February 13, 2025 • 47 mins
Unlock the secrets of navigating Florida's shifting real estate climate with our special guest, Austin, a seasoned real estate professional. We promise to provide you with valuable insights into the latest trends and challenges in the market, from the impact of the NAR settlement on commission fees to the evolving preferences of homebuyers in flood-prone areas. Austin offers his expert perspective on how these changes affect both buyers and sellers, shedding light on the critical role of negotiation skills and the influence of technology platforms like Zillow in empowering consumers.
We explore the vibrant Tampa Bay real estate scene, where lifestyle, location, and education are key drivers of property decisions. Discover how families are moving away from flood zones, drawn to neighborhoods like South Tampa and Odessa, known for excellent schools and expansive properties. Austin also shares a glimpse into the luxurious side of the market, highlighting the allure of Odessa's high-end homes with their private lakes and equestrian roots, and how these amenities are reshaping buyer preferences in light of insurance concerns.
Delve into the fascinating world of luxury smart homes and the art of staging, as Austin reveals the latest in modern amenities and the transformative power of social media in real estate marketing. Learn about his journey in the industry, from joining a brokerage to building his own team, and the invaluable role mentorship plays in achieving success in this dynamic field. As we wrap up, Austin takes us through a day in the life of a real estate agent, sharing the balance between spontaneity and structure, and the importance of building trust and relationships with clients. Join us for an episode packed with insights, trends, and personal stories that bring the world of real estate to life.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Austin Marks (00:10):
How about the fact that Davion posted that next
year will be like the 10-yearreunion for you guys, yep?
Jonathan Strahl (00:16):
That was pretty crazy.
Kenny Massa (00:18):
It is.
I didn't even think about that.
I didn't see it, me neither.
James LaGamma (00:24):
10 years 10-year reunion.
As far as graduating, CoachAustin's going back.
Jonathan Strahl (00:32):
That's crazy.
Do we do that, coach Austin?
Ryan Selimos (00:35):
We got a Coach Austin, yeah, running backs
coach.
The guy who went to NorthDakota after OG I don't know how
.
He's going back to Stetson.
Kenny Massa (00:44):
Yeah, they just hired him Interesting the big
dude.
No, no.
Jonathan Strahl (00:48):
He's a little guy actually.
If I remember he was small, buthe was like oh, I remember who
he was Coach Austin.
Austin Marks (00:52):
I know, it took me a second.
He was a great coach.
I got concussions.
Kenny Massa (01:05):
Can he play, or One of the Dakotas?
Yeah, they should just be onestate.
Ryan Selimos (01:06):
But yeah, basically enough people Live in
fucking both states To beattacked.
Feels like the Dakotas Rightnow Fucking, freezing outside
yeah.
Kenny Massa (01:11):
Okay, how cold is it by you, austin?
Austin Marks (01:15):
Like 40s.
Kenny Massa (01:16):
Yeah, it's like 40s here.
Ryan Selimos (01:17):
So, it's snowing there in Florida, huh, 40
degrees basically.
Jonathan Strahl (01:21):
Yeah, it's pretty cold, nice, the rain, the
rain was terrible, that wasterrible.
Ryan Selimos (01:29):
We appreciate you skipping the big holiday in the
Tampa area of Gasparilla andbeing here with us.
I know you're looking forwardto it Very excited.
We appreciate your support.
What's he going by himself?
Kenny Massa (01:38):
Heather can't go.
She's like pretty pregnant he'sgoing with clients.
Ryan Selimos (01:44):
It's where the real estate oh that's not
leaving my house.
James LaGamma (01:46):
Yeah, Austin how are you skating around A RESPA
Section 8 violation?
What Getting kickbacks?
Kenny Massa (01:57):
Oh yeah.
James LaGamma (01:59):
How do you do it?
How do you get such a nice Life, toys, toys, alcohol, meals
while not violating law?
Ryan Selimos (02:12):
Wow, you really just what do you mean.
This is a great start.
You just changed the whole toneof the conversation.
Alright, Austin, you're onYikes.
Kenny Massa (02:21):
I haven't started yet.
We have Shut up.
This is not, this is going in.
Austin has killer lines.
I haven't started yet.
We have.
No, we have started.
Ryan Selimos (02:25):
We're recording.
Shut up.
This is not.
I've been on my phone the wholetime.
This is going in Austin haskiller lines Cut.
James LaGamma (02:28):
I have a fucking question.
Ryan Selimos (02:30):
Go.
Kenny Massa (02:31):
There is changes in the industry, though, right
Like there was that whole lawthat passed last year that had
to do with, like, one sidepaying for all the fees and all
that kind of stuff.
And then also, oh, the NARsettlement.
I don't fucking know what it'scalled.
I'm not in real estate, that'swhy he's here.
It's a NAR settlement.
James LaGamma (02:48):
Go ahead.
Talk about the NAR settlement.
Austin Marks (02:51):
Yeah, so basically what happened was traditionally
a seller would pay both thecommission fees.
So if one of you listed yourhome let's say the commission is
at 5% you would pay yourlisting agent the person listing
your home 2.5% and then you'doffer 2.5% to a buyer's agent to
bring you a buyer to the table.
A lawsuit started with somelawyers thinking that real
(03:15):
estate agents were colluding andkind of marking up that price
to work together.
The idea behind it was like ifone of us was in a lawsuit with
another one, why should I haveto pay my lawyer to represent?
me and why should I pay likeyour lawyer to represent you, or
you should pay your ownrepresentation and I should pay
my own?
So from there the lawyers endedup winning a massive class
(03:38):
action lawsuit.
They went after all the bigbrokerages, because those are
the ones with the money, andthen they changed the rules.
So let's say, one of you wantedto look at a house tomorrow,
(04:00):
and this was a year ago.
I could go in the MLS and belike okay, 123 Main Street is
offering 2% or 2.5% to me, and Iwould just know that ahead of
time.
It doesn't really make adifference to me, because what
matters to me is that the clientlikes the home.
But at least you know you wouldget compensated a certain
percentage through thistransaction if it were to go
through Versus.
Now all that has to becompletely removed and we just
(04:21):
have to approach the listingpresentation a little bit
differently of saying, hey, youknow, sellers, this is where
we're at today, this is what myfee is, and I can give
recommendations on what I thinkyou should do.
As far as like offering thatcommission as an incentive, it
has made things challengingbecause most of the time on the
buyer's side, you have a lotmore expenses, right?
(04:44):
So you're putting a downpayment down, you're paying for
appraisals, you're paying for aninspection, you're paying for
surveys, you're paying forclosing costs, you're paying for
a lot of things.
And so now, on top of that, youhave to be expected to pay two
to two and a half, sometimes upto 3%, to your buyer's agent.
The buyers usually don't havethat cash on hand and it's
(05:05):
always been nice of kind of thecircle of way or the way it
works as far as the sellerpaying that.
And then you know, when you buyyou don't have to worry about
paying your agent.
So that aspect has changed andI'm seeing a little bit of
everything, like some sellersare still open to offering that
incentive to a buyer's agentbecause they know the buyer's
agent is bringing the people tothe property.
And then I've had othersituations where the seller is
(05:28):
like I'm not paying the realestate agent on the buy side
because in my eyes I think thatthey're only just opening a door
and letting somebody in.
So now there's like twonegotiation periods to a real
estate transaction.
One is between the seller andthe buyer as far as agreeing on
price, and then now on thosedeals where the commission isn't
(05:49):
set up front.
There's a second negotiationperiod which is basically
becoming between the seller andmyself and the buyer's broker,
the buyer's broker wanting toget paid a certain amount.
Kenny Massa (05:59):
So it's definitely adding more complexity to the
situation.
I feel like it slows thingsdown too, though, from just
wanting to go see houses.
The one thing that I saw likewhen recently purchasing a home
was that it was um, but justmore challenging to like line
things up and go, because peoplewant to know that information
first.
(06:19):
I guess like, yeah, what arecommissions being paid and
whatnot?
It's kind of a pain in the ass,in my opinion.
Austin Marks (06:26):
Yeah, I agree, I think, um, I thought it was a
great, uh, like a decent systembeforehand, because there's like
, if you sell a house, right, itkind of stinks, you're paying
that commission on both sides,but then after you sell, you're
typically going and buyingsomething else, right, and it's
kind of the circle that justkeeps going around and around
and it, in my eyes, kind ofbalances out over time.
(06:48):
Now, you're right, it doescomplicate things.
It's like, as the real estateagent, I always put my clients
first of making sure, like, isthis a good investment for you?
Like, it's not about me and youknow, trying to get a deal done
, it's about, like, does thishouse work for you?
Does the payments work for you?
Does the neighborhood work foryou?
And now, unfortunately, it isadding in that element where
(07:08):
agents are like well, how mucham I getting paid?
I recently just went through myfirst transaction with that
where the seller didn't want tooffer a compensation to a
buyer's agent and the buyer fellin love with the house and
loved the house and wenegotiated price and we, like
seller and buyer, found a middleground that worked for them and
(07:31):
the sellers were excited.
And then the buyer's agents werelike, well, how much are we
getting paid?
And I had that conversation oflike, unfortunately, sellers are
not offering compensation, andso then it became a whole nother
negotiation that went on forlike two days of basically just
the buyer's broker rightfully sotrying to be compensated on the
deal and the seller's not, andthen we finally found a middle
(07:53):
ground.
But like you said, kenny, thedeal itself was put together a
couple days before and then theother couple days after were
just between the broker andmyself and the seller, which
unfortunately, I think hurts theconsumer, because the consumer
was very excited about the house.
They got the price and theterms that they wanted, but the
deal could have potentiallyfallen through if it came down
(08:15):
to the broker not willing totake a lesser commission on it.
Kenny Massa (08:21):
Yeah, it's kind of wild, because if someone's
excited to purchase a home andthen all of a sudden they have
all this shit going on in thebackground and it's like not
really a tasteful elementtowards the transaction, um from
a from a time when you'resupposed to be happy and excited
about purchasing a new home.
So from the buyer's perspectiveit's kind of yeah, it's kind of
(08:42):
um.
Ryan Selimos (08:43):
It adds a flavor of like on enjoyment to the
process and it sounds like thebuyer has no involvement, like
they have no control over thesituation.
They've made a decision,they're ready to buy everything
within their control.
They've checked those boxes andstill it might not happen.
Austin Marks (08:55):
Yeah, that's tough yeah, yeah, well, and there's
other things.
Like there's a lot of realestate agents in tampa.
There's like 8,500 greaterTampa Bay area, so all three
counties, there's 8,500 agents.
So I mean I would never do this, but maybe it's an agent that's
like a little bit moredesperate or like only does one
transaction a year.
Like imagine they're yourrealtor.
(09:16):
You don't know if you'retrusting them to send you
properties and maybe it's inlike your dream desirable area
and they ask, hey, is there acompensation on this?
And the seller says no, maybethat realtor doesn't send you
that property and maybe youcould have missed out on
something that you really likedbecause the realtor didn't know
how to negotiate for themselvesor didn't want to go through
(09:37):
that Um.
But I will say um that the shiftum in the market with like all
the apps and technology doeshelp the consumer a lot.
Right, with like Zillow isbasically a version of Instagram
for home shopping, so theconsumer can use it.
Before, traditionally, theagent right Is finding the
(09:58):
properties and sending it to theclient to look at and things
like that, or printing it outand sharing it with them.
But now, most of the time, likemy clients are sending me
properties before, like I caneven get it to them.
So I'll see, oh, this propertyjust popped up, let me check,
like the disclosures, or is itpriced?
Well, is there anything wrongwith the house?
(10:18):
And like they're alreadysending it to me before I'm even
reviewing it to send to thembecause it's popping up on
Zillow or they're just lookingat it constantly.
Um, so that's a good point.
Jonathan Strahl (10:29):
Hey, austin, you mentioned like desirable
areas in the greater Tampa TampaBay area.
Like for someone who's in yourshoes, what are you seeing and
what are you?
What do you feel or what do yousee as the most desirable areas
and where individuals aretrying to move to, and what you
support?
Austin Marks (10:51):
Yeah, great question.
It's really just based onpreference.
I'll say the biggest thingright now is people want to
avoid flood zones just based onrecent storms and fear Just
based on, like recent storms andfear these last two hurricanes.
I think it's like you know, thehundred year storm, yeah, in
(11:12):
parts of Florida, but mainlyTampa as far as like how hot the
water rose so that that kind ofstruck a lot of fear in people
that I had clients about a houselast year.
Great area would never thinkanything would happen and then
there was some water in theneighborhood and they're like,
yeah, we don't want to do thatagain, we want to sell and move.
So the properties that I havethat are not in flood zones are
(11:35):
a lot easier to sell.
I get a lot more activity onthose, the ones that are in
flood zones.
People become a little bit moreskeptical about them and
concerned about them, especiallyif they're older.
The newer homes are built uphigher in elevation and up to
code and things like that, whichare helpful, but it's also
price.
Like, um, flood insurance is isgoing to get really expensive.
(11:56):
So very similar to californiaand fire insurance.
It just gets to a point whereit's super high and unattainable
and people can't afford it.
Yeah, and then also, john, kindof what you're saying too, like
it's all preference.
Like the past couple of years, Iused to get so many people that
just moved from all over thecountry, like New York or
(12:17):
Midwest or California or Texas,like it was all these people
from out of state moving toFlorida and they didn't know
what area.
So it was always kind of likebreaking down, like what is your
lifestyle Like?
Do you want your the beach ordo you want to be down like
downtown Tampa, close toeverything, or do you want to be
in the suburbs, like similar toOrlando?
You have all these differentpockets that are for different
kinds of lifestyles.
Um, now I'm just seeing a lotmore people like locally move
(12:41):
around.
So sometimes maybe it's peoplethat move to South Tampa because
they want that lifestyle, theywant to be in like near downtown
or the lightning stand, likethere's so many developments
going on.
There are people that want tobe in like downtown St Pete
because they want to be close tothe downtown area.
Or you get people like Heatherand I live like 20 minutes
(13:03):
outside of Tampa, like in asuburb area, because it just
kind of matches our, our needsand what we're looking for.
So really just depends on whatpeople's lifestyles are, but I
see people just move aroundlocally all the time.
Jonathan Strahl (13:15):
Interesting.
That's a good point.
Austin Marks (13:18):
But you guys have done too.
Jonathan Strahl (13:21):
Yeah, do you so Mountain or mountain Mountain
Dang?
Yeah, do you so not?
Ryan Selimos (13:28):
in Vermont, not in dang.
Hey, at least you got hills anold groveland baby represent.
Jonathan Strahl (13:33):
Geez, hey, uh, austin, when you like, if you're
uh an individual who has afamily or you have kids, right,
um, where are in tampa some ofthe better like school zones or
districts?
And I'm sure when families cometo you that's probably a
popular question.
Austin Marks (13:53):
So I'm just curious what that looks like
yeah, well, the first questionis are you looking at like
public schools or privateschools?
Um, and depends on the area too.
So, like South Tampa, they havegreat public schools and they
have in certain areas and theyhave great private schools too.
Um, a lot of my market has beenNorth of Tampa, so it's been in
(14:15):
an area called Odessa and Lutesand West chase area, which is
just more probably 20, 30minutes North of South Tampa.
South Tampa is very competitive.
There's a lot of agents, a lotof higher priced homes, so
that's where everyone kind offlocks to, and I've just been
fortunate enough to find a nichein this area where there hasn't
been a ton of competition,which has allowed me to scale
(14:36):
more over time.
But, with that said, in mymarket that I know really well,
yeah, we have great publicschools, so a lot of people like
that area.
For once, not in the flood zone, you get some acreage and then
great public schools as well.
Kenny Massa (14:55):
Let's start to talk about the properties a little
bit more that you sell, becauseI think that's what is your
unique kind of value propositionas an agent.
Right, you talk about 8,500agents in that greater Tampa
area, but if you look at thesize of the homes, the cost of
the homes, the areas, you dohave that niche in the Odessa
(15:16):
area and surrounding spots and alot of those homes are like
they're all luxury we canconsider them like luxury,
high-end real estate.
For the most part, I would sayeverything that you touch is of
that you know seven figures ormore kind of region.
But tell us a little bit aboutthose properties.
Like more land, I know a lot ofthem are lakes.
A lot of them are thousands ofsquare feet.
Austin Marks (15:39):
They're big properties yeah, um, yeah, it's,
it's definitely um, the thingthat people love most about
odessa are the acreage, um, thesize of the lots and lake
frontage.
So traditionally that area waslike more equestrian.
So they have like largerparcels, like there was one that
(15:59):
got listed the other day forlike 5 000 square feet on 22
acres, um, and you're only aboutan hour and a half or so from
Ocala, which is where that worldequestrian center is.
So you can live in Ocala or youcan live in Tampa.
So because everything and thenmake that drive, uh, and then
the other thing is the lakes.
So that's just something that Ipersonally really like and so
(16:20):
it's been really fun to beinvolved in and easy to sell,
because that's the lifestylethat I grew up with.
Or we go to Lake Placid orClaremont or things like that.
That's the stuff that I enjoy,so it's easy for me to sell that
aspect of it.
But, yeah, tampa is very spreadout and so it just depends on
(16:41):
the lifestyle you want.
So that's just how my businesshas snowballed and, yeah, it's
mainly based off of acreage andthere's larger homes out there,
but they have larger homes inSouth Tampa, but it's just kind
of more, you know smaller lotsand being more centrally located
, if that answers your question.
Kenny Massa (16:58):
Yeah, they just seem like a little room in those
areas, uh-huh.
Austin Marks (17:01):
Wasn't that kind of what you did too, Kenny is?
You wanted something withacreage, and then you just kind
of found a pocket where thatmarket was um similar area.
Kenny Massa (17:11):
Yeah, I guess kind of like.
So we're in wellington, whichis like equestrian based too,
kind of.
So I feel like follow thehorses if you want land.
Austin Marks (17:19):
Yeah, so that's like the perfect example that I
use if I get people thatrelocate from a different part
of Florida or maybe like Miamior South Florida.
They're like what is Odessa?
Like I've never heard of it andI'm like the best way I could
explain it is like a Wellingtonto Fort Lauderdale or West Palm,
right as you, you still areclose to things.
(17:39):
You're not.
It's not like you're out in themiddle of nowhere, like you're
still close to, like Publix,starbucks, but you're like right
on the edge there to where youhave acreage or lake frontage.
Like some of these lake houses,you can have a huge house on
water for a good price comparedto what you know a waterfront
property would cost in SouthTampa.
But you're on an acre or twoacres and you're not in a flood
(18:03):
zone and personally I wouldrather have the lake and, just
you know, have your own dock goout there.
You don't have to worry aboutstorm surge or, you know, big
waves or anything like thataren't?
James LaGamma (18:14):
um, some of those lakes, uh, private lakes too.
They're not even like open,like public ramps and that kind
of stuff too, so that makes iteven added bonus.
Yeah, yeah.
Austin Marks (18:24):
Yeah, the I mean the vast majority of them are
private Um Lake Tarpon is amassive Lake.
It's like 5,300 acres.
That one um has public access,but all the ones in Odessa that
I know of are private, which isgreat.
So the biggest one is, uh, 430acres, which holds the highest
price point, which isinteresting too.
Right, it's just like themarket just determines the most
(18:46):
desirable lake to be on.
This is like the one to be on,and the prices reflect that, but
it is private.
So there's like two no, betweenlike 300 or 400 homes on that
lake, but it's like you only seea couple people on the lake at
a time.
Kenny Massa (19:03):
Yeah, that's awesome.
That's a really unique aspect.
You're only going to be on alake with people that are living
on the lake, basically, orassociated with the homes on the
lake, which is so cool.
Ryan Selimos (19:13):
It makes sense though, right, you come to
Florida for waterfront property.
All the storms, everyone camehere for beachfront, and the
storms have really, withinsurance, kind of moved people
away from that.
Lakefront gives you thatlifestyle from a different angle
, and we've talked about LakePlacid where your family is now
located.
That area is blowing up.
I think lakefront is definitelyyou're starting to see in a lot
of areas, but the next coupleof years it's going to continue
(19:33):
to boom.
James LaGamma (19:34):
Well, I mean, you're seeing a lot and I know
Austin, you can attest to this Alot of the major cities that
everyone lives in.
In Florida you've got your FortLauderdale, miami area.
Everything's been expanding outfrom there and so where all
(19:56):
those lakes actually are didn'thave access to amenities like
local grocery stores and stuffthat were easily accessible.
And because everything iscommercializing and spreading
out, it's making that a littlebit more appetizing to a
borrower.
Because before like Austin said,these are a lot of horses and
ranches and stuff like that.
You still go drive around themiddle of Florida.
You're just seeing houses inrandom locations why would
someone live here?
But eventually that randomhouse is going to be closer to a
(20:19):
Publix and then closer to aWalmart and then it's going to
be like well okay, now thatthere's this lake, that's here,
the value is going to explode.
Kenny Massa (20:29):
Yeah, and as that commercial stuff is easier to
access, it just attracts morepeople, and then that's when
they start dropping those hugedevelopments, and then it just
explodes from there.
James LaGamma (20:38):
It just keeps going.
That's actually what we'reexperiencing in Claremont.
It was know farmland for thelongest time.
You still kind of keep goingwest from Orlando and it still
is farmland.
But they've brought, we've got,a Costco now.
(20:59):
It just opened up last year,like maybe 8 months ago.
That was huge and now everyonegoes there.
So it makes things a little bitmore attainable, like it's only
like a 15 minute drive from,like the um city limits of
Groveland.
So yeah, it's, it's wild, but I, you know, I still feel like
I'm away from the hustle andbustle of Orlando, which is nice
, which is still 45 minutes awayfrom me, and it makes sense too
(21:20):
.
Ryan Selimos (21:21):
You know Austin talks about all the different
individuals he was working with,his clients coming in from
different states, and now you'remiami's, you're orlando's,
you're tampa those areas you'reon top of each other's now.
So, yes, people are moving out.
They want more space.
They're willing to make thatcommute to get an acre, two
acres, where in orlando or miamithose areas you're maybe
getting half an acre or a thirdat similar price points.
Austin Marks (21:39):
So now it's going to bring all that development
yeah, I just get people that,just like we we've all done,
around, zillow, as you said,like a certain price point, and
then you just keep like clickingdots and the next thing you
know you keep kind of moving,let's say more north or south,
whatever, because you don'tnecessarily know those areas,
you just think the dots areclose together.
I think that's what happens.
Like I had a gentleman call mefrom Miami the other day asking
(22:02):
about a property I had listedand I think he just had set, uh,
the house was listed for 3million, I think he just had a
price point set for that and hewas probably looking in maybe
Miami or South Tampa, and thenlike just found his way and it
was like wait a second, this islike a 6,000 square foot house
on an acre on a ski lake for thesame price I'm looking at for
like a penthouse in downtown orwhatever it is.
(22:22):
What is this area?
But that is, um is one of theparts that I feel like I have to
always explain to buyers thataren't familiar with the area,
right?
So that same lake house, Ishowed it to a party that was
like, oh, this area is just waytoo rural for us, like we can
never move out here, we're notinterested, and I'm like well,
you're five minutes from ourlike most popular freeway.
(22:44):
That takes you 15 minutes toget to the airport.
Your closest Publix andStarbucks is 10 minutes.
So that's why I'm getting morelike local people and that's why
those like properties or biggerproperties typically sell
faster.
It's because I get like the $3million ones under contract
right now.
I went under contract in 12days because the buyer is from
South Tampa, so he knew the areaas soon as he saw it.
(23:08):
He loved the house and was likeyeah, I'll buy it.
Like I know the area, but tosomeone that's like just driving
down or visiting from like NewYork, they're like where am I?
Like am I in the woods?
And you're like no, if you knowwhere you are, you're, you know
, 15 minutes from the airportand super close to everything.
Kenny Massa (23:22):
I think people want to go to those big city areas
because you have one ease ofaccess, right Like you can just
literally like New York you canstep outside and you can be in
50 different restaurants in fiveminutes.
But also, I think, especiallythe bigger buildings, the
penthouses, like luxury is justbaked into your lifestyle but it
(23:44):
doesn't mean that you can'taccess luxury amenities at your
home in a 6,000 square foot homeLike.
You've probably seen some crazystuff inside of some of these
homes that you've either walkedthrough and toured with
potential buyers or you've beenthe selling agent on Like.
Can you give us examples ofsome maybe like luxurious
amenities that you've seen builtinto these homes, because I've
(24:05):
seen some pictures of them andyou know, on lakes, probably
boathouses and things like that.
Austin Marks (24:13):
Yeah, um seen some really cool stuff.
Um one, I saw a house that hehad um an automatic screened
Lanai, so it was on the lake andso he he his covered, like his
pool wasn't covered, but hisoutdoor patio had a roof over,
and then like the walls aroundit and so he would leave it open
(24:33):
so, you know, he can enjoy anunobstructed view of the lake or
the pool.
But in the evenings if, like,the bugs got bad or he wanted to
put a the screen in, he justpush a button and then the cage
would basically come down andput a screen around all the
walls.
Um, you know, if he's eatingoutside, or something like that.
Um, docks I've seen, you know,um, like two-story docks so
(24:56):
people can jump off of or havemultiple boat slips.
Um, what else?
James LaGamma (25:03):
um, I mean the backyards that you have on some
of these are are just it lookslike a spa resort.
They're gorgeous.
Austin Marks (25:09):
Yeah, a lot of these homes are like smart homes
too.
Yeah, like everything is donefrom the phone.
So, like the last one thebiggest sale that I've had he
bought the house, he put a tonof money into it and it was like
every possible thing you canthink of was done into it, and
(25:29):
it was like every possible thingyou can think of was done so
like on his phone.
He could walk into any room andturn on and control the tv with
his phone.
It didn't matter, you didn'tneed a bunch of remotes, he just
controlled it from that phonegarages, air conditioning, sound
system, which was like in thehouse, in the landscaping around
the house and on the dock.
So if he was like on the dock,he didn't want to listen to
music on the dock he could justsync it up to his phone.
(25:50):
Um, trying to think of what else?
Um, generators are pretty bigtoo.
With properties or those biggerhouses now, they'll just set up
a really big generator and apropane tank so the house can
run on it.
Um, a lot of stuff, though,just comes down to like
architectural design too, oflike you know, I had one where
it was a beautiful kitchen, andthen they built a butler's
(26:13):
kitchen slash pantry behind thekitchen so like that's where you
would put like pots and foodand if you had people over, so
that the kitchen is just more oflike an art piece and an
entertaining space and then alllike the dirty dishes go in a
separate hidden.
James LaGamma (26:26):
Yeah, that's cool .
How old are these homes?
Yeah, how old are these homes?
Are they, like uh, been aroundfor a while or are they
relatively newer builds?
Austin Marks (26:39):
Um, most of them are like early two thousands,
sometimes mid two thousands.
Um, but that's a fun thingabout real estate is it's like
it's so unpredictable.
Um, you know, I can't.
I've tried to apply similarlike data trends that I know
Kenny applies to his business,and I just can't.
There's no common factor.
(27:01):
So, like I could, I've hadanywhere from someone you know,
like the Butler's kitchen houseI was just talking about.
They built a custom house inlike 2020 and they lived in it
for a couple of years and theyjust decided they wanted to sell
it for whatever reason.
And then again I've had otherpeople that have lived in the
house since 1990 and their kidsmoved out and now they're
downsizing.
So I will say there's hugedemand for newer homes and new
(27:24):
construction homes, but theyjust don't come up very often.
I'm seeing a lot more of peoplebuy like an older home than
they renovated or take downwalls and try to modernize it
that way.
Ryan Selimos (27:34):
Yeah, so, austin, you found your niche market
right.
You're passionate about it, butyou obviously didn't start.
You weren't selling these homeswhen you first started.
So, like to a new real estateindividual who's trying to make
that leap, they're on their ownjourney.
What would be your advice andcan you kind of share how you
found, you know, this niche thatyou're now pretty successful in
(27:55):
?
Austin Marks (27:56):
Yeah, I think, like any industry, mentorship is
really important.
So I always had an interest inreal estate.
Um and I joined a brokeragethat my dad got his real estate
license and did, like um atransaction and recommended
joining this brokerage.
So I joined the brokerage andthen through that, through
mutual connections, of justwanting to find a team just you
(28:20):
know, we've all been in, we allplayed in the same football team
.
So I wanted, like thatcamaraderie aspect.
Um, I didn't want to just bealone and trying to figure this
out on my own.
I wanted to be a part ofsomething and part of a team.
So I got connected with a teamthat just happened to specialize
in luxury real estate.
I didn't realize that that'swhat I wanted to do or that's
what I was going to get into,but I joined that team and the
(28:43):
way that teams work in realestate is you'll have a split
set up with them.
So, for example, I'll sell.
If I sell something, I get 60or 70 percent of the commission
check and then they get aportion of it for that
mentorship and helping.
So I did that for a couple ofyears and through that I learned
a ton.
It helped accelerate my processof learning how to talk to
(29:07):
these luxury homeowners, how tomarket to them how to sell the
properties, how to stage them,how to market them, and I
learned a lot of that from thementors that I had.
And it just got to a point whereI felt like I was outgrowing
that team and decided it wastime for me to take a step in a
different direction and decidedit was time for me to take a
(29:28):
step in a different direction.
But I really recommendmentorship or coaching or help,
because maybe you are giving upa piece of the permission check
or, with some coaching, you'repaying for the coaching or, like
a mastermind, you're paying forit.
But it's an investment thataccelerates the process.
I've been in the business forfive years and I'm now at a
point where I think I have a lotof business coming in and leads
(29:49):
that I'm looking to start ateam myself and kind of expand
that.
But I don't think I would havegotten here or gotten into this
price point this quickly if itwasn't for joining a team,
giving up portions of revenueand just learning and just
trying to be a sponge.
Jonathan Strahl (30:06):
Hey, austin, that's a great point.
I love the mentorship piece andit's awesome especially as like
a friend group to see yousucceeding and doing very well.
I've got a question.
We've talked about like beingonline and seeing pictures.
You've mentioned Zillow a fewtimes.
You've mentioned marketing, theonline piece.
I find it so interesting of howreal estate has evolved into
(30:32):
what it is today.
When you talk about the socialmedia piece and being able to go
on as a consumer and click tosee what a price looks like, and
you've used your marketing andyour online social media very
well, so walk us through thatand just how much has that been
a benefit?
But also, is there a challengeto it as well?
Austin Marks (30:54):
Yeah, let's see.
The benefit has mainly been, Iwould say, for sellers.
So the vast majority like 80,90% of my business has been on
the sell side.
The listing side, which I like.
I like taking a property andstaging it and decluttering and
adding different decor andtaking those pictures and
(31:16):
getting the nighttime shots andlike really, really making it a
marketable property and havingit perform better than other
properties on the market.
That's something I'm passionateabout and really enjoy.
And so how do I do that with?
The aspect of social media isgetting great content, whether
it's like the social media reelsthat are down to like less than
a minute for consumers andpushing those out through
(31:38):
advertising.
Some realtors are very goodwith social media.
I see stuff all the time oflike their whole business is
from Instagram and pulling leadsand things like that, which I
probably only had a couple leadslike directly from Instagram
where someone saw like a paidadvertising and then reached out
.
But I think it's just more ofcontinuing to show people what
(32:03):
you're doing and staying busyand saying, hey look, you know
I've listed another property,here's how it looks, and it's
staying in front of people sothat when the time comes in
maybe like five years.
They're like who should we call?
And they're like oh, we've beenfollowing Austin on Instagram
for five years and he's beenpretty busy and he always puts
out really high quality picturesand content Like I think that's
(32:24):
the person we want to representour house.
So it's more of just stayingtop of mind.
Everyone has differentstrategies for social media.
I've tried to experiment withdifferent things and just
haven't necessarily been verysuccessful, like the direct lead
flow, but I think just thebranding of trying to stay in
front of people.
But by posting that content onsocial media and advertising
(32:47):
with it, it helps increase theview count, which also carries
over to Zillow and increases theview count and save count on
Zillow, which then in return Ican go back to my sellers or a
potential seller that I'm doinga listing presentation and say,
hey, this is what I can do foryour property and these are the
amount of people we can get infront of.
And these are the amount ofpeople we can get in front of
(33:09):
and most of the time they liketo hear that compared to maybe
an agent that would just take apicture and throw it online and
just wait for someone to callthem.
Jonathan Strahl (33:13):
Yeah, I mean let's.
I think it's it's so obvious,like at the end of the day for
you, and probably what we couldall agree on too.
It's like when someone meetsyou, at the end of the day, what
the goal is like you're tryingto build a relationship and
trust right, and that's whatsomeone's going to go with and
that obviously individual wouldbe you, but it is just really
(33:36):
interesting to see what you cangrasp and consume online when it
comes to just real estate.
So interesting.
Austin Marks (33:43):
Appreciate you breaking that down, just trying
to stay in front of people.
And I think the reason why Ilike real estate is I've never
been good at like direct sales,like my, like Heather, she does
over the phone sales.
It's like boom, here's thepitch.
Like do I convert this or notonto the next versus mine's,
just more relationship building.
(34:03):
So my like, one of my corevalues is value.
How do I provide value to whereit just doesn't feel like it's
a sales pitch right, like if youwalk into a home and you don't
like the home, there's no wayI'm going to be able to.
Whatever I can pitch I can puttogether is get you to buy the
house.
So how can I provide value?
And I think I can do a lot ofthat?
Just through getting, if I'mrepresenting you on the listing
(34:25):
side, just getting the propertyin front of as many people as
possible and representing it,you know, to the to its full
potential.
There was something else I wasgoing to add, but Got another
core value.
Yeah, oh.
So I think we've probably allheard of Ryan Serhant.
Ryan Serhant is like like thebiggest social media guy.
(34:49):
He's been on like the Netflixshows and so he's very
successful with his brokerage.
In one of his books he said thatpeople like to shop with
friends and that is alwayssomething that like stuck out to
me is like if you went intoNordstrom or Macy's or whatever
and the sales rep was followingyou around like you should buy
the shirt, you should buy theshirt, it wouldn't be enjoyable,
right.
But?
And the sales rep was followingyou around like you should buy
the shirt, you should buy theshirt it wouldn't be enjoyable,
(35:09):
right.
But if you went with like afriend and the friend was like,
hey, this color looks good onyou, or like it's just a fun
experience and you're providingvalue, it makes it a much more
enjoyable experience.
So that's what I try to tailorit.
I try to, you know, become anadvisor, but friends with the
client, so they can feel likethey're shopping with a friend
where they're comfortable andit's fun, but I'm providing
value along the way.
Ryan Selimos (35:27):
Love that.
That's awesome.
James LaGamma (35:28):
Yeah, Good perspective.
Um, you got something right.
You go All right.
Well, I mean, I'm going toshift a little bit of the focus
too.
So you go Okay, cool, I'm goingto go a little bit more towards
my side of the world, um, in inthis real estate transaction.
So, do you, do you just?
We talked about the market, wetalked about the different homes
and like what people like, whatpeople dislike.
So I, in the home buyingprocess, do you genuinely see,
(35:52):
when someone comes to you andyou start to help work with them
or find a home or or anythingand I'm specifically starting
from the buyer side, not theseller side yeah, um, do they
always?
Do they already have a lenderpicked out?
Are they usually coming in withcash in your area?
What, what's the?
The financing?
Austin Marks (36:11):
portion of it and how do you add value?
Yeah, I haven't seen cashbuyers in a while.
Uh, they were.
I was seeing them constantly.
Um, I think because wheninterest rates were so low that
people with cash were basicallycompeting against free money and
(36:32):
so it was kind of like an evenplaying field versus now, you
know, people want to hold ontotheir cash or borrow.
I know interest rates are high,but they would rather leverage
that than spend the cash.
So I haven't really seen a cashbuyer in a while, versus I'm
seeing a ton of them.
And then, as far as when clientswant to purchase a home, it
really depends, because I havefirst-time homebuyers that come
to me and they're like, hey, Iwant to buy a house, how do I
(36:53):
get started?
And that's just a differentprocess.
As far as just simplifying theprocess from A to Z, here's a
lender that I use that I've hadgreat experience with here's,
who I recommend Versus.
You know some of the affluentclientele, right, this has been
like their 10th, 11th, 12th home.
So they're very familiar withthe process where they might've
(37:15):
been doing it, you know, for thepast 10, 20 years, and they
already have a lender.
So I have vendors.
I don't necessarily try to pushthem onto people.
If they're like hey, I alreadyhave a great lender, it's like
great, you can use that lenderif you feel comfortable with
them and let's make it aseamless process.
But for those that don't or arecurious about the process, I
have those lined up for people.
James LaGamma (37:36):
And I guess you know what I've gotten from most
of this and obviously ourconversations is you're, you're
generally more focused on theseller side, um, but for someone
that seems to just findthemselves, uh, being on the
buyer side, often as a realestate agent, um, would you,
would you say that that'sanother avenue that someone can
(37:57):
look into?
As far as relationship building, like, you've talked about how
to create a strong relationshipwith the actual um seller and
adding adding value and all thatkind of stuff, or shopping with
friends and stuff, but, um, alot of the stuff, at least from
the mortgage side, is right, therelationship building with real
estate agents, builders andthose kinds of things.
Austin Marks (38:12):
So, yeah, um, that's an amazing thing with
real estate is there's so manydifferent ways that you can
frame your business model.
If you want to just work withsellers, or you want to work
with buyers, or you want to workwith investors, or you want to
work with investors, or you wantto work with first-time home
buyers, or you want to work with, specifically, veterans using a
VA loan there's so many thingsyou can do and model your
(38:32):
business and find your niche.
I have seen great modelsbetween buyers and lenders where
they're splitting marketingcosts.
So the buyer's agent is likehey, I do a ton of buyers, or I
pay Zillow or Realtorcom forleads.
You want to split this costwith me and you'll do all my
loans.
Or I have a team and we'reprimarily on the buy side.
(38:54):
You can be our preferred lender, but you need to help pay for
advertising.
So I've seen all differentkinds of models like that, where
people just have theirpreferred vendors that they've
used.
As a realtor.
I want the transaction to gosmoothly and easy.
It's an emotional transactionand so any bump in the road can
(39:18):
cause issues as far as maybe thebuyer has second thoughts about
the house or the seller doesn'twant to deal with that party
anymore, whatever it is.
So just making sure that youhave a good relationship with
the lender or inspectors orwhoever it is, so that it's an
easy process, that's my toppriority.
James LaGamma (39:36):
My last comment on um, or a question for you, is
is have you seen competition inthe marketplace from investment
firms still trying to buy uphomes and stuff?
Austin Marks (39:51):
Not really.
I don't know if it's just themarket that I have been in
Occasionally, like I have ahouse rented or rented for sale
in the Odessa area.
That would work, is like agreat rental.
It's under 400,000.
So it would kind of meet thatcriteria.
Some of these, but I don'treally get too much.
(40:13):
I get like low ball offers,like I'll just get an email from
someone who hasn't seen it likeyears.
You know I'll give you 50% ofwhat you have it listed at and
who knows if that's backed byone of those companies and
they're just sending out so manyof those emails until somebody
bites.
But I haven't seen it too much.
It might just be the marketthat I'm in and maybe they focus
on places like South Tampa orclose to the airport.
James LaGamma (40:35):
They're going to do first-time homebuyer type
homes, first luxury.
Austin Marks (40:38):
It's just hard to make the numbers make sense
unless these hedge funds arecoming in and buying it in cash
and then turn around and rentingit because the rent is so high.
These hedge funds are coming inand buying in cash and then
turn around and renting itbecause the rent is so high, but
it's so high that, like, if Iborrow money, I can't I can't
make a rental deal make senseright now.
Yeah.
James LaGamma (40:55):
Yeah.
Ryan Selimos (40:56):
Yeah, awesome.
I was going to ask you kind ofwhat's a day in the life or
what's a week look like for you.
It's not a typical nine to five, right?
I feel like weekends isprobably more your busy time, so
you like to sleep in, so you'renot up at you know you don't
got to be in the office at 7am,you know what I mean To just
take us through that journey ofuh, of what you know a typical
(41:17):
day or a week looks like, withall the craziness in real estate
.
Austin Marks (41:21):
Yeah, so it really um Very so.
January to June is my, is likemy busiest time.
November, december is alwayssuper slow.
Um, so that's when you know youtry to take some more golf
lessons, when you play a littlebit more.
Ryan Selimos (41:35):
But um, other than that, To meet clients and build
relationships on the coursebuddy golf and then actually
heather started playing.
Austin Marks (41:45):
So I started playing a little bit and I've
gotten gotten more into it.
I don't know if it's like.
As soon as I hit 30 I was likeall right, we're picking up the
sticks awesome you're alwaysgood at golf super fun in the
calf, you know, just great shot,your aim's great, yeah, yeah
yeah, I don't know if you guyshave been seeing that, like john
gruden went to barstool but helives in avila, in tampa, so
he's at that golf course all thetime.
(42:06):
So there's a lot of um, yeah,there's a lot of golf in Florida
, um, but oh, the day in thelife thing.
So yeah, it really.
It really varies Like.
So today I have, you know, thisis the podcast and then I have
a couple hours where I've justgot to finish um, a couple like
email, admin stuff, and then I'mdriving um about an hour North
(42:29):
to do photos for a property fromlike two to six 30, and then
I'll come home and then tomorrowI have an open house from 11 to
two and then after that I'mshowing our client like five
properties, so that'll probablybe from like three to six or
three to seven Um, and then, youknow, monday I might not have
anything until, you know, sundayrolls around and then someone
starts requesting to see aproperty or wants to schedule a
(42:50):
call.
So it is.
It is interesting navigating theschedule.
You just kind of go with theflow.
But that's another reason whyI'm looking into building a team
and structuring a team, justhaving a little bit extra help
as far as, like, hey, here's,you know, um, an appointment
that you know is only an hourthat I could leverage somebody
(43:13):
else's time to to help me withthat.
So just going with it day byday.
But yeah, it is, it's um, Imean, I, I love it.
I guess some people might notlike it, because it's just so 24
, seven, but not if that makessense, like you could wake up
and be like man, I don't reallyhave anything today.
(43:33):
I can go play golf or maybeI'll go get lunch with a friend,
but that could change.
Somebody could call you andthen you work when nobody else
is working.
So weekends is when people arewanting to have open houses done
or go look at properties.
Jonathan Strahl (43:47):
So yeah, it's like it's like almost you have
the flexibility but you reallydon't.
And, to your point, like you'reputting in a lot more hours on
the weekend than maybe, as Ryanhinted at.
Like you're not working like aneight to five or a nine to five
, which also in your world likethere's I'm sure you can attest
(44:07):
to this Like you want to begreat and good at what you're
doing.
Like you got to have a littlebit of accountability on your
own end, right?
Austin Marks (44:14):
Absolutely yeah.
So I mean, the first thing I doevery morning is just make a
to-do list of, like, what's liketop important things following
up with clients, you know.
And then there's just so manydifferent hats I have to wear as
far as, like, I still have tohave a marketing and prospect
aspect to my business, so like,okay, for these two hours I'm
going to follow up with leads orsend direct mail or whatever it
(44:34):
might be, and then the otherpart of the day I'm following up
and kind of switching to amanagement aspect of like, how
are things going with thelistings and calling clients and
then doing showings, and so, asthat scales more over time,
that's why I'm looking toimplement some help, just so
that quality can stay there asthe business grows Makes sense
(44:55):
Cool.
Kenny Massa (44:55):
Well, as we wrap up here, if there's one piece of
advice that you could givesomeone who's looking to become
an agent or be a better agent,what would that be, so that they
could better their business?
Austin Marks (45:10):
Yeah, I, uh, I would definitely join Austin's
team.
Um would definitely be like thementorship route.
So, as I had mentioned, there'sso many different routes you
can go in real estate, whetherit's like I want to work with
landlords and help them findrental or like investment
properties, or I want to do fixand flips, or I want to do
high-end homes, or I want towork with buyers, like kind of
(45:33):
looking at the model that youwant to do and then aligning
yourself with a team or a mentor, because there are people that
have been in the business for along time and they're starting
to get out and they just want towork with certain clients and
that's someone where you couldhelp them or be like an
assistant and learn theirbusiness, cause that was the
best thing that happened to mewas being on a team and having
(45:54):
great mentors that, like showedme you know how to market these
properties and things like that.
Ryan Selimos (46:01):
Austin, you've talked about right Building
relationships, building trust,wanting to bring value, wanting
to really make those dreams cometrue for individuals, whether
on the selling or on the buyingside.
So kind of sell yourself alittle bit.
Where can people find you?
If they want to reach out toyou, if they want to connect you
know and be a part of theAustin Marks experience, how can
they find you?
How can they reach you?
James LaGamma (46:19):
How are you going to leave your marks?
Ryan Selimos (46:21):
Oh my gosh.
Austin Marks (46:23):
I do get called Mark.
A lot, a lot of text callsthere's an.
James LaGamma (46:27):
S people.
There's an S, hey, Mark.
Austin Marks (46:30):
Just Instagram Austin Marks at Instagram or
Austin Marks Real Estate onFacebook or Austin Marks Group
website is there Awesome?
Kenny Massa (46:41):
Awesome.
Well, we appreciate your inputon not only the greater Tampa
Bay area but real estate as awhole.
From an agent's perspective, welook forward to continuing to
see you build your team as youdevelop a larger footprint in
that Tampa Bay area andhopefully we see you across the
rest of Florida and, who knows,maybe the rest of the United
States.
Austin Marks (46:59):
Oh yeah, so we appreciate it when you guys I
love what you guys are doingwith the podcast.
The studio looks great, All theinterviews have been great as
well.
James LaGamma (47:11):
Mass inbound studios awesome.
Kenny Massa (47:12):
Well, thank you, we appreciate it.
Thanks, austin see you guys.
How about the fact that Davion posted that next
year will be like the 10-yearreunion for you guys, yep?
Jonathan Strahl (00:16):
That was pretty crazy.
Kenny Massa (00:18):
It is.
I didn't even think about that.
I didn't see it, me neither.
James LaGamma (00:24):
10 years 10-year reunion.
As far as graduating, CoachAustin's going back.
Jonathan Strahl (00:32):
That's crazy.
Do we do that, coach Austin?
Ryan Selimos (00:35):
We got a Coach Austin, yeah, running backs
coach.
The guy who went to NorthDakota after OG I don't know how
.
He's going back to Stetson.
Kenny Massa (00:44):
Yeah, they just hired him Interesting the big
dude.
No, no.
Jonathan Strahl (00:48):
He's a little guy actually.
If I remember he was small, buthe was like oh, I remember who
he was Coach Austin.
Austin Marks (00:52):
I know, it took me a second.
He was a great coach.
I got concussions.
Kenny Massa (01:05):
Can he play, or One of the Dakotas?
Yeah, they should just be onestate.
Ryan Selimos (01:06):
But yeah, basically enough people Live in
fucking both states To beattacked.
Feels like the Dakotas Rightnow Fucking, freezing outside
yeah.
Kenny Massa (01:11):
Okay, how cold is it by you, austin?
Austin Marks (01:15):
Like 40s.
Kenny Massa (01:16):
Yeah, it's like 40s here.
Ryan Selimos (01:17):
So, it's snowing there in Florida, huh, 40
degrees basically.
Jonathan Strahl (01:21):
Yeah, it's pretty cold, nice, the rain, the
rain was terrible, that wasterrible.
Ryan Selimos (01:29):
We appreciate you skipping the big holiday in the
Tampa area of Gasparilla andbeing here with us.
I know you're looking forwardto it Very excited.
We appreciate your support.
What's he going by himself?
Kenny Massa (01:38):
Heather can't go.
She's like pretty pregnant he'sgoing with clients.
Ryan Selimos (01:44):
It's where the real estate oh that's not
leaving my house.
James LaGamma (01:46):
Yeah, Austin how are you skating around A RESPA
Section 8 violation?
What Getting kickbacks?
Kenny Massa (01:57):
Oh yeah.
James LaGamma (01:59):
How do you do it?
How do you get such a nice Life, toys, toys, alcohol, meals
while not violating law?
Ryan Selimos (02:12):
Wow, you really just what do you mean.
This is a great start.
You just changed the whole toneof the conversation.
Alright, Austin, you're onYikes.
Kenny Massa (02:21):
I haven't started yet.
We have Shut up.
This is not, this is going in.
Austin has killer lines.
I haven't started yet.
We have.
No, we have started.
Ryan Selimos (02:25):
We're recording.
Shut up.
This is not.
I've been on my phone the wholetime.
This is going in Austin haskiller lines Cut.
James LaGamma (02:28):
I have a fucking question.
Ryan Selimos (02:30):
Go.
Kenny Massa (02:31):
There is changes in the industry, though, right
Like there was that whole lawthat passed last year that had
to do with, like, one sidepaying for all the fees and all
that kind of stuff.
And then also, oh, the NARsettlement.
I don't fucking know what it'scalled.
I'm not in real estate, that'swhy he's here.
It's a NAR settlement.
James LaGamma (02:48):
Go ahead.
Talk about the NAR settlement.
Austin Marks (02:51):
Yeah, so basically what happened was traditionally
a seller would pay both thecommission fees.
So if one of you listed yourhome let's say the commission is
at 5% you would pay yourlisting agent the person listing
your home 2.5% and then you'doffer 2.5% to a buyer's agent to
bring you a buyer to the table.
A lawsuit started with somelawyers thinking that real
(03:15):
estate agents were colluding andkind of marking up that price
to work together.
The idea behind it was like ifone of us was in a lawsuit with
another one, why should I haveto pay my lawyer to represent?
me and why should I pay likeyour lawyer to represent you, or
you should pay your ownrepresentation and I should pay
my own?
So from there the lawyers endedup winning a massive class
(03:38):
action lawsuit.
They went after all the bigbrokerages, because those are
the ones with the money, andthen they changed the rules.
So let's say, one of you wantedto look at a house tomorrow,
(04:00):
and this was a year ago.
I could go in the MLS and belike okay, 123 Main Street is
offering 2% or 2.5% to me, and Iwould just know that ahead of
time.
It doesn't really make adifference to me, because what
matters to me is that the clientlikes the home.
But at least you know you wouldget compensated a certain
percentage through thistransaction if it were to go
through Versus.
Now all that has to becompletely removed and we just
(04:21):
have to approach the listingpresentation a little bit
differently of saying, hey, youknow, sellers, this is where
we're at today, this is what myfee is, and I can give
recommendations on what I thinkyou should do.
As far as like offering thatcommission as an incentive, it
has made things challengingbecause most of the time on the
buyer's side, you have a lotmore expenses, right?
(04:44):
So you're putting a downpayment down, you're paying for
appraisals, you're paying for aninspection, you're paying for
surveys, you're paying forclosing costs, you're paying for
a lot of things.
And so now, on top of that, youhave to be expected to pay two
to two and a half, sometimes upto 3%, to your buyer's agent.
The buyers usually don't havethat cash on hand and it's
(05:05):
always been nice of kind of thecircle of way or the way it
works as far as the sellerpaying that.
And then you know, when you buyyou don't have to worry about
paying your agent.
So that aspect has changed andI'm seeing a little bit of
everything, like some sellersare still open to offering that
incentive to a buyer's agentbecause they know the buyer's
agent is bringing the people tothe property.
And then I've had othersituations where the seller is
(05:28):
like I'm not paying the realestate agent on the buy side
because in my eyes I think thatthey're only just opening a door
and letting somebody in.
So now there's like twonegotiation periods to a real
estate transaction.
One is between the seller andthe buyer as far as agreeing on
price, and then now on thosedeals where the commission isn't
(05:49):
set up front.
There's a second negotiationperiod which is basically
becoming between the seller andmyself and the buyer's broker,
the buyer's broker wanting toget paid a certain amount.
Kenny Massa (05:59):
So it's definitely adding more complexity to the
situation.
I feel like it slows thingsdown too, though, from just
wanting to go see houses.
The one thing that I saw likewhen recently purchasing a home
was that it was um, but justmore challenging to like line
things up and go, because peoplewant to know that information
first.
(06:19):
I guess like, yeah, what arecommissions being paid and
whatnot?
It's kind of a pain in the ass,in my opinion.
Austin Marks (06:26):
Yeah, I agree, I think, um, I thought it was a
great, uh, like a decent systembeforehand, because there's like
, if you sell a house, right, itkind of stinks, you're paying
that commission on both sides,but then after you sell, you're
typically going and buyingsomething else, right, and it's
kind of the circle that justkeeps going around and around
and it, in my eyes, kind ofbalances out over time.
(06:48):
Now, you're right, it doescomplicate things.
It's like, as the real estateagent, I always put my clients
first of making sure, like, isthis a good investment for you?
Like, it's not about me and youknow, trying to get a deal done
, it's about, like, does thishouse work for you?
Does the payments work for you?
Does the neighborhood work foryou?
And now, unfortunately, it isadding in that element where
(07:08):
agents are like well, how mucham I getting paid?
I recently just went through myfirst transaction with that
where the seller didn't want tooffer a compensation to a
buyer's agent and the buyer fellin love with the house and
loved the house and wenegotiated price and we, like
seller and buyer, found a middleground that worked for them and
(07:31):
the sellers were excited.
And then the buyer's agents werelike, well, how much are we
getting paid?
And I had that conversation oflike, unfortunately, sellers are
not offering compensation, andso then it became a whole nother
negotiation that went on forlike two days of basically just
the buyer's broker rightfully sotrying to be compensated on the
deal and the seller's not, andthen we finally found a middle
(07:53):
ground.
But like you said, kenny, thedeal itself was put together a
couple days before and then theother couple days after were
just between the broker andmyself and the seller, which
unfortunately, I think hurts theconsumer, because the consumer
was very excited about the house.
They got the price and theterms that they wanted, but the
deal could have potentiallyfallen through if it came down
(08:15):
to the broker not willing totake a lesser commission on it.
Kenny Massa (08:21):
Yeah, it's kind of wild, because if someone's
excited to purchase a home andthen all of a sudden they have
all this shit going on in thebackground and it's like not
really a tasteful elementtowards the transaction, um from
a from a time when you'resupposed to be happy and excited
about purchasing a new home.
So from the buyer's perspectiveit's kind of yeah, it's kind of
(08:42):
um.
Ryan Selimos (08:43):
It adds a flavor of like on enjoyment to the
process and it sounds like thebuyer has no involvement, like
they have no control over thesituation.
They've made a decision,they're ready to buy everything
within their control.
They've checked those boxes andstill it might not happen.
Austin Marks (08:55):
Yeah, that's tough yeah, yeah, well, and there's
other things.
Like there's a lot of realestate agents in tampa.
There's like 8,500 greaterTampa Bay area, so all three
counties, there's 8,500 agents.
So I mean I would never do this, but maybe it's an agent that's
like a little bit moredesperate or like only does one
transaction a year.
Like imagine they're yourrealtor.
(09:16):
You don't know if you'retrusting them to send you
properties and maybe it's inlike your dream desirable area
and they ask, hey, is there acompensation on this?
And the seller says no, maybethat realtor doesn't send you
that property and maybe youcould have missed out on
something that you really likedbecause the realtor didn't know
how to negotiate for themselvesor didn't want to go through
(09:37):
that Um.
But I will say um that the shiftum in the market with like all
the apps and technology doeshelp the consumer a lot.
Right, with like Zillow isbasically a version of Instagram
for home shopping, so theconsumer can use it.
Before, traditionally, theagent right Is finding the
(09:58):
properties and sending it to theclient to look at and things
like that, or printing it outand sharing it with them.
But now, most of the time, likemy clients are sending me
properties before, like I caneven get it to them.
So I'll see, oh, this propertyjust popped up, let me check,
like the disclosures, or is itpriced?
Well, is there anything wrongwith the house?
(10:18):
And like they're alreadysending it to me before I'm even
reviewing it to send to thembecause it's popping up on
Zillow or they're just lookingat it constantly.
Um, so that's a good point.
Jonathan Strahl (10:29):
Hey, austin, you mentioned like desirable
areas in the greater Tampa TampaBay area.
Like for someone who's in yourshoes, what are you seeing and
what are you?
What do you feel or what do yousee as the most desirable areas
and where individuals aretrying to move to, and what you
support?
Austin Marks (10:51):
Yeah, great question.
It's really just based onpreference.
I'll say the biggest thingright now is people want to
avoid flood zones just based onrecent storms and fear Just
based on, like recent storms andfear these last two hurricanes.
I think it's like you know, thehundred year storm, yeah, in
(11:12):
parts of Florida, but mainlyTampa as far as like how hot the
water rose so that that kind ofstruck a lot of fear in people
that I had clients about a houselast year.
Great area would never thinkanything would happen and then
there was some water in theneighborhood and they're like,
yeah, we don't want to do thatagain, we want to sell and move.
So the properties that I havethat are not in flood zones are
(11:35):
a lot easier to sell.
I get a lot more activity onthose, the ones that are in
flood zones.
People become a little bit moreskeptical about them and
concerned about them, especiallyif they're older.
The newer homes are built uphigher in elevation and up to
code and things like that, whichare helpful, but it's also
price.
Like, um, flood insurance is isgoing to get really expensive.
(11:56):
So very similar to californiaand fire insurance.
It just gets to a point whereit's super high and unattainable
and people can't afford it.
Yeah, and then also, john, kindof what you're saying too, like
it's all preference.
Like the past couple of years, Iused to get so many people that
just moved from all over thecountry, like New York or
(12:17):
Midwest or California or Texas,like it was all these people
from out of state moving toFlorida and they didn't know
what area.
So it was always kind of likebreaking down, like what is your
lifestyle Like?
Do you want your the beach ordo you want to be down like
downtown Tampa, close toeverything, or do you want to be
in the suburbs, like similar toOrlando?
You have all these differentpockets that are for different
kinds of lifestyles.
Um, now I'm just seeing a lotmore people like locally move
(12:41):
around.
So sometimes maybe it's peoplethat move to South Tampa because
they want that lifestyle, theywant to be in like near downtown
or the lightning stand, likethere's so many developments
going on.
There are people that want tobe in like downtown St Pete
because they want to be close tothe downtown area.
Or you get people like Heatherand I live like 20 minutes
(13:03):
outside of Tampa, like in asuburb area, because it just
kind of matches our, our needsand what we're looking for.
So really just depends on whatpeople's lifestyles are, but I
see people just move aroundlocally all the time.
Jonathan Strahl (13:15):
Interesting.
That's a good point.
Austin Marks (13:18):
But you guys have done too.
Jonathan Strahl (13:21):
Yeah, do you so Mountain or mountain Mountain
Dang?
Yeah, do you so not?
Ryan Selimos (13:28):
in Vermont, not in dang.
Hey, at least you got hills anold groveland baby represent.
Jonathan Strahl (13:33):
Geez, hey, uh, austin, when you like, if you're
uh an individual who has afamily or you have kids, right,
um, where are in tampa some ofthe better like school zones or
districts?
And I'm sure when families cometo you that's probably a
popular question.
Austin Marks (13:53):
So I'm just curious what that looks like
yeah, well, the first questionis are you looking at like
public schools or privateschools?
Um, and depends on the area too.
So, like South Tampa, they havegreat public schools and they
have in certain areas and theyhave great private schools too.
Um, a lot of my market has beenNorth of Tampa, so it's been in
(14:15):
an area called Odessa and Lutesand West chase area, which is
just more probably 20, 30minutes North of South Tampa.
South Tampa is very competitive.
There's a lot of agents, a lotof higher priced homes, so
that's where everyone kind offlocks to, and I've just been
fortunate enough to find a nichein this area where there hasn't
been a ton of competition,which has allowed me to scale
(14:36):
more over time.
But, with that said, in mymarket that I know really well,
yeah, we have great publicschools, so a lot of people like
that area.
For once, not in the flood zone, you get some acreage and then
great public schools as well.
Kenny Massa (14:55):
Let's start to talk about the properties a little
bit more that you sell, becauseI think that's what is your
unique kind of value propositionas an agent.
Right, you talk about 8,500agents in that greater Tampa
area, but if you look at thesize of the homes, the cost of
the homes, the areas, you dohave that niche in the Odessa
(15:16):
area and surrounding spots and alot of those homes are like
they're all luxury we canconsider them like luxury,
high-end real estate.
For the most part, I would sayeverything that you touch is of
that you know seven figures ormore kind of region.
But tell us a little bit aboutthose properties.
Like more land, I know a lot ofthem are lakes.
A lot of them are thousands ofsquare feet.
Austin Marks (15:39):
They're big properties yeah, um, yeah, it's,
it's definitely um, the thingthat people love most about
odessa are the acreage, um, thesize of the lots and lake
frontage.
So traditionally that area waslike more equestrian.
So they have like largerparcels, like there was one that
(15:59):
got listed the other day forlike 5 000 square feet on 22
acres, um, and you're only aboutan hour and a half or so from
Ocala, which is where that worldequestrian center is.
So you can live in Ocala or youcan live in Tampa.
So because everything and thenmake that drive, uh, and then
the other thing is the lakes.
So that's just something that Ipersonally really like and so
(16:20):
it's been really fun to beinvolved in and easy to sell,
because that's the lifestylethat I grew up with.
Or we go to Lake Placid orClaremont or things like that.
That's the stuff that I enjoy,so it's easy for me to sell that
aspect of it.
But, yeah, tampa is very spreadout and so it just depends on
(16:41):
the lifestyle you want.
So that's just how my businesshas snowballed and, yeah, it's
mainly based off of acreage andthere's larger homes out there,
but they have larger homes inSouth Tampa, but it's just kind
of more, you know smaller lotsand being more centrally located
, if that answers your question.
Kenny Massa (16:58):
Yeah, they just seem like a little room in those
areas, uh-huh.
Austin Marks (17:01):
Wasn't that kind of what you did too, Kenny is?
You wanted something withacreage, and then you just kind
of found a pocket where thatmarket was um similar area.
Kenny Massa (17:11):
Yeah, I guess kind of like.
So we're in wellington, whichis like equestrian based too,
kind of.
So I feel like follow thehorses if you want land.
Austin Marks (17:19):
Yeah, so that's like the perfect example that I
use if I get people thatrelocate from a different part
of Florida or maybe like Miamior South Florida.
They're like what is Odessa?
Like I've never heard of it andI'm like the best way I could
explain it is like a Wellingtonto Fort Lauderdale or West Palm,
right as you, you still areclose to things.
(17:39):
You're not.
It's not like you're out in themiddle of nowhere, like you're
still close to, like Publix,starbucks, but you're like right
on the edge there to where youhave acreage or lake frontage.
Like some of these lake houses,you can have a huge house on
water for a good price comparedto what you know a waterfront
property would cost in SouthTampa.
But you're on an acre or twoacres and you're not in a flood
(18:03):
zone and personally I wouldrather have the lake and, just
you know, have your own dock goout there.
You don't have to worry aboutstorm surge or, you know, big
waves or anything like thataren't?
James LaGamma (18:14):
um, some of those lakes, uh, private lakes too.
They're not even like open,like public ramps and that kind
of stuff too, so that makes iteven added bonus.
Yeah, yeah.
Austin Marks (18:24):
Yeah, the I mean the vast majority of them are
private Um Lake Tarpon is amassive Lake.
It's like 5,300 acres.
That one um has public access,but all the ones in Odessa that
I know of are private, which isgreat.
So the biggest one is, uh, 430acres, which holds the highest
price point, which isinteresting too.
Right, it's just like themarket just determines the most
(18:46):
desirable lake to be on.
This is like the one to be on,and the prices reflect that, but
it is private.
So there's like two no, betweenlike 300 or 400 homes on that
lake, but it's like you only seea couple people on the lake at
a time.
Kenny Massa (19:03):
Yeah, that's awesome.
That's a really unique aspect.
You're only going to be on alake with people that are living
on the lake, basically, orassociated with the homes on the
lake, which is so cool.
Ryan Selimos (19:13):
It makes sense though, right, you come to
Florida for waterfront property.
All the storms, everyone camehere for beachfront, and the
storms have really, withinsurance, kind of moved people
away from that.
Lakefront gives you thatlifestyle from a different angle
, and we've talked about LakePlacid where your family is now
located.
That area is blowing up.
I think lakefront is definitelyyou're starting to see in a lot
of areas, but the next coupleof years it's going to continue
(19:33):
to boom.
James LaGamma (19:34):
Well, I mean, you're seeing a lot and I know
Austin, you can attest to this Alot of the major cities that
everyone lives in.
In Florida you've got your FortLauderdale, miami area.
Everything's been expanding outfrom there and so where all
(19:56):
those lakes actually are didn'thave access to amenities like
local grocery stores and stuffthat were easily accessible.
And because everything iscommercializing and spreading
out, it's making that a littlebit more appetizing to a
borrower.
Because before like Austin said,these are a lot of horses and
ranches and stuff like that.
You still go drive around themiddle of Florida.
You're just seeing houses inrandom locations why would
someone live here?
But eventually that randomhouse is going to be closer to a
(20:19):
Publix and then closer to aWalmart and then it's going to
be like well okay, now thatthere's this lake, that's here,
the value is going to explode.
Kenny Massa (20:29):
Yeah, and as that commercial stuff is easier to
access, it just attracts morepeople, and then that's when
they start dropping those hugedevelopments, and then it just
explodes from there.
James LaGamma (20:38):
It just keeps going.
That's actually what we'reexperiencing in Claremont.
It was know farmland for thelongest time.
You still kind of keep goingwest from Orlando and it still
is farmland.
But they've brought, we've got,a Costco now.
(20:59):
It just opened up last year,like maybe 8 months ago.
That was huge and now everyonegoes there.
So it makes things a little bitmore attainable, like it's only
like a 15 minute drive from,like the um city limits of
Groveland.
So yeah, it's, it's wild, but I, you know, I still feel like
I'm away from the hustle andbustle of Orlando, which is nice
, which is still 45 minutes awayfrom me, and it makes sense too
(21:20):
.
Ryan Selimos (21:21):
You know Austin talks about all the different
individuals he was working with,his clients coming in from
different states, and now you'remiami's, you're orlando's,
you're tampa those areas you'reon top of each other's now.
So, yes, people are moving out.
They want more space.
They're willing to make thatcommute to get an acre, two
acres, where in orlando or miamithose areas you're maybe
getting half an acre or a thirdat similar price points.
Austin Marks (21:39):
So now it's going to bring all that development
yeah, I just get people that,just like we we've all done,
around, zillow, as you said,like a certain price point, and
then you just keep like clickingdots and the next thing you
know you keep kind of moving,let's say more north or south,
whatever, because you don'tnecessarily know those areas,
you just think the dots areclose together.
I think that's what happens.
Like I had a gentleman call mefrom Miami the other day asking
(22:02):
about a property I had listedand I think he just had set, uh,
the house was listed for 3million, I think he just had a
price point set for that and hewas probably looking in maybe
Miami or South Tampa, and thenlike just found his way and it
was like wait a second, this islike a 6,000 square foot house
on an acre on a ski lake for thesame price I'm looking at for
like a penthouse in downtown orwhatever it is.
(22:22):
What is this area?
But that is, um is one of theparts that I feel like I have to
always explain to buyers thataren't familiar with the area,
right?
So that same lake house, Ishowed it to a party that was
like, oh, this area is just waytoo rural for us, like we can
never move out here, we're notinterested, and I'm like well,
you're five minutes from ourlike most popular freeway.
(22:44):
That takes you 15 minutes toget to the airport.
Your closest Publix andStarbucks is 10 minutes.
So that's why I'm getting morelike local people and that's why
those like properties or biggerproperties typically sell
faster.
It's because I get like the $3million ones under contract
right now.
I went under contract in 12days because the buyer is from
South Tampa, so he knew the areaas soon as he saw it.
(23:08):
He loved the house and was likeyeah, I'll buy it.
Like I know the area, but tosomeone that's like just driving
down or visiting from like NewYork, they're like where am I?
Like am I in the woods?
And you're like no, if you knowwhere you are, you're, you know
, 15 minutes from the airportand super close to everything.
Kenny Massa (23:22):
I think people want to go to those big city areas
because you have one ease ofaccess, right Like you can just
literally like New York you canstep outside and you can be in
50 different restaurants in fiveminutes.
But also, I think, especiallythe bigger buildings, the
penthouses, like luxury is justbaked into your lifestyle but it
(23:44):
doesn't mean that you can'taccess luxury amenities at your
home in a 6,000 square foot homeLike.
You've probably seen some crazystuff inside of some of these
homes that you've either walkedthrough and toured with
potential buyers or you've beenthe selling agent on Like.
Can you give us examples ofsome maybe like luxurious
amenities that you've seen builtinto these homes, because I've
(24:05):
seen some pictures of them andyou know, on lakes, probably
boathouses and things like that.
Austin Marks (24:13):
Yeah, um seen some really cool stuff.
Um one, I saw a house that hehad um an automatic screened
Lanai, so it was on the lake andso he he his covered, like his
pool wasn't covered, but hisoutdoor patio had a roof over,
and then like the walls aroundit and so he would leave it open
(24:33):
so, you know, he can enjoy anunobstructed view of the lake or
the pool.
But in the evenings if, like,the bugs got bad or he wanted to
put a the screen in, he justpush a button and then the cage
would basically come down andput a screen around all the
walls.
Um, you know, if he's eatingoutside, or something like that.
Um, docks I've seen, you know,um, like two-story docks so
(24:56):
people can jump off of or havemultiple boat slips.
Um, what else?
James LaGamma (25:03):
um, I mean the backyards that you have on some
of these are are just it lookslike a spa resort.
They're gorgeous.
Austin Marks (25:09):
Yeah, a lot of these homes are like smart homes
too.
Yeah, like everything is donefrom the phone.
So, like the last one thebiggest sale that I've had he
bought the house, he put a tonof money into it and it was like
every possible thing you canthink of was done into it, and
(25:29):
it was like every possible thingyou can think of was done so
like on his phone.
He could walk into any room andturn on and control the tv with
his phone.
It didn't matter, you didn'tneed a bunch of remotes, he just
controlled it from that phonegarages, air conditioning, sound
system, which was like in thehouse, in the landscaping around
the house and on the dock.
So if he was like on the dock,he didn't want to listen to
music on the dock he could justsync it up to his phone.
(25:50):
Um, trying to think of what else?
Um, generators are pretty bigtoo.
With properties or those biggerhouses now, they'll just set up
a really big generator and apropane tank so the house can
run on it.
Um, a lot of stuff, though,just comes down to like
architectural design too, oflike you know, I had one where
it was a beautiful kitchen, andthen they built a butler's
(26:13):
kitchen slash pantry behind thekitchen so like that's where you
would put like pots and foodand if you had people over, so
that the kitchen is just more oflike an art piece and an
entertaining space and then alllike the dirty dishes go in a
separate hidden.
James LaGamma (26:26):
Yeah, that's cool .
How old are these homes?
Yeah, how old are these homes?
Are they, like uh, been aroundfor a while or are they
relatively newer builds?
Austin Marks (26:39):
Um, most of them are like early two thousands,
sometimes mid two thousands.
Um, but that's a fun thingabout real estate is it's like
it's so unpredictable.
Um, you know, I can't.
I've tried to apply similarlike data trends that I know
Kenny applies to his business,and I just can't.
There's no common factor.
(27:01):
So, like I could, I've hadanywhere from someone you know,
like the Butler's kitchen houseI was just talking about.
They built a custom house inlike 2020 and they lived in it
for a couple of years and theyjust decided they wanted to sell
it for whatever reason.
And then again I've had otherpeople that have lived in the
house since 1990 and their kidsmoved out and now they're
downsizing.
So I will say there's hugedemand for newer homes and new
(27:24):
construction homes, but theyjust don't come up very often.
I'm seeing a lot more of peoplebuy like an older home than
they renovated or take downwalls and try to modernize it
that way.
Ryan Selimos (27:34):
Yeah, so, austin, you found your niche market
right.
You're passionate about it, butyou obviously didn't start.
You weren't selling these homeswhen you first started.
So, like to a new real estateindividual who's trying to make
that leap, they're on their ownjourney.
What would be your advice andcan you kind of share how you
found, you know, this niche thatyou're now pretty successful in
(27:55):
?
Austin Marks (27:56):
Yeah, I think, like any industry, mentorship is
really important.
So I always had an interest inreal estate.
Um and I joined a brokeragethat my dad got his real estate
license and did, like um atransaction and recommended
joining this brokerage.
So I joined the brokerage andthen through that, through
mutual connections, of justwanting to find a team just you
(28:20):
know, we've all been in, we allplayed in the same football team
.
So I wanted, like thatcamaraderie aspect.
Um, I didn't want to just bealone and trying to figure this
out on my own.
I wanted to be a part ofsomething and part of a team.
So I got connected with a teamthat just happened to specialize
in luxury real estate.
I didn't realize that that'swhat I wanted to do or that's
what I was going to get into,but I joined that team and the
(28:43):
way that teams work in realestate is you'll have a split
set up with them.
So, for example, I'll sell.
If I sell something, I get 60or 70 percent of the commission
check and then they get aportion of it for that
mentorship and helping.
So I did that for a couple ofyears and through that I learned
a ton.
It helped accelerate my processof learning how to talk to
(29:07):
these luxury homeowners, how tomarket to them how to sell the
properties, how to stage them,how to market them, and I
learned a lot of that from thementors that I had.
And it just got to a point whereI felt like I was outgrowing
that team and decided it wastime for me to take a step in a
different direction and decidedit was time for me to take a
(29:28):
step in a different direction.
But I really recommendmentorship or coaching or help,
because maybe you are giving upa piece of the permission check
or, with some coaching, you'repaying for the coaching or, like
a mastermind, you're paying forit.
But it's an investment thataccelerates the process.
I've been in the business forfive years and I'm now at a
point where I think I have a lotof business coming in and leads
(29:49):
that I'm looking to start ateam myself and kind of expand
that.
But I don't think I would havegotten here or gotten into this
price point this quickly if itwasn't for joining a team,
giving up portions of revenueand just learning and just
trying to be a sponge.
Jonathan Strahl (30:06):
Hey, austin, that's a great point.
I love the mentorship piece andit's awesome especially as like
a friend group to see yousucceeding and doing very well.
I've got a question.
We've talked about like beingonline and seeing pictures.
You've mentioned Zillow a fewtimes.
You've mentioned marketing, theonline piece.
I find it so interesting of howreal estate has evolved into
(30:32):
what it is today.
When you talk about the socialmedia piece and being able to go
on as a consumer and click tosee what a price looks like, and
you've used your marketing andyour online social media very
well, so walk us through thatand just how much has that been
a benefit?
But also, is there a challengeto it as well?
Austin Marks (30:54):
Yeah, let's see.
The benefit has mainly been, Iwould say, for sellers.
So the vast majority like 80,90% of my business has been on
the sell side.
The listing side, which I like.
I like taking a property andstaging it and decluttering and
adding different decor andtaking those pictures and
(31:16):
getting the nighttime shots andlike really, really making it a
marketable property and havingit perform better than other
properties on the market.
That's something I'm passionateabout and really enjoy.
And so how do I do that with?
The aspect of social media isgetting great content, whether
it's like the social media reelsthat are down to like less than
a minute for consumers andpushing those out through
(31:38):
advertising.
Some realtors are very goodwith social media.
I see stuff all the time oflike their whole business is
from Instagram and pulling leadsand things like that, which I
probably only had a couple leadslike directly from Instagram
where someone saw like a paidadvertising and then reached out
.
But I think it's just more ofcontinuing to show people what
(32:03):
you're doing and staying busyand saying, hey look, you know
I've listed another property,here's how it looks, and it's
staying in front of people sothat when the time comes in
maybe like five years.
They're like who should we call?
And they're like oh, we've beenfollowing Austin on Instagram
for five years and he's beenpretty busy and he always puts
out really high quality picturesand content Like I think that's
(32:24):
the person we want to representour house.
So it's more of just stayingtop of mind.
Everyone has differentstrategies for social media.
I've tried to experiment withdifferent things and just
haven't necessarily been verysuccessful, like the direct lead
flow, but I think just thebranding of trying to stay in
front of people.
But by posting that content onsocial media and advertising
(32:47):
with it, it helps increase theview count, which also carries
over to Zillow and increases theview count and save count on
Zillow, which then in return Ican go back to my sellers or a
potential seller that I'm doinga listing presentation and say,
hey, this is what I can do foryour property and these are the
amount of people we can get infront of.
And these are the amount ofpeople we can get in front of
(33:09):
and most of the time they liketo hear that compared to maybe
an agent that would just take apicture and throw it online and
just wait for someone to callthem.
Jonathan Strahl (33:13):
Yeah, I mean let's.
I think it's it's so obvious,like at the end of the day for
you, and probably what we couldall agree on too.
It's like when someone meetsyou, at the end of the day, what
the goal is like you're tryingto build a relationship and
trust right, and that's whatsomeone's going to go with and
that obviously individual wouldbe you, but it is just really
(33:36):
interesting to see what you cangrasp and consume online when it
comes to just real estate.
So interesting.
Austin Marks (33:43):
Appreciate you breaking that down, just trying
to stay in front of people.
And I think the reason why Ilike real estate is I've never
been good at like direct sales,like my, like Heather, she does
over the phone sales.
It's like boom, here's thepitch.
Like do I convert this or notonto the next versus mine's,
just more relationship building.
(34:03):
So my like, one of my corevalues is value.
How do I provide value to whereit just doesn't feel like it's
a sales pitch right, like if youwalk into a home and you don't
like the home, there's no wayI'm going to be able to.
Whatever I can pitch I can puttogether is get you to buy the
house.
So how can I provide value?
And I think I can do a lot ofthat?
Just through getting, if I'mrepresenting you on the listing
(34:25):
side, just getting the propertyin front of as many people as
possible and representing it,you know, to the to its full
potential.
There was something else I wasgoing to add, but Got another
core value.
Yeah, oh.
So I think we've probably allheard of Ryan Serhant.
Ryan Serhant is like like thebiggest social media guy.
(34:49):
He's been on like the Netflixshows and so he's very
successful with his brokerage.
In one of his books he said thatpeople like to shop with
friends and that is alwayssomething that like stuck out to
me is like if you went intoNordstrom or Macy's or whatever
and the sales rep was followingyou around like you should buy
the shirt, you should buy theshirt, it wouldn't be enjoyable,
right.
But?
And the sales rep was followingyou around like you should buy
the shirt, you should buy theshirt it wouldn't be enjoyable,
(35:09):
right.
But if you went with like afriend and the friend was like,
hey, this color looks good onyou, or like it's just a fun
experience and you're providingvalue, it makes it a much more
enjoyable experience.
So that's what I try to tailorit.
I try to, you know, become anadvisor, but friends with the
client, so they can feel likethey're shopping with a friend
where they're comfortable andit's fun, but I'm providing
value along the way.
Ryan Selimos (35:27):
Love that.
That's awesome.
James LaGamma (35:28):
Yeah, Good perspective.
Um, you got something right.
You go All right.
Well, I mean, I'm going toshift a little bit of the focus
too.
So you go Okay, cool, I'm goingto go a little bit more towards
my side of the world, um, in inthis real estate transaction.
So, do you, do you just?
We talked about the market, wetalked about the different homes
and like what people like, whatpeople dislike.
So I, in the home buyingprocess, do you genuinely see,
(35:52):
when someone comes to you andyou start to help work with them
or find a home or or anythingand I'm specifically starting
from the buyer side, not theseller side yeah, um, do they
always?
Do they already have a lenderpicked out?
Are they usually coming in withcash in your area?
What, what's the?
The financing?
Austin Marks (36:11):
portion of it and how do you add value?
Yeah, I haven't seen cashbuyers in a while.
Uh, they were.
I was seeing them constantly.
Um, I think because wheninterest rates were so low that
people with cash were basicallycompeting against free money and
(36:32):
so it was kind of like an evenplaying field versus now, you
know, people want to hold ontotheir cash or borrow.
I know interest rates are high,but they would rather leverage
that than spend the cash.
So I haven't really seen a cashbuyer in a while, versus I'm
seeing a ton of them.
And then, as far as when clientswant to purchase a home, it
really depends, because I havefirst-time homebuyers that come
to me and they're like, hey, Iwant to buy a house, how do I
(36:53):
get started?
And that's just a differentprocess.
As far as just simplifying theprocess from A to Z, here's a
lender that I use that I've hadgreat experience with here's,
who I recommend Versus.
You know some of the affluentclientele, right, this has been
like their 10th, 11th, 12th home.
So they're very familiar withthe process where they might've
(37:15):
been doing it, you know, for thepast 10, 20 years, and they
already have a lender.
So I have vendors.
I don't necessarily try to pushthem onto people.
If they're like hey, I alreadyhave a great lender, it's like
great, you can use that lenderif you feel comfortable with
them and let's make it aseamless process.
But for those that don't or arecurious about the process, I
have those lined up for people.
James LaGamma (37:36):
And I guess you know what I've gotten from most
of this and obviously ourconversations is you're, you're
generally more focused on theseller side, um, but for someone
that seems to just findthemselves, uh, being on the
buyer side, often as a realestate agent, um, would you,
would you say that that'sanother avenue that someone can
(37:57):
look into?
As far as relationship building, like, you've talked about how
to create a strong relationshipwith the actual um seller and
adding adding value and all thatkind of stuff, or shopping with
friends and stuff, but, um, alot of the stuff, at least from
the mortgage side, is right, therelationship building with real
estate agents, builders andthose kinds of things.
Austin Marks (38:12):
So, yeah, um, that's an amazing thing with
real estate is there's so manydifferent ways that you can
frame your business model.
If you want to just work withsellers, or you want to work
with buyers, or you want to workwith investors, or you want to
work with investors, or you wantto work with first-time home
buyers, or you want to work with, specifically, veterans using a
VA loan there's so many thingsyou can do and model your
(38:32):
business and find your niche.
I have seen great modelsbetween buyers and lenders where
they're splitting marketingcosts.
So the buyer's agent is likehey, I do a ton of buyers, or I
pay Zillow or Realtorcom forleads.
You want to split this costwith me and you'll do all my
loans.
Or I have a team and we'reprimarily on the buy side.
(38:54):
You can be our preferred lender, but you need to help pay for
advertising.
So I've seen all differentkinds of models like that, where
people just have theirpreferred vendors that they've
used.
As a realtor.
I want the transaction to gosmoothly and easy.
It's an emotional transactionand so any bump in the road can
(39:18):
cause issues as far as maybe thebuyer has second thoughts about
the house or the seller doesn'twant to deal with that party
anymore, whatever it is.
So just making sure that youhave a good relationship with
the lender or inspectors orwhoever it is, so that it's an
easy process, that's my toppriority.
James LaGamma (39:36):
My last comment on um, or a question for you, is
is have you seen competition inthe marketplace from investment
firms still trying to buy uphomes and stuff?
Austin Marks (39:51):
Not really.
I don't know if it's just themarket that I have been in
Occasionally, like I have ahouse rented or rented for sale
in the Odessa area.
That would work, is like agreat rental.
It's under 400,000.
So it would kind of meet thatcriteria.
Some of these, but I don'treally get too much.
(40:13):
I get like low ball offers,like I'll just get an email from
someone who hasn't seen it likeyears.
You know I'll give you 50% ofwhat you have it listed at and
who knows if that's backed byone of those companies and
they're just sending out so manyof those emails until somebody
bites.
But I haven't seen it too much.
It might just be the marketthat I'm in and maybe they focus
on places like South Tampa orclose to the airport.
James LaGamma (40:35):
They're going to do first-time homebuyer type
homes, first luxury.
Austin Marks (40:38):
It's just hard to make the numbers make sense
unless these hedge funds arecoming in and buying it in cash
and then turn around and rentingit because the rent is so high.
These hedge funds are coming inand buying in cash and then
turn around and renting itbecause the rent is so high, but
it's so high that, like, if Iborrow money, I can't I can't
make a rental deal make senseright now.
Yeah.
James LaGamma (40:55):
Yeah.
Ryan Selimos (40:56):
Yeah, awesome.
I was going to ask you kind ofwhat's a day in the life or
what's a week look like for you.
It's not a typical nine to five, right?
I feel like weekends isprobably more your busy time, so
you like to sleep in, so you'renot up at you know you don't
got to be in the office at 7am,you know what I mean To just
take us through that journey ofuh, of what you know a typical
(41:17):
day or a week looks like, withall the craziness in real estate
.
Austin Marks (41:21):
Yeah, so it really um Very so.
January to June is my, is likemy busiest time.
November, december is alwayssuper slow.
Um, so that's when you know youtry to take some more golf
lessons, when you play a littlebit more.
Ryan Selimos (41:35):
But um, other than that, To meet clients and build
relationships on the coursebuddy golf and then actually
heather started playing.
Austin Marks (41:45):
So I started playing a little bit and I've
gotten gotten more into it.
I don't know if it's like.
As soon as I hit 30 I was likeall right, we're picking up the
sticks awesome you're alwaysgood at golf super fun in the
calf, you know, just great shot,your aim's great, yeah, yeah
yeah, I don't know if you guyshave been seeing that, like john
gruden went to barstool but helives in avila, in tampa, so
he's at that golf course all thetime.
(42:06):
So there's a lot of um, yeah,there's a lot of golf in Florida
, um, but oh, the day in thelife thing.
So yeah, it really.
It really varies Like.
So today I have, you know, thisis the podcast and then I have
a couple hours where I've justgot to finish um, a couple like
email, admin stuff, and then I'mdriving um about an hour North
(42:29):
to do photos for a property fromlike two to six 30, and then
I'll come home and then tomorrowI have an open house from 11 to
two and then after that I'mshowing our client like five
properties, so that'll probablybe from like three to six or
three to seven Um, and then, youknow, monday I might not have
anything until, you know, sundayrolls around and then someone
starts requesting to see aproperty or wants to schedule a
(42:50):
call.
So it is.
It is interesting navigating theschedule.
You just kind of go with theflow.
But that's another reason whyI'm looking into building a team
and structuring a team, justhaving a little bit extra help
as far as, like, hey, here's,you know, um, an appointment
that you know is only an hourthat I could leverage somebody
(43:13):
else's time to to help me withthat.
So just going with it day byday.
But yeah, it is, it's um, Imean, I, I love it.
I guess some people might notlike it, because it's just so 24
, seven, but not if that makessense, like you could wake up
and be like man, I don't reallyhave anything today.
(43:33):
I can go play golf or maybeI'll go get lunch with a friend,
but that could change.
Somebody could call you andthen you work when nobody else
is working.
So weekends is when people arewanting to have open houses done
or go look at properties.
Jonathan Strahl (43:47):
So yeah, it's like it's like almost you have
the flexibility but you reallydon't.
And, to your point, like you'reputting in a lot more hours on
the weekend than maybe, as Ryanhinted at.
Like you're not working like aneight to five or a nine to five
, which also in your world likethere's I'm sure you can attest
(44:07):
to this Like you want to begreat and good at what you're
doing.
Like you got to have a littlebit of accountability on your
own end, right?
Austin Marks (44:14):
Absolutely yeah.
So I mean, the first thing I doevery morning is just make a
to-do list of, like, what's liketop important things following
up with clients, you know.
And then there's just so manydifferent hats I have to wear as
far as, like, I still have tohave a marketing and prospect
aspect to my business, so like,okay, for these two hours I'm
going to follow up with leads orsend direct mail or whatever it
(44:34):
might be, and then the otherpart of the day I'm following up
and kind of switching to amanagement aspect of like, how
are things going with thelistings and calling clients and
then doing showings, and so, asthat scales more over time,
that's why I'm looking toimplement some help, just so
that quality can stay there asthe business grows Makes sense
(44:55):
Cool.
Kenny Massa (44:55):
Well, as we wrap up here, if there's one piece of
advice that you could givesomeone who's looking to become
an agent or be a better agent,what would that be, so that they
could better their business?
Austin Marks (45:10):
Yeah, I, uh, I would definitely join Austin's
team.
Um would definitely be like thementorship route.
So, as I had mentioned, there'sso many different routes you
can go in real estate, whetherit's like I want to work with
landlords and help them findrental or like investment
properties, or I want to do fixand flips, or I want to do
high-end homes, or I want towork with buyers, like kind of
(45:33):
looking at the model that youwant to do and then aligning
yourself with a team or a mentor, because there are people that
have been in the business for along time and they're starting
to get out and they just want towork with certain clients and
that's someone where you couldhelp them or be like an
assistant and learn theirbusiness, cause that was the
best thing that happened to mewas being on a team and having
(45:54):
great mentors that, like showedme you know how to market these
properties and things like that.
Ryan Selimos (46:01):
Austin, you've talked about right Building
relationships, building trust,wanting to bring value, wanting
to really make those dreams cometrue for individuals, whether
on the selling or on the buyingside.
So kind of sell yourself alittle bit.
Where can people find you?
If they want to reach out toyou, if they want to connect you
know and be a part of theAustin Marks experience, how can
they find you?
How can they reach you?
James LaGamma (46:19):
How are you going to leave your marks?
Ryan Selimos (46:21):
Oh my gosh.
Austin Marks (46:23):
I do get called Mark.
A lot, a lot of text callsthere's an.
James LaGamma (46:27):
S people.
There's an S, hey, Mark.
Austin Marks (46:30):
Just Instagram Austin Marks at Instagram or
Austin Marks Real Estate onFacebook or Austin Marks Group
website is there Awesome?
Kenny Massa (46:41):
Awesome.
Well, we appreciate your inputon not only the greater Tampa
Bay area but real estate as awhole.
From an agent's perspective, welook forward to continuing to
see you build your team as youdevelop a larger footprint in
that Tampa Bay area andhopefully we see you across the
rest of Florida and, who knows,maybe the rest of the United
States.
Austin Marks (46:59):
Oh yeah, so we appreciate it when you guys I
love what you guys are doingwith the podcast.
The studio looks great, All theinterviews have been great as
well.
James LaGamma (47:11):
Mass inbound studios awesome.
Kenny Massa (47:12):
Well, thank you, we appreciate it.
Thanks, austin see you guys.
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