
happening.
Speaker 1 (20:15):
But for most agents.
Speaker 3 (20:18):
they had no idea.
For most brokers they stilldon't have idea.
I've spoken to brokers andagents recently that they're
like, what are you talking about?
And I was like you cannot showthe property unless you have
some sort of an agreement thatis signed.
Now that is not law.
It is part of the NARsettlement, which means that if
you decide to be part of yourMLS and you are part of NAR,
(20:39):
which gives you the realtor sign, then you have to abide by
those rules so you cannot go outand show it.
So for the buyers, the biggestchange is that the buyer now has
to sign some sort of anagreement before they could go
into a property.
Speaker 2 (20:54):
Interesting.
What would be?
Before we wrap up here, onething that you'd like our
listeners to know, either aboutyour business or if you just
want to share a piece of wisdomthat you've gleaned along the
way life lesson what would youshare?
Speaker 3 (21:19):
One of the biggest things that I would encourage
every person that is purchasingor that is going to get into the
real estate market is tointerview your realtor and to
interview your real estate agentand interview even the broker
that they're dealing with, andinterview even the broker that
they're dealing with.
Not all realtors are the same,not all brokers are the same,
and it is crucial and veryimportant right now, with all
(21:40):
the changes, that you areinvolved with somebody that's
going to fully explain to youwhat is happening in the
industry.
And also it is very importantthat if you sign some sort of an
agreement with one realtor, youunderstand that you cannot be
signing multiple agreements withdifferent realtors.
For example, we had a buyerthat signed five buyer broker
(22:00):
agreements with five differentrealtors and they don't really
comprehend to what level they'redoing that, which basically
means that now, whoever youpurchase whether it's with
realtor A and then you know,realtor C decides to come after
you and say, hey, you have abuyer broker agreement with me.
(22:20):
You still owe my compensation,you're gonna have to pay the
compensation for this broker andyou're gonna have to pay the
compensation for this broker.
So it is very important thatnow you know exactly what you're
signing before you sign it andyou are with a realtor that's
going to explain to you, andthat it also doing this full
time and not a part time realtor.
(22:41):
That makes a world of adifference.
Speaker 2 (22:44):
Yeah, so important because there are so many
realtors out there that just getthe license kind of as a side
hustle and then don't reallystay up to date on the latest
educational things just like youexplained about these things
that are going on.
So, so important to findsomebody that you not only jive
with and have a goodrelationship with, but also
somebody that is going to be awealth of knowledge and help
(23:07):
steer you in the right direction.
So good stuff, paulina.
For anyone listening that wouldlike to reach out, maybe
they're already a homeowner andthey're looking for an
investment property.
Maybe they're living in arental right now and they're
looking to get that first homefor themselves.
Where can they reach you?
How could they learn more?
Speaker 3 (23:23):
So you can call our office, Century 21 Global
Connections Realty, and ourphone number is 954-284-3400.
You can also go to our websiteat c21gcrcom and you can also
tour any of the properties thatare there as well.
Speaker 2 (23:42):
Very cool.
We will, of course, put a linkdown below in the description to
all of your contact information.
Paulina, thank you so much forjoining us today.
It was a pleasure.
Speaker 3 (23:49):
Thank you so much for having me.
It's truly an honor and weappreciate you.
And it's great that you'redoing this and meeting with
different businesses around sowe get to know all of our
neighbors.
Speaker 2 (24:00):
Absolutely.
Businesses are the backbone ofour local economy and I'm happy
to showcase and highlight allthe great things that they're
doing in our community.
So, everyone, thank you so muchfor joining us and we will
catch everyone next time on thenext episode of the Good
Neighbor Podcast.
Take care, have a great day.
Speaker 3 (24:14):
Take care.
Speaker 1 (24:15):
Bye.
Thanks for listening to theGood Neighbor Podcast Cooper
City.
To nominate your favorite localbusiness to be featured on the
show, go to gnpcoopercitycom.
That's gnpcoopercitycom, orcall 954-231-3170.
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place
where local businesses andneighbors come together.
Here's your host, Jeremy Wolf.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Hello, hello, friends , family, great community.
We are back with anotherepisode of the Good Neighbor
Podcast.
I am your host, of course,jeremy Wolf, and today I'd like
to welcome to the show.
Podcast.
I am your host, of course,jeremy Wolf, and today I'd like
to welcome to the show.
I am here with Paulina Hurtado,and Paulina joins us from
Century 21 Global ConnectionsRealty and she's right next door
to us in lovely Pembroke Pines.
(00:34):
Paulina, welcome to the show.
Speaker 3 (00:37):
Hi Jeremy, thank you so much for having me.
It's an honor to be here todayon your show, so looking forward
to it.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
Pleasure is all ours, as I like to say, and thanks,
as always, to our listeners fortuning in to learn more about
our great community and thebusinesses that serve us.
So, paulina, without furtherado I guess everybody out there
I say this.
Every time I've interviewedquite a few realtors, I find
myself like a broken record.
Everybody knows what a realtordoes, but why don't you tell
(01:04):
everyone a little bit about whatyou do with your business?
Speaker 3 (01:07):
So one of the things that makes us different from
anybody else is the fact that wefocus on making sure that we
teach our customers how to notonly purchase a home, but how to
achieve financial independencethrough real estate.
So we make sure that we arethere every step of the way
until you close on the property.
But the most important thing is, how do we get you to the next
(01:31):
step so you can have incomeproducing properties and you
start making passive income?
Speaker 2 (01:36):
I like that.
I like that.
My experience with real estatehas been very positive
throughout my life.
The only regret I have is Iwish I accumulated more and I
actually didn't sell some of theproperties I've sold along the
way.
But I am looking to enhance theportfolio, if you will.
So you're in Pembroke Pines.
What areas do you typically?
(01:57):
Do you have specific areas thatyou hone in on?
Is it all of South Florida?
What is your, I guess yourniche within the market?
Speaker 3 (02:11):
So I am the real estate broker, but we have
agents that are working all ofBroward, palm Beach, st Lucie,
dade County and even Orlandoarea, as well as Tampa.
Speaker 2 (02:18):
Say that one more time, so we do.
Speaker 3 (02:21):
Broward, we do Dade County, broward, palm Beach, St
Lucie, as well as Orlando andTampa, and the good thing is
that through Century 21, we havea vast majority of networking
that we have with differentbrokers and different agents.
So, whatever area that we don'twork with, we know somebody
that specializes in that area.
Speaker 2 (02:40):
Okay, so you're the broker.
Is this the Global ConnectionsRealty?
I guess that's a team underCentury 21?
Is that how that works?
Speaker 3 (02:50):
So every Century 21 is independently owned, so I'm
the owner of this branch, butthen you have different owners
throughout Florida and otherdifferent states and even
international.
Speaker 2 (03:02):
Okay, how many agents do you have in your branch, in
your organization?
We have 40 agents right now.
Oh, wow, okay, and you're thehead of that whole team.
Speaker 3 (03:15):
I am the head of the team.
Yes, Very cool.
Speaker 2 (03:18):
Good for you.
How long have you been doingthis for?
Speaker 3 (03:21):
I've been in real estate for 21 years and I have
been a broker for 14 years now.
October actually was ouranniversary from the brokerage.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
Very cool.
So how did let's go back 21years, take the time machine
back?
How did you get into realestate?
Is this something that you gotinto like right out of school?
Talk a little bit about yourjourney that led you up to where
you're at today.
Got into like right out ofschool.
Speaker 3 (03:46):
Talk a little bit about your journey that led you
up to where you're at today.
So when I um I started in thebanking industry and when I was
16 years old, I started workingfor bank of America as a like uh
as a collector, uh making phonecalls uh to the customers that
were not paying that we weregoing to be repossessing their
houses or their cars.
Speaker 2 (04:03):
Fun, fun, fun.
Huh, yes, it was.
Speaker 3 (04:06):
It was actually very challenging, especially as a
16-year-old, to hear all that,but it also was very humbling to
know that.
You know, I had that positionat that age.
You know most people startedeither you know being, you know
working at a restaurant orbartending or any of that.
I actually was working at thebank.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
And then right here right, exactly.
Speaker 3 (04:32):
And then from there which I transitioned to becoming
a teller.
And when I was working as ateller, I started seeing how the
mortgage brokers made so muchmoney.
Right, the bank, the bankers inthe branches started making so
much money.
So I was like you know what?
That is what I want to do.
So I went.
So let me tell you a little bitabout the real estate.
(04:53):
Industry used to be mortgagebased, so, basically, you would
go to the bank, you would meetwith a banker and then the
banker would refer you over to arealtor.
Right, at some point weswitched over right realtor.
Right At some point we switchedover Right when now the
customers or the clients comeover to us, first the realtors
or the brokers, and then werefer them over to a mortgage
broker or a loan officer, right.
(05:15):
So now the real, more realestate based and mortgage based
Interesting.
So I started looking at thisand I was like, let me, you know
, one of the things that I wantto definitely do is I want to go
ahead and I want to, you know,be a banker.
So I started looking intogetting my mortgage license.
Um, and I started I was likethis is what I'm going to do,
(05:37):
I'm going to open up my ownbusiness.
And then my dad got his realestate license and when he got
his real estate license, he saidyou know, you would really be
really good at this.
Um, and I was like, no, that,like most of the real estate
agents that I know are notmaking any money and I don't
want to be broke like, I want tohave a financial independence.
And you know, he there's powersabout listening to your parents
(06:00):
and does that thing that saysthat your parents know best.
It is something that we shouldalways listen to it.
So he nagged me every day likeit was just an everyday thing as
I was studying for the, for themortgage license.
So I said to him.
You know what to get you on myback?
I'm going to get both licensesI'll get my mortgage license and
I'll get my real estate licenseso I did right and um, after I
(06:24):
got the real estate license andthe mortgage license, I did one
transaction being a mortgagebroker.
Um, and that was enough for meto tell me that that is not
something that I wanted to do.
Um, so I was like, I don't likethis.
This is not what I thought itwas it was going to be.
So I guess I'm going to have togive real estate a chance, and
(06:46):
that's how I ended up becoming arealtor and then a real estate
broker, and then I let themortgage license expire.
Speaker 2 (06:54):
The rest, as they say , is history.
Yes, so after 21 years in theindustry, what are some of the
most common things that you'veheard?
There has to be some commonthreads that come up from your
clients and from peoplemisunderstandings, myths that
people have about real estate inSouth Florida.
Speaker 3 (07:14):
Well, the most common myth is I'm going to wait for
interest rates to go down beforeI purchase again.
Or when interest rates weredown, people were waiting for
the market to crash right.
So when interest rates weredown and I was like this is a
great opportunity for you topurchase, people were like oh no
, but the bubble, you know we'refacing a bubble.
(07:37):
it's going to burst right and,you know, go back to 2020, when
the interest rates were at aboutyou know, two, three, three
percent god, it was so cheap toborrow money back then right.
And then not only that, but theproperties were inexpensive.
And then 2020 happened and thepandemic happened and we thought
we all thought.
(07:58):
I can tell you that I've been inthis industry for 21 years and
I've seen the good, the bad andthe ugly, and we all thought,
well, yeah, you know, after thepandemic, this is going to be it
, this is going to be what'sgoing to start having the prices
go down.
And it is quite the totalopposite.
So that goes to just kind oftell you that every time that
(08:19):
we're in a different market,we're always continuing thinking
the market is going to go downor the interest rates are going
to go down, and we continue topass up opportunities, real
estate opportunities that arecoming and that are right in
front of us that we are soblinded to see it, because we're
so focused on whether the realestate is going to go down or
the interest rates are going togo down or there's going to be a
(08:40):
market crash.
Speaker 2 (08:41):
the interest rates are going to go down or there's
going to be a market crash.
Yeah, I've spoken with manyrealtors about that very topic
and the right time to buy iswhen the opportunity is right,
when it presents itself.
Trying to time the market orinterest rates or anything for
that matter, I mean I myself cansay that I'm terrible at that
across the board, witheverything from stocks to crypto
to real estate.
(09:01):
So, yeah, the best thing to dofrom my experience is, if you're
going to invest, is to have astrategy in place, take the
emotions out of it and actuallyjust have a plan and you know
that you're going to dosomething when you're going to
do it, regardless of the otherfactors that creep up in your
mind.
So every time I have a realtoron the show, I always ask them.
I like to play a little crystalball time.
So this is a little tongue incheek pull out your crystal ball
(09:25):
and tell everyone what yourpredictions are.
Where are we at six months downthe road?
We have an election.
It's today's election day,actually, right, a lot of things
are changing.
Where's the real estate marketin South Florida six months, 12
months?
Speaker 3 (09:40):
So it's going to depend right, there's no right
answer here, just you're good.
So the way that I see it is.
Right now, for example, we'reseeing a transition where we're
in a more stable market.
Right For a very long time, youwould put a property on the
market and properties would flyoff, like you know, right away
within.
Speaker 1 (10:00):
Fire sales.
Speaker 3 (10:03):
Right, you would have an open house and you would
have 50 people waiting outsideyour open house.
So it was a very crazy anduncertain time for buyers and
even for the sellers, cause youknow what ended up happening
into?
The sellers always thought thatthey would should have gotten
more money out of the propertythat they were selling.
Um, so one of the things thatwe always tell people is right
(10:25):
now we're in a little bit moreof a stable market.
Okay, we are seeing a littlebit of a shift in the condo
market Because, as you know, bythe end of 2025, by January 2026
, the condos are going to haveto be fully, fully reserved.
So they're going to have tohave reserves.
So what's happening?
Until that happens, a lot ofthe condos are having a special
(10:47):
assessments going on and theirproperties Can you back up a
second?
Speaker 2 (10:50):
Sorry to cut you off.
You said they're gonna have tobe.
You said research research,research.
Speaker 3 (10:56):
Well, like they're gonna have reserves on their
budget, like they're okay.
Speaker 2 (11:00):
Um so what that?
What?
Okay, got it.
Speaker 3 (11:01):
Okay.
So what that has done with thecondo market is a lot of people
have started to sell theircondos because they cannot
afford the special assessments.
So you have seen a little bitof a drop on the condo market
from last year, like if you lookyear over year.
However, the medium sales pricehas gone up over year, over
(11:25):
years.
So one of the things that youhave to be mindful is if you are
able to get into a condo rightnow and kind of ride the wave,
um, once they're fully fundedand once they have reserves, the
good thing is that what's goingto happen is that FHA buyers
are going to be able to buycondos right right now.
(11:46):
If the condo does not haveenough reserves.
They have to come up with 20 to25 percent down right once
these condos are fully reserved.
Now you can come up with threeand a half percent down and
whatnot.
So that's going to allow a lotof people that they cannot
afford to buy a condo right nowto be able to purchase the condo
(12:08):
.
So the opportunities are therenow in condos right.
Speaker 2 (12:12):
It's interesting what , what's the impetus of this
condo reserve, this thing that'shappening across the board?
Where is this coming from?
Speaker 3 (12:18):
So you know the power that fell in Miami.
Speaker 2 (12:24):
Okay.
So after the building issues.
They've got to go in and fixthings.
Speaker 3 (12:31):
So now they have to have a research study, they have
to have their four-yearcertificate, which they should
have always had it.
But now, you know, theregulations got a lot tighter
after that, yeah, which is good.
I mean, it's good for thecondos we should have always
voted for, you know, havingreserves at every condo, so then
you don't have specialassessments, but you know when
(12:53):
people you know 40 years agowhen the buildings were being
built or 50 years ago, when theywere being built, you know, the
homeowners got together andthey said no, we don't need
reserves, we'll worry about thatwhen the time comes Right.
So now the time has come and nowwe have to worry about it.
(13:14):
So that's where the condomarket for the single family
market you still see that.
You know the price.
The median sales price yearover year has gone up from last
year If you look at thedifferent condo, if you look at
the different market reports.
But what we're seeing is we'renot seeing it go down.
What we're seeing is just amore stable market.
So it's taking the propertiesthat are sitting a little bit
(13:35):
longer on the market like twomonths, three months, three and
a half months in order for themto sell.
But definitely, if you are,let's say that my comparables
right now say this property isworth 500,000.
Right, and you come to me andyou say no, I want to list it
for 600,000.
We're not in that marketanymore.
Nobody's gonna come in pay$100,000 or even $150,000 above
(13:59):
appraised value, like we werelooking at 2021.
$50,000 above a face value,like we were looking at 2021.
Speaker 2 (14:10):
Yeah, it was.
It was a crazy time.
I sold my old house right asthe market was was going up and
literally like two, three weekslater I was looking at comps and
they were unbelievably inflatedfrom what I sold and I beat
myself up for a while over that.
I remember looking back, I wasso much I was traumatized by it.
I would drive by and all I waslooking at real estate.
I had to unplug from it for awhile.
It took me a little bit to getpast that, but a great
experience, great learningexperience anyway, nonetheless.
(14:30):
So when you're not working,paulina, what do you like to do
for fun here in sunny SouthFlorida?
Speaker 3 (14:39):
I love to travel.
Speaker 2 (14:42):
Favorite place to go.
Speaker 3 (14:45):
So far.
I love Dubai, I love Japan andRwanda Island, which is in
Honduras.
It's beautiful there, so thoseare my favorite top places to go
.
Speaker 2 (15:02):
If I would have to go back to them, Well, I have
never been to any of thoseplaces.
I do have a cousin that livesin Japan and I've heard
wonderful things about theculture and just the way, the
lifestyle there.
It's totally different, so hesays, from our fast-paced,
instant gratification society.
It's a totally different.
I definitely want to get outthere for sure.
(15:23):
So what's on the?
What are some places that youhaven't visited that you want to
go to?
Speaker 3 (15:32):
So that I have not visited.
Well, I would like to actuallygo to Argentina.
I have not gone to Argentina,um, and I definitely want to go
to Africa, and I also want to goto Alaska and I definitely want
to go to Africa.
Speaker 2 (15:43):
And I also want to go to Alaska.
Ah, alaska, I want to go do anice bath in the oceans in Alaska
.
Yes, yeah.
Speaker 3 (15:55):
They just say the Alaska cruise is beautiful, so
I'm hoping that maybe next yearwill be something that you know
is in our bucket list that we'llbe able to do, Looking back
through your journey.
Speaker 2 (16:08):
So oftentimes in life we're defined by our most
trying experiences and some ofthe most challenging times that
we have turned out to like.
When you're going through them,it seems like the walls are
closing and the world is ending.
But then, with hindsight, many,many years later, you could
look back and say you'regrateful for having gone through
that experience.
Is there something that comesto mind through your journey
(16:30):
that kind of fits?
That bill Is there?
Speaker 3 (16:32):
something that comes to mind through your journey.
That kind of fits that bill.
So we have two things right.
Like I said, in 21 years I'veseen the market.
So in the midst of 2010, whichnobody was buying because, you
know, we had just had the bubbleburst and we had the market
crash I decided to open the realestate company and I just
(16:55):
remember how much doubts I hadinside of me of doing that at
that time, and then I had somany people like come to me and
said you're crazy, you're goingto be closing the doors within
six months.
Nobody's going to purchaseanything.
And you know what?
I actually missed those days,because that was the days when
customers would come into theoffice office and you actually
were able to interact.
(17:16):
And then you fast forward to2020, right, 2020 was, I think,
a very uncertain time foreverybody, and I remember me
having to tell our team and ouragents and say, hey, we're going
to be, okay, we're going to bewe're going to get through this
and everything is going to befine.
Speaker 1 (17:37):
And in reality.
Speaker 3 (17:38):
I did not know whether everything was going to
be fine or everything was goingto be okay because we had no
idea how long I mean.
Thankfully we live in the stateof Florida and we were deemed
essential within the first twomonths.
But at the beginning you had noidea, right, like nobody could
come into the office, we had toclose down.
We couldn't do business.
(17:58):
We could show properties.
Everything had to be donethrough video, if that, if they
would even allow you to go to avirtual tour.
So that was extremelychallenging.
And then this year was the NARsettlement, and I don't know if
you know a little bit about it,but I can talk a little bit
about it.
Speaker 2 (18:19):
Tell me about it.
I think I've heard of it, butnot enough to really know what
it is, so please enlighten us.
Speaker 3 (18:32):
Customary for the seller to pay the compensation
to the listing agent and to thebuyer's agent.
Yeah Right, and that wascustomary and has always been
customary, and it was neveranything about it.
So on August 17, there was well.
This lawsuit has been going ona few lawsuits have been going
on for the last five years andon August 17, we had to change
the way we did business as weknow it.
So the way that it works now isum customers and clients are no
(18:57):
longer called customers andclients, they're called
consumers, and um commissionsare no longer called commissions
, but they're calledcompensations.
That's not the biggest change.
The biggest change that we haveis now, if you're a buyer, like
Jeremy, you're my buyer.
You come to me and you say, hey, I'm pre-approved and I want to
go and look at properties.
(19:17):
Before I could take you out tolook at any properties, you have
to sign a, an agreement withyour realtor, whether that's a
showing agreement, whetherthat's a touring agreement or
whether that's a buyer's brokeragreement.
The buyer's broker agreement,the buyer's broker agreement,
which would be the one thatimpacts the buyers the most, is
(19:41):
the one that states that if theseller is not offering any
compensation for the buyer'sagents, then the buyer will have
to pay for the compensation fortheir agents.
So that has been the biggestimpact.
And what happened to that?
People panic With this changewe had.
(20:01):
Our company has been ready forthis change since January
because I kind of already knewthat this was going to be
happening.
I'm very involved with theboard of realtors, so it was
something that we've known foryears that this was going to be
happening.
I'm very involved with theboard of realtors, so it was
something that we've known foryears that this was going to be
happening.
Speaker 1 (20:15):
But for most agents.
Speaker 3 (20:18):
they had no idea.
For most brokers they stilldon't have idea.
I've spoken to brokers andagents recently that they're
like, what are you talking about?
And I was like you cannot showthe property unless you have
some sort of an agreement thatis signed.
Now that is not law.
It is part of the NARsettlement, which means that if
you decide to be part of yourMLS and you are part of NAR,
(20:39):
which gives you the realtor sign, then you have to abide by
those rules so you cannot go outand show it.
So for the buyers, the biggestchange is that the buyer now has
to sign some sort of anagreement before they could go
into a property.
Speaker 2 (20:54):
Interesting.
What would be?
Before we wrap up here, onething that you'd like our
listeners to know, either aboutyour business or if you just
want to share a piece of wisdomthat you've gleaned along the
way life lesson what would youshare?
Speaker 3 (21:19):
One of the biggest things that I would encourage
every person that is purchasingor that is going to get into the
real estate market is tointerview your realtor and to
interview your real estate agentand interview even the broker
that they're dealing with, andinterview even the broker that
they're dealing with.
Not all realtors are the same,not all brokers are the same,
and it is crucial and veryimportant right now, with all
(21:40):
the changes, that you areinvolved with somebody that's
going to fully explain to youwhat is happening in the
industry.
And also it is very importantthat if you sign some sort of an
agreement with one realtor, youunderstand that you cannot be
signing multiple agreements withdifferent realtors.
For example, we had a buyerthat signed five buyer broker
(22:00):
agreements with five differentrealtors and they don't really
comprehend to what level they'redoing that, which basically
means that now, whoever youpurchase whether it's with
realtor A and then you know,realtor C decides to come after
you and say, hey, you have abuyer broker agreement with me.
(22:20):
You still owe my compensation,you're gonna have to pay the
compensation for this broker andyou're gonna have to pay the
compensation for this broker.
So it is very important thatnow you know exactly what you're
signing before you sign it andyou are with a realtor that's
going to explain to you, andthat it also doing this full
time and not a part time realtor.
(22:41):
That makes a world of adifference.
Speaker 2 (22:44):
Yeah, so important because there are so many
realtors out there that just getthe license kind of as a side
hustle and then don't reallystay up to date on the latest
educational things just like youexplained about these things
that are going on.
So, so important to findsomebody that you not only jive
with and have a goodrelationship with, but also
somebody that is going to be awealth of knowledge and help
(23:07):
steer you in the right direction.
So good stuff, paulina.
For anyone listening that wouldlike to reach out, maybe
they're already a homeowner andthey're looking for an
investment property.
Maybe they're living in arental right now and they're
looking to get that first homefor themselves.
Where can they reach you?
How could they learn more?
Speaker 3 (23:23):
So you can call our office, Century 21 Global
Connections Realty, and ourphone number is 954-284-3400.
You can also go to our websiteat c21gcrcom and you can also
tour any of the properties thatare there as well.
Speaker 2 (23:42):
Very cool.
We will, of course, put a linkdown below in the description to
all of your contact information.
Paulina, thank you so much forjoining us today.
It was a pleasure.
Speaker 3 (23:49):
Thank you so much for having me.
It's truly an honor and weappreciate you.
And it's great that you'redoing this and meeting with
different businesses around sowe get to know all of our
neighbors.
Speaker 2 (24:00):
Absolutely.
Businesses are the backbone ofour local economy and I'm happy
to showcase and highlight allthe great things that they're
doing in our community.
So, everyone, thank you so muchfor joining us and we will
catch everyone next time on thenext episode of the Good
Neighbor Podcast.
Take care, have a great day.
Speaker 3 (24:14):
Take care.
Speaker 1 (24:15):
Bye.
Thanks for listening to theGood Neighbor Podcast Cooper
City.
To nominate your favorite localbusiness to be featured on the
show, go to gnpcoopercitycom.
That's gnpcoopercitycom, orcall 954-231-3170.
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