December 29, 2024 • 25 mins
Meet Kim Agemy from Realty Consultants, brokered by eXp, who turned a spark of inspiration from her husband into a thriving real estate career. Discover how Kim's journey began at Pulte Homes and evolved through her partnership with eXp, which provided the support and network crucial for expanding her business. Her commitment to elevating industry standards shines through initiatives like "Knowledge is Power" events, where she shares real estate insights and empowers women entrepreneurs. Kim's passion is palpable as she talks about guiding clients through life-changing real estate decisions, from buying their first home to handling sensitive estate sales, all while debunking common industry misconceptions.
Get a glimpse into Kim's world beyond real estate, as she opens up about her personal interests that fuel her resilience and personal growth. From cherished travel adventures with her daughter to swinging clubs in a golf league and keeping fit with Orange Theory, Kim shares how these experiences shape her journey. She candidly reflects on the challenges of scaling her business, noting the invaluable role of mentorship, especially during the uncertain times of opening an eXp office amidst COVID-19. Kim's story is one of courage, family, and a relentless drive to learn and grow, ensuring her clients' needs always come first.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place
where local businesses andneighbors come together.
Here's your host, Lisa Swiftney.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Hi everyone, good morning and welcome to episode
number 133 of the Good NeighborPodcast.
Today we have with us Kim Agame, with Realty Consultants
brokered by eXp.
How are you doing today, kim?
Speaker 3 (00:28):
I'm doing fantastic and I appreciate you giving me
the opportunity to be here thismorning.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
Well, I appreciate you as well.
Thank you, let's first startoff by telling our audience
about your business.
Speaker 3 (00:41):
Sure, my husband grew up an entrepreneur.
I grew up with parents thatjust worked careers and so
really that entrepreneurshiprubbed off on me.
So we have a real estatecompany, so we're brokered by
eXp.
We have our own office.
We're right by the Costco onHall Road in Shelby Township and
(01:02):
the great thing that eXp doesis it kind of gives us the
engine of where to run ourbusiness.
As a broker, I could reallywork out of my house or anywhere
I want, but it's given me anengine to really work bigger,
better, stronger.
And so we have a real estatebusiness.
We love helping our clients buyand sell.
Typically, your home's yourbiggest investment.
(01:24):
So most of our business wouldpass clients in referrals,
because it's very important tous to make sure that we help our
clients.
It can be stressful, excitingand everything all wrapped into
one, so we're excited to be ableto help them along that journey
.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
That is great, so tell our listeners more about
your journey.
You talked a little bit aboutyour journey, but tell us how
did you get started?
Speaker 3 (01:50):
Yeah, you know it's funny, I didn't.
I didn't decide one day, oh,I'm going to do real estate.
That wasn't really in my planat all.
And I I got a businessmanagement degree in college and
, if I'm truthful about it, Iended up with business
management because I wasn'treally sure what I wanted to do,
and so along the way I thoughtabout teaching to computer
(02:14):
programming, and then I ended upgoing eh no, eh no, and so it
really and truly.
Meeting my husband was kind ofthat pivotal, kind of a pivotal
moment.
At the time we were moving fromIndiana back to Michigan and
he's from Michigan.
I'm from Indiana, louisville,kentucky area, grew up there,
(02:35):
and so when I moved to MichiganI had to find a job.
So essentially, mysister-in-law worked for Pulte
Homes.
I applied there and got the job, and it was a great place to
start because they taught mesell skills, they taught me how
to build a home, they taught mea lot of great skills that would
(02:55):
really help me throughout mycareer, and so that was the
start of it.
And I had journeys along the waywith raising my family.
I got my broker license.
Along the way I pivoted towhere I then opened my own
brokerage and I had my ownbrokerage for a long time.
But as I was trying to figureout how to scale and grow, I was
(03:18):
finding it hard to get peopleto help me, kind of share and
show me the path.
And so my husband kind ofpushed I was joking between him
and Kurt, they push, shoved me.
We opened our exp office in itand it truly was the best
business decision ever madebecause it allowed me to
(03:40):
surround myself with people thatdid show me some paths and ways
to grow my business, whichmeans I get to help more people,
and it has taken me down somekind of arm lengths off of that
business that I've been able tohelp more people.
I'm really excited about thatand just learned how to do it
(04:01):
better, more efficient, and Iget to help more people that way
.
I love it.
Speaker 2 (04:07):
And you do have a tremendous heart for helping
people.
Speaker 3 (04:10):
I do.
You know, and that's really thekey of it, what EXP did?
Because if I just stayed on myown, my own brokerage office,
because from the time I wentfrom selling new construction to
where I ended up, or reopenedthe EXP office, I really was
figuring out things by myself.
I made a lot of mistakes.
I'm like, okay, never learnedfrom that, but what I ended up
(04:32):
going, oh well, if I surroundmyself with the right people, I
can avoid mistakes, avoidwasting money, avoid time, which
that is a whole nother you knowmultiple effect on time, energy
, money, mindset, all of thosethings.
So and I do really love so withthat came along with doing my
monthly knowledge, is powerevents where I'm helping agents
(04:55):
at, oh, and I end up having notjust agents but industry related
people come to my events.
Been doing it for three yearsjust trying to help elevate the
industry that you know went offto ditch the hills, which we've
talked about, which is helpingwomen entrepreneurs.
It is that love of helpingpeople, that it's open doors and
(05:17):
mindset on how can I extendthat.
And so my buyers and sellersand clients.
That's the core of what I do.
And so we, we, we love helpingpeople with that and we see that
and sellers and clients.
That's the core of what I doand so we love helping people
with that and we see that wechange people's lives right.
Sometimes it's sometimes theyhave a death in the family,
sometimes they have a baby,sometimes they're buying their
new house, sometimes they'redownsizing All kinds of stories
(05:39):
that we have but it's thestories that make it so
rewarding.
Speaker 2 (05:44):
That is so true, so true.
Can you tell us about any mythsor misconceptions in your
industry?
Speaker 3 (05:55):
Well, I'll tell you what a lot of people don't
really see it.
It's funny their home istypically their biggest
investment, for most people,right, right.
So it surprises me and shocksme how little people think about
who they hire to help them buyor sell.
And they're so it.
(06:16):
And I'll be honest, compared toother states, in michigan you
can take a 40, you take one week, 40 hours, pass the test, you
can write a legal contract withsomebody's biggest investment
and help them buy and sell.
And that's scary on a lot oflevels because you know a lot of
people get in and see the flipshows and thinks it's easy.
So they say, on average, peopleknow an average of 13 real
(06:38):
estate agents.
Okay, they don't actually think.
Or they go online and shop, getconnected to somebody and start
using them and they have noidea of their abilities.
So the myth is if you're goingto buy or sell, you should be
interviewing, you should bequestioning, you should know
(06:58):
somebody's background ability.
When I help my clients, I'm notjust setting them up on an
automatic search.
They get an email with here'ssome homes, oh, you want to go
see it?
Okay, let's go.
It's so much more than that.
I'm a circle prospecting.
I have clients in my database.
I can help sell homes quicker.
(07:20):
I'm a great negotiator.
I win more than I lose.
So in multiple offer situations, when you're wanting that you
find that home, nothing is moredisappointing than finding a
home that you want, putting inan offer and your offer doesn't
get accepted Again.
In that situation I win morethan I lose.
And sometimes if I lose it'sbecause I have laid it out for
(07:40):
my client and they have made adecision that maybe that's not
in their best interest.
I'm always going to say here'swhere you need to be to win the
home and here's where it does ordoesn't make sense.
Here's where you're crossing aline of reckless.
But I have been able to getoffers accepted with not always
the highest offer sales price,because there's other terms that
(08:03):
are important.
You have to find out what thoseother terms are.
One of the great things that Ilove about my knowledge is power
.
I've really tried to formrelationships with other agents,
and so when I'm sitting acrossthe table from somebody they
know I'm going to get the jobdone, I partner myself with
great lender, great title,because I know those things can
(08:25):
fall apart and I don't want youto be disappointed, and so I
really try to lead my clientsthrough.
You know, jim, my husband is mypartner.
We work together as a team andhe's got different skill sets
than I do and so we reallycomplement each other.
But I think the myth is that youdon't need a real estate agent.
(08:48):
I think there's a lack ofrespect for what we do until you
use somebody bad or until youuse somebody good.
Right, because sometimessomebody is like, well, I don't
trust because I had a badexperience.
Well, how did you find thatagent?
Did you use aunt susie?
That does one once a year.
You know national association.
(09:10):
Here's a stat that I think mostpeople don't know national
association of realtors saidthat 49 of licensed agents sold
zero or one home last year.
Wow, yeah, so do you thinkthose, those people that sold
one, does it?
49?
That's half that don't evenhave experience in selling homes
(09:31):
.
Not to mention, I've beenshocked, as I tried to, as I
look to scale my business, howlittle homes the average agent
sells.
It's surprising to me.
So I think the myth when you askme is that I would tell anybody
whether you use me or somebodyelse investigate, interview, ask
(09:53):
questions, know who's helpingyou If they can't negotiate and
if you're going to choose youragent because of your commission
, your compensation if theycan't negotiate their own
commission, how do you thinkthey're going to be able to
negotiate on your best behalf?
True, right, right.
So ask lots of questions,interview, look up their history
(10:14):
, look up their Google reviews.
Just do your due diligence.
Just like, if I use a painter,I might get more than one quote.
Why would you not?
On your buying or selling of ahome, that is true, so true, all
right.
Speaker 2 (10:30):
So I have a fun question now.
So when you're not working onyour business or empowering
other people, what do you liketo do for fun?
Speaker 3 (10:39):
Well, one thing I really, I really love to travel.
My grandma kind of got a tasteof that for me when I was, when
I was a kid, grew up at a timewhere she lost her husband.
My dad was three, so she grewup as a single mom raising three
kids at a time where thatdidn't, you know, that wasn't
(11:01):
typical.
She never drove, she, but sheflew around the world, flew
around the world, and so it wasalways fascinating to me.
I remember in middle school Iwas in middle school and she
brought home some wine fromParis and she goes we're going
to have a toast and I'm soexcited I thought I was going to
have this delicious wine fromfrom Paris.
(11:22):
I took a drink.
I'm like yeah, not what Iexpected, so, but I watched her
do an Alaskan cruise.
I watched her there.
So I really love when I cantake my whole family on trips,
which we do.
So we're planning one for nextyear which I'm excited about.
(11:44):
My daughter really has thepassion of travel for me.
So me and my daughter we'vetraveled to Arizona and went
through Antelope Canyon andSedona and that we went to New
York City.
We've done hiking.
We just went to Europe in Maywhere we went to Paris and all
over Italy and saw all kinds ofplaces and it was just so
(12:09):
phenomenal to be able to go overthere and see.
There's so much to see in theworld.
So I'm always looking andtagging places that I would like
to go to.
I like to see new places.
I'm in a golf league, so, as mykids, as an empty nester now,
I'm like, okay, my kids are gone, they all play travel, they all
play college sports.
So they, you know, we were busy, we were divide and conquer.
(12:31):
And then, when they were allgone, I'm like what do I do with
myself?
I need some friends, I needsome hobbies.
So I joined a golf league,which has been a lot of fun.
My golf league is totally forfun.
Listen, I'm competitive but Ilike that it's.
You know we don't always keepscore.
(12:52):
We know how everyone does.
You know we toast on the keepscore.
We know how everyone does.
You know we toast on thedifferent holes and we have fun.
But I so I enjoy golf becauseit makes me stop working, gets
out.
I.
I get to get some fresh air,have some fun with some friends.
I've been working out at OrangeTheory so I do like.
I do like.
My health and my fitness hasbeen something that's become
(13:13):
important to me.
My kids, as college athletes,they are completely into eating
healthy.
I got the Yuka app.
I'm going through the grocerystore downloading it.
I'm like is this good?
Speaker 1 (13:25):
I'm like oh my God, everything's bad.
Speaker 3 (13:27):
That's why it tastes good, right, so you know.
So, really trying to work on myhealth, my diet, my exercise.
I love to travel, love to golf.
I really trying to work on myhealth, my diet, my exercise, I
love to travel, love to golf.
I really love to read I don'tread as much as I would like to
and I do have two grandkids nowas I had.
(13:48):
I had my oldest lived out ofstate.
Our middle Cole was playingbaseball in college at Marshall
University.
My daughter was playingvolleyball up in Grand Rapids so
that for a while was like woo,that was our, that was what we
did for fun.
We went to see them.
Now my son just finished hismaster's this week in five and a
half years from Marshall.
(14:08):
My oldest husband, yes, soproud of him.
So I'll be, he doesn't want to,he didn't walk, he played
baseball for there, so I'll be,he doesn't want to, he didn't
walk, he played baseball forthere.
And he's like, yeah, I'm notdoing that.
So my daughter now my daughteris, so my daughter's the only
one in college, my oldest.
We have blessed with twograndkids, so that's a lot of
fun.
They come and stay the night.
(14:28):
I get to enjoy them.
Today I'm enjoying my grandsontoday.
So it's fun to see that.
So it's fun to see them all goon their own lives.
It's really hard to get themall together.
My favorite thing in the worldis to have us all together on a
vacation.
It's harder to do than youthink, especially now that
(14:49):
Cole's out of college.
They were all over the place.
Now Cody lives locally with ourgrandkids so he's moved back.
So that's that's been fun.
I get to go to you know thedonuts at school and stuff like
that.
So you know my grandkids.
My family is huge my parents.
I'm from the LouisvilleKentucky.
Louisville Kentucky area,indiana.
(15:09):
My family's still there, so Ilike to travel back to see them
as well.
So very close with my mom.
My sister lives there now.
So family travel, golf, thoseare the top.
And then I do put a lot intowork because I enjoy it.
Speaker 2 (15:25):
That's great.
That's great.
So can you describe for us onehardship or life challenge that
you rose above and can now say,because of that challenge, that
you're better for and arestronger?
Speaker 3 (15:42):
Yeah, I think the challenge and something that
drives my passion now like evenwith the Ditch the Hills that I
do is that I learning realestate, is that I learning real
estate?
What I didn't realize is thatback when I was raising my kids,
where my youngest one startedkindergarten I wish I would have
(16:04):
really surrounded myself withpeople to learn how to grow my
business earlier.
As my kids got older, I thinkmy biggest challenge was
figuring out how to scale mybusiness.
Well, I like helping people.
I, I enjoy real estate.
But how do I, how do I build abusiness?
How do I, how do I help morepeople?
How do I let people know I canhelp them?
How did I let them know thatyou know I'm good at what I do?
(16:27):
I think that was the biggestchallenge.
That was, I didn't know quitehow to solve.
And then when I, when I startedbeing selective and intentional
and I started being around indifferent rooms with different
people because at one point whenI had my own brokerage, I
(16:47):
joined a smaller luxurybrokerage looking to get the how
I was going to scale, but Iquickly found that I was
actually a top producer.
So they they just didn't havethe ability to teach me.
When I made the pivot and wedecided to open our EXP office
the week of COVID, mind you didit on Monday, covid shut us down
Friday.
(17:08):
That was a challenge.
That's probably the scariestdecision.
That decision, right there wasthe scariest I made because we
decided to open an office and Iand I went for it.
What I can tell people is thatthe biggest wins come from the
smallest decisions.
I honestly was sick to mystomach the whole week that we
(17:29):
made the announcement.
I'm like what if I fail?
Everybody's going to know whatif this doesn't go right?
Covid happened and then youknow that was a whole nother
thing.
But if I never made that, it'skind of like my my doing my
monthly events If I neverdecided to do the first one.
Speaker 1 (17:46):
Because, let me tell, you, I didn't have it all
figured out.
Speaker 3 (17:48):
I didn't know who was going to show up.
I didn't know who my speakerswere going to be.
I didn't know what was going toshow up.
I didn't know who my speakerswere going to be.
I didn't know what was going tohappen.
But if I didn't just decide todo that, I wouldn't have that
led to me doing events for threeyears.
That led to me doing runningthe EXP regional rally for a
global brokerage, the last tworallies and I'm going to run
(18:11):
another one this coming springTo having my Ditch the Hills
event for women entrepreneurstwo of them.
Now I'm launching a communityand planning a retreat in Tulum,
mexico.
None of that would have happenedif I never made that first
decision, even though I wasterrified.
People like, oh, it comes easyfor you.
(18:31):
Well, that's not true.
It's not true.
I just was bold enough and hadpeople around me, enough kind of
pushing, pushing, pushing meand believing in myself to go
for it.
And then, as one thing happened, it rolled to another.
And then I'm like, oh my God, Ican do this.
(18:51):
Okay, I did this.
Now what about the next thing?
I'll tell you, like the, the,the retreat into New Mexico.
I was terrified.
I'm still terrified, stillstill working on that.
I'll tell you, like the, the,the retreat into New Mexico I
was terrified.
I'm still terrified, stillstill working on that, I'm still
terrified.
Right, be intentional about whoyou surround yourself with.
Sometimes you need the push,sometimes you need a shove,
sometimes you need theencouragement, sometimes you
(19:13):
need the belief, sometimes youneed to run your ideas and and
go, oh, okay, and believe inyourself.
That imposter syndrome.
Well, why does anybody carewhat I have to say?
I don't know, I still not sure,and it's funny, I still feel
that way.
But when you go out there and Ibelieve you get back what you
put out, right, I'd say thebiggest challenge is just,
really, I wasn't sure how togrow, I wasn't sure how to scale
(19:36):
, and when I started getting indifferent rooms where I was the
smallest fish, not the biggestfish, surrounded myself with
people that are at a higherlevel and people that are
willing to show the path alongthe way it's not everybody is
and then I want to bring peoplewith me because I see how that
impacted my life.
(19:57):
I tripled my business by makingthat decision and so by doing
that, that's how I overcame thatobjection, and it might seem
small, but it was.
It changed my life because itchanged what I'm doing on a on a
daily basis.
It changed my passion.
It changed how many people I'mhelping, and you know that that,
(20:18):
I think, is just just go forbelieve in yourself, and if
you're not around people tosupport you, then you need to
change who you're surroundedyourself with.
Right.
Speaker 2 (20:29):
Right, and we had that conversation.
Yeah, I appreciate that.
What is one thing that you wishour listeners knew about your
business?
Speaker 3 (20:40):
The one thing that I wish that they knew is that this
is what we do full time, me andmy husband.
We are experts.
I am always learning.
I'm always looking at how toimprove.
I'm learning new technology astechnology takes on.
How am I going to market yourhome?
The best marketer wins.
(21:00):
That's just the reality.
When it comes to selling yourhome for the most money, I need
to be ahead of the game onwhat's marketing your home to
get the most eyes on it.
I can get the most offers and Ican drive up the price and the
terms that I can get you themost money.
When you're looking to buy andsell, you need a good negotiator
.
You need somebody that's goingto say because sometimes I will
tell my clients listen, you gotan offer here, but the home's
(21:23):
over here Now.
If you're going to stay herelong-term, here's what I think
you should do.
If you're not, then it's yourdecision.
Ultimately, I just wish theyknew the passion that I have and
the links we'll go to for ourclients.
I've got a long list of stories.
We had a client that came justas a referral and, throughout
the process, her husband.
(21:44):
It was a sad situation.
She literally had to divorceher husband in order to sell the
property because of just theway it worked with being able to
get him into a facility andjust before the closing she
ended up in the hospital withher heart.
We literally had to have theclosing at the hospital and we
(22:07):
had to help get somebody therebecause if she didn't sign that
day, she was going to lose thehome and lose the equities she
had in it.
We helped her clear out thefacility and we helped her find
a facility for her husband.
We helped her find an apartment.
I didn't make money on that, Ijust wanted to help her as an
individual and help her.
(22:27):
We helped her with an estate,so we did everything that we
could to help her because shewas in a tough time in her life.
So I just, I just would like forpeople to know that we are
truly, me and my husband we'renot about the, we're not about
the money, we're about thepeople and we love, enjoy, enjoy
helping people.
We help our agents as well.
(22:48):
We like to help them learn toscale.
But I just, you know just thatwe are going to work hard for
you and we're always going to dowhat's in your best interest,
even if it's, even if I have tobet I had a had another offer.
We had an offer come in, abuyer come directly to us and we
actually used the buyer thatdidn't have an agent that would
have used us and I would havegotten paid on both sides that
(23:11):
actually brought up the offer onthis offer, because there was
one term they liked better andthey went with this offer, but I
was able to get them more andthat's what we're going to do,
so we're going to do what's inyour best interest, that's all.
Just that.
You know we're here to help youand we enjoy it.
We're passionate, we're greatnegotiators.
We know what we do.
This is not part-time for us.
This is our heart and soul.
(23:31):
We are here to help you.
Speaker 2 (23:34):
That's great.
You're working for your clients.
Yes, absolutely.
Our listeners are now intrigued.
They want to hire you.
They want to learn more.
How can they get in touch withyou?
Speaker 3 (23:48):
They are able to a lot of ways.
One, our office is by Costco.
If you go between Costco andgetting gas, you're going to
pass the office with my photo inthe window.
You can go to our website,realty Consultants, with an S
dot info I-N-F-O.
You can find me.
You can match me on Facebook,instagram, on all the social
(24:08):
media.
I do a lot of social media.
I do the social media becauseguess what?
That helps my clients sell formore money.
So that's a very importantthing.
So you can find me on Facebook.
You can find me on Instagram.
You can find me on LinkedIn,tiktok, x, all of them.
So you can find us all thoseways and then reach out directly
(24:29):
to us.
But our website'sRealtyConsultantsinfo, like I
said, find me on social.
You'll find our website,contact us directly and we are
happy to help.
Speaker 2 (24:40):
Great Kim.
Thank you so much for being onour podcast today.
I really appreciate theopportunity to talk with you.
Speaker 3 (24:48):
Well, Lisa, I appreciate the opportunity.
I love what you're doing.
I love that you're all aboutthe neighborhood, the community.
That's very important.
You are showcasing smallbusinesses.
Speaker 1 (25:03):
And I think that's truly important in a community.
So thank you.
No-transcript.
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place
where local businesses andneighbors come together.
Here's your host, Lisa Swiftney.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Hi everyone, good morning and welcome to episode
number 133 of the Good NeighborPodcast.
Today we have with us Kim Agame, with Realty Consultants
brokered by eXp.
How are you doing today, kim?
Speaker 3 (00:28):
I'm doing fantastic and I appreciate you giving me
the opportunity to be here thismorning.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
Well, I appreciate you as well.
Thank you, let's first startoff by telling our audience
about your business.
Speaker 3 (00:41):
Sure, my husband grew up an entrepreneur.
I grew up with parents thatjust worked careers and so
really that entrepreneurshiprubbed off on me.
So we have a real estatecompany, so we're brokered by
eXp.
We have our own office.
We're right by the Costco onHall Road in Shelby Township and
(01:02):
the great thing that eXp doesis it kind of gives us the
engine of where to run ourbusiness.
As a broker, I could reallywork out of my house or anywhere
I want, but it's given me anengine to really work bigger,
better, stronger.
And so we have a real estatebusiness.
We love helping our clients buyand sell.
Typically, your home's yourbiggest investment.
(01:24):
So most of our business wouldpass clients in referrals,
because it's very important tous to make sure that we help our
clients.
It can be stressful, excitingand everything all wrapped into
one, so we're excited to be ableto help them along that journey
.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
That is great, so tell our listeners more about
your journey.
You talked a little bit aboutyour journey, but tell us how
did you get started?
Speaker 3 (01:50):
Yeah, you know it's funny, I didn't.
I didn't decide one day, oh,I'm going to do real estate.
That wasn't really in my planat all.
And I I got a businessmanagement degree in college and
, if I'm truthful about it, Iended up with business
management because I wasn'treally sure what I wanted to do,
and so along the way I thoughtabout teaching to computer
(02:14):
programming, and then I ended upgoing eh no, eh no, and so it
really and truly.
Meeting my husband was kind ofthat pivotal, kind of a pivotal
moment.
At the time we were moving fromIndiana back to Michigan and
he's from Michigan.
I'm from Indiana, louisville,kentucky area, grew up there,
(02:35):
and so when I moved to MichiganI had to find a job.
So essentially, mysister-in-law worked for Pulte
Homes.
I applied there and got the job, and it was a great place to
start because they taught mesell skills, they taught me how
to build a home, they taught mea lot of great skills that would
(02:55):
really help me throughout mycareer, and so that was the
start of it.
And I had journeys along the waywith raising my family.
I got my broker license.
Along the way I pivoted towhere I then opened my own
brokerage and I had my ownbrokerage for a long time.
But as I was trying to figureout how to scale and grow, I was
(03:18):
finding it hard to get peopleto help me, kind of share and
show me the path.
And so my husband kind ofpushed I was joking between him
and Kurt, they push, shoved me.
We opened our exp office in itand it truly was the best
business decision ever madebecause it allowed me to
(03:40):
surround myself with people thatdid show me some paths and ways
to grow my business, whichmeans I get to help more people,
and it has taken me down somekind of arm lengths off of that
business that I've been able tohelp more people.
I'm really excited about thatand just learned how to do it
(04:01):
better, more efficient, and Iget to help more people that way
.
I love it.
Speaker 2 (04:07):
And you do have a tremendous heart for helping
people.
Speaker 3 (04:10):
I do.
You know, and that's really thekey of it, what EXP did?
Because if I just stayed on myown, my own brokerage office,
because from the time I wentfrom selling new construction to
where I ended up, or reopenedthe EXP office, I really was
figuring out things by myself.
I made a lot of mistakes.
I'm like, okay, never learnedfrom that, but what I ended up
(04:32):
going, oh well, if I surroundmyself with the right people, I
can avoid mistakes, avoidwasting money, avoid time, which
that is a whole nother you knowmultiple effect on time, energy
, money, mindset, all of thosethings.
So and I do really love so withthat came along with doing my
monthly knowledge, is powerevents where I'm helping agents
(04:55):
at, oh, and I end up having notjust agents but industry related
people come to my events.
Been doing it for three yearsjust trying to help elevate the
industry that you know went offto ditch the hills, which we've
talked about, which is helpingwomen entrepreneurs.
It is that love of helpingpeople, that it's open doors and
(05:17):
mindset on how can I extendthat.
And so my buyers and sellersand clients.
That's the core of what I do.
And so we, we, we love helpingpeople with that and we see that
and sellers and clients.
That's the core of what I doand so we love helping people
with that and we see that wechange people's lives right.
Sometimes it's sometimes theyhave a death in the family,
sometimes they have a baby,sometimes they're buying their
new house, sometimes they'redownsizing All kinds of stories
(05:39):
that we have but it's thestories that make it so
rewarding.
Speaker 2 (05:44):
That is so true, so true.
Can you tell us about any mythsor misconceptions in your
industry?
Speaker 3 (05:55):
Well, I'll tell you what a lot of people don't
really see it.
It's funny their home istypically their biggest
investment, for most people,right, right.
So it surprises me and shocksme how little people think about
who they hire to help them buyor sell.
And they're so it.
(06:16):
And I'll be honest, compared toother states, in michigan you
can take a 40, you take one week, 40 hours, pass the test, you
can write a legal contract withsomebody's biggest investment
and help them buy and sell.
And that's scary on a lot oflevels because you know a lot of
people get in and see the flipshows and thinks it's easy.
So they say, on average, peopleknow an average of 13 real
(06:38):
estate agents.
Okay, they don't actually think.
Or they go online and shop, getconnected to somebody and start
using them and they have noidea of their abilities.
So the myth is if you're goingto buy or sell, you should be
interviewing, you should bequestioning, you should know
(06:58):
somebody's background ability.
When I help my clients, I'm notjust setting them up on an
automatic search.
They get an email with here'ssome homes, oh, you want to go
see it?
Okay, let's go.
It's so much more than that.
I'm a circle prospecting.
I have clients in my database.
I can help sell homes quicker.
(07:20):
I'm a great negotiator.
I win more than I lose.
So in multiple offer situations, when you're wanting that you
find that home, nothing is moredisappointing than finding a
home that you want, putting inan offer and your offer doesn't
get accepted Again.
In that situation I win morethan I lose.
And sometimes if I lose it'sbecause I have laid it out for
(07:40):
my client and they have made adecision that maybe that's not
in their best interest.
I'm always going to say here'swhere you need to be to win the
home and here's where it does ordoesn't make sense.
Here's where you're crossing aline of reckless.
But I have been able to getoffers accepted with not always
the highest offer sales price,because there's other terms that
(08:03):
are important.
You have to find out what thoseother terms are.
One of the great things that Ilove about my knowledge is power
.
I've really tried to formrelationships with other agents,
and so when I'm sitting acrossthe table from somebody they
know I'm going to get the jobdone, I partner myself with
great lender, great title,because I know those things can
(08:25):
fall apart and I don't want youto be disappointed, and so I
really try to lead my clientsthrough.
You know, jim, my husband is mypartner.
We work together as a team andhe's got different skill sets
than I do and so we reallycomplement each other.
But I think the myth is that youdon't need a real estate agent.
(08:48):
I think there's a lack ofrespect for what we do until you
use somebody bad or until youuse somebody good.
Right, because sometimessomebody is like, well, I don't
trust because I had a badexperience.
Well, how did you find thatagent?
Did you use aunt susie?
That does one once a year.
You know national association.
(09:10):
Here's a stat that I think mostpeople don't know national
association of realtors saidthat 49 of licensed agents sold
zero or one home last year.
Wow, yeah, so do you thinkthose, those people that sold
one, does it?
49?
That's half that don't evenhave experience in selling homes
(09:31):
.
Not to mention, I've beenshocked, as I tried to, as I
look to scale my business, howlittle homes the average agent
sells.
It's surprising to me.
So I think the myth when you askme is that I would tell anybody
whether you use me or somebodyelse investigate, interview, ask
(09:53):
questions, know who's helpingyou If they can't negotiate and
if you're going to choose youragent because of your commission
, your compensation if theycan't negotiate their own
commission, how do you thinkthey're going to be able to
negotiate on your best behalf?
True, right, right.
So ask lots of questions,interview, look up their history
(10:14):
, look up their Google reviews.
Just do your due diligence.
Just like, if I use a painter,I might get more than one quote.
Why would you not?
On your buying or selling of ahome, that is true, so true, all
right.
Speaker 2 (10:30):
So I have a fun question now.
So when you're not working onyour business or empowering
other people, what do you liketo do for fun?
Speaker 3 (10:39):
Well, one thing I really, I really love to travel.
My grandma kind of got a tasteof that for me when I was, when
I was a kid, grew up at a timewhere she lost her husband.
My dad was three, so she grewup as a single mom raising three
kids at a time where thatdidn't, you know, that wasn't
(11:01):
typical.
She never drove, she, but sheflew around the world, flew
around the world, and so it wasalways fascinating to me.
I remember in middle school Iwas in middle school and she
brought home some wine fromParis and she goes we're going
to have a toast and I'm soexcited I thought I was going to
have this delicious wine fromfrom Paris.
(11:22):
I took a drink.
I'm like yeah, not what Iexpected, so, but I watched her
do an Alaskan cruise.
I watched her there.
So I really love when I cantake my whole family on trips,
which we do.
So we're planning one for nextyear which I'm excited about.
(11:44):
My daughter really has thepassion of travel for me.
So me and my daughter we'vetraveled to Arizona and went
through Antelope Canyon andSedona and that we went to New
York City.
We've done hiking.
We just went to Europe in Maywhere we went to Paris and all
over Italy and saw all kinds ofplaces and it was just so
(12:09):
phenomenal to be able to go overthere and see.
There's so much to see in theworld.
So I'm always looking andtagging places that I would like
to go to.
I like to see new places.
I'm in a golf league, so, as mykids, as an empty nester now,
I'm like, okay, my kids are gone, they all play travel, they all
play college sports.
So they, you know, we were busy, we were divide and conquer.
(12:31):
And then, when they were allgone, I'm like what do I do with
myself?
I need some friends, I needsome hobbies.
So I joined a golf league,which has been a lot of fun.
My golf league is totally forfun.
Listen, I'm competitive but Ilike that it's.
You know we don't always keepscore.
(12:52):
We know how everyone does.
You know we toast on the keepscore.
We know how everyone does.
You know we toast on thedifferent holes and we have fun.
But I so I enjoy golf becauseit makes me stop working, gets
out.
I.
I get to get some fresh air,have some fun with some friends.
I've been working out at OrangeTheory so I do like.
I do like.
My health and my fitness hasbeen something that's become
(13:13):
important to me.
My kids, as college athletes,they are completely into eating
healthy.
I got the Yuka app.
I'm going through the grocerystore downloading it.
I'm like is this good?
Speaker 1 (13:25):
I'm like oh my God, everything's bad.
Speaker 3 (13:27):
That's why it tastes good, right, so you know.
So, really trying to work on myhealth, my diet, my exercise.
I love to travel, love to golf.
I really trying to work on myhealth, my diet, my exercise, I
love to travel, love to golf.
I really love to read I don'tread as much as I would like to
and I do have two grandkids nowas I had.
(13:48):
I had my oldest lived out ofstate.
Our middle Cole was playingbaseball in college at Marshall
University.
My daughter was playingvolleyball up in Grand Rapids so
that for a while was like woo,that was our, that was what we
did for fun.
We went to see them.
Now my son just finished hismaster's this week in five and a
half years from Marshall.
(14:08):
My oldest husband, yes, soproud of him.
So I'll be, he doesn't want to,he didn't walk, he played
baseball for there, so I'll be,he doesn't want to, he didn't
walk, he played baseball forthere.
And he's like, yeah, I'm notdoing that.
So my daughter now my daughteris, so my daughter's the only
one in college, my oldest.
We have blessed with twograndkids, so that's a lot of
fun.
They come and stay the night.
(14:28):
I get to enjoy them.
Today I'm enjoying my grandsontoday.
So it's fun to see that.
So it's fun to see them all goon their own lives.
It's really hard to get themall together.
My favorite thing in the worldis to have us all together on a
vacation.
It's harder to do than youthink, especially now that
(14:49):
Cole's out of college.
They were all over the place.
Now Cody lives locally with ourgrandkids so he's moved back.
So that's that's been fun.
I get to go to you know thedonuts at school and stuff like
that.
So you know my grandkids.
My family is huge my parents.
I'm from the LouisvilleKentucky.
Louisville Kentucky area,indiana.
(15:09):
My family's still there, so Ilike to travel back to see them
as well.
So very close with my mom.
My sister lives there now.
So family travel, golf, thoseare the top.
And then I do put a lot intowork because I enjoy it.
Speaker 2 (15:25):
That's great.
That's great.
So can you describe for us onehardship or life challenge that
you rose above and can now say,because of that challenge, that
you're better for and arestronger?
Speaker 3 (15:42):
Yeah, I think the challenge and something that
drives my passion now like evenwith the Ditch the Hills that I
do is that I learning realestate, is that I learning real
estate?
What I didn't realize is thatback when I was raising my kids,
where my youngest one startedkindergarten I wish I would have
(16:04):
really surrounded myself withpeople to learn how to grow my
business earlier.
As my kids got older, I thinkmy biggest challenge was
figuring out how to scale mybusiness.
Well, I like helping people.
I, I enjoy real estate.
But how do I, how do I build abusiness?
How do I, how do I help morepeople?
How do I let people know I canhelp them?
How did I let them know thatyou know I'm good at what I do?
(16:27):
I think that was the biggestchallenge.
That was, I didn't know quitehow to solve.
And then when I, when I startedbeing selective and intentional
and I started being around indifferent rooms with different
people because at one point whenI had my own brokerage, I
(16:47):
joined a smaller luxurybrokerage looking to get the how
I was going to scale, but Iquickly found that I was
actually a top producer.
So they they just didn't havethe ability to teach me.
When I made the pivot and wedecided to open our EXP office
the week of COVID, mind you didit on Monday, covid shut us down
Friday.
(17:08):
That was a challenge.
That's probably the scariestdecision.
That decision, right there wasthe scariest I made because we
decided to open an office and Iand I went for it.
What I can tell people is thatthe biggest wins come from the
smallest decisions.
I honestly was sick to mystomach the whole week that we
(17:29):
made the announcement.
I'm like what if I fail?
Everybody's going to know whatif this doesn't go right?
Covid happened and then youknow that was a whole nother
thing.
But if I never made that, it'skind of like my my doing my
monthly events If I neverdecided to do the first one.
Speaker 1 (17:46):
Because, let me tell, you, I didn't have it all
figured out.
Speaker 3 (17:48):
I didn't know who was going to show up.
I didn't know who my speakerswere going to be.
I didn't know what was going toshow up.
I didn't know who my speakerswere going to be.
I didn't know what was going tohappen.
But if I didn't just decide todo that, I wouldn't have that
led to me doing events for threeyears.
That led to me doing runningthe EXP regional rally for a
global brokerage, the last tworallies and I'm going to run
(18:11):
another one this coming springTo having my Ditch the Hills
event for women entrepreneurstwo of them.
Now I'm launching a communityand planning a retreat in Tulum,
mexico.
None of that would have happenedif I never made that first
decision, even though I wasterrified.
People like, oh, it comes easyfor you.
(18:31):
Well, that's not true.
It's not true.
I just was bold enough and hadpeople around me, enough kind of
pushing, pushing, pushing meand believing in myself to go
for it.
And then, as one thing happened, it rolled to another.
And then I'm like, oh my God, Ican do this.
(18:51):
Okay, I did this.
Now what about the next thing?
I'll tell you, like the, the,the retreat into New Mexico.
I was terrified.
I'm still terrified, stillstill working on that.
I'll tell you, like the, the,the retreat into New Mexico I
was terrified.
I'm still terrified, stillstill working on that, I'm still
terrified.
Right, be intentional about whoyou surround yourself with.
Sometimes you need the push,sometimes you need a shove,
sometimes you need theencouragement, sometimes you
(19:13):
need the belief, sometimes youneed to run your ideas and and
go, oh, okay, and believe inyourself.
That imposter syndrome.
Well, why does anybody carewhat I have to say?
I don't know, I still not sure,and it's funny, I still feel
that way.
But when you go out there and Ibelieve you get back what you
put out, right, I'd say thebiggest challenge is just,
really, I wasn't sure how togrow, I wasn't sure how to scale
(19:36):
, and when I started getting indifferent rooms where I was the
smallest fish, not the biggestfish, surrounded myself with
people that are at a higherlevel and people that are
willing to show the path alongthe way it's not everybody is
and then I want to bring peoplewith me because I see how that
impacted my life.
(19:57):
I tripled my business by makingthat decision and so by doing
that, that's how I overcame thatobjection, and it might seem
small, but it was.
It changed my life because itchanged what I'm doing on a on a
daily basis.
It changed my passion.
It changed how many people I'mhelping, and you know that that,
(20:18):
I think, is just just go forbelieve in yourself, and if
you're not around people tosupport you, then you need to
change who you're surroundedyourself with.
Right.
Speaker 2 (20:29):
Right, and we had that conversation.
Yeah, I appreciate that.
What is one thing that you wishour listeners knew about your
business?
Speaker 3 (20:40):
The one thing that I wish that they knew is that this
is what we do full time, me andmy husband.
We are experts.
I am always learning.
I'm always looking at how toimprove.
I'm learning new technology astechnology takes on.
How am I going to market yourhome?
The best marketer wins.
(21:00):
That's just the reality.
When it comes to selling yourhome for the most money, I need
to be ahead of the game onwhat's marketing your home to
get the most eyes on it.
I can get the most offers and Ican drive up the price and the
terms that I can get you themost money.
When you're looking to buy andsell, you need a good negotiator
.
You need somebody that's goingto say because sometimes I will
tell my clients listen, you gotan offer here, but the home's
(21:23):
over here Now.
If you're going to stay herelong-term, here's what I think
you should do.
If you're not, then it's yourdecision.
Ultimately, I just wish theyknew the passion that I have and
the links we'll go to for ourclients.
I've got a long list of stories.
We had a client that came justas a referral and, throughout
the process, her husband.
(21:44):
It was a sad situation.
She literally had to divorceher husband in order to sell the
property because of just theway it worked with being able to
get him into a facility andjust before the closing she
ended up in the hospital withher heart.
We literally had to have theclosing at the hospital and we
(22:07):
had to help get somebody therebecause if she didn't sign that
day, she was going to lose thehome and lose the equities she
had in it.
We helped her clear out thefacility and we helped her find
a facility for her husband.
We helped her find an apartment.
I didn't make money on that, Ijust wanted to help her as an
individual and help her.
(22:27):
We helped her with an estate,so we did everything that we
could to help her because shewas in a tough time in her life.
So I just, I just would like forpeople to know that we are
truly, me and my husband we'renot about the, we're not about
the money, we're about thepeople and we love, enjoy, enjoy
helping people.
We help our agents as well.
(22:48):
We like to help them learn toscale.
But I just, you know just thatwe are going to work hard for
you and we're always going to dowhat's in your best interest,
even if it's, even if I have tobet I had a had another offer.
We had an offer come in, abuyer come directly to us and we
actually used the buyer thatdidn't have an agent that would
have used us and I would havegotten paid on both sides that
(23:11):
actually brought up the offer onthis offer, because there was
one term they liked better andthey went with this offer, but I
was able to get them more andthat's what we're going to do,
so we're going to do what's inyour best interest, that's all.
Just that.
You know we're here to help youand we enjoy it.
We're passionate, we're greatnegotiators.
We know what we do.
This is not part-time for us.
This is our heart and soul.
(23:31):
We are here to help you.
Speaker 2 (23:34):
That's great.
You're working for your clients.
Yes, absolutely.
Our listeners are now intrigued.
They want to hire you.
They want to learn more.
How can they get in touch withyou?
Speaker 3 (23:48):
They are able to a lot of ways.
One, our office is by Costco.
If you go between Costco andgetting gas, you're going to
pass the office with my photo inthe window.
You can go to our website,realty Consultants, with an S
dot info I-N-F-O.
You can find me.
You can match me on Facebook,instagram, on all the social
(24:08):
media.
I do a lot of social media.
I do the social media becauseguess what?
That helps my clients sell formore money.
So that's a very importantthing.
So you can find me on Facebook.
You can find me on Instagram.
You can find me on LinkedIn,tiktok, x, all of them.
So you can find us all thoseways and then reach out directly
(24:29):
to us.
But our website'sRealtyConsultantsinfo, like I
said, find me on social.
You'll find our website,contact us directly and we are
happy to help.
Speaker 2 (24:40):
Great Kim.
Thank you so much for being onour podcast today.
I really appreciate theopportunity to talk with you.
Speaker 3 (24:48):
Well, Lisa, I appreciate the opportunity.
I love what you're doing.
I love that you're all aboutthe neighborhood, the community.
That's very important.
You are showcasing smallbusinesses.
Speaker 1 (25:03):
And I think that's truly important in a community.
So thank you.
No-transcript.
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
The Breakfast Club
The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy And Charlamagne Tha God!
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.