May 7, 2025 • 45 mins
In this inspiring episode, host Mike Litzner sits down with Christine Dato, a top agent at Coldwell Banker American Homes in Hicksville, to discuss her unique path in real estate—starting not once, but twice. Christine shares the challenges she faced as a young agent, why she stepped away from the industry, and what ultimately brought her back with renewed confidence and purpose.
From navigating today’s fast-paced market to building trust with clients and giving back to her Long Island community, Christine opens up about the habits, mindset, and mentorship that helped shape her success.
Stay tuned as we cover her favorite business tools, buyer/seller seminars, family motivation, and her role in local charitable work like Feed Long Island—plus a fun Drop the Mic question to wrap it all up.
Thank you for listening
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
Hi, welcome to the Work Hard, play Hard and Give
Back a real estate podcast.
I'm Mike Litzner, broker ownerof Coldwell Banker American
Homes.
I'm at the studio in FranklinSquare and I have our guest
Christine Dato, top agent atColdwell Banker American Homes
Hicksville location.
So welcome to the show,christine.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Thank you for having me.
I'm honored to be here.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
Excellent, excellent.
Before we get started, I wantto remind our audience over here
that if you like the episode,you like what we're doing here,
don't forget to like, subscribeand join us, and don't forget to
stay around for the drop themic question.
We always have fun at the endhere.
Okay, have fun at the end here.
So, okay, all right.
So, chris, let's get startedhere, let's go.
(00:48):
Come on we, we know you'vedeveloped an incredible career
at colwell banker american homes, um and?
But getting started in realestate is difficult, anyone will
tell you.
Right, it's, it's a process,right, but you started your
career not once, but twice, yes,so why don't?
you walk our audience throughthis a little bit.
What was the path for ChristineDato?
Speaker 2 (01:08):
I had two very different careers.
We have chapter one where I wasyoung, I was 25 years old.
I was working at a job where itwas 9 to 5, really more like 9
to 9, overworked, underpaid.
And then I was buying a houseand all of a sudden I'm like,
wow, kind of cool.
I think I might want to trythis.
I left my job, I started realestate 25 and I would say that
(01:31):
my first year I doubled mysalary.
I went from 20,000 to 40,000 andback then that was big money,
that was big and it was greatand I really enjoyed it, except
that I found that once the kidsstarted coming, my husband was
NYPD working overtime.
We didn't have childcare, wedidn't have cell phones back
then.
We always had to be in theoffice.
I was taking the kids onappointments with me.
(01:52):
It was getting complicated, andthe other thing that was really
complicated in getting in myown way was me.
I was only really working thisbusiness I would say 50% because
I was young, I was veryinsecure, I wasn't confident and
I always found that I wasintimidated by sellers.
So I would mostly only workbuyers and therefore I wasn't
(02:15):
really maximizing this businessback then.
Speaker 1 (02:17):
No working half the business Now it was funny
because you and I actually did adeal together.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
Yes, I forget what year that is, but it was
probably somewhere around 1991.
Speaker 1 (02:28):
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (02:29):
It was my mother-in-law's house, okay.
Speaker 1 (02:30):
That's right.
So you had a listing right.
No, I had the buyer, you hadthe buyer.
Speaker 2 (02:41):
You had the listing, I had the listing, I had the
buyer.
I do want to say it, you andkind of see the professionalism
which is why I actually wound upcoming here the second time.
Yeah, because you were at adifferent brokerage in your
first pastime?
Yes, so I always worked withsmall mom and pop shops.
Speaker 1 (02:57):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (02:57):
And you know, it was fine back then At least that's
all I knew, Right, and then when, about five years into it, and
the kids and it was just gettingchaotic and it really wasn't
working for me, I decided toleave.
I was actually even anassociate broker at that time I
decided to close that door and Iswore I would never go back.
And then what wound uphappening is I went back to
(03:20):
market research.
I actually did direct sales,which was a big part of my
career with Leah Sophia.
I sold jewelry.
I had a big team of 75 people.
I loved that job.
I was running trips.
It was great.
Speaker 1 (03:32):
And then they closed the doors.
How long did you do the LeahSophia thing?
Eight years, okay, so it wasafter kind of kids got to a
certain age.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
Yep, and my goal for that was to help pay for their
college.
That's what it did, ah good,and then um love it, yeah.
And then they wound up shuttingthe doors.
They gave us 30 days notice notmuch ramp time, huh devastated
yeah, and then I wound up um,you know, not sure I was
struggling because I knew Ididn't want to go nine to five.
I knew I loved the idea nowbecause that really taught me
(03:59):
how to like set goals, thatsales was my thing that I really
liked working with people.
I like making people feel good.
So then I wound up talking tomy husband Steve's like why are
you back to real estate?
And I'm like I don't know.
And then Nancy Calber, who isour neighbor and friend he
whispered in her ear and said Ithink you should talk to Chris
about it.
And she did and she's prettypersuasive, as we know.
(04:21):
And she got me to have ameeting, if you recall, with you
and Lisa, and I thought aboutit and I said you know what?
What have I got to lose?
Speaker 1 (04:28):
Yeah, yeah, and here we are.
Speaker 2 (04:30):
I was 50 back then and I was like I can't believe
I'm starting this at 50 yearsold.
And here we are, almost 10years later, and it's the best
decision I made.
Speaker 1 (04:39):
Even better than Leah Sophia there.
There you go, but it's funnyhow these building blocks of
different parts of your lifehelp set up the next phase of
your life.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
For sure Like my market research job.
Like that plays a big part intowhat I do today the Leah Sophia
, the whole, just setting goalsand really striving for that,
having a why, having a purpose.
It just kind of led into thisand it's really helped me with
this yeah.
Speaker 1 (05:07):
So now, as most you know, agents who have licensed
have experienced.
Getting started is extremelydifficult, so and you've done it
twice right what did you dodifferently or experience
differently the second timearound?
Speaker 2 (05:22):
so okay, so you have to put yourself out there.
Yeah, and you have to makeyourself available and I found I
always went to the officenumber one made sure that I
connected with the other agents.
Nancy was very instrumental, Ihave to tell you.
You know she would.
You know, filter me leads tohelp me out, to kind of get me
started.
In fact, one of my best, Iwould say, transactions, because
(05:45):
it led from one to many, was anopen house that she had me do
and I kind of met somebody fromthere that really kind of kept
things going in my business.
Speaker 1 (05:55):
Yeah, because all referrals right, yeah, A big
part of it right.
Speaker 2 (05:59):
So I think that it was important for me to always
be at the office.
I would sometimes be the onlyone there on, like on a Saturday
.
Sometimes I get a walk-in.
I remember selling that buyerthere were.
I would do the leads, I woulddo open houses for people and
then I would.
I definitely worked a sphere.
I didn't have a big sphere, butI wound up.
I looked at everybody who Iknew.
(06:20):
I sent them my initial letter.
I remember I would post onsocial media just to kind of
make them aware, and then Ifound that what wound up
happening is that people say oh,I know, chris.
You know what?
I think you just have to reallyput yourself out there.
Speaker 1 (06:34):
Yeah, Now you touched on something that's interesting
.
So the first time around 1990businesses 1989 to 94, 1995.
So society, I want to say thereal estate business, was
different.
There's parallels because it'sstill a people business first,
right, right, and still aconnection type of business.
(06:57):
But it's the way we do business.
So the second time around.
So different.
Yeah, so you have the technology, and now there's a little bit
of a challenge is getting agentsto engage back, because
everything can be done remotely.
We have paperless transactions.
Potentially, we have a lot ofmeetings or training done on
Zoom, so it's live, right, butyou don't have to be in person.
(07:22):
So do you have to dress up?
Do you have to show up?
It's not a long walk to yourkitchen, know, kitchen table,
your home office, so to speak Ifind that I'm much more
productive when I'm in theoffice.
Speaker 2 (07:32):
Yeah, I am one that goes to the office a lot.
I like being there.
I like hearing people's stories.
That's how you learn.
You learn you know who'sdealing with what situation and
how they dealt with it.
Yes, because then it said oh, Iremember when so-and-so had
this, this is what they did andyou have to listen, you know,
you have to really pay attentionto what's happening there.
I've also found that, being inthere this past year, I actually
(07:55):
got a really phenomenal walk-in.
Speaker 1 (07:57):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (07:57):
If I wasn't there, that wouldn't have happened.
Speaker 1 (08:00):
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:02):
So I believe that going in the office is important
, even in this day and age, justthe camaraderie, I think, and
learning.
Speaker 1 (08:09):
Yeah.
So what?
I think?
People who don't actuallyengage in the sale of real
estate it's one thing buyingreal estate is they don't always
understand the transaction andtransaction management and
there's a lot of nuance to everytransaction.
So it's not just here's theliving room, here's the kitchen.
It looks really nice.
Do you want it?
(08:30):
It's not like drive around.
We always joke.
You want me to supersize thatplease?
Speaker 2 (08:36):
pull around.
Speaker 1 (08:37):
So we're not order takers, and I think one of the
more challenging parts of thejob is not just bringing buyers
who want to buy and sellers whowant to sell together, but you
know managing the nuances ofboth sides and the things known
and unknown within a transaction.
You know so, having beenthrough a number of numerous
(09:00):
transactions, you want to sharewith our audience any unusual
scenario that you ran into in a,into a transaction, and then
how you handled the, thechallenge I had a co-op in
queens okay and that seller wasbuying another house in
farmingdale and I wound up metthe buyer for the co-op at the
(09:20):
open house.
Speaker 2 (09:21):
Um, I vetted the buyer.
They, the loan officer, told meeverything was rock solid,
because I always make sure.
Did you see all their incomeinformation, their bank
statements?
Everything was great.
And then they said that we hada commitment and my buyer and my
seller now is becoming a buyerand they wound up going into
(09:41):
contract on a house.
So now they're selling their coop, they're buying this house,
they're committed, they have alot of money at stake here.
Speaker 1 (09:48):
They need the funds from the sale of their co-op in
order to buy the next house andthen, all of a sudden, we get
word that their buyer is nowgoing to be denied.
Speaker 2 (09:59):
Denied for the loan or denied for the mortgage by
the bank.
Speaker 1 (10:03):
Okay, so again, I always like to clarify for our
audience.
Yes, the difference between acondo and a co-op.
A condo, you own the walls, thefloor, the ceiling, yep.
You own your unit.
And a co-op, you own shares ina corporation which actually
owns the entire building and youget a lifetime lease back on it
.
Right, so you have to.
A buyer has to be approved forfinancing, should they be
(10:25):
applying for some, but they alsohave to be approved by the
board.
Speaker 2 (10:29):
So they actually got approved by the board.
So we got approved, we were all.
And then all of a sudden, likeright at the end we get word
that they I guess they did somenew verification for income
Surprise and he had like noincome.
Speaker 1 (10:44):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (10:45):
And it was a disaster and I remember freaking out and
I just tried.
You know what?
There's a lot of things wecan't control in this business
and I'm a little bit of acontrol freak and I tried so
hard to manage this andmicromanage this and speak to
the loan officer regularly.
Speaker 1 (11:02):
Right, I mean, it was like a miracle that you know.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
I was like we have to make this done, there's so much
at stake here, and we did windup closing that deal.
But boy, it was a struggle.
The loan officer wound up.
I don't even know.
I haven't had to talk to anotherloan officer to try to switch
to a different bank, but hewound up staying put where he
was and they did wind up puttingit together.
(11:26):
But boy did they really stresssome people out here a lot.
It's funny, though ironically,that that person who bought the
co-op just recently called melooking to maybe buy now a house
.
Speaker 1 (11:42):
So, which shows you, however, you handled the
challenge there.
It was obviously well-received.
You got it to the point whereyou were able to resolve the
issues and get everyone wherethey wanted to be.
So I always say by the way andthis is what I want to tap on, I
think our audience should hearthis is that any agent can show
(12:05):
up and take that phone call whenthings are great.
Hey got approved for themortgage, we're set for closing,
Yay, Call me back.
And the owner calling back oh,I'm so happy for you.
It takes a great agent to showup when there's a problem.
Did you ever notice thatsometimes agents all of a sudden
there's a problem, all of asudden you can't get phone calls
back?
And a great agent makes thehard calls, not just the easy
(12:26):
calls.
So I'm sure that was difficultdealing with those calls there
it was really hard.
Speaker 2 (12:32):
I mean, there was a lot of money at stake there was
families' lives at stake here,and that's when I start to take
it.
I take it very personally and Iwant to make this right for
them, but there's only so muchcontrol I had and I want to
believe that everyone's beingtruthful with me when I'm asking
the questions that I need toask to vet them, but no
guarantees.
I always say that can't be 100%that they're telling me the
(12:54):
truth.
Speaker 1 (12:54):
One of my favorite sayings is man plans and then
God laughs.
So they can be truthful and itturns out they lost their job in
the middle and you can't planfor that.
If they lost their job, theyhave no income.
The bank can change their mindif they haven't closed the loan.
Once the loan's closed, thebank's bought into it and then
you know and they'll have towork through it.
So yeah so, again, I think ouraudience, you know um has a
(13:18):
front row seat here and and Iwant them to see you know how
exceptional agents are, becausethe things we need to deal with,
known and unknown, to get usour clients to where they need
to be.
Speaker 2 (13:30):
What I try to do, honestly, is do a lot of that
stuff up front to try to preventthe problems down the line.
So, like for my listings, foreven my buying, like, I just try
to do a lot of due diligence upfront because I don't want to
avoid as many curveballs andsurprises as much during that
transaction.
Speaker 1 (13:47):
Right, right.
Well, I think a certain amountof experience kind of gives you
the insights what to look forRight, and then you start to
handle the problems beforethey're problems, right, yeah,
now that's awesome.
So what's the major differenceyou see now in challenges than
you saw, maybe, when you startedthe first time around?
Speaker 2 (14:07):
You know what I don't like.
Back then our job was to findthe homes for the buyers and
they'd do a call from thenewspaper ads and it was on us.
We'd get our books, We'd lookthrough, find the perfect
listings for them.
I feel like they took that partaway from us with the internet
now.
Now everybody's just sending uslistings and they are telling
(14:33):
us what they want to say.
right, and it's why I have likea joke with all my buyers like,
listen, I want to find you thehouse, right, you know like I
wanted to, and and we'll kind ofkeep like tabs, okay.
Well, that's right, chris foundus this one, because I feel
like that's part of our job youknow the internet.
We lost a little bit of that,yeah, but at the same time,
because they send us things andI'm like this is not what they
want, and then I have to explainto them.
Speaker 1 (14:52):
But they get caught up in that I think that's what
you're speaking to is productknowledge.
So, having sold real estate,having sold Lea Sophia, I
guarantee you you knoweverything about your product.
I guarantee you, you knoweverything about your product.
Speaker 2 (15:07):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (15:07):
Right, and the problem with, I think, new
agents or agents that come inthat think this is easy is that
they don't put the time.
You touched on market researchbefore.
Yeah, really learning yourmarketplace, you know,
understanding the product,what's available, you know what
type of conditions.
You know a buyer should knowmore about the available
(15:28):
inventory than our agent Right,and I see that as a opportunity
for agents to improve, to be ofa better asset to their clients.
Speaker 2 (15:37):
Would you agree?
Yep, definitely.
Speaker 1 (15:41):
Yeah.
So for agents just starting out, what's one piece of advice
you'd really want to share orthat you've already share with
agents that are new to thebusiness?
Speaker 2 (15:51):
Well, I would say definitely come to the office,
definitely be there to learn.
I would also say to invest inyourself.
I think a lot of and I get itsome people different financial
situations, but I think it'simportant in this business to
know that you have to invest inthis and it doesn't have to be
you know, I'm not one for theZillow thing or anything like
(16:11):
that but more like in yoursphere of influence.
The people who know love andtrust you.
Speaker 1 (16:16):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (16:16):
Invest in them.
So what I do and I usually tellnew agents is mail them things,
not just a letter, not just apostcard.
Give them a little something, alittle trinket, a pen, my
screen cloths I give.
They love them.
I get great responses from thatmy little koozies for their
white claws or whatever.
We definitely want to give themsomething that they're going to
(16:37):
hold on to and that they'regoing to remember me.
Speaker 1 (16:40):
Right and remember that you're in real estate
Exactly Because you're memorable, yeah.
If someone's new, you've yougotta go from christine, my
friend, yep, or neighbor tochristine, my friend, who's in
real estate I think people gettoo quiet about that and they're
uncomfortable discussing it andtelling people and talking
about it even just on socialmedia.
Speaker 2 (16:59):
I don't love posting things on social media.
I get uncomfortable myselfabout it I don't want people
thinking, oh, she's annoying orwhatever, but you have to do it
you have to find, you have to doit.
They have to be in theforefront of their mind so that
they know when they're lookingfor an agent.
They're going to call you.
Yeah, Because they know you.
Speaker 1 (17:15):
Right and they trust you.
Speaker 2 (17:16):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (17:16):
And trust is a huge.
Speaker 2 (17:17):
It's a big big thing, yes.
Speaker 1 (17:19):
Yes, you can't be a secret agent.
No Great piece of information.
So anyone who's thinking aboutjoining real estate, listen to
what this woman's talking about.
She knows what she's talkingabout.
Chris, you're consistentlyrecognized as a top producer.
What habits or mindset do youthink you have contributed most
to your success?
Speaker 2 (17:39):
Well, I'm goal-oriented.
Every year I do set a goal formyself of what I want to achieve
.
Listen, you shoot for the moon.
You might get to the stars.
You know, I always have like awhy.
Why am I doing this?
Like what am I looking to getout of this?
And it's funny my earlier years, like I was okay, I was average
, and then all of a sudden alife event happened that I said,
(18:01):
oh, I've got to save some moneyhere and my son was getting
married and I wanted to help himpay for his wedding.
And all of a sudden it was likewhen hashtags kind of became a
thing.
Every deal was like hashtag momhas got a wedding.
Speaker 1 (18:13):
I was just so focused on reaching my goal for that.
Speaker 2 (18:16):
But what was cool is that while I was doing that I
was helping all these peoplemove and I was getting such.
You know, it was like it wasfun.
I think that you have to kindof be very goal-oriented in this
business.
If I don't, I keep track of mynumbers.
I'm always looking at them justso that I can stay focused on
it, Otherwise I'm floundering.
If I don't have a goal or apurpose, I'm floundering.
Speaker 1 (18:39):
You know it's interesting, these stats on goal
setting, and they say typicallythe most successful people all
have goals.
That's one of the things yousee in commonality, and yet they
say only like 3% of the realestate agents actually have a
goal.
Speaker 2 (18:54):
Right.
Speaker 1 (18:54):
And I think the other thing you just touched on
should not be smoothed over,because a goal should not just
be a dollar amount.
Speaker 2 (19:02):
Right.
Speaker 1 (19:03):
You said it and I want to make sure our audience
doesn't miss this you need toknow a why.
Yes, you could take $100,000and put it on the table $100
bills and it looks impressive,but at the end of the day, what
does that represent?
What does it represent to youand you were just so effectively
articulated that mom has got awedding.
I love that.
(19:23):
So, now that mom has alreadytook care of the wedding, do you
want to share one of yourupcoming goals?
Speaker 2 (19:29):
Right now it's really more about, like, my retirement
right now.
So I'm kind of focused on that,to just not that it's happening
anytime soon.
Speaker 1 (19:36):
Right, right, but I want to be prepared.
Speaker 2 (19:39):
And now I have a grandson and you know I want to
be able to provide as best as Ipossibly can.
Yeah, so, yeah.
So that's kind of my plan.
Speaker 1 (19:49):
So what's your hashtag?
Mama's got a grandson.
I don't have a hashtag.
Mama's got a grandson, that'sright, yeah.
Speaker 2 (19:56):
Hashtag Mama wants another retirement house or
something.
Speaker 1 (19:58):
I don't know, steve, you listening?
Speaker 2 (20:01):
Yeah, no, you know what?
I'm not really sure.
It's just more like I just wantto make sure that we're
prepared and we're in a goodplace.
Speaker 1 (20:08):
All right good.
I like it.
So, chris, you've consistentlyearned a prestigious quality
service award.
What does deliveringoutstanding service mean to you?
Speaker 2 (20:17):
That's everything, honestly.
That is what I feel helps.
It sets the tone If you'regiving good service, everything
is going to come back.
It's going to benefit everybody.
The if you're giving goodservice everything is going to
come back right.
It's going to benefit everybody.
Yeah, you know the peopleyou're servicing as well as
yourself.
Yeah, um, so that's always amain goal for me, because, to me
, that's why I'm doing this likeyes, of course you know we make
(20:40):
a good living here, but I lovethe idea of helping these people
and um.
To get the quality serviceaward they have to fill out a
survey, get a certain scoreright.
They usually write some nicewords or whatever.
It's very meaningful to me andit means a lot that it keeps me
motivated to keep on going.
Speaker 1 (21:00):
I think agents sometimes need to be reminded
that referrals happen by design,not by accident.
You know so if someone that youknow doesn't transact with you
in real estate, it's not on them, it's on you, the agent.
What have you done to positionyourself, to put you, you know,
make yourself valuable, makeyourself available?
(21:21):
If they don't remember you'rein the business, then it's not
their fault.
It's sometimes difficult tolook in the mirror and say, okay
, what could I have done better?
But I think a really top agentcan be that transparent with
themselves.
They can look in that mirrorand ask themselves that question
.
Because, even if we all makemistakes, we're human and that's
(21:42):
okay.
But you know, are we okay withchallenging ourselves to be
better and make improvements?
Speaker 2 (21:48):
Yeah, no, I think that's a big goal of mine is to
really go above and beyond sothat they're really happy with
my service, you know, and thatthey would recommend me to
somebody if needed.
But I just want to make sureI'm doing a good job.
Speaker 1 (22:00):
Yeah, so can you share with our audience.
So what's the best testimonialyou have ever received?
Speaker 2 (22:07):
Well, there was one that my friend's son helped him
purchase a home.
I think this thing must havebeen like four pages long
testimonial four pages.
I was like it went on and on andon and it was beautiful, I mean
, and the detail was reallyreally nice to read and honestly
, on some hard days like if youdon't realize they can have some
tough days yeah, sometimesthat's my go-to is to just go to
(22:28):
a testimonial and say you knowwhat, maybe this was a bad day
or whatever, but there'ssomebody out there who has
appreciated my service and myhelp.
But no, honestly, every singleone of them are great ones to me
, even if it's one-liner.
The fact that somebody took thetime to do that.
I am always so appreciativebecause they didn't have to.
(22:48):
I mean, how many times do weget things and you don't respond
to that?
Yes so when they do.
It just means so much to me,yeah, so I'm going to change my
answer to they're all amazing.
Speaker 1 (23:01):
Okay, now I know you post your testimonials on your
website Sometimes yeah, oh yeah.
Yeah, which is good, and what Ifind that caught my attention
was no, it's a good thing isthat, theoretically, they say,
if you treat someone right,you're lucky.
If they tell one person, but ifyou treat them wrong, they tell
everybody Right.
(23:21):
So just because you did anabove average job doesn't mean
they're going to actually takethe time to tell you or anybody
else and or take the time tofill out that testimonial.
And, uh, I think it speaksvolumes when you you can sit
here and say, well, no, theyfill it out, but they wrote four
pages worth.
Yeah, and this isn't the timebefore chat gpt right?
Speaker 2 (23:41):
this kid's an excellent writer, though I have
to give him kudos on that, yeahno, that's I have to give you
kudos on that because he feltthat compelled to respond.
Speaker 1 (23:51):
So good.
Good, no surprise that you'reachieving the success you are.
I understand you recently did abuyer-seller seminar right, so
what's a key takeaway from thatseminar you can share with our
audience?
Speaker 2 (24:07):
You know, that's something that we started doing
just a couple of years ago maybetwo years ago or so and it
really was out of my comfortzone to do this.
Speaker 1 (24:15):
So you do it live.
Speaker 2 (24:16):
We do it live In fact .
No Zoom, you have to be present, okay, and it's such a great
event.
I love doing them now and Ifind that people, the feedback I
get is great.
People are really enjoying it.
And I have a whole slideshowand we kind of go and I do it
with Tom Nails a lot and webasically kind of go through the
(24:38):
process and we do buyers andsellers at the same time.
Speaker 1 (24:43):
So Tom Nails is also a very successful agent in our
Hicks Follow office, by the way,for our audience.
Who doesn't know?
Speaker 2 (24:48):
Yes, so we do a good tag team here and basically we
go through the whole process ofas a buyer and a seller, so each
side gets to see and hear whatthe other side is dealing with.
So, they leave there with greatinformation to know.
Okay, this is how this is goingto work.
Speaker 1 (25:04):
Yeah, what's the most common buyer question, for
instance?
Is there a commonality to someof the questions?
I'm sure Is there any, or isthere one more surprising?
Speaker 2 (25:13):
than the other From a buyer's perspective.
Speaker 1 (25:16):
Yeah, what do they want to know when they're
thinking about buying?
Speaker 2 (25:18):
They're terrified, honestly, and they're terrified
in this market because theprices are so crazy.
They're scared we're talkingabout waiving things, like they
don't even understand, right.
So I think it's more.
They come there with a littlebit of fear, right, and my goal
for them is to leave moreconfident that we're going to
help them, it's going to be okayand they're going to get a
(25:39):
house.
Speaker 1 (25:39):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (25:39):
Because I think a lot of times right now, people are
fearing they're never getting ahouse.
Speaker 1 (25:43):
Yeah.
You know it's going to takeforever, so in a marketplace
that has been rife with biddingwars over the last three, four,
five years.
So it's you know.
When you're getting you knowsix, eight, ten offers, there
can be a lot of disappointment.
Speaker 2 (25:59):
Yes, and that's where we play the role of counselor
with these people, because Ialways tell the buyers listen,
you know, sometimes we get lucky, like I just had one where the
first offer we got accepted.
Sometimes it could take six orseven offers before they get one
accepted.
But I always tell them, likethe house you meant to get is
going to be the one, like youdidn't get those other ones
because this one that you'regoing to get is the one for you.
Speaker 1 (26:22):
I'm smiling now because I'm thinking that my own
son bought a house within thelast couple of years and he lost
four bidding wars before he gotone.
I'm like man.
I think he needs a betterrealtor or something.
Speaker 2 (26:33):
But it's a challenge, right, and it's a challenge
because it's really not evenlisten.
The agent has a lot to do withit, I think how I structure, the
offers, how I really present itto the listing agent.
They usually do tell me like,wow, okay, you really buttoned
this thing up nicely, but Ican't control what their down
payment is.
Speaker 1 (26:50):
Right, yeah, the terms.
Speaker 2 (26:52):
Sometimes that's where we're falling short.
Speaker 1 (26:55):
Yeah.
So just again, I think you'rehitting on something really
important when we deal withnegotiations, right, but people
fail to think.
Everyone thinks price, price,price and it's really price and
terms Right, Since there'scontingencies very, very often
the standard one for ouraudience members who aren't in
real estate is typicallycontingent of financing.
(27:17):
So, understanding therisk-reward of that financing,
what's the likelihood they'regoing to get approved?
Speaker 2 (27:23):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (27:24):
As opposed to another one.
That would be all cash yeah.
Speaker 2 (27:26):
No terms are everything, so I do try to
structure that, their offer, ina way that I have my own little
system, that I have my emailsall very clearly defined.
It's detailed.
I have the loan officer callthe listing agent and vet that
buyer.
I will waive certain thingswith appraisals in know if they
(27:49):
can, if they're willing to.
Speaker 1 (27:51):
As it comes with a risk, potentially.
Speaker 2 (27:53):
What team they're using for.
You know mortgage inspection.
You know attorney.
Speaker 1 (27:58):
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (27:59):
We try to make sure that it is just buttoned up,
that this is going to be areally smooth deal.
And you know, I think also asyou get more experience people
have done business with you, youknow, I think they start to
feel more comfortable.
Speaker 1 (28:10):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (28:11):
You know as a listing agent if you've done another
deal with that agent.
That also helps sometimes too.
Speaker 1 (28:15):
Yeah, now on the listed side.
So we talked about you know, soyou've done the buyer-seller
seminars.
Is there a more common questionyou're getting from sellers at
the seminars?
Speaker 2 (28:25):
You know they too come in with fear, and that's
what I feel a lot of this is.
They don't know these peoplehaven't been involved in a real
estate transaction in you know30 years sometimes, or you know
they don't understand the wholeprocess.
So I think for the most part,like a lot of times, they'll get
, oh, but I don't have a CEO forthis, or you know, and they get
so nervous that this is goingto you know they can't sell
(28:48):
their house Right and you know,again, it's just educating them
on how we're going to handle it,how we're going to problem
solve this and how we're goingto make this work.
Speaker 1 (28:55):
Correct, correct.
Speaker 2 (28:57):
Yep.
Speaker 1 (28:57):
But even something as simple as that, it is
potentially a challenge.
Correct Because one of thethings we represent in a
contract.
As a seller, we're selling alegal dwelling, so if there's an
issue, how?
Speaker 2 (29:09):
do we meet that?
How do we meet that challenge?
Well, it's funny.
We talked about what kind ofchallenge did we have?
I had one house.
They did not legalize a dormer,an entire dormer front back
full dormer, and I'm like how amI selling this?
oh, and it was an open permityeah, that's even worse it was
open and I I didn't even knowhow I was going to do this, but
(29:31):
I managed.
We got a buyer, I checked withthe loan officer and they wound
up closing that deal yeah, thereyou go, but I believe you're
hitting on and and again.
Speaker 1 (29:39):
As a as a broker I I can see this, because a good
agent recognizes the problem anddoesn't run from it.
But they're transparent andcommunicate.
Yes, when you communicate theproblem up front, even everyone
could get their arms around that, as opposed to it comes up at
the end and surprise.
Speaker 2 (29:57):
No one likes surprises, especially when we're
dealing with high ticket itemshere this is their biggest
investment yeah so, and it canbe very overwhelming and very
stressful and I find that I wantto try and ease that for them.
Yeah, so before I always do afoil request, I'm always looking
.
There's a little.
I have a little access andfound a little site where I can
go and dig through files forpermits and this way I can say
(30:20):
buyer, we don't have X, y, z inplace and this is how we're
gonna sell it.
You know as is, and as long aseveryone's on board, it does
usually work To prevent thatfrom happening during midway
through the process and all of asudden they're like oh wait,
you don't have a CO for thatgarage conversion.
We want you to get it Now.
The seller has to go and pay alot of money to get the permits
in place.
Speaker 1 (30:48):
How long does it take to get a response on your FO?
Speaker 2 (30:49):
a FOIA report, by the way Quick, so I submitted one.
It's usually the next day, okay, yeah, they take them by email,
right?
Yeah, you do it right online.
It's really very very simple.
Speaker 1 (30:52):
Yeah, for our audience.
In case you want to want a FOIAlist, it's Freedom of
Information Act, so you canrequest public information.
Speaker 2 (31:00):
And it's great, because you know what A lot of
times these sellers they thinkoh no, we have all our permits
in place, everything is great.
And or you know, it's an estateand they don't even know, and
they're like my father hadperfect paperwork and then,
before you know it, there'sthese open permits, there's no
permits, there's, you know.
So it's just better to be inthe know beforehand and handle
that and tackle that situationhead on than wait for it to be
(31:23):
thrown at you.
Speaker 1 (31:23):
Yeah, absolutely.
I mean.
And how many times you run intoit's like no, the contractor
was handling that, and then thecontractor didn't handle that,
right, or I bought this housethis way.
Speaker 2 (31:34):
And honestly, I try really hard to not be alarming
about it.
Right, you know, with my client.
But just to say let's just knowwhat we're dealing with and
let's figure it out.
Speaker 1 (31:43):
Yeah, no, perfect, perfect, all right.
So, chris, I think we want topivot here and we want to talk a
little bit more about the playhard, the human side of this.
But before we do, I just wantto remind our audience to like
and subscribe.
We'd love to have you see ourfuture episodes that are coming
up, by the way, and stay aroundfor the drop the mic question.
(32:03):
So does Christine have a happyplace when she's not doing real
estate?
Where do you go to recharge?
What does Christine do to getdown time?
Speaker 2 (32:13):
I'm very social.
I didn't notice my husband andI have, you know, great friends.
We have lots of differentcircles.
We love to go out, we love toeat, we love to dance, I love to
party, I love to do all thatfun stuff.
Yeah, um, I also love to playpickleball uh, yeah, pickleball
chunky yes oh yeah yeah, you go,come on.
Speaker 1 (32:31):
You're probably one of these, I'm average.
Speaker 2 (32:33):
I would say I'm average, but I really enjoy it.
It makes me feel young, itmakes me feel athletic, it makes
me feel really good aboutmyself yeah and I have a lot of
fun with it.
I met some great people, goodexercise great, I like to go to
the gym, but yeah, so wedefinitely every weekend there's
always something happeningpretty much, yeah, you know.
(32:53):
So, yeah, I like to have fun.
Speaker 1 (32:56):
All right, well good, I like that too.
So what's a hobby or interestor even a hidden talent of
Christine Data, oh boy.
Speaker 2 (33:06):
A hidden talent of Christine Data.
Oh boy, A hidden talent.
This isn't the drop the micquestion.
Speaker 1 (33:08):
No, no, wait, there's more.
Okay, come on.
Speaker 2 (33:12):
Or a hobby, okay so I was a dancer when I was growing
up and I happened to love.
My love was always tap dancing.
Speaker 1 (33:20):
Really.
Speaker 2 (33:20):
Uh-huh yep.
Speaker 1 (33:22):
So we have to stop this episode and get the shoes
out.
Here You're going to do alittle soft shoe for us.
Speaker 2 (33:27):
But yeah, that was something I always enjoyed.
Now I'm going to say it'spickleball right now.
Speaker 1 (33:34):
Yeah, that's your thing, that's my thing.
Yeah, cool, very cool.
If you can instantly master anew skill outside of real estate
, what would it be and why?
Speaker 2 (33:47):
I don't know if it's really a new skill, but
something that I kind of wouldlike to do more is kind of a
little bit more reading, alittle more downtime for myself,
because I do tend to keep myschedule really busy, busy, busy
.
Speaker 1 (33:53):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (33:53):
And I feel like just for my own head space, just to
kind of have a little downtime.
Speaker 1 (33:57):
Okay, what topics do you like to read?
Do you like to read?
Speaker 2 (34:00):
More self-help kind of.
I'm actually reading the Letthem, which is a big book right
now that's out there verypopular and yeah, so I enjoy it
and I feel like I'm getting alot out of it and it makes me
feel good, so, yeah, All rightgood, All right reading Note to
self.
Yeah, I mean, we'll see, I meanmy daughter.
(34:21):
She reads like 80 books a year,so I'm never going to be
anything like that.
But even if I read a couple,it's more than what I read last
year.
Speaker 1 (34:26):
All right, good, good .
Now you mentioned your daughter, so I understand you have a new
love of your life, so that'sfor my son.
Speaker 2 (34:35):
Yes, so my son has given me the greatest joy of
having a grandson.
Speaker 1 (34:40):
Okay, what's his name ?
Speaker 2 (34:42):
His name is Roman Okay and he's 17 months old and
he is just an absolute pleasure.
He's a fun, happy, just greatlittle guy.
Speaker 1 (34:51):
All right, so what's your nickname?
Come on.
Speaker 2 (34:54):
I'm a.
Gigi, gigi, there you go, yeah,and he said it, and he's been
saying it now, so it's kind ofcool to hear him call me that.
Speaker 1 (35:01):
Yeah, yeah, he, yeah yeah.
He's so awesome.
Speaker 2 (35:04):
The next part of the pastime yeah, yeah, it's
something that you know,especially with this job.
It's kind of hard sometimesbecause I really have to make
the time I can.
You know, with our schedulebeing so all over the place that
I literally block off a daylike every two weeks and say I
need to go see my little guy youknow.
Speaker 1 (35:21):
So that's tomorrow Some Roman time, right?
Yep, yep, because you know what?
Speaker 2 (35:26):
I don't think about any stress.
I don't think about anythingbut just hanging out with him.
Speaker 1 (35:30):
Yeah, yeah, Now he's how old now 17 months.
That's such a great age, right?
Speaker 2 (35:35):
Oh, he's just a happy .
He's literally happy all thetime.
Speaker 1 (35:37):
Yeah, and a good sleeper Like he's just a great
great with no real estate calls.
How would you spend it?
Speaker 2 (35:44):
It's funny because there's not too many of those
right, right, right and Steveand I are always like we want to
go to the wineries, we want togo away for the weekend but
they're always so hard to planbecause we just never know what
the schedule is going to like.
even this week.
Someone's like we want to dothe open houses this weekend.
I'm like okay, but we do reallyenjoy being with our friends
and our family.
(36:04):
You know, if we have a free day, steve and I are going up to
Rockland County to go spend sometime with, you know, our
grandson, or my daughter, evenwith her husband, and you know,
just to be with our family andfriends is probably our favorite
thing to do.
Speaker 1 (36:17):
It's a wonderful thing, that's awesome.
So, chris, we want to switch toa little bit about giving back,
because that's such animportant part of the culture at
American Homes.
So is there a cause or localinitiative or organization even
that's particularly close toyour heart?
Speaker 2 (36:32):
Yes, so it's Feed Long Island and it's actually a
client of mine who I sold ahouse I don't even know how many
years ago, maybe eight yearsago and she's an amazing woman
and she started a Facebook groupwhere she feeds people who come
(36:52):
to her.
They have local people who haveno food and, honestly, my
family was like that and I kindof wish that I had somebody like
that who could have helped usout back in the day.
Speaker 1 (37:03):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (37:04):
So that one really very near and dear to me.
Um so whenever she posts, liketoday she didn't you know, need
money for a family.
I'll then mow some money youknow um?
Speaker 1 (37:14):
does she take on individual um like challenges,
or is it just like a food pantry?
Speaker 2 (37:20):
individuals okay, so that's where I feel that
connection.
I think that it's literally forspecific people.
Speaker 1 (37:27):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (37:28):
And we also do.
Speaker 1 (37:30):
Before we leave that, because it sounds like it's a
really good cause.
Is there ways if someone wantsto find out more about it where
they can?
Speaker 2 (37:38):
Her name is Brooke, but if anybody is interested,
they can reach out to me and Ican connect them with her.
Perfect, we also I didn't saywe, but she and I love to
participate in it.
You know, for Christmas timewe're all you know we buy for
families and she says how manykids do you want to buy for?
You know, and we just.
It's amazing what she doesEaster, every holiday, she is
collecting and this woman isjust what she is doing for
(38:02):
people is changing and reallymaking a big difference, and I
really I'm very inspired by her.
Speaker 1 (38:09):
Good, I'm inspired by her and I haven't even met her.
Speaker 2 (38:11):
Yeah, so actually Steve and I years ago used to do
an annual fundraiser where wewould host in like the firehouse
and have a DJ and whatever, andwe would pick up an
organization every year andpeople would come and they would
bring money and we would donateto that cause and it was
whatever amount they wanted togive.
So she doesn't know this yet,but we're hoping, and I'm
(38:33):
fingers crossed, that we'regoing to be able to do that this
year for them.
Speaker 1 (38:37):
Excellent, excellent.
So you've built a very strongrelationships with your clients.
How important is community toyou, both personally and
professionally?
Speaker 2 (38:47):
I have been living in my neighborhood since 1989.
I feel like I've raised mywhole family there.
I've been connected withchurches, I've been connected
with the schools, the PTA.
I feel like I can walk into thestore, I see people.
It makes it a very small townfeel for me, which a lot of
(39:08):
people moving out of state.
I kind of feel like they losethat and I thrive on that, like
I love feeling that it's home.
So I really do enjoy that partof where I live and just haven't
been there for so long.
Speaker 1 (39:18):
That's really both personal and professional.
Speaker 2 (39:20):
And I think that that kind of goes hand in hand, then
right, so if people in mycommunity know me and they're
familiar with me and they need arealtor, they may, you know,
hopefully think of me, yeah.
Speaker 1 (39:32):
I know you recently held a Relentless Determination
Award where you have to give out.
Is that an annual thing?
Speaker 2 (39:38):
So I have done that and I think I did it for about
five years.
Basically, it was an award thatI would give to a metbom senior
, which is where my kids went toschool.
I always felt like when I satthere with my own kids at the
award ceremony it was alwayslike the same kids getting the
same awards like all the youknow, and I always felt for the
kids who really didn't get themand maybe I thought that if I
(40:01):
could come up with somethingwhere it's the kid who overcame
some kind of adversity or somekind of challenge that really
persevered and it always wentback to what our company's
position was on that.
So the school would pick thestudent and they picked them
based on my criteria, basically,that they overcame a challenge
(40:24):
and came shining through.
Speaker 1 (40:26):
That's awesome.
That's awesome.
I like that a lot.
So you recently were invited tosit on a panel for the what
Moves Her event.
It's a women empowermentinitiative sponsored by Coldwell
Banker.
So how was that experience?
Speaker 2 (40:40):
Well, similar to this .
This is out of my comfort zone,as that was too, but, boy, what
an honor that was to be on thatpanel with those women.
Yeah, it was a great, those fourwomen, strong, successful, if
you would have told me 10 yearsago that I was gonna be sitting
there with Barbara Mulaney andyou know like I would have said
(41:01):
no way.
I was very honored to be us todo that.
It was cool because you knowwhat?
I think we all had a lot ofsimilar ways of doing things and
how we thought about thisbusiness, and I learned a lot
even just from their stories.
Speaker 1 (41:16):
Yeah, yeah, it was an interesting event because it
was about 70 people in theaudience there.
So it was well attended.
So what was your biggesttakeaway from that event?
Speaker 2 (41:26):
Being a guest speaker .
You know, I laugh because I'mso hard on myself.
Speaker 1 (41:34):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (41:34):
And I, you know, I was the one with all the notes
and I wanted to be prepared andyou know, really, and I realized
that it was okay to just speakmore fluidly, yeah, and I didn't
have to be so.
Speaker 1 (41:49):
Perfect.
Speaker 2 (41:50):
Yes, Not even perfect robotic, like just more.
You know, I didn't need to read, I could just speak from the
heart, because this is what I doyou know real estate every day,
yeah, so that was a goodtakeaway for myself.
Speaker 1 (42:03):
Right.
Speaker 2 (42:03):
To have more faith in myself and I guess I'm here now
now, but this is still a littlehard for me.
And then from the other peopleit was great to hear that they
kind of aligned with a lot of mythought process that I was.
I felt like I was on the righttrack you know like and I even
loved I got some great tips,like even from valerie, like how
she talks about, like howreally analyzing different
(42:25):
markets and like really divingin Like.
I thought that was an awesometip.
Speaker 1 (42:29):
Yeah, that was Valerie Rosenblatt, by the way
you're referencing who has beenon the podcast as well, very
well spoken, smart agent, yes,yeah.
Speaker 2 (42:39):
So it was great to hear everybody's story and you
know, and everybody had adifferent why of.
Why are they doing?
Speaker 1 (42:44):
this and.
Speaker 2 (42:44):
I do bring it back to that.
That's a really important pieceto this.
Speaker 1 (42:49):
What's the biggest challenge that you feel
comfortable, maybe, that you'vehad to overcome, that you'd like
to share with our audience?
Speaker 2 (42:57):
I'm going to have to say and I'm kind of repeating
myself a little bit but it wasalways a confidence issue for me
and I worked so hard at tryingto overcome that and I think
I've come a long way.
I do believe that 16-year-oldme would be proud.
Speaker 1 (43:15):
Yeah, yeah.
So I think that I would saythat it's so interesting because
, from my vantage point, youalways came across as confident.
Speaker 2 (43:25):
Yeah, no, I work at it every day and I think us
women in particular, I thinkthat's just something that we've
just struggled with and medefinitely had some issues
growing up with that, but I feelI'm in a good place now.
I think, as we achieve and wedo and we help people and we
feel good about ourselves, thatthat makes that whole confident
(43:46):
package get a little bitstronger.
Speaker 1 (43:48):
Yeah, good, good, I want to remind our subscribers
to please, if you like whatyou're hearing here today,
please remember to like andsubscribe and join us for future
episodes.
It's time for the Drop the Micquestion, so, christine.
Speaker 2 (44:04):
Mike.
Speaker 1 (44:07):
If your life was a TV show, what would the title be?
Speaker 2 (44:10):
Friends Okay.
I'm going to go with Friends,and I say that because you know
what I feel like I do.
I'm really blessed with a lotof great friends and we have a
really good time.
Speaker 1 (44:19):
Yeah, got a bunch of characters in your life.
Speaker 2 (44:21):
Bunch of characters in my life, but you laugh a lot.
A lot.
Speaker 1 (44:24):
All right that characters in my life.
But you laugh a lot, a lot.
All right, that sounds reallygood.
So I want to kind of twist it.
So if you had a song that hadto play every time you close a
deal, come on, or a theme songfor your, your tv show let's get
this party started there we go,there we go.
Well, christine, you've been anamazing interview.
You're an amazing agent andwe'd love having you on the show
(44:47):
If someone wants to reach outto you.
How do they find Christine Dato?
Speaker 2 (44:51):
They can call me at 516-557-3974.
Or you can actually also reachout to me on some of the social
media platforms like Facebook orInstagram, and my handle is
cdato, the number four homes,and that's on Instagram and
Facebook.
Speaker 1 (45:07):
Excellent, all right.
Thank you so much for joiningour show.
Speaker 2 (45:09):
Thank you Okay.
Hi, welcome to the Work Hard, play Hard and Give
Back a real estate podcast.
I'm Mike Litzner, broker ownerof Coldwell Banker American
Homes.
I'm at the studio in FranklinSquare and I have our guest
Christine Dato, top agent atColdwell Banker American Homes
Hicksville location.
So welcome to the show,christine.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Thank you for having me.
I'm honored to be here.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
Excellent, excellent.
Before we get started, I wantto remind our audience over here
that if you like the episode,you like what we're doing here,
don't forget to like, subscribeand join us, and don't forget to
stay around for the drop themic question.
We always have fun at the endhere.
Okay, have fun at the end here.
So, okay, all right.
So, chris, let's get startedhere, let's go.
(00:48):
Come on we, we know you'vedeveloped an incredible career
at colwell banker american homes, um and?
But getting started in realestate is difficult, anyone will
tell you.
Right, it's, it's a process,right, but you started your
career not once, but twice, yes,so why don't?
you walk our audience throughthis a little bit.
What was the path for ChristineDato?
Speaker 2 (01:08):
I had two very different careers.
We have chapter one where I wasyoung, I was 25 years old.
I was working at a job where itwas 9 to 5, really more like 9
to 9, overworked, underpaid.
And then I was buying a houseand all of a sudden I'm like,
wow, kind of cool.
I think I might want to trythis.
I left my job, I started realestate 25 and I would say that
(01:31):
my first year I doubled mysalary.
I went from 20,000 to 40,000 andback then that was big money,
that was big and it was greatand I really enjoyed it, except
that I found that once the kidsstarted coming, my husband was
NYPD working overtime.
We didn't have childcare, wedidn't have cell phones back
then.
We always had to be in theoffice.
I was taking the kids onappointments with me.
(01:52):
It was getting complicated, andthe other thing that was really
complicated in getting in myown way was me.
I was only really working thisbusiness I would say 50% because
I was young, I was veryinsecure, I wasn't confident and
I always found that I wasintimidated by sellers.
So I would mostly only workbuyers and therefore I wasn't
(02:15):
really maximizing this businessback then.
Speaker 1 (02:17):
No working half the business Now it was funny
because you and I actually did adeal together.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
Yes, I forget what year that is, but it was
probably somewhere around 1991.
Speaker 1 (02:28):
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (02:29):
It was my mother-in-law's house, okay.
Speaker 1 (02:30):
That's right.
So you had a listing right.
No, I had the buyer, you hadthe buyer.
Speaker 2 (02:41):
You had the listing, I had the listing, I had the
buyer.
I do want to say it, you andkind of see the professionalism
which is why I actually wound upcoming here the second time.
Yeah, because you were at adifferent brokerage in your
first pastime?
Yes, so I always worked withsmall mom and pop shops.
Speaker 1 (02:57):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (02:57):
And you know, it was fine back then At least that's
all I knew, Right, and then when, about five years into it, and
the kids and it was just gettingchaotic and it really wasn't
working for me, I decided toleave.
I was actually even anassociate broker at that time I
decided to close that door and Iswore I would never go back.
And then what wound uphappening is I went back to
(03:20):
market research.
I actually did direct sales,which was a big part of my
career with Leah Sophia.
I sold jewelry.
I had a big team of 75 people.
I loved that job.
I was running trips.
It was great.
Speaker 1 (03:32):
And then they closed the doors.
How long did you do the LeahSophia thing?
Eight years, okay, so it wasafter kind of kids got to a
certain age.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
Yep, and my goal for that was to help pay for their
college.
That's what it did, ah good,and then um love it, yeah.
And then they wound up shuttingthe doors.
They gave us 30 days notice notmuch ramp time, huh devastated
yeah, and then I wound up um,you know, not sure I was
struggling because I knew Ididn't want to go nine to five.
I knew I loved the idea nowbecause that really taught me
(03:59):
how to like set goals, thatsales was my thing that I really
liked working with people.
I like making people feel good.
So then I wound up talking tomy husband Steve's like why are
you back to real estate?
And I'm like I don't know.
And then Nancy Calber, who isour neighbor and friend he
whispered in her ear and said Ithink you should talk to Chris
about it.
And she did and she's prettypersuasive, as we know.
(04:21):
And she got me to have ameeting, if you recall, with you
and Lisa, and I thought aboutit and I said you know what?
What have I got to lose?
Speaker 1 (04:28):
Yeah, yeah, and here we are.
Speaker 2 (04:30):
I was 50 back then and I was like I can't believe
I'm starting this at 50 yearsold.
And here we are, almost 10years later, and it's the best
decision I made.
Speaker 1 (04:39):
Even better than Leah Sophia there.
There you go, but it's funnyhow these building blocks of
different parts of your lifehelp set up the next phase of
your life.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
For sure Like my market research job.
Like that plays a big part intowhat I do today the Leah Sophia
, the whole, just setting goalsand really striving for that,
having a why, having a purpose.
It just kind of led into thisand it's really helped me with
this yeah.
Speaker 1 (05:07):
So now, as most you know, agents who have licensed
have experienced.
Getting started is extremelydifficult, so and you've done it
twice right what did you dodifferently or experience
differently the second timearound?
Speaker 2 (05:22):
so okay, so you have to put yourself out there.
Yeah, and you have to makeyourself available and I found I
always went to the officenumber one made sure that I
connected with the other agents.
Nancy was very instrumental, Ihave to tell you.
You know she would.
You know, filter me leads tohelp me out, to kind of get me
started.
In fact, one of my best, Iwould say, transactions, because
(05:45):
it led from one to many, was anopen house that she had me do
and I kind of met somebody fromthere that really kind of kept
things going in my business.
Speaker 1 (05:55):
Yeah, because all referrals right, yeah, A big
part of it right.
Speaker 2 (05:59):
So I think that it was important for me to always
be at the office.
I would sometimes be the onlyone there on, like on a Saturday
.
Sometimes I get a walk-in.
I remember selling that buyerthere were.
I would do the leads, I woulddo open houses for people and
then I would.
I definitely worked a sphere.
I didn't have a big sphere, butI wound up.
I looked at everybody who Iknew.
(06:20):
I sent them my initial letter.
I remember I would post onsocial media just to kind of
make them aware, and then Ifound that what wound up
happening is that people say oh,I know, chris.
You know what?
I think you just have to reallyput yourself out there.
Speaker 1 (06:34):
Yeah, Now you touched on something that's interesting
.
So the first time around 1990businesses 1989 to 94, 1995.
So society, I want to say thereal estate business, was
different.
There's parallels because it'sstill a people business first,
right, right, and still aconnection type of business.
(06:57):
But it's the way we do business.
So the second time around.
So different.
Yeah, so you have the technology, and now there's a little bit
of a challenge is getting agentsto engage back, because
everything can be done remotely.
We have paperless transactions.
Potentially, we have a lot ofmeetings or training done on
Zoom, so it's live, right, butyou don't have to be in person.
(07:22):
So do you have to dress up?
Do you have to show up?
It's not a long walk to yourkitchen, know, kitchen table,
your home office, so to speak Ifind that I'm much more
productive when I'm in theoffice.
Speaker 2 (07:32):
Yeah, I am one that goes to the office a lot.
I like being there.
I like hearing people's stories.
That's how you learn.
You learn you know who'sdealing with what situation and
how they dealt with it.
Yes, because then it said oh, Iremember when so-and-so had
this, this is what they did andyou have to listen, you know,
you have to really pay attentionto what's happening there.
I've also found that, being inthere this past year, I actually
(07:55):
got a really phenomenal walk-in.
Speaker 1 (07:57):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (07:57):
If I wasn't there, that wouldn't have happened.
Speaker 1 (08:00):
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:02):
So I believe that going in the office is important
, even in this day and age, justthe camaraderie, I think, and
learning.
Speaker 1 (08:09):
Yeah.
So what?
I think?
People who don't actuallyengage in the sale of real
estate it's one thing buyingreal estate is they don't always
understand the transaction andtransaction management and
there's a lot of nuance to everytransaction.
So it's not just here's theliving room, here's the kitchen.
It looks really nice.
Do you want it?
(08:30):
It's not like drive around.
We always joke.
You want me to supersize thatplease?
Speaker 2 (08:36):
pull around.
Speaker 1 (08:37):
So we're not order takers, and I think one of the
more challenging parts of thejob is not just bringing buyers
who want to buy and sellers whowant to sell together, but you
know managing the nuances ofboth sides and the things known
and unknown within a transaction.
You know so, having beenthrough a number of numerous
(09:00):
transactions, you want to sharewith our audience any unusual
scenario that you ran into in a,into a transaction, and then
how you handled the, thechallenge I had a co-op in
queens okay and that seller wasbuying another house in
farmingdale and I wound up metthe buyer for the co-op at the
(09:20):
open house.
Speaker 2 (09:21):
Um, I vetted the buyer.
They, the loan officer, told meeverything was rock solid,
because I always make sure.
Did you see all their incomeinformation, their bank
statements?
Everything was great.
And then they said that we hada commitment and my buyer and my
seller now is becoming a buyerand they wound up going into
(09:41):
contract on a house.
So now they're selling their coop, they're buying this house,
they're committed, they have alot of money at stake here.
Speaker 1 (09:48):
They need the funds from the sale of their co-op in
order to buy the next house andthen, all of a sudden, we get
word that their buyer is nowgoing to be denied.
Speaker 2 (09:59):
Denied for the loan or denied for the mortgage by
the bank.
Speaker 1 (10:03):
Okay, so again, I always like to clarify for our
audience.
Yes, the difference between acondo and a co-op.
A condo, you own the walls, thefloor, the ceiling, yep.
You own your unit.
And a co-op, you own shares ina corporation which actually
owns the entire building and youget a lifetime lease back on it
.
Right, so you have to.
A buyer has to be approved forfinancing, should they be
(10:25):
applying for some, but they alsohave to be approved by the
board.
Speaker 2 (10:29):
So they actually got approved by the board.
So we got approved, we were all.
And then all of a sudden, likeright at the end we get word
that they I guess they did somenew verification for income
Surprise and he had like noincome.
Speaker 1 (10:44):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (10:45):
And it was a disaster and I remember freaking out and
I just tried.
You know what?
There's a lot of things wecan't control in this business
and I'm a little bit of acontrol freak and I tried so
hard to manage this andmicromanage this and speak to
the loan officer regularly.
Speaker 1 (11:02):
Right, I mean, it was like a miracle that you know.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
I was like we have to make this done, there's so much
at stake here, and we did windup closing that deal.
But boy, it was a struggle.
The loan officer wound up.
I don't even know.
I haven't had to talk to anotherloan officer to try to switch
to a different bank, but hewound up staying put where he
was and they did wind up puttingit together.
(11:26):
But boy did they really stresssome people out here a lot.
It's funny, though ironically,that that person who bought the
co-op just recently called melooking to maybe buy now a house
.
Speaker 1 (11:42):
So, which shows you, however, you handled the
challenge there.
It was obviously well-received.
You got it to the point whereyou were able to resolve the
issues and get everyone wherethey wanted to be.
So I always say by the way andthis is what I want to tap on, I
think our audience should hearthis is that any agent can show
(12:05):
up and take that phone call whenthings are great.
Hey got approved for themortgage, we're set for closing,
Yay, Call me back.
And the owner calling back oh,I'm so happy for you.
It takes a great agent to showup when there's a problem.
Did you ever notice thatsometimes agents all of a sudden
there's a problem, all of asudden you can't get phone calls
back?
And a great agent makes thehard calls, not just the easy
(12:26):
calls.
So I'm sure that was difficultdealing with those calls there
it was really hard.
Speaker 2 (12:32):
I mean, there was a lot of money at stake there was
families' lives at stake here,and that's when I start to take
it.
I take it very personally and Iwant to make this right for
them, but there's only so muchcontrol I had and I want to
believe that everyone's beingtruthful with me when I'm asking
the questions that I need toask to vet them, but no
guarantees.
I always say that can't be 100%that they're telling me the
(12:54):
truth.
Speaker 1 (12:54):
One of my favorite sayings is man plans and then
God laughs.
So they can be truthful and itturns out they lost their job in
the middle and you can't planfor that.
If they lost their job, theyhave no income.
The bank can change their mindif they haven't closed the loan.
Once the loan's closed, thebank's bought into it and then
you know and they'll have towork through it.
So yeah so, again, I think ouraudience, you know um has a
(13:18):
front row seat here and and Iwant them to see you know how
exceptional agents are, becausethe things we need to deal with,
known and unknown, to get usour clients to where they need
to be.
Speaker 2 (13:30):
What I try to do, honestly, is do a lot of that
stuff up front to try to preventthe problems down the line.
So, like for my listings, foreven my buying, like, I just try
to do a lot of due diligence upfront because I don't want to
avoid as many curveballs andsurprises as much during that
transaction.
Speaker 1 (13:47):
Right, right.
Well, I think a certain amountof experience kind of gives you
the insights what to look forRight, and then you start to
handle the problems beforethey're problems, right, yeah,
now that's awesome.
So what's the major differenceyou see now in challenges than
you saw, maybe, when you startedthe first time around?
Speaker 2 (14:07):
You know what I don't like.
Back then our job was to findthe homes for the buyers and
they'd do a call from thenewspaper ads and it was on us.
We'd get our books, We'd lookthrough, find the perfect
listings for them.
I feel like they took that partaway from us with the internet
now.
Now everybody's just sending uslistings and they are telling
(14:33):
us what they want to say.
right, and it's why I have likea joke with all my buyers like,
listen, I want to find you thehouse, right, you know like I
wanted to, and and we'll kind ofkeep like tabs, okay.
Well, that's right, chris foundus this one, because I feel
like that's part of our job youknow the internet.
We lost a little bit of that,yeah, but at the same time,
because they send us things andI'm like this is not what they
want, and then I have to explainto them.
Speaker 1 (14:52):
But they get caught up in that I think that's what
you're speaking to is productknowledge.
So, having sold real estate,having sold Lea Sophia, I
guarantee you you knoweverything about your product.
I guarantee you, you knoweverything about your product.
Speaker 2 (15:07):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (15:07):
Right, and the problem with, I think, new
agents or agents that come inthat think this is easy is that
they don't put the time.
You touched on market researchbefore.
Yeah, really learning yourmarketplace, you know,
understanding the product,what's available, you know what
type of conditions.
You know a buyer should knowmore about the available
(15:28):
inventory than our agent Right,and I see that as a opportunity
for agents to improve, to be ofa better asset to their clients.
Speaker 2 (15:37):
Would you agree?
Yep, definitely.
Speaker 1 (15:41):
Yeah.
So for agents just starting out, what's one piece of advice
you'd really want to share orthat you've already share with
agents that are new to thebusiness?
Speaker 2 (15:51):
Well, I would say definitely come to the office,
definitely be there to learn.
I would also say to invest inyourself.
I think a lot of and I get itsome people different financial
situations, but I think it'simportant in this business to
know that you have to invest inthis and it doesn't have to be
you know, I'm not one for theZillow thing or anything like
(16:11):
that but more like in yoursphere of influence.
The people who know love andtrust you.
Speaker 1 (16:16):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (16:16):
Invest in them.
So what I do and I usually tellnew agents is mail them things,
not just a letter, not just apostcard.
Give them a little something, alittle trinket, a pen, my
screen cloths I give.
They love them.
I get great responses from thatmy little koozies for their
white claws or whatever.
We definitely want to give themsomething that they're going to
(16:37):
hold on to and that they'regoing to remember me.
Speaker 1 (16:40):
Right and remember that you're in real estate
Exactly Because you're memorable, yeah.
If someone's new, you've yougotta go from christine, my
friend, yep, or neighbor tochristine, my friend, who's in
real estate I think people gettoo quiet about that and they're
uncomfortable discussing it andtelling people and talking
about it even just on socialmedia.
Speaker 2 (16:59):
I don't love posting things on social media.
I get uncomfortable myselfabout it I don't want people
thinking, oh, she's annoying orwhatever, but you have to do it
you have to find, you have to doit.
They have to be in theforefront of their mind so that
they know when they're lookingfor an agent.
They're going to call you.
Yeah, Because they know you.
Speaker 1 (17:15):
Right and they trust you.
Speaker 2 (17:16):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (17:16):
And trust is a huge.
Speaker 2 (17:17):
It's a big big thing, yes.
Speaker 1 (17:19):
Yes, you can't be a secret agent.
No Great piece of information.
So anyone who's thinking aboutjoining real estate, listen to
what this woman's talking about.
She knows what she's talkingabout.
Chris, you're consistentlyrecognized as a top producer.
What habits or mindset do youthink you have contributed most
to your success?
Speaker 2 (17:39):
Well, I'm goal-oriented.
Every year I do set a goal formyself of what I want to achieve
.
Listen, you shoot for the moon.
You might get to the stars.
You know, I always have like awhy.
Why am I doing this?
Like what am I looking to getout of this?
And it's funny my earlier years, like I was okay, I was average
, and then all of a sudden alife event happened that I said,
(18:01):
oh, I've got to save some moneyhere and my son was getting
married and I wanted to help himpay for his wedding.
And all of a sudden it was likewhen hashtags kind of became a
thing.
Every deal was like hashtag momhas got a wedding.
Speaker 1 (18:13):
I was just so focused on reaching my goal for that.
Speaker 2 (18:16):
But what was cool is that while I was doing that I
was helping all these peoplemove and I was getting such.
You know, it was like it wasfun.
I think that you have to kindof be very goal-oriented in this
business.
If I don't, I keep track of mynumbers.
I'm always looking at them justso that I can stay focused on
it, Otherwise I'm floundering.
If I don't have a goal or apurpose, I'm floundering.
Speaker 1 (18:39):
You know it's interesting, these stats on goal
setting, and they say typicallythe most successful people all
have goals.
That's one of the things yousee in commonality, and yet they
say only like 3% of the realestate agents actually have a
goal.
Speaker 2 (18:54):
Right.
Speaker 1 (18:54):
And I think the other thing you just touched on
should not be smoothed over,because a goal should not just
be a dollar amount.
Speaker 2 (19:02):
Right.
Speaker 1 (19:03):
You said it and I want to make sure our audience
doesn't miss this you need toknow a why.
Yes, you could take $100,000and put it on the table $100
bills and it looks impressive,but at the end of the day, what
does that represent?
What does it represent to youand you were just so effectively
articulated that mom has got awedding.
I love that.
(19:23):
So, now that mom has alreadytook care of the wedding, do you
want to share one of yourupcoming goals?
Speaker 2 (19:29):
Right now it's really more about, like, my retirement
right now.
So I'm kind of focused on that,to just not that it's happening
anytime soon.
Speaker 1 (19:36):
Right, right, but I want to be prepared.
Speaker 2 (19:39):
And now I have a grandson and you know I want to
be able to provide as best as Ipossibly can.
Yeah, so, yeah.
So that's kind of my plan.
Speaker 1 (19:49):
So what's your hashtag?
Mama's got a grandson.
I don't have a hashtag.
Mama's got a grandson, that'sright, yeah.
Speaker 2 (19:56):
Hashtag Mama wants another retirement house or
something.
Speaker 1 (19:58):
I don't know, steve, you listening?
Speaker 2 (20:01):
Yeah, no, you know what?
I'm not really sure.
It's just more like I just wantto make sure that we're
prepared and we're in a goodplace.
Speaker 1 (20:08):
All right good.
I like it.
So, chris, you've consistentlyearned a prestigious quality
service award.
What does deliveringoutstanding service mean to you?
Speaker 2 (20:17):
That's everything, honestly.
That is what I feel helps.
It sets the tone If you'regiving good service, everything
is going to come back.
It's going to benefit everybody.
The if you're giving goodservice everything is going to
come back right.
It's going to benefit everybody.
Yeah, you know the peopleyou're servicing as well as
yourself.
Yeah, um, so that's always amain goal for me, because, to me
, that's why I'm doing this likeyes, of course you know we make
(20:40):
a good living here, but I lovethe idea of helping these people
and um.
To get the quality serviceaward they have to fill out a
survey, get a certain scoreright.
They usually write some nicewords or whatever.
It's very meaningful to me andit means a lot that it keeps me
motivated to keep on going.
Speaker 1 (21:00):
I think agents sometimes need to be reminded
that referrals happen by design,not by accident.
You know so if someone that youknow doesn't transact with you
in real estate, it's not on them, it's on you, the agent.
What have you done to positionyourself, to put you, you know,
make yourself valuable, makeyourself available?
(21:21):
If they don't remember you'rein the business, then it's not
their fault.
It's sometimes difficult tolook in the mirror and say, okay
, what could I have done better?
But I think a really top agentcan be that transparent with
themselves.
They can look in that mirrorand ask themselves that question
.
Because, even if we all makemistakes, we're human and that's
(21:42):
okay.
But you know, are we okay withchallenging ourselves to be
better and make improvements?
Speaker 2 (21:48):
Yeah, no, I think that's a big goal of mine is to
really go above and beyond sothat they're really happy with
my service, you know, and thatthey would recommend me to
somebody if needed.
But I just want to make sureI'm doing a good job.
Speaker 1 (22:00):
Yeah, so can you share with our audience.
So what's the best testimonialyou have ever received?
Speaker 2 (22:07):
Well, there was one that my friend's son helped him
purchase a home.
I think this thing must havebeen like four pages long
testimonial four pages.
I was like it went on and on andon and it was beautiful, I mean
, and the detail was reallyreally nice to read and honestly
, on some hard days like if youdon't realize they can have some
tough days yeah, sometimesthat's my go-to is to just go to
(22:28):
a testimonial and say you knowwhat, maybe this was a bad day
or whatever, but there'ssomebody out there who has
appreciated my service and myhelp.
But no, honestly, every singleone of them are great ones to me
, even if it's one-liner.
The fact that somebody took thetime to do that.
I am always so appreciativebecause they didn't have to.
(22:48):
I mean, how many times do weget things and you don't respond
to that?
Yes so when they do.
It just means so much to me,yeah, so I'm going to change my
answer to they're all amazing.
Speaker 1 (23:01):
Okay, now I know you post your testimonials on your
website Sometimes yeah, oh yeah.
Yeah, which is good, and what Ifind that caught my attention
was no, it's a good thing isthat, theoretically, they say,
if you treat someone right,you're lucky.
If they tell one person, but ifyou treat them wrong, they tell
everybody Right.
(23:21):
So just because you did anabove average job doesn't mean
they're going to actually takethe time to tell you or anybody
else and or take the time tofill out that testimonial.
And, uh, I think it speaksvolumes when you you can sit
here and say, well, no, theyfill it out, but they wrote four
pages worth.
Yeah, and this isn't the timebefore chat gpt right?
Speaker 2 (23:41):
this kid's an excellent writer, though I have
to give him kudos on that, yeahno, that's I have to give you
kudos on that because he feltthat compelled to respond.
Speaker 1 (23:51):
So good.
Good, no surprise that you'reachieving the success you are.
I understand you recently did abuyer-seller seminar right, so
what's a key takeaway from thatseminar you can share with our
audience?
Speaker 2 (24:07):
You know, that's something that we started doing
just a couple of years ago maybetwo years ago or so and it
really was out of my comfortzone to do this.
Speaker 1 (24:15):
So you do it live.
Speaker 2 (24:16):
We do it live In fact .
No Zoom, you have to be present, okay, and it's such a great
event.
I love doing them now and Ifind that people, the feedback I
get is great.
People are really enjoying it.
And I have a whole slideshowand we kind of go and I do it
with Tom Nails a lot and webasically kind of go through the
(24:38):
process and we do buyers andsellers at the same time.
Speaker 1 (24:43):
So Tom Nails is also a very successful agent in our
Hicks Follow office, by the way,for our audience.
Who doesn't know?
Speaker 2 (24:48):
Yes, so we do a good tag team here and basically we
go through the whole process ofas a buyer and a seller, so each
side gets to see and hear whatthe other side is dealing with.
So, they leave there with greatinformation to know.
Okay, this is how this is goingto work.
Speaker 1 (25:04):
Yeah, what's the most common buyer question, for
instance?
Is there a commonality to someof the questions?
I'm sure Is there any, or isthere one more surprising?
Speaker 2 (25:13):
than the other From a buyer's perspective.
Speaker 1 (25:16):
Yeah, what do they want to know when they're
thinking about buying?
Speaker 2 (25:18):
They're terrified, honestly, and they're terrified
in this market because theprices are so crazy.
They're scared we're talkingabout waiving things, like they
don't even understand, right.
So I think it's more.
They come there with a littlebit of fear, right, and my goal
for them is to leave moreconfident that we're going to
help them, it's going to be okayand they're going to get a
(25:39):
house.
Speaker 1 (25:39):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (25:39):
Because I think a lot of times right now, people are
fearing they're never getting ahouse.
Speaker 1 (25:43):
Yeah.
You know it's going to takeforever, so in a marketplace
that has been rife with biddingwars over the last three, four,
five years.
So it's you know.
When you're getting you knowsix, eight, ten offers, there
can be a lot of disappointment.
Speaker 2 (25:59):
Yes, and that's where we play the role of counselor
with these people, because Ialways tell the buyers listen,
you know, sometimes we get lucky, like I just had one where the
first offer we got accepted.
Sometimes it could take six orseven offers before they get one
accepted.
But I always tell them, likethe house you meant to get is
going to be the one, like youdidn't get those other ones
because this one that you'regoing to get is the one for you.
Speaker 1 (26:22):
I'm smiling now because I'm thinking that my own
son bought a house within thelast couple of years and he lost
four bidding wars before he gotone.
I'm like man.
I think he needs a betterrealtor or something.
Speaker 2 (26:33):
But it's a challenge, right, and it's a challenge
because it's really not evenlisten.
The agent has a lot to do withit, I think how I structure, the
offers, how I really present itto the listing agent.
They usually do tell me like,wow, okay, you really buttoned
this thing up nicely, but Ican't control what their down
payment is.
Speaker 1 (26:50):
Right, yeah, the terms.
Speaker 2 (26:52):
Sometimes that's where we're falling short.
Speaker 1 (26:55):
Yeah.
So just again, I think you'rehitting on something really
important when we deal withnegotiations, right, but people
fail to think.
Everyone thinks price, price,price and it's really price and
terms Right, Since there'scontingencies very, very often
the standard one for ouraudience members who aren't in
real estate is typicallycontingent of financing.
(27:17):
So, understanding therisk-reward of that financing,
what's the likelihood they'regoing to get approved?
Speaker 2 (27:23):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (27:24):
As opposed to another one.
That would be all cash yeah.
Speaker 2 (27:26):
No terms are everything, so I do try to
structure that, their offer, ina way that I have my own little
system, that I have my emailsall very clearly defined.
It's detailed.
I have the loan officer callthe listing agent and vet that
buyer.
I will waive certain thingswith appraisals in know if they
(27:49):
can, if they're willing to.
Speaker 1 (27:51):
As it comes with a risk, potentially.
Speaker 2 (27:53):
What team they're using for.
You know mortgage inspection.
You know attorney.
Speaker 1 (27:58):
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (27:59):
We try to make sure that it is just buttoned up,
that this is going to be areally smooth deal.
And you know, I think also asyou get more experience people
have done business with you, youknow, I think they start to
feel more comfortable.
Speaker 1 (28:10):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (28:11):
You know as a listing agent if you've done another
deal with that agent.
That also helps sometimes too.
Speaker 1 (28:15):
Yeah, now on the listed side.
So we talked about you know, soyou've done the buyer-seller
seminars.
Is there a more common questionyou're getting from sellers at
the seminars?
Speaker 2 (28:25):
You know they too come in with fear, and that's
what I feel a lot of this is.
They don't know these peoplehaven't been involved in a real
estate transaction in you know30 years sometimes, or you know
they don't understand the wholeprocess.
So I think for the most part,like a lot of times, they'll get
, oh, but I don't have a CEO forthis, or you know, and they get
so nervous that this is goingto you know they can't sell
(28:48):
their house Right and you know,again, it's just educating them
on how we're going to handle it,how we're going to problem
solve this and how we're goingto make this work.
Speaker 1 (28:55):
Correct, correct.
Speaker 2 (28:57):
Yep.
Speaker 1 (28:57):
But even something as simple as that, it is
potentially a challenge.
Correct Because one of thethings we represent in a
contract.
As a seller, we're selling alegal dwelling, so if there's an
issue, how?
Speaker 2 (29:09):
do we meet that?
How do we meet that challenge?
Well, it's funny.
We talked about what kind ofchallenge did we have?
I had one house.
They did not legalize a dormer,an entire dormer front back
full dormer, and I'm like how amI selling this?
oh, and it was an open permityeah, that's even worse it was
open and I I didn't even knowhow I was going to do this, but
(29:31):
I managed.
We got a buyer, I checked withthe loan officer and they wound
up closing that deal yeah, thereyou go, but I believe you're
hitting on and and again.
Speaker 1 (29:39):
As a as a broker I I can see this, because a good
agent recognizes the problem anddoesn't run from it.
But they're transparent andcommunicate.
Yes, when you communicate theproblem up front, even everyone
could get their arms around that, as opposed to it comes up at
the end and surprise.
Speaker 2 (29:57):
No one likes surprises, especially when we're
dealing with high ticket itemshere this is their biggest
investment yeah so, and it canbe very overwhelming and very
stressful and I find that I wantto try and ease that for them.
Yeah, so before I always do afoil request, I'm always looking
.
There's a little.
I have a little access andfound a little site where I can
go and dig through files forpermits and this way I can say
(30:20):
buyer, we don't have X, y, z inplace and this is how we're
gonna sell it.
You know as is, and as long aseveryone's on board, it does
usually work To prevent thatfrom happening during midway
through the process and all of asudden they're like oh wait,
you don't have a CO for thatgarage conversion.
We want you to get it Now.
The seller has to go and pay alot of money to get the permits
in place.
Speaker 1 (30:48):
How long does it take to get a response on your FO?
Speaker 2 (30:49):
a FOIA report, by the way Quick, so I submitted one.
It's usually the next day, okay, yeah, they take them by email,
right?
Yeah, you do it right online.
It's really very very simple.
Speaker 1 (30:52):
Yeah, for our audience.
In case you want to want a FOIAlist, it's Freedom of
Information Act, so you canrequest public information.
Speaker 2 (31:00):
And it's great, because you know what A lot of
times these sellers they thinkoh no, we have all our permits
in place, everything is great.
And or you know, it's an estateand they don't even know, and
they're like my father hadperfect paperwork and then,
before you know it, there'sthese open permits, there's no
permits, there's, you know.
So it's just better to be inthe know beforehand and handle
that and tackle that situationhead on than wait for it to be
(31:23):
thrown at you.
Speaker 1 (31:23):
Yeah, absolutely.
I mean.
And how many times you run intoit's like no, the contractor
was handling that, and then thecontractor didn't handle that,
right, or I bought this housethis way.
Speaker 2 (31:34):
And honestly, I try really hard to not be alarming
about it.
Right, you know, with my client.
But just to say let's just knowwhat we're dealing with and
let's figure it out.
Speaker 1 (31:43):
Yeah, no, perfect, perfect, all right.
So, chris, I think we want topivot here and we want to talk a
little bit more about the playhard, the human side of this.
But before we do, I just wantto remind our audience to like
and subscribe.
We'd love to have you see ourfuture episodes that are coming
up, by the way, and stay aroundfor the drop the mic question.
(32:03):
So does Christine have a happyplace when she's not doing real
estate?
Where do you go to recharge?
What does Christine do to getdown time?
Speaker 2 (32:13):
I'm very social.
I didn't notice my husband andI have, you know, great friends.
We have lots of differentcircles.
We love to go out, we love toeat, we love to dance, I love to
party, I love to do all thatfun stuff.
Yeah, um, I also love to playpickleball uh, yeah, pickleball
chunky yes oh yeah yeah, you go,come on.
Speaker 1 (32:31):
You're probably one of these, I'm average.
Speaker 2 (32:33):
I would say I'm average, but I really enjoy it.
It makes me feel young, itmakes me feel athletic, it makes
me feel really good aboutmyself yeah and I have a lot of
fun with it.
I met some great people, goodexercise great, I like to go to
the gym, but yeah, so wedefinitely every weekend there's
always something happeningpretty much, yeah, you know.
(32:53):
So, yeah, I like to have fun.
Speaker 1 (32:56):
All right, well good, I like that too.
So what's a hobby or interestor even a hidden talent of
Christine Data, oh boy.
Speaker 2 (33:06):
A hidden talent of Christine Data.
Oh boy, A hidden talent.
This isn't the drop the micquestion.
Speaker 1 (33:08):
No, no, wait, there's more.
Okay, come on.
Speaker 2 (33:12):
Or a hobby, okay so I was a dancer when I was growing
up and I happened to love.
My love was always tap dancing.
Speaker 1 (33:20):
Really.
Speaker 2 (33:20):
Uh-huh yep.
Speaker 1 (33:22):
So we have to stop this episode and get the shoes
out.
Here You're going to do alittle soft shoe for us.
Speaker 2 (33:27):
But yeah, that was something I always enjoyed.
Now I'm going to say it'spickleball right now.
Speaker 1 (33:34):
Yeah, that's your thing, that's my thing.
Yeah, cool, very cool.
If you can instantly master anew skill outside of real estate
, what would it be and why?
Speaker 2 (33:47):
I don't know if it's really a new skill, but
something that I kind of wouldlike to do more is kind of a
little bit more reading, alittle more downtime for myself,
because I do tend to keep myschedule really busy, busy, busy
.
Speaker 1 (33:53):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (33:53):
And I feel like just for my own head space, just to
kind of have a little downtime.
Speaker 1 (33:57):
Okay, what topics do you like to read?
Do you like to read?
Speaker 2 (34:00):
More self-help kind of.
I'm actually reading the Letthem, which is a big book right
now that's out there verypopular and yeah, so I enjoy it
and I feel like I'm getting alot out of it and it makes me
feel good, so, yeah, All rightgood, All right reading Note to
self.
Yeah, I mean, we'll see, I meanmy daughter.
(34:21):
She reads like 80 books a year,so I'm never going to be
anything like that.
But even if I read a couple,it's more than what I read last
year.
Speaker 1 (34:26):
All right, good, good .
Now you mentioned your daughter, so I understand you have a new
love of your life, so that'sfor my son.
Speaker 2 (34:35):
Yes, so my son has given me the greatest joy of
having a grandson.
Speaker 1 (34:40):
Okay, what's his name ?
Speaker 2 (34:42):
His name is Roman Okay and he's 17 months old and
he is just an absolute pleasure.
He's a fun, happy, just greatlittle guy.
Speaker 1 (34:51):
All right, so what's your nickname?
Come on.
Speaker 2 (34:54):
I'm a.
Gigi, gigi, there you go, yeah,and he said it, and he's been
saying it now, so it's kind ofcool to hear him call me that.
Speaker 1 (35:01):
Yeah, yeah, he, yeah yeah.
He's so awesome.
Speaker 2 (35:04):
The next part of the pastime yeah, yeah, it's
something that you know,especially with this job.
It's kind of hard sometimesbecause I really have to make
the time I can.
You know, with our schedulebeing so all over the place that
I literally block off a daylike every two weeks and say I
need to go see my little guy youknow.
Speaker 1 (35:21):
So that's tomorrow Some Roman time, right?
Yep, yep, because you know what?
Speaker 2 (35:26):
I don't think about any stress.
I don't think about anythingbut just hanging out with him.
Speaker 1 (35:30):
Yeah, yeah, Now he's how old now 17 months.
That's such a great age, right?
Speaker 2 (35:35):
Oh, he's just a happy .
He's literally happy all thetime.
Speaker 1 (35:37):
Yeah, and a good sleeper Like he's just a great
great with no real estate calls.
How would you spend it?
Speaker 2 (35:44):
It's funny because there's not too many of those
right, right, right and Steveand I are always like we want to
go to the wineries, we want togo away for the weekend but
they're always so hard to planbecause we just never know what
the schedule is going to like.
even this week.
Someone's like we want to dothe open houses this weekend.
I'm like okay, but we do reallyenjoy being with our friends
and our family.
(36:04):
You know, if we have a free day, steve and I are going up to
Rockland County to go spend sometime with, you know, our
grandson, or my daughter, evenwith her husband, and you know,
just to be with our family andfriends is probably our favorite
thing to do.
Speaker 1 (36:17):
It's a wonderful thing, that's awesome.
So, chris, we want to switch toa little bit about giving back,
because that's such animportant part of the culture at
American Homes.
So is there a cause or localinitiative or organization even
that's particularly close toyour heart?
Speaker 2 (36:32):
Yes, so it's Feed Long Island and it's actually a
client of mine who I sold ahouse I don't even know how many
years ago, maybe eight yearsago and she's an amazing woman
and she started a Facebook groupwhere she feeds people who come
(36:52):
to her.
They have local people who haveno food and, honestly, my
family was like that and I kindof wish that I had somebody like
that who could have helped usout back in the day.
Speaker 1 (37:03):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (37:04):
So that one really very near and dear to me.
Um so whenever she posts, liketoday she didn't you know, need
money for a family.
I'll then mow some money youknow um?
Speaker 1 (37:14):
does she take on individual um like challenges,
or is it just like a food pantry?
Speaker 2 (37:20):
individuals okay, so that's where I feel that
connection.
I think that it's literally forspecific people.
Speaker 1 (37:27):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (37:28):
And we also do.
Speaker 1 (37:30):
Before we leave that, because it sounds like it's a
really good cause.
Is there ways if someone wantsto find out more about it where
they can?
Speaker 2 (37:38):
Her name is Brooke, but if anybody is interested,
they can reach out to me and Ican connect them with her.
Perfect, we also I didn't saywe, but she and I love to
participate in it.
You know, for Christmas timewe're all you know we buy for
families and she says how manykids do you want to buy for?
You know, and we just.
It's amazing what she doesEaster, every holiday, she is
collecting and this woman isjust what she is doing for
(38:02):
people is changing and reallymaking a big difference, and I
really I'm very inspired by her.
Speaker 1 (38:09):
Good, I'm inspired by her and I haven't even met her.
Speaker 2 (38:11):
Yeah, so actually Steve and I years ago used to do
an annual fundraiser where wewould host in like the firehouse
and have a DJ and whatever, andwe would pick up an
organization every year andpeople would come and they would
bring money and we would donateto that cause and it was
whatever amount they wanted togive.
So she doesn't know this yet,but we're hoping, and I'm
(38:33):
fingers crossed, that we'regoing to be able to do that this
year for them.
Speaker 1 (38:37):
Excellent, excellent.
So you've built a very strongrelationships with your clients.
How important is community toyou, both personally and
professionally?
Speaker 2 (38:47):
I have been living in my neighborhood since 1989.
I feel like I've raised mywhole family there.
I've been connected withchurches, I've been connected
with the schools, the PTA.
I feel like I can walk into thestore, I see people.
It makes it a very small townfeel for me, which a lot of
(39:08):
people moving out of state.
I kind of feel like they losethat and I thrive on that, like
I love feeling that it's home.
So I really do enjoy that partof where I live and just haven't
been there for so long.
Speaker 1 (39:18):
That's really both personal and professional.
Speaker 2 (39:20):
And I think that that kind of goes hand in hand, then
right, so if people in mycommunity know me and they're
familiar with me and they need arealtor, they may, you know,
hopefully think of me, yeah.
Speaker 1 (39:32):
I know you recently held a Relentless Determination
Award where you have to give out.
Is that an annual thing?
Speaker 2 (39:38):
So I have done that and I think I did it for about
five years.
Basically, it was an award thatI would give to a metbom senior
, which is where my kids went toschool.
I always felt like when I satthere with my own kids at the
award ceremony it was alwayslike the same kids getting the
same awards like all the youknow, and I always felt for the
kids who really didn't get themand maybe I thought that if I
(40:01):
could come up with somethingwhere it's the kid who overcame
some kind of adversity or somekind of challenge that really
persevered and it always wentback to what our company's
position was on that.
So the school would pick thestudent and they picked them
based on my criteria, basically,that they overcame a challenge
(40:24):
and came shining through.
Speaker 1 (40:26):
That's awesome.
That's awesome.
I like that a lot.
So you recently were invited tosit on a panel for the what
Moves Her event.
It's a women empowermentinitiative sponsored by Coldwell
Banker.
So how was that experience?
Speaker 2 (40:40):
Well, similar to this .
This is out of my comfort zone,as that was too, but, boy, what
an honor that was to be on thatpanel with those women.
Yeah, it was a great, those fourwomen, strong, successful, if
you would have told me 10 yearsago that I was gonna be sitting
there with Barbara Mulaney andyou know like I would have said
(41:01):
no way.
I was very honored to be us todo that.
It was cool because you knowwhat?
I think we all had a lot ofsimilar ways of doing things and
how we thought about thisbusiness, and I learned a lot
even just from their stories.
Speaker 1 (41:16):
Yeah, yeah, it was an interesting event because it
was about 70 people in theaudience there.
So it was well attended.
So what was your biggesttakeaway from that event?
Speaker 2 (41:26):
Being a guest speaker .
You know, I laugh because I'mso hard on myself.
Speaker 1 (41:34):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (41:34):
And I, you know, I was the one with all the notes
and I wanted to be prepared andyou know, really, and I realized
that it was okay to just speakmore fluidly, yeah, and I didn't
have to be so.
Speaker 1 (41:49):
Perfect.
Speaker 2 (41:50):
Yes, Not even perfect robotic, like just more.
You know, I didn't need to read, I could just speak from the
heart, because this is what I doyou know real estate every day,
yeah, so that was a goodtakeaway for myself.
Speaker 1 (42:03):
Right.
Speaker 2 (42:03):
To have more faith in myself and I guess I'm here now
now, but this is still a littlehard for me.
And then from the other peopleit was great to hear that they
kind of aligned with a lot of mythought process that I was.
I felt like I was on the righttrack you know like and I even
loved I got some great tips,like even from valerie, like how
she talks about, like howreally analyzing different
(42:25):
markets and like really divingin Like.
I thought that was an awesometip.
Speaker 1 (42:29):
Yeah, that was Valerie Rosenblatt, by the way
you're referencing who has beenon the podcast as well, very
well spoken, smart agent, yes,yeah.
Speaker 2 (42:39):
So it was great to hear everybody's story and you
know, and everybody had adifferent why of.
Why are they doing?
Speaker 1 (42:44):
this and.
Speaker 2 (42:44):
I do bring it back to that.
That's a really important pieceto this.
Speaker 1 (42:49):
What's the biggest challenge that you feel
comfortable, maybe, that you'vehad to overcome, that you'd like
to share with our audience?
Speaker 2 (42:57):
I'm going to have to say and I'm kind of repeating
myself a little bit but it wasalways a confidence issue for me
and I worked so hard at tryingto overcome that and I think
I've come a long way.
I do believe that 16-year-oldme would be proud.
Speaker 1 (43:15):
Yeah, yeah.
So I think that I would saythat it's so interesting because
, from my vantage point, youalways came across as confident.
Speaker 2 (43:25):
Yeah, no, I work at it every day and I think us
women in particular, I thinkthat's just something that we've
just struggled with and medefinitely had some issues
growing up with that, but I feelI'm in a good place now.
I think, as we achieve and wedo and we help people and we
feel good about ourselves, thatthat makes that whole confident
(43:46):
package get a little bitstronger.
Speaker 1 (43:48):
Yeah, good, good, I want to remind our subscribers
to please, if you like whatyou're hearing here today,
please remember to like andsubscribe and join us for future
episodes.
It's time for the Drop the Micquestion, so, christine.
Speaker 2 (44:04):
Mike.
Speaker 1 (44:07):
If your life was a TV show, what would the title be?
Speaker 2 (44:10):
Friends Okay.
I'm going to go with Friends,and I say that because you know
what I feel like I do.
I'm really blessed with a lotof great friends and we have a
really good time.
Speaker 1 (44:19):
Yeah, got a bunch of characters in your life.
Speaker 2 (44:21):
Bunch of characters in my life, but you laugh a lot.
A lot.
Speaker 1 (44:24):
All right that characters in my life.
But you laugh a lot, a lot.
All right, that sounds reallygood.
So I want to kind of twist it.
So if you had a song that hadto play every time you close a
deal, come on, or a theme songfor your, your tv show let's get
this party started there we go,there we go.
Well, christine, you've been anamazing interview.
You're an amazing agent andwe'd love having you on the show
(44:47):
If someone wants to reach outto you.
How do they find Christine Dato?
Speaker 2 (44:51):
They can call me at 516-557-3974.
Or you can actually also reachout to me on some of the social
media platforms like Facebook orInstagram, and my handle is
cdato, the number four homes,and that's on Instagram and
Facebook.
Speaker 1 (45:07):
Excellent, all right.
Thank you so much for joiningour show.
Speaker 2 (45:09):
Thank you Okay.
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