How to 2.5x Your Sales in a Down Market: $8M to $20M in 2025

REE #294 Transcript

[00:00:00] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
I don't cut corners with anything that I do in real estate.
Mm-hmm.
Whether it's a listing, I will not put it active on the market unless I have every single document. I have everything squared away to a T. I've just—I've met a lot of people, connected with a lot of people, and just, you know, fully focused.
And other than—like I said before—my mindset is something huge that I transitioned at the same time that my business kind of took a turn.

[00:01:02] Tracy Hayes:
Hey, welcome back to the Real Estate Excellence Podcast, bringing you another conversation with a standout real estate professional making waves in Northeast Florida. Today's guest is a dynamic, community-driven agent whose dedication to service and local market expertise sets her apart.
She's constantly studying trends, touring neighborhoods, and ensuring her clients have the most up-to-date insights available, whether it's their first home or their 10th. With experience across multiple brokerages and a clear passion for helping people navigate the complex world of real estate, she represents the type of excellence this show is all about.
Let's welcome Caitlin Cher—

[00:01:40] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
Cher.

[00:01:41] Tracy Hayes:
Haw. Cher. Thank you.
I should have practiced that. I asked you how to say it at the beginning. I apologize for butchering that up.

[00:01:47] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
That's okay.

[00:01:48] Tracy Hayes:
I imagine—does someone give you a nickname?

[00:01:52] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
People actually do. No, they just say "Katie," and then they always let me finish it for them.
KDC.

[00:01:59] Tracy Hayes:
Katie, I appreciate you coming on. You know, you're doing tremendous numbers. People are recognizing what's going on. But also a little bit—we were talking pre-show—that I think everyone should be interested in: a hot topic that I think is important is talking about some of the different brokerages you've worked for—or worked with, I should say, not worked for—and, you know, some insights there.
But also you're turning some good numbers, so you're doing some good stuff.
You're seven years into the business, so we're gonna dive deep into what you're doing and what your success has been. Okay?

[00:02:31] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
All right. So, as you mentioned, I've been licensed seven years, and actually just sitting here today I counted it up that I've been at seven different brokerages.
It just took moving around to really find the spot that I felt was home. And there were certain periods of time where I would go into a brokerage and be like, “Yes, this is the one.” And then as I grew, and as my business grew, and, you know, the market changed, I—I almost, I guess you could say—outgrew where I was and was looking for something more solid.

[00:03:00] Tracy Hayes:
Mm-hmm.

[00:03:01] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
And in February—well, January of this year—I had to make a big decision and I switched brokerages in February.
We brought Market Makers Group together and moved over to United. And it’s—when I hit the ground running, it's been my best year in real estate in seven years.
Numbers tripled from every other year I’ve ever done.

[00:03:21] Tracy Hayes:
Wow. That’s kind of an amazing statement actually, because, you know, I don’t know if you follow Jared James. He came down and spoke at the RE Bar Camp in January, and I follow him on—he puts his stuff on LinkedIn, Instagram. And he also has his own podcast as well. But, you know, he likes to talk about the top headlines and so forth.
And obviously the headline nationally—I think Jacksonville, we’re in a little different bubble—but is how we’ve had such a—the worst year in so many years—

[00:03:54] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
Yes.

[00:03:54] Tracy Hayes:
—as far as real estate. And you tripled your numbers.

[00:03:57] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
Yes. 2025, I tripled my numbers.
2024, I sold a little over $8 million.
And this year I’m on track to close over $20 million.
But I’ve sold 40 homes this year.

[00:04:08] Tracy Hayes:
Yeah. Just—I mean, since we’re on this topic, let’s go with it. What do you think—I mean, what are you doing differently this year than even just last year?

[00:04:17] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
I think that I have kind of gotten my name out there more.
I’ve gotten a lot of listings.
I think listings are truly what set me apart.
Prior to 2024, I had 90% buyers, 10% sellers.
2024, I kind of grew my sellers a little bit more.
2025, I’ve had probably 70% sellers, 30% buyers.
So from every single listing, I’ve gone all out on open houses.

Last year—during Christmas—I did an open house, and we had the Grinch and Santa Claus there. And they came on a golf cart, and we actually sold the house from that open house because the buyer just fell in love with everything that was happening at the open house. She was moving there with her daughter.

Funny story actually is—the listing agent that brought the buyer to my open house during Christmas—when we had the Grinch and Santa Claus—is actually now a good friend of mine and another agent on my team.
So from that transaction, we connected. It was a nightmare of a deal, but together we ended up closing it.
And now—one of my good friends and partners on my team.

[00:05:29] Tracy Hayes:
There’s two things I wanna take out of that—or break out.
I wanna go into all out on open houses.
I’m going to ask you another question, but first: did you change your marketing, your follow-up with clients?
How do you think you flipped the switch from mostly 90% buyers to now—

[00:05:48] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
I would say my marketing, yes.
I started doing professional videography on the majority of my listings.
Like I said—open house—I brought my videographer to the open house.
I started marketing what I’m doing.

Another open house—we had Chick-fil-A catered and handed out flyers to everyone in the neighborhood. And we brought a DJ.
And it just—it was a tremendous turnout.
And that house sold from open house too.

And I know several years ago when I first got licensed, people used to say—and my mom always told me—“Open houses don’t sell houses.”
And I think that that’s totally not true.

I’ve sold over 10 homes from open houses. And I think that’s truly what kind of got my business rolling as a listing agent.

My last five listings I took had been on the market previously with another agent—for over three months, some over six months—and I was able to sell all of them in under 30 days recently.

So people are seeing numbers, statistics, and just kind of that—getting my name out there—
“That you took a listing that had been sitting for 120 days and we’re on the verge of losing our other home that we have a home sale contingency on. We need to get it sold.”

So I took on a listing a month ago, was able to get it under contract in 12 days.
And so—just, wow. Statistics and, you know, numbers to show.

[00:07:08] Tracy Hayes:
So just—I want to poke at that a little bit.
So you said you sold 10 from open houses—literally someone coming in, totally cold, not even with an agent, walked into your open house?

[00:07:21] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
Yes. I didn’t represent every single one of those.

[00:07:23] Tracy Hayes:
Okay.

[00:07:24] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
Some of them had agents. Their agents just were not there with them.

[00:07:27] Tracy Hayes:
Okay.

[00:07:28] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
So after the open house, their agent would reach out to me and say,
“Hey, my buyers came to your open house. They love it. We’re submitting an offer.”

But I would say probably half of them came unrepresented—no agent—and I was able to get both sides of the deal.

[00:07:38] Tracy Hayes:
Which is a beautiful thing, because you are putting a little extra investment in some of these things.

Did you pick that idea from some other agents?
’Cause I know there are—not every agent—there’s only a handful that I could think of that I’ve spoken to that are going, you know, putting the Grinch and Santa Claus in type stuff.

A lot of them—obviously, the really top listers—are doing professional video. That’s a common denominator there.

[00:08:07] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
Yeah, of course.

But going that little extra mile—did you kind of listen to a podcast or something? What kind of put that in your mind?

So, when I was staging the home, they were preparing for Christmas and everyone in the neighborhood was riding around on golf carts, and we saw the Grinch and Santa Claus...

[00:08:44] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
They were—they just happened to be neighbors in the community.
Mm-hmm.
So I went out to them and I asked them like, "Hey, can you come into my open house and walk through it?" And they did.

And it just so happened, as they showed up, the buyers showed up at the same time. And she was just like, “Whatever you did, I love this house.”

We had it decorated for Christmas. We had a Christmas tree. We had the angel tree there for anybody that came to the open house to buy a child a gift for Christmas.

Just different stuff to attract people into that open house and make you feel, you know, in the Christmas spirit or that the—

[00:08:51] Tracy Hayes:
Well, you made it an event.

[00:08:52] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
Yeah.

[00:08:53] Tracy Hayes:
You made it an event. Yeah. That’s really what it’s called.
I was listening to a podcast this morning, and that was one of the—she wasn’t referring to open houses, it was a different topic—but she said, “party.” And that’s what you made it—an event.

[00:09:00] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
Right.

[00:09:01] Tracy Hayes:
And they saw themselves in there. Wow.
Because I think a lot of agents are just going through the motions as far as open houses.
They’re going out and they’re sticking their signs at the corner. And then, like, “Okay, I’m gonna be here for two hours.”

[00:09:14] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
And then, you know, I have open houses all the time where nobody shows up.

[00:09:18] Tracy Hayes:
Right.

[00:09:19] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
You get discouraged. You sit there for two hours, no one came. You’re like, “I’m not gonna do another open house.”

Again, back to the house that I took that had been on the market for over 90 days—they had a home sale contingency. They were referred to me by somebody that I work with all the time, and I took over their listing.

I went to their—I did their first open house. Nobody came. I sat there for two hours. I was like, “Oh, okay.”

The following weekend, I had another open house. I don’t remember what exactly it was—I had some event that I really wanted to go to—and I reached out to everybody on my team. I’m like, “Can anybody host this open house?”

Nobody was able to do it. So I was driving there, and I was thinking like, “All right, let’s just make the best of it. No one showed up to the last one.”

And I walked inside, and I sat down, and in the first five minutes, buyers walked in and they were like, “We love this house. We wanna buy this house. Here’s a cash offer. And we actually wanna sell our home.”

So from that open house, I sold that house, represented both sides, and now I have the buyers’ listing.

[00:10:13] Tracy Hayes:
Did that particular one—you do anything special with on that?

[00:10:15] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
No.

[00:10:16] Tracy Hayes:
No?

[00:10:17] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
That was just—just showed up and, you know, normal luck of the draw.

[00:10:20] Tracy Hayes:
Yeah, but—

[00:10:21] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
As I mentioned, I felt a little discouraged from the last one. Nobody showed up. There was an event going on that I wanted to attend.
So in my head—human nature—I was like, “No one showed up to the last one. I’m gonna be sitting at this open house.”

So I brought my computer, I was ready to do some work. And by the time I opened my computer, the buyers were in the home—and yeah, the home sold.

[00:10:39] Tracy Hayes:
Well, there’s no doubt in this business—plan a vacation or plan an event—

[00:10:43] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
Oh yeah.

[00:10:44] Tracy Hayes:
—and someone wants to come in and make an offer. Now you gotta go home and get the contract together, right?

[00:10:50] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
Yeah, I would say like, if I have a listing that’s not selling, I just need to go outta town.

[00:10:54] Tracy Hayes:
That’s right. Exactly.

[00:10:55] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
Exactly.

[00:10:56] Tracy Hayes:
From a marketing standpoint though, you obviously took a standpoint to say, “Hey, I’m going to do more listings.”

[00:11:04] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
Yes.

[00:11:04] Tracy Hayes:
And it seems—obviously, the ones you’re creating events at—are obviously, I would say obviously, maybe it’s not obvious to everyone...
You are trying to sell that home, that’s the mission, but actually the collateral benefit is other people who want to list their home see what you’re doing there.

[00:11:20] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
Yep.

[00:11:21] Tracy Hayes:
What’s your mindset now when you’re going in there like, “Hey, I have this listing. I’m gonna try to sell it, but I want other people who are thinking about listing their house to call me”?

[00:11:29] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
Yes. That’s why I try to go—like you mentioned—not just... Yes, of course I wanna sell my listing.
But at the same time, I also want to wow other people to set myself apart.

Because there’s so many agents. You can go on Zillow and click a button and you get called by many agents.
You can Google and there’s so many agents. You make a Facebook post looking for a realtor and you're so overwhelmed—
Tracy: Yeah.
—you end up deleting the post.

Everybody knows one.

Tracy: Everybody knows one.

Kaitlin: There’s so many of us.

So I wanted to kind of set myself apart and let people see the difference for themselves.
Neighbors who can tell friends, family.

The other day I was at a closing and I was decorating. It was actually—I had represented a buyer—and I was decorating.
I put the bow on the door and I was wrapping it and carrying in these big balloons, and two of the neighbors next door came out to me and they were like,
“We are literally so impressed. Can we please have your business card? If we ever need anything in the future, we’ll reach out.”

Tracy Hayes:
Wow.

Kaitlin Chernyshov:
Yeah. So just by going a step above—instead of just the traditional walking to the closing table, closing—
like going the extra mile, making every single closing feel as if it was my own closing.

I did the same thing I did for my own closing, I do for my buyers.
So just marketing myself, getting out there, going a step above to pick up more clients.

And, you know, as you get more listings, people see your records, your numbers of how quickly you’re selling them, what you’re doing to sell them—
and then it kind of speaks for itself and your business just becomes referral.

[00:12:54] Tracy Hayes:
Well, you—hopefully you only have 30 days that that sign’s in the yard. But maybe—
you know, we know some houses are sitting a little bit longer than others.
No matter what you do, and without giving the house away, are gonna sit.

But you’re doing regular open houses there, your sign’s in the yard.
They’re seeing, the neighbors are seeing what’s going on.

And I think, you know, because we live in these planned urban developments everywhere around town—these HOAs—
people... their house—especially neighborhoods that have been built in the last 10 years—they generally all moved in at the same time.

A lot of them are at the same point in their life—kids and so forth—
that if one person’s thinking of moving, there are a handful of others in the general area that are probably thinking the same thing.

And you’re—that’s just an amazing story.
You should be very—I mean, I did not know that, because you need to put more on your LinkedIn—
but that’s truly impressive.

To reach a point in—any agents that are listening right now—you may want to obviously start following her,
and we’ll have her social media links in the show notes if you don’t know her.

But, you know, be—look at her. Give her a call.
Talk to her about her team.

I’m gonna go back to the beginning, because I always like to find out what people were doing before becoming a real estate agent.
So tell us a little about 18-, 19-, 20-year-old Kaitlin—what she was looking to do in her life, and then what led you to actually, yeah, seven years ago, go into real estate.

[00:14:17] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
So, my mother owned a medical company—a diabetic medical company—and I ran her office for her.
And it was just Monday through Friday, nine to five, sitting on the phone, calling people,
trying to, you know, get them to use you over another company—and being turned down and hung up on.

And just that routine of like the structure of Monday through Friday, nine to five...
I knew right then and there—I don’t wanna do it.
I was young, you know. And it was my mom’s company, and of course I felt like no one would work for her the way I did—being that it was a family company.

So, stuck it out. Several years later, she ended up wanting to buy a townhome to help me out, and I would rent the townhome back from her.
So we started looking, and there was just nothing that really came up that her and I liked.

And our realtor would send us listings, and just nothing really felt like the one.

So every single night, I would lay in bed and I would scroll Zillow.
And I would look up every single new listing, look up several comps around the area—what it had sold for.

And I ended up finding one townhome that the agent had listed...

[00:15:58] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
Oh my gosh, check this one out.

We sent it to our realtor. Our realtor was like, “Wow, I never even saw this one.”
And it checked every single box that we wanted.

So we went and saw it that day, we made an offer, and we ended up buying it.
And then, like, my wheels started turning, and I was like, this is really cool.

And then our realtor brought us a closing gift, and I was like, how fun — like, you get to be a part of such an exciting journey.
You get to go shopping for gifts for your clients and you get paid at the same time.

So, just every single day I started scrolling Zillow to try to, like, you know, get familiar with the market and the area.
And I was like, “You know what? I'm gonna take the real estate school—or a real estate course.”
Mm-hmm.
And I took it online... and dragged it out. Took me almost a year and a half to finish the course.

[00:16:31]
So then I finally finished it and I took my state exam. I failed it. I went back the next day and I passed.

So then it was like, okay, now I’m licensed... but now what?

[00:16:31] Tracy Hayes:
Right.

[00:16:32] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
And I never really did anything with my license for almost two years.
I was working for my mom. I was bartending here and there—just, you know, whatever it was.
I felt like, you know, I have time.

Tracy: You didn’t hang it with a broker? You weren’t with a brokerage or anything?

Kaitlin:
I did hang my license with a brokerage.

Tracy: Okay.

Kaitlin:
But I never did anything with it. I never hosted an open house.
I think the only thing I did is I had a family member reach out to show them a house. I showed them one house and that was it.

Coming up on my two years, I was like, “Real estate isn't for me. I don't know how to get clients. I don't know where to begin.”
And I was getting ready to let my license go.

And my mom told me—she’s always been like, anytime I need anything, I go to her, she always gives me the best advice—
and she was like, “This is what you wanted to do. And you have that personality, like, if you want something, you’re gonna—like a dog with a bone.”
Mm-hmm.
She was like, “So take that and everything I’ve taught you and use it in real estate. Go full force.”

So I quit my job. I had no other source of income, and I was determined.
I was like, I'm gonna make real estate my full-time career, and I'm gonna go into it full-time. I don't have a choice.

So I did. I started hosting open houses.
I started reaching out to my sphere, my family. I ended up getting my brother’s listing and my sister’s listing.

And once I got a couple closings under my belt, it gave me the confidence that I needed to know, like, okay, I can do this.

And over the years—I mean, it felt like a struggle, you know, still for several years:
Where am I gonna get my next closing? Where am I gonna get my next buyer?
But I never gave up. I stayed consistent, and it was great.

But 2024, I really started to hit a different turn in my career.
Mm-hmm.
And then 2025, it kind of just truly took off.

Tracy Hayes:
Yeah.

Kaitlin Chernyshov:
To the point that I don't have to consistently look for leads or ask, what's my next lead generation, or what to do next.

All of my business this year—well, a couple were leads, but I would say 98% of my business has been referrals.
Past clients. Sphere.

[00:18:30] Tracy Hayes:
Alright, so here—this is a... I’m just analyzing the story you just told me.

And you’ve moved from—you’ve been to several brokerages.
Seven of them, you mentioned at the beginning.
And I—really to me—this is one of the crucial, I wouldn’t say it’s the only thing, because there are a lot of successful agents who, it really doesn't matter what brokerage they’re at.
They just have it, right?
They’re hungry for whatever reason, or they just come in with a different mindset.

Where I think you fall into the majority of agents who come in, you're feeling it out a little bit, had to get your confidence up, get some sales under your belt—as you mentioned.

Kaitlin Chernyshov:
Mm-hmm.

Tracy Hayes:
But linking with a brokerage who does business the way you are comfortable doing it—I guess for lack of better description—
But I think everyone listening might get an idea: you want to be around like-minded people.

Kaitlin Chernyshov:
Correct.

Tracy Hayes:
I mean, that definitely makes us feel better and more motivated to go in when you're around people that are all going in the same direction.

So the movement from the brokerages—was that part some of them, but some of it also you, as you were trying to find yourself as a real estate agent?

[00:19:44] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
Yeah. And I mean, you can be successful at any brokerage because it’s what you put into it.
But anything that that brokerage has to offer you—and like you said—like-minded people, good support, good marketing, a good name behind your brokerage... all of that helps.

At United, where I am now, I love every single... everything about it. I have zero complaints.
The structure they have, the process they have, the programs they have—just everything they have to offer has added to everything that I have built in my real estate career.

[00:20:14] Tracy Hayes:
Well, there’s definitely a lot of quality people at United, and a lot of them have actually been there for a good period of time.

Kaitlin Chernyshov:
A long time, yeah.

[00:20:20] Tracy Hayes:
Yeah, for sure.

What are some of those things that—just on the surface level—it’s not necessarily every agent’s thing, because you know other agents like different things that motivate them.
But what do you think are some of the things that are resonating with you as far as your business is concerned at United?

Just... you know, is it training? Is it the technology that they’re using—is it comfortable for you?
Because I know there are different technologies doing the same thing, but how it operates or even how they trained you to operate it—

[00:20:48] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
Yeah, yeah.

So when I moved to United in February, I started a team there—Market Makers Team—which is my team.

I’m the team lead, and I have a lot of agents under me.
And I think what’s truly keeping me going and pushing me is to be able to answer all their questions.
To be ready—if they need me to go to a listing appointment with them—to go with them.

So it’s kind of keeping me on my toes too, to know that I have all these other agents that are there, and they’re wanting to grow, and I’m helping them grow.
And several of them are my friends—brand new agents.

But just the support that United has offered us—they have monthly team meetings, they have monthly happy hours...
Just everything to stay as a family.

Everybody there just—it’s like a totally different... I don’t know. It’s like...

[00:21:38] Tracy Hayes:
Well, you found it.

Kaitlin Chernyshov:
Yeah.

Tracy Hayes:
You found it.

Kaitlin Chernyshov:
Yeah. You sounds like you've been searching for it.

Tracy Hayes:
And everybody—

[00:21:43] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
Everybody helps.
Everybody—you can post on the page: “Hey, I'm out of town. I need someone to go open a door.” And you’ll have ten agents that’ll reach out to you.
You can post that you need an open house and someone’s happy to pick it up.

Everybody works together. And that’s something there that I really love.
You have so much support.

[00:21:58] Tracy Hayes:
Well, the thing I wrote down—because this, I did not know—you were the team lead of... I knew Market Makers, but I didn’t realize you were the leader.

So let’s dig into that a little bit.
When you made the move over—because I know Jocelyn’s been on the show, I don’t think anyone else has—
Is that something you guys were kind of talking about before? And then they’re like, “Hey Caitlin, we want you to lead us”?
Or how did that actually come to—

[00:22:25] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
So Lauren Tier is my preferred lender. She has been—I do a lot of deals with her.
And her and Vince work together.

And we would always hang out—we actually went to a birthday party, David Kin’s party at Lynch’s at Jacksonville Beach.
And it was the three of us. And we were sitting there, and we just started talking.
And we were like, “We work so well together.”

I had brought several agents to my prior brokerage that were there as well—we just weren’t a team.

And I knew that if I made the move, they were gonna come too.

So it kind of just made sense to create a team. That way we can do team events, team happy hours—it’s more support.
It just worked.

Instead of going as a single agent, it worked out best for everybody to create a team.

So we decided that day to create a team.
And Lauren, Vince, and I interviewed a couple brokerages.

And we ended up—as soon as we met with Ryan and Sonny—we knew that United was where we wanted to be.
So in February we pulled the trigger and we created Market Makers.

[00:23:25] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
We're growing.

[00:23:26] Tracy Hayes:
Yeah. For those agents—this is another common topic that I bring up, but again, just as important as the brokerage—
There are so many agents out there who—I call it hitting the lid—they get to a level of production, they're doing everything as a solo agent themselves and so forth, but they hit this lid.

And did you reach that point as a solo agent? And was the team part of helping you consolidate a lot of agents who need the same resource?
Because I think a lot of people don’t break through the lid or go and hire that transaction coordinator,
even though there are pay-for-play transaction coordinators—you know, whether you do one deal or ten deals.

It’s like, you need to get involved, but what was your mindset on that?
Did you reach that level where you were kind of maxed out personally—from doing your own marketing, your own transactions, and so forth?

[00:24:19] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
Yes. And now that you say that, that just reminded me—so as of last year, I did hire a social media girl that started doing all of my posting,
and I actually hired a transaction coordinator.

I hired the transaction coordinator at the end of 2024, and it has helped me tremendously.
To focus more on marketing my listings, being present in my open houses, and just going out and generating more business—
that I don't have to worry about the backend and all of the paperwork.

Yeah, I lock in the deal. I still stay hands-on with my client every single step of the way.
If there's any negotiations throughout the process, I do do it.
But when it comes to paperwork or sending out addendums, I have a transaction coordinator—and that's definitely helped me tremendously.

[00:25:04] Tracy Hayes:
What do you think is—for those who do not have a transaction coordinator...
I mean, if you're doing one deal a month, and you're happy with that and you're just treading along, transaction coordinator—you probably just do it yourself.

But for those who want to scale in any way, shape, or form—and start doing two, three, four deals a month—
you need that person to handle this stuff. It's important stuff.

[00:25:28] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
Yeah.

[00:25:29] Tracy Hayes:
But what do you think is some of the hang-up that agents have in making that leap? Because I think there’s a lot in that.

[00:25:35] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
Yeah. I think that—you know, real estate can be scary.
You never know when your next closing will be.
You never know until that property is closed and the check is in your hand—it's never guaranteed money.

[00:25:46] Tracy Hayes:
Mm-hmm.

[00:25:46] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
So I think—to have to worry about putting out money and not knowing when your next check will be—
they want to save every single dollar they can from a transaction.

But one thing that I learned was to not be that way.
When you stop thinking of, “When is my next closing?”, “When is my next bill due?”, “How…”—just stop thinking that route.

Stop focusing that way, and just think like, “I'm gonna be so busy that I need a transaction coordinator.
I'm gonna have all these listings.”
And when you shift your mindset to, “You're gonna be successful in real estate,” and you know that it's going to be your only source of income—
then it just starts flowing to you.

And that’s another thing I did. I used to always worry, like, “When’s my next closing? When’s this?”
And I just totally—it doesn’t even cross my mind anymore.

It’s just boom, boom, boom. On to the next.
Like—in September, I looked at October and I was like, “Oh, I only have two closings.”
And then I was like, “Yeah, whatever.”
And I ended up—October, I have nine closings.

So it just—it comes to you when you stop focusing on it.

[00:26:47] Tracy Hayes:
When did you feel you made that kind of mindset break right there?

[00:26:51] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
2024 is when I totally shifted my mindset.
And I was like, “This is what I want. This is what I’m gonna do. And there’s really no option.”

[00:26:58] Tracy Hayes:
Had you started to—I mean, obviously where your numbers are at now—but were you kind of at the beginning of that?

[00:27:04] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
Yeah, I would say so.

Tracy Hayes:
Was this shift part of your success right now?

Kaitlin Chernyshov:
Yes. Yeah, yes.
And I, you know, I thought 2024—I was like, “Oh wow, I’ve had such a great year. I crushed it.”
And it gave me so much confidence.

And then this year—like I said—it’s just taken off.

[00:27:20] Tracy Hayes:
Mm-hmm.

[00:27:20] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
The more transactions you do, the more clients you meet, the more referrals you get.
At one point in your career—once you get established enough—it just keeps coming.

[00:27:27] Tracy Hayes:
Right, right.
I like the team—because I think where a lot of agents... and it sounds like your team is kind of fairly casual.

[00:27:36] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
Yeah.

[00:27:36] Tracy Hayes:
You know, because you do have some agents that are doing their own business,
but yet you rely on each other because you can pool resources—right? Like a transaction coordinator.

Now I assume your transaction coordinator’s not on a salary. You just pay them—

[00:27:51] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
Right.

[00:27:52] Tracy Hayes:
—for a transaction.
Which—if you're out there and you don’t already know this—you need to be talking to senior agents.
Everyone should have a transaction coordinator as far as I’m concerned.

Because they’re pay-for-play.

[00:28:00] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
Exactly.

[00:28:01] Tracy Hayes:
It is just gonna make you look better.

The talk on the transaction coordinator, which obviously I assume freed up more time for you to be face-to-face—

[00:28:10] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
Yes.

[00:28:11] Tracy Hayes:
—you know, more in the room, as people say.

[00:28:12] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
Yeah. To be more present.

[00:28:14] Tracy Hayes:
Present—that’s the word.

[00:28:15] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
Yeah, definitely. I don’t have to sit in front of the computer and do all the paperwork.
It truly helped me.

And we don’t run our team—
I know there’s some groups where it’s like “The Caitlin Team” and everything goes under—like—

[00:28:25] Tracy Hayes:
Mm-hmm.

[00:28:26] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
That’s not how we do it.
When we say “a team,” it’s more just like a group of support—a family.

Every agent is a solo agent.
They just have the team to fall back on as like, “That’s my family. That’s my team.”

We try to do happy hours once a month.
We’re gonna do our own team Christmas party as well as the brokerage Christmas party.

Any agents on my team know they can text me or call me at any given time.
I live with my phone in my hand 24/7.
So it’s just an extra—
We have our brokers of course, but it’s just an extra level of support to be able to pick up the phone and call me,
versus not having a team where it’s just you and you feel bad calling your broker at 11 o’clock at night.

[00:29:04] Tracy Hayes:
Mm-hmm.
Yeah, just the different thing—whether you're gonna have an open house, or a broker’s open—
you know your team’s gonna show support.

[00:29:11] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
Yes.

[00:29:12] Tracy Hayes:
You’re gonna have somebody else that’s gonna be there and hopefully help you even organize it or, you know—

[00:29:15] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
Every single week.
I have open houses—I’ll put it in our team group chat. I’m like, “Hey, who wants to do an open house?”
And they all grab them.

So it’s just extra support versus posting it randomly on Facebook and having an agent you don’t know do it.

[00:29:30] Tracy Hayes:
Well, you know, everyone is on the social media thing—
and to have other agents come by and do a walkthrough video of your listing, it just gets out there.

I mean, I know there’s a guy on TikTok—from what I heard, I haven’t looked him up—but I was told that’s what he does.
I think he’s with Real, if I’m not mistaken. He’s out west.
And he goes around and does walkthroughs—

[00:29:51] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
Yeah.

[00:29:52] Tracy Hayes:
—through all these houses. Not all his listings, but every...
But he’s trending.

You like TikTok?

[00:29:56] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
Yes.

[00:29:57] Tracy Hayes:
Yes—because that seemed to be the only way I could get to you.

[00:30:00] Tracy Hayes:
What is it about TikTok you like? And are you really actually strategically posting there in any way?

[00:30:09] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
I more so just share it, honestly, on TikTok just for fun.
I’ve never had anything really solid come out of it. I don’t promote it on TikTok.
I don’t, you know—I don’t know how their algorithm really works.

I more so just use TikTok to post what I’ve already posted on my other social media platforms.
And then just to scroll—see what other agents are doing.
Mm-hmm.
Nothing solid really out of TikTok. It’s more so just for fun.

[00:30:32] Tracy Hayes:
Alright. So, what I’ve been studying here lately, especially for the reels—because obviously we’ll cut reels for the show—is to pick up on some trending topics.
So I gotta ask a trending question to get a trending reel.

So here’s some things that ChatGPT helped me with—when I asked it what questions I should ask.
I pretense it with: "Topics that buyers and sellers are asking online, but also what are real estate agents asking on how to be a better real estate agent?"

Basically, you know—what other real estate agents would listen to, or obviously, what they’re trying to figure out.

So I’m gonna jump down to this one here:
What are buyers in Jacksonville most worried about right now when it comes to interest rates and affordability?
What are you hearing from your clients right now?

[00:31:21] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
I think that everybody kind of just says,
“Oh, you know, rates are gonna go back down. We’re gonna wait.”
And nobody knows that.

If we had a crystal ball to know where rates were going, everybody would wait.
I mean, I’m in the industry and I just purchased my home two months ago.

So it’s like—I don’t think there’s ever really a right or wrong time to buy real estate.
If you wait for rates to drop, prices are gonna go up.

So I mean, that’s everybody’s biggest concern.
A lot of buyers tell me,
“Oh, it’s not a good time to buy. Rates are way too high.”
But rates are high—I would say—because people are comparing it to what they were during COVID.

My mom always tells me,
“Well, back in our day, rates were way higher.”

[00:32:05] Tracy Hayes:
Of course, the price point was a lot lower.

[00:32:07] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
Of course. But I mean, personally, I don’t think we’re gonna see COVID rates again.
I could be wrong—nobody knows.

But I just think, you know, if you can—right now listings are sitting, sellers are desperate—
if you can get the home $50,000 under asking price, get your closing costs paid...
Who cares about the rate right now?

Buy your rate down. Refinance when the time is right.
It’s so much more important to get the home for less, than get the home for more and have a lesser interest rate.
Personally, I think.

[00:32:37] Tracy Hayes:
Yeah, no—I agree with you a hundred percent.
What people are missing is—it’s a buyer’s market right now.

Kaitlin:
Mm-hmm. Absolutely.

Tracy:
I think—not only interest rates—but I think a lot of people are sitting on the sidelines.
Although the stock market’s doing really well right now, those people who live and have a lot of money in that area—
you know, your $1–2 million or more buyers—they’re looking at that.

Because they’re looking at, “What are my investments doing?”

Your sub-million-dollar buyers—at least in our area (it could be different elsewhere)—
they're looking at: “Hey, my job stability… What’s the rate?”

But it’s like you said, if we had that crystal ball and we knew that rates were going to drop, the smart thing to do is buy right now.

Buy because it’s a buyer’s market.
Negotiate whatever you're going to negotiate.

From a “what’s it going to cost you” standpoint—knowing you’re going to refinance in a year.

[00:33:25] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
Right. Exactly.

[00:33:26] Tracy Hayes:
You know—here’s a little trick for those who think they’re smarter than the average bear:
You could tell your lender,
“Hey, I want to buy this house. What rate do I need to take so it doesn’t cost me anything in loan costs?”

And we can give you an interest rate that’s going to cover all—give you a lender credit, cover all your costs.

So you moved into it with just your money, which gave you equity in the home.

And then, if you think the rates are going to drop in 6 or 12 months, then you refinance and lock in.
That’s a savvy play—if you really want to get down to it, you can do that.

But I think—you believe Jacksonville, we’re kind of in a unique bubble?

Obviously, we’re in Florida, so we still have a lot of people moving in.
Obviously what’s going on in New York is driving more people to Florida.

And so we’re kind of in a unique bubble.
You can’t necessarily compare us apples-to-apples to what’s going on nationally.

[00:34:17] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
I do agree.
I think that we are in a bubble. And I think the market is really strange.

[00:34:23] Tracy Hayes:
Bubble—meaning like a protected area. Not a bubble meaning we’re gonna burst.

[00:34:25] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
No, no, no—yeah, yeah. Reiterate that.

I think we’re just in a very strange market.
I know it’s said that we’re in a down market, but as I mentioned earlier—I’ve had my best year yet.
I mean, business hasn’t stopped.

And everybody always has to buy and sell.
But I do think it’s definitely different than if you were to go to another state.
Or even go to South Florida.
I think it’s a totally different market here in Jacksonville.

But I think a lot of people want to move to Jacksonville because it is a little bit slower-paced.
It’s a little bit more affordable.
It’s a great place to raise children.
Our school systems are great.

A lot of my business—I live in St. Johns County—and a lot of my business is in St. Johns County.
And everybody wants to move there because almost basically one thing is the school systems.

Which, personally, is why I’m there as well.

[00:35:17] Tracy Hayes:
Yeah, no—we definitely, in St. Johns County, have great schools and great police force.
We really don’t have issues, per se, that are going on.

Low crime. All kinds of good stuff there.

Here’s an interesting question—I haven’t asked this one yet:
Are you noticing any clients looking for energy-efficient or green home features?

[00:35:37] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
No.

[00:35:38] Tracy Hayes:
No, I don’t either.
One of my neighbors did it—a few hundred dollars down, they put panels on their roof.
And I... you really gotta think of that long-term.

[00:35:48] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
I am not a fan.

[00:35:49] Tracy Hayes:
Yeah.
One, I don’t think it’s affordable, even no matter what incentives they’re giving you.
But you’re putting this thing on your roof—
And unfortunately—which leads us into the insurance subject, right?

We know here—when you cross over 10 years in the age of a roof—the insurance companies narrow down quickly.
And you’re gonna put solar panels on there—supposedly 20–25-year solar panels—
And now you gotta replace your roof during that time?

[00:36:12] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
Personally, I would never do them.
And actually, I’ve never sold a home that had them.
So I’ve never had to deal with them—luckily.

[00:36:19] Tracy Hayes:
Yeah.
I remember CC Underwood—not too long ago—did a whole reel on that.
She’s a big TikToker too.
Talking about: “Really think through putting those solar panels on your roof.”

Kaitlin:
Absolutely.

Tracy:
It’s not adding any value.
Someone’s not gonna pay more for your home because it has solar panels on there.

Even though it might eliminate your power bill—
There’s no perceived value there.

[00:36:42] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
Yeah. Me personally—I wouldn’t purchase a home that had solar panels on it.
I would either remove them... or...
I wouldn’t live in a home that had solar panels.

Tracy Hayes:
Yeah. I’m gonna—this one here addresses that.

But since you live in St. Johns County, I imagine you try to focus...
Even though you do Jacksonville—you sell in Jacksonville—
I imagine you’d love to... you’d love for 40 homes in St.—

[00:36:59] Tracy Hayes:
St. Johns County would be—

[00:37:00] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
Ideal for you.
Tracy: Of course.
Less miles on my car.

[00:37:02] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
Yeah, exactly.

[00:37:03] Tracy Hayes:
What neighborhoods do you feel in St. Johns—or for people listening that don’t know the area—St. Johns, St. Augustine—we’re just south of Jacksonville.
What neighborhoods right now are maybe your favorite to sell, but also some of the hottest?
And which ones do you often present to sellers right now and say,
“This is really either up-and-coming,” or, “This is an older neighborhood, but because it’s older, you don’t have all this building going on”?

Kaitlin Chernyshov:
Right. So it kind of depends on what someone’s looking for.

If they want a neighborhood full of amenities and events for their kids and all of that, I would say probably SilverLeaf, Beacon Lake, or even Shearwater.
They have all the bells and whistles, and events—everything you can possibly imagine for a family.

[00:37:44] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
Me personally, I like a neighborhood that’s not so busy.
I personally bought an older home that was renovated top to bottom.
It has a larger lot, not a big HOA, not all the amenities—because in the past, I don’t use them.

But then there’s people who do.

So I would say communities in St. Johns County that a lot of families are moving to—
One is Beacon Lake.
You have the school in the neighborhood. You’re right—you’re not far from I-95.
Really nice community.

You have a lot of the same features as Beachwalk, which is across the street—but a lot less fees.
The only thing you don’t have is the lagoon.

Another one is SilverLeaf. It’s growing tremendously.

[00:38:27] Tracy Hayes:
That’s been a slow mover though—SilverLeaf.
It’s been around for—
Kaitlin: I think it’s so large.

[00:38:32] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
It’s so small—yeah.
We didn’t realize how far it went back.

[00:38:34] Tracy Hayes:
Right.
Going all the way back down to Route 16—from 210 to—

[00:38:38] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
Yeah, yeah.
210 down to 16.

[00:38:41] Tracy Hayes:
And then you have people—
I feel like everybody that moves into Shearwater never moves out.

[00:38:44] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
Is that right?

[00:38:45] Tracy Hayes:
I mean, that’s been my experience.
I sold my sister a home there several years ago.

[00:38:48] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
And they love it. It’s a lifestyle.

There are so many options in St. Johns County as far as communities.
If you like more busy, or if you like more laid back—
There’s a community for everybody.

[00:39:01] Tracy Hayes:
Yeah. There’s no doubt, no doubt.

You’re doing a lot of listings right now. So this question here—this is what the question was, but we’ll tweak it a little bit:

With sellers still wondering, “Is now the right time to list?” how do you help them weigh their options?
Actually, we could probably ask it directly.

You’re on some of these listing appointments, you’re obviously hearing the reasons why they need to sell.

I think obviously—you mentioned COVID—back in 2021, we had a lot of inter-community moves locally.
'Cause people were like, “Oh, my interest rate’s low here. It’s gonna be low over there. And I wanna be a little bit closer to my friend,” or, “I like the amenities over there.”

And they made their move.
Weren’t really worried, because the rates were so low.

[00:39:42] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
Right.

[00:39:43] Tracy Hayes:
Now someone who’s got a 3% interest rate is now looking at a 6% interest rate—
And they’re like, “Ooh, hold on.”

And the prices—the homes—have gone up accordingly.
So those inter-area moves have slowed down considerably.

They’re not moving just for pleasure anymore—they have to move for a reason.

What are you finding with listers right now? Why are they listing now?
Are they moving out of the area? Job change? What’s going on?

[00:40:05] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
So I haven’t sold any homes recently of people moving out of the area.

One of them—he got married, and he and his wife were purchasing a home together.
Another one—he wanted to move and be closer to his son, because he was older.
Another one—they wanted to move to have their child in St. Johns County schools.
Another one—they had been in a townhome for many years, and they were looking to—

Tracy Hayes:
Just need more space.

Kaitlin Chernyshov:
Exactly. Yeah. To a bigger home.

Every single listing I’ve had, I believe this year, has been someone moving locally.

[00:40:37] Tracy Hayes:
Right.

[00:40:37] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
Just for different reasons.

[00:40:38] Tracy Hayes:
But they had some reason to their move.

[00:40:40] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
Yeah, not just because, “Oh, I’m ready.”

[00:40:42] Tracy Hayes:
“I just want to be closer to my friends” or something like that.
To me, that’s... yeah.
I love my friends, but I also like my money in my pocket, too.

[00:40:49] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
Right. And when I go into a listing appointment and they say,
“Is it a good time to sell?”

What I do is I pull out statistics.
I show them what I’ve sold in the last 60 days—what it sold for, how many days it had been on the market.
And I show them my volume, you know, so they can see—numbers don’t lie.

[00:41:04] Tracy Hayes:
Mm-hmm.

[00:41:05] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
There’s proven statistics in the marketing and in the strategies that I use.
And it’s not just to take your listing, throw it on the market, and let it sit.

[00:41:13] Tracy Hayes:
I like this question here.
I could see this being a hot or trending topic too.

Now that you’re taking on more listings—not every house is perfect.
Not every house is ready to actually sell.

What strategy are you using to help homes sell faster without heavy renovations or even extensive full-house staging costs?

[00:41:37] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
Yeah. I would say probably 90% of my listings have been move-in ready and, for the most part, updated.

There was one, though—you know, they tell you “declutter your home”—and there was a kitchen that had absolutely nothing in it.

So I went shopping and I just threw some plants, a bottle of wine, a little lamp, some soap, and some flowers—
and decorated the kitchen.

Because that’s one of the main things people go to and look at.

[00:42:00] Tracy Hayes:
Right.

[00:42:01] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
And it made such a difference.

Even just for the photos.

Tracy Hayes:
Yeah, exactly. I mean even just the photo—stage it.

Kaitlin Chernyshov:
Yeah.
And I truly felt that it made a difference.

I have another one—it’s a condo, it’s empty—but I went and put some pumpkins in there and stuff in the kitchen.
Just to give you a little bit of a feel.

[00:42:45] Tracy Hayes:
But—

[00:42:46] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
If it’s something that’s gonna be sold for somebody else to move into, just try to give it as much—you know, have it smell good, have a couple little things in the kitchen, or just a couple—
or as bright as possible.
Just little things to make the listing look the best that it possibly can.

[00:43:00] Tracy Hayes:
Well, I mean, in your career, have you had that kind of hard talk with the seller?
Have you gone and had a listing anytime in your career where you had to go in and say,
"Hey, you gotta tell 'em what they need to hear, not what they want to hear"?

[00:43:19] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
So what I typically like to do is—a lot of times sellers will get offended if you're like,
“Hey, your home smells.”

[00:43:26] Tracy Hayes:
Yeah.

[00:43:27] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
But when agents show it, and they give feedback—
You know, if I can smell it, they can smell it.

So they'll send in feedback like,
"The home smells like a dog, a cat, or a dog.”

And then I share that with them.
And they take it a lot better from somebody else than you saying,
“Hey, your home smells like a dog.”

And I've had that before.
And then my seller was receptive—they went, threw away the rugs, the dog beds, they got the floors cleaned—
and we were able to sell the home right after they fixed what was wrong with it.

[00:43:55] Tracy Hayes:
Right.

[00:43:55] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
And I tell all of my sellers—
No matter what kind of market we're in,
if a home is priced accurately, marketed correctly, it's selling.

Homes that are sitting are either not marketed correctly or overpriced.

[00:44:12] Tracy Hayes:
What do you find in the—specifically the St. Johns customers?
Like you said, the homes that sell, you're—if you're listing two homes, it sells.

But even some of the buyers you're working with—what are the buyers looking for right now in St. Johns County?

[00:44:27] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
Move-in ready. Renovated.

Tracy Hayes:
Yeah.

Kaitlin Chernyshov:
Turnkey.
Nobody wants outdated.
Open floor plans. Bright.
You know, there’s—basically turnkey.

People aren’t wanting to move into a home in St. Johns County that needs to be renovated.

[00:44:42] Tracy Hayes:
Right.
Unless they’re getting a hell of a deal.

[00:44:45] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
Yeah.

[00:44:45] Tracy Hayes:
That’s kind of common sense, but sometimes some people have to say it.

[00:44:48] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
What’s selling in St. Johns right now that’s outdated is selling to investors.
I have one of my main investors that I work with—we have three listings that we secured for a hell of a deal.

[00:44:59] Tracy Hayes:
Yeah.
Did you have that conversation though when you went into them and said,
“Hey, we're offering you this because you need a new kitchen, you need a bath,” or whatever?

[00:45:07] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
Yeah.

[00:45:08] Tracy Hayes:
You are having that conversation?

Kaitlin Chernyshov:
Yeah. I mean, the roof is shot. The HVAC’s shot.
The home is totally outdated. The floor plan is not functional.

And you know, a lot of these homes have been sitting for a long time,
because nobody that’s gonna move in there wants to deal with that.

So being an investor with a cash offer and a quick close, it's appealing to them.

“Hey, my home’s been sitting for 120 days. We’re going through a divorce and we really just wanna go separate ways.”

And they take it. So, yeah.

[00:45:31] Tracy Hayes:
Here’s an interesting question—and I don’t know if there’s, if you would have an answer for it, but maybe you do—
Has your background at multiple brokerages shaped the way you serve your clients?

[00:45:42] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
No, I don’t think so.

I think for the most part—like I said—your brokerage isn’t going to make or break you.
You’re not going to go to a brokerage and, just because you switched, take off.

It’s what you put into it.
It’s your mindset. It’s—you know—it’s you.

Your business depends on you.
Your brokerage can add to you, but no, I wouldn’t say it shaped me.

I mean, they’re all very similar.
Some have more positives than others, but for the most part—very similar aspects.

[00:46:09] Tracy Hayes:
You say “very similar,” but there has to be some differences.
What would you think—and you don’t have to mention the brokerages—

Because I do make an emphasis to choose the right brokerage.
That’s very important—a cornerstone to your business.

What do you think are a couple important things that a brokerage should be offering?
If you’re going out there and interviewing, what are some things—
Because you should be interviewing them.

Let everyone know—
A lot of new people don’t understand that.

What are one or two things that you are looking for, for you?

[00:46:50] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
Structure.

I would say that they have their platforms and everything down to a science.

That when you submit a contract, they have a compliance team that’s going to review that.
Because everybody makes mistakes.

And to have another set of eyes on it to say,
“Hey, you didn’t check this correctly,”
“You didn’t do this correctly”—
To have that behind you—to know that they have your back, and you’re not going to be sued—
and that you have the support of just another set of eyes on your contracts.

I think that’s huge.

[00:47:00] Tracy Hayes:
Do you have to send all your contracts through them or just the ones you feel, “Hey—”

Kaitlin Chernyshov:
Every single contract.

Tracy Hayes:
Every single contract?

Kaitlin Chernyshov:
Goes through compliance.
And they review everything.
And if you’re missing an addendum, a document, they make sure you have everything so you don’t end up in trouble.

They have support consistently.
Once a month, we have team meetings.
They have team happy hours.
They have all kinds of events that you can attend.

And just to have that—
I think the biggest disadvantage to me from a brokerage is not having support,
where they just hang your license—

[00:47:52] Tracy Hayes:
Mmhmm.

[00:47:55] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
You have as much support as you need or as little as you need.
It depends on you.
If you look at their calendar of what they host each month, it’s overwhelming.
So you can attend everything or you can attend nothing. But at the end of the day, they offer it.
And that depends on you. So I would want a brokerage that offers—

[00:48:12] Tracy Hayes:
You’ve put together a team, but a lot of these ladies you met or you recruited—
you said a few of them came from the previous brokerage that you had recruited in—
which I imagine you had some sort of relationship with them in one way, shape, or form.
And they got in the business.

You mentioned United has regular social-type things.
United Real Estate Gallery here in Northeast Florida, for those that don’t know, is a pretty decent-sized brokerage.

Yeah, it’s several hundred agents.
The importance of the social—besides free open bar or whatever Sonny and Ray are putting out there—
the importance of meeting other agents face-to-face, in a social setting, getting to know them, know who they are—
how important is that?

[00:48:55] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
It’s very important.
Because you can share—you know, we all have like-minded situations every day, or we all—we all understand it.

Like the other day, I went to dinner with one of my girlfriends, and she’s a real estate agent.
And we just sat there and we both vented—we were like, “And this happened,” and “This…”

If you can socialize with like-minded people and hear other people’s experiences,
you can relate to it more and it almost helps you.
You know—maybe I’m not the only one that has a crazy client,
or maybe I’m not the only one whose deal fell apart at the closing table.

So you can relate to like-minded people, hear other people’s stories, network.
You know, every single person that you meet can benefit you in some way—
whether it’s a friendship, a phone call, support—you know, everybody you meet is for a reason.

And I think that the events they put together and the way that everybody knows each other at United is super important.

[00:49:46] Tracy Hayes:
Well, you need to have a little fun too.

Kaitlin Chernyshov:
Of course.

Tracy Hayes:
And like you said, I think that it is priceless.
Having grown up in a call center—and I’ve been in mortgages 20 years—
being in a call center, I remember going to interview—because I started at Quicken Loans back in 2005.

I would go in the lobby, and they had a Starbucks machine in the lobby.

But one of the famous things about Quicken was they had ICEE machines in their break rooms.
Popcorn was always popping, ICEE machines, snacks and all that other stuff—because you're in a call center.

Now, eventually that burns out.
Eventually that doesn’t work anymore.

But when you’re young—well, most of the people were much younger than me—but you know, that’s an exciting thing.

But the socialization part—
they put a lot of energy into their parties, which Ray and Sonny do—
but they obviously see that as an investment—

[00:50:56] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
Oh yeah.

[Tracy Hayes:]
To bring you guys in and talk shop a little bit—
“What are my pains?”
I think everybody likes to vent sometimes.

[00:51:00] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
Absolutely.

Tracy Hayes:
And if someone understands what you’re going through—because they are—
versus talking to maybe your spouse who’s totally like—

Kaitlin Chernyshov:
—Who doesn’t, like, “What are you talking about?”
Or like, you can vent for 10 minutes and they’re like, “Okay, are you done?”

Versus like somebody that’s in the industry and understands it.

Right.

They just do things different.
Like we had our annual awards party right when I started, and they did it—it was so cool.
It was like you were in Vegas—
themed, they had gambling tables.

They go a step above to really show that they truly love their agents and their business.

[00:51:16] Tracy Hayes:
Mmhmm.
Many people—the recognition is big to a lot of people.

[00:51:20] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
Absolutely.

[Tracy Hayes:]
Some people it’s not a big deal, and that’s fine too.

[00:51:24] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
I think recognition is super important
because it gives you the confidence and it makes you feel powered up to keep going.
And, “Oh, I did this—next year, let me do this.”

And when we started Market Makers, I was speaking with Lauren and Vince and I was like,
“Our goal for our team—because we started in February—for the next 10 months is,
as a team, let’s close $20 million. I think we can do it.”

And alone—alone—by the end of the year, I will have done that.

So we just totally exceeded our goals.
And I think that’s super important, you know, to have the support—

[00:52:00] Tracy Hayes:
Yeah.

Kaitlin Chernyshov:
—and the recognition to say like,
“This was your goal in February, this is where you are in January of the following year.”

So it gives people encouragement to do better and try harder and keep going.

[Tracy Hayes:]
I imagine you’ve been asked a thousand times, with your success this year—
when you go to these socials—
“What are you doing right?”
Are a lot of agents coming to you and saying, “What are you—?”

[00:52:18] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
Yeah, definitely.
And as I mentioned, I really haven’t done anything tremendously different other than:

I do a lot of open houses,
I market them a lot,
I post a lot on Instagram.

I don’t cut corners with anything that I do in real estate.
Whether it’s a listing—I will not put it active on the market unless I have every single document.
I have everything squared away to a T.

I’ve just met a lot of people, connected with a lot of people, and just, you know, fully focused.

And like I said before—
my mindset is something huge that I transitioned at the same time that my business kind of took a turn.

[00:52:55] Tracy Hayes:
Right. Right.

This is an interesting topic here—
one thing every buyer and seller—
we’ll just say Northeast Florida—
every buyer and seller in Northeast Florida…

Because I do go back to—we sell lifestyle here, I think.

[00:53:00] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
Yeah.

[Tracy Hayes:]
In Florida, people are coming to Florida for a lifestyle change or what they perceive to be a lifestyle change.

So, what is one thing every buyer or seller in Northeast Florida should be paying attention to in the next 6 to 12 months?

What are you seeing out there?
What do you think is going to happen?

As far as the market—like I said, stats out there say we were coming through one of the worst real estate markets in terms of home sales nationally.

And we do know our inventory, compared to say 24 months ago—

[00:53:42] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
Yes.

[Tracy Hayes:]
—is easily double, right?

[00:53:44] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
Yeah.

[Tracy Hayes:]
So what should they be paying attention to in the next 6 to 12 months
if someone’s looking to buy or sell?

[00:53:51] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
I think just, you know, watch the market, watch rates, see what’s happening.

I personally think that the market is gonna continue to pick up.
I don’t see it declining.
I think that rates are gonna stabilize a bit more.

And I think that prices are not going to go down.

And I think we are in a buyer’s market,
but I don’t foresee that being much longer.

I do think that within the next 12 months—
and I could be wrong—
that we’ll transition to more of a seller’s market,
as rates come down a bit.

[00:54:01] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
So whether you're a buyer, whether you're a seller, I would just stay informed with the market—
where rates are, inventory—and decide when is the right time.
I mean, nobody knows when the right time is.

The two days after I bought my home, rates dropped. So—

[00:54:38] Tracy Hayes:
Hold your breath for a couple more days.

[Kaitlin Chernyshov:]
Exactly, exactly. But nobody—
That happens, and you know what? It is what it is.
I got my home with a lot of equity, and it appraised a lot higher, so—

[00:54:48] Tracy Hayes:
Mm-hmm. I'm happy.
Yeah, yeah. Hindsight's 20/20. It's always going to be that way.
And the buyer's remorse that people can have—like,
“Oh man, I just bought, I can’t believe now the rates are a quarter percent lower.”
You know what?

[00:54:59] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
Yeah.
I didn’t have that, even though a lot of people would’ve,
because it was like literally two days after rates took a drop.

I was like, “Eh, well, you know what? Wasn’t meant to be. Got my home. I closed on it. It’s fine.”

[00:55:10] Tracy Hayes:
Well, it’s like the discussion I have with the clients. I said, especially here in the last couple months:
“Hey, do you want to float it while we process the loan? I’ll keep you up to date.”

Because if you think rates are going to go lower—great.

Luckily when the Fed met in September, the market always predicts what's going on.
They don't wait for the Fed to drop the Fed’s funds rate.
The market's already projecting—and the rates had gone down prior to that.

And that morning I touched base with him and said,
“Hey, this is where rates are at.”
Didn’t hear anything back from him. But then we got an email—
we call our capital market strategy—'cause it sets the interest rates—
and they said, “Hey, lock in.”

[00:55:55] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
Yeah.

[Tracy Hayes:]
Which basically is telling everyone,
“If you’ve got a loan that needs to lock, lock it, because rates are gonna go up.”
And that’s what they were seeing in the market.

And I texted my customer, he responded right back, said,
“Yeah, go ahead and lock it in.”
And the 30-year fixed went up at least a quarter to three-eighths higher in that one afternoon.

[00:56:12] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
Oh yeah.

[Tracy Hayes:]
So just within a couple of hours, it would’ve been a—you know,
who knows—another 50, 60 dollars in a payment.

[Kaitlin Chernyshov:]
Exactly.
And I waited until like the last minute that I possibly could, and then I locked.
But it is what it is.
Like I said, my house appraised for much higher, and I’ll make six payments and I’ll refinance.

[00:56:21] Tracy Hayes:
Yeah. I mean, because you don’t want Summit to be charged back for that loan, right?
That’s a six-months thing.

[Kaitlin Chernyshov:]
Yeah, that’s why we tell everyone—six.

[Tracy Hayes:]
Yes, make six payments, ’cause then we don’t get charged back.

[Kaitlin Chernyshov:]
Exactly.

[00:56:34] Tracy Hayes:
That was leading into buyer’s remorse—that’s the term I want to go to.

How do you—especially now that you’re doing more listings, but you’ve dealt with buyers a lot—
It’s not that you’re not working with buyers—

[Kaitlin Chernyshov:]
No, absolutely. I still work with buyers.

[Tracy Hayes:]
Your percentage is shifting more toward the listing side.
But as an agent, how do you do your best to make sure that when someone signs that contract,
it’s actually going to get to closing?

And the reason I ask this question is, I’m a big fan of pre-listing inspections.
I’m like, if someone’s going to list their house, get a pre-listing inspection to knock out all those—
it doesn’t matter how small you may think that little repair is.

The buyer could go buyer’s remorse and go,
“Oh, I already have buyer’s remorse and now that’s the reason I’m getting out of this.”
Call it what it is.

What are some things that you do?

[00:57:18] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
Pre-listings are very important.
Like I mentioned, I have a big investor here that I work with.
We sell probably 15 homes a year.

And that’s something that I think is super important that we do—is pre-listing.
And we’ve never—knock on wood—we’ve never had any like major concerns come up over inspection.

No matter what the issue that pops up, we figure it out—
whether a lending issue, whether it’s an inspection issue.

We know ahead of time, basically, what we’re getting into from a pre-listing inspection.

[00:57:47] Tracy Hayes:
Well, because right now—I think you would agree, and we’re talking, you know, you’re doing volume—
but an agent right now might be getting into the business or an agent that might be just kind of treading water—
not doing enough deals to really get a full grasp of what’s going on…

But with insurance—you know, between roofs, hot water heaters, other things—
to have that pre-listing inspection—

[00:58:00] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
Yes.

[Tracy Hayes:]
And then would you agree: a lot of times when people get that inspection report,
what may be a $100–$200 repair, in their mind it’s a $2,000 repair?

[Kaitlin Chernyshov:]
Yes, absolutely.
I like to have a 4-point inspection on file for every single one of my properties that I’m listing.
That way—unless it was something that’s almost brand new—

[Tracy Hayes:]
Brand new, yeah.

[Kaitlin Chernyshov:]
But that way I can have it on file and the documents through the MLS.
I can tell everybody,
“Hey, the roof is 2022, the HVAC is 2019.”

And that way they know—insurance isn’t going to be an issue.
It gives them more peace of mind.

Which is essentially another reason why I bought my home—
it’s brand new roof, brand new windows, brand new HVAC.

[00:58:48] Tracy Hayes:
Right.

[Kaitlin Chernyshov:]
I mean, I knew going into that, that I’m not going to have to do anything major for a very long time.

[00:58:53] Tracy Hayes:
Right, right.
Yeah, as much as you push it.

But we mentioned earlier—everyone wants turnkey.

[Kaitlin Chernyshov:]
Yes.

[Tracy Hayes:]
Which is why, obviously, our huge competition in existing home sales
is we’re competing against new construction—
which obviously, everything’s new and has some sort of warranty on it.

Because some of these buyers—I think you’ve probably experienced—
some of them don’t even know a house has a hot water heater, for example.

[00:59:49] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
Or where it is.

[Tracy Hayes:]
Yeah—or where to shut off the water should something happen in the house,
like a refrigerator ice maker hose bust or something like that.

You know, some of these little things that the newer generation hasn’t really experienced.
So if you’re selling an existing home,
to have the pre-listing inspection done, go through those things,
and really make it out and say,
“Hey, this hot water heater’s only a year old—”

[Kaitlin Chernyshov:]
Exactly.

[Tracy Hayes:]
“Or we just replaced it because the old one was old.”

[00:59:49] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
All of those little things help sell a listing.

Turnkey, have the inspection reports on file, have a pre-listing done.
That way when a first-time home buyer does an inspection,
you know—9 out of 10 times—there’s nothing major that’s going to pop up that’s going to scare them
and give them cold feet.

Like you mentioned, something that’s minor to me could be terrifying to them,
and then they could walk away over something that could have been avoided.

[01:00:11] Tracy Hayes:
Or their father-in-law—
it’s terrifying to the father-in-law, and the father-in-law scares them.

[Kaitlin Chernyshov:]
Exactly.

[Tracy Hayes:]
Exactly.

So—but that’s made me lose the train of thought of my next question…
Oh! Are you seeing a lot of offers come in to you—or maybe in your buyers—
that have contingencies?

[01:00:32] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
Yes.

[Tracy Hayes:]
They’re trying to sell?

That’s a—

[Kaitlin Chernyshov:]
Yes.

[01:00:32] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
A lot of buyers right now have homes to sell, and probably 50/50—do we accept?
I will do my research on the home that they have listed:
Is it priced correctly? Is it being marketed?
Are they doing consistent open houses? You know, how’s the activity?

And those are a lot of things that I ask before accepting an offer.

We just did one—I listed it in World Golf Village.
Day three on the market, we got an offer, but it was contingent upon the sale of their condo,
which wasn’t even listed yet.

So I asked her, “What are you going to list it at?
Can you use my photographer? Because I feel confident in his work.”

[01:01:10] Tracy Hayes:
Did you look at the agent's previous listings to make that recommendation and say, "Hmm…"?

[01:01:14] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
No, I just spoke with her.
And I knew—I could just tell from the conversation.
She knew what she was doing. She was going to do her best.

This is what they were going to list it at, so I went and pulled comps.
I went and looked at their property—it was one of the nicest in the area.
It was priced correctly.

They had my photographer do their photos,
they did as much marketing as they possibly could,
and their condo went under contract in one day.

[01:01:36] Tracy Hayes:
Super! So that sale contingency was—that’s really great.
Beautiful.
You know, I have to say—okay, you’re doing great numbers, obviously.
I could see that, and that’s why I invited you on the show to hear.

But this conversation we’ve had is so enlightening.
Now I’ve obviously gotten to know you better—at least your business—a lot better and what you’re doing.

And that right there, what you just said, is so impressive.
Because from my side, from the lending side, and being in this business 20 years—
you are an agent that took control.

You controlled the destiny of where that was going to lead.
And obviously you saw the weak point—or an opportunity—to say:
“You know what? If we take some really good photos, this house may go pretty quickly.”

And you took control, where a lot of agents would’ve just dropped back and said,
“Okay, put it up for sale.”

You actually got involved.
And luckily, this agent you were working with obviously felt that confidence coming from you—
obviously they’re seeing your numbers—
saying, “Hey, Kaitlin must know what she’s doing.”

Just 'cause you have years in the business doesn’t necessarily mean you’re aware of what’s going on.

[01:02:41] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
She saw the listing photos for the listing.
She knew her buyers really wanted that home.

And I don’t love home sale contingencies, but like I said—
I do my due diligence prior to accepting.

We did a kick-out clause, and we close tomorrow, actually.

[01:02:56] Tracy Hayes:
That’s an amazing story.
I’m going to throw something at you that—I don’t know, I assume Summit doesn’t offer—
because the reason why I asked that question was to lead into what I’m going to tell you.

[01:03:04] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
It’s not Summit—it’s, um—

[01:03:05] Tracy Hayes:
It’s—

[01:03:05] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
No, they were with Supreme, and now it’s Fairway.

[01:03:08] Tracy Hayes:
Fairway, okay.
We should have talked to Vince before that.

Alright, here at Planet, and now the other lenders have this product,
but the problem is with them—it’s a third party that’s operating this.

So when you have that contingency, because Planet Home Lending is a large servicer—
as you mentioned, your loan is serviced by Planet—

[01:03:28] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
Yeah.

[01:03:29] Tracy Hayes:
—and obviously we have our loan origination,
but we are controlled by a mothership that has a lot of money—
I forget, I’m probably getting scolded for not knowing the name of it.

But anyway, the bottom line is this:

We have what we call a Purchase Edge.
So someone comes in and they say,
“Hey, I’ve got a contingency.”
“Okay. I can’t get approved to buy this one because I gotta sell that one because of the debt ratio.”

We will make an offer on their home.

If we’re doing the loan, we’ll make an offer on their home.
Now—it’s not going to be what they want. It’s going to be 75 cents on the dollar.
But we’re going to give them 120 more days even after they buy the home.

[01:04:08] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
Is that different than like a bridge loan?

[01:04:10] Tracy Hayes:
No—we’re actually making an offer—so that there’s an offer on the home.

[Kaitlin Chernyshov:]
Okay, gotcha.

[Tracy Hayes:]
So we take it out of the debt ratio—
now they can buy the new home.

But their agent still has 120 days beyond that to sell the home.

[01:04:23] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
Okay.

[01:04:23] Tracy Hayes:
So you have another four months.
So in this case, for example, you went to the agent and said,
“Hey, here’s the situation. They need to close in 30 days—your seller. They need to get out.”

Great, we’ll accept your offer—but do you think you can sell that home in the next four months?
Even if they need to drop it $10–$20k, it’s still better than 75 cents on the dollar.

That’s what it created.

What it created here—recently, I just did a deal with Wendy Griffiths,
very popular in town with Better Homes and Gardens.

She had someone moving up from the South.
But what happened was, she was able to get that loan in process—they were going to buy the home here.

By the time they got to the closing of the home here, they ended up getting a cash offer [on their old home].
But they were able to get the loan in process.

They were just going to say, “You know what? We’re just going to go rent.”
And then they would’ve been renting for the next year.
And they never would’ve gotten the sale.

So it was a bonus for her.

No impact on the interest rate of the home they’re buying—the loan we’re actually doing.
We’re doing it as a service.

But it gives them—you—four months to sell that home.

[01:05:40] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
Yeah, that’s great.

[Tracy Hayes:]
And so if you run into that situation, where someone—you know, you talked to the agent—
and it’s like, “Yeah, we think we can definitely sell this in the next period of time at a reasonable price,”
whatever it takes to sell it in 120 days.

And we’re kind of flexible—120 days is not a drop-dead.
If they’re under contract, of course, we don’t want the home.
We really don’t want the home.

[Kaitlin Chernyshov:]
Right.

[01:05:41] Tracy Hayes:
Because we’re going to turn around and tell the agent,
“Keep listing it—and sell it.”
So those are some situations there.

And obviously, we do bridge loans as well.

[Kaitlin Chernyshov:]
Yeah, that’s correct.

[Tracy Hayes:]
But even if they needed a bridge loan on the home that they’re selling,
to put a down payment on this one,
we would do that and not count that toward their debt ratio.

So you get the deal.

[Kaitlin Chernyshov:]
That’s cool.

[01:06:00] Tracy Hayes:
So something that Fairway may not offer that you’ll put in your Rolodex there,
for those situations—to get you out of there.

Anything you’d like to add?

[01:06:07] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
I don’t think so.

[01:06:08] Tracy Hayes:
Yeah, I think it was a great conversation.
I am enlightened by you, and I want you to tell—I know Vince grabbed me at the end of RE BarCamp and said,
“Get together.”

So when you go back and see him, tell him to give me a call.

[Kaitlin Chernyshov:]
Yeah, I will.

[Tracy Hayes:]
I’d love to come by and see his little studio that you guys have set up there as well.

[01:06:23] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
Actually gonna be doing a panel, I believe in November, and we’re gonna bring a couple people in on how they’ve grown their business tremendously
in a down market.
So I’ll keep you posted.

[01:06:31] Tracy Hayes:
Well, I think a panel—and I’ve got a couple people, like I have someone directly in mind right now—
you know, you and Michelle Trimble on making the open house an event.

Yeah.

You know, making it an event and what it’s done for you guys in the sense of getting more business.
Because you’re obviously using professional photography—
that’s one thing—you always gotta have that to showcase your listings.

But when you start having events, and the other people in the neighborhood are like,
“Whoa, hold on a second… I want to be part of that too.”

[01:06:57] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
That’s how you know you’re doing it.

[01:06:58] Tracy Hayes:
You know you’re making a difference.

[01:07:00] Tracy Hayes:
I’m gonna—final question. Here’s the real tough one.
This is real.
For anyone listening—and this might be a good reel if we cut it out correctly:

Why should a buyer or seller call Kaitlin to either help them buy a home or list a home?

[01:07:15] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
I would say because I treat every single client the same.
Whether it’s a $100,000 home or a $2 million home,
I treat every single client as if they were my family member—or if it were my own home.

And I always go the extra mile, because I think that little things matter the most.
And I will fight for my client till the end.

[01:07:33] Tracy Hayes:
Excellent.
Kaitlin, really appreciate you coming on.
It was a really great conversation.

[01:07:38] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
Thank you for having me.

[01:07:40] Tracy Hayes:
Really, really great show and a lot of great information for both buyers, sellers, as well as real estate agents.

Yeah—Kaitlin’s information is in the show notes.
Obviously if you’re picking this up on social media, it’s always going to be in there.

And we will cut some great—not only reels—but I don’t know if you’ve been noticing lately,
I’ve been cutting some good blogs on what you’re doing here.

And obviously promoting Kaitlin as a top real estate agent in Jacksonville and St. John’s County—
which is where she likes to work, in her backyard.

But if you’ve got any questions on that, give Kaitlin a call. Contact her.

She does respond to TikTok quicker, for some reason. I don’t know what that is.

[01:08:13] Kaitlin Chernyshov:
Thank you. Bye.