Bailey Martin: Top St Johns County Realtor

welcome back to The Real Estate excellence podcast with your host. Tracy Hayes, best of the best is what I promised to my listeners on each show, the agent that is sitting before Me today has tripled her business in the last three years since joining her current brokerage. Her professionalism, work ethic and commitment to her clients, has been the cornerstone of her business. People before property is what she lives by. I've admired her successes as she shares them often on her Facebook page. My most popular, the most popular agent at round table. Reality.

Tracy Hayes  1:34  
Bailey Martin, hey, wow. 

Bailey Martin  1:36  
Thank you so much for that. Thank

Tracy Hayes  1:37  
you. I got a little tongue tied in the realtor thing there. How you doing this morning? I'm thankful for you to come by. Thanks for having me. I appreciate where. And I saw your post the other day said, Bailey's triple there. And when I was obviously creating the podcast, and they said, Hey, list 100 people. So I started thinking of agents that are out there. I know you do a lot of I see you're on the social media side, and you have an audience. I said, you know, Bailey's gonna be one of those people that I want to bring in and learn a little bit more about her and what she's doing at roundtable. So let's just really kick it off, Bailey, let's learn a little bit about you. And I mean, where are you from? Where'd you grow up?

Bailey Martin  2:12  
Sure, yeah, born and raised in Dallas, Texas. So I'm a Texan through and through. Lived there for 20 years. Got my Bachelor's in finance at the University of Southern Indiana.

Tracy Hayes  2:22  
So southern Indiana isn't in southern Indiana.

Bailey Martin  2:25  
 Yeah, it's

Bailey Martin  2:25  
beautiful. Had the four seasons, unlike, really Florida. So

Tracy Hayes  2:29  
you did go to, you did go to Indiana? Yep. Oh, okay, okay, all right. I thought you're, I thought it was one of those. Pennsylvania, there's the University of Miami, Ohio, that was one of those. 

Bailey Martin  2:40  
No, yeah, I

Bailey Martin  2:41  
was there for five years. And actually in the summers, my aunt is a realtor, and that's kind of where I got introduced to real estate. Was helping her out in the summers while I was going through college. Aunt

Tracy Hayes  2:50  
Sharon. Aunt Sharon, watch your video. I dug in. Oh, yeah. So

Bailey Martin  2:54  
I really my inspiration.

Tracy Hayes  2:56  
Well, since, since you brought up, aunt Sharon, tell me you you were working with what kind of things that you do with her and and what caught your fancy said, You know what this might be a career for me?

Bailey Martin  3:04  
Well, I saw how how well she was doing, and how lucrative the business can be. And so that immediately sparked my interest. Because obviously, I like to make money like everybody else, but she had me doing a lot of basic stuff. You know, I was writing mailers, and I was going on showings with her, and just doing a lot of administrative work and trying to help her earn business, and just kind of getting a basic overview of what it took. And she told me, then I think you'll be really great at this one day. So

Tracy Hayes  3:28  
was it just something you kind of fell into, like, hey, I need to do something this summer. And she just said, alright, I'll take you under your wing. Or you

Bailey Martin  3:35  
think, yeah, she needed help. She was overwhelmed. You know, she was doing a lot of business and and I was there to help her, and she knew that I would be good

Tracy Hayes  3:42  
at it. So how long had she been in the business? About that time that you're talking

Bailey Martin  3:47  
about, I would say at least 10 years, and she's still doing it today. So that's, you know, she's been in the business now 3040, years.

Tracy Hayes  3:53  
Wow. Yeah, wow. She probably just sits home and the phone rings and it's just referrals, yeah, past

Bailey Martin  3:59  
clients. She, we talk about, you know, all the deals like you were saying that podcast, the crazy stuff that in real estate. So it's really nice now we kick back on the phone and talk about all that kind of stuff. And she's real proud of me and how far I've come to and that makes, yeah,

Tracy Hayes  4:14  
definitely, definitely, I think, you know, we're growing up. We oftentimes, you know, we see what our parents are doing, in this case, your aunt and you know, you know, when I look back when I was 18 years old, you know, my parents were more or less self employed for a good part of my younger life. And what you kind of only have, you only see that vision of what they're doing. And in this case, you had someone already successful, that you already admired, who obviously treated you well. You know, we all, I think we all have that favorite aunt, right? I took you in and gave you something to do, and then immediately you clicked with it. So I actually kind of had that about three or four questions down, because I wanted to learn a little bit about the. The Bailey, the skydiver, zip liner ATV er, and travels the world person,

Bailey Martin  5:05  
yeah, well, so after I graduated college with my bachelor's in finance, I was in my early 20s, and I wasn't ready to work at a bank, and really didn't know what I was going to do with my life. So actually called up my mom, and she owns a couple booths at Renaissance festivals, and so she was like, come on and help me manage my booths. We're doing great, you know, come take over and be my financial advisor for these booths at this renaissance festival, right? So I don't know if anybody's been to a Renaissance Festival, but they're really fun. You know, you get a big old turkey leg and you watch the jugglers swallowing swords. And so we had a booth there, and we were selling our wares. And I I did that for seven years, and I lived in a yurt with no a yurt. It's like a Mongolian teepee, basically. And so I would take it from show to show and set up my yurt. And they're usually two month shows open on the weekends, and no running water, no electricity. I had a little solar panel to charge my phone at my yurt. That is so cool. I did that for seven years. It was really fun, and all through my early 20s, and then I decided,

Tracy Hayes  6:07  
what's, what are some places that you saw that you remember that were kind of like, wow, I kind of want to go back and revisit

Bailey Martin  6:12  
those places. Most of where we went was, we had several shows in Texas, and we had one in Minnesota, and so we and we had some in Oklahoma. So I was just kind of doing a circuit, you know, literally, like I had these five shows that I did every year, and kind of went around to each one

Tracy Hayes  6:25  
and that, and they would go on for weeks at a time. They're usually

Bailey Martin  6:28  
about two months. There was some really big weekend shows and stuff like that.

Tracy Hayes  6:32  
And, yeah, so what would you do during the week? The a lot of

Bailey Martin  6:35  
inventory, you know, updating the booths, a lot of partying. So I was having a lot of fun too. I was living a free lifestyle. Yeah, there wasn't a whole lot of responsibility. You know, I didn't have any kids, and I wasn't married at the time.

Tracy Hayes  6:49  
Do you find there's, there's other people that travel just like that? You kind of got a, probably a little family almost, kind of moving around, some friends there, yeah,

Bailey Martin  6:57  
my Renaissance family, and, you know, I learned how to juggle fire and all kinds of fun stuff too. It was a really great time.

Tracy Hayes  7:03  
That's excellent what you know, it's experiences like that in life. It was funny. I was listening to a podcast the other day, and they said, you know, really, everyone has a story. And, you know, obviously I wouldn't, I didn't know that about you. I mean, you didn't put that on your LinkedIn page or your Facebook but the experience you got, and I, you know, would you say I could just visualize you interacting with people, selling your wares, interacting with those people you didn't know that were coming in and, you know, making creating this family has that helped you as a Real Estate Agent,

Bailey Martin  7:39  
I think that relationships with people are very important in real estate, and so me getting to talk to people real quick and get on getting them to like me really quickly. And I also waited tables and bartended all through college. And so that was another really great way to get face to face and just get really comfortable having conversations with people and getting them to, you know, upsell or buy your wares. And

Tracy Hayes  8:03  
I think I talked to a lot of agents, obviously, you know, I do different trainings. I try to interact and get involved with the boards and stuff. So I can meet agents that are outside my normal day to day thing. So you see different levels. And I and talking to them and hearing some of their questions, there is agents that come into the business who don't have that kind of service background, so to speak, interacting with people. And when I'm dealing with them on the mortgage side, they do want me to, like, take control, and I have to know what, what they want me to do and feel, it out of what they've already talked about, but they're really afraid to kind of take control of that client, listen to the client, and then guide that client. The guiding part is what you've learned. You listened and you delivered.

Bailey Martin  8:54  
Listening is extremely important, yeah, listening to them, you just listen, and that's

Tracy Hayes  8:58  
all they want, right? But then you take the range. You say, Okay, I heard what you want. Then this is what we have. And you take control at that point. Would you agree absolutely? Yeah, I find some agents are missing that experience and taking control, like just basically asking them the basic things, like, Hey, where's your down payment? Or how much are you putting down? I mean, like, you'll actually, you know, as an agent, you could ask that question. That's not, not rude. You know, you need to know how you're structuring the deal, right? Especially right now as a competitive it is skydiving. Tell me about that. Where did you start doing that?

Bailey Martin  9:30  
I was 19, and one of my BFFs was going skydiving. So I, being the thrill seeker that I am, was like, Oh, absolutely, go with you. And so it's actually funny. Now my 14 year old son is like, are you gonna come with me on my 18th birthday? And I'm like, I don't know. I said, I have four years to think about

Tracy Hayes  9:49  
it. So what is the adrenaline? I mean, I can only imagine when you're standing there and you look out

Bailey Martin  9:55  
the door, oh, man. Well, so the first time you go, you have to go tandem until you're attached to somebody. So you're going. They're going and you're attached, you don't have a choice, yeah, but it's pretty it's honestly, as you're when you first jump, extremely intense, and then, you know, they pull that cord, and you're just kind of floating at that point. It's actually kind of peaceful, yeah, to be honest,

Tracy Hayes  10:14  
I can imagine. I'll take the sitting out in the boat offshore, turn the engine off, and listen to the water. That's my peaceful this right there. But I don't know, maybe one day I might jump out. I could just submit the adrenaline rush, obviously, of it, of that intenseness, and then just letting letting go. Travels of the world. Have you been any place exotic, any place you when

Bailey Martin  10:35  
I was 15, I went to China to play softball. I was on a competitive league. They kicked our butts pretty bad. I just love traveling. I have a lot of plans to go a lot of different places, and when each one of my kids turns 18, we've already told them that we're going to take them somewhere in the world, wherever they want to go. So my daughter's going to Paris, and my son wants to go to the Outback, and my other daughter, she's not really sure yet,

Tracy Hayes  10:55  
right? That's cool. I was fortunate enough when I was in high school, and it had been going on for years. My brother actually went with the basketball coach his program. They went overseas, and actually, that was the first year they actually combined with bringing girls. So there was about at least 30 to 40 of us. We did some homestays in Sweden. It was really nice. It was, as you know, something I always remember, you know, that part, especially when you're young and you know, to get out and see something other than the United States, to experience what what other people and then hear what other people think about the I always was interested in what other people thought about us.

Bailey Martin  11:30  
Yeah, yep, I think it's really important. And I work with the, I'm in the Rotary Club here in Bartram trail, and so I work with the youth exchange. So we're always helping children come to and from to do the little school programs, right? And we had somebody from Norway just recently, but my kids too, so I forgot what I was gonna say.

Tracy Hayes  11:49  
Nora, we had two, and I don't know if they'll hopefully they'll listen to this podcast. There's two girls that went to high schoolers. They both they were exchange students and really came over from Norway and did the whole school year. They were twins, and they were very good basketball players. So you go in and get a finance degree. And so was there, was there something you were thinking about doing at that time before, you know, you were dabbling with aunt Sharon a little bit. What were you kind of envisioning yourself doing?

Bailey Martin  12:19  
I was just good at math. I really didn't know what I wanted to do at the time. To be honest, I ended up getting my real estate license in Texas because I just was kind of getting tired of the traveling and with the kids and missing out on the weekends. And so I was struggling. It's hard when you first get your real estate license, especially in Austin, and this was five years ago. It's extremely competitive there too. You know, I was really struggling, and I was trying to do it part time, which I think is really hard to When, when, whenever you're doing real estate, I would suggest, like, being fully in it. You suggest a dive in, yeah, just go right in, because it's really hard to do part time. And so what do you

Tracy Hayes  12:56  
what did you find challenging? Because this is a question that a lot of some because some agents have also talked to talked about doing it part time. You're suggesting dive in. What was the challenge that you felt part time?

Bailey Martin  13:07  
Well, you have to be available for your clients all the time, especially nights and weekends, whenever they are off work, to show them homes, for example. And there's just so much to know. You have to be constantly learning and inundated and up to speed. And if your focus isn't 100% on real estate, it's going to show when you're talking to your clients,

Tracy Hayes  13:27  
right? So you would suggest, if you don't have a spouse who's able to handle financially, to actually have savings to live off of

Bailey Martin  13:34  
Yeah, I know we had somebody in our office who was who was kind of just starting out and kind of scared to put a lot into it. And she actually took out, like, a $15,000 loan, and just like was said, if when this runs out, if I didn't make it, then I'm going to do something else. And so she started investing in herself and buying leads and stuff like that. And at the end of it, she never ran out of that 15,000 and started growing and growing. And now she's doing she put

Tracy Hayes  13:59  
herself, you know, it's interesting that she put herself on that, you know, you got to step up or step out, yeah. You know, here you had, she gave herself $15,000 and said, You got to do it, yeah. And it's really good to hear a positive story, because I think unfortunately, a lot of people would have, would have quit, but she actually put herself on it, she stuck to it. And this was ran out of the 15,000 That's awesome.

Tracy Hayes  14:22  
 Yeah, we talked a little bit about Aunt, aunt Sharon. What are some things that you do today that you took directly from aunt Sharon?

Bailey Martin  14:31  
And you know, one thing that she does that's, she's and I know it used to embarrass her kids a lot, too. What mark is she in Texas? No, she's in Indiana, where I was going to school, okay, but just everywhere she goes, she's constantly talking to people, and she's always, like, handing out her card to everybody. And I remember, you know, going out to eat with her, and I'm like, she doesn't even know these people, you know, just I'm all putting my head down, and she's like, you know, and I think that's really helped her grow her business. It's all about word of mouth and referrals and meeting people face. To face and getting them to like you and trust you, and that's who's going to work with you.

Tracy Hayes  15:05  
Do you think it's because she had, by the time you saw her, she had the confidence? Oh, yeah. Do you think she necessarily, yeah, she kind of grew in it. She knew she was, she was a good real estate agent. By that time, she's done enough transactions that, in that what it was you think she or she is, that, was that her natural personality? You think she started off that way? I think

Bailey Martin  15:25  
she's a lot like me, in the way that neither one of us really had the option of it not working out. Both of us were like, You know what? I'm going to take this big leap of faith, and I'm putting my all into it, and failure just is not an option. You know, I have a mouse to feed at home, and she had as well. And there was, this was what we were doing, and there was no this isn't going to work, right? I'm going to keep going until it does work. I'm going to find more ways to be successful constantly, because there is no fail.

Tracy Hayes  15:55  
Now that you're up and running and you look back at that, I can't fail you don't think about that anymore. I assume.

Bailey Martin  16:04  
I mean, it's still there, you know, it's definitely still there. I look back and I see all the things that I did to get to where I am now, and I see the struggles that were there then, and how you just keep moving forward and and learning more all the time.

Tracy Hayes  16:22  
So we mentioned one of the podcasts that you listen to, what other areas that you try to grab knowledge? Or I call it energy, because when I read a book or I listen to a podcast, a really good podcast, I'm like, man, that guy's got some good stuff. What a story. It gives me energy. What do you look for in a source of podcasts, books? I do listen

Bailey Martin  16:43  
to Brian Buffini. I was telling you a little bit about before this started. He's really, really great. I have two amazing brokers at round table Realty, and they're always helping us learn the next new, best thing and whatever, whatever shifts are in the market we're talking about, and we're all over it. And so I get a lot of fuel from from those guys and staying top of mind and moving forward. And of course, I get a lot of inspiration from my family too.

Tracy Hayes  17:10  
So you brought up the changes in the market, which really was one of my last questions, but I'm gonna bring it up. Since you brought just brought it there, obviously we're in a really unique market right now, how you I mean, really, if you put it out to your agents that you have a house coming on sale or going up for sale, I mean, you'll have offers before you even put the sign in the yard. What are some things that you're doing now in this really tense market where the inventory is just not there? What are some things that you guys are doing at roundtable Realty that you've taken and put into your business?

Bailey Martin  17:42  
Yeah, I mean, one thing that I'm hearing a lot from my brokers and from other agents is finding the off market listings. You know, I have a lot of buyers who just can't get into a house because they need help with closing costs or this or that, and so we're having to find the inventory. And so it's kind of like old school door knocking, you know, and I haven't done it, but we had a class on that recently, and I don't know if I'm going to, but I had a situation recently. It was in my own neighborhood where I had a VA buyer who was obviously zero down, and they didn't have the money for the, you know, we're looking in $300,000 range, which is a really tough range, but they didn't have the eight to $10,000 in closing costs. And so they were basically, you know, we were going around. We made a few offers, and I was trying to tell them, Hey, man, you know, this is really hard to compete in this market when you're asking for closing costs. And so we made a few offers, and they're like, You know what, Bailey, just forget it. You know, we're just going to rent for another year. Hopefully the market will cool down. And so I had somebody else reach out to me in this neighborhood that they had to be in, who wanted to sell, and they were moving to Tennessee, and they had a messy situation, and they didn't want professional photos or showings or list their home or any of that. And so I was able to get that off market listing and connect them with that buyer. And so it just worked really well for both sides. And I'm seeing more and more that that's kind of what we need to start doing. Is like, if you have a buyer in a neighborhood, go to the neighborhood and see who wants to sell a house. Don't wait for it to come on the MLS, because then you're going to be, you know, it's too late,

Tracy Hayes  19:13  
right, right? You've got it, you know, you like you said, you put yourself or your friend, put the you've got to create the business. It's not just going to fall into your lap. Right now, you have the business because you do have a buyer, but you don't get paid until you match them up with a seller.

Bailey Martin  19:26  
And I have people all the time. Oh, you know, I bet you're killing it right now. Real estate so crazy. I bet you're just killing it. And I'm, I'm looking at them like, this is a really hard market right now. It's tough. It's not just, there's a lot of transactions, but it's not just falling in your lap. It's you have to work for it.

Tracy Hayes  19:41  
I think it for surely is going to, you know, accelerate the end of some careers. Absolutely, for those who are not being creative, like you were just talking about, because you got creative, you said, you know, why don't I go this way? I've heard some different stories, similar situation, wanting to move in a particular neighbor, neighborhood. Wait, and they were waiting, and they actually could be patient, because they do have a house to sell. And this particular agent actually started digging in, and oddly, found a house that had been in foreclosure and sitting empty for two years in this neighborhood that is full of real estate agents. So you're like, how did this? And they were able to put together, and they're in process right now, and hopefully be closing in a couple of weeks. So it's, it's being creative and going outside the box for sure.

Bailey Martin  20:27  
So a lot of people think it's easy. You know, there's so many new real estate agents who are trying to capitalize on this. I think there's like 10,000 agents in the Northeast Florida. MLS membership.

Tracy Hayes  20:39  
You bring something to me to this morning. It's funny. I was, again, listening to a podcast this morning on bigger pockets, I'm going to throw them out there. And I said, Listen this guy, I gotta, I gotta order this guy's book. And it was called rethink. And he was talking in his psych, he's a psychologist that works with corporations, NBA teams, or whatever, about their culture and and everything. And he was talking about how companies, you have to rethink the market. The markets change. The markets change. So you had to rethink what you do, which is normally just buying leads and matching people up, but now you had to the other side. You had to put it together. You had to get creative. You had to rethink how you do business. And of course, he was comparing, well, one of the stories, I have to order the book because now I'm listening to you this morning, and I thought about it, and you just reinforced my thought, I got to order this guy's book. He was talking about blackberry and Apple BlackBerry didn't want to change, and they were worth billions of dollars at one point. Now they're just because he didn't want to change his platform where Apple was coming on with all the fancy things that they had at the time, and just basically, you know, put BlackBerry more or less out of

Bailey Martin  21:49  
business. And it's a constant change. And this was a quick change too. It was, I mean, we were already in a seller's market, and just over the past few months, it just the fuel on the fire just got really crazy. And I also honestly feel like it's starting to kind of mellow out right now too. I

Tracy Hayes  22:03  
think it has to a point. I'd be surprised at last the summer. I mean, it can only go one way, right? You know, is there another way that this could go, other than going back to where we started having inventory and homes on the market for 3060, 90 days or something?

Bailey Martin  22:18  
That would be great. Let's level it out a little. But I think a lot of people are listing their home right now trying to cash in on these super high prices.

Tracy Hayes  22:26  
I have a challenge to that. Though, where are they going to go?

Bailey Martin  22:30  
I have some people who were okay, like, now's the time. Let's downsize. Now's the time. Let's move to where we want to move. Now's the time. Let's do this. Let's

Tracy Hayes  22:37  
do more significant change, versus just cashing in to get equity, because just like, you know, if I sold my house, we don't plan to move. We're fine. Love. Our kids are young and going to school and everything there. We're like, Yeah, we could sell our house, but our kids are still young, so it's not like we're going to downsize. We're not ready for that major change or leave the area. So it's where are we going to go? Yeah, you know, just stay where we're at. But I think, yeah, those, those, well, I think it's also those people we're getting moving in right now. And my theory is those people up north. I said, Oh yeah, one day we'll move to Florida, maybe when we retire. Well, then the covid hits and they're locked down now. They're working from home. They're like, let's go through it. Let's just go now.

Bailey Martin  23:17  
Yep, and they're coming down here with cash, and they're beating all the locals out, right? Everybody off

Tracy Hayes  23:23  
right, right. So 2016 you, I guess you had Keller Williams. Now, you mentioned you got your license in Austin originally, yep, is that where you joined Keller Williams?

Bailey Martin  23:33  
And they have a great startup program too. It's called Ignite, but it's a lot of new agents go to Keller Williams and get a lot of support there. So I learned a lot about how to get going. But really what, what really propelled me into being a successful realtor was when I moved to Florida four years ago, I was struggling there straight to round table, or did you know? So I, whenever I moved here, I wasn't sure if I was going to be in real estate anymore, because I was struggling doing it part time back at Keller Williams, and just as a first year agent, anybody that's a realtor knows how that first year is. It's really hard. And so I moved to Florida in my my listing agent for the house I was I had a buyer's agent who was part time and sucked. And then the listing agent who was representing the seller, I

Tracy Hayes  24:19  
assume this person is

Bailey Martin  24:19  
no longer in business. She's not and so the listing agent really came through and, like, helped the transaction happen. And I was very impressed that the listing agent made this happen, because it may not have happened without her. And so I reached out to her and said, I just moved here, obviously, and I'm considering getting my license here. Would you be willing to hire me as a buyer's agent, because I was so impressed by how you handled this situation. She was like, I'm not trying to build a team or hire anybody, but I just talked to somebody yesterday who said that they were and so I ended up interviewing with that person, and he hired me as his buyer's agent. So for my first year in real estate here in Florida, I was his buyer's agent. His name is Ron. Ford Adams, and he taught me how to really be a professional who can make money in this industry, and just showed me how to do everything. And I'm forever grateful for him for helping me that first year.

Tracy Hayes  25:12  
So you had a little from Texas to Florida, yeah. I mean, did you notice any major differences of how you did business?

Bailey Martin  25:18  
Austin was a lot harder for me. And so having that mentor and that person there with me here, and also to show me around and everything really helped so much. So I mean, obviously the markets are going to be a little bit different. The prices were higher in Austin, and it just seems so much more competitive.

Tracy Hayes  25:35  
Now, you mentioned your your your brokers over there, which are well known in the area, but you're not actually on a team. You're

Bailey Martin  25:42  
just just me, yeah, after that first year, I decided I was ready to go out on my own, and so,

Tracy Hayes  25:48  
so I know you interact with people that are on teams. You like it solo or do you? I

Bailey Martin  25:55  
mean, I think the idea behind growing a team and having people make money for you, and you're not having to do it is very appealing. I It's not something that I would just jump into. I think it's really important to do that correctly and set it up right, and to take your time and make sure that you're really ready for that before you step into it. Well,

Tracy Hayes  26:16  
you're, you're because you're really starting to, you know, get in your groove, right, so to speak. So, yeah, that builds aunt Sharon's confidence, right? That we talked about earlier, yeah.

Bailey Martin  26:26  
And she has a team, yeah.

Tracy Hayes  26:28  
And so at some point you become a mentor to somebody, right? You become a mentor to the next Bailey that that's coming up, that's that's maybe behind you. Robert did for me, yeah? That looks at you and sees, you know, all your awards on the on the on the on the wall, or, you know, that sort of thing. And it kind of gives you that, that air of confidence, and they have confidence to follow you, that you know what you're doing, so to speak, so you think that's something in the future for you,

Bailey Martin  26:56  
absolutely. Yeah, all right, I've got some really great

Tracy Hayes  26:59  
questions here. So we bounced around a little bit, so I got which ones I've already asked. Already asked or we've already talked about. So what do you think is your as a solo agent now, your biggest challenge on a day to day, when you get up in the morning and you go, Okay, I need you know this is gonna be successful day. But what is, what are your major challenges to in working that as a solo agent and earning your own business, not relying on the team, so to speak,

Bailey Martin  27:24  
in earning my own business or dealing with the business that I have already above

Tracy Hayes  27:27  
what is, I mean, what are the challenges that goes through your heads on a daily basis as a solo real estate agent?

Bailey Martin  27:32  
So we're working with the public, real people who are going through a really big transaction, and it's, it's stressful to buy and sell a home. I mean, whether you're buying or selling or doing both at the same time, it's a very stressful time for people, and so we're doing everything we can to alleviate as much as a stress as we can. But I mean, we, I feel like, as a real estate agent, we really are people's like psychiatrists, and we hear everybody's all their stuff, and that's what I

Tracy Hayes  28:00  
was saying earlier, about everybody's got dirty laundry.

Bailey Martin  28:03  
I really just try to listen and understand and guide and reassure as much as I can, but that's especially over the past few days. Yeah, some of my biggest struggles or challenges throughout the day are just reassuring people and letting them know, you know, at the end of the end of the day, this is all going to be worth it. And I understand that your lender is asking for a ton of stuff, or whatever it is, but you know, we're going to get through this. And you know, just got to take one step at a time.

Tracy Hayes  28:32  
There is no doubt that you sometimes we can lose we handle these transactions all the time from the lending side, and you're on the buyer, seller side. We handle them all the time. We're like, Yo, you tell them what's going to happen. Okay, great. And it's like, okay, can I put my phone down? Can I have some peace tonight and watch a show or movie, whatever? My family and the phones ringing and this that, and we forget that. That's what we're dealing, that's we're handling these life changing situations.

Bailey Martin  29:01  
Yeah, time. And I do try to make a point to, you know, from this time to this time is family time, so I'm not gonna let you know. And I also try to stay, not, you know, stay out of it, like, don't get too emotionally involved and know that it's just gonna work out. And don't get too wrapped up in in their drama of it all too, right? It's really important that they need, they need that stable person too.

Tracy Hayes  29:22  
Yeah, yeah. And like you said, I think you said before a lot of times, I just need you to listen and just and let them know it's going,

Bailey Martin  29:29  
yeah, just on my way here. You know, I had somebody just telling me all about how upset that they are that their homes not ready yet, and I have a lot of new construction pending right now. And I try, you know, I'm like, Hey, man, I completely understand your frustration. You're trying to plan your summer. And you know your house was supposed to be done last month. Now it's looking like not until July. And it's not just you. This is happening to everybody, all across the board. It's these repercussions from covid and, you know, shortages on Windows and Siding and flooring. Hayes. Hearing is the latest thing. Yeah, flooring and yeah. So you know, just Yeah, being their counselor and just listening.

Tracy Hayes  30:05  
The positive spin is it is that you may you, you signed a contract last fall at that price,

Bailey Martin  30:11  
right? And that's what I tell you. I had one just close a couple weeks ago in Rivertown, and their appraisal was 40,000 more than they bought the house for. Yes. And I was like, Look at this, yeah. Are you still mad that your house got pushed back a couple weeks, you know, right? And they're like, No, we're happy. We're good.

Tracy Hayes  30:28  
We get the calls. I was just talking to a client the other day. She's living in an extended stay right now, waiting for it to be finished. And I'm like, you know, three months, three years, 20 years from now, you're going to look back and just laugh at this like, hey, remember when we stayed in the extended stay and we're waiting for our home to finish, you know? And you're going to laugh about it, yeah, if you were invited to speak, let's say at nefar, the local board here, and explain just or touch on the basis of what's made, what's tripled your production because that was your Facebook post the other day. Tripled your production in the last three years. What would you tell the agents?

Bailey Martin  31:08  
Well, I think the most important thing is this is kind of one of those things that are it's like simple, but it's not easy. And so what I have done is listen to and mimic what the successful people are doing, and having two great brokers telling me what I need to do and showing me and having that year, having a mentor, and just literally doing exactly what he did and the way that he did it, and bringing my own, you know, spin to it as well, and my own authenticity and my own personality and work ethic to the table And those combined is what helped me triple my production. So just seeing what the people that are successful are doing and just doing the same thing, it's not rocket science,

Tracy Hayes  31:50  
right? Consistency. I mean, I mean, that's what you hear on the podcast. Now, if you're, you know, they, of course, are promoting agents or loan officer or whatever, you know, if you are anything, really, if you're going to do something and you're going to utilize social media, because it isn't an inexpensive medium, it's consistency.

Bailey Martin  32:07  
Yep, you got to keep showing up. You got to keep your face in front of them. You know, I have a banner at my kids school and stuff like that. It's really important to have your face shown.

Tracy Hayes  32:16  
What do you do? Because, you know, you with the leads that you've bought, maybe they never came to fruition past clients. What are some is, Do you do anything unique for those people to just to stay in front of other minds?

Bailey Martin  32:31  
Absolutely, and that's the number one. Most important thing is you have to have leads, wherever you're however you're getting them, whether you're door knocking them, or buying them from Zillow, or whatever it is. If you don't have leads, you're not going to make it like that's it like that's the most important thing

Tracy Hayes  32:44  
is get leads. So what do you what do you do to stay in front of I

Bailey Martin  32:48  
do a lot of stuff to keep in contact with my past clients. Just this week, I was I, first of all, after I close on a home, I check in with them a month or so later. Hey, how's it going? Right? You know, how are you still loving the house. It's a really important touch. I think maybe they are, maybe they aren't, maybe they want to sell. But I just had one, and they closed a couple months ago, and I've been kind of talking to them, and they're really sweet older couple who we kind of, you know, became friends throughout the process. And so they're just, like, we just this smell. There's just this smell in here. It smells like construction or whatever we don't know, like it's bothering us. And so I went and got her I ordered it from Amazon. Who goes and buys anything anymore? It's all about Amazon, this candle that, like, takes the smell out of the room. And, you know, I said, Hey, I got a little something for you. Is it okay if I stop by? I'm like, yeah, come on over. So I stopped in and brought him the candle, and they were super grateful. And we sat down and chatted for 30 minutes, right? So I think it's just little stuff like that, staying in contact with them. Obviously, social media is the best, cheapest way to stay in contact with them. They can see what's going on in my my life and my career, and I can, you know, also kind of see what's going on with theirs and comment on their stuff. And it's a really great way to stay in touch, right? I do house aversary, you know, bring him some little cookies in the shape of a house. Hey, happy one year house aversary, right? You know, that's just getting face to face with them, and, you know, it's really sweet and cute, and they love it.

Tracy Hayes  34:10  
There's no doubt. You never know when that past client is going to chat. Well, you never know when they might have a situation, obviously, but they might get that cookie from you today, and all of a sudden this weekend, they're at a cookout, and someone says, Yeah, I'm looking to buy or sell a home, and they're meeting at your top of mind. They remember that cookie. Now, before the cookie, they may have been like, who was our real estate agent?

Bailey Martin  34:38  
Definitely, yeah. And I think it's so important all almost every single time I meet with these people, they know I'm a realtor, and so they start talking to me about real estate, because it's just a natural thing that they know, that I know, and that that's our connection. And so the cookie lady, her mom's looking for a house right now, you know? And then the guy, when I dropped the candle off, hey, my buddy wants. To move down here from Chicago. He's looking to retire as well. So it's almost every time, and I haven't done those transactions yet, but that's those are little feelers that are being put out. And who knows if I end up selling her mom and his friend, you know, a home in the next year or so. But the more times you do that, and the more things like that you have floating around, it just starts all coming in.

Tracy Hayes  35:20  
Well, I've got that big money energy. Ryan Sirhan, have you read that book yet? I have not. You have not Well, that's your copy, right there. Thank you so much. No problem. Thank you. I'm going to get some copies of his original one, selling like Serhant. But those of you have listened to my podcast before, I tell this story often, Ryan talks about and selling like Serhant, that customer, that guy who wanted to move from up north and, well, this, I don't know if his customer, he's he was already, he's obviously selling in New York City, but he had a client. Got his information. The guy vanished. He kept sending him a postcard for a couple of years, and then all of a sudden, out of the blue, guy called him. Said, hey, I want to buy this $17 million apartment in New York City. Apartment in New York City. And so Ryan, in the book, calculates how many dollars per day, you know, his commission when he divided it by that for sending a guy a postcard probably every other month or something, just saying, Hey, I'm Ryan Sirhan. I'm selling homes, you know, something of that, just to stay in touch. And that guy picked up the postcard. And actually that means, to give another great story. I was in a training with one of the top trainers here in Florida realtors, and she was talking about her mom receiving that postcard every month or whatever from the local agent in the neighborhood. And literally, she, of course, she told the story because her mom says to her, and she's a real estate agent herself, hey, when I, when I move on, I want you know. I want you to use the use the person who's in your father's desk drawer. Dad had already passed away, and there was a pile of those postcards. Wow. And her daughter is a real estate agent locally anyway, but just not in it, not in that neighborhood. Wasn't sending cards to that neighborhood. Was funny, how her mother, but just, yeah, just touching that. How much did that actually cost? When the relative, you think of the payday on the other end, you know, if one person, if you if your first deal the year, paid for all your marketing for the entire year. And then, you know what I'm saying, it's like what it is? No brainer, yes, yeah, just to send and stay in touch. However it is, whether it's I personally have gotten down to the birthday cards, that's pretty much all I have the time for right now and that. But when I send them, there's two brownies involved. Comes a nice little box. They use a service that doesn't like a brownie. Yes, enjoy your day and have a tall glass of milk and have a brownie, right? So those are some of the things that I do. So let's put the listener right now. We've got someone out there who doesn't know a real estate agent at all. Why would they call Bailey Martin to come list or buy their home?

Bailey Martin  37:54  
We're actually working on our USP right now at round table, your unique selling perspective or whatever, right? So we've been thinking about this because we're always learning at round table. And so what they did is they actually had other agents tell each other what it is that they know about you. And so everybody told me that my USP should be boss lady like boss daily. That should be your hashtag, boss Bailey, because you are more than anybody else. People know exactly what to expect. You're very direct. And you know, obviously do a great job for them.

Tracy Hayes  38:25  
Well, you have them in mind. You I mean, some people use those adjectives when they're describing me as well. Sometimes it's because we were programmed. We have we see. We know where you want to go. We hear you. We know what the end, what, where that goal is and where, you know, I use the football analogy. What do we need to go to get what do we need to do to get to the goal line? Well, sometimes you need a swift kick in the butt, yeah? You know, sometimes you need to, you know, I'm sure you've had some houses where you've listed where you're like, listen up, do a few things to this house. Yeah? You know, before we can get it up and sell it for the price that you want to sell it for? Yeah, yeah. So you're probably very direct where I think a lot of agents, I'm sure some agents are very tactful. Everyone has tact in that, where some agents are like, okay, and they because I see the pictures on the appraisers from the lender side, we see the appraisal, and we see pictures, and I won't talk about the one institution that I worked for, but was a call center, so everyone's really close knit, from the standpoint of emails and communication. And trust me, when the pictures came in from some of these places of some really nasty, nasty places, it's like, who's trying to sell this house? You know? Why are you not? I'm sure there's some agents that probably wouldn't even they're like, I'm not putting my name on the front of that house to sell that house, because the customer will do, yeah, what you're asking to

Bailey Martin  39:47  
do well. And also just letting, from a selling point, definitely, and also from a buying standpoint, you got to tell them, hey, especially in today's market, this is what we're going to have to do to win, and you have to be willing to do it right, right? No, I think a. Lot of people are realtors. May be scared to say stuff like that, or

Tracy Hayes  40:04  
I, you know, it's funny. It's amazing. What you know, again, from the lending side, sometimes we're asking, sometimes people are a little short cash to close, or whatever it may be, but it's amazing when you actually go to them and say, Hey, for you to get here, you're going to need to do this, this and this. And you'd be amazing how people rise to the occasion, yeah, because if they really want that goal, they'll, they will do what needs to be done well.

Bailey Martin  40:29  
And I think it's so important to let them know what it is that they need to be done that needs to be done ahead of time. I always lay it all out. I don't want anything popping up along the way that you didn't know about, right? Let's get super clear on what we need to do to get to the end. Does that

Tracy Hayes  40:43  
not stress you? When that mean, when those like you know, you try to do everything you can to make so everything just goes through smoothly. But obviously it seems like you have the same mindset that we're thinking of all those things that could be that bump in the road cause problems, cause stress. So we stress for our clients trying to clear the road so they don't even see those obstacles. Absolutely. Yes, I've gotten in trouble before because I told some someone heard me say this to a client. I won't say who heard it is, but someone that's very close to me, I know and love, but she heard me on the phone and I and I said, you're going to have to, and this is figure of speech, eat bread and water because they have, you know, you need to save up this. You have to come up with this money, yeah, so if you have to eat bread and water for the next three months, so you save every dollar you can to get there, that's what you need to do. Is obviously a figure of speech, right? But obviously, in our PC culture, unfortunately, sometimes I said, always, my New Yorker came out in there, but it was a figure of speech. And it wasn't, you know, obviously people are going to do what they're going to do, but I was just stressing to them in a very straightforward way, hey, you're going to have to pinch pennies. I mean, because I could have said that too, you know, to make sure you get there. So, alright, so I have a little two minute I call it the two minute drill, because I officiate football. So instead of the speed round some of the other podcasters use, I'm going to use a two minute warning questions. All right, is it more important who

Bailey Martin  42:13  
you know or what you know, who you know for sure?

Tracy Hayes  42:18  
How has that helped you and your if

Bailey Martin  42:20  
people like you, and you know enough, they're going to be willing to work with you, and you're going to work it all out and figure it out along the way. I

Tracy Hayes  42:27  
like that. You're exactly right. I totally agree with you. Do you like the listing side or the buying side better?

Bailey Martin  42:34  
I've been heavily on the buy side, especially at the beginning of my career, because I was buying so many leads from the internet, and those people are looking for homes. But honestly, those listings, especially in today's market, are so much easier because you, like you said, you put the sign in the yard, you get really great professional photos, and you just kind of sit back and wait for the offers to come in, and then you help with the negotiations and stuff. But it's so much easier than trying to convince these buyers that if you want to buy this home, you're gonna have to pay more than it's

Tracy Hayes  43:01  
worth, right? Right? Do you are you seeing out there right now from the listing side? Because I think a lot of you know the sellers are going, Oh, this is so easy for the real estate agents. They're selling it by sending out some emails. They've already got offers. They put the sign in the yard, goes up on the MLS. They're gonna get some more. What did they really do? Are you talking about for sale? By go to sit and actually just go, I'll just sell it myself. Well,

Bailey Martin  43:23  
I mean, a lot of people are trying to sell it by themselves. I don't think they're going to get quite as much money if they do that, even after paying real estate commissions, and maybe get themselves into some kind of legal trouble if they don't know exactly what they're doing. But I'm definitely seeing more for sale by owners coming

Tracy Hayes  43:38  
up. I don't think the, I don't think the listers understand, you know, especially the fact that you know you're getting, sometimes 20 plus offers on homes and to sit there and evaluate what's the best offer for you, what? What are you what are the

Bailey Martin  43:52  
pitfalls? Which one's less likely to fall through? Yeah, it's easy to

Tracy Hayes  43:55  
say, well, who's paying cash, and eliminate the others. Yeah, that's that. Mean, that's easy, but it's necessarily the best offer. Are you trying to, are you trying to get the extra 10, $15,000 out of the home? But the cash guy usually is trying to low ball you a little bit. They're trying to get, they're trying to spend this least amount of cash, you know, that sort of thing. And the hire a professional agent to list your home right now, just simply to field the offers. Yeah, and know when to

Bailey Martin  44:20  
pull the trigger. You know, you can put it on Zillow, but whenever a realtor puts it on the MLS, all the realtors are seeing it. If you just put it on Zillow, the realtors aren't seeing it. And all these realtors, 10,000 in Northeast Florida, potentially have buyers for your home. So if you don't list with the realtor, and at least have your home put on the MLS, your number of people who are going to see your listing is way lower, which means the number of offers you're going to get is going to be way lower.

Tracy Hayes  44:42  
Would you agree that they're probably going to get enough extra money to pay for the realtor and not have anywhere near the

Bailey Martin  44:49  
stress? Yes, absolutely. Yeah, yeah.

Tracy Hayes  44:53  
I would agree with that as well. We've been under covid. A lot of agents have their different ways. Of doing things you mentioned round table and how you feed from the brokerages there? Do you go in the office every day? Or you work from home a lot?

Bailey Martin  45:07  
So I have a six month old baby, so that's really kind of changed things up lately. So now I get the heck out of my house as much as I possibly can. I can't get anything done with her there. She's doing cute, crawling around and stuff. So I try to get into the office as much as I can I find that I'm way more productive there, and I can feed off of everybody that's in there. There's always lenders in there that I can ask questions to. We have a property management broker in there who I can ask questions to. We have a marketing director in there who is amazing. And we can always bounce ideas off of and find out how to grow our business. And then we have two brokers always in the office who are 100% there to support you all the time. I mean, I just had a thing where I had a closing a month and a half ago, and they did a lease back, which I'm seeing a ton of right now. And the lease back was over. The buyers were finally ready to move into their home, and the sellers were hadn't moved out yet. All their stuff was still in the house, and so they were trying to move out, and they only had this little pickup truck, and it was really slow process. And they had, we're supposed to be out days ago, and so the buyer is really cool. He's actually helping them move. So I'm telling Howard,

Tracy Hayes  46:13  
this is just an older couple that that, yeah, it is

Bailey Martin  46:17  
okay. And so I'm telling my brokers about it. And so what they do is they hire another agent. They pay another agent in our brokerage, Brett Melton, big muscle guy, to go and help them move all that has muscles. I mean, more than me, you know, and he was willing to go help. So I'm just, you know, the fact that my broker was willing to have pay someone to have go out there and help them move all that stuff out. So that way my buyer, who closed on the home a month and a half ago could move into their home.

Tracy Hayes  46:44  
Yeah, that's one of those stuff that happens in real estate, right? Yeah, I've heard that story before. It was older couple, and they procrastinated, procrastinated and finding, like, your closings tomorrow, and actually 30 years worth of stuff, broker and her small ages, they all had to go out there, and they got a movie, rented a moving truck, and started just, I mean, getting in there and just packing their boxes for them. It's people before property, right? Yeah, and they had a place to go. It's not like they didn't have a place to go. They are. They had a place to go. Had trouble getting it out, yep, procrastination, all right, Bailey's gonna go out. You're an outgoing person, an athlete jumbo shrimp or the Jaguars.

Bailey Martin  47:21  
Oh God, both are really fun to go to. I'm gonna have to go, I'm gonna have to go Jags the jumbo shrimp, maybe, if they were like a professional team, I mean, I love last year, or Jags 2021, we got the new the new coach, right?

Tracy Hayes  47:34  
Quarterback, new running back, maybe a new tight end, yes.

Bailey Martin  47:39  
But that doesn't mean I'm not gonna go to at least a couple jumbo

Tracy Hayes  47:42  
shrimp. For sure. For sure. I told myself, if I'm going this year, I'm gonna stay in the section, though, where they have the service that comes down and serves you the beer. Because I hate going and standing in the line you miss, like a whole inning, waiting in line to get a beer, right? Yeah, you said you like to travel the world. What is on your travel bucket list?

Bailey Martin  47:58  
Well, the first thing that came to mind was the Maldives. You know, those little huts right on the water. So I've been planning to go there for a bore. Bora, Bora,

Tracy Hayes  48:07  
yeah, but my wife went to Tahiti, but we didn't go out all the way out there. And where we want, she wants to go back, yeah, go all the way out because we like to dive. I would love, oh yeah, scuba dive, yeah, all the water there. I mean, it's like, it's like, you're back. Oh yeah, we've got, we got a picture in our house. It looks like a professional took it. We took it with some, you know, inexpensive off the shelf. Bought the case to protect it underwater and that, I mean, that picture looks like, I mean, because of water is just so crystal clear there. Yeah, it's beautiful. Yeah, if you had a dream career, I've heard this on another podcast. I said, That's great question. I'm gonna steal that one. If you had a dream career other than real estate? What would it be? Oh, a dream career. Gosh, anything in the world you could do.

Bailey Martin  48:47  
Yeah, that's a good one. The first thing that comes to mind is something around traveling. I mean, I just want to see the world. I don't know exactly what it would be. I don't want to be like a stewardess

Tracy Hayes  48:56  
waiting on people. Maybe, if you're 22 again, right?

Bailey Martin  48:59  
That was fun? Yeah, I don't know a charter pilot that could go and hang out with people in different areas. I don't know, right? I do want to see the world. It's definitely on my bucket

Tracy Hayes  49:09  
list. So I'm wrapping it up. Bailey, we I know we've got probably some listeners on here. Hopefully we got some interesting people that want to reach out to touch you. How would it be best way for them to get a hold of you.

Bailey Martin  49:21  
Yeah, you can call or text my cell or email me. Bailey at round table Realty cell is 904-671-5275,

Tracy Hayes  49:27  
and then you're you have, I know your your pop, your Facebook, you do Instagram or what do you? What do you? What are you on there?

Bailey Martin  49:32  
I should probably do more Instagram. I know even my kids are all on Tiktok, and everybody's doing that too. So I probably need to branch out. I've been pretty old school and staying kind of with what I know and consistency with my Facebook page.

Tracy Hayes  49:45  
Is the Facebook is it just? Is it just? Bailey Martin Realty, Bailey Martin Realty, that's your that's your business page, okay? Bailey Martin Realty, reach out to Billy details, more details in the show notes and reach out. She's one of the top agents in Northeast Florida. Billy, I really appreciate you coming on today. Oh, thanks for having me. You have a super day.