Welcome to a thrilling episode of Hudson Valley's Real Estate Explained. In this edition, we get back to basics with Rik Brescia, diving into how you can select the best real estate agent to suit your needs, be you a first-time buyer, a seasoned investor, or even a casual observer of the property market. We discuss the importance of finding an agent who aligns with your goals and challenges, and who can adeptly handle negotiations and understand current market conditions.
We provide essential information on the important factors to consider while choosing an agent, including their experience, region-specific knowledge, responsiveness, and communication style. Furthermore, we give you handy tips and tricks on what to watch out for when evaluating potential agents. We also highlight the significant role of agents in facilitating property transactions for both buyers and sellers.
This episode transparently discusses not just an agent's respectable sales record, but also the importance of personality compatibility. We emphasize on questions you should be asking potential agents to gauge their knowledge, availability and commission structure. In addition, we touch on the agent's role in marketing your property, and the significant impact of persuasive photography and current technology on the property sale.
Lastly, we delve into the signs to watch out for when choosing an agent, along with practical advice on making the crucial decision. Don’t miss out on this wealth of insider information about the real estate industry.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
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(00:05):
Welcome to Hudson Valley's Real Estate Explained, your getaway to understanding real estate.
Whether you're buying your first home, an experienced investor,
or just real estate curious, this is the place for you.
So dive in with us as we unravel the intricacies of property deals and investment
strategies guided by industry experts.
We're demystifying Hudson Hudson Valley Real Estate together. Let's go.
(00:28):
Welcome back everybody to another episode of Hudson Valley Real Estate Explained.
We've got a pretty fun episode and I am back in the vault with Mr.
Rick Brescia. What's going on my friend?
I am so happy to be back in the vault with you where I'm getting more comfortable
being in a vault every time we do this.
It's starting to be like riding a bike, right? It's not near as scary anymore.
(00:51):
No, and we've got plenty of room and it's plenty of size.
For those of you following us,
we are streaming this one live today on YouTube. So check us out there.
Could possibly go wrong. I don't know. So we can't cancel this one now.
We've officially announced it. We are going live. There you go.
But today we've got a great podcast episode for you.
(01:12):
It's very basic, but it's very, very important.
So today we're going to talk about how to select the right real estate agent
for you. And this is such a critical moment.
It's such a critical decision that you're going to have to make when dealing
with real estate, whether you're buying, selling, investing, it doesn't matter.
(01:33):
You're going to come into contact with real estate agents. You're going to need a real estate agent.
At some point, I know there are a lot of people that choose to do things for
sale by owner and we support them.
And I think that's great. But if you're somebody that is looking for a real
estate agent, choosing the right one is critical.
And unfortunately we see a lot of times people People end up with real estate
(01:54):
agents by default, by accident and, and, and. By being a relative.
Yeah. For a lot of reasons.
Not that you can't use your relatives, but I think it's important to,
when you're, listen, guys, when you are thinking about the, one of the most
significant financial transactions in your lives, right?
(02:15):
Real estate is one of the most significant financial transactions that you are
going going to go through, having the right person on your side is critical.
You know, like an accountant, like a surgeon, right? You want the right people in place.
And there are a lot of agents to choose from, and there are a lot of qualities to look at.
(02:38):
And I think it's really, really important that we dive into some of this so
that if you're thinking about buying, selling, or investing,
you can make sure you're put together with the right person because it can make the entire difference.
I mean, it doesn't just impact you financially, but how you live your life,
whether or not you're successful with that investment, whether or not you're
able to sell your house for top dollar and retire the way you want to.
(03:00):
I mean, these are all things that play a critical role in your future.
So selecting the right agent could have a huge impact on you.
Absolutely. And as we touched on before, I'm glad you brought up the surgeon example,
because just because your cousin became a surgeon doesn't mean you want him
working on your thyroid Because you've seen him try to use a microwave in his
(03:22):
home and it hasn't been successful.
Same thing applies to real estate. Absolutely. Absolutely. So Rick.
Let's talk a little bit about agent responsibilities, right?
First off, let's define their role, right? In the transaction.
I mean, you're helping somebody buy a home. Are they there to open doors or
(03:42):
what is the, what is the role?
Let's, and let's break it down for buyers and sellers.
Okay. So you went buyers first cause you said open doors. So let's do that one.
I mean, I've always looked at it as a partnership.
You've basically taken on a partner who is is educated, hopefully in the business
to go around with you and give you more detail than you could ever find out
(04:02):
yourself about that property.
So although opening doors and showing people homes is part of our job,
I will say that when an agent says, this is a kitchen to you,
I don't think you're ever surprised to find out that you're in a kitchen with
such indicators as cabinets and a refrigerator.
Um, so although that's a part of it, by all means, it's more than that.
(04:23):
It's, it's figuring out property lines. It's knowing where the municipalities are.
It's knowing, you know, if it's water, sewer, well, and septic,
you know, and you know, and also knowing about how exactly that stuff works.
Cause we do have people that just move out of apartments and,
and move into homes up here that do not know that information and their agent
should be able to explain it articulately to them in a fashion that they understand
(04:49):
everything completely when they're buying the house,
or at least the best we possibly can convey to them. Absolutely.
You know, I think of some of the responsibilities, including things like understanding
current market conditions,
understanding the local area as well, and knowing what impact,
I mean, you know, knowing the area is critical. Knowing the market conditions is critical.
(05:11):
Knowing this can give you an advantage when negotiating.
Sure. A podcast or two ago, we just talked about a client where I was able to
save them $100,000 off of list price.
Today, got another story about a client.
I didn't save them $100,000, but we just successfully negotiated a $10,000 seller's
(05:33):
concession in a competitive market.
That's hard to do, but completely understanding the dynamics of not just the location of the house,
but the competitive nature of that house and the intricacies of the deal enabled
me to really negotiate hard on her behalf and become very successful.
(05:54):
Successful. And all, all very important. So, so how does one come about picking that agent?
How does one find a Michael Kahn's out there?
Sure. There you go. I did what you wanted me to do.
Well, listen, I obviously, you know, team banks, Hudson Valley's X factor when
it comes to real estate, we have a, a ton of great agents and I suggest going
(06:16):
onto teambanks.com and checking checking us all out.
However, I realized that not everybody can choose one of us, right?
We don't cover all areas. We have people listening from a variety of places,
but if for some reason a team banks agent is not in the cards,
I think there are, first off, I think you should interview more than one agent.
Absolutely. Much like you would with a doctor. You're getting a second opinion.
(06:39):
Yeah. Whether you're buying or selling, you should meet with multiple agents.
And I, I, you know, as, as team banks agents, we go into interviews with clients
expecting that you should, and I'll tell a client, listen, have,
have conversations with other agents.
You need to choose the best agent for you.
I'd like to think that it's me the majority of times, but sometimes it's not.
(07:02):
And, and I'm okay with that. Absolutely.
Yeah. I mean, we don't always match up with a client or the client's current
headspace, but I think being honest and telling them that and coming to that
realization will, will help both parties in the end.
So some key factors to look for during the interview process.
Number one, what is their experience and what does their local knowledge look like?
(07:26):
And experience is an interesting one because we're all new at some point, right?
And I don't think that experience should be the defining factor for choosing
a real estate agent because I was a new agent at one point and I was a great agent.
You were a great new agent having seen you on day one.
(07:50):
You're a great new agent. And I'm not saying that to,
you know, just to pat myself on the back, but also because I came in with an
enormous amount of sales and relationship building and an understanding of the
industry that I think maybe I didn't have the experience,
but I had experience in other things that I was able to translate.
(08:10):
And I came into the industry, like many people on team banks with a focus of
building trust, earning trust the right way, helping people get to their goals,
not helping myself get to a closing table.
And that was the most important factor for me. It comes into play.
And also, uh, you know, for an agent who is not, let's say as experienced or
(08:33):
newer to the business, a lot of times you'll find that they're hungrier and
that they're more attentive to your needs.
You might get a new agent where it's their only, you're their only buyer or
you're their only listing.
You're going to have a hundred percent of their attention all the time.
Yeah. So there's a huge benefit there. And there's always people generally in
the background to help them or coach them.
(08:53):
You just have to make sure that they have those people in place when you either
list with them or you, you know, or you buy a home with them.
Took the words right out of my mouth.
If they are lacking in experience, what does their support structure look like?
Absolutely. You know, are they on a team? Check out the team that they're a part of, right?
Sure. I think that's a really great point. Communication and availability.
(09:15):
I'm, you know, one of the things that's really important to us here is,
and I understand that there are some good agents that work full time,
but are they available full time? Are they available online?
As often as needed? And what is their communication style? Are they getting
back to you in a couple of hours at worst?
And, and by the way, everybody, please understand that we can't answer every
(09:37):
single phone call. We can't respond to every text within 30 seconds.
Sometimes we're busy. We're showing a house. We're on a listing appointment.
Sometimes I'm at my daughter's play recital and I can't respond immediately.
However, we spoke about this earlier today.
Everybody should be able to be responded to within a couple of hours, one way or another.
(09:59):
Absolutely. I'm in agreeance and it should be a response in the way that the
buyer or seller wants to communicate.
A lot of times, you know, the buyer only wants to text message or only wants
to talk through Instagram messenger.
For some reason you have to, as an agent adapt to that.
So make sure that your agent is willing to adapt to your, or you can at least
(10:20):
to come to an agreed upon line of communication and which way you're going to
speak back and forth. Excellent. What about references and reviews?
Should we check those out or
are they all just five stars? We all are just have five stars everywhere.
Yeah, I'm going to go with that. No, no, of course you check out references
and reviews much like with anything else.
I mean, we all do it now for restaurants and everywhere else we go.
(10:40):
We check the reviews before we go in. So check the reviews of your agent.
And is it the most important thing?
No, but if you do see see negative reviews that can definitely reflect poorly
on an agent and, and it could, you know, work in your decision-making process one way or another.
Of course, you can't believe there's always going to be a mad client that puts
(11:02):
up something no matter what, at some point, you know what I think?
And we have an agent that.
You know, almost got a bad review and, and, and I was threatened with one recently.
Part of me was almost excited for the opportunity because I would imagine like
myself, most people when looking at reviews, just try to find the bad one, right?
(11:26):
You've got 75 five-star reviews, but one two-star review. That's the,
that's the one I want to read.
Absolutely. So if there is an agent that has that review, not just read the
review, take it with a grain of salt, But here's the key.
Did that agent respond and read their response?
And I think that's probably the most telling, not the review itself,
but the agent response to that review. Were they professional?
(11:47):
Were they courteous? Did they acknowledge the, the, the, did they even acknowledge
that it was there? Right.
And, and reviews, you know, I'm going to speak a little bit on my own behalf.
Reviews can't be everything because look, I mean, I, I've been in an executive
position now in real estate for 20 years where I've been coaching and managing
agents. you don't get reviews doing that as an agent.
(12:10):
So although I don't have reviews up there online, my experience is vast.
I've been part of hundreds and hundreds of deals in real estate at this point,
but yet I don't have those reviews restarting career in the fashion that I am.
However, I'm very experienced in the business and have tons of sales myself from the past.
Just back then there weren't Google reviews.
(12:31):
Yeah. And, and, and that's, that's, I think the point, right?
Right? You've got to build a profile of this person and determine whether or
not they're the right fit for you. What about personality compatibility?
How important in your mind, Rick is compatibility.
I think it's the biggest one. Really? I really do.
Um, and I, I know we differ a bit on this, but let me, uh, let me go ahead with my thing.
(12:55):
I think likability and compatibility in the relationship with your real estate
agent is huge because it's not a one-time thing.
It's not like, you know, you're, you're basically signing a contract and you're
going to be in a relationship with that person for several months at least.
And you have to make sure that you enjoy speaking to them. You look forward to their call.
(13:15):
You're not dodging their phone call because they just have a,
a something in their personality that doesn't jive with you.
So I think it's really important. I don't think it should be taken as serious
as perhaps, you know, like a dating site, but, um, but still you are in a way
dating your agent for a few months.
You're going to have conversations with them and you're going to have conversations
like you said about the most important, possibly financial transaction of their lives.
(13:40):
So make sure you like the person and enjoy speaking to them.
So I don't completely disagree with you. I do think likability is really important and compatibility.
And I think likability is important, but I'll give you another reason why I think it's important.
Because if you like them, chances are people that they're working with on the
other side of the deal like them too. Yeah.
Absolutely. That's a great point. And that's a, that's, that's, that's really good.
(14:04):
You, if somebody that can, I don't want to say blend in, not like a chameleon,
but somebody who is generally likable, somebody who's easygoing,
somebody that is not egotistical or full of themselves, because there's some
of that out there, right?
There's some strong egos or maybe some, you know, too shy or not very competent or confident.
(14:26):
You know, it's one thing to have that with you, but they could potentially be
that way with everybody in the deal.
And that could lead to not so good things for you.
Or, or the opposite and where you first started going, which I think makes a, has a big effect.
I think that if you have an agent that's on the other side of the transaction
that has Whereas through the roof, likeability, you're working with them is
(14:51):
going to just make things so much easier. You're excited to answer their phone call.
You don't mind speaking to them. If they have questions, they're probably educated
questions and you work through a deal better with those people.
So yes, likeability comes into play that too. General likeability. Yeah. Absolutely.
And, and, and here's, you know, my take on the opposite side of that coin.
(15:14):
And that is, you know, real estate is a very large financial transaction.
I think likeability needs to play a role. I don't think it should be number one.
You know, I wouldn't necessarily, if we're going back to like a surgeon example,
I don't necessarily need to like the guy. I need him to be the best darn surgeon around.
You know what I mean? And I understand that that's a different thing.
(15:36):
You're going to be under anesthesia. Probably you don't have to deal with them too much.
But at the same time, I think most important. And again, I think everything
needs to be taken into consideration.
I'm not saying work with somebody that you hate because you think they can get you the results.
That's not what I'm saying at all. But.
I am alluding to the fact that if you feel a very high level of confidence that
(16:00):
their marketing is on point,
their sales ability is on point, their negotiation skills are on point,
and they can get the job done for you and they're just an absolute great agent,
but they're not your cup of tea.
Maybe that's another. Still might be a good choice for an agent.
It's possible. Yeah, absolutely. Of course. No, no, I get that.
Absolutely. I get that. I'm just saying if you can get the entire package,
(16:21):
then that's what you look for.
Then that would be ideal. Yeah, it's a bonus if you happen to really just like them as well.
So next, I want to talk a little bit about interviewing, right?
We talked about we should interview several agents, whether you're buying or selling.
I've got a couple of questions that I would ask if I was interviewing agents not in my area.
Do you, what would you ask an agent?
(16:44):
Any ideas that come to mind off the top of your head? That's really funny because
I was going to ask you the same thing. I'm going to go, okay,
pretend I'm the agent and interview me.
But okay, we can do it this way. No, I'll shoot. No, no, I got this.
Okay. Yeah, I'll answer your question. You're in charge. Go for it.
I guess I would ask them their experience. So am I interviewing a buyer's agent
(17:05):
or a seller's listing agent? Yeah, so let's start with buyers.
Okay. So I'm interviewing a buyer's agent. I guess I would check with knowledge of area.
Yeah. Okay, we're looking in this specific area. What's your knowledge up there?
Have you sold homes in that area before?
Yeah. Are you familiar with it?
Do you know, you know, we're real close on sort of a town line here.
(17:28):
Do you know which schools go with which, you know, just things of that nature.
Their general knowledge of the area would come into effect, I think,
almost more than anything.
You know, I would find out how many homes that they've sold recently.
Are they a full-time agent or a part-time agent? I think is a fairly decent
question to ask. Not that it necessarily matters.
There's some great part-time agents out there, but I would still find out.
(17:51):
Are they going to be available to my, you know, my beck and call?
Because when I want to go see a house, I want to go see a house.
So what is their availability?
If I'm only available on the weekends and they have a second job that covers
the weekends, that doesn't work. Yeah. That's an important one for sure.
You know, I think another thing, especially with how things are changing in
(18:11):
real estate, we're going to see fees being implemented for buyers agents.
And I think that's an important question to start asking now.
What is your commission? even though it may very well be covered by the seller.
I think it's an important conversation to have up front before you're stuck
in something that you weren't anticipating. Such a great point. Absolutely.
Yeah, that's new, but well, relatively new, but important to ask.
(18:33):
Yeah. I'm going to give you a tough one. And I guess this can,
well, not for you in particular, but I'm going to give our audience two great questions to ask.
And this comes from my experience in the past of being a manager and district
manager doing lots of interviews for people in managerial positions and frontline
positions and stuff like that.
So I've done thousands of interviews and two questions that I think can absolutely apply.
(18:59):
And you might catch your agent off guard because I doubt they get these questions
too often. One is why should I hire you?
Just as simple as that. Why should I hire you as opposed to anybody else and
ask them to present to you their value proposition?
You know, what is the difference between you and everybody else out there?
You know, I'm, I'm, I'm looking at agents. Why you?
(19:22):
And my guess is that'll be a very telling question.
Yeah. I mean, if you were asking me directly right now, I'd say,
well, you know, because I, I kind of brought you into the business and we're
locked in a vault together.
The other question, that's a great point. Thanks, man. You want out?
(19:43):
Reminds me of, what was that, Bronx Tale. Now you can't leave.
Exactly. That's sort of how I feel when the door gets closed on us here.
The other question I'm going to throw out there for our audience to consider
asking their agent, and it's a little bit more direct, but again,
going back, I found some of the best information about my interviewees when asking this question.
(20:05):
And what's something you're not good at or what's something you're working on?
I'm going to work with you for the next six months. You know,
tell me something that you're working on improving that I can't anticipate.
Now I understand that it's a little bit of a different dynamic, but see what they say.
Wow. That's a great one. Yeah. Once again, my personal one, this would be picking
(20:27):
out hair care products. I'm terrible at it.
And, and I would throw out there that if they can't articulate,
Hey, listen, you know, I, I, I am human.
And this is something that I would say I'm continuing to work on and have some humility.
And actually, I'm not saying you're not humble. You really are.
You're also a great graded humor.
(20:49):
And I know you could turn around and answer that question, but you know,
some people will say, I don't really have any. And, and, you know,
or, or something along those lines, or maybe it's a giant red flag,
which is the next thing I want to talk about. What are some red flags?
Again, you're not looking to catch them on anything. You're just looking to
gauge the responses and what the, what all these questions are going to do,
(21:09):
excuse me, is going to give you a, a picture, right? Sort of an avatar of this person.
And then, and then you're going to listen to your gut, right?
You're going to have a feeling like, wow, I liked how everything came together.
I liked what he said about this, or, you know, I asked that question and it
seemed to really throw him off.
(21:30):
He couldn't tell me why I should hire him. He got completely tripped up.
That's a red flag. Right, which is a pretty good gauge, and you're right,
a red flag of what could happen in a negotiation, too, if they're startled by something.
Correct. So something that I tend to pride myself on is that I'll pretty much always have an answer.
Even if I do have to deflect it with humor at times, I have an answer.
(21:52):
But you're right. Sometimes you'll catch somebody not having an answer,
and that's indicative of how they might be when another agent asks them a question. too.
Yeah. So it's a great, you know, to move on to red flags.
There's one right there. Yeah. Absolutely. Right before we do though, I want to nail this.
I want to get a couple of things out that if you're considering selling your
(22:13):
home, what you should be asking your agent, I absolutely would want to know
about their marketing strategy.
What are you getting as agents in the industry? We see every other agent's marketing strategy.
We see it. And I'm going to tell you right now, you can hire 10 different agents
(22:38):
and get 10 different results on your house.
There is absolutely an impact an agent can have when it comes to selling or helping you buy a house.
And part of it is their marketing plan, their marketing strategy.
You know, anywhere from snapping a couple of photos with your phone,
maybe putting a sign out in your yard, putting it on MLS and crossing your fingers
(23:00):
on the low end of the scale, right, to the high end of, you know,
the marketing scale where you're getting a full suite of marketing from professional photography.
Photography that's high definition from a floor plan to video,
to online marketing, to social media marketing,
to postcard marketing, to set, you know, what sort of marketing is going in
(23:21):
the house so that when people come in and they pick something up,
is it high quality or are they just printing out cheap paper with an MLS?
And all of that goes to how the person feels about the house when they leave.
And I'll tell you something else about photos, not to get derailed here for
too long, but But I think that...
We miss a very, very important point when it comes to great professional photos.
(23:47):
We all talk about photos being the driver to get people into the house and having
good photos will get more people to come and see the property than crummy photos.
We know that the attention span for a house that somebody feels on the fence
about is about six seconds on Zillow.
You have about six seconds to grab somebody's attention.
(24:07):
So those first few photos better be great. they better keep you engaged and
they better keep swiping through and then eventually schedule an appointment
to see the house and generally they should not be taken from an iphone 7,
or an iphone at all get professional photography guys or even a google phone
mr google user i know your camera is awesome but you know there's there's still
(24:32):
a a a different world world of photography,
when you open it up to professional photographers with professional lenses,
with full blown cameras, it's just, it's just better and great. And here's the key.
I don't think it's just, I know I'm getting going off on a tangent here,
but I think it's a critical one.
I don't think it's just about getting people in the door when they are considering
(24:55):
making an offer and they're showing the house to their friends and family, to their parents,
and they only get to see the photos, the difference between them going,
wow, and could be the difference of an offer or not.
Could be the difference of an aggressive offer or not.
(25:16):
If they're not getting that feeling from the people they're showing the pictures
to, if they're not continuing the momentum of, wow, this is amazing,
that could be a huge difference in your ability to get top dollar.
It's awesome. There's nothing to say on top of that.
You're You're just a hundred percent right. So, all right. So marketing tech stack, right?
(25:37):
What are the fees? What sort of technology do you use? We have to be current.
If I'm telling you right now, if you're working with an agent that wants offers
faxed over to them, it's going to play a role in what you get back on the house. It absolutely will.
It will change other agents willingness to work with them.
(25:57):
They probably have a reputation already. ready. They're probably not getting
professional photographs.
So what sort of technology do you use? How are you going to market the house?
You know, how available are you? Are you part of a team? Are you going to do open houses?
I know we have agents out there and listen, less than 5% of the time does an
open house lead to a sale.
I know that that is not a driver of getting an offer.
(26:19):
However, a lot of people out there look at an open house and they think.
I need to get moving on this because they're hosting open houses.
I need to get my offer in. It's designed to also create a sense of urgency on
anybody that's considering the house. Absolutely.
So, and it works. It absolutely works. It absolutely works.
So, sorry, I can go on and on about this. I know I'm digressing,
(26:41):
but ask about open houses, ask about what they're going to do.
Give them an opportunity to show them why they're worth what you're going to
pay them. Cause it's going to be substantial.
It's not a small fee. You're not, they're not going to charge you 500 bucks.
They're going to charge you thousands and thousands of dollars.
They need to do more than just listing prey.
(27:04):
Indeed. So anyway, I'm sorry. Red flags. Yes.
Red flags. I, I, sorry. I didn't know if you're done digressing yet.
Sorry, audience. I know. That's why I paused.
I can go on and on. And it's important to me that everybody selects the right agent.
You know, I mean, it's, it's a, it's a bigger thing than just helping you get the most for your home.
(27:24):
It's, it's ensuring home values are fair across the board and that everybody
is, you know, that the market values when, if you hire, not for nothing,
if you hire an agent that does a really poor job marketing your house and doesn't
get you as much as your house is worth,
everybody's home value in your neighborhood goes down because of that agent.
So do your neighbors a favor and interview agents and pick a great one.
(27:47):
Absolutely. And in saying that, yeah, no, I mean, in saying that,
cause it's accurate, but this is not necessarily, you know, this isn't a commercial
for Rick and Mike and team banks.
There, there are a tremendous amount of great real estate agents out there at the same time.
There's some that just are not up to par or they even could be,
but just choose not to be because they're, they're lazy and we'll do the least
(28:09):
amount of work, but there, but there's some great ones and they work for all companies in the area.
And you know, but, but it's your job as a seller or buyer to make sure that's
who you're connecting with. And that's why we say interview more than one.
All right. So I mean, unless it's one of us, then you're done, right? Yeah. Okay.
There's our commercial. There we go. So red flags and making the decision.
(28:32):
Again, you know, when you're thinking about what, when it's time to make the
decision, you've interviewed several people, what should they be taking into consideration?
What, what, how should they be evaluating the information? What warning signs
should they be looking for? Or how should they make their decision?
Okay, so I'll do my number one pet peeve red flag.
(28:53):
This would be it for me. Okay, if I were to be a seller or a buyer in this market.
If my first initial meeting with the person was delayed substantially because
they were not at that meeting at the time the meeting was called,
it would drive me insane.
If your agent shows up substantially late without any call or any excuse for
(29:14):
the tardiness, that for me just sucks.
It kills it. Huge red flag. Yeah.
So huge red flag. Because they're not going to be late for just that.
They're going to be late for everything, for the inspection,
for the appraisal, for everything. Yep.
So yeah. And if you're okay with that, that's fine. Just happens to be a personal
beef with me. Yep. Yep. I couldn't agree more. So that's one.
Big one for me is overly confident, no humility.
(29:39):
If they're borderline cocky and arrogant and just full of themselves,
you know, they may be, you know, exuding this, this confidence that might seem
like, Hey, this guy clearly knows what they're talking about.
And I'm not saying to hire somebody that's not confident. Obviously they should
(30:00):
be very confident in themselves, but watch out for people that are just borderline
arrogant, right? Because that can come back to bite you later.
Because once again, remember, they're going to be playing in the sandbox with
another agent, whether on the listing side or buying side.
And that person and that person's clients are going to get the same feeling
(30:21):
from that agent that you're getting.
Confidence is great. Cockiness is ugly. I love it.
And, you know, even with you, the actual client of that person down in the middle
of that transaction, do you want somebody more or less telling you what you
have to do? or collaborating with you and helping you make the best decisions for you.
(30:41):
Because I've found those, those, those arrogant people that are arrogant in
general, it's not just agents, but they tend to know better. Of course.
You know, and, and you don't know everybody. You don't know what's going on
behind the scenes. You have to have a little humility sprinkled in there as well.
Agreed. So there's a couple of red flags to watch out for.
You know, are they confident in their answers? Do they, do they have any sort
(31:07):
of knowledge of the area?
All of these things are going to give you this, this, this feeling about this person.
And then ultimately you got to make a decision, pick somebody, sign up with them, and,
you know, these people will bring a network of people that they work well with.
Consider working with them. That's a really important thing.
Usually they have trusted relationships with people in the industry that will
(31:31):
help you move things along a lot faster, but feel free to interview them too.
That's not necessarily, you don't have to use who they're recommending,
but chances are they're recommending people that they have great relationships with.
Yeah. Let me, let me just take that one for a second. Not only great relationships
with, but people that they trust and they've seen be effective in the field.
There is hardly ever, I couldn't imagine there being a time where a real estate
(31:56):
agent steers you towards somebody they want you to use because they benefit
from it in any other way than actually getting a clean and clear deal accomplished for you.
And I'll give a great example. A lot of times we have people and we're selling
their home and we're going to recommend an attorney for them.
And we know a tremendous amount of real estate attorneys.
(32:18):
We know ones that are amazing. We know ones that are just okay.
We know ones that are staffed correctly, which is huge, or that they're paralegal
is super on top of it, smart and responsive.
Whereas the seller or buyer may go and say to us, well, you know,
my cousin is an attorney.
(32:39):
And then you find out that they're an attorney, a matrimonial or something like
that. and it's just not the same thing.
So if you trust that agent, the one that you've built this relationship with,
the best thing you could do is at least follow their advice and check out the attorneys.
And once again, you can look at the reviews online and everything else that
goes along with that, but an agent's not going to steer you towards someone
(32:59):
that just pushes you through a contract.
They're going to steer you towards somebody who they feel is going to be in
your best interest and the best interest of the deal.
Completely agree. All right. So wrapping up, Choosing an agent is a very important thing to do.
A lot of times we've found that people end up in agent relationships by accident.
(33:21):
Take the time, talk to somebody, interview them, make sure they're the right
fit. Make sure you like them. Make sure you trust them.
Get to know them. You're going to be making some tough decisions with them most
likely and have that established relationship and then go with your gut. Trust them.
They will guide you through the process and, and, and hopefully get you to where
(33:43):
you want to be and have your best interest in mind. I think that's absolutely critical.
So there you have it, folks. Any last points you want to bring up, Rick?
I think we covered most of it. And I think once again, we did that thing where we go over time.
Yeah, we'll keep getting it shorter for you guys, but. We're going to get this
more concise, we promise, but hopefully you enjoy what we put out there.
(34:03):
Hopefully you enjoy the content. And listen, if you're in the Hudson Valley
area, team banks, we have a stacked group of agents and I would highly consider,
I would highly recommend considering any team banks agent.
We bring a marketing plan, a technology plan, and a service plan that are,
we believe some of the best in the industry.
(34:24):
We work together as a unit. We help each other out. Availability is great.
We're always available because we work with each other. Not every individual
is available every moment, but as a team, we're going to get you where you need to go.
We're staying on top of marketing trends, negotiation trends,
technology trends, and we would love to interview for the job.
(34:46):
In the meantime, you can find us online at www.teambanks.com.
You can come visit our office right here in the village of Wappingers at 2568 East Main Street.
And one thing, and, and, you know, once again, I won't disparage any other real
estate brokerage, but the advantage we have over everybody else,
we do a podcast from an actual bank vault.
(35:10):
Which is pretty cool. No one can say they do that. Which is pretty cool. Except for us.
And then, and then that is true. And not scary at all. And you can reach us at 800-980-BANKS.
That's B-A-N-X. And we hope to see you out there. We'll see you around the Valley, everybody.
Thank you so much. And we're going to keep this information and all of this value coming your way.
(35:32):
Stay tuned and we're out. Cheers.
Music.
Welcome to Hudson Valley's Real Estate Explained, your getaway to understanding real estate.
Whether you're buying your first home, an experienced investor,
or just real estate curious, this is the place for you.
So dive in with us as we unravel the intricacies of property deals and investment
strategies guided by industry experts.
We're demystifying Hudson Hudson Valley Real Estate together. Let's go.
(00:28):
Welcome back everybody to another episode of Hudson Valley Real Estate Explained.
We've got a pretty fun episode and I am back in the vault with Mr.
Rick Brescia. What's going on my friend?
I am so happy to be back in the vault with you where I'm getting more comfortable
being in a vault every time we do this.
It's starting to be like riding a bike, right? It's not near as scary anymore.
(00:51):
No, and we've got plenty of room and it's plenty of size.
For those of you following us,
we are streaming this one live today on YouTube. So check us out there.
Could possibly go wrong. I don't know. So we can't cancel this one now.
We've officially announced it. We are going live. There you go.
But today we've got a great podcast episode for you.
(01:12):
It's very basic, but it's very, very important.
So today we're going to talk about how to select the right real estate agent
for you. And this is such a critical moment.
It's such a critical decision that you're going to have to make when dealing
with real estate, whether you're buying, selling, investing, it doesn't matter.
(01:33):
You're going to come into contact with real estate agents. You're going to need a real estate agent.
At some point, I know there are a lot of people that choose to do things for
sale by owner and we support them.
And I think that's great. But if you're somebody that is looking for a real
estate agent, choosing the right one is critical.
And unfortunately we see a lot of times people People end up with real estate
(01:54):
agents by default, by accident and, and, and. By being a relative.
Yeah. For a lot of reasons.
Not that you can't use your relatives, but I think it's important to,
when you're, listen, guys, when you are thinking about the, one of the most
significant financial transactions in your lives, right?
(02:15):
Real estate is one of the most significant financial transactions that you are
going going to go through, having the right person on your side is critical.
You know, like an accountant, like a surgeon, right? You want the right people in place.
And there are a lot of agents to choose from, and there are a lot of qualities to look at.
(02:38):
And I think it's really, really important that we dive into some of this so
that if you're thinking about buying, selling, or investing,
you can make sure you're put together with the right person because it can make the entire difference.
I mean, it doesn't just impact you financially, but how you live your life,
whether or not you're successful with that investment, whether or not you're
able to sell your house for top dollar and retire the way you want to.
(03:00):
I mean, these are all things that play a critical role in your future.
So selecting the right agent could have a huge impact on you.
Absolutely. And as we touched on before, I'm glad you brought up the surgeon example,
because just because your cousin became a surgeon doesn't mean you want him
working on your thyroid Because you've seen him try to use a microwave in his
(03:22):
home and it hasn't been successful.
Same thing applies to real estate. Absolutely. Absolutely. So Rick.
Let's talk a little bit about agent responsibilities, right?
First off, let's define their role, right? In the transaction.
I mean, you're helping somebody buy a home. Are they there to open doors or
(03:42):
what is the, what is the role?
Let's, and let's break it down for buyers and sellers.
Okay. So you went buyers first cause you said open doors. So let's do that one.
I mean, I've always looked at it as a partnership.
You've basically taken on a partner who is is educated, hopefully in the business
to go around with you and give you more detail than you could ever find out
(04:02):
yourself about that property.
So although opening doors and showing people homes is part of our job,
I will say that when an agent says, this is a kitchen to you,
I don't think you're ever surprised to find out that you're in a kitchen with
such indicators as cabinets and a refrigerator.
Um, so although that's a part of it, by all means, it's more than that.
(04:23):
It's, it's figuring out property lines. It's knowing where the municipalities are.
It's knowing, you know, if it's water, sewer, well, and septic,
you know, and you know, and also knowing about how exactly that stuff works.
Cause we do have people that just move out of apartments and,
and move into homes up here that do not know that information and their agent
should be able to explain it articulately to them in a fashion that they understand
(04:49):
everything completely when they're buying the house,
or at least the best we possibly can convey to them. Absolutely.
You know, I think of some of the responsibilities, including things like understanding
current market conditions,
understanding the local area as well, and knowing what impact,
I mean, you know, knowing the area is critical. Knowing the market conditions is critical.
(05:11):
Knowing this can give you an advantage when negotiating.
Sure. A podcast or two ago, we just talked about a client where I was able to
save them $100,000 off of list price.
Today, got another story about a client.
I didn't save them $100,000, but we just successfully negotiated a $10,000 seller's
(05:33):
concession in a competitive market.
That's hard to do, but completely understanding the dynamics of not just the location of the house,
but the competitive nature of that house and the intricacies of the deal enabled
me to really negotiate hard on her behalf and become very successful.
(05:54):
Successful. And all, all very important. So, so how does one come about picking that agent?
How does one find a Michael Kahn's out there?
Sure. There you go. I did what you wanted me to do.
Well, listen, I obviously, you know, team banks, Hudson Valley's X factor when
it comes to real estate, we have a, a ton of great agents and I suggest going
(06:16):
onto teambanks.com and checking checking us all out.
However, I realized that not everybody can choose one of us, right?
We don't cover all areas. We have people listening from a variety of places,
but if for some reason a team banks agent is not in the cards,
I think there are, first off, I think you should interview more than one agent.
Absolutely. Much like you would with a doctor. You're getting a second opinion.
(06:39):
Yeah. Whether you're buying or selling, you should meet with multiple agents.
And I, I, you know, as, as team banks agents, we go into interviews with clients
expecting that you should, and I'll tell a client, listen, have,
have conversations with other agents.
You need to choose the best agent for you.
I'd like to think that it's me the majority of times, but sometimes it's not.
(07:02):
And, and I'm okay with that. Absolutely.
Yeah. I mean, we don't always match up with a client or the client's current
headspace, but I think being honest and telling them that and coming to that
realization will, will help both parties in the end.
So some key factors to look for during the interview process.
Number one, what is their experience and what does their local knowledge look like?
(07:26):
And experience is an interesting one because we're all new at some point, right?
And I don't think that experience should be the defining factor for choosing
a real estate agent because I was a new agent at one point and I was a great agent.
You were a great new agent having seen you on day one.
(07:50):
You're a great new agent. And I'm not saying that to,
you know, just to pat myself on the back, but also because I came in with an
enormous amount of sales and relationship building and an understanding of the
industry that I think maybe I didn't have the experience,
but I had experience in other things that I was able to translate.
(08:10):
And I came into the industry, like many people on team banks with a focus of
building trust, earning trust the right way, helping people get to their goals,
not helping myself get to a closing table.
And that was the most important factor for me. It comes into play.
And also, uh, you know, for an agent who is not, let's say as experienced or
(08:33):
newer to the business, a lot of times you'll find that they're hungrier and
that they're more attentive to your needs.
You might get a new agent where it's their only, you're their only buyer or
you're their only listing.
You're going to have a hundred percent of their attention all the time.
Yeah. So there's a huge benefit there. And there's always people generally in
the background to help them or coach them.
(08:53):
You just have to make sure that they have those people in place when you either
list with them or you, you know, or you buy a home with them.
Took the words right out of my mouth.
If they are lacking in experience, what does their support structure look like?
Absolutely. You know, are they on a team? Check out the team that they're a part of, right?
Sure. I think that's a really great point. Communication and availability.
(09:15):
I'm, you know, one of the things that's really important to us here is,
and I understand that there are some good agents that work full time,
but are they available full time? Are they available online?
As often as needed? And what is their communication style? Are they getting
back to you in a couple of hours at worst?
And, and by the way, everybody, please understand that we can't answer every
(09:37):
single phone call. We can't respond to every text within 30 seconds.
Sometimes we're busy. We're showing a house. We're on a listing appointment.
Sometimes I'm at my daughter's play recital and I can't respond immediately.
However, we spoke about this earlier today.
Everybody should be able to be responded to within a couple of hours, one way or another.
(09:59):
Absolutely. I'm in agreeance and it should be a response in the way that the
buyer or seller wants to communicate.
A lot of times, you know, the buyer only wants to text message or only wants
to talk through Instagram messenger.
For some reason you have to, as an agent adapt to that.
So make sure that your agent is willing to adapt to your, or you can at least
(10:20):
to come to an agreed upon line of communication and which way you're going to
speak back and forth. Excellent. What about references and reviews?
Should we check those out or
are they all just five stars? We all are just have five stars everywhere.
Yeah, I'm going to go with that. No, no, of course you check out references
and reviews much like with anything else.
I mean, we all do it now for restaurants and everywhere else we go.
(10:40):
We check the reviews before we go in. So check the reviews of your agent.
And is it the most important thing?
No, but if you do see see negative reviews that can definitely reflect poorly
on an agent and, and it could, you know, work in your decision-making process one way or another.
Of course, you can't believe there's always going to be a mad client that puts
(11:02):
up something no matter what, at some point, you know what I think?
And we have an agent that.
You know, almost got a bad review and, and, and I was threatened with one recently.
Part of me was almost excited for the opportunity because I would imagine like
myself, most people when looking at reviews, just try to find the bad one, right?
(11:26):
You've got 75 five-star reviews, but one two-star review. That's the,
that's the one I want to read.
Absolutely. So if there is an agent that has that review, not just read the
review, take it with a grain of salt, But here's the key.
Did that agent respond and read their response?
And I think that's probably the most telling, not the review itself,
but the agent response to that review. Were they professional?
(11:47):
Were they courteous? Did they acknowledge the, the, the, did they even acknowledge
that it was there? Right.
And, and reviews, you know, I'm going to speak a little bit on my own behalf.
Reviews can't be everything because look, I mean, I, I've been in an executive
position now in real estate for 20 years where I've been coaching and managing
agents. you don't get reviews doing that as an agent.
(12:10):
So although I don't have reviews up there online, my experience is vast.
I've been part of hundreds and hundreds of deals in real estate at this point,
but yet I don't have those reviews restarting career in the fashion that I am.
However, I'm very experienced in the business and have tons of sales myself from the past.
Just back then there weren't Google reviews.
(12:31):
Yeah. And, and, and that's, that's, I think the point, right?
Right? You've got to build a profile of this person and determine whether or
not they're the right fit for you. What about personality compatibility?
How important in your mind, Rick is compatibility.
I think it's the biggest one. Really? I really do.
Um, and I, I know we differ a bit on this, but let me, uh, let me go ahead with my thing.
(12:55):
I think likability and compatibility in the relationship with your real estate
agent is huge because it's not a one-time thing.
It's not like, you know, you're, you're basically signing a contract and you're
going to be in a relationship with that person for several months at least.
And you have to make sure that you enjoy speaking to them. You look forward to their call.
(13:15):
You're not dodging their phone call because they just have a,
a something in their personality that doesn't jive with you.
So I think it's really important. I don't think it should be taken as serious
as perhaps, you know, like a dating site, but, um, but still you are in a way
dating your agent for a few months.
You're going to have conversations with them and you're going to have conversations
like you said about the most important, possibly financial transaction of their lives.
(13:40):
So make sure you like the person and enjoy speaking to them.
So I don't completely disagree with you. I do think likability is really important and compatibility.
And I think likability is important, but I'll give you another reason why I think it's important.
Because if you like them, chances are people that they're working with on the
other side of the deal like them too. Yeah.
Absolutely. That's a great point. And that's a, that's, that's, that's really good.
(14:04):
You, if somebody that can, I don't want to say blend in, not like a chameleon,
but somebody who is generally likable, somebody who's easygoing,
somebody that is not egotistical or full of themselves, because there's some
of that out there, right?
There's some strong egos or maybe some, you know, too shy or not very competent or confident.
(14:26):
You know, it's one thing to have that with you, but they could potentially be
that way with everybody in the deal.
And that could lead to not so good things for you.
Or, or the opposite and where you first started going, which I think makes a, has a big effect.
I think that if you have an agent that's on the other side of the transaction
that has Whereas through the roof, likeability, you're working with them is
(14:51):
going to just make things so much easier. You're excited to answer their phone call.
You don't mind speaking to them. If they have questions, they're probably educated
questions and you work through a deal better with those people.
So yes, likeability comes into play that too. General likeability. Yeah. Absolutely.
And, and, and here's, you know, my take on the opposite side of that coin.
(15:14):
And that is, you know, real estate is a very large financial transaction.
I think likeability needs to play a role. I don't think it should be number one.
You know, I wouldn't necessarily, if we're going back to like a surgeon example,
I don't necessarily need to like the guy. I need him to be the best darn surgeon around.
You know what I mean? And I understand that that's a different thing.
(15:36):
You're going to be under anesthesia. Probably you don't have to deal with them too much.
But at the same time, I think most important. And again, I think everything
needs to be taken into consideration.
I'm not saying work with somebody that you hate because you think they can get you the results.
That's not what I'm saying at all. But.
I am alluding to the fact that if you feel a very high level of confidence that
(16:00):
their marketing is on point,
their sales ability is on point, their negotiation skills are on point,
and they can get the job done for you and they're just an absolute great agent,
but they're not your cup of tea.
Maybe that's another. Still might be a good choice for an agent.
It's possible. Yeah, absolutely. Of course. No, no, I get that.
Absolutely. I get that. I'm just saying if you can get the entire package,
(16:21):
then that's what you look for.
Then that would be ideal. Yeah, it's a bonus if you happen to really just like them as well.
So next, I want to talk a little bit about interviewing, right?
We talked about we should interview several agents, whether you're buying or selling.
I've got a couple of questions that I would ask if I was interviewing agents not in my area.
Do you, what would you ask an agent?
(16:44):
Any ideas that come to mind off the top of your head? That's really funny because
I was going to ask you the same thing. I'm going to go, okay,
pretend I'm the agent and interview me.
But okay, we can do it this way. No, I'll shoot. No, no, I got this.
Okay. Yeah, I'll answer your question. You're in charge. Go for it.
I guess I would ask them their experience. So am I interviewing a buyer's agent
(17:05):
or a seller's listing agent? Yeah, so let's start with buyers.
Okay. So I'm interviewing a buyer's agent. I guess I would check with knowledge of area.
Yeah. Okay, we're looking in this specific area. What's your knowledge up there?
Have you sold homes in that area before?
Yeah. Are you familiar with it?
Do you know, you know, we're real close on sort of a town line here.
(17:28):
Do you know which schools go with which, you know, just things of that nature.
Their general knowledge of the area would come into effect, I think,
almost more than anything.
You know, I would find out how many homes that they've sold recently.
Are they a full-time agent or a part-time agent? I think is a fairly decent
question to ask. Not that it necessarily matters.
There's some great part-time agents out there, but I would still find out.
(17:51):
Are they going to be available to my, you know, my beck and call?
Because when I want to go see a house, I want to go see a house.
So what is their availability?
If I'm only available on the weekends and they have a second job that covers
the weekends, that doesn't work. Yeah. That's an important one for sure.
You know, I think another thing, especially with how things are changing in
(18:11):
real estate, we're going to see fees being implemented for buyers agents.
And I think that's an important question to start asking now.
What is your commission? even though it may very well be covered by the seller.
I think it's an important conversation to have up front before you're stuck
in something that you weren't anticipating. Such a great point. Absolutely.
Yeah, that's new, but well, relatively new, but important to ask.
(18:33):
Yeah. I'm going to give you a tough one. And I guess this can,
well, not for you in particular, but I'm going to give our audience two great questions to ask.
And this comes from my experience in the past of being a manager and district
manager doing lots of interviews for people in managerial positions and frontline
positions and stuff like that.
So I've done thousands of interviews and two questions that I think can absolutely apply.
(18:59):
And you might catch your agent off guard because I doubt they get these questions
too often. One is why should I hire you?
Just as simple as that. Why should I hire you as opposed to anybody else and
ask them to present to you their value proposition?
You know, what is the difference between you and everybody else out there?
You know, I'm, I'm, I'm looking at agents. Why you?
(19:22):
And my guess is that'll be a very telling question.
Yeah. I mean, if you were asking me directly right now, I'd say,
well, you know, because I, I kind of brought you into the business and we're
locked in a vault together.
The other question, that's a great point. Thanks, man. You want out?
(19:43):
Reminds me of, what was that, Bronx Tale. Now you can't leave.
Exactly. That's sort of how I feel when the door gets closed on us here.
The other question I'm going to throw out there for our audience to consider
asking their agent, and it's a little bit more direct, but again,
going back, I found some of the best information about my interviewees when asking this question.
(20:05):
And what's something you're not good at or what's something you're working on?
I'm going to work with you for the next six months. You know,
tell me something that you're working on improving that I can't anticipate.
Now I understand that it's a little bit of a different dynamic, but see what they say.
Wow. That's a great one. Yeah. Once again, my personal one, this would be picking
(20:27):
out hair care products. I'm terrible at it.
And, and I would throw out there that if they can't articulate,
Hey, listen, you know, I, I, I am human.
And this is something that I would say I'm continuing to work on and have some humility.
And actually, I'm not saying you're not humble. You really are.
You're also a great graded humor.
(20:49):
And I know you could turn around and answer that question, but you know,
some people will say, I don't really have any. And, and, you know,
or, or something along those lines, or maybe it's a giant red flag,
which is the next thing I want to talk about. What are some red flags?
Again, you're not looking to catch them on anything. You're just looking to
gauge the responses and what the, what all these questions are going to do,
(21:09):
excuse me, is going to give you a, a picture, right? Sort of an avatar of this person.
And then, and then you're going to listen to your gut, right?
You're going to have a feeling like, wow, I liked how everything came together.
I liked what he said about this, or, you know, I asked that question and it
seemed to really throw him off.
(21:30):
He couldn't tell me why I should hire him. He got completely tripped up.
That's a red flag. Right, which is a pretty good gauge, and you're right,
a red flag of what could happen in a negotiation, too, if they're startled by something.
Correct. So something that I tend to pride myself on is that I'll pretty much always have an answer.
Even if I do have to deflect it with humor at times, I have an answer.
(21:52):
But you're right. Sometimes you'll catch somebody not having an answer,
and that's indicative of how they might be when another agent asks them a question. too.
Yeah. So it's a great, you know, to move on to red flags.
There's one right there. Yeah. Absolutely. Right before we do though, I want to nail this.
I want to get a couple of things out that if you're considering selling your
(22:13):
home, what you should be asking your agent, I absolutely would want to know
about their marketing strategy.
What are you getting as agents in the industry? We see every other agent's marketing strategy.
We see it. And I'm going to tell you right now, you can hire 10 different agents
(22:38):
and get 10 different results on your house.
There is absolutely an impact an agent can have when it comes to selling or helping you buy a house.
And part of it is their marketing plan, their marketing strategy.
You know, anywhere from snapping a couple of photos with your phone,
maybe putting a sign out in your yard, putting it on MLS and crossing your fingers
(23:00):
on the low end of the scale, right, to the high end of, you know,
the marketing scale where you're getting a full suite of marketing from professional photography.
Photography that's high definition from a floor plan to video,
to online marketing, to social media marketing,
to postcard marketing, to set, you know, what sort of marketing is going in
(23:21):
the house so that when people come in and they pick something up,
is it high quality or are they just printing out cheap paper with an MLS?
And all of that goes to how the person feels about the house when they leave.
And I'll tell you something else about photos, not to get derailed here for
too long, but But I think that...
We miss a very, very important point when it comes to great professional photos.
(23:47):
We all talk about photos being the driver to get people into the house and having
good photos will get more people to come and see the property than crummy photos.
We know that the attention span for a house that somebody feels on the fence
about is about six seconds on Zillow.
You have about six seconds to grab somebody's attention.
(24:07):
So those first few photos better be great. they better keep you engaged and
they better keep swiping through and then eventually schedule an appointment
to see the house and generally they should not be taken from an iphone 7,
or an iphone at all get professional photography guys or even a google phone
mr google user i know your camera is awesome but you know there's there's still
(24:32):
a a a different world world of photography,
when you open it up to professional photographers with professional lenses,
with full blown cameras, it's just, it's just better and great. And here's the key.
I don't think it's just, I know I'm getting going off on a tangent here,
but I think it's a critical one.
I don't think it's just about getting people in the door when they are considering
(24:55):
making an offer and they're showing the house to their friends and family, to their parents,
and they only get to see the photos, the difference between them going,
wow, and could be the difference of an offer or not.
Could be the difference of an aggressive offer or not.
(25:16):
If they're not getting that feeling from the people they're showing the pictures
to, if they're not continuing the momentum of, wow, this is amazing,
that could be a huge difference in your ability to get top dollar.
It's awesome. There's nothing to say on top of that.
You're You're just a hundred percent right. So, all right. So marketing tech stack, right?
(25:37):
What are the fees? What sort of technology do you use? We have to be current.
If I'm telling you right now, if you're working with an agent that wants offers
faxed over to them, it's going to play a role in what you get back on the house. It absolutely will.
It will change other agents willingness to work with them.
(25:57):
They probably have a reputation already. ready. They're probably not getting
professional photographs.
So what sort of technology do you use? How are you going to market the house?
You know, how available are you? Are you part of a team? Are you going to do open houses?
I know we have agents out there and listen, less than 5% of the time does an
open house lead to a sale.
I know that that is not a driver of getting an offer.
(26:19):
However, a lot of people out there look at an open house and they think.
I need to get moving on this because they're hosting open houses.
I need to get my offer in. It's designed to also create a sense of urgency on
anybody that's considering the house. Absolutely.
So, and it works. It absolutely works. It absolutely works.
So, sorry, I can go on and on about this. I know I'm digressing,
(26:41):
but ask about open houses, ask about what they're going to do.
Give them an opportunity to show them why they're worth what you're going to
pay them. Cause it's going to be substantial.
It's not a small fee. You're not, they're not going to charge you 500 bucks.
They're going to charge you thousands and thousands of dollars.
They need to do more than just listing prey.
(27:04):
Indeed. So anyway, I'm sorry. Red flags. Yes.
Red flags. I, I, sorry. I didn't know if you're done digressing yet.
Sorry, audience. I know. That's why I paused.
I can go on and on. And it's important to me that everybody selects the right agent.
You know, I mean, it's, it's a, it's a bigger thing than just helping you get the most for your home.
(27:24):
It's, it's ensuring home values are fair across the board and that everybody
is, you know, that the market values when, if you hire, not for nothing,
if you hire an agent that does a really poor job marketing your house and doesn't
get you as much as your house is worth,
everybody's home value in your neighborhood goes down because of that agent.
So do your neighbors a favor and interview agents and pick a great one.
(27:47):
Absolutely. And in saying that, yeah, no, I mean, in saying that,
cause it's accurate, but this is not necessarily, you know, this isn't a commercial
for Rick and Mike and team banks.
There, there are a tremendous amount of great real estate agents out there at the same time.
There's some that just are not up to par or they even could be,
but just choose not to be because they're, they're lazy and we'll do the least
(28:09):
amount of work, but there, but there's some great ones and they work for all companies in the area.
And you know, but, but it's your job as a seller or buyer to make sure that's
who you're connecting with. And that's why we say interview more than one.
All right. So I mean, unless it's one of us, then you're done, right? Yeah. Okay.
There's our commercial. There we go. So red flags and making the decision.
(28:32):
Again, you know, when you're thinking about what, when it's time to make the
decision, you've interviewed several people, what should they be taking into consideration?
What, what, how should they be evaluating the information? What warning signs
should they be looking for? Or how should they make their decision?
Okay, so I'll do my number one pet peeve red flag.
(28:53):
This would be it for me. Okay, if I were to be a seller or a buyer in this market.
If my first initial meeting with the person was delayed substantially because
they were not at that meeting at the time the meeting was called,
it would drive me insane.
If your agent shows up substantially late without any call or any excuse for
(29:14):
the tardiness, that for me just sucks.
It kills it. Huge red flag. Yeah.
So huge red flag. Because they're not going to be late for just that.
They're going to be late for everything, for the inspection,
for the appraisal, for everything. Yep.
So yeah. And if you're okay with that, that's fine. Just happens to be a personal
beef with me. Yep. Yep. I couldn't agree more. So that's one.
Big one for me is overly confident, no humility.
(29:39):
If they're borderline cocky and arrogant and just full of themselves,
you know, they may be, you know, exuding this, this confidence that might seem
like, Hey, this guy clearly knows what they're talking about.
And I'm not saying to hire somebody that's not confident. Obviously they should
(30:00):
be very confident in themselves, but watch out for people that are just borderline
arrogant, right? Because that can come back to bite you later.
Because once again, remember, they're going to be playing in the sandbox with
another agent, whether on the listing side or buying side.
And that person and that person's clients are going to get the same feeling
(30:21):
from that agent that you're getting.
Confidence is great. Cockiness is ugly. I love it.
And, you know, even with you, the actual client of that person down in the middle
of that transaction, do you want somebody more or less telling you what you
have to do? or collaborating with you and helping you make the best decisions for you.
(30:41):
Because I've found those, those, those arrogant people that are arrogant in
general, it's not just agents, but they tend to know better. Of course.
You know, and, and you don't know everybody. You don't know what's going on
behind the scenes. You have to have a little humility sprinkled in there as well.
Agreed. So there's a couple of red flags to watch out for.
You know, are they confident in their answers? Do they, do they have any sort
(31:07):
of knowledge of the area?
All of these things are going to give you this, this, this feeling about this person.
And then ultimately you got to make a decision, pick somebody, sign up with them, and,
you know, these people will bring a network of people that they work well with.
Consider working with them. That's a really important thing.
Usually they have trusted relationships with people in the industry that will
(31:31):
help you move things along a lot faster, but feel free to interview them too.
That's not necessarily, you don't have to use who they're recommending,
but chances are they're recommending people that they have great relationships with.
Yeah. Let me, let me just take that one for a second. Not only great relationships
with, but people that they trust and they've seen be effective in the field.
There is hardly ever, I couldn't imagine there being a time where a real estate
(31:56):
agent steers you towards somebody they want you to use because they benefit
from it in any other way than actually getting a clean and clear deal accomplished for you.
And I'll give a great example. A lot of times we have people and we're selling
their home and we're going to recommend an attorney for them.
And we know a tremendous amount of real estate attorneys.
(32:18):
We know ones that are amazing. We know ones that are just okay.
We know ones that are staffed correctly, which is huge, or that they're paralegal
is super on top of it, smart and responsive.
Whereas the seller or buyer may go and say to us, well, you know,
my cousin is an attorney.
(32:39):
And then you find out that they're an attorney, a matrimonial or something like
that. and it's just not the same thing.
So if you trust that agent, the one that you've built this relationship with,
the best thing you could do is at least follow their advice and check out the attorneys.
And once again, you can look at the reviews online and everything else that
goes along with that, but an agent's not going to steer you towards someone
(32:59):
that just pushes you through a contract.
They're going to steer you towards somebody who they feel is going to be in
your best interest and the best interest of the deal.
Completely agree. All right. So wrapping up, Choosing an agent is a very important thing to do.
A lot of times we've found that people end up in agent relationships by accident.
(33:21):
Take the time, talk to somebody, interview them, make sure they're the right
fit. Make sure you like them. Make sure you trust them.
Get to know them. You're going to be making some tough decisions with them most
likely and have that established relationship and then go with your gut. Trust them.
They will guide you through the process and, and, and hopefully get you to where
(33:43):
you want to be and have your best interest in mind. I think that's absolutely critical.
So there you have it, folks. Any last points you want to bring up, Rick?
I think we covered most of it. And I think once again, we did that thing where we go over time.
Yeah, we'll keep getting it shorter for you guys, but. We're going to get this
more concise, we promise, but hopefully you enjoy what we put out there.
(34:03):
Hopefully you enjoy the content. And listen, if you're in the Hudson Valley
area, team banks, we have a stacked group of agents and I would highly consider,
I would highly recommend considering any team banks agent.
We bring a marketing plan, a technology plan, and a service plan that are,
we believe some of the best in the industry.
(34:24):
We work together as a unit. We help each other out. Availability is great.
We're always available because we work with each other. Not every individual
is available every moment, but as a team, we're going to get you where you need to go.
We're staying on top of marketing trends, negotiation trends,
technology trends, and we would love to interview for the job.
(34:46):
In the meantime, you can find us online at www.teambanks.com.
You can come visit our office right here in the village of Wappingers at 2568 East Main Street.
And one thing, and, and, you know, once again, I won't disparage any other real
estate brokerage, but the advantage we have over everybody else,
we do a podcast from an actual bank vault.
(35:10):
Which is pretty cool. No one can say they do that. Which is pretty cool. Except for us.
And then, and then that is true. And not scary at all. And you can reach us at 800-980-BANKS.
That's B-A-N-X. And we hope to see you out there. We'll see you around the Valley, everybody.
Thank you so much. And we're going to keep this information and all of this value coming your way.
(35:32):
Stay tuned and we're out. Cheers.
Music.
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