Amy Gibbs: Real Estate St. Augustine Beach

REE#149 AUDIO
Amy Gibbs: [00:00:00] Hey, this is Amy Gibbs with Watson Realty. If you're looking to
improve your real estate business, you absolutely need to be listening to the Real Estate
Excellence Podcast with my good friend Tracy Hayes.

Tracy Hayes: Today I have a veteran real estate agent in the studio. She has over 18 years of
experience in real estate in St. Augustine, a a Florida state graduate who had a huge 2022
already off to amazing 23. She has hung her license with one of the [00:01:00] largest real
estate brokerages in the region, Watson Realty.
Let's welcome Amy Gibbs to the show. Good morning. Thanks for having me. thank you for
making the trek all the way up from, St. Augustine Beach. That can be a little trip. better that
schools out. Exactly. Yeah. Makes it a little, little easier. especially coming down this road
here with the three schools.
when I come in the morning during school, yeah, I gotta, I gotta go through at least two
school zones. The middle school's not up yet. it comes later. But appreciate you making the
trip up. And I, like I said before the show, I really want to, with your experiences, A lot of,
I'm sure you've had a lot of trials and tribulations and a lot of successes mm-hmm.
And stuff that, you know, someone, you know, I say you were asked to come in front of the
local board or something and talk to new agents, you know, share some of those things.
Hopefully in our conversation today, you know about some things you did, it didn't work.
You know, some things you'd never try again or don't recommend others, but maybe as we,
you, and I know some people like, like to knock on doors and very successful, other people
[00:02:00] are not successful at it.
So there are just depending on who we are, and I'm sure that's, something you noticed. cuz
one of the questions I will ask you later is what have you learned about yourself? So you
have time to think about that when we get there, but, okay. Let's kick off. Where are you
from?
Amy Gibbs: I am from St. Augustine. I was born in the Flagler Hospital downtown.
That is no longer. Yep. There. Mm-hmm. But, that's where, yeah, I was born and raised in St.
Augustine, Florida. one of the few locals.
Tracy Hayes: And then went to St. Augustine High, I assume? Correct. Okay.
Amy Gibbs: Yeah. There, yeah. There was St. Augustine High and St. Joe. Mm-hmm. They
were building niece or had just built Niece High school when I was there.

Right. So St. Augustine High School was the high school.
Tracy Hayes: The high school. Really? And, and we refer to it as the high school in the
county. Right. I mean, really in St. John's County. Mm-hmm. Because then there was niece
and then I think what Bar Barman? Pano Vira kind of come next somewhere in there. And
Pedro Pedro's.
Yeah. Pedro and Barer Identical Schools. I think they were probably built at the same time.
At the same time, but Yeah. Yeah. back in the good old days. Yeah. Well, I always, I
[00:03:00] live, I live off of two 10 and I, well, we moved here in 2000. My, my wife went to
Florida State. Okay. she's a little bit younger than you and I, she, but she went to,
sandalwood.
but people talk about like, Cole Slate talks about like two 10 being a dirt road. you know, and
it really wasn't that long ago.
Amy Gibbs: No, it wasn't that long ago. Yeah. That's one of the very few places that I've
actually gotta use my navigation. Mm-hmm. Because I'll just turn a corner and there's a new
road Yeah.
That I have never seen before.
Tracy Hayes: So, and, and, and then all, you know, I'm sure you, you're bringing clients now
through the whole Silver Leaf and, and that expansion, there as the, the county. Yes.
Constantly. And, and then obviously you drive anywhere around the county there, there's
more land being cleared mm-hmm.
New roads going in. So you went to Florida State, you nutrition and health was more or less
your major, correct? Right? Mm-hmm. What, what was your aspiration at that time as, as a
young person, what you wanted to do for a career?
Amy Gibbs: you know, I was always interested in the, in the sciences, always interested in
nutrition and, and, you know, kind of that, that field.
And it was an easy direction for me to go. [00:04:00] And once I got into the field, I was
doing personal training up in Connecticut and New York area, and then it just sort of segued
into management of one of the gyms. And then I got on that side of the business. And so it, it
started to change for me, you know, the, the information was still there for me to share with
people and the lifestyle that I wanted, you know, to lead.
Right. But it, it just sort of segued, you know, in different direction in the business. So you
actually
Tracy Hayes: left
Florida

Amy Gibbs: for a little bit? I did leave Florida for a few years, yeah. It was really cold. So
after a few years in a blizzard, you know Yeah. Headed back to Florida. Yeah. so, you know,
at that point I just had kind of, I had changed directions a little bit with where I went with my
degree.
And got into more of a management position and then over time it segwayed once again into
real estate.
Tracy Hayes: Right. Well, so, American Fitness Institute is what I got off your LinkedIn, if I
copied that off there correctly. Mm-hmm. That's, so, that was kind more or less your first
[00:05:00] job out of Florida State, right?
Yeah, yeah. but then you make a jump to Edward Jones mm-hmm. Which is, you know,
you're running your own, I assume you're running your own office there. So there's a little,
you know, obviously you're business savvy there, but going from the fitness and nutrition
where more or less people are coming to you mm-hmm.
To where Edward Jones is a tough racket to, as a someone, you know, they give you that
office, they give you all the training, all the tools, but you gotta get out. Right. And shake
hands and kiss babies, basically. Right. Well, I
Amy Gibbs: will say that when I was at Edward Jones, that was my, that was my temporary
job that lasted for eight years.
Mm-hmm. And I was the, I was the senior branch office administrator, so I was not selling, I
was handling Yeah. The rest of the, the business. Okay. So I was the face you saw when you
walked in the door, but there are only two person offices, so it was very hands on, just like
real estate. You know, you really, it's a relationship business.
Mm-hmm. You have [00:06:00] to get to know, you know, your, your customers, your
clients, everybody's different, has different needs, you know, all of that. So it was, it did
teach me a lot, not only about relationships, which you have to have in any business. Right.
You know, but also taught me a lot of the financial side.
So segueing into real estate after eight years in a brokerage firm was an easy transition as far
as understanding the financial side of, you know, the, that type of business.
Tracy Hayes: I didn't totally lose my train of thought, cuz occasionally I will do that. That's
okay. Cause I always, we all do, I'm always listening to my guests, but the, yeah, the, the
presence of the, of a two person office, you and, and then obviously the senior person who
actually is responsible for, you know, giving people guidance, but also mm-hmm.
Responsible for people bringing, getting in the door at the same time. Mm-hmm. Which is
much like real estate. Right. You know, a hundred percent. and being that aspect of being
out, I think people lose the, Or don't understand [00:07:00] or think, maybe don't necessarily

think about the retail side of things where people walk in your store, store and buy a shirt or
something.
Mm-hmm. Versus you actually having to go out and bring people in. You know, Edward
Jones creates those nice offices and nice, retail locations. Mm-hmm. But the reality is most
of those people are coming in probably on scheduled appointments. They're not just walking
in the door going, Hey, can you have someone, handle my finances for me?
Exactly.
Amy Gibbs: Yeah. Yeah. It's a, and a lot of what we did since it was a two person office is,
you know, we, we would get out and, you know, and ho and host seminars and, and talk to
people and, and what was great about the location that we had, was it, it was in shopping
plaza. Mm-hmm. And there's, you know, there's, it's a traffic.
Yeah. Right? You've got your grocery store, you've got, you know, your hairdresser, your
little restaurants. And so you did start to, you know, we did get people who walked in. At the
door. Mm-hmm. Or there was a lot of word of mouth around that immediate neighborhood,
you know? Yeah. So it was, it was kinda like your neighborhood brokerage.
Yeah. we'd have people that came in every day just to chat. They get their coffee from the
grocery store [00:08:00]
Tracy Hayes: chat. Well, you almost have to, to, create that atmosphere. Mm-hmm. And,
and to talk about how it relates to, to real estate. You create that,it takes a number of touches
to build the credibility.
Mm-hmm. Right? and then, you know, the influence, that you, that you now are, you're their
real estate agent, but to be their finance person, yeah. You need those coffee times. Right,
right. Yeah. You need those, those touches. Cause I think the most people, need financial
advice. They don't get it. It's like most people, a lot of people need a will.
They, they don't have wills. Mm-hmm. unfortunately. but, and you have to go out and
educate. Consistently, which would you agree? I mean, in, in 18 years of, of being in the
business part, a lot of your marketing, at least what's being pushed out there by the top
coaches like the Kristen Maures and, and and so forth, is you have to pour out the education
mm-hmm.
Especially in your social media content and so
Amy Gibbs: forth. Exactly. and that's one of the things that I really try and make sure
whatever I [00:09:00] put out there is doing. Mm-hmm. And actually, you kind of hit the nail
on the head there. It's, it's not, you're not trying to sell your service. You're trying to educate
and provide value and really understand whatever your local market is.

You know, be the expert in that and be able to share that and educate, you know, and, and
make sure that you are taking care of your, you know, your customers, your friends, your
family, whatever questions they have, you know about real estate and taxes and insurance
and whatever the case may be, and, and construction.
You've got to be able to educate them and help them along that path. Mm-hmm. You know,
every person is on a different journey. They're, you know, they're a different station in their
lives. They all need something different. And so the longer that I've been in the business, the
more you, you always see it and you kind of, you, you tailor your relationships with people
based on you know, what they need.
Right. But you [00:10:00] really get better about diving deeper into that, you know, how a
couple communicates with each other and with you and what the dynamics are and what
really, what people, what they need. And everybody needs something different. Yeah. And
they have different risk tolerance. There are different emotional levels.
You know, purchasing and selling a home is typically the largest purchaser sale people make.
It's very emotional. It's a product. You know, we say it's a pr, you know, you're selling your
house, it's fine. Yeah. But, you know,
Tracy Hayes: the, there's another house down the street. Don't worry about
Amy Gibbs: it. This is fine. Yeah. But, you know, you never wanna lose sight of the fact that
this is their home.
Right. Whether it's their primary home, their second home. This is a, a big, you know,
emotional and financial investment for them. And you've gotta be aware of that. So I never,
you know, I, I don't forget that. And I make sure when I sit down with people that I'm not,
I'm not losing sight of the fact that everyone across the table from me is different.
Mm-hmm. And we're gonna work through their [00:11:00] journey, their story with them.
Tracy Hayes: I had Kristen Ashore on a, a few episodes back, and, and she's a national
coach and, has a, has a, has a big business in California. And she brought up some real
interesting, you know, talking about the, you know, That was her statement.
Not that it's rocket science. but we know a lot of our industry people, whether it's on the loan
officer side or the real estate agent side, we don't educate enough. one of the things that, she
said is why to, you know, you won't, with her coaching obviously, which, and I'll get into
what she coaches, but because it's pretty simple, if you don't build the value through the
education mm-hmm.
They just assume you're a commodity. Oh, you're a real estate agent, you're just gonna get
my contract signed. And, and so, and because they're these people, Not spying and selling a
home every year. Mm-hmm. Or, you know, several times a month as you are. they, we have
to break down all the things that you are [00:12:00] actually doing and educating.

Hey, it's important that you know, hey, you've gotta get pre-qualified and get a good lender.
You start there, right? And you're, you're, you know, what are you doing if you're listing the
house, the little things you're doing that no one ever sees, you know, behind the scenes and
educating 'em on that over a course of time to build value.
So when you do go in there and they've seen your social media content or whatever your
marketing materials are, they're like, well, hey, I, Amy is going to do this. She's going to put
my pictures over here. I've seen examples of her previous listings. Mm-hmm. I'm signing the
line, not sitting there negotiating with you what your commission structure is.
Right?
Amy Gibbs: Yeah. And, and you never want things to be a surprise. I mean, in every real
estate transaction, there's gonna be things that come up that. Are not gonna be, you know, in
your perfect little timeline and, you know, and, and how you'd like 'em to go. And, and you
do have to kind of roll with those changes, you know?
Mm-hmm. And, and surprises as they come up. But setting the expectations, educating
whether you're buyers, your [00:13:00] sellers to say, exactly, this is how I work, this is what
you can expect from me. I actually have, and I think most of them actually read it. I try not to
make it overwhelming. I've got a buyer's guide, right?
I've got a pre-listing, you know, guide. And it outlines from start to finish how the process
works. Like you said, how to get pre, pre-qualified, what types of loans there are, you know,
this is how we're going to, this is how the timeline is gonna go to buy. This is how the
timeline is gonna go to sell.
These are all the things that you need to do. These are, these are all the things that I'm going
to do. This is how we're gonna work together to get us from point A to point B. And I put it
in writing. I've got a packet and then start to finish. I actually was showing property a couple
of weeks ago, one of my listings and.
As happens a lot, you know, in St. Augustine and Florida, the buyers from OUTTA state, he
had clearly bought and sold property before. This was not his first, you know, purchase.
Mm-hmm. And I said, well, I, I know this is not your first purchase, but I do have a buyer's
guide and I'd love to share this with you.
Mm-hmm. Tell us a little bit about, you know, [00:14:00] how I work and, and how the
process works. He said, well, you know what he said, I think it's great. He said, I've never
bought property in Florida and it's probably different here Yeah. Than it is in, you know,
Virginia or Colorado or California, wherever they're coming from.
Right. So, those kinds of things, you know, they, they show that I've taken the time to outline
the process to make sure I'm educating you on how it works. And he's right. Every place you
go is a little bit different. So there's always something for them to learn and we never wanna
assume. They know how this is all gonna go.

Tracy Hayes: Right, right. So, well, I mean, the common question obviously on my side is
like, what's the cost gonna be? Depending on what state you're in, there's different cost,
right? we're, we're kind of in the middle here in Florida. Mm-hmm. North Carolina really
cheap. You go to New York, I mean, you play at least twice, right.
what you pay here, how, how is the, what's the customary fees? What, you know, those type
of things. Not that they need a detailed down to the dollar breakdown mm-hmm. But to, to
[00:15:00] realize, you know, who, who's paying, you know, what percentage of the cost
roughly. you know, obviously, you know, things like, you know, on our side is obviously
people, Don't understand that you gotta pay your insurance up front, especially a first time
home buyer.
Mm-hmm. Yeah. You gotta pay your insurance the whole year up upfront. They're gonna
prorate your taxes. So even if I told you that the cost were five grand and you gotta add a
couple thousand dollars more, cuz you know, depending on how big the home and how much
the taxes are. Right. You know, in that area and breaking down.
But I think you'll, you made the statement, you're not sure if they read it or not. It really,
from your side, it really, it's great that they read it, but it's, it's really the gesture that you've
spent the time and done the due diligence that you've broken it down that they needed to
refer to something they've got it right.
Yeah, exactly.
Amy Gibbs: Yeah. So, and it, it does sound like for the most part, you know, the people I've
shared it with have really, you know, they, they've dived into it and they, you know,
appreciate the, the information. Like you said, they can use it as a reference too. Mm-hmm.
You know, what did she say? If I wanna do a VA loan, you know, [00:16:00] What are my
qualifications and, and who do I need to talk to?
Tracy Hayes: Well, you can't touch in, you can't, in that conversation when you're going,
like, say you're going in for a listing appointment and you give 'em, you know, here's my,
what do you call it? The listing guide, what do you call it? Pre-listing. Pre-listing guide.
you're leaving 'em with something in their hand more than just your business card.
Mm-hmm. because you can't, the conversation is not something, although you're physic
they're physically in the house, but what the services you're gonna provide, they can't really
touch and smell that. Right. You're not, they're not going and buying a new car and then
getting the leather seat and they know what it's gonna, you know, feel like when they drive
away.
Mm-hmm. Right. That you are actually leaving them something in their hand, at the end of
the conversation. Exactly.

Amy Gibbs: Yeah. And, you know, and any agent, and there are so many good agents out
there, and, and the relationship between, you know, all of us is, is so important to make this
whole industry work as well.
Yes. But any agent can go into a listing appointment with, with comps, here's what's sold in
your neighborhood. Right. You know, I'd like to list your [00:17:00] house. I have a really
pretty sign, you know, but you, you have to create that, that value. Mm-hmm. And, and it's
about the, you know, building the relationship too.
Mm-hmm. so like I said, there's a, the different dynamic dynamic with every buyer and
seller.
Tracy Hayes: Yeah. You just, we, we would like to think that every referral you get from
your friend as a slam dunk, right. Oh, oh, you were referred by my friend, so they're gonna
list with me. I'm really just gonna go in here and do a little song and dance for five minutes
and they're gonna sign our listing contract.
Right. But for really, when you think about the long term, Relationship. Mm-hmm. That's
your moment to make that person your best friend. It's no longer just Sally's best friend was
referred to you. Mm-hmm. Now this friend is your friend because you spend that little extra
time. Right. And, and, and treat 'em with, I, I think the, the latter or the former, is the typical
agent in why they're, they're not at the, the top levels is to take a few minutes and make one
of these buyers guides.
Cuz you can, it's not [00:18:00] like you're recreating it every time you go to an appointment.
Right. You're creating it once. There's a lot of agents like yourself that probably have a
template. There's thousands of templates out there that you can get to take a few minutes and
build that and make that part of your marketing.
Right. You know,
Amy Gibbs: it's like you said, it's taking the time to do it and that does resonate with the
people you share it with. Yeah. You took the time, you know, to really make, take this
process seriously and share that with them and answer any questions that they have.
Tracy Hayes: All right. So you're at, you're, you are at Ed Edward Jones for eight years.
Mm-hmm. When do you start getting a taste for real estate? What, what, what you make that
break here.
Amy Gibbs: Well, I will say that just from the GetGo, I'm not a sit at a desk, eight hours a
day person. And somehow I did that for eight years. So for
Tracy Hayes: me, I never thought I was a cubicle person until I started working at Quicken
Loans.

Additionally, without in cubes, I was like, okay,
Amy Gibbs: I need the change of scenery. Yeah. So it was just, you know, it was at a time
[00:19:00] where, you know, family was growing. I'm sitting at this desk, I'm like, you know,
I, I need to get out of this desk. I need to have something that's more, and, you know, at the
time you say flexible mm-hmm.
Which that, you know, that's a myth, a big old myth. but, you know, it was, it was time for a
change on a lot of levels. Right. And so, you know, I got my license and, you know, we had
little ones at home and, you know, the business kind of grew as they grew and, you know,
it's, it's always been a part of. My family's life too.
They know when I'm on a work call mm-hmm. You know, when they're this big, I'm like on
a work phone call. Yeah. So there was a lot of juggling for a long time, but yeah.
Tracy Hayes: Where the phone rings shut up work, call mute the
Amy Gibbs: tv. Yeah. Yeah. So it was, it was just, you know, it was time, it was time to get
out from, you know, behind a desk.
You know, even now call it my cave. Sometimes I need to go in the cave at my office.
Mm-hmm. And just have quiet, get all my work done. But I'm kind of, [00:20:00] I'm best on
the show. But what,
Tracy Hayes: did you meet some real estate agents while you were at Edward Jones? I
mean, what kind of like, give you that thought? Because it's a totally
Amy Gibbs: different industry.
Right. They, there were always real estate agents that had accounts there too. Okay. You
know, so I would talk to 'em and kind of got a feel for what they were doing. And I, you
know, and that intrigued. Me, and like I said, the financial side that I really, you know, was
comfortable with, from being exposed to the Edward Jones investment side of it.
I felt that I could comfortably transition into that. And also being from St. Augustine, I'm
like, I know this market. You know, I've, I've lived in this market and I can really, educate
people on, you know, on the city and the town and the beaches and the Texas and the, you
know, and hurricanes and all, I mean, all of the different levels of what it means to live here
and, and the school systems and, and all of that.
I felt like I really had a solid foundation to be able to go out and comfortably do that. And
the selling [00:21:00] part really wasn't ever anything that I really focused on. I didn't feel
like I was ever a salesperson. Mm-hmm. I mean, I, I formed relationships and I knew my
market and you, and you still learn things.

You know, I would try to learn something from the home inspector every time, or the lender
every time, you know, or the insurance company. Every time I would ask questions just for
my own, you know? Right. Education. And that way it, it just kept layering. And so I was
able to share more and more with buyers and sellers and connect them with more and more
people who could, you know Right.
Answer those questions more deeply if I couldn't.
Tracy Hayes: So, I always, always ask this question, if you've listened to my shows, that I
always like to talk about that first. Cause I think everyone's first 12, maybe 24 months,
depending on the individual and who they match up with. Mm-hmm. You as far as
brokerage.
you started, it was about, we forget about 2005. 2005. February, 2005. I'm for your LinkedIn
because I started, I started in, I started in the loan business in September, 2005. Oh, okay. So,
The first [00:22:00] brokerage that you went to mm-hmm. which you, you mentioned he sold
off and no longer with, no longer in business.
But I mean, did you choose that just because, I mean, you knew them or a friend was there.
What, what was your choice of first brokerage? I mean, did you even think about other, any
other brokerages in 2005 to Right. Yeah.
Amy Gibbs: the things that drew me to that brokerage, and of course the business has
changed drastically mm-hmm.
Since then. Yeah. But, I did know the broker. I had met him through some mutual friends. he
went to high school with two of my aunts. It's a still Yes. You know, so I knew him. I knew
his Another
Tracy Hayes: Saint Augustinian.
Amy Gibbs: Exactly. So I not only knew him, but I knew his reputation, which was
important. Mm-hmm. we, the offices were located right in the historic district downtown,
and that was at a time where people would walk in.
Yeah, you had, you had people just walk in the phone would ring all the time. You know, it,
it was just a very different dynamic. So location was really important there too, because you
would get business that just walked [00:23:00] in in the door. Yeah. You would get Flagler
parents whose kids, you know, they wanted to buy a house for the kids to live in while they
were there.
Or you would get, people say, I've vacationed here for the last 20 years, I would love to buy a
house and retire here. Mm-hmm. You know, so it was, it was a combination of things. I, I
liked the people that, that worked in that brokerage. very localized. And it was a great
location and it was just, it was a good place to, to learn the business.

Right. So he was a very hands-on, he was a selling broker, but also very hands on with
whatever he needed. Well,
Tracy Hayes: you're at Watson now. Mm-hmm. Watson has, you know, really if anyone.
You know, what's his business plan is really bringing in new agents. You're the experience
agent that comes over when you look at what these agents are getting today from Watson
structure and training and, and a lot of things I obviously have mm-hmm.
A, a great, broker like Beth down there, versus you coming in mm-hmm. In 2005, the tools
that you had to work with. Wow.
Amy Gibbs: Yeah. Apples and oranges. [00:24:00] Yeah. And when I did, decide to make
the, the switch when the other brokerage was, you know, was being sold, that was a huge
reason that I went to Watson is because I had, I had been very hands on in every single
aspect of design and post hole digging and, you know, I mean mm-hmm.
Everything that I did for my business, I did. Right. And Watson just had so many resources
for me. That still take, you know, take effort and hands on time with my part. But there are so
many things there that are tools and education that help me take the pressure off of me and
help me focus more on customers.
Yeah. and it's wonderful and, and they're always changing and upgrading and, you know, and
it takes that pressure off you to say, oh my goodness, what am I gonna, you know, how am I
gonna design this? Or who, you know, how am I gonna send this mailing out? And I mean,
just little things that take hours out of your day.
Tracy Hayes: To touch on that a little bit, cause I think one of the challenges, and, and again
talking to, [00:25:00] you know, 130, 40 of the top agents in the area, you know, a lot of
them, you know, the newcomer group, Sadie and Luke run here, one of their. regrets was
they didn't hire the assistant a year earlier to take some of these tasks off that maybe
mm-hmm.
In this case, Watson's taking off for you because of their, their infrastructure that they already
have as a, as a larger corporation. Right. What are some of, what are some of those things
that they, they kind of took off you to, to free up some of your time to spend on more income
producing activities?
Amy Gibbs: Gosh, there's a lot. and it's funny because I've, I'm so used to kind of doing
everything myself. Mm-hmm. There's probably things that I
Tracy Hayes: Oh, yeah, yeah. Some of the big, some of the bigger things. Yeah.
Amy Gibbs: I just do it. I mean, you know, they've got, I mean, if I wanted to do, I know it
sounds silly, but if I wanna do a postcard mailing before mm-hmm.

I was designing the postcard mailing. I am not a graphic artist. Right. I never have been. I
never will be, you know? Right. But, and you know, they've got templates or design your
own and you say, I wanna do a bulk mailing to this radius [00:26:00] and boom. Gone.
Right. I'm like, okay, well that took 10 minutes versus. Me trying to figure out how to design
it, you know what I mean?
Yeah. And so they've got a lot of marketing resources. They've got a lot of, social media
resources that I can either build on or customize, and I do my own as well. Mm-hmm. But
there's always those resources you can go back to and use. they do a ton of training, both for
new agents and for agents, you know, moving along through the process or more experienced
agents.
So there's always new training, new things to learn, new platforms that they give us access
to, to make our job easy, to gather data for market analysis or whatever it is. I mean, there's
just, they're constantly trying to improve the resources that they can provide. Mm-hmm. Us.
And, you know, you, you take the time to do, you know, some training sessions on 'em, and
then you've got another tool in your, you know, in your toolbox that just makes your job
easier.
And I don't ever have to dig another. Four by four post hole Canada.
Tracy Hayes: That's great. Beth's got somebody running around doing that for you? Yeah.
Okay.[00:27:00] the office. Mm-hmm. Obviously, you know, there's Florida Homes, there's
E X P. Mm-hmm. Now there's real, out there from the virtual side. You've been doing this 18
years.
Mm-hmm. If, if they got rid of offices, you could probably still survive cuz you've been
doing it. How important though, is it for you in your mindset, the way you do business
mm-hmm. To have that office, to be able to go in there and, you know, chat with Beth or the
other top agents mm-hmm. Of your ideas.
How, how much is that? How important is that? To
Amy Gibbs: me it's very important because our business a lot is, you know, we run our
business like I run my business, you know, and, and each other agent runs their own
business. But the group that we've got there in our office, everyone is so supportive of the
other.
And if you're stuck on something, someone's always there to help you, you know? And if I'm
running through the office and there's a newer agent, you know, deer in the headlights, right.
In the first [00:28:00] contract. Mm-hmm. You know, and if it's on the weekend and I'm like,
just I got this sit down. Yeah, no, we're gonna, we're gonna walk you through this, we're
gonna, and so, right.
You know, you, you take over your opportunity, you can to help others, you know, the way
that you would wanna be helped and that other people have helped me through the year.

Right. So it's a, it's a really supportive, fun group in there. And, it's a place that I do like to,
to go and it's a great place to be able to, you know, to bring customers to.
And if there's any other, if I'm, you know, up in Green Cove or Orange Park, or, you know,
down in Flagler and I need an office to meet customers at, then Watson welcome. There's a
Watson office not too far away. There's a Watson office somewhere with a nice conference
room and you can sit down and, and make everybody feel, you know, feel at home.
So it's a really good atmosphere there.
Tracy Hayes: You're, you're out the St. Augustine Beach. Mm-hmm. There's, I think there's
a, well, St. Augustine has a lot of unique things about it, because how old it is. Mm-hmm.
and obviously if you're in the older sections, if you go out and you're in this, you know,
cookie cutter subdivision that [00:29:00] are being built today, it's a little easier.
How important when you're able to walk in that office? Because I imagine you've probably
come across transactions along the beach because of different code where the house was
built. Mm-hmm. Different situations like that. I mean, do, do you, can you remember
something where you kind of ran across one of those?
gotcha. Like n you know, if you didn't really talk to the seller, study the property, you know,
most agents would've, just sold the property and not told the buyers, oh, by the way, you
don't have beach access, or whatever. Mm-hmm. It might be right. I mean, there's a lot of
unique things down
Amy Gibbs: there.
Exactly. And I will say it happens. All of the time because every single property down there
is, is different. Yeah. You know, when it was built, where it was built, like you said, where
the Beach Xs are, are you in the city, the county, the city of St. Augustine Beach? yes. What
you're zoning allows as far as short term rentals.
And every zoning is different within each of [00:30:00] those three categories. I mean,
there's so many little minute details that I need to be well versed on. Right. And so every
single one of those is different. I mean, I'm the, you know, I always tell my buyers, I'm like,
okay, you guys walk in, look at all the shiny things.
Mm-hmm. Because that is fun. And that, that's what, you know, looking at houses is, is, you
know, is fun, but I'm gonna be looking under the sink. I'm gonna tell you if there's copper
plumbing. Right. And I'm gonna look at your electric panel, I'm gonna tell you whether it's
insurable. I said, you know, and then we're gonna meet that because So those houses are that
old.
Yeah. Yeah. And I said, and, and so agents have to know those things. It's not, it's not look at
three houses and, you know, and pick one. I mean, so you've. You know, you say, was there

one instance? It's kind of every deal, and I do a lot on the island and I do, you know, I, I'll
sell real estate anywhere in St.
John's County and I go out of the county when I've got customers that, that need to do that.
But it's, yeah, it, it's a lot of information that is so important for them as a [00:31:00] seller or
a buyer to understand and how it affects the value of the property and how it affects how
they're gonna be able to live in the property.
Yeah. Yeah. So there's a lot of layers.
Tracy Hayes: Yeah. No, I had a, I had a guest on, and he was ex, one of them, he had a
beach property and he went and did the due diligence to find out people were using the
access because they were allowed to. But when that access property was purchased by
someone else, they, they didn't have access and.
Unless they were, you know, had an agreement. None of these, it was just, they allowed it so
everyone assumed that they could have access. Mm-hmm. And if you're not doing your due
diligence, you're buying that house and paying that extra money cuz you think you have
access. Right. When really you don't. So,
Amy Gibbs: and you use the word assume.
I tell people that all the time. Yeah. I said, you know, well now one would assume, you know,
logically, that this would be the answer. But, you know, we all get in trouble when we
assume, so we're not gonna do that. Yeah. We're gonna find the answer, you know, is this a
public right of way, or is [00:32:00] this privately owned?
Or, you know, what you, like you said what you do and don't have access to. So mm-hmm.
There's the, the
Tracy Hayes: Airbnb Have you run into, you know, I know, what's it St. Augustine Beach is,
is it a hundred permits or something? Is that mm-hmm. So, you know, I've had. I know it's
happening. I could just, we can just statistically figure it's happening.
You have agents who are not readily doing business there. Mm-hmm. Bringing buyers there,
not realizing they're looking for an Airbnb, realizing unless there's an actual Airbnb that's
selling that permit. I mean, can they sell that permit to the next seller? Right. They can. So,
and
Amy Gibbs: it's different. The, the beach has different rules and the city has different rules
in the county, has different rules.
Yeah. So in some areas, yes, the permit can go with the home and in others the permit goes
with the owner. Mm-hmm. So, yeah, there's a lot of moving parts. I mean, we get calls all the
time, you know, I mean, Florida's a great state and people wanna live here, you know, and St.
John's County's the number one to rated school districts in the state.

I mean, there's so many reasons that people come, you know, to Florida. [00:33:00] But,
yeah, you'll get a call and they say, okay, I would, you know, we'd love to move here. we're
gonna Airbnb it until we retire. and you know, we like something with a pool walking
distance to the beach and we wanna spend under, you know mm-hmm.
X and you just go, okay, well you, you know, if you wanna live in it or if you want to Airbnb
it and you want to be here, there's so many moving parts. What you've told me is not
necessarily gonna line up altogether. So what are the ma, you know? Yeah. What are your
must haves? Because if you wanna live here, that's not your Airbnb.
Or if you want your price point, we can go over the bridge. Right. You know, and we can get
you that. But that's not as good of an Airbnb Right. Area. Right. You know, so I think people
just assume they can kind of do whatever they want with their property down here and that's
starts
Tracy Hayes: the education. About five years ago, you probably could, but now you can't.
No. Yeah, yeah. No, cause they continue to battle down there, but so it's so very important.
you know, I, having been, I was on the Affordable Housing Advisory Committee for St.
John's County and these kind of discussions [00:34:00] were had and, you know, brought up,
I mean, yeah, you, whether you're downtown or you're at the beach, like you said, the county,
every, you need a real estate agent who's educated on those things.
Mm-hmm. Otherwise, you're gonna invest a lot of money or invest a lot of time. Hopefully
you find out before you buy it. You know that, oh, I can't get a permit. Okay, I don't wanna
buy. But you buy the house and then find out, oh, I can't air a bb cuz I don't have a permit.
Right. Or you get that nasty letter from the, from the city saying, Hey, you're Airbnb and you
don't have a permit.
Amy Gibbs: Right? Yeah. Rs, RS one or RG one, it makes a difference. Yeah. You know?
Yeah. So,
Tracy Hayes: but going back to that first year, or, or, and, and we can, necessarily, not
necessarily just that first 12 months, but I mean, your, your initial, get together. Tell us the
story, you know, what it took, how it got started, you know, when did you get your first sale?
Was it, was it easy first? Talk about some of those, stresses. I mean, how many times did you
like say, I'm gonna, I, I don't wanna do this anymore. Is this for me? Yeah. Kind of go
through and, and then what did you do to kind of overcome [00:35:00] some of those things?
Amy Gibbs: Well, obviously since 2005 the market has changed.
Mm-hmm. Drastically. And it continues to change. I mean, that's the one constant in real
estate is it is gonna change. You know, there's ebbs and flows, there's ups and downs. When I
started in 2005, it was a bit of a frenzied market. Mm-hmm. you know, lending was

Tracy Hayes: footloose and fancy for, there you go. There
Amy Gibbs: we go.
Thank you for finishing that one for me. you know, they were stated income loans and I
mean, and you know, every, anybody could get as much money as they wanted and buy
whatever they wanted, interest only. But, so as far as starting in 2005, I thought this is
fabulous, you know? Mm-hmm. People were buying things sight unseen and, you know, and,
and I was just like, wow, I should have done this 10 years ago.
Mm-hmm. This is, you know, this is great. 2005, 2006, the mark is just rolling and rolling
and sellers can ask whatever they want and buyers were paying for it, and then the recession.
Mm-hmm. So I started kind of at the top of the hill. Yeah, we just rode that for a little while.
Tracy Hayes: And then, but you got some ba you got some at bats.
Yes. Initially yes. To [00:36:00] understand how the business was working.
Amy Gibbs: Exactly. Yeah. So, you know, it was a good way to get some sales under my
belt. And I was learning as I went and my broker was, you know, was, was walking me
through some of those things. Mm-hmm. And there were also some really great agents, you
know, that if you were there, you know, and needed help, they'd jump in and say, okay, you
know, yeah.
This is what you need to do. So I learned a lot and felt that with every listing, every sale, that
you know, that you got better and better and more comfortable mm-hmm. With that side of
the business. But, and you know, and, and then it changed and then you go, okay, well people
still have to buy and sell property, whether it's the top of the market, the bottom of the
market, or somewhere in between.
Now the recession was, that was tough, but there are still people that had families that grew,
who retired and wanted to downsize, who changed jobs, you know what I mean? There's
always gonna be these life events that create a need to buy or sell property. So you focus on
that. I also became really, educated and an an expert on [00:37:00] selling short sales.
I listed foreclosures, I, I adjusted with the market. Mm-hmm. Say, okay, where's the market
going and how can I fit into that? So with each of those different phases of the market, back
in the early two thousands, I learned a whole different aspect of the market. And so now
when they do come up, or even somebody, if somebody asks, you know, or has a question
about foreclosures and how they work, I've got you covered.
Yeah. You know, and so that first 10 years, I mean, the market was all over the place from
the best to the worst and everywhere in between. Right. And so it gave me an opportunity to
learn so much. I mean, was it tough and was, you know, Was the income always there? Not
so

Tracy Hayes: much. Those short sales weren't closing overnight.
Who? They were not short. Yeah. No. Yeah. I mean they would, could take months and
months before you even find out an answer. Right? Yeah.
Amy Gibbs: So, but you had, I mean, that's where the market was. Mm-hmm. So you either
learned that and you know, and grew with the market and changed with the market, or you
just kind of [00:38:00] sat and waited for it to get good again.
Right. So that's one of the things that has been challenging, but also really rewarding in the
last 18 years, is really just changing with the market. You know, you get up and go, okay,
well that, yeah, that's over.
Tracy Hayes: What are we doing next? Or, I mean, there's been consistent talk. You know,
obviously we live in a, now a very unique situation here.
I think there's a few places in the country where we are, we have people moving in.
Mm-hmm. Even with the interest rates as high as they are. Mm-hmm. And the prices are
high because the demand is high. and inventory's low and employment's really good here.
Mm-hmm. Where I think other parts of the country, they're not so well off, is why some of
'em, you know, wanna move, here, but,you know, again, again, having that, ability to adapt
or, or was I was gonna get it to, is, you know, oh, we're gonna go into recessions, housing
practices are gonna drop, we're gonna go back to short sales and foreclosures.
Well, I mean, obviously when they mentioned that you're like, whatever, I've done that. I
imagine that was your, your reaction that happen. I [00:39:00] don't happen, but you know, if
it does, I, I'm ready. Right. Because obviously you and I know 95% of the real estate agents
out there right now, were not here in that period of time.
Mm-hmm. Or fell out at that time and never came back. you know, as a lot of industries, the
builders were one of those things. A lot of the tradesmen, when the collapse happened, there
was a period of time where there was like five years there before the, the building started to
come back up to where it was at its lowest it had ever been the previous 50 years.
Right. It went below that and a lot of those tradesmen went off and started doing other type
of work and that, you know, so we're short on those type of people. Right. And never came
back to that. Yeah. Yeah. Industry. Just a little side note there. Mm-hmm. During your, your,
your time, it sounds, you had, you joined a brokerage with, some, a senior agent who had
probably had 20 years on it before you, you know, did it or had some of those people in the
office downtown, mentors and coaches mm-hmm.
Over the years. Can you, and if you wanna mention names and call them out, that'd be great.
But, [00:40:00] how, how important, you know, did you, were you able to, you know, really
meet up, with some other agents that, you know, like you said in the office, you're, you're the
senior agent in the office at Watson. I mean, you're one of them.

Yeah. But when you've the, you know, 2005 to 2015 mm-hmm. You know, you're, you're
growing, and of course the business changed in seven and eight, nine, and you're doing the
short sales. Was there some people in your, in the business that you looked towards for
coaching and mentoring?
Amy Gibbs: I would say, yeah. my.
First broker, his name was Roy Barnes. Mm-hmm. And, he just, he was a relationship, you
know, businessman and, and just like my business has evolved into it over the years, you're
doing business with a lot of the same people over and over again, and, and they're referring
business to you. And, he was just very hands on, took his time, educated buyers and sellers,
set high expectations for himself on [00:41:00] how he was gonna handle the deal.
Mm-hmm. And, and followed through with that. so he was always, no matter how, you
know, maybe I thought obscure or small, my question was, Half an hour later, we were still
discussing it. So it was great. I mean, you know, and I, I was like, okay, well you answered
questions. I didn't even know what I was gonna ask.
Right,
Tracy Hayes: exactly. So those are good. So those 20, that's good coach. Yeah. Those who
knows what's around the corner before you get there. Exactly. And you
Amy Gibbs: go, wow, that's a lot to take in. But you know, but you did. Right. and you try to
remember all that and, and, you know, and suck it away. and, you know, there were another
few agents that had, you know, been there a little bit longer than I had.
Mm-hmm. Gail Jones was one of 'em. She was great too. I shared an office with her, just
really, again, took time with, you know, with her customers. Educated, very level headed,
very thorough. Very concise. And so whenever I, you know, kind of felt like I was veering
off somewhere and, and was losing a handle, you know, on mm-hmm.
What I was doing. She's somebody I could just say, Hey, can you look at this real [00:42:00]
quick? And she, you know, she would talk me through, through some things. so yeah, they
were both great to work. Mm-hmm. With, and there were a lot of good other agencies. It was
a smaller office, so there weren't 50, you know.
Tracy Hayes: Right. But,you know, sir, at Watson, you see these new agents come in every
month. Mm-hmm. and so forth. if you had a, friend in another state or maybe somewhere
else, and they, and they, they, they joined a brokerage. Maybe it's Watson. Mm-hmm. You
know, maybe, so you weren't necessarily there in the office.
How would you, Express to them or tell them what really, you know, as a senior agent now,
the importance of, of that, that new agent to, to approach some of the, the senior agents.
Mm-hmm. Because most of them that I've talked to they're all about collaboration and they
do want to pour into you.

Mm-hmm. people, you know, whether an ego thing or everything that they want. You know,
someone comes and asks them a question they feel like, you know, they're being looked up
to. Right. We all want to be, want to be looked up to and, and feel that we we're, we're
knowledgeable, but for that new agent, how important is then to, to [00:43:00] really
consistently have conversations, with these senior agents, right.
To really grow their, their education and get really the, you know, you have the education at
the, at the board, but really the educations in those conversations,
Amy Gibbs: It's, yeah. Yeah. It's the, the boots on the Yeah. Yeah. On the road. It's so
important. And, you know, and when there are new agents that either come to me with the
questions or Beth will say, Hey, can you know, would you mind spending some time with,
you know, this person?
Mm-hmm. And I'm always happy to do that, and I'll take calls and emails. We'll sit down
and, you know, even walking through learning systems, you know, which you do in training,
but you get a lot of training in the beginning. Right. And sometimes you're like, and then you
Tracy Hayes: get the contract and then you,
Amy Gibbs: yeah. I need to relearn this over again.
Yeah. But it's, it's so important and it's important for senior agents to, to see and recognize
that if you see a new agent who's just, you know, who is struggling or has questions and take
the time to help them. And it's important for the newer agents not to be, you know,
apprehensive about [00:44:00] asking Yeah.
You know, question. And senior agents, I mean, we, we ask each other stuff all the time.
Right. You know, so it, you just have, you've got to learn to bounce things off. We are all
running our own business, but we can all still be there to support each other.
Tracy Hayes: Because the natural thing is that you're, you know, even though you're, you're
wearing the, the Watson logo, you're still Amy Gibbs and that's still Sally Smith.
And Sally Smith sees you, you know, you guys are working the same general market
mm-hmm. As a, as a competitor.
[00:45:00]
Tracy Hayes: you know, in your mindset as a real estate agent, you can't see the other, the
other agents. Yes. They are competition because yes, they would like to get that listing too.
Mm-hmm. But how you earn that listing is really you, you, as that person is bonding with
you, whether Right.
It's because you're a male or a female, or you went to Florida State or whatever it is.
Mm-hmm. Or you don't know why people choose other agents. Right. But for them to,

duplicate, you know, check out your buyer's guide. Mm-hmm. Make it theirs, you know, just
to take those things, take the little things that you're doing, take this other senior agents what
they're doing and make it yours.
Mm-hmm. And, and you're, you gotta go out there and, and brand yourself. And it's really
not the other agents that are necessarily your, your direct competition, they're actually more
[00:46:00] allies to you than they are, than they are competition and moving your business
along.
Amy Gibbs: Right. Because we all have our own sphere of influence.
Mm-hmm. We all have our own friends, family, neighbors, you know, whatever, you know,
social networking groups you're a part of, or, you know, organizations. I mean, everybody
has their own, I'm gonna, I'll say tribe, you know? Yeah, yeah. And so are, is there some
overlap and does everybody know 10 realtors? Yes.
But we all have our own relationships with our own groups of people. And as far as sharing
and collaborating, The better we all can present ourselves and our individual businesses to
the general public, the better it is for the entire industry. So I don't feel like any of the other
agents in my office, whether they're new or senior, it, you know, it doesn't matter to me.
Mm-hmm. I don't feel like their, their competition, they have a different sphere of influence.
They've got a different group of people that they know they interact with, who are they're
gonna get repeat business from, who are gonna refer them to other people. And I have my
group of [00:47:00] people that Yeah. That does that.
so that's one of the things that's important to remember as a realtor, whether it's another
realtor in your company or with another company. One, we all have to work together to make
a deal come together. Yes. You know, you've You've got somebody working with a buyer,
somebody working with a seller. We have to work together and make that transaction run
smoothly.
We are not competitors. We are working together, you know, for that transaction. Mm-hmm.
And so, The agents that are in my office or that I work with on a regular basis outside of my
office, we understand that and there's a relationship and a professional courtesy that we owe
each other Right. To, you know, to facilitate.
Tracy Hayes: Now I know, I know you've run across some difficult, I'm gonna call 'em
partners, cuz I think you're partners when you're in a transaction together mm-hmm. Buying,
selling, and you're, you're partnering up with them with an end goal. Mm-hmm. Some are a
little more difficult than others. Have you found over the years, to take some time to go to
[00:48:00] some of the social events, to kind of, to really actually to meet some of the other
realtors?
Mm-hmm. And I, and I like asking this question because,Patty Ketchum, everyone knows
Patty's probably one of the best real estate instructors in the state. Yeah. And, and on the, on

the, real estate board at the Tallahassee, she said, you know, she regrets the first 10 years of
her career, not spending more time at the board.
amazingly as far as she's gone in her career and her leadership mm-hmm. That really the first
10 years she did not actually, she goes, you, you didn't, I didn't put a shadow on the door of
the, of the border realtor. She just was doing her own thing, but she regrets that because of
the relationships that she could have had, but of what we just talked about, whether it's a
person being on the other side of the deal mm-hmm.
That knows you, you've met, maybe had a coffee together, whatever, went to a social, but
you guys, you, you've face to face. Mm-hmm. Or obviously, you know, being under a great
brokerage like Beth, and, and everyone knows Beth and knows, you know, the people that
are under her, so that gives you credibility too.[00:49:00]
Mm-hmm. But having that relationship when it comes to some of these, yeah. Obviously
we've got still getting multiple offers on houses and so forth. Who's dealing? I'm, I'm going,
to accept, but also the relationship that you could go, oh, you know what? I know this agent,
she handles Pan Avira Beach all the time.
I met her at a. Board function or social, let me call her because my client wants to sell or buy
over there for some of advice on, you know, what's going on in that area of town. Right,
right. That kind of thing. How, you know, for, for these agents to, again, to, inspire some of
these new agents. Mm-hmm.
Really to dig in as the agents, the other agents are your allies and you can learn more from
them than there ever be a competition.
Amy Gibbs: Right. Yeah, absolutely. And I would say, you know, for the record, Patty and I
were in the same club for the first 10 years. Mm-hmm. I mean, I had two itty bitty kids and I
was not, you know, the time to go to some of those functions Yeah.
Which is not there. But you did take the opportunity to get to know the agents on the other
side of [00:50:00] the deal, even if it was just over the phone. You, you know, as you went
through the deal, you got to know those people and you formed those relationships.
Mm-hmm. So it was a little more, you know, Hands, not hands off, but a, you know, a little
more distance.
I was not getting to all of the functions. but you know, I just, I built those relationships
different. Well, now at
Tracy Hayes: 18 years, a different, if you were 18 months, you, you know, you'd want to,
you know, 18 years now, you just through just natural progression. Yeah. Everyone has
gotten to know you
Amy Gibbs: and, and over the years there's always, you know, the agents that call that
you've talked to, you know Yeah.

A hundred times. And there's the agent that calls that you've never talked to before. I'm
working on a, a deal now with an agent who's, you know, she said, I'm newer. I said, okay. I
mean, the first thing I'll do, I, it doesn't matter to me,
Tracy Hayes: it's that they actually said that versus just being com. Cause I think the n the
normal thing is when people don't know something mm-hmm.
They can get, defensive or something because they're defend, they're trying to defend their
selves cuz they, they [00:51:00] don't know. Mm-hmm The fact she's coming that this other
agent's coming out and saying, I'm newer already. And that helps me. I wanna work with
you, help me. Right. You know,
Amy Gibbs: guide me. Yeah. And that helps me because one, I I kind of know, you know,
where she is in her career mm-hmm.
And how I can help her, and how we can work together to, you know, to get the deal done.
And Absolutely, I'll send you a reminder. I'll send you, you know, I'll walk you through
something. Do you have questions about it? I mean, go ask your broker if it's something
that's, you know, a little more complicated, you're more comfortable with.
But I by all means I've never met her before. Mm-hmm. But we're building this relationship
with this contract, and I'll help her through it in any way I can
Tracy Hayes: to put yourself in, you know, apple came out with their new virtual reality
glasses yesterday for $3,500. So to put yourself into the virtual reality mm-hmm.
Of a real estate transaction that, Some agents that are, that, I'm gonna use the word
combative or just hard to work [00:52:00] with. Mm-hmm. do. They almost, sometimes you
think they feel like you're trying to get one over on them. I mean, because ultimately it's their
sellers who are choosing, Hey, I'll, all right, yeah.
I'll take that offer and go. That's their choice. That's not the agent's choice. Right. And it
doesn't take anything away from their, oh, you didn't sell it for the asking price. You sold it
for, you know, $10,000 less. Mm-hmm. Okay. Who cares? You sold the house. It, the seller,
the seller seller's choice. The seller sold it.
Right. The seller said it's okay to drop because you probably overpriced it already.
Mm-hmm. Anyway, right now in this market. But to have that mindset that, you know, you
might be, you know, telling this new agent, I don't know, maybe would you or would you not
tell her, you know, you know, here's our offer and here's why.
Right, right. So if that agent's good. They everyone, they're their seller and say they're
offering this. They do have, you know, here's their reasoning. Mm-hmm. Do you want to sell
it for that? Right. That's their choice. Don't the, I think, would you agree? Some people be
like, think you're [00:53:00] like trying to steal something from them.

Yes. Yeah. Because you're offering a little bit lower price and have reasons
Amy Gibbs: why. Right. Yeah. And, and you do get agents on, you know, on both sides of
the, the deal that I think become a little bit, you know, can become not personally involved.
What's, I'm trying to think of, but I emotionally Yeah. Offended.
Yeah. Bigger offer, I say. Okay. And like you said, I always tell my buyers that, okay, so if
it's listed at 500 and you wanna offer 4 25, we have to be able to say why. Mm-hmm. Yeah.
You know, and okay, well everything else is sold for, you know, Yeah. 4 25 and yours is
exactly the same, or whatever the case is.
Never that simple. But yeah. You know, I say we always have to, to come with a why. Yeah.
And when you, you know, when you do run across an agent, which is rare, but it, it happens,
I mean, just like buyers and sellers, everybody's got a different personality, so you just have
to roll with
Tracy Hayes: it. Right. and you, and you are, you're representing the buyer there and you're
offering 4 25, you're probably already cringing.
Right. You're right. Going, they want 500, 4 25. unless someone just, you know, cuz I have
seen some people in even my neighborhood, St. John's Golf and Country go [00:54:00] list a
house for a million million three and it was at best eight or nine. You know, it's like, it's,
we're offering eight 50. Yeah. They're hoping some California buyer comes in like totally
blind and just says, oh yeah, I want that house.
Yeah.
Amy Gibbs: Yeah. So sometimes you ha Yeah. I mean, sometimes you have to remind an
agent in a nice way. Mm-hmm. You know, our role as a transaction broker. Yeah. Okay. Well.
We're transaction brokers. Tell me if you're not, if you're a single agent, but otherwise we're
transaction brokers and this is what our responsibilities are.
Yeah. And I've presented an offer with context and with, you know, with data, and this is
why we're offering this. If, just present it to your sellers and let me know what they say.
Tracy Hayes: Counter, yeah. Just please counter. Yeah.
Amy Gibbs: And if you have a counter and could substantiate your counter, then yeah.
Tracy Hayes: Then go for it.
Because would you agree? I mean, you've done enough transactions, that when it's all said,
when, when, when they finally agree. Mm-hmm. You, you, you're gone through that
negotiate. Okay, we agree. We got a contract, we're gonna sell it for this, this, whatever The
[00:55:00] deal is. The deal is the deal. Mm-hmm. We're, we're going for, at that point, the
animosity is over.

Because if they, they felt that they, oh, I'm paying too much, or I'm selling too low, they
would've just said no. Right. And then you never would've ha But when they signed the
contract, they're making that choice. They do. And it's, no, it's now no longer. Your
responsibility, you know, you negotiated it back and forth for them.
Mm-hmm. Okay. Everyone agreed that boom. All right, we're done with that part. Let it go.
Let's moves, move on. Exactly. Yeah. Move on to the inspection and then it gets real. Yeah.
Knowing what you know now, and you serious, what, what are, again, you, you, you've had
some new agents come in and maybe you've talked to some recently or working with some
now.
Mm-hmm. What are, what are three, three things that you would tell a new agent today that
they should be doing?
Amy Gibbs: Number one, it's really getting out and talking to people. Creating your sphere
of influence [00:56:00] and creating value for those people. You know, not just, I'm wearing
my name tag, here's my card, call me if you need to sell.
But really, and, and to kind of preempt that, you know, maybe number two is really take your
time, talk to other agents. Learn your market. Talk to the property appraiser, talk to the city
officials. I mean, learn as much as you can to really be able to understand whatever market it
is you want to focus in.
So learn your market, get out there and meet people. Create values. Start creating
relationships and start asking the right questions, to the people that you're talking to, to find
out where they are in their life. If they're thinking of downsizing or upsizing or their parents
are moving down or their, you know, their kids are moving away and they wanna downsize,
get to know people and be able to help guide them into that real estate process and be the
person that they think of that's top of mind when they do get to that mm-hmm.
That point you'll learn. I mean, you know, you just, you need to ask questions and get to
know [00:57:00] people and, and then you're there for 'em. And it's an easy transition when
it's time to, to buy or sell for their friends to buy or sell. I've got so many customers when I
update, you know, my, my database and make sure I've got everybody there and organized.
Mm-hmm. There's so many people over the years. That I've just done deals with over and
over and over. And then their sister, and then their sister's friend, and then the friend has
three cousins. Right. I mean, it just, you know, it just kind of keeps rolling. I mean,
Tracy Hayes: how many times in, in especially now these people are moving into these
neighborhoods mm-hmm.
Maybe even new construction, and they're telling, they're calling their friends back in New
York saying, now you need to move in and you need to move into this subdivision. Right.
And you know,

Amy Gibbs: and you need to call Amy. Yeah. Because she knows what's going. Yeah. She'll
take care of you. She understands this subdivision and, and took
Tracy Hayes: care of us.
Right. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. A hundred percent. the crm. Mm-hmm. I think probably most
people, and you might, you maybe you might be guilty of this or not, I don't know.
[00:58:00] But they kind of get started in they neglect cuz you, you, you acquire, you start
acquiring relationships for people to submit in the crm. Well, it depends on what your
attitude is on who's qualified to put in the crm.
Mm-hmm Who are you, who are you going to put in there? Right. our, our keynote speaker,
for the,Ari Bar camp, she said that she tries to put eight people into her CRM every day. I
assume she means five days a week. Mm-hmm. She's trying to make an interact, whether
she's interacting with someone, whoever, she's trying to put eight people a day in there.
So over time, again, trickling on letting 'em know who you are. You're start sending 'em out a
newsletter. Mm-hmm. Or maybe you're got narrowed down to neighborhoods or if you're
farming a neighborhood or that sort of thing. Mm-hmm. How important is it for, you know,
as one of the skills, You know, as a new agent is, get really good at the CRM really early,
Amy Gibbs: right?
Yeah. Mm-hmm. And, you know, in the very beginning of my real estate career, you know, I,
there wasn't a massive database and it was all in my head [00:59:00] at all, you know, and
then you get to a point where you're like, okay, this is too much. Who, who have I talked to
Tracy Hayes: recently? Who that I talked to so and so last week.
Did I talk to the other one? I'm gonna
Amy Gibbs: remember that maybe 18 years ago I could remember that. Right. But I cannot
now. So setting up a, a good CRM and whatever your goal is, whether it's eight, whether it's,
you know, two a day, whatever your number is, set that goal. Mm-hmm. Stick to it. And then
if it's something you, you know, you can build on over time.
But it is important to add those people and to, to really take the time, not only just to say,
okay, well I met Joe today at the coffee shop. I shook his hand, he's in my c r m and I'm just
gonna start sending him stuff. I don't do it that way. Mm-hmm. I mean, I really focus on
really building those relationships.
A little bit
Tracy Hayes: about Joe, he's retired, he's a

Amy Gibbs: veteran, whatever. Right? Ask those questions. Mm-hmm. Get to know him
and then tailor what I'm sending to him. Call him, you know, send him a, send him a note
card. Say, Hey, I saw on Facebook you know that your son graduated. Right.
Congratulations. And really start [01:00:00] building a, a relationship and not one that is
forced.
These are, these are natural relationships that we're gonna build in our life. And that's what I
do. You know? Yeah. That's what I do. You're always gonna meet new, new people and build
new relationships, but, but keep it genuine and, and organic That,
Tracy Hayes: well that, it's an interesting way you say I want, I want to dig on that one cuz
this is a kind of dilemma that, that I've deal with.
It's, you know, yo only can really, truly spend time with. So many people in a day, right?
Right. Mm-hmm. You've got kids, those are the ones you, you're, you need to be spending
your most time and then your spouse and you know, and then there might be some outer
circles you're running around. Maybe it's the kids' ball team, cuz you're spending all that time
there.
Those are the people at the moment that you're, and they're, there's these other people, like
Joe, you meet at the, you know, at coffee shop and you do exchange and you find out a little
bit about him, but you're not really Joe, you're not really likely just to call Joe and say, Hey
Joe, you, you and your wife wanna go out to dinner.
Cuz you [01:01:00] haven't really got that kind of relationship. Right. That when you, when
you talk about builder, a level of re relationship, with him, dig a little deeper, on, on someone
like that Joe character, someone who's not in your immediate circle, but you want to add him
in the circle so that he knows you Right.
And what you do. Mm-hmm. And how if he needs help, you're here. Right. Right. How do
you, you know, continue to just. That those are people in your relationship and what kind of
stuff are you, like you said, what are, what are you, what kind of information are you sending
them? Mm-hmm. You know, how do you set that?
How do you set that person up in your crm? You know, the type of things and how often do
you call 'em?
Amy Gibbs: Right. And I think as, as far as, like you said, how often do you call 'em? It
really depends on, on the person. and, and honestly, this is, it's a work in progress. It's
something we could all be better at.
Mm-hmm. Organize, doing exactly what you said to do. Okay. What do you do with Joe?
Sometimes you're like, oh shoot, I don't know what to do with Joe. You know? I don't know.
But, but the more, you know, I've got systems that are automated. Mm-hmm. You know, and
[01:02:00] then I've got things that I like to do and I, and I'm trying to be, as I build, you
know, continue to build my business, get more organized with, with these kinds of things.

You know, let's just say I'm gonna do an ice cream social on the 4th of July for customers
and friends, you know, invite Joe. Or like I said, if you see something, you know on
Facebook that you know, Joe got a promotion, they'll, you know, call 'em or send them a
card. Right. and, and you know,
Tracy Hayes: and when you're, that, that's always a good one too, is, is to actually troll talk
off social media, start social media, you know, whether it's a birthday, maybe you didn't have
their birthday.
Yeah. Now you've got their birthday. Cuz now they just said birthdays today or Right. Their
spouse said something about them. Yeah. And
Amy Gibbs: it, I mean, it just creating those relationships, like I said, on that real organic
level. Mm-hmm. And if you think about it, when was the last time that someone sent you a
note card?
Send you a handwritten card? Yeah. They don't do it anymore. it's rewarding on my side
because I know that's gonna make somebody smile when they get a, a, you know, a card in
the mail. I just had a seller tell me the other week, they're like, [01:03:00] I don't think we've
gotten an actual piece of mail like that.
Tracy Hayes: You know, gave, just gave me, you just gave me a brilliant idea. I'm gonna
write it down. Go ahead, keep going. Uhhuh.
Amy Gibbs: so, you know, just, and. Maybe it's a, you know, maybe it's a review of recent
sales of property in their area, which is, you know, is a little bit more generic. But find out
what makes them tick, what their needs are, and kind of tailor your follow up with that.
Everybody's not the same. That's one thing. I mean, I, I use my CRM for some automated
type of things, but really am, I'm getting to know each person and I'm tailoring my follow up
based on the person. But I'm also trying to really continue to work on having sort of a, not a,
a preset plan for the year, like down to, you know, mm-hmm.
Down to the minute, but have some things that, where I en invite people to get, you know,
back together socially or ask them to, you know, help with a fundraiser or whatever it is, you
know, and just continue to build those relationships. So, well,
Tracy Hayes: no doubt any, you know, any of the new agents listening, you know, a
hundred, like I [01:04:00] said,hundred 50th episodes can be on Friday.
And, CRM early. Start stealing tricks from other, what other top agents are doing. Mm-hmm.
Because I think you'll find a lot of 'em didn't do it, really didn't do it really hard, but now the
reason why their business is, is why they're now a top agent. Mm-hmm. Is cuz somewhere all
along that line, they figured out their CRM and how they could leverage it and then make it,
make it part, you know, turn business from it.

Right. You know, from, from working on. And some of it
Amy Gibbs: happens quickly and some of it 10 years later you go, wow, that one just paid
off. Yeah. I, I'm, I laugh that I'm selling almost every house on the street where I used to live,
not when I lived there. And I sold it, and now I'm slowly selling every other house on, well,
Tracy Hayes: I, I haven't told this story in a long time, so if I have some new listeners on
versus, originally when I stole Ryan Sirhan's original book selling like Sirhan, I got big
money in.
Mm-hmm. That's the second book. Mm-hmm. The selling, like Sirhan, he tells the story of a
post guard he sent regularly to this [01:05:00] customer that he added to his crm. Mm-hmm.
I don't know if it was I, I, I think it was quarterly or something, but five years of no response,
no nothing. He was sending this card saying, I'm Ryan Sirhan, I'm selling in New York.
Mm-hmm. Guy called and bought a 17 million, you know, condo, apartment, whatever you
call 'em in New York, and he calculated it was, you know, his commission was like $240 a
day because he sent that continued to consistently send and touch that person. Never talked
to him. Just got a call outta the blue and said, I wanna buy this one right here.
Right, right up the contract. Mm-hmm. I mean, how great is that? Right, right.
Amy Gibbs: So that consist there is, you know, something to be said for that consistency.
Yep. You know, you can have those automated things and then you also have like the, you
know, the face-to-face touch or the personal touch. Well, he,
Tracy Hayes: Ryan kept trying.
Mm-hmm. The person on the other side was receiving but didn't respond. It doesn't ne you
know, unless they hit the unsubscribe button. Like if you're [01:06:00] selling 'em an email.
Right, right. They could hit the unsubscribe and get off your list. Okay. They don't wanna
talk to you anymore. But those ones that keep receiving those, those people are potentials
and they, and they continue.
Cuz like I said, 10 years, you, you never know. And I think
Amy Gibbs: it's important too, every time you send something to somebody, you know,
whether it's automated or in person, it doesn't have to, you're not selling 'em something.
You're, you're giving them something, you're providing 'em something, educating 'em, and,
and whether it's, you know, articles, you know, about home ownership or renovation that
adjust, like based on the articles they choose, then it'll adjust the next newsletter because
these are the kind of things they like.
So you're tailoring it towards them. Or if you're sending 'em a card, it's for something, you
know, specific. You're not just, I try not to send out just blank. I mean, there are the sold

postcards or the just listed postcards, and if you work in a, an area and farm it, a lot people
are gonna see that consistency.
I
Tracy Hayes: just thought, you know, St. Augustine always has an event going on every
weekend. There's like something going on all the time. You could send a postcard every
week talking about what's going on in St. Augustine for the weekend, [01:07:00] right? Yeah,
Amy Gibbs: yeah. No, that, yeah. I, on my website, I actually have a, a link to St.
Augustine in advance because like you said, there is something, you
Tracy Hayes: know, every day. Yeah. you, you're educating him and telling him, so, and a
lot of the county doesn't even realize a lot of things that are going on there. Mm-hmm. My,
my wife's now on the board at Limelight Theater. Most, a lot of people on two 10 know
nothing about Limelight Theater.
Right. So she's working on trying to obviously spread the word mm-hmm. More that, that,
that's there because there are a lot of little treasures, but those are little educational pieces.
They're like, oh, thanks for telling me. I didn't know that existed. Or Right. That, that's going
on. Mm-hmm. Yeah. you go, so the brokerage that you were, he, he looks, so you go to, you
chose Watson.
Mm-hmm. what was your, was it just their presence at the beach? What was, what, what was
it about Watson? Did you talk to other brokerage?
Amy Gibbs: I did. You did? I talked to other brokerages, Watson aligned with the
philosophy of the brokerage that I worked at before. It was just on a much larger scale.
Mm-hmm.
So even though it's [01:08:00] a larger brokerage, it still has that same philosophy that we're
putting, you know, our customers first. And it's, it's a relationship business. And, and, and so
I liked Mr. Watson's. Business philosophy. Was
Tracy Hayes: it Mr. Watson or was there other agents in that office? No, because I, I can't
believe Mr.
Watson himself was your
Amy Gibbs: and my, my first broker and Mr. Watson went way back too. Well, that I can
understand. Yeah. And so, you know, and I had worked with Beth before. I, we went to a, a
conference one time before and I, I really liked Beth's personality. Yeah. I liked the way she
worked. You know, I knew that that would be a comfortable, easy place for me to be, that I
would be You have a friend in

Tracy Hayes: the office.
Amy Gibbs: Someone. Yeah, exactly. And so I knew that was a place that I could fit in well
and she would be a broker that I would, you know, that I would like to, to hang my license
with. But I also just felt that the business philosophy that I had, you know, in the last
brokerage and kind of where I wanted to take my business, it kind of combined those two,
you know, it was that, that local real estate, which [01:09:00] happens to be a big regional
real estate brokerage and, And all the resources that were available to me, it was just, it was
the right combination at the right time.
A little earlier
Tracy Hayes: you did, you got into some of the details of like, you know, some of the,
systems and so forth that mm-hmm. Are just the found, you know, a foundation of Watson
mm-hmm. All the time. All the agents can, you know, are tapping into it, but sometimes as
an, as a person, whether, and, and a real estate agent is just, you know, that microcosm, that
one individual that really has to learn how they want to do business, how they like doing it,
and obviously what it, hopefully what they like to do is turns into.
Money. Right, right. Turns into transactions, buying or selling, dealing with them. What have
you learned about yourself over the 18 years? Cause I imagine it's probably changed, you
know, Amy in 2005, six and seven. Amy 2023. Mm-hmm. You're probably doing your
business a little differently and so forth. [01:10:00] How important in, in, in, in, if you could
tell just a little bit about your, about yourself, what you've learned about yourself, about, you
know, a new agent coming in.
You've gotta learn a little bit about yourself. Mm-hmm. What you like to do, what clicks for
you. And obviously that you, cuz you're gonna do what consistently and, you know, every
day. Right? Right. Yeah.
Amy Gibbs: so I would say, let me think about that one. That's a big one. I can mm-hmm. A
lot of different directions It is there.
Threw that one at me. so in the beginning you do feel. A bit like, I mean, you really need to
choose a direction and there's so many directions you could go in as to how you wanna run
your business. Mm-hmm. It, it can be a little overwhelming, a little chaotic. And you, I think
new agents, you know, may feel that they've got to, they don't know what to focus on.
Well, I need to do mailings. I need to be in this organization. I need to talk to all these
people. I, you know, and finding, kind of finding your course and finding what you want to
focus on and what works for you does take time. I mean, I don't think in your first, you
[01:11:00] know, year in real estate, for most people, they don't dial it in and go, okay, this is
what works for me, this is what makes me happy.
And then boom, this is what gets me the most rolling. Yeah. It's, it's trial and error too. You're
like, you know, so you have to kind of see, try different avenues, you know, and how you

wanna run your business and create new business and create relationships and see what
works for you, you know? and my personality is just, it's more of a one-on-one.
You know, get to know your personality. I do business with people that I know really well
and or I've gotten to know really well. you know, and, and it's not always somebody that I've
had to have known for a long time. I mean, I'll, you know, I'll get a sign call from someone
I've never talked to before, and you talk to 'em and you educate 'em and you start building
that relationship and then all of a sudden they're not, you know, they're not a stranger
anymore.
Mm-hmm. And you really understand what they're looking for and why, and you go help
'em. And then, you know, you can do business with 'em again. Over the years, I mean, I've
just kind of . You know, built it from kind of that organic level. And that's what [01:12:00]
works for me, you know? Well, cause you
Tracy Hayes: were born here, you're comfort.
I mean, you're comfortable, you've lived 99% of your life here in St. Augustine. Mm-hmm.
So you, you've, you know, your family already knew people, you went to the high school.
Mm-hmm. So you kind of already have, a little bit, but you still have to go and remind those
people of what you're
Amy Gibbs: doing constantly.
Yes. And you have to earn that position, trust, and
Tracy Hayes: credibility.
Amy Gibbs: Yeah. Right. Because every, like I said, everybody knows 10 realtors. Yeah.
Everybody knows somebody, you know, their neighbor and their friend and their cousin all
have their real estate license. But you need to be the one that they trust to get them through
this process.
Right. And like I said in the beginning, it's, it's an emotional process and financially it can be
a stressful process and there's always bumps in the road. And so you need to build yourself
and build your reputation and your relationships with these people. To be the one that they
trust. And do I have answers to every single question?[01:13:00]
I don't. Mm-hmm. But I know where to go to get those answers, and I'm willing to dig as
much as we need to dig to get the answers that either the seller or the buyer needs. Right.
You know? Right. And like I said, you know, look under the sink. try not to crawl under the
house, but you know, the house, you know, put the boots on.
I had customers, we were looking at vacant land and it was gated and we were allowed to be
there, but, you know, we put our, literally put our boots on and we climbed the fence. And,
you know, Trump threw the woods led to

Tracy Hayes: property. It could be a good rattlesnakes home. You never, and it was fun.
Yeah.
Amy Gibbs: They're like, you've climbed a fence before.
I'm like, yes, I have. Yeah, let's go. You know, so you can't be afraid to just jump in there
and, and do business the way it, it, you know, it works for you.
Tracy Hayes: Would, you know, a lot of the things, you know, cause I listened to a lot of
different podcasts and, and so forth, and they're recommending find someone.
At least at the moment. Cuz like I said, you evolved how you wanna do your business.
Mm-hmm. You start doing it this way, okay, I'm doing okay, but you know what, I really like
doing it that way and I'm gonna add that now I'm, you know, [01:14:00] hopefully that
moves you. Right. Product, I'm doing production
Amy Gibbs: and it takes a ton of time, but it, it doesn't feel like it's, you know, I'm reaping
any benefits from it.
Right. You know, but I spend a little time doing this and I really like that. Yeah. I wish I
could just do that. Yes.
Tracy Hayes: To find someone who's doing the business like that. Mm-hmm. Similar to way
you want to do your, because we can all look at some of these top producers and go, oh man,
I want to, I want to do it.
I want to be like them. Mm-hmm. And then you go and you, you sit in their camp and learn
what they're doing and you're like, I don't like this. Yeah. Yeah. This is define someone that's
doing the business, hopefully the way you think you like doing it. Mm-hmm. And really
spend time with them and finding out what are they doing.
Mm-hmm. you know, again, advice for a new agent. Would you agree?
Amy Gibbs: Absolutely. you know, some people may sit down with me and go, I don't
wanna do that. Mm-hmm. You know, that doesn't work for me. I wanna just kind of, you
know, blast out a, a broader, you know, broadcast, you know, network of people and I wanna
do all of these other things and that works for [01:15:00] them.
But, I think what any agent, any newer agent can learn from another agent or even seasoned
agents, we still learn things from each other. Yeah. And we, you know, you still learn things
in every deal is, is have the foundation so that when you do meet those people and you do
form those relationships, that you have the tools to be their trusted advisor mm-hmm.
And their trusted agent who can get them through a transaction. So, regardless of how you
market yourself and what you do on a day-to-day basis to do that, whether it's automated

in-person, a combination, or however you're doing it, you've gotta take the time to learn your
market and be that trusted advisor.
Now, if, if
Tracy Hayes: I was a new agent mm-hmm. If I was the average new agent, cause I'm gonna
put myself above that. But if I was the average new agent, I heard you just say that.
Mm-hmm. I would be like, oh my God, I gotta learn everything about real estate. Cuz if I go
and make a relationship with Joe, and Joe asked me a question and I don't know the answer
to it.
First thing
Amy Gibbs: you say is, I don't have the answer to that, but [01:16:00] I'm gonna find out for
you. But, and it Right. And you build it, you know, like, so if you wanna learn more about
property taxes and how they're, how they're reassessing property after closing, so you can
talk to somebody and have an educated conversation about mm-hmm.
How your taxes may change. Go sit down with the property appraiser. I mean, I, I've done a,
Eddie Creamer has, Eddie
Tracy Hayes: can I, you know, education
Amy Gibbs: stuff all the time. Right. And he'll come out to brokerages and do it too. But
one time, you know, I had some specific questions. I said, Hey, can I come in and talk to, to
Eddie?
And we sat down and, and Janet for like
Tracy Hayes: an hour. They're, they're really good at that, county office. Yeah. Yeah.
Amy Gibbs: Just, I mean, start picking away like, hey, once a week. Go talk to somebody
you know that you haven't talked to before. Or when a home inspector is there at a home
inspection, follow 'em around and being an annoying and go, well, how do you know that air
conditioner from 2014?
Well, it's right there on the serial number. Ha. Mm-hmm. Now I can look at an air
conditioner with my customers and I can tell you how old the air conditioners, I mean, you
like, so you just can Yeah. You build things and you ask questions.
Tracy Hayes: Well, when you, when you're first starting out, you have a lot of time.
Mm-hmm. I mean, if you don't have any deals to [01:17:00] go in, you know, as a very new
agent, there's some loan officers, some inspectors, you know, titled companies that may or
may not entertain you, even though you haven't even done a deal yet. Right. and I know

there's a lot of new loan officers that would just, just say they met up with a, someone who
had a real estate license and they're good.
Right. But to have those conversations, find out who, like, you know, obviously you have
your preferred list of people you're probably regularly working with. Mm-hmm. To come in
the office and say, Hey Amy, who do you work with? And to call on those people and say,
Hey, I'd love to have coffee with you, and.
Have some questions. What are challenges? What do I need to be aware of if I'm, you know,
going out and doing whatever? Right. Just, I mean, you only half a dozen questions, I
imagine would, is probably gonna end up with a couple, dozen questions as the conversation,
or it's like our conversation has progressed, right.
And learn from these guys that are out there doing it. They're gonna tell you, yeah, we're
having problems with this. Or the insurance guy, oh, I gotta check that roof age. Right?
That's the first thing. How holds that roof, you know, to gauge the [01:18:00] insurance. And
you, you, they'll educate you, over, for a cup of coffee.
I mean that Right. You know, in a lot of those other things. some of the top agents, that's
what they said they did. I had all the time when I was, you know, first starting. Mm-hmm.
And. I would take that time to have lunch with somebody or have a cup of coffee with them,
and half the time they're gonna buy anyway, so don't worry about it.
So, because they know. I know. Yeah. Even if you invited them, they'll probably still buy. So,
but to to, to, to educate yourself, yeah. Talk
Amy Gibbs: to people and learn it. And, you know, a lot of your contacts are gonna come
from other agents. You get in with a good office and you say, Hey, oh my gosh. You know,
who are you using for insurance right now?
Mm-hmm. As I'm striking out. Yeah. And get those good referrals for, you know, for,
affiliates who other agents are having good experiences with or have long histories with. And
then you get to know them and then, you know, and, and vendors change over the years.
Yeah. And so, yeah, use the other, like you said, use the
Tracy Hayes: other agents in your office.
Always ask them why they're using 'em. Here, here, here's, because here's like, cuz there are
some [01:19:00] relationships out there that I, unfortunately title companies are getting
better. Because I, I used to, even when, when I first started Pi, I, I could tell you three or four
title companies that to me are Slam Dunk Home runs, best places to work for.
Mm-hmm. Now there could be others. I just haven't met 'em yet, but there are others out
there that I could just tell you right away. So you, you have to, you know, why, why do you
like them? Why do you like that insurance company? Well, cuz if the date changes, the
closing date changes a week before closing, I have a new insurance docs in 30 minutes.

Right. Yeah. With the new date on it and stuff. Right. You know, and where there's other
insurance companies, well we need to, we have to go, you know, in two days and meanwhile
you're closing guy at the lender, they're going, Hey, where's this, the new insurance so we
can get this thing Right. Clear
Amy Gibbs: close. And sometimes you need your insurance company and your lender on a
Saturday or Sunday.
Yeah. Because we're working. Yeah. And you need those people who are gonna be able to
communicate with you and get you what you need. Yeah. You know, I've got a, there's a few
title companies, you know, I, I don't have one company that I work with for everything, but
one of 'em, I mean, [01:20:00] you know, if I send a text on a Saturday morning at seven 30.
He answers me. Yeah. And even if it's not, you know, an email, something is not time
sensitive. Boom. Yeah, yeah. He answers just says, thanks, you know, I'll send a contract and
thanks right away. I'm like, wow. We
Tracy Hayes: would think, I, I, I would think everyone did, but I, I, my mindset has always
been, and, but I know I'm, I'm in enough, probably, I don't know, maybe the top 20% of, you
know, from the lending side, if you're calling me on, on Saturday afternoon at four o'clock,
it's cuz someone probably doesn't have a pre-call or they, they, they need a question like,
Hey, what's the payment going to look like?
Cuz we didn't expect it, but we're ready to make an offer on this house. I just wanna know
what that tastes like before, you know what I mean? Before, and there's a deal going down.
Right. There's money gonna be transactions. Hopefully Monday mor have to wait till
Monday, Monday morning. Their contract is in your email and you're ready to go put it in the
system.
Right. Because you took a phone call for mm-hmm. 15, 20 minutes on the Saturday
afternoon. Yeah. And, and you have those relationships with those, those people cuz it takes
the weight off your shoulders. You're out there [01:21:00] doing the battle. You're, you're in
the ground, you're one-on-one and if you, I, I can relieve you of that
Amy Gibbs: pressure.
Well Right. Build your network of those reliable people. A hundred. And and that being said,
none of us ha need to be expected to be available 24 7. Yeah. People would like us to be, but
that's also an important thing for new agents is really try and set some parameters from the
beginning. And I'm guilty of trying to just get my day rolling and send out some things early
so that they're out and I've checked 'em on the list, but then I've just made myself available at
six 30 in the morning.
And that's not how you can sustainably run a reasonable business and not just. Burn out. So
setting some boundaries is good and for yourself is important too. But there's two, Erica,

Erica
Tracy Hayes: Harding had a great tip. A few episodes back. She says she schedules emails,
so she may write it at 10 or 11 o'clock.
Yes. But she doesn't schedule to go out till eight o'clock in the morning because if you send it
out at 10 30, you may have an answer at six 30 in the morning. And that's, and then now the
ball's back on your side. You
Amy Gibbs: did it. I know. So now with Yeah. some of the Apple updates. [01:22:00] Yeah.
I think with text messages too, I think you, you know, you can start to schedule things.
Yeah. A little bit. Yeah. Better. But there, I mean, there's times when you're gonna have to
have that 8:00 PM phone call, or you have a seller that lives out of the country or is in
California or, yeah. There's, there's times when you definitely have to deviate from, you
know, your best case scenario. My day starts at nine and ends at six.
That, you know, yeah, that's on a good day. But if you try and make that you're. You know,
your practice and focus on downtime too. It makes your business, you know, more
sustainable.
Tracy Hayes: I'm, I'm gonna round out, this is my, my last formal question here. Okay. I
imagine, you know, over 18 years, you've been asked more times than you can even imagine.
people who think they, you know, want to get into real estate. Mm-hmm. how do you
address, I imagine you've had friends. Yeah, I was thinking about
Amy Gibbs: they my license.
Tracy Hayes: Yeah. It's like, fun. What's it, what, what's it like, what, what's, how do you set
that expectation?
Amy Gibbs: So, what I tell 'em is that I love the industry.
You know, I wouldn't have been in it for this long, have I not, and it's, [01:23:00] it's worked
for me. and it is definitely something that you can do cuz people say, well, you know, I
wanna do it part-time. Mm-hmm. Or, you know, flexible, it is a flexible schedule, but it's not
flexible on your terms. get used to the fact that you are gonna have to be available when,
when people, you know, want you need you, you need to set some boundaries.
But for the most part, I mean, it's, it's a flexible, it can be a flexible job, but it's not flexible
based on your schedule. there's a lot that you're gonna wanna learn as your real estate
license, you know, it's a comprehensive course, but when you finish the course, you know,
license law and some financial information, but it doesn't teach you how to sell a house
Right.

From getting in trouble. Yeah, exactly. And so, you know, to, to think about those things and
really take your time because, you know, if you, if you think you wanna do it three days a
week, this is not the industry for you. If you want your weekends off, it's not the industry for
you. You're gonna get plenty of 'em, you know, off if you structure things right.
And then over time your [01:24:00] business. Right. You know, goes that way. But this
weekend I'm working Yeah. And I'm going in a bunch of different directions and that's just
part, you know, part of it, but also in the long run. If you do build your business and, you
know, in the right ways and really build those relationships and, you know, and, and build
your business that is going to afford you the things that you would like real estate to provide
to you down the road.
It's just probably not gonna do it for a little while. Right. You know, you're gonna
Tracy Hayes: have to dig in, you're promoted by on your own merit. Yeah. Really. I never
really said that before. But ultimately you're promoted by your own
Amy Gibbs: merit. Right? Yeah. You're gonna earn that week's vacation and when you
finally have, you know, to the point where you can take that week's vacation and you've got
support back at home mm-hmm.
For someone who can help you handle your business while you're gone. Yeah. So it's not one
of those Well, well, you know, she's out till next Monday, I guess we'll just wait, it's not
coming.
Tracy Hayes: Yeah. Yeah. Gotta you gotta have that, that partner, so to speak, that that good
friend in that office, that's, that's kind of cover that, understands, [01:25:00] when you're out.
They've got you. And when they're out, you've got them. You've gotta Exactly. You know,
work that way. Yeah. Get to
Amy Gibbs: know the agents in your office. I mean, find mentors, find people like that
where you're each running your own business. Mm-hmm. But you're also there, you know,
to, to go to Pat,
Tracy Hayes: well cover showing cuz you're doubled up because whatever.
And hey, you call Sally cuz she's a good friend and you're gonna cover her when she's Right.
Doubled
Amy Gibbs: up. So build those relationships in, you know, within
Tracy Hayes: your office too. is there anything you want to, that we haven't talked about
here as I, we've finished up that you want someone to know about Amy?
About Amy?

Amy Gibbs: I have earned every gray hair in my head. No. I mean, I think going into real
estate was, you know, was the best decision that I could have made. Mm-hmm. I've enjoyed
it. I, you know, I, I couldn't even have fathom when I started how many people I would've
met, how many lives you affect. Mm-hmm. You know, on a daily basis and, and how
important that is, you know, and, and I, I like the [01:26:00] fact that I haven't lost sight of
that part of it.
and I've, I've met just the most amazing people over time. And it's funny because every
single person you deal with is completely different Oh, yeah. Than the next one. Sometimes I
think, gosh, if I put all these people in a room together and I had like a party, like, how would
this go? Because, you know, they're just, but, it's, you know, I love the business and it's
afforded me time to raise, you know, raise our kids and not, you know, have 'em grow up in,
in daycare.
Mm-hmm. And I've, I've double, you know, double dipped kind of the clock sometimes
doing that. But it's, it's worked for Moe and I love it. And I love my customers. They're fun.
They're fun, right. Yeah. We have a lot of fun. And that's, that's part of it too, is to remember
that the stressful, you know, process, can, you know, Yeah, it'll be enjoyable
Tracy Hayes: too.
So. Well, I appreciate you coming on today. I hope, I hope everyone learned a little bit,
learned a little bit about you. Yeah. I think we've got some good stuff outta here. We'll, we'll
cut some extra, you know, like I said, the content and [01:27:00] the reels and, get you out
there. I didn't ask you how your YouTube channel is and most agents don't have a YouTube
channel, which I'm working on with my partner.
You're gonna meet him in a little bit. My, Matt, if he showed up, he was coming in here, on
creating YouTube. Cause I think YouTube is, to me, I don't understand why more agents
aren't pouring into it because all these people from New York are Googling you. They want
to know who you are before they come down here.
Right. You know, they may pick you up if, if you're buying leads or whatever, but social
media and getting to know you one way shape, or mm-hmm. You might not be a big
Instagram person, wanna post all the time, but by posting your videos of your homes
mm-hmm. And what you're doing. Right. Something like this.
people get to know you. Right. And they can actually see you and talk and interact. So
Amy Gibbs: that's, that's one of the things I'm working on. Yeah. I, I dabble in a video or a
reel here and there, but you know, as long as you're like, okay, wait a minute, I need to stop
what I'm doing and I need to, you
Tracy Hayes: know, you're to do that.