Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
My name's Bob Waddell .
(00:00):
I'm a residential realtor withSamson Properties.
I'm licensed in Virginia,maryland and West Virginia so I
work with buyers and sellerslooking to move in that area in
the Northern Virginia area, theWest Virginia, panhandle and
Southern Maryland.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Beautiful.
Let's go back a little bit andtell us what made you want to go
into real estate.
Was that always the dream?
Speaker 1 (00:25):
I wish I could say so .
Actually, I started off inengineering, did a few other
things, but I was alwaysinterested in real estate.
I grew up in Northern Virginia,so I've experienced kind of the
ups and downs of the NorthernVirginia market and I often well
in the houses I owned myself.
I bought and sold the housesmyself, without a realtor, and I
(00:49):
had to educate myself to do itand I realized how much
knowledge and information wasrequired to do that and I would
talk to friends and I would helpother people with it.
And you know I realized thatthat was something that I had a
knack for, I had an interest in.
So at one point I took theclass.
I took the real estate class in2003, just kind of on a whim.
(01:13):
I passed the test, I didn't doa thing with it and it just went
away and lapsed.
And then, 10 years later, I didit again for real and took the
test in 2013.
I got my license and startedworking in real estate.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
Okay, very nice.
Yeah, it sounds like you didhave a knack for it, huh.
I think so we do, and now youoften thank your team.
What does teamwork look likebehind the scenes at your
brokerage?
Speaker 1 (01:37):
That's a great question.
Samson has a tremendous teamwhen it comes to our brokers,
our staff behind the scenes.
We have an on-site print shop.
We do a lot of the work and alot of the marketing and
advertising for homes in-house,so we don't have to rely on
outside vendors, outsidecontractors.
(01:58):
Our team is phenomenal.
They're based here in Virginiaso our headquarters is in
Chantilly, so we're not lookingto a national company or
international companyheadquarters states away.
You know, I can go talk to theCEO, I can go walk in his office
and talk to him directly.
We work with Cardinal Title,which is a subsidiary of Samson
(02:22):
that we own, so that's an optionto be able to use a title
company that's also based hereas well.
Speaker 2 (02:27):
Yeah, wonderful.
And then how do you empoweryour team to deliver the kind of
service you'd proudly put yourown family's name behind?
Speaker 1 (02:39):
What I strive to do is help people where their
knowledge is short.
The reason people use realtorsisn't because they don't know
how to sell a house.
Necessarily.
It's because they don't want tobe, they don't want to open
themselves up to the liability.
There's a tremendous amount oflegal preparation, of contract
(02:59):
reading, of just generalknowledge, and we can supply
that.
I don't know everything aboutreal estate, but I know that I
can find the answer and I knowthat I have a team that does
know the answer.
Even if I don't, we've got manyyears of experience and much
wisdom behind the team that wecan use to help a client to not
(03:20):
step on a landmine.
Speaker 2 (03:21):
Yeah, I love that.
Speaker 1 (03:22):
I love that the landmine kind of a scary picture
, but I love it.
Indeed.
Speaker 2 (03:27):
What's one small tradition or ritual your team
practices that keeps moral high,especially during stressful
seasons.
Speaker 1 (03:35):
The thing that we've been able to do you know that I
do specifically is work with myclients and keep the lines of
communication open.
And keep the lines ofcommunication open so people
aren't wondering what's going onor what's happening.
Or you know why did my housesell in two weeks, like my next
door neighbor did?
You know, I want to communicatewith them and let them know.
Let them know what what they'regoing to need to do.
(03:56):
I don't want to give somebody astory and give them false hope
of a price that they're notgoing to realize.
You know it's.
You know, well, the lastrealtor told me my house is
going to do, you know, 1.5million.
Well, I don't think it is.
You know, I'd rather preparethem and give them a realistic
expectation than give them falsehope and fall on their face.
Speaker 2 (04:16):
Absolutely.
I just being transparent withthem and I'm sure they
appreciate that, because youdon't want to oversell something
, and then they're just totallylet down and they're like you
told me this, right.
That's kind of like breakingthat trust.
Speaker 1 (04:25):
Yes, exactly.
Speaker 2 (04:26):
Thank you for touching on that.
Now let's talk about corevalues and philosophy.
You mentioned workingdiligently for your clients.
What deeper values drive thatcommitment each day for you?
Speaker 1 (04:38):
Well, first and foremost is honesty and
trustworthiness.
If you can't, you know, trustthe people that you're dealing
with, well, what's the point?
You know, I want to make surethat you know, everybody knows
where things stand and there's,you know, constant training
about ethics in real estate sothat people know and understand
(04:59):
what's going on and that they,you know, they're aware and
they're aware of a realtor'sresponsibility.
Virginia has specific lawssurrounding who represents who.
If I'm a buyer's agent, thenI'm representing that buyer, so
I can't represent a buyer and aseller at the same time, because
that would be a conflict ofinterest.
Yeah, so you know, we make sureto you know, make people aware
(05:22):
of that and educate peoplethrough the process.
Speaker 2 (05:24):
Absolutely, you know, make people aware of that and
educate people through theprocess.
Absolutely.
And now, how do yourrelationships as a husband and a
father to four?
Speaker 1 (05:34):
inform your approach to serving families in real
estate?
Ooh, great question.
What I do is I try to treatpeople as I want to be treated.
I made a move recently.
I've been a Loudoun Countyresident for a very long time
and I just moved to WesternLoudoun for a little bit more
land, a little less HOA.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
Congratulations.
Speaker 1 (05:51):
Thank you, you're welcome.
Thank you.
So when people want to do thatand want to make that move, you
know I love working with them.
You know being able to find theright house for the right
family, the right family.
You know I know what.
What was perfect for me isn'tnecessarily right for everyone
else, but it's important forpeople to be able to realize
their own goals and to be ableto get the right home but also
(06:13):
be able to afford it too.
Speaker 2 (06:15):
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (06:16):
And Loudon, that's.
That's a big deal.
You know, I remember when Ibought my first house in the
nineties, you know I I had toscrimp and save.
Prices have gone up quite a bit.
Speaker 2 (06:26):
Oh, I'm sure first house in the 90s you know I had
to scrimp and save.
Prices have gone up quite a bit.
Oh, I'm sure, especially fromthe 90s, my goodness.
And then integrity is crucialin real estate.
How do you build trust?
Speaker 1 (06:37):
from your very first conversation with the clients?
That's a great question.
I, what I like to do is askquestions, make sure that I know
what people want and whatpeople need, and then you know
as we talked about before isgive them the straight answer.
You know, even if, even if it'snot the answer they want to
hear, I'm going to give them thehonest answer, at least as far
as I know, and as far as Ibelieve you know is accurate,
(06:59):
especially when it comes topricing a home to sell.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
Yeah, and now let's talk market expertise and
service.
As a localLivingston-Lovettsville expert
hopefully you're still livingthere, or did you?
Speaker 1 (07:11):
Yes, that's where you moved.
Okay, in Lovettsville.
Yes, Beautiful.
Speaker 2 (07:14):
What trends are you seeing in your market that
buyers and sellers should beaware of?
Speaker 1 (07:19):
As always I should say as always as of the last few
years there's fewer housesavailable than there is.
Whatever trends are going on inthe rest of the country.
Here in Loudoun County and inNorthern Virginia there's a
shortage of homes.
There's not enough to meet thedemand, hence prices go up.
However, on the other hand,they're not going up as much as
(07:43):
they would if rates were lowerdown.
Before they buy, and Iunderstand that.
But what they don't realize isthat once rates go down, prices
(08:03):
will go up even more.
So you can always refinance toa better rate.
If you get into a house you canafford and you're in a good
price range.
You can refinance in a year ortwo or three years when the
rates come down, but you can'tget a lower price later.
Whatever the prices you pay,that's the price that you paid.
My advice to people is as longas it's reasonable, affordable
and possible, buy now or buysooner rather than later.
(08:27):
Don't wait for the rates to godown.
Speaker 2 (08:29):
Yeah, no, that was a great way to put it actually.
So thank you.
And then walk us through arecent listing.
Your team turned around.
What were the key choices thatled to that success?
Speaker 1 (08:41):
I had a.
I actually have a listing.
Right now.
It's a townhouse that's forsale in Ashburn Village.
It was bought new in 1988.
So it was and it hasn't beensold since.
So it's the first time it'sbeen on the market since then.
It's a great house, it's a, it'sa good starter home and since
it hadn't been, you know,changed hands, not a lot had
(09:05):
been done with the house.
So it's in good condition butit needed a lot of work.
So the thing that I was able todo with the client there was I
was able to go through, tell himthe things it needed, and he
just handed me the keys and said, hey, can you do this?
And I said yes, I went throughthe house, did some minor work
inside, had all the light bulbschanged out to LED, work done
(09:29):
outside, and actually the HOAcame back with a list for the
sales package and added a fewmore items that we didn't have
originally.
But now we do.
So I have somebody there rightnow, actually, who's working on
it.
So we're painting it, doingpaperwork on the outside,
painting the deck, painting thefront door, all those things.
(09:49):
But I'm able to handle that forthe client, manage the project
myself, get the work done andalso have it paid at closing,
which is something that's a bigdeal to a lot of people, because
they don't necessarily havefive or 10 or $20,000 to lay out
, you know, before the house issold.
So so we'll get that paid atclosing and get it done.
Make it, make it a seamlessprocess.
Speaker 2 (10:10):
Yeah, absolutely.
And that just goes back to likethe honesty and integrity,
because look at how some clientsare just like here.
I trust you, you you'll get thejob done, I know, and they give
you that, so to speak, I guesspermission or authority to like
do that to that to a home, andthen let alone one that hasn't
been sold since what was it?
The nineties?
Speaker 1 (10:30):
It was actually 1988.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (10:32):
Yeah, so like eighties, late eighties, but
anyway like that.
That trust is incredible, thatpeople like, especially it comes
with the territory and yourreputation that you have Right,
whereas if they didn't maybe dotheir research or their homework
on you, maybe they'd be like Idon't know if I want to trust,
but because you've probablybuilt that and have a great team
(10:54):
, they're just like yeah, youknow what Bob's going to get it
done and sure, have at it hereyou go, by the way, here's HOA's
thing too.
I know you'll get it done.
Thank you so much for thiscurve ball that you're taking up
here.
Speaker 1 (11:03):
So see that that's incredible and it's doing that,
and I enjoy setting people atease because I remember what it
was like when I was selling myown house and of course you know
I was doing it all myself and Iwas.
I was a little nervous.
But then, once, once I got itdone, I realized oh okay, you
(11:24):
know I can do that.
So once you've done it a fewtimes you know it makes sense.
And when somebody hasn't beenthere themselves, I can set them
at ease and I can hold theirhand through the process.
Speaker 2 (11:36):
That's awesome, so to speak.
Yeah, you're doing a great job,then.
And then, how have your goalsevolved since you started?
What motivates you to keepraising the bar?
Speaker 1 (11:46):
Ooh, my, uh.
You know my goal has been to,to expand into, expand into
multiple states.
I started with Virginia.
I got my Maryland license a fewyears in and then I just got
West Virginia a few years ago.
My latest goal was to get mybroker's license.
I'm not looking to leaveSampson or go anywhere else or
(12:07):
start my own brokerage, but Iwould like to potentially manage
an office you know, one of thebranch offices.
So I actually just passed thebroker's exam in Virginia two
weeks ago.
Speaker 2 (12:20):
Well, that's amazing.
Congratulations.
Thank you, that's awesome.
Speaker 1 (12:23):
I don't have it listed anywhere yet.
Speaker 2 (12:25):
Oh, we get the first inside scoop.
Then yeah, there you go.
Cool, how about that?
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (12:29):
So that was my goal for this year was to do that,
and then I'd like to get mybroker's license for Maryland
and West Virginia as well.
They have reciprocity butthere's more stipulation, so it
might take me a year or two.
I need to look into it more.
But I also enjoy mentoringother realtors.
I had a mentor when I started,who's a great guy still work
(12:52):
with.
I had a mentor when I startedwho was a great guy still work
with, and I want to do that forother agencies as they come
along, as the opportunitiespresents itself.
Samson has a mentoring program.
It's actually required.
If somebody starts with Samsonwho's never done real estate
before at all, they have to gothrough the mentor program or
they can opt for it if they'rean experienced agent but just
want to learn how it works atSamson.
Speaker 2 (13:14):
Yeah, that's awesome Just passing the torch, like now
that you know everything, likeyou pass it along to other
people so they can also be greatin their career, so that's
great.
Speaker 1 (13:24):
I hope so.
Speaker 2 (13:24):
Yeah, and now, what role does mentorship play in
your business, both for neweragents and and for your own
growth?
Speaker 1 (13:33):
I um well, as I said.
As I said, I've recently joinedthe mentor program, so I
haven't started yet.
I haven't had anybody comethrough for me.
I only recently started andjoined, so I expect that to come
through.
I've encouraged a lot of peopleto become agents to get their
license.
You know, when I talk tosomebody who's really sharp, who
has an interest, you know thebiggest thing that keeps most
(13:56):
people from becoming a realtoris the exam itself, is the
training and the exam.
I think it's a 90-hour courseto get your real estate license.
I know it's a 180-hour courseto get your broker's license
because I just finished it.
Speaker 2 (14:11):
Can you share a moment when stepping outside of
your comfort zone led to a bigbreakthrough in your business?
Speaker 1 (14:17):
Thinking about repairing homes.
The first time I did that was ahome.
It was another townhouse, itwas in Sterling Park and it was
a good friend of mine's father'shome and he had lived there for
a long time.
Gosh, he'd been in the house atleast 30 years.
Nothing had ever been done andhe had a habit.
I don't know if it was a habit,maybe it was a vocation he
(14:39):
liked to recycle metal in hishouse.
Think of you know, I don't knowquarter house meets meth lab.
You know that's what it lookedlike.
It was rough.
So, yes, so he obviously wantedto sell it.
He didn't want to sell it as is.
So he said, well, he said canyou help me?
Can we get this fixed up?
(15:00):
And of course I said I saidyeah, let's do it.
You know thinking I don't knowhow I'm going to do this, but I
think I can.
Speaker 2 (15:06):
Yeah, oh my gosh, what am I doing?
Speaker 1 (15:08):
Yeah, and we spent gosh.
We spent about a good.
We redid every visible surfaceof that house on the inside and
most of the outside too.
We painted it, painted theceilings, redid all the flooring
(15:30):
, changed out the electricaloutlets, changed out the light
switches, changed out the vents,most light fixtures, pretty
much anything that you could seeor touch.
We changed on the house and bythe time we were done it looked
like a model home.
It looked good and it came outand I was a little shocked.
(15:51):
I did some of the work myself,but most of the work, obviously,
I contracted and that was thestart of it and I realized, wow,
that's pretty neat that wecould do that, that we could
sell it.
So when we sold the house, itsold for you know, the
appropriate price.
It sold for a good price.
We weren't discounting it foranything, we weren't apologizing
for anything.
It's like you know, here's thishouse, but you know it's got
(16:11):
this, it's got this issue.
There was no apologies for itand uh, and it sold.
I think it sold within thefirst week it was listed.
Speaker 2 (16:19):
Nice Couldn't all that work, and it paid off, huh.
Speaker 1 (16:22):
It did.
Speaker 2 (16:23):
I kind of wish, like you did, a before and after
video.
I don't know if that was likeavailable at the time where you
could be like, look at this andI'll look at it now.
Speaker 1 (16:30):
We should have, and I don't know what I was thinking
at the time, but, yes, I wish Ihad it would have been.
Yeah, it would have been stark.
Yeah, yeah, it would have beenone like that's not the same
house.
Speaker 2 (16:41):
Maybe next time, you know Exactly, next time there's
like a crazy house and then it'slike so beautiful, I think that
would be great Is thereanything?
Speaker 1 (16:53):
I have not touched on that.
Perhaps you would like to getout there.
I think that's it.
There's another thing that I'vebeen able to do.
So, yes, there is somethingthat I can do for clients that
if they're not moving today andthey're not ready to move right
now, that I can help clientswith.
It's something I use when Ilist a house here in Loudoun.
Most people are on DominionEnergy for their electric and
there's a program Dominion hasthat they'll pay to have your
(17:16):
light bulbs changed to LED Ifyou haven't done that already.
If you have incandescent bulbsor CFL bulbs, they'll pay to
change out your bulbs to brandnew LEDs at no cost to you.
So I obviously do that with anyhouse I list, but if somebody
has a home that they need thatdone, I can do that.
I can do that program now.
(17:37):
So even if they want to stayyou know, obviously they're not
selling, but they can do thatjust for their, for their own
sake.
Speaker 2 (17:42):
That's awesome.
That's good to know.
I didn't even know that.
I used to have Dominion, Ithink.
What do I have now?
I have Novec, novec, yes, yeah,do they do that?
Probably not.
Speaker 1 (17:48):
I wish Novec doesn't have a program like that,
because Novec doesn't own theinfrastructure, the cables, so
it doesn't really behoove themto do it.
Speaker 2 (17:58):
Wow Okay.
Speaker 1 (17:59):
They're using Dominion's infrastructure.
But I mean, I could alwayschange somebody's bulbs but I'd
have to charge for the bulbs.
Speaker 2 (18:06):
Yes, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (18:07):
But the free program is only for if you have Dominion
and it's for single familyhomes or townhomes either one.
I could do that.
Speaker 2 (18:16):
Awesome, good to know .
Thank you for sharing thatinsight.
Hopefully, a lot of that willhit somebody's ears and be like,
wow, let me call Dominion rightnow.
I did not know that.
Hopefully, a lot of that willhit somebody's ears and be like,
wow, let me call Dominion rightnow.
I did not know this.
How dare they not tell me?
Speaker 1 (18:26):
Well they could reach out to me.
It's done.
Dominion subcontracts the workthrough Honeywell and Honeywell
uses contractors and I have acontractor that I use
specifically, so I can, I coulddo that for anybody who'd be
interested.
Speaker 2 (18:41):
Okay, beautiful.
So just reach out to Bob.
Where's the best place to dothat?
Speaker 1 (18:44):
Sure, you could send me an email.
My email is bobwaddell atverizonnet, or you could call me
.
My number is 703-431-0696.
And I could schedule that.
Speaker 2 (18:58):
Beautiful.
Well, thank you so much forcoming on the podcast.
I really appreciate you takingtime to be here and telling us a
little bit about your journey,your values, your team and just
everything about your career.
I really appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (19:10):
Thank you, I sure appreciate it.
My name's Bob Waddell .
(00:00):
I'm a residential realtor withSamson Properties.
I'm licensed in Virginia,maryland and West Virginia so I
work with buyers and sellerslooking to move in that area in
the Northern Virginia area, theWest Virginia, panhandle and
Southern Maryland.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Beautiful.
Let's go back a little bit andtell us what made you want to go
into real estate.
Was that always the dream?
Speaker 1 (00:25):
I wish I could say so .
Actually, I started off inengineering, did a few other
things, but I was alwaysinterested in real estate.
I grew up in Northern Virginia,so I've experienced kind of the
ups and downs of the NorthernVirginia market and I often well
in the houses I owned myself.
I bought and sold the housesmyself, without a realtor, and I
(00:49):
had to educate myself to do itand I realized how much
knowledge and information wasrequired to do that and I would
talk to friends and I would helpother people with it.
And you know I realized thatthat was something that I had a
knack for, I had an interest in.
So at one point I took theclass.
I took the real estate class in2003, just kind of on a whim.
(01:13):
I passed the test, I didn't doa thing with it and it just went
away and lapsed.
And then, 10 years later, I didit again for real and took the
test in 2013.
I got my license and startedworking in real estate.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
Okay, very nice.
Yeah, it sounds like you didhave a knack for it, huh.
I think so we do, and now youoften thank your team.
What does teamwork look likebehind the scenes at your
brokerage?
Speaker 1 (01:37):
That's a great question.
Samson has a tremendous teamwhen it comes to our brokers,
our staff behind the scenes.
We have an on-site print shop.
We do a lot of the work and alot of the marketing and
advertising for homes in-house,so we don't have to rely on
outside vendors, outsidecontractors.
(01:58):
Our team is phenomenal.
They're based here in Virginiaso our headquarters is in
Chantilly, so we're not lookingto a national company or
international companyheadquarters states away.
You know, I can go talk to theCEO, I can go walk in his office
and talk to him directly.
We work with Cardinal Title,which is a subsidiary of Samson
(02:22):
that we own, so that's an optionto be able to use a title
company that's also based hereas well.
Speaker 2 (02:27):
Yeah, wonderful.
And then how do you empoweryour team to deliver the kind of
service you'd proudly put yourown family's name behind?
Speaker 1 (02:39):
What I strive to do is help people where their
knowledge is short.
The reason people use realtorsisn't because they don't know
how to sell a house.
Necessarily.
It's because they don't want tobe, they don't want to open
themselves up to the liability.
There's a tremendous amount oflegal preparation, of contract
(02:59):
reading, of just generalknowledge, and we can supply
that.
I don't know everything aboutreal estate, but I know that I
can find the answer and I knowthat I have a team that does
know the answer.
Even if I don't, we've got manyyears of experience and much
wisdom behind the team that wecan use to help a client to not
(03:20):
step on a landmine.
Speaker 2 (03:21):
Yeah, I love that.
Speaker 1 (03:22):
I love that the landmine kind of a scary picture
, but I love it.
Indeed.
Speaker 2 (03:27):
What's one small tradition or ritual your team
practices that keeps moral high,especially during stressful
seasons.
Speaker 1 (03:35):
The thing that we've been able to do you know that I
do specifically is work with myclients and keep the lines of
communication open.
And keep the lines ofcommunication open so people
aren't wondering what's going onor what's happening.
Or you know why did my housesell in two weeks, like my next
door neighbor did?
You know, I want to communicatewith them and let them know.
Let them know what what they'regoing to need to do.
(03:56):
I don't want to give somebody astory and give them false hope
of a price that they're notgoing to realize.
You know it's.
You know, well, the lastrealtor told me my house is
going to do, you know, 1.5million.
Well, I don't think it is.
You know, I'd rather preparethem and give them a realistic
expectation than give them falsehope and fall on their face.
Speaker 2 (04:16):
Absolutely.
I just being transparent withthem and I'm sure they
appreciate that, because youdon't want to oversell something
, and then they're just totallylet down and they're like you
told me this, right.
That's kind of like breakingthat trust.
Speaker 1 (04:25):
Yes, exactly.
Speaker 2 (04:26):
Thank you for touching on that.
Now let's talk about corevalues and philosophy.
You mentioned workingdiligently for your clients.
What deeper values drive thatcommitment each day for you?
Speaker 1 (04:38):
Well, first and foremost is honesty and
trustworthiness.
If you can't, you know, trustthe people that you're dealing
with, well, what's the point?
You know, I want to make surethat you know, everybody knows
where things stand and there's,you know, constant training
about ethics in real estate sothat people know and understand
(04:59):
what's going on and that they,you know, they're aware and
they're aware of a realtor'sresponsibility.
Virginia has specific lawssurrounding who represents who.
If I'm a buyer's agent, thenI'm representing that buyer, so
I can't represent a buyer and aseller at the same time, because
that would be a conflict ofinterest.
Yeah, so you know, we make sureto you know, make people aware
(05:22):
of that and educate peoplethrough the process.
Speaker 2 (05:24):
Absolutely, you know, make people aware of that and
educate people through theprocess.
Absolutely.
And now, how do yourrelationships as a husband and a
father to four?
Speaker 1 (05:34):
inform your approach to serving families in real
estate?
Ooh, great question.
What I do is I try to treatpeople as I want to be treated.
I made a move recently.
I've been a Loudoun Countyresident for a very long time
and I just moved to WesternLoudoun for a little bit more
land, a little less HOA.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
Congratulations.
Speaker 1 (05:51):
Thank you, you're welcome.
Thank you.
So when people want to do thatand want to make that move, you
know I love working with them.
You know being able to find theright house for the right
family, the right family.
You know I know what.
What was perfect for me isn'tnecessarily right for everyone
else, but it's important forpeople to be able to realize
their own goals and to be ableto get the right home but also
(06:13):
be able to afford it too.
Speaker 2 (06:15):
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (06:16):
And Loudon, that's.
That's a big deal.
You know, I remember when Ibought my first house in the
nineties, you know I I had toscrimp and save.
Prices have gone up quite a bit.
Speaker 2 (06:26):
Oh, I'm sure first house in the 90s you know I had
to scrimp and save.
Prices have gone up quite a bit.
Oh, I'm sure, especially fromthe 90s, my goodness.
And then integrity is crucialin real estate.
How do you build trust?
Speaker 1 (06:37):
from your very first conversation with the clients?
That's a great question.
I, what I like to do is askquestions, make sure that I know
what people want and whatpeople need, and then you know
as we talked about before isgive them the straight answer.
You know, even if, even if it'snot the answer they want to
hear, I'm going to give them thehonest answer, at least as far
as I know, and as far as Ibelieve you know is accurate,
(06:59):
especially when it comes topricing a home to sell.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
Yeah, and now let's talk market expertise and
service.
As a localLivingston-Lovettsville expert
hopefully you're still livingthere, or did you?
Speaker 1 (07:11):
Yes, that's where you moved.
Okay, in Lovettsville.
Yes, Beautiful.
Speaker 2 (07:14):
What trends are you seeing in your market that
buyers and sellers should beaware of?
Speaker 1 (07:19):
As always I should say as always as of the last few
years there's fewer housesavailable than there is.
Whatever trends are going on inthe rest of the country.
Here in Loudoun County and inNorthern Virginia there's a
shortage of homes.
There's not enough to meet thedemand, hence prices go up.
However, on the other hand,they're not going up as much as
(07:43):
they would if rates were lowerdown.
Before they buy, and Iunderstand that.
But what they don't realize isthat once rates go down, prices
(08:03):
will go up even more.
So you can always refinance toa better rate.
If you get into a house you canafford and you're in a good
price range.
You can refinance in a year ortwo or three years when the
rates come down, but you can'tget a lower price later.
Whatever the prices you pay,that's the price that you paid.
My advice to people is as longas it's reasonable, affordable
and possible, buy now or buysooner rather than later.
(08:27):
Don't wait for the rates to godown.
Speaker 2 (08:29):
Yeah, no, that was a great way to put it actually.
So thank you.
And then walk us through arecent listing.
Your team turned around.
What were the key choices thatled to that success?
Speaker 1 (08:41):
I had a.
I actually have a listing.
Right now.
It's a townhouse that's forsale in Ashburn Village.
It was bought new in 1988.
So it was and it hasn't beensold since.
So it's the first time it'sbeen on the market since then.
It's a great house, it's a, it'sa good starter home and since
it hadn't been, you know,changed hands, not a lot had
(09:05):
been done with the house.
So it's in good condition butit needed a lot of work.
So the thing that I was able todo with the client there was I
was able to go through, tell himthe things it needed, and he
just handed me the keys and said, hey, can you do this?
And I said yes, I went throughthe house, did some minor work
inside, had all the light bulbschanged out to LED, work done
(09:29):
outside, and actually the HOAcame back with a list for the
sales package and added a fewmore items that we didn't have
originally.
But now we do.
So I have somebody there rightnow, actually, who's working on
it.
So we're painting it, doingpaperwork on the outside,
painting the deck, painting thefront door, all those things.
(09:49):
But I'm able to handle that forthe client, manage the project
myself, get the work done andalso have it paid at closing,
which is something that's a bigdeal to a lot of people, because
they don't necessarily havefive or 10 or $20,000 to lay out
, you know, before the house issold.
So so we'll get that paid atclosing and get it done.
Make it, make it a seamlessprocess.
Speaker 2 (10:10):
Yeah, absolutely.
And that just goes back to likethe honesty and integrity,
because look at how some clientsare just like here.
I trust you, you you'll get thejob done, I know, and they give
you that, so to speak, I guesspermission or authority to like
do that to that to a home, andthen let alone one that hasn't
been sold since what was it?
The nineties?
Speaker 1 (10:30):
It was actually 1988.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (10:32):
Yeah, so like eighties, late eighties, but
anyway like that.
That trust is incredible, thatpeople like, especially it comes
with the territory and yourreputation that you have Right,
whereas if they didn't maybe dotheir research or their homework
on you, maybe they'd be like Idon't know if I want to trust,
but because you've probablybuilt that and have a great team
(10:54):
, they're just like yeah, youknow what Bob's going to get it
done and sure, have at it hereyou go, by the way, here's HOA's
thing too.
I know you'll get it done.
Thank you so much for thiscurve ball that you're taking up
here.
Speaker 1 (11:03):
So see that that's incredible and it's doing that,
and I enjoy setting people atease because I remember what it
was like when I was selling myown house and of course you know
I was doing it all myself and Iwas.
I was a little nervous.
But then, once, once I got itdone, I realized oh okay, you
(11:24):
know I can do that.
So once you've done it a fewtimes you know it makes sense.
And when somebody hasn't beenthere themselves, I can set them
at ease and I can hold theirhand through the process.
Speaker 2 (11:36):
That's awesome, so to speak.
Yeah, you're doing a great job,then.
And then, how have your goalsevolved since you started?
What motivates you to keepraising the bar?
Speaker 1 (11:46):
Ooh, my, uh.
You know my goal has been to,to expand into, expand into
multiple states.
I started with Virginia.
I got my Maryland license a fewyears in and then I just got
West Virginia a few years ago.
My latest goal was to get mybroker's license.
I'm not looking to leaveSampson or go anywhere else or
(12:07):
start my own brokerage, but Iwould like to potentially manage
an office you know, one of thebranch offices.
So I actually just passed thebroker's exam in Virginia two
weeks ago.
Speaker 2 (12:20):
Well, that's amazing.
Congratulations.
Thank you, that's awesome.
Speaker 1 (12:23):
I don't have it listed anywhere yet.
Speaker 2 (12:25):
Oh, we get the first inside scoop.
Then yeah, there you go.
Cool, how about that?
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (12:29):
So that was my goal for this year was to do that,
and then I'd like to get mybroker's license for Maryland
and West Virginia as well.
They have reciprocity butthere's more stipulation, so it
might take me a year or two.
I need to look into it more.
But I also enjoy mentoringother realtors.
I had a mentor when I started,who's a great guy still work
(12:52):
with.
I had a mentor when I startedwho was a great guy still work
with, and I want to do that forother agencies as they come
along, as the opportunitiespresents itself.
Samson has a mentoring program.
It's actually required.
If somebody starts with Samsonwho's never done real estate
before at all, they have to gothrough the mentor program or
they can opt for it if they'rean experienced agent but just
want to learn how it works atSamson.
Speaker 2 (13:14):
Yeah, that's awesome Just passing the torch, like now
that you know everything, likeyou pass it along to other
people so they can also be greatin their career, so that's
great.
Speaker 1 (13:24):
I hope so.
Speaker 2 (13:24):
Yeah, and now, what role does mentorship play in
your business, both for neweragents and and for your own
growth?
Speaker 1 (13:33):
I um well, as I said.
As I said, I've recently joinedthe mentor program, so I
haven't started yet.
I haven't had anybody comethrough for me.
I only recently started andjoined, so I expect that to come
through.
I've encouraged a lot of peopleto become agents to get their
license.
You know, when I talk tosomebody who's really sharp, who
has an interest, you know thebiggest thing that keeps most
(13:56):
people from becoming a realtoris the exam itself, is the
training and the exam.
I think it's a 90-hour courseto get your real estate license.
I know it's a 180-hour courseto get your broker's license
because I just finished it.
Speaker 2 (14:11):
Can you share a moment when stepping outside of
your comfort zone led to a bigbreakthrough in your business?
Speaker 1 (14:17):
Thinking about repairing homes.
The first time I did that was ahome.
It was another townhouse, itwas in Sterling Park and it was
a good friend of mine's father'shome and he had lived there for
a long time.
Gosh, he'd been in the house atleast 30 years.
Nothing had ever been done andhe had a habit.
I don't know if it was a habit,maybe it was a vocation he
(14:39):
liked to recycle metal in hishouse.
Think of you know, I don't knowquarter house meets meth lab.
You know that's what it lookedlike.
It was rough.
So, yes, so he obviously wantedto sell it.
He didn't want to sell it as is.
So he said, well, he said canyou help me?
Can we get this fixed up?
(15:00):
And of course I said I saidyeah, let's do it.
You know thinking I don't knowhow I'm going to do this, but I
think I can.
Speaker 2 (15:06):
Yeah, oh my gosh, what am I doing?
Speaker 1 (15:08):
Yeah, and we spent gosh.
We spent about a good.
We redid every visible surfaceof that house on the inside and
most of the outside too.
We painted it, painted theceilings, redid all the flooring
(15:30):
, changed out the electricaloutlets, changed out the light
switches, changed out the vents,most light fixtures, pretty
much anything that you could seeor touch.
We changed on the house and bythe time we were done it looked
like a model home.
It looked good and it came outand I was a little shocked.
(15:51):
I did some of the work myself,but most of the work, obviously,
I contracted and that was thestart of it and I realized, wow,
that's pretty neat that wecould do that, that we could
sell it.
So when we sold the house, itsold for you know, the
appropriate price.
It sold for a good price.
We weren't discounting it foranything, we weren't apologizing
for anything.
It's like you know, here's thishouse, but you know it's got
(16:11):
this, it's got this issue.
There was no apologies for itand uh, and it sold.
I think it sold within thefirst week it was listed.
Speaker 2 (16:19):
Nice Couldn't all that work, and it paid off, huh.
Speaker 1 (16:22):
It did.
Speaker 2 (16:23):
I kind of wish, like you did, a before and after
video.
I don't know if that was likeavailable at the time where you
could be like, look at this andI'll look at it now.
Speaker 1 (16:30):
We should have, and I don't know what I was thinking
at the time, but, yes, I wish Ihad it would have been.
Yeah, it would have been stark.
Yeah, yeah, it would have beenone like that's not the same
house.
Speaker 2 (16:41):
Maybe next time, you know Exactly, next time there's
like a crazy house and then it'slike so beautiful, I think that
would be great Is thereanything?
Speaker 1 (16:53):
I have not touched on that.
Perhaps you would like to getout there.
I think that's it.
There's another thing that I'vebeen able to do.
So, yes, there is somethingthat I can do for clients that
if they're not moving today andthey're not ready to move right
now, that I can help clientswith.
It's something I use when Ilist a house here in Loudoun.
Most people are on DominionEnergy for their electric and
there's a program Dominion hasthat they'll pay to have your
(17:16):
light bulbs changed to LED Ifyou haven't done that already.
If you have incandescent bulbsor CFL bulbs, they'll pay to
change out your bulbs to brandnew LEDs at no cost to you.
So I obviously do that with anyhouse I list, but if somebody
has a home that they need thatdone, I can do that.
I can do that program now.
(17:37):
So even if they want to stayyou know, obviously they're not
selling, but they can do thatjust for their, for their own
sake.
Speaker 2 (17:42):
That's awesome.
That's good to know.
I didn't even know that.
I used to have Dominion, Ithink.
What do I have now?
I have Novec, novec, yes, yeah,do they do that?
Probably not.
Speaker 1 (17:48):
I wish Novec doesn't have a program like that,
because Novec doesn't own theinfrastructure, the cables, so
it doesn't really behoove themto do it.
Speaker 2 (17:58):
Wow Okay.
Speaker 1 (17:59):
They're using Dominion's infrastructure.
But I mean, I could alwayschange somebody's bulbs but I'd
have to charge for the bulbs.
Speaker 2 (18:06):
Yes, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (18:07):
But the free program is only for if you have Dominion
and it's for single familyhomes or townhomes either one.
I could do that.
Speaker 2 (18:16):
Awesome, good to know .
Thank you for sharing thatinsight.
Hopefully, a lot of that willhit somebody's ears and be like,
wow, let me call Dominion rightnow.
I did not know that.
Hopefully, a lot of that willhit somebody's ears and be like,
wow, let me call Dominion rightnow.
I did not know this.
How dare they not tell me?
Speaker 1 (18:26):
Well they could reach out to me.
It's done.
Dominion subcontracts the workthrough Honeywell and Honeywell
uses contractors and I have acontractor that I use
specifically, so I can, I coulddo that for anybody who'd be
interested.
Speaker 2 (18:41):
Okay, beautiful.
So just reach out to Bob.
Where's the best place to dothat?
Speaker 1 (18:44):
Sure, you could send me an email.
My email is bobwaddell atverizonnet, or you could call me
.
My number is 703-431-0696.
And I could schedule that.
Speaker 2 (18:58):
Beautiful.
Well, thank you so much forcoming on the podcast.
I really appreciate you takingtime to be here and telling us a
little bit about your journey,your values, your team and just
everything about your career.
I really appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (19:10):
Thank you, I sure appreciate it.
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