Market Trends & Data Episodes

Marilyn Gilman didn't plan on becoming a Jacksonville real estate agent — she got her license in 2019 after nearly two decades raising her family, stepping into a market she already understood from close to 40 years around her husband's family development business. She hit Rookie of the Year in her first year, sold just over $5 million, and now leads a mother-daughter team with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Florida Network Realty, ranked the #3 small team in Florida. In this episode, Marilyn breaks down what actually happens when a seller won't move on price. Her read: sellers who wait too long "start dripping blood in the water" — and buyers' agents notice fast. She and Tracy also dig into Florida's November property tax ballot measure, the state's improving insurance market, and what it means to act as a true fiduciary when a client wants to hear a number you can't honestly give them. The conversation covers plenty of Jacksonville-specific ground too — the trade-offs between…

Angela Stancil spent nearly a decade in education — classroom teacher to assistant principal — before she ever wrote a real estate offer. On this episode of the Real Estate Excellence Podcast, she joins Tracy Hayes to talk about how that background shapes the way she works today as a REALTOR® with Team Davidow at Coldwell Banker Vanguard Realty, one of Northeast Florida's top-producing teams. Angela built her business almost entirely on referrals and relationships, and shares how the systems her team put in place kept her transactions running smoothly even through a serious personal health challenge — proof that the right infrastructure can carry a business through anything. The conversation goes deep on new construction, including the exact questions buyers should ask any agent to find out if they actually know the local builders, and why representation costs a buyer nothing since the builder pays the commission either way. Angela also breaks down how she works with military fa…

Lisa Vernon has sold every home she's listed in Nocatee. Not most. Every one. In a market she says is down 6% to 8% with more than 200 expired listings at one point, that record isn't luck — it's a pricing conversation most agents avoid having. Lisa joins Tracy Hayes for Episode 335 to break down how she got there, starting in 1998 on the mortgage side. Commercial Credit, then EverBank, Washington Mutual, PHH — cubicle after cubicle, phone call after phone call. A difficult pregnancy in 2008 pulled her out of the business entirely. She came back in 2013 with a real estate license, a mentor at Keller Williams, and a vision board with a $52,000 income goal on it. She blew past it. The phrase that anchors this episode is one Lisa learned watching her mother work model homes as a teenager: "Commission breath is when you can tell that that agent cares more about their commission than making sure you're making the right choice." She tells the story of a buyer named Lynn who was ready …

Holly Taylor spent nine years teaching elementary and special education before building The Taylor Team at Herron Real Estate in St. Augustine — closing 93 transactions worth $36 million in 2025 alone. In this episode, Holly and Tracy dig into what teachers bring to real estate that sales training can't replicate, then move into hyperlocal buyer and seller strategy for St. Johns County: the CDD-versus-HOA fee confusion that trips up new residents, why the Florida homestead exemption deadline costs unprepared buyers real money every year, and the lingering myths around VA loan offers that still cost military buyers negotiating power. Holly also walks through what a military family's compressed PCS timeline actually looks like from the agent's side, what buyers need to know before choosing SilverLeaf as new schools and amenities come online, and how she's advising buyers to win offers in a St. Augustine market where only 9% of homes sell over asking. It's a grounded, practical conversat…