S1E8 - Designing Success with Top Producer Valerie Rosenblatt - Work Hard, Play Hard, and Give Back - A Real Estate Podcast

Episode Transcript
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Mike Litzner (00:08):
Welcome to the Work Hard, play Hard and Give
Back a real estate podcast.
I'm Mike Litzner, broker ownerof Colwell Banker American Homes
, and we're here at the studioat American Homes in Smithtown
and I have the pleasure ofhaving as our guest today
Valerie Rosenblatt.
I have the pleasure of havingas our guest today Valerie
Rosenblatt.
Valerie's a great agent, notjust a top agent, but a great

(00:33):
agent in the Syosset Woodburymarketplace in our Syosset
location.
Valerie also finished in thetop 1.5% of CoWheel Banker
agents nationwide.
So, valerie, welcome to theshow.

Valerie Rosenblatt (00:39):
Thank you so much.
All right, nice introduction.

There we go.
Well, you deserve nothing less.
So, valerie, being a top agent,how do you maintain such high
standards in your business?
I know you're reallydetail-oriented and you take a
lot of pride in your work.
Being a top agent is no simplefeat.
So how does an agent achieveand maintain those standards?

I think consistency, achieve and
maintain those standards.
I think consistency.
So, being a realtor, in general, many people could look at it
as a part-time job or afull-time job.
For me it's a full-time job.
So every morning I make mycoffee, I look at the markets, I
look at what's sold, what'spending, what's coming on, but

(01:22):
all over, not just where I am,but from Queens to Montauk.
So I think keeping yourselfaware of what's going on in the
marketplace is the first step.

You know, isn't it interesting?
I think the average consumerlooks at a real estate agent and
is like, oh, they showed me ahouse.
You know, this doesn't lookdifficult, and yet what they
don't see is the countless hoursof research and time invested
in understanding the nuances ofa market, from school districts
to traffic patterns that buyersor consumers are going to be

(01:56):
navigating.
It's a lot of work.

That is true , because if you just look at it
as I'm just going to sell thishouse, you're never going to
grow your business.
So it's like any otherprofession.
You have to sell this house.
You're never going to grow yourbusiness.
So it's like any otherprofession.
You have to study, yes, so youhave to study what you're
selling.
What am I selling?
Who am I selling it to?
Who are the buyers?
What are the demographics?
What's needed here?
Where else could I bringsomeone?

(02:19):
It's all studying, yes, so forme there's really no downtime.
Yeah, I start at seven, okay,and I finished whenever that is
10 o'clock, it's all studying.
Yes, so for me there's really nodowntime.
Yeah, I start at 7.

Okay.

And I finish whenever that is 10 o'clock.
It could be any time, yeah.

A lot of time put in, so how?

did you get?

into real estate in the first place.

I had my kids going to college, okay, and
I was petrified of being anempty nester and I didn't know
what I was going to do withmyself and I always loved homes.
So I studied as an art majorand a design major and I knew
that I loved houses and I likedlooking at houses and, like

(02:56):
everyone else, I love looking athouse magazines and I thought I
think I can do this.
Yeah, so I got my license andthen I didn't know what to do
with it and I felt how am Igoing to get my first listing?
What am I going to do?
And I door knocked neighborhoodafter neighborhood until
someone would have me go intheir kitchen and I could

(03:18):
actually sit down with them, andthat's how I got my first
listing.

Okay, fundamentals , come back into play.
It does.

And it's funny because it was three
blocks away from where I wasliving.
Yeah.
And then that listing I thenparlayed into buyers that came
to the listing Right and thenpeople in the neighborhood knew,
oh, she did a really nice joband then from there I got more
work.

You started to grow.
Yeah, I'm often asked.
Obviously, you know, havingbeen in real estate really my
whole adult life and being in abrokerage position, you know
it's like people watch HGTV andit's like, oh, I love houses,
you know, and I feel like Icould be a great agent.
And having that designbackground, having that love of
houses, doesn't always translateover, because there's a missing

(04:04):
factor here which you justtouched on it's that willingness
to do the things they don'tshow you on HGTV.
It's, you know, pounding thepavement and reaching and
getting your name out there,building your own reputation.

Well, it's also building a brand.
Yes, so I have Caldwell Bankerbehind me, but I also have
myself.
Yes, and I'm the vehicle thatpeople want to work with Correct
.
So I believe an agent is onlyas good as they want to be.
Yeah, if I work for any otherbrokerage, I'd still be
successful.
Yes, I like Caldwell Bankerbecause I really love the people

(04:39):
.
That's really what keeps mehere.
Is I like everyone's genuineyes, and I don't see that very
much out there, so that's whatkeeps me here.

Yeah, no, that's great.

In terms of work for me, for design.
When I wanted to get into whatI do, which is mostly new
construction, I met buildersover the course of a year and a
half trying to get them to trustme, to believe I knew what I
was doing, and it was very, verydifficult.
I finally broke through and nowI have eight builders that I

(05:11):
work with.

I'm glad you brought this, because this is
where I wanted to go, and that'swhere the boots on the ground,
which is a great expression, Ilove that expression.

And it really was boots on the ground,
because I kept meeting peopleand they said well, you know,
you don't have enough experience.
Next, and then I finally metsomeone and then I said this is
what I see here on thisparticular lot Knock the house
down, this is what I see.
And they went with my visionand they realized she's good at
this.

(05:39):
Yeah, and that's how it began.

So tell us a little bit more about the design
background.
So you know you're artistic,you have a design background.
Where did you go to college?

I went to NYU.

Okay, you majored in.

Art history and design.

Okay.
Now when you say design, whatdoes that mean for the layperson
out there when someone takesdesign?

Design is how things will coordinate in a
space, whether it's outdoor,indoor.
Design is also with art, howart works off a room or works
off other pieces of art.
Yeah, and I think it'ssomething you naturally have
within you, that you crave, thatyou want to do.
When you walk into a space, mynatural instinct is to want to

(06:25):
reorganize it and give it abetter flow, give it a nice
walkway, put art in differentpieces of the room.
That's just something that's inme.
Other people could walk into aspace and not care, and you see
that when you go into a listingSome listings when you walk into
them you could see the agentreally took the time to

(06:46):
rearrange the furniture, maybeput fresh flowers out, stage,
stage it a little bit, and thenother agents there could be a
whole array of nonsense going on.
So that's the design aspect ofthings.
You know where.

I see, from my vantage point, the staging
making a huge difference,especially the way business is
done today as opposed to maybe20 years ago.
Photographs Could you walk ouraudience through what it looks
like?
You know the photographer, thestaging, what type of packages?
So?

the first thing I'll tell my seller is
that please be aware I will bemoving your furniture around.

Does that always go over well?

No, but they let me do it.
But that's the first thing I'llalways say is your house isn't
going to look the same becauseI'm going to be moving furniture
.
I'm going to be taking thingsout of the room.
I'm going to be moving yourcouch because I will edit each
photograph the photographertakes.
So if I don't like how thephotograph looks, I'll move the

(07:47):
furniture and I'll have thepictures taken over again,
Because that's really the firstdoor to a buyer looking at your
home.
That's the window.
The picture's online.

Yeah, exactly.

So that's your first step.
So you have to realize you mayhave been in this house many
times, but to that buyer that'stheir first meet and greet, so
to speak.
So the pictures have to lookcrisp.
I'm all about the crisp picture.

Yeah, are you a big fan of, you know, drones,
night vision.

I love drones if they're appropriate.
Night pictures not a fan.

Okay, why?
What's the why behind that?

I just think that they could be edited a
little too heavily with light,and that may not really be the
light that's there at night.
So what I will always tellpeople is drive by the house at
night and actually see what itlooks like.

Okay, yeah, it's a better indication of what
they're actually getting.
Right, right, all right, good.

But I love drones.

You do.

I love drones.
Yeah, yeah.

Now the effect on drones is that based on maybe a
price point.
I know your average sales priceis well above average from the
industry.
Right, do you want to sharewhat the average sales price For
me.

My average sales price you personally yeah.
Way over a million.
Yeah, yeah.

Is it over two yet or?

Yeah.

Okay, yeah, so do you approach a multimillion
dollar property as an agent?
You know from a sales point ofview, different than you
approach a 500 or 700?

You really have to, Because the buyers that
are coming in say, for a home,anywhere from two, five to 10
million.
It's lifestyle.
Yeah.
So they have to know that thelifestyle they want they can
achieve in that area, whetherit's golf or shopping or boating
, whatever it is they may want.
So those things always have tobe highlighted.

(09:36):
In terms of drones, you want toalways feature the property.
So if I have a home on a 60 by100 lot, the drone isn't really
going to work because I'm goingto get everybody else's house in
there too and I don't want that.
So, on properties half acre ormore, that's usually my starting
point for a drone.

Okay, good, good.
Now again the emphasis.
I know, in the unique marketyou've been able to carve in new
construction.
Is it in a specific area andprice points?
Or is that just because thecost of land is so expensive on
Long Island that all newconstruction is at a higher
price point?
What do you see is going on inthat market?

So for new construction, it's more about
material cost and labor cost.
So for the builders buildersthe material cost has leveled
out since covid, yeah, but thelabor cost has increased
exponentially, yeah.
So what has happened for themis they have to have so many
projects going on at one time tofulfill the obligation they

(10:38):
have with the, with thecontractors for framing, for
electric, for plumbing,otherwise they move on to other
jobs, right?
So that's where the cost isreally coming.
It's labor, okay, more thanmaterials right now, okay.

Now in new construction, what's the hot new
feature, especially in theupper price range?
Is there a hot new feature thatthey're all looking for, that
you're coaching your builders toconsider, including, I think?

that the hot new feature is outdoor living
space.
So years ago you'd have a nicebackyard with a pool and a
barbecue and it was a great day.
You're having people overpopping open a beer or a great
seltzer and you're having agreat time.
Now it's really become anextension of the home.
Now it's really become anextension of the home.
And it's funny because on myway here I had sold a home to a

(11:28):
really lovely family nearby andhe called me up and he said, val
, will you design an outdoorspace for me?

Really.

It's funny On the way here.
Yeah, and I said sure.
I said, do you want an outdoorroom?
I said, do you want a pool?
Do you want a cooking area?
Yeah, I want all of it.

Really.

Because people don't want to entertain
as much in their home as out oftheir home, and in many cultures
you only entertain outside ofyour home.

Really Okay.

So this is becoming a new buildable aspect
in a home where we will say youcan have that outdoor living
room with the fireplace set upfor a flat screen TV, whatever
it is you may want, and peoplecan do it on a small scale as
well.
It's not just for a big home,correct, you can do it in any

(12:22):
home, home so is it like theoutdoor kitchen sinks
refrigerator?

is it the whole?

thing you have a covered space.
Yeah, that's an extension ofthe home.
You might have a flat screensetup.
You could have a fireplacecouches beautiful, you know
tiled area, people put rugs onthem couches, it's that's the
way to go right now, is therecertain materials that are more
popular?

Is it like more stone?
You go back 20 years and it waslike decking and wood, but I
don't think it's decking andwood anymore.

It's not decking and wood, because some
of the composite materials getvery hot under your feet, so if
you put them down you reallyhave to be careful.
So it's more natural materialsthat people are leaning into.

Okay, so the stones you're seeing pavers,
even granite or quartz.

Quartz is very popular.
Yeah, yeah, quartz is verypopular Even on the outdoor.
Yeah, they'll put it anywhere.

How hands-on are you with the builders in
actually developing their plans?
I mean, you've got thearchitects that are in there,
that are.

Well, on many occasions I actually sit
with the builders and we designthe house together.

Okay With the architect.

No, so I'll sit with the builder.
I have a vision of what I wouldlike to see built based on the
conversations I'm having withbuyers.
I'm hearing what buyers are nowlooking for, what do they
really want, and I'll sit downwith the builder.
They have their own CAD cam onthe computer and then they'll
take the drawings that we'redoing together and that goes to
the architect.

So you're giving the architect the vision.
And then they got to put thesticks and bricks together.

The architect will write it up.
You know supporting walls, youknow beams setbacks, things like
that, but the plans areactually coming from myself and
the builder.

Interesting Now when you're dealing with a buyer
clientele at that level again,people coming in 2 million, 3
million, 4 million how muchaftermarket customization will a
builder allow for?

My particular builders.
It's unlimited.

Really.

Yeah, it's whatever you want.

Ask and you shall receive.
Yeah, yeah, it's negotiatingthe price.
It's pretty much whatever youwant.

If a home is large enough, you want an
elevator, we can do that.
Yeah.
You want a special custom inlay?
We can do that.
We never say no.

Wow, there you go.
I like that.
I like that.
You have a slogan, correct.
Do you want to share yourslogan with everyone?

Oh, your goals are my number one priority
.

Yes, exactly See, I remember hearing that.

That's my slogan.

So how do you ensure that you balance your
clients' needs with the oftenfast-paced, high-pressure
environment of real estate?

I always put them first.
I never put myself first everin a transaction.
I'll always do what's best forthem, what they need, because
that's my business, it's a lotreferral.
Yeah.
And people will say, oh, youknow, she really did the best
thing for us, because you'reputting people in a home.
That's where they're going tomake their memories, their
future.
I look at it as if I'm helpingsomeone get started with a new

(15:18):
phase of their life, so I alwaysput them first, yeah.

Yeah, good, it's funny.
It's a common theme that Ioften hear from successful
agents.
It's the focus on the clientand helping instead of selling.

It's funny because selling is never in the
forefront.
For me, it's always aboutmeeting people, making
relationships, sometimes alongthe way, making a friend out of
that relationship, and theselling is a byproduct of that.
I've never gone out and said,oh, I'm going to do this much
business and I'm going to sellthis.

(15:54):
That was never even a thoughtfor me.
I think it's a very organicprocess where if you're genuine
and you're there to actuallyhelp someone move forward in
their life, they're going towant to work with you.
I've turned people away that Ifelt shouldn't be making a move.

Okay.

I've discouraged sellers because I
just I have to sleep at night,yeah, so if I really feel in my
gut this is not the right thing,I will try to let people wait
or go in a different directionand try to help them do the
right thing for themselves,because the worst thing is to

(16:33):
have people overspend in a newconstruction situation and it
gets very difficult.
So it's always best to putpeople on the right path.

Now I assume that, based on the price points, that
most of your purchasers in thenew construction field are,
move-up buyers, like first-timehome buyer, doesn't typically
come in and spend two, three,four million.

Well, they are if they're coming from New
York City.
So a lot of them may be renting.
Okay.
And they've put money away andnow they're ready to build.
Okay, Other times family ishelping them to buy and build.
People pivot within areas.
They might live in one area andtheir proximity to this other

(17:18):
neighborhood and they'll move upthat way.
Right right, it's alwaysdifferent.

Right, it's always different when someone has to
sell in order to buy.
How do you coach them throughthat?

For new construction.
They will have a window.

Yeah.

And if they don't meet that window, then we
have to terminate thetransaction.
Okay, because the window fornew construction is anywhere
from 14 to 18 months and wecan't build it?

From what point?
From the building permit issue.

From foundation dig.

From breaking ground.

From foundation dig Okay.
And we can't build a customhome knowing that maybe they
can't close the transaction.

Right, right.
So it's obviously not commonfor it to be contingency sales.
It's usually never yeahcontingency sales.

It's usually never.
Most new construction is nevercontingent because you are
building specifically your taste.
What if you wanted a purplekitchen and that's what you
dreamed of?

Have you seen that before?

I've seen some different kinds of kitchens
.
I've seen all coloredcountertops and things, but then
how am I going to turn aroundand sell that?
That's the problem.
So we have to know that you'recommitted committed to the
project.

Yeah how, how um difficult is for the builders to
meet those deadlines.
If they're, they give a window.
What happens if the builderdoesn't meet the deadline?
Is we always meet?

we always meet the deadline.
It's the buyers that get stuckin choices.
Yeah, that will delay yourproject.
Okay, that's, that is 100.
What always happens yeah so ifyou tell a buyer you can go to
this particular vendor and pickout a countertop.
They're in a candy store yeahand we have to pull back a
little and say you've got twoweeks to do this, so we're

(19:04):
always on time so outside ofcountertops you got stone, you
have tiles you have the outsidematerial.
You could have vinyl, you couldhave hardy plank, you could have
stone, you could have brick,you could have limestone yeah,
it goes on and on.
And then we talk about colors,yeah, and then we talk about
mixing materials.

So what about windows?

you can have any kind of window you want.
You know it goes on, and on,and on so how?

how involved in that process do you get as the
agent?
Are you helping them, or isthat really the more on the
builder at that point, who'sholding the hands and the
builder resource.

The builder holds the hands a lot, but if
they're stuck I'll pick it upand try to help that buyer make
a decision.
Okay.
Because sometimes they're justoverwhelmed with choices.

I haven't built the house that I'm in now.
I do understand that it gets alittle overwhelming.

You get overwhelmed, yeah, and I always
will revert back and say gobasic.
Yeah.
Don't get too heavy caught upin the design because you might
get tired of it.
Yeah, don't get too heavycaught up in the design because
you might get tired of it.
So if you stick with the basicdesign, you can always embellish
it with furniture paint,molding, things like that?

No, that makes perfect sense.
We have a big agent populationthat follows our podcast.

Is there any advice you'd give an agent who
is trying to break into the newconstruction market?
It's very difficult right nowbecause to try and get property
is a challenge.
Yeah, years ago, if a home wasless desirable, the builders
could come in and pick it up forpennies on the dollar.
Right now, the end user willpick it up and renovate it, and
that's where the problem iscoming in is that the
competition for the property isvery difficult.

(20:51):
So I've been leaning into theshort sale market for them to
try and get properties that way,because once they hit MLS it's
impossible.
The margins aren't thereanymore.

Right, right, let's face it, it's a business.
They need to make their margins.
Yeah, the margins aren't there,right right.

Let's face it, it's a business they need to
make their margins.

Yeah, the margins aren't there, it's too much.
Yeah they have a lot ofoverhead and running.
You know to build properly.

And money costs money.

Yeah.

You know you have interest on money, you
know carrying charges, you'regoing to be paying taxes and you
know other fees on this untilyou sell it.
Yeah sell it.
Yeah, so it's.
It's a.
It's more difficult.
If people wanted to do it, Iwould say they would have to
push out east a bit okay, wherethe markets are starting to.

So for our audience that that's local, they
understand the that new yorkmarket is very developed and is
very little, very littleavailable land, and many times
the land that is uh, becomingavailable is reclaimed, so to
speak, yes, and re-gentrified,so to speak.
So where if?
If you're in north carolina,sometimes they're taking over?

(21:55):
You know, you got, you stillgot the room for the expansion
or what have you.

So I was on the phone this morning with
someone and we were talking andthey said I'm starting to go to
South Carolina with a builderdown there and buy and flip
because I can't do it up hereanymore because the market's so
difficult, and he's already donesix of them.

In South Carolina.

Yeah, Really yeah, six of them and made a
nice profit on each one.
Yeah.
So people that live on theisland tend to think you know,
we're the center of the universe.
And it's natural, because wereally do believe we are, yes,
yes, we're New Yorkers.

We're New Yorkers, but there are many places in
our vicinity where people aremoving, where there's great
opportunity to build, torenovate and to do flips as well
so if you had a buyer who'swanted new construction out of
you know, but in a differentstate, do you have builders that
will work with them indifferent states?

well, what I would do is I would look for
caldwell banker office in thatarea.
Yeah, we have a great networkthough and that's really where I
would start okay to be honestwith you.
I would go that route first andsee if there would be a new
construction specialist that Icould speak with in that area.

Okay, awesome.

Try to keep it in the family.

Yeah, awesome, that sounds great.
So, val, let's talk about lifebefore real estate.
What does that look like forValerie Rosenblatt?

So life before real estate buckle up
it's a very long ride.
Life Before Real Estate whatdoes that look like for Valerie
Rosenblatt?
So Life Before Real EstateBuckle up it's a very long ride.
I graduated school and Istarted working at Sotheby Park,
bernet, which is the auctionhouse, and I worked there for a
while and I worked on provenance, which is the history of the
pieces that would then go toauction, and I loved that.

(23:47):
But I felt very confined in thecity.
I wasn't really a city person.
So then I went for my master'sin education.
Okay, after I got that master'sI wound up teaching in district
26 in the gifted and talentedprogram.
That was my first position andI taught there for many years

(24:10):
and actually wrote some of thecurriculum for the Gifted and
Talented children in the programfor the City of New York.
So at that time that was justthe beginning of programs like
that.
Before that there were pull-outprograms, which still exist in
many schools.
Now that was the first magnetprogram and what that means is

(24:30):
that it's a core group ofchildren that travel together
from K to six.
So while I was there I wouldteach the same children, maybe
several times, because at thattime there weren't many teachers
that were ready for that.
At that time there weren't manyteachers that were ready for
that, and I designed a lot ofcurriculum, did things very out

(24:52):
of the box, which is pretty muchmy nature.

Yeah, you want to give an example of that.

So I believed when I was teaching
that the best way to learn wasthematically.
So, for example, if thecurriculum is ancient history,
everything that we're doing isancient history.
We're reading about ancienthistory, we're writing about it,
we're learning the math of thetime, the writers of the time,

(25:22):
we're trying to replicate theart of the time in that full
immersion.
And that's pretty much, I thinkfrom my design and art
background.
Yeah, I felt that was the bestway you could learn is just
fully immerse yourself in thatparticular topic so did you pull
out an abacus and oh, all kindsof stuff, sure sure, when we
did the renaissance, yeah, wewere making crests and we were

(25:42):
out in the yard.
I remember burning the edges andI probably was reprimanded for
that by my principal because, Iwanted it to look authentic, but
that was a good part of me formany, many years, for many years
.

So what made you pivot out of teaching?

I was married and became pregnant with
my children, and my son was alittle sick when he was born and
I had to stay home.

Okay, so that's a strong motivation, yeah.

And that was the reason why I had to leave.
Okay, and grown and great.
Now I have a boy and a girl andthey're great, but at the time
it was just I couldn't leavethem with someone I didn't know.
Yeah, yeah.

So when they got to a certain age time, it was
just I couldn't leave them withsomeone I didn't know.
Yeah, yeah, so when they got toa certain age, I assume, then
at a certain point it wasValerie time again it was
Valerie time.

Again, I did help my husband with his
business.
He had a software business athome and I did work with him at
home to grow the business.
And then when I knew the kidswere leaving, as I said, I had
great fear of being an emptynester and at that point I felt
very insecure with myselfbecause I had been out of the

(26:56):
workforce for so long.
I didn't really know how Icould compete with young people
and where was I really going tofit in.
And I just found that realestate in general is very
welcoming Any age it doesn'treally matter, it's a very
welcoming industry.
And I found my home.
Honestly, I found my placeagain.

You know they say teachers actually make very good
real estate agents, and thereason they say that is
obviously the communicationskills translate over and, to a
certain extent, as an agent, ifyou're doing the job the correct
way, you're educating yourclient, whether it be the seller
and how to bring it to market,or your buyer and how to
navigate the open marketplace.

It's funny you said that because I have
been told on many appointmentsshould I sit at my desk right
now and I never understood why.
But it's just trying to educatepeople and let them make a
correct decision.

Correct.
It's very important for me.
That makes sense.
Yeah, that makes sense.
All right, cool, that's great.
I didn't know that about you,so it's interesting to get that.

Yeah, that's where that came from and I
still think I'm that person.
Yes, I think I'm always thatteacher yes.

Perfect.
You're well known and wellrespected in the real estate
community and stuff you know, sotell me what's what it's like
to be part of Valerie's networkof of realtor friends.

Part of my network of realtor friends.
So for me, the industry isabout everyone getting along.
I'm a big proponent of we'reall in this together, but in the
real sense of it.
So when I started the business,I always tried to imagine
myself on the other side of thetransaction.
How are they viewing me?

(28:39):
How are they looking at me?
How is this agent looking at me?
And I always felt it wasimportant to be respectful of
the other agent's journey aswell as mine.
As a new agent, I didn't knowmuch and I was doing
transactions with very seasonedagents, and it's a very
difficult thing to do so.

(29:00):
For me, it was always aboutmaking relationships with the
agent on the other side of thetable, sometimes more so than
anyone else in the transaction,because I always felt I don't
know where in my life I'm goingto meet them again and if I'm in
a situation where I'm givingthem an offer, maybe they'll
remember it was easy.

(29:21):
Maybe they'll remember howprofessional it was, and I kept
doing that, and I'm not of thebelief that my company is better
than your company.
I don't really believe that.
I believe every agent findstheir home in their company and
all agents work very hard.
Yes, so it's always aboutmaintaining that level of

(29:45):
respect for each other.
Yes, I don't see it a lot.
I wish I saw it more.

Yeah Well, it's a highly competitive business at
the same time, and it's a matterof balancing that competitive
nature with.
I think, good common sense andmoral ethics.

But people can be competitive and nice.
Yes, you don't have to behurtful, you don't have to be
cutthroat, you can becompetitive, but stay in your
lane and be respectful of people100%, and that, for me, was
really how I became an agent'sagent, if there's such a term.

Okay, agent-friendly.

Valerie Rosenbla (30:25):
Agent-friendly , where many times agents, when
they get a listing, will call meand say, val, I have this
listing, do you have anybody?
And I'll say, well, don't youwant to put it out to MLS?
Well, we do.
But we'd rather work with youbecause I try to make it easy
for everyone.
Make this a nice transaction.

I think this is wonderful advice to give to new
and aspiring new agents.
To follow Agents should notoverlook that piece of advice
you just gave.

It's very important and I'll tell you a
funny story.
Okay, so during COVID, everyonewas running around hoarding
toilet paper, paper, towels,soap, whatever you could find,
and a very good agent, friend ofmine, who's the manager of a
very large office yeah, notmentioning any names all good

(31:17):
was talking to me and said Ihave no toilet paper.
I don't know what to do.
I said are you going to be inyour office for the next half
hour?
She said yes.
I said I'll be back because Iremembered I was at a
supermarket and I saw a lot oftoilet paper.

So you didn't bring her a bag of dried leaves
or anything, no, I ran back tothe supermarket and I got her as
much toilet paper as I could.
Yeah.

And I called her and I said come on out to
my car.
And she was speechless.
And she said you don't evenwork for my company.
I said but what does that haveto?

do with anything, still a human.

You needed this and we're friends.
And to this day she will say noone's ever done that for me and
it's just going that littleextra to just show that you're a
person.
People sometimes have good days, they have bad days, agents
have good days and bad days, andsometimes you just need someone

(32:16):
there to say I got you.
Yeah, this is okay.
We don't have to work for thesame company.

No no.

I'm there for you, and that's the
difference.
I think it's very important.

Love that story.
Love that story.
It's my toilet paper story.
So let me ask you this if youknow, having been an agent up
and coming and you've dealt withsome of these seasoned agents
before, was there anybody thatwas a mentor or took some type
of you know, attention?
You didn't have that personthat jumped out.
No, how did you put their armaround?

I made so many mistakes I did so many
mistakes, I did so many thingswrong that I was skeptical in
the beginning if I had theability to pull this off and I
actually kept a journal of allmy mistakes.
Really.
I did because I didn't reallyhave anyone to guide me as to

(33:09):
how this business worked and Ihad a journal.
I really did and I would writenotes in it.
Don't do this again.
This was really, you know.
This was better.
Think about it this way and Iguided myself through how I was
going to mold my business andmold myself as an agent.
I wasn't with Caldwell Bankerat the time, so that's part of

(33:32):
the reason where Caldwell is avery mentoring company, yes, but
where I had started it wasn't,so I was pretty much on my own.

Yeah, interesting, all right Well.

And I'm all about the journaling for new
agents.
Okay.
I think it's very important towrite down what you're doing,
what works, what doesn't work,and if you really look at that,
you'll find your footing.

Yeah, it does take a while or a certain amount of
experience to find your legs, soto speak.

It does, it really does, it really does.

So I think new agents have to factor that in
Again.
They make it look sexy on HGTV,and yet there's a lot of unsexy
things that we have to do.

I think real estate is a very attractive
field, but you have to treat itas a full-time job.

Yes, as a business .

It is a business.

Yeah.

It is a business.

Yeah, they say, if you look at it as an agent,
you're in business for yourself,but not necessarily by yourself
.
If you're with the right broker, you're not by yourself.

Right.
If you're with the right broker, you're not by yourself, and if
you're with the wrong broker,it can break you.
Yeah, and I did get to a pointwhere I was very broken and very
devastated at the industry.
And the truth is and I'm notjust saying it because I work
for Caldwell when I came toCaldwell Banker I could breathe.

(34:53):
Yeah.
And my business started growingexponentially.
Yeah, because I felt the spaceand the ability to just be who I
was, and also a big part of itis that the managers are
non-compete.
Yes, so I had been working insituations where the managers

(35:13):
were, and it was not good for me.

No.

It was very difficult.

Being a top agent is a full-time job and being a
manager, and doing it correctly,is a full-time job.
You can't really do twofull-time jobs effectively.

You can't do both and having a manager and
Leslie is my manager and I loveher.

She's great people she's wonderful.
Yeah.

And having someone that's always there
makes the difference.
Yes exactly, and that didchange my business.

Yeah Well, you don't want someone who's going
to micromanage you.
No, no, you need to know thatsomeone's going to be there when
you— when you need it.
Especially as you're more andmore experienced.
You can figure a lot of stuffout, but every once in a while
you need that sounding boardright.

You definitely do.
Yeah, and no one's an islandunto themselves.
No, nor should they be In thisbusiness.
I still learn something all thetime.
Yeah.
I'm always and I'm alwayssaying, wow, I didn't know that.
I'm always learning something.

And just when you think you have it down, they
keep changing.

Oh, you never have it down.
You never have it down.

You never have it down.

It's always changing.
But for new agents, I wouldhonestly say, make it a point of
meeting other agents, even ifyou don't have a buyer for
something.
Go to their open house, sayhello, introduce yourself, check
out a property, preview it,just so you know what's out
there and you're meeting people.

Yes.

Because many agents are leering about doing
deals with agents that have noexperience.
So if you can get out there andmeet people, even if it's not
with a buyer by your side,you're still networking.
Yes exactly, and that's what'sreally important.

That's a great piece of advice.
So, valerie, just to pivot alittle bit now and get a little
more of the personal side ofValerie Rosenblatt, can you
share a non-real estate interestof yours?

Non-real estate interest of mine.
That's a tough one, but if Ihave to, I love to cook.

My background is Italian, so the kitchen is a
very important place for me.
Do you have a go-to dish orrecipe?

I love vegetable dishes.
Place for me.
Do you have a go-to dish orrecipe?
I love vegetable dishes.
Okay, I love going to farmer'smarkets looking for new places
where I can buy local produce.
I love local produce.

What's your best recipe?

Stuffed zucchini.

Okay, yeah, yeah.

It's a favorite.

It's a family favorite.
Is it baked?

Actually, the joke in my family is that I
can make anything on a barbecueokay anything, anything.
I can make it on a barbecuethere you go I can make french
toast on a barbecue.
I can make eggs on it, I canmake anything on a barbecue.

So it's made on a barbecue, okay all right, I'm
gonna have to, you know, reportback to our audience.
We're to have to have somestuffed zucchini in the future.
I love cooking on the barbecue.
I'll have to let our audienceknow if the recipe is worth it.
Yeah, it's the best.
No, it's awesome, it's the best.
Would you be willing to share afunny story?

I will share the story you're going for.
I will share that story.
It was a COVID story.
Ah, okay.
So again we go back to COVID.
It was a very stressful timefor everyone.
Yes, that's true, and I feel,we saw the best of people and we
saw the worst of people duringCOVID.
Some people rose to theoccasion, some people didn't, in

(38:20):
terms of just how we wouldtreat each other.
Yeah, and when COVID washappening and everyone was
stocking their pantries, I had avery strange notion of what
should be going in my pantry.

Most people- might be putting in canned vegetables
or soups.
Toilet paper Toilet paper.

I seem to think that it should only be
cake mix.
Cake mix, only cake mix, and Ireally didn't know why, but
every time I would go out if Isaw cake mix, I would pick, pick
it up.
So, as we all have in ourcabinets, you keep pushing
things into the cabinet, youpush it into the cabinet and
then you put things in front andyou forget what's behind.
So about eight months ago, my,my kids, were home and they said

(39:05):
I think we should clean outyour bunker downstairs is that
what you call it I?
Called it the bunker.
He said there's a lot of stuffand we think a lot of it's
expired.
So I said, yeah, yeah, you guysgo have some fun.
You know, whatever you see, ifyou don't think it's good, you
could throw it out.
And my children are veryorganic, clean eating the whole

(39:27):
thing.
So my son comes up and he saysMom, we have to talk.
So I said what did I do now?

You think we have a problem?

I'm always doing something.
What did I do now?
He said what's with the 50boxes of cake mix in the
basement?
He said what were you thinking?
I said, honestly, I have noidea.
But for me, cake and a warm cupof coffee, or a muffin and a
cup of tea, I thought would havebeen a very soothing, relaxing

(39:57):
thing to have during COVID.
I never got to it because therewere so many other things going
on.
I actually worked right throughCOVID yeah yeah, I worked.

I never took a break no time for cake there was
no time for cake, but yet youkept buying the mix, I kept
buying more cake mix, thinking Iwas going to make it and there
was no time for cake.

And at that time many agents, as you know,
we were double and triple masked.
Yeah.
And we were out there workingyes, and I was one of them, so
there was no time for cake.

Yeah, no time for cake.
Yeah, no time for cake.
There was no time for cake.
That's awesome, but of all thethings to stock up on, water.

It was an unusual choice.
Yeah, I admit it to this day itwas a very unusual choice.
Now it's become pancake mix.

Yeah.

I've pivoted to pancake mix.

I don't know if that's any better or not, it's
not better.

No, no, no no.

So do you have any what you'd consider quirky
habits that you'd like to sharewith our audience?

I'm addicted to Post-its.

Post-its.

I love Post-its.
Okay, at any given time,there'll be 10 Post-its on my
desk.
I love the idea of Post-its andI love Post-its when I can
write what I have to do, andwhen I do, I can just have that
great feeling of crumpling thatpost-it up and throwing it away.
All right, this way you knowyou accomplish something.
I love post-its.
I think everyone should havepost-its there we go

(41:19):
realistically.

If you had to say who's your biggest inspiration,
you know who has influenced yourlife, maybe you know you're
gonna get me very emotional okaymy mom all right yeah she's not
here any longer, all right?

Well, sorry to hear that yes.

So you want to share a mom story with our
audience, so my mom was a veryunusual woman.

She was very simple.
Okay, she gave me my love ofthe farm, the love of cooking
things fresh, yeah, the love ofbeing with your family.
But she always told me onething and I and I've imparted
that to my children yeah, shesaid, in life you're going to
meet a lot of people.
Yeah, there are always going tobe people with more.

(42:01):
There are always going to bepeople with less.
There are always going to bepeople that appear happier than
you.
There'll be people that appearless happy than you, she said,
but it's always important to behappy with who you are.

Yeah, the grass is never greener.
Yeah, you know what I heard.
The grass is greener where youwater it.

She said the grass is never greener.
Yeah, don't ever look at whatpeople have.
Appreciate the journey thateveryone takes and just love the
journey that you have.
And that's really how I liveand that's really me in a
nutshell.
So I meet people that areextremely wealthy every day.

(42:44):
I never look at them, itdoesn't affect me, because I
just go back to what she alwayssaid is just be happy with the
journey you have.
Yes, because the truth is mostof us wouldn't change our lane
for someone else's.
Yes, we really wouldn't.
No, you know we think we would,but if the choice were given to

(43:05):
us, we really wouldn't.

If you had to look at the whole picture, because I
think what you touched on isyou know, especially these days
with social media, you get tosee everyone's happy posts and
everyone has challenges thatthey're dealing with and perfect
words about, you know, justfinding your own path and
finding your own happiness.

Finding your happiness on the path.
I don't have an Instagram.
I don't have any of thosethings.
And people have said to me well,you know you have to have that,
I don't have any of thosethings.
And people have said to me well, you know you have to have that
, I don't think you have to haveit.
If you're happy with doing that, that's great.
That's not me, I don't havethat.
But for me, social media hasbecome a problem for people in
general because there's a fakeportrayal of what happiness

(43:47):
looks like Very materialisticinstead of the organic.
There's a lot of places you canget happiness.
Yes.
And making it all about materialthings.
It's only going to last for solong.
Yeah.
I'm just as happy, honestly,going in my backyard and

(44:08):
watching my honeybees.
I had a whole family ofhoneybees over the summer and I
could look at them all day andbe happy.
I didn't need to really do muchof anything else.
So you find happiness where youare, and that, for me, is
everything in a nutshell.

Your mother sounds like a special woman, yeah good
.
I want to pivot a little bit,and I think this is the perfect
time to do this, because wealways like to talk about.
You know, giving back.
So what does giving back meanto you?
Can you share any stories youknow, things you worked on or
things that might be close toyour heart?

So giving back for me could have many
layers to it.
You could give back by helpinganother worker.
You know someone working in theoffice that needs advice or
needs help.
That's a very basic level ofgiving back.
Yeah, for me I had been doingsome dog adoption years ago at
the office yeah and then we didthat for a few years and then

(45:06):
there were issues with animalsand people and we kind of had to
stop doing that.
But I still love that.
And recently the office had areally beautiful fundraiser for
some schools and I becameinvolved in that as well and
that was run by another personin the office and that goes back
to my education background,where that's a very important

(45:27):
thing for me.
But giving back could beanything.
It could be holding the dooropen for someone in a
supermarket.
It could be walking an elderlyperson to their car if they need
it.

You know, it seems to be lost.
Art is, like you just said,holding the door and or like on
a crowded bus or train, givingyour seat up, you know, to an
elderly person, sure, somebodywho might not be, who might need
it, need it.

Yeah, see it up to an elderly person or
somebody who might not be needed.
If I see someone in asupermarket or a parking lot and
they're having troubleunloading their groceries, I'll
go over there and help them.
I just think that's part ofbeing human and, unfortunately,
because everything in societyhas become so digitized and
monetized, we forget that just asmile or being a good human.

You don't need to take a selfie every time you do
something nice.

I don't think I've ever taken a selfie.

I don't think I ever have, yeah, yeah.

I never think about myself in terms of
where I fit in the company.
Right.
Because my journey was not aneasy one to get where I am and
in the business, everybody hasgood years and bad years, yes.
So I never like to think aboutwhat I do or how much I have

(46:48):
under contract or how much I'veclosed, because that could
change overnight.
The business can change on adime.
So it's all about what I'mdoing today.
What am I doing today to try toinsure myself for the next year
?
That's as far as I go.
I never look at the bottom line.
It happens, whatever it does,it's doing it, and I don't

(47:08):
really think about it.
No, you stay focused.
It happens, yeah, whatever itdoes, it's doing it, and I don't
really think about it.

Good, no, you stay focused on what you.

If I thought about that, I would become
petrified.
Yeah, because I say this yearis a really good year for me.
Yeah, and I may not have thatyear next year, right, you know,
and I have to be okay with it,and I am okay with it, right,
but I don't focus on it, right?

Good, so please remember when you get a chance
like subscribe.
We appreciate your support ofour podcast here.
It's time for the drop the micquestion.
You have an extensiveexperience in home staging.
Have you ever had a funny orunexpected moment happen during
staging or a showing?

I don't think I could talk about it now
I want to hear it took a coupleout looking at homes and, of
course, the two most importantrooms in the house or the master
bath in the kitchen yes kitchenpassed, it was great.
We got to the master bath andthere was something odd there
and we couldn't quite figure itout.
But there were two toilets nextto each other.

(48:17):
So we're thinking, well, maybeone's a bidet.
On closer examination, thereare two toilets next to each
other.
So I had said to the listingagent could you expand upon what
this is?
And the answer was is that thesellers enjoyed that experience

(48:39):
together.
At that point we could notcontrol ourselves.
Yeah, yeah.
And to this day we still laughabout that story.
It was very unique.

I have yet to see that in the house.

It was very unique, so those were drop the
mic moments for me, because I'msupposed to be professional but
I'm hysterically laughing andthe my clients are laughing.

We don't know even what, how to respond to this so
of course the wise guy Amywants to ask if the family that
poops together, do they staytogether?

Well, we didn't make an offer on that
house.
So for all I know, it couldstill be there.

Oh, that's great.
That's great.
Well, val, thank you so muchfor sharing all your wit and
wisdom and experience with ustoday.
I know the audience appreciatesit and, most importantly, I
appreciate you.
So if anyone wants to reach outto Valerie Rosenblatt, whether
it's doing real estate businessor design, or has some questions
on anything, how do they reachValerie Rosenblatt?

Well, first of all, I just want to say thank
you for having me.
I hope that whoever watches thepodcast, I help them a little
bit.
If anybody needs any advice onreal estate or cake mix or
pancake mix, you can call me Newconstruction.
New construction pancake mix,preferably 516-238-7396.

That's awesome.
Thank you so much for beinghere today.
Before we let you go, justremember again like subscribe
and don't miss.
The next episode drops in twoweeks.
Look forward to seeing youthere.
Thank you so much, val.
Thank you.

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S1E8 - Designing Success with Top Producer Valerie Rosenblatt

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}S1E8 - Designing Success with Top Producer Valerie Rosenblatt