Keri Carpenter: What a Professional Real Estate Agent Brings to the Table

Hey, welcome back to The Real Estate excellence podcast, great show in line today. This top producer has a vast experience in corporate America prior to becoming a top producing real estate agent. She has only been an agent for a short of three years, but she has been Rookie of the Year as won the Keller Williams culture award and gold award. I'll find out what that is. She has capped each of her three years most real recently in just one and a half months, she's part of the office's agent Leadership Council, 2023 she serviced 51 families for nearly $20 million in sales volume. Let's welcome the retail Society president Carrie carpenter to the show.

Keri Carpenter  2:08  
Thank you so much for having me today.

Tracy Hayes  2:10  
Thank you. And you know I, you know, I see the social media. I see your, you know, obviously Jack's real producers recognize you as someone I want to look into, to have come on and because they generally are doing well and have a story. But the more I dug into your background, the more I was like, this is going to be really good, because I think a lot of agents are going to be able to resonate with you, because you're coming from that corporate America thing. I know we have a lot of really good agents that are in their 20s that this is their first career, and good for them, but for most of us, we did something else before, right? Yes, exactly. Yeah. So tell us about the gold award. Since that was, what is the what is the Keller Williams Gold Award?

Keri Carpenter  2:50  
So that is when you hit a certain tier of volume. So that was, we're gonna have our next award ceremony next week, so we'll find out what that award is. But I don't know what that is for 2023

Tracy Hayes  3:02  
but in 20 certain percentage, and that's where they cut up the line,

Keri Carpenter  3:06  
correct? So you're a certain volume percentage, so over 5 million, you receive the gold award. And so I had done right at about 8 million in 2022 so received the gold award, and also the culture Award, which was just fantastic, because one thing that I love is that I give back. And I love that real estate has that opportunity. You know, you really can feel like you're living on an island in real estate, but if you give into the culture and you love helping other newer agents, like you said I came from corporate America, so being on big calls with CEOs, being in front of large groups I absolutely love and thrive, and so I want to help others who have that

Tracy Hayes  3:51  
are you wearing? Are you wearing that Keller Williams? Is that what that sweaters? Is that your Keller Williams look? Well, we definitely need to find out what kind of coffee you drink in the morning, though. So funny.

Keri Carpenter  4:06  
Drink coffee. My dad always says, if we could just figure out what energy you have and bottle it up, we'd be billionaires

Tracy Hayes  4:14  
Exactly, exactly. So you when we were talking last night, through, so through messages. You messaged the Mustang news. So you were born, were you born and raised here in the Mandarin area?

Keri Carpenter  4:27  
Yep, born and raised here in Jacksonville, Florida. Went to Loretto, elementary, Mandarin, middle and Mandarin High School. Go Mustang. The farthest I've gone is the University of Florida for college. My dad was a gator, so my heart always wanted to be a Gator grad, and I'm one of four sisters, so my twin sister went to UNF here. She's incredible, and I always just wanted to be that Gator. So leaving the home here in Jacksonville and going to Gainesville was fantastic, but always knew my. Enough away, just far enough away, exactly, exactly

Tracy Hayes  5:04  
the Warrington College of Business at University of Florida. What is young Carrie thinking about 1920 21 years old, of what she visualized for a career? What are the type of things that you thought you were wanting

Keri Carpenter  5:16  
to do? I love managing and helping people grow. So I always wanted to be in a role where I have people that I can help. My husband always says that I give, give, give. And that's why real estate is ideal for me, because everywhere I've gone, when I first started in management at Florida, I fell into the business school and just loved it. I thrived. I went and met all the teachers. I was that student that would go to class so I could meet everybody there, even though 90% of the classes were virtual, and my parents were like, we're paying for a dorm and you're 90% virtual. I go, No, I go into the classes because you just you meet so many more people. And by doing that, I met the folks in the retail society, and that really took off for me. It was it was this group that helped students grow their resumes, what to wear for success on interviews, we would do mock interviews, and I ended up being the retail Society president at the University of Florida, and loved it because we got to help with the career fairs, where we brought retailers to the school. We educated the students on what to put on their resumes. Like I said,

Tracy Hayes  6:34  
these are all things that you do in corporate America. I think one of the things you know, one of the questions I'll ask you, I know, I learned through corporate training is, what's the proper way to interview somebody? You know, what are the things you're looking for, or obviously, the type of questions that you need to ask to get an answer to see if, obviously, they're legit, right? Everyone says, Oh, I did great in sales. Well, explain to me, or explain to me a situation where you overcame, or whatever, you know, those types of things so vitally important. So you learning that at such a young even before you've entered into the workplace, is is huge and hugely valuable. I like to the point where we say showing up for class. Yes, I think I well, where I went. You weren't allowed to not show up to class. Okay? Otherwise, you were confined for the weekend. So I think that's so important. And I see in now, obviously, you're, you're went to University Florida, very large Institute. I mean, the average standard basic English class, I imagine, probably had a couple 100

Speaker 2  7:32  
people in it. 1000s. Could have been 1000s. So many

Tracy Hayes  7:37  
online, you've got the, what do you call them? The professor's assistant, lot of times, probably instructing, if not, grading the papers and that sort of thing. And you're not really versus the smaller school. So, you know, I've because I've heard recently people got disappointed because they didn't get into University of Florida. Well, that might be a blessing for your child to go to a smaller school and actually go to class,

Speaker 2  7:59  
right? Yeah, right, because they are, they're so big, and it can be intimidating for someone who is just, I guess I can walk into any room and kind of introduce myself to anybody, but for someone who's not as comfortable doing that, that was something I wanted to help with, right? So I was that person who, when I was going into the lunch room, you know, I always wanted to sit with someone new and meet new people and see how I could help them be more comfortable.

Tracy Hayes  8:27  
Where did you get that mindset? Is that, just like your family's all like that?

Keri Carpenter  8:30  
Yeah, so my dad, he has always been in sales every weekend. We grew up fishing and going out on the boat. So we'd always be talking as a family. We always sat down at the dinner table as a family. You know, we always, we don't ever turn on the TV as our family. So we still, to this day, will sit down and just everyone talk and have the kids all running around. So it's a little bit more chaotic now that it was with just us, but

Tracy Hayes  8:57  
it's conversing with adults. Yeah, you're conversing with your parents, and then their friends or your you are conversing with adults. I think somebody actually mentioned to me, which is a thing that I have to that there they were out to dinner, and they had someone else's child with them, but they're not, you know, they're 1012, years old, or whatever, middle school age, and the waiter came over, and they're like, they didn't want to talk to the waiter and give them what they wanted to eat. Yeah, that's how bashful they were, you know what? And obviously they picked up on, I'm like, yeah. I mean, we almost make our kids, like, talk to, you know what do you want? To tell them what you want, absolutely type of thing, and have that interaction. It's very important, absolutely. So you actually get, if I saw correctly, you get an internship with target, yes, yes. How did that come about? And then you spent some time with target and moved up in some positions I did. What are some of the things you used today that you took from the target time?

Speaker 2  9:53  
So much so at Target, you have folks from their first job working there to. Folks who are just working there for fun in retirement for a couple days a week. So as a college kid, walking into this atmosphere where I could be managing anyone, anywhere from 20 people at a time to 150 people at a time, not only do you have to multitask, be able to be in a million different directions at once and focus on making sure you're listening to what the people need. That is, what made me really successful in real estate and retail is you are thrown 1000 different things all at once, and you cannot let any of them not be a priority. And so throughout the day, I would always say, Wait, how is it already this time of day? How did we already let 12 hours go by when I feel like it just started when you're having fun and you're working with so many different people, you know, from brain guiding the building and having to change out 20 different rows of the hard lines, or getting in four trucks in one morning and challenging the team to let me throw the truck in my heels to see how fast I could go, you know, and staying positive, you know, they always laughed because I'd wear wedges so you'd hear me coming, click, click, click, everywhere I'd go around the store, and it just made People smile. So, you know, in our team huddles, I always tried to make everyone smile, because if you're having a good day, you're going to have a good shift, no matter how crazy things can be. And, you know, in retail, I mean, we have some crazy things happen in retail. So, you know, you want to keep everybody positive. You want to keep everybody motivated. And that's what I learned the most, is how to change your style of delivery, and how to not talk to the 15 year olds the same way you do to someone who's retired

Speaker 1  11:55  
almost on the turn of a dime. Because you could be down this section, over here, this department, you get a call, you got to go over there, and now you got to deal with, you know, you know, you got the 50 year old over here working part time, and you got the teenager over here who is a weekender or whatever, like that, right, right?

Speaker 2  12:10  
And so there's so many different motivations. Everybody is motivated differently, you know. And I used to say to everybody, I would say, no matter how you got here, whether you walked here, you biked here, you took the bus, or you drove your car or a scooter, which I had in college, and my parents never knew about until I got home from college. That's a whole different story. But however you got to work today, leave it out there, and let's focus on what we're doing right now, how we can make today a great

Tracy Hayes  12:40  
day. All right, so the personal development question here, because, yeah, I mean, obviously I'm experiencing this high energy. Because, like you said, you're when you're managing, whether it's 20 or 150 150 is just, you know, exponentially more issues or more personalities, more problems. And these people are bringing those things like any workplace. They are. They are they might have issues at home, and they come in and they bring them with them. They don't have a switch where they can just drop it at the door, type of thing. And they bring it with you. What do you was it stuff that you picked up at school was Did you have a mentor? Or did you think it can this kind of mindset came naturally to you to handle these

Speaker 2  13:30  
things? I really think it came from my dad, who we listened to a lot of the stories that he would coach his employees, and he was a district sales manager, so he always had many employees underneath him. And so I think it came from both the fact that he would tell us the stories, whether the highs, the lows, the crazies, The Good, the Bad, and we would he would ask us our opinion, what would you have done, you know? And those could have started at 10 years old, you know, we would hear these stories, and I'd be like, Well, Dad, you know, this is what I would do. And I'm sure my answers change from 10 to 15 to 20 things like that. And but innately, my dad also has that same personality. My mom has so much energy and is organized too. So we kind of got the best of both worlds, I think, in all of us. And he's just always had the sales background and knew how to be home for us, and had to travel so much and go to all the leadership conferences, and whenever he'd come back from those, we'd read the books together. We'd read the interesting the pamphlets that he got and the trainings. And, you know, now we have so many different type of personality assessments, like the disc theory, the strengths finders, all of those. And so we'd go over those. And at young ages, I've done all of those, and I've done them through my careers. And it's, it's, they've gotten better. They have.

Speaker 1  15:00  
Of, yeah, 20 years ago, I don't think they were that good, right? Yeah, they're, they're a lot better today. And I think, I think because I've, I've excited the experience where this company and I took one, took one of you there, I was just calling personality tests, right? They're like, Oh, you don't you were not. My buddy worked for him and referred me in he found, while they didn't hire you because they didn't like the score you got on the personality test. Well, then they let one. Then as time went by, what they started finding out is weren't able to hire these good people being referred in. So when the executives took it and he failed it too, so he wouldn't have gotten hired if he wasn't already hired, right? So obviously that wasn't working. And I know you did some HR work, if I saw in your thing and being involved. It. So you go from Target, you did some time of Victoria secrets, and then you get into logistics. So lot of the lot of big names, ABF, right? They're nationally known, and that so forth. What are some other the corporate training things that you took in through this entire roughly almost 15 years, right? That you've, took that even added to what your dad had already planted

Speaker 2  16:04  
with you. Absolutely So hands down, the best training I've ever had has been at ABF rate, and they are called Arc best as well. And so it it, I went to corporate in Arkansas, and we did what's called right selling. And it was absolutely so impactful. Because just as those situations where you teach students how to answer questions in an interview, you know how they say the star, method, Situation, Task, Action and result, make sure you get through the four of those right selling was so impactful. Because what you're trying to figure out through this process is really understanding what the influence is and what your customer is driven from. You know, everybody sees hundreds of sales people, so when they see someone walk in the door, you know, whether I'm at a huge warehouse or I'm in a mom and pop, awesome small business, and I'm trying to sell our services. You know, the first thing they want to do is say, leave that time for you, but when you really figure out what they need, and that is what right selling taught me is, you know, you do the research, you do the investigation, and as you're doing these investigation questions in your head, you are pinpointing future questions to ask. And as you're asking these questions, they are telling you where they are having issues along the way, and they don't even realize it. And you're able to think in your brain, I have a puzzle piece that can fit that issue, that

Speaker 1  17:44  
you're they only know what they don't know, what they don't know correct, and don't know that there's someone out you out here that provides that service. Or, you know, hey, I'd love to be able to, you know we were talking about the GPS on the phone and knowing where all our family members are at that type of thing. And some people don't know that these trucks, and because you're written it was shipping right, that these trucks have GPS trackers in them, and they know exactly where that truck is at all time, or where your freight might be. Bingo, and if you didn't know that, didn't know to ask for it exactly, didn't know you needed it. Now you're offering that and adds value

Speaker 2  18:21  
exactly, and there are so many more. You know, a lot of people think in logistics, it's just a to b. It's not. In the logistics world, you're say, for example, if it's one pallet of freight, moving from here, Jacksonville, Florida to New York, it could hit four or five different DCS. It could touch many different trailers. It could be all over. So the point of logistics and everyone's all the systems that we have, is to make it as economical and as easy to get to point A to point B without any damage, and making sure that your customers,

Tracy Hayes  18:59  
every time you have to move that thing, you could damage it, bingo.

Speaker 2  19:03  
And so what we, you know, when I was selling my services and logistics, it wasn't just okay. So, you know, I want all your business. No, not every company is going to be successful in every lane, but we have what you need to help this problem child lane that you have of getting it from here to the West Coast, or, you know, we have direct trucks that are going to go all the way there without stopping.

Speaker 1  19:28  
All right, so let's bring this full swing around to real estate. You're finding their pain point, obviously, in how you can solve it. Yes, absolutely. I'm going to give you that interview question. Give me a situation whenever in the last three years, a customer, where we're this really shined of what we're talking about here, finding their their pain points. Because we, know a lot of us, a lot of people, come to the area, oh, I don't want to live in a CDD, I don't want to live in an HOA or, you know, they don't want to live in this type of community, but end up buying in that type of community, because everything else is what they

Speaker 2  19:58  
want. So the first thing I make sure. I do. I sit down with every single one of my customers, every single one, whether they are my best friends or someone I'm just meeting. The reason I do that is because a lot of times we're not talking on the best friend realm when we're talking about real estate. So I make them realize this is a business for me and you are my priority. So we sit down, we talk about their wants, their needs, and what that mortgage goal is going to be. So if they're a first time home buyer and they say they only want to spend 1800 a month, I break it down for them. I say, okay, that CDD community or the HOA community is going to have this on top of your monthly mortgage. So here is where we need to look. And I keep them on that path. My

Speaker 1  20:44  
question is always when they tell me what the payment is, I says that before taxes and insurance, I know the answer, but I just got it's a little gut check,

Speaker 2  20:57  
yes. And you know what's important is, so I had a customer. We probably saw 20 homes, and it was their, it's their first home. They had a great budget. It wasn't, you know, the budget was not the issue. It was. They're both very busy people in the healthcare industry, and they didn't have the time to redo a lot. And so, you know, every showing that I went to with them, we'd spend anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour and a half in the home, because we'd really walk the home. We'd walk it as if it was going to be their home. And, you know, they felt so just disappointed at one point because there was a multiple offer situation, we put in a backup offer because their offer was not accepted. Then I get a call from the listing agent, because I keep in touch with every I give calls to listing agents before we show the properties, I give them a call. You're

Tracy Hayes  21:57  
giving out all your secrets here. So you're I'm gonna have to write down some notes to circle back. I like the one thing you said, we walked into every house like it was theirs, correct. So I'm gonna write that down. We're gonna go back to that. Okay, excellent.

Keri Carpenter  22:11  
And so we finally found the house that both of them walk in and it is theirs. I mean, you could just see the smiles radiate off their faces. They both FaceTime their families. They both were so excited, and it was where they wanted to be. It was the size home. It had a pool, it had everything they wanted. So I kept in touch with the listing agent, because there were two offers in front of us, and everyone always gets so discouraged because they think, why would I put in a backup offer if these two offers in front of me are going to win? And I said, we got to stay positive. We got to stay positive. And so I had spoken with the listing agent multiple times, and she called and let me know the first offer fell through and the second offer didn't know if they were going to want to put an offer in again, like they were the second backup so they had time to think about it exactly. And I said, please call me as soon as you know I did not let the buyers know, because I didn't want to get their hopes up or anything right away. But not even an hour later, she calls me and says, Guess what? The second offer felt. They fell through. Something changed on their side. Are your buyers still excited and want to move forward because the sellers really want to accept their offer? Accept their offer. And I said, Oh my gosh, I can't wait to call them. This is going to be amazing. I'm so excited for them, I had to calm myself down because I knew they were going to be thrilled. So I text them, and I said, Hey you guys, can you talk this afternoon? What time are you available? And they both got off by seven, it was like three hours.

Speaker 1  23:42  
You should just said, We need to talk right now.

Keri Carpenter  23:50  
If they weren't in the hospitals, it'd be a different story. So right on the.at seven, I called both of them, and they're at home, and I said, Hey you guys, I have some good news and I have some bad news, because we had seen another house, found out that they couldn't put a pool in the backyard because they hadn't used it. So I started with that, you know, I was like, have some bad news, you know when I tell you that? And they were like, Wait, so what's the good news? And I said, your backup offer got accepted on your dream home. And I kid you not, I could hear, like the screams and the shouts and then the tears. I could just feel it on the phone. And then they stopped, and they go, we thought you were gonna fire us as buyers. I said, Are you kidding me? Your family, your family. You know this isn't just a business to buy you a house. This is a business you

Tracy Hayes  24:43  
must have fired a buyer at some point you've dealt

Keri Carpenter  24:47  
with no not at all, but they were just so thrilled. And it cracked me up that they thought I was firing like that, that I was gonna fire them as buyers. I said, Are you kidding me? This is what I work. So hard for since

Tracy Hayes  25:01  
you're talking about the backup offers, I'm where I'm seeing I'm seeing it because my wife's an agent. I've seen what she's dealing. She did last weekend, you know, going through, and actually, yeah, now the backup offer is actually on the table. Oh, yes, because the first offer, right? Is always cash, and that's not a slam dunk, right? These cash buyers can be flaky, right? You have to be putting backup offers in, or insist that you want to be the backup offer Absolutely. For a couple reasons. The other people have looked at it, have moved on, yes. And if it's three, four a week later, and the first guy drops out, the backup offers ready. Just keep going and the sellers like they're already in their head going, well, we're closing. They're already moved out of the house exactly in their mind, right, right? And they don't want to go, well, let's put it back on the market and see if we get something else. So just, let's just take the backup offer and go exactly,

Speaker 2  25:54  
exactly. And that's why communication is so critical in this business. You know, I always pick up my phone, or I send a text saying I'm in a meeting. Can I call you back? Then when that happens, I can find out if it's a spam call or someone actually calling me too. So it works out, really good, but it's so critical now, as agents that we pick up the phone, we call the other agent on the other side, we find out what's going on, where they're at. You know, I love when customers call me and say, or agents call me and they say, Hey, how far are you in the sale of this property? I've got a buyer who's super interested. Absolutely show it. We're still in inspections. You never know what can happen. So I'd love for your buyer to get in and see it

Tracy Hayes  26:38  
drilled in on that a little bit. Because I, you know again, I hear stories my age. My wife's an agent, so I hear her situations directly, and then obviously talking to agents all the time. On the show the there's agents that will submit an offer and never even make a phone call to make sure you received. It doesn't

Speaker 2  26:56  
it blow your mind. It kills me. I if I I'm shocked, I'm speechless, and I'm never speechless. It's true, though, you know when you get an offer in and you've never heard from that person, or you go through and you're like, they didn't even show the property. Where did they come from? So then I pick up the phone and I call them, Hey, who are you? Oh, hey, I'm the agent that just put in an offer, I know, but did your buyer see it? Oh, they're coming in town this weekend. They just wanted to put an offer right ahead so that, you know, we could go ahead and lock it down. Do they do they like the house? Are you seeing? Yeah, you know, we have to think respectfully of the time of sellers. And so I am, you know, I have always been an over communicator. I believe in this business, you cannot over communicate. You've got to let people know what you're doing, where you're at. Every listing, agent knows if I'm going to put in an offer.

Tracy Hayes  27:56  
Do you agent? Agent communication of you representing a buyer, do you actually call the listing agent even before you submit the offer to kind of feel out where's the seller at? Tell you. Tell us how you break down that conversation. Yes, or wait to try to get out

Speaker 2  28:11  
of it. So first I call them. Usually when I set up a showing, I'll already kind of have a feel of how the buyers feel about the property. So I call and ask them, hey, is there anything that motivates the seller that we might need to be aware of? Do they need a lease back? Are they building a home? Could there be possible delays? You know, I dig into questions. Do they have animals we need to be aware of? Because I my fear is letting out an animal. So when we go show a property, I want to know, are there cats? Are there dogs? You know, sometimes there's not private remarks in the MLS. So that's my red flag. Okay, call just to make

Speaker 1  28:47  
sure or your clients allergic to the cat or dog, right, right?

Speaker 2  28:52  
I've actually had clients like that that say, No, I can't see any houses with cats. So when I call that listing agent, they pick up. I say, Hey, this is Carrie. I'm showing your property tomorrow. You know my buyer, they're fully pre approved. I can send you their pre approval ahead of time, if your seller would like it. There was SO and SO lender. They don't have a property to sell. I kind of just go over the highlights as well. Then when they get my offer, they've already heard that, because I put that all into the offer package. When I submit that for my buyers, I want them, the the agents, to know and communicate that to their sellers. Hey, we've got a pre approved buyer coming in. The rents up in a month and a half. So they're motivated, you know, they got to be out. So they're not coming in just to breeze through. They're coming in with the intentions possibly to buy. So that agent, then can tell me, Hey, listen, we just got the tile redone in the bathroom. It's not even on MLS yet. But definitely make sure you point that out, or I'll ask, are there any upgrades that I should be aware of that couldn't fit in the MLS? You know? What should I I

Tracy Hayes  29:55  
think you did on the lease back is actually sort of popular, right? Because these people are very lot of them are moving to a new build, and they need it for they might need it for two more months, maybe four more months. You know, the builds never on time, right? And to know that when you make the offer, say, hey, my buyers are have no problem with you leasing it back. Absolutely, they might be offering less money, but the other person didn't say that, right?

Speaker 2  30:21  
And by communicating with the listing agent, you can find those tidbits of information out that is so critical. Because now a lot of people go in, it's 30 days to close. If that seller has lived there 30 years, that is a lot of memories and a lot of packing up they've got to do. And when you open a closet, the closet doesn't stop, you know, it just keeps growing stuff.

Tracy Hayes  30:48  
So that this mindset of communication, yes, which is because you're talking about, I talked to people that have been in the business 20 years, this is second nature to them. Yes, you've only been doing it, not even 36 months yet, correct? But yet, this is very this communication piece is huge, and I've seen it live. I've sat and listened to these conversations go on between real estate agents. This is vitally important, especially right now, with low inventory, you're still getting multiple offers. May not be 20, but you're getting three or four or five, right? And you're sifting through this, in this communication is key in placing that offer for your thing, did you? Is this something that can again, second nature, or something you've learned in your sales in corporate America and in structuring that investigation, that you little bit of both? So

Speaker 2  31:36  
corporate America, you can I, you know, I learned that you have to communicate if you don't when you say you're going to do it, somebody else they know, like they're waiting for you. So you know, when I was with XPO logistics, and I had 700 customers almost underneath my huge bucket of customers, if they expected something from me, they needed to get it exactly when they were expecting it. So communication is critical, even if something delays you, that you can't get them, that I would always email or send a phone or put a phone call together a quick five minute zoom conference call or something, just so that they know I haven't forgotten about you. I know what you need, and your priority is my priority, and so always time blocking and knowing exactly what you have to do that day is so critical.

Tracy Hayes  32:28  
When you're well, buyer or seller, you could be on either side. But how important is the foreshadow to your client, what you know may happen, hey or you're in the initial negotiation, initial offer, they may counter. We can ask for that correct. I don't know. They may or may not accept it, but this is what we'll come back with. Or even just, you know, the inspection foreshadowing of things that might come up, how did, what's your again, your mindset on that, and how important is that? Because at the end of that 3045, days, or whatever, that buying process to the closing table, it's that piece, right? There is whether you're going to get a referral or not, right? That your whole reputation is on that when they look back and go, Wow, that was so great, or, oh my god, that was horrific. We were stressed out the whole time. How important is that piece? And then kind of go through what are, like, some key things that you like to foreshadow on any deal, buyer or seller that's important in any real estate transaction.

Speaker 2  33:28  
Oh, it's, it's critical. The inspection is so critical. I always invite the buyers, of course, to the inspections. That's so important for them to hear what the inspector

Speaker 1  33:38  
wants. Their dad with them. Or, I don't care who comes, okay,

Speaker 2  33:41  
bring anybody. I love meeting the family. I love seeing and hearing different mindsets. Even on my buyer consultations, where I sit down with my buyers,

Tracy Hayes  33:50  
you just, you just charm them and give them a smile, keep that, keep dad occupied. And

Speaker 2  33:54  
you want, you want to know what that relationship is. So if Dad is super handy, Dad can be on your side. Because, yeah, yes. Because, Hey, Dad, do you know how to fix baseboards? You know, there's some scratching from old dogs, you know, like that. Just let our cats, you know, are those things that are really going to be critical, those cosmetic items?

Speaker 1  34:14  
Because they're likely say, Well, that just cost, you know, $10 for new baseboard, and I'll paint it. We'll put it on there, 15 exactly the inspection may make it look like it's a huge event, exactly.

Speaker 2  34:25  
So, you know, that's why it's so important. I always say, let me know what time you want to get to the inspection. But the most critical part is that we're there for the end so that we can have the full overview from the inspector. The reason I like to do that is so that one, we don't spend too much time asking the inspector questions during the inspection, because they have more inspections to go to, so they can focus and not miss things. You know, we want

Tracy Hayes  34:51  
them distracted exactly, start a conversation over here and not see something exactly,

Speaker 2  34:55  
exactly. So while the inspector is inspecting, I'm walking the house and. Each room with the buyer and everyone who they bring. And we're talking about, what are you going to do in this room? Do you like this wall where it is? You know, you know, when he goes in the attic, I'm marking it down on my tablet. I'm like, okay, when he goes in the attic, I'm going to remind him to ask to see if he sees any load bearing walls that might be of issue. If they, of course, that wouldn't change that they need a contractor to do that, but it would just, you know, help them understand what they might be able to do so, walking through those rooms, measuring, understanding what the house is made of, physically, you know, knowing what as best as shingles are in the older historic areas that we have around Jacksonville, knowing how to fix those, knowing how you know what the difference is between galvanized copper PVC plumbing, knowing why it's important to have a sewer scope. So a lot of the times, while the inspector is doing his job, I'm explaining to them what he's looking for and why he's pulling that outlet off to look at the wiring in the back and see if it's grounded and see, you know what's back there, because insurance during this inspection period is when we get your insurance. So you know, if there are any issues that we would have to also ask for in the repairs, you're

Tracy Hayes  36:13  
starting to move your insurance quotes up earlier in the transit. We used to wait a week before go get insurance. Not a big deal. Insurance is now a big deal,

Speaker 2  36:21  
big deal, big deal, because that four point that you get from your home inspector and the wind mitigation insurance is going to tell you, nope, you need a new roof, you know? Nope, you've got to get that piping fixed. Nope, you can't have that hot water heater now, you know. So those are critical items you can't wait to the last week. All right,

Tracy Hayes  36:42  
so I'm I got a real estate agents listening to this, going, oh my god, did she just go to college for being a general contractor, because that's what it sounded like.

Unknown Speaker  36:51  
Okay? And no,

Tracy Hayes  36:55  
what did you do to feel as confident as you did? Expressing that in having those conversations are, are you spending some time with a home inspector or going to their lunch and learns? Where are you picking up a lot of those things that they're doing? So you're able to translate that to your client. Great

Speaker 2  37:13  
question. I go to every single Lunch and Learn. They all offer. They give so much information every time they show up at our office, or every time they're at, you know, a title company, when I see that, I'm like, Oh, this is going to be a great topic. I got to go right? Because in real estate, you have to constantly be learning. I am learning something new every day, every single day, you know, I just learned that there are snake prevention plans that you can have if you live on ponds or runoffs and things like that. So you have to keep that mindset open, that you're always willing to learn. And one of the things that I've always done is show up early to the inspection, ask them, you know, did you find anything in the permits? Did you do you see any issues that you foresee to start with here that I might need to be aware of, and listening to every single one of those inspectors has really helped me just learn so much about houses, right? And another great thing that's taught me so much is my mom's been in real estate since 2008 so she has shared so many wild stories and shown us so many different things. And so hearing what she had to overcome, you know, in 2008 was a whole different ballgame. Yeah? Whole different ballgame. She would tell me stories about how she'd have a $62,000 listing that lasted a year and a half, yeah, where we

Tracy Hayes  38:36  
got squatters in there, yeah, all sorts of Yeah, yeah,

Unknown Speaker  38:41  
right. Which I've run into squatters as well.

Tracy Hayes  38:45  
How and just to give a and if you want to call out your go to inspector, that's fine too. That's up to you. But how you know talking to them, it's so important now that that business, back when your mom probably started, they just gave you the report and you dealt with it. Now these guys have the inspectors have come around to be a little more customer service friendly and trying to ease because their job is to point out every little scratch or light plate or whatever that might only cost a couple dollars to fix, but it's on the list, and the list looks long, but really, 99% of those things are a couple 100 bucks and they're fixed. Bucks and they're fixed, right? That how important is to have that home inspector? Well, one have somebody, or one or two guys, are you using all the time build a relationship as from a real estate agent standpoint, yes, but that actually knows how to communicate that to

Speaker 2  39:38  
the buyer, absolutely. So I work with many different inspectors, and what I do is, when we go under contract, I'll send out three and rotate them every time, just so that you know, not one person is getting all of the business or they can I let my customer pick, because I tell them, please go to the websites, look at their reports, look at what you like, and. Then come back to me and we can talk about that. And most of the time, when they're first time home buyers, they're like, well, what's the difference? I say, Okay, let's get on their websites together. You know, you need to be able to fully understand and get the report quickly and then be able to read through it. And I love the ones that are hyperlinked, where you can click on the one point 2.2 and it takes you right to the page, you know, so that they understand where the critical items are, and they color code it. So it's usually blue, this orange color and red. And I say we're going to first start with the red, because those are going to be in the inspector's eyes, the hot items. They could be insurance issues. But then we're going to look at all the yellows, and then we're going to look at all the blues. And most of the time, the blues are the kind of honey do list for you as a moving in buyer, but standard house stuff, exactly. But we still need to take a look at them, because if there is anything that could potentially be a big cost down the line, we want to know that ahead of time. How do you

Speaker 1  40:56  
handle the difference between the 51 last year? And I mean, you may not know the exact number, but approximately what percentage of those were the new construction, because obviously that's where most of our inventory here is, right at least last year anyway, as our inventory grows right now, but last year anyway, what percentage of your buyers are going new versus existing?

Speaker 2  41:16  
Great question. So I'd say probably last year, about 15% went new construction. And this year alone, already, I've had four go new construction. One of the reasons they're going new construction this year is interest rates.

Tracy Hayes  41:30  
These you know, the incentives are outrageous. Absolutely,

Speaker 2  41:34  
they're paying closing costs. They're able to get those interest rate down into the fours, low five. So to be able to do that, buyers are, you know, they're looking in a lot of different areas. And the most important thing is, how long is it taking me to get to work? Can I still get this brand new home but make it to work in that 20 minute commute I'm used to and

Tracy Hayes  41:56  
the go back to just so relate this to the home inspection. Do you recommend them put an inspector on that new construction 100% of the time, I always recommend. How many actually do you think take take you up on that, or take your suggestion. Or are you very convincing in there? You're 100

Speaker 2  42:13  
I'm not 100% but we were about 85% because the great thing is, is that buyers can also on new construction, they have that 11 month walk with the builder again. So I say, Okay, if you don't get the inspection right now, at that nine to 10 month mark, Carrie's going to be calling you, and I'm going to say, when are we setting up that inspection right so that you can find items that one of the contractors might have missed, or just different things that we need the builder to take care of for you, so that you're not running into these possible high dollar items in the future. I just had one. They did their nine month inspection, and it might have happened over time, but there were nail pops on the roof, on the shingles, there were deteriorated shingles, so, you know, those might have been dragged with the bag as they were getting it onto the roof, but those are things that insurance eventually will, will call out say they needed to sell in two years, they would have had to pay that money to get that fixed, and they would have never,

Tracy Hayes  43:15  
let alone have a leak and have to make an insurance claim. You don't want to do that? Yeah, bingo, and then turn it around. And because for those out there listening right now, buyers are finding, if you have a home that has had numerous claims on their policy in the last whatever, years, and now you're trying to get an insurance policy on that house, even though you're a different person, it's still the same house, and the insurance companies finding reasons to give you a little rate, absolutely. I want to circle back a little bit, because we never what was the transition x I think was XPO before you went to Keller in 21 What was it that caused that break from corporate America? Or was it, were you fed up with it? Are they reorganizing? What happened? And you just said, I need to go into real estate.

Speaker 2  44:02  
So great. Estate. So great question. My role. I was a national account executive, and there were four of us on the team who handled about a quarter of the full book of business. So we managed the large third party logistics companies like the echo globals, the CH Robinsons, a lot of those big names, and they had, like I had transportation insight, and they had tons and tons of customers underneath them. So when I'm working with the folks up here, we could still have 100 different things going on. Well, we know what happened in 2020 and logistics went through the roof. We were all so busy. And it was amazing, because where a lot of people during the covid era didn't have work to go to, I was over busier than I have ever been in my life, and thankfully, I had an incredible team, and I had a daughter, so things were a lot different, and I did I give. So much. I think I've mentioned that at the beginning, I give so much, so I have a very tough time with an on off switch when I'm giving. And in logistics there, it's 24/7 so to to the point where I had a treadmill desk, because, you know, when I got off work, I had already walked 10 miles that day because I was walking the whole time while I'm on conference calls and I'm working and inputting contracts. And the

Tracy Hayes  45:27  
busyness because of covid was because of a lot of things, whether the trucks couldn't roll, so they're rerouting, and all these type of things are going on.

Speaker 2  45:35  
A lot of people are ordering. Online stores are out of stock, you know. So we were having to add new businesses that had never shipped before. Adding them, we had, I mean, we just had so much freight interesting, and drivers were getting sick, and so we were running into a lot of, I mean, a lot of different things.

Tracy Hayes  45:54  
So you reach maximum, you're full, yes.

Speaker 2  45:58  
So got a daughter. Yep, it was a realization that I had one morning. It was a Saturday morning, and I'm sitting in her playroom, I'm on my computer, and she turns to me and she says, Mommy, can we have a coffee party? And I, I, I looked up and I said, What'd you say to me, baby? And she goes, Well, you, you, you're drinking coffee a lot, and I drink decaf because I'm just hyper already. And so she was like, I just, I just thought that we could have a coffee party. And I, I, like, closed my laptop and I threw it across the room, and I just bawled. I just realized that she saw me only working and

Speaker 3  46:49  
with a cup of coffee in your hand, right? She thought. And so she

Speaker 2  46:55  
thought, Wow, if I can give my mom a cup of coffee, then I get her 100% of her undivided attention, wow. And I turned to my husband, and he was like, Yeah, you work a lot. I mean, you're putting in well over 80 hours a week, and you're up at insane hours of the day. Because I always I'm that person. I want to get yourself available. Yes, and, and so it was an eye opener, and things had to change. And I decided. I said, You know what, my mom has always wanted me to do this full time with her. I love it. I've always been intrigued, like we've always talked about contracts and customers and things like that. And I said, You know what? I'm going to do it. I'm going to do it. And he was like, Are you sure? And I said, Yep, I'm going to do it. As long as you support me, it's huge. You make incredible money. It you make incredible money in logistics. So to go from that, from having a w2 paying job, everywhere, benefits, benefits, salaries, bonuses, out the Yin Yang. I mean, you know, to go from that to zero is petrifying, yeah. And so I've always been a planner, and so I decided I was going to start this process early, and I was going to get my ducks in a row. So first thing I started doing was when I was off work, I was off work, and I just had to change that mentality, because we had just gotten so into the business during the covid era, and so when I was off work, I was outside with my daughter. I'd leave my phone and my computer in the office, and I started transitioning that. And because I didn't. I never want to leave a company and leave them hanging. So I had everything completed when I put in my full notice. And I I've never gotten so many calls saying, What can we do to keep you you know, I love

Tracy Hayes  48:54  
that, and I love you six assistants.

Speaker 2  48:59  
But I it was, it was something I needed to do for my family. You know, I could always go back to corporate America if I didn't love real estate. But I love real estate so much that I don't think All right,

Tracy Hayes  49:10  
so you go to real estate because you wanted free time. No, no, no. Okay, you knew what you were actually. Yes. Okay, yes. So your mindset, knowing what your mom does, and obviously your your level of passion, your your you know, being involved with your customer and communication, that takes up a lot of time, too. So how do you how do you differentiate that from being logistics and working 1214, hours, or whatever or more, versus in real estate? Because there's sometimes you're so busy juggling multiple listings with 51 sold, you had multiple transactions going on at any one time.

Speaker 2  49:47  
Absolutely, absolutely great question. So what I did was I sat down and I put a business plan to get together day one, and I knew I didn't know everything about real estate at. First, but I sat down with Margaret Cheryl, with Keller Williams, and we had a fan, your mom's at Keller Williams? Yes, my mom's at Keller Williams now, yep. And so the reason I wanted to join Keller is because I've just heard about so much of the training. And, you know, the brokers there are absolutely incredible. I love just the knowledge that you can gain there, and the collaboration anybody that you talk to will help you with something. And so I've taken that culture and I've I make it a culture with every agent I talk to because of communication. And so I decided from day one that I was going to create a business plan for myself. So I had broken down my business plan, and I shared it with everyone at Keller Williams, and I said, Is this feasible? Do what do you feel? Give me feedback. And everybody looked at it and goes,

Tracy Hayes  50:52  
who's this agent with a business plan? Or first day, who's

Speaker 2  50:56  
this agent with a business plan? Got a model in place, and I had never even heard of the Millionaire Real Estate book until I went to Keller Williams. So that book and I tweaked a few things, but it was incredible, because we are not 24/7 if you want to have a life. And unfortunately, you know, everybody thinks we have to be. So what I do is I set those expectations up front. I let my customers know I have a family. I sit down every night and I have dinner. We walk around the neighborhood to get those little wiggles out before we go to bed, you know. And so if the conversations have to happen after six o'clock, one, I need to plan for it so that it's after bedtime. And two, is it something that can wait till 9am the next morning, right? You know, or 8am I mean, I'm up at 4am a lot of times. So doesn't matter.

Tracy Hayes  51:48  
You had, you know, you're within six months, you capped the first year, correct? So what? What point, though, with all the things that a real estate agent does, did you realize, okay, because I imagine this happened very quickly for you. I can't do all. I don't have the time to do all the things, all those things that many people don't know that goes on in the real estate transaction, the behind the scenes, stuff. What the transaction coordinators, at what point did you like? Oh, hold on, I'm already full. I need to spin some of the stuff off.

Speaker 2  52:18  
Right? Great question. So May of last year, I got a transaction coordinator. I had 10 families I was working with at once, and I realized, but coming from corporate America, you are trained to have to put your documents in the system right away. You're trained, when you get something in, you do it right then I don't procrastinate. I do it right then. I procrastinate laundry. If my daughter wants to play Legos at night, absolutely. But I do not procrastinate a contract negotiation. If somebody calls I call them back. You know, you can't wait on those things, because it has to happen now. It'll start to build up. It will build up and build up and build up. And when I went May of last year, I realized I needed a transaction team to help me with the behind the scenes paperwork, because I can't pull over four times as I'm driving to a showing, or I can't pull over and sign into DocuSign and send that to a customer. And so when I did that now, it has freed me that system, adding that system at the right time has helped me continue to grow my business,

Speaker 1  53:28  
and if you did not do that in May, how many transactions you think you actually would have done with good with great success, and great success, meaning that that person wants to refer you because you did such a good job and spent so much time with them, it to me that that's a successful transaction.

Speaker 2  53:43  
Absolutely. So if I had not added my transaction team, and I had stayed at that pace, I'm sure I would have missed things. I'm sure I would have frustrated someone, and that's what I didn't want

Tracy Hayes  53:55  
to call someone back Correct. You know, new customer could have been they already have a house. You they need someone right now. And you put, you don't call them right back. They're calling someone out

Speaker 2  54:03  
exactly, exactly. So I instantly put that into place. I put that system into place. I hired a marketing team to help me with my weekly emails.

Tracy Hayes  54:14  
I let's, let's dig a little deeper for that, because those are listening, because I think this is very important in a real estate agents progression, yes to spin these off. You said you hired a marketing team. Yes. Did you put a bunch of people on payroll? No. So how did you do this?

Speaker 2  54:31  
I work with Saylor and CO, and she helped me pull together my entire brand. She helped me create and populate my newsletters, because you always want to be reaching out to your customers. Old news stay top of mind. And that was something that was taking my time. And so what needs to be done, that needs to be done that I did not want to falter, or I didn't want to take away from my personal time.

Tracy Hayes  54:59  
I. And those top of mind things the news, those are not typically instant return on investment, correct? Those are long term

Speaker 2  55:09  
plays exactly, exactly. You know, I never want to miss an anniversary. I never want to miss a birthday or anything like that. So having that system in place so that it'll automatically reach out to my customers is critical, because you're only one person. I'm fortunate in that I have my mom who can be at an inspection if I can't be there, or who can show property for me if I can't be in two places showing property, you know. So we work together as a team, and it's exponentially has helped our business grow. And when I introduce my mom to my customers, I say she loves to be my silent I'm going to make her a shirt that says that she just she doesn't want to do the paperwork, and that's fine, because she's spent so many years doing it, since 2008 that she loves being out and doing the things that are fun. And

Tracy Hayes  56:07  
when you're in that camp where you got 10 people that you were dealing with, even if you were dealing with three or four, right, you've got they want these these people want to go see houses. These people want an open house at their house. You got to get it ready. And then there's inspection going on over here. There's an appraisal going on over there. Photos need to be done whatever, whatever it is. So is Mom, your your partner in this and covering you in a lot of these areas, and helping you out as any agent you know, might not be their mom, but needs to team up with somebody, right? And have that you know, give and take thing like, hey, you know you're going to cover my open house when I'm on vacation, and I'll cover yours when you're on vacation type of thing, absolutely.

Speaker 2  56:48  
Because, you know, in like I said at the beginning, real estate can feel like an island. You can feel like you are out there solo, running your own business, because you really are, and so you have to create those relationships. And that's why I love being on the agent Leadership Council at Keller Williams, because I can meet all the new agents and let them know how I've grown my business by collaborating with other agents. And you have to take that time and realize, okay, I have this many hours in the day. I need to get these things done. What are the items that I can have someone else do that, you know, I can step away from, because I never want to lose a customer or make them feel like they're not top priority when they really are right. So I always want one of us to be at an inspection. So if the buyer is going, I will be there, and if they're not going, my mom will go there, just to make sure we are there, and seeing the things and taking the pictures and looking and digging into it. So it is. It's so beneficial. Because I a lot of agents, we talk about collaboration, and it's so critical. It's not competition, it is collaboration. Because you got to go on vacation if you don't mentally, re connect your mind with fun and being with your family and vacation,

Tracy Hayes  58:04  
you're gonna start a decline. The burnout comes in, but then you start getting depressed because you're like, I'm working all this thing. Yeah, I got a good checking account. I I drive the car I want to drive, and I live in the house I want it, but I'm there's so many other things I want to do right, right? Because when you do have a good checking account, then also your horizon gets bigger, right?

Speaker 2  58:23  
Absolutely and so, you know, it is a cost to add a transaction team, like I have to pay a fee every time I use them, but they are helping me be able to help my customers more effectively.

Tracy Hayes  58:38  
I mean, I think every agent imagines themselves as being the most popular agent, and everyone calling them, you know whatever marketing you're doing, you want, obviously, you know the phone the ring or whatever, and we'll go get into your sphere of influence, because you're local. So I know you're tapping into that, or I imagine you are absolutely yes, but you have to be prepared to when that phone starts to ring at a certain level that you don't, you don't just start scaling back your marketing because, oh, I can't take it on any more clients. You've got to be willing to invest a little bit in this, you know, per transaction, transaction coordinator. I know some people believe you should hire, you know, everyone has a little different opinion. You should hire an assistant first, you know, there's, you know, everyone has, you know, and some put them on payroll, if you're at that level, right, or, you know, be in an office that has brokers that have support staff to help all the agents and take some of that stuff for you. Absolutely, absolutely, you realize that from corporate America, but you're in the Leadership Council around your and you see other agents, they don't necessarily have that mentality. They want to do everything themselves. What are some ways they I don't know if it's sitting down. Obviously getting coaching and counseling would probably be the generic answer, right? But you have to at some point.

Speaker 2  59:59  
Let go, correct. You have to, you have to. And you know, I have been very fortunate. I don't even know if they know that they've been mentors to me, but I have been very fortunate to get very close to some of the bigger teams here in Jacksonville. And you know, I just, I love getting to pick their brains and seeing how they have come from a one, two person team to running some of the biggest real estate teams in the city is admirable, if I said that correctly, but it's, it's inspiring, and to see that they're still with their families and to see what they're doing, you know, it's, it's, I don't want to sound cliche, but they they both said to me, follow the book. Follow the Millionaire Real Estate Agent book. It'll show you where you get overwhelmed and you need to move to that next level. So first step, hire that transaction coordinator. Next step, the assistant or the buyer's agent, or, you know, go through those. And the reason they say, don't try to reinvent the wheel. Yes, reinvent your own marketing. Yes, do those kind of things. But there have been so many agents that have gone through this, no matter what season of real estate we're in, right? They face or you're in, personally, purse Exactly. Yeah, they faced it, and they've overcome it, and this is where the success lies, and the best form of return has come from. And that's the goal is, so that you can continue to grow your business without falling every time, because the wrong hire and you're falling, you're falling hard, and then you have to climb up, so instead of having to fall every time make those decisions effectively. And, you know, I have run a P L since day one on my business, and which I'm sure is pretty is pretty shocking, that type of person where, you know, I It's not

Tracy Hayes  1:01:55  
surprising after having this conversation,

Speaker 2  1:01:59  
but it's so critical to run your real estate business as a business. I love when newer agents call me and ask me, what was the one thing you did that you're so thankful you did. I opened my business account. What do you mean? I got a separate business credit card. If you have to pick the first thing you do go separate your accounts, yeah, because you don't want to have anything to do with real estate, with personal

Tracy Hayes  1:02:24  
juggling your receipts and everything. It's all everything on that card was a business expense, so I got it all listed right there,

Speaker 2  1:02:30  
bingo. If, for some reason, I use it on my personal I don't even, I don't even try. I don't even try. Whoops, that was my bad. I'm not even gonna try to write it off, you know, because I focus on everything has to be lined up with my business. And so, you know, my transaction team also does coaching and development, and I have put together a five year business plan, a 10 year business plan and a 20 year business

Speaker 1  1:02:57  
you have too much energy, you're out of control.

Speaker 2  1:03:02  
The reason I did that is because I wanted to make sure I manage my time effectively. I set my family up for success, and my girls,

Tracy Hayes  1:03:11  
I'm gonna tap in. So since you've brought this up, this five and 10 year plan, because that was, I was gonna finish with this question, but I still want to talk about marketing with you. Yes, where do you see your yourself? I mean, because, I mean 51 transactions, a lot of transactions, and you know, whatever you know your your goal is to increase that, or imagine, like anybody, you want to bump it up whatever percentage this year. Do you see yourself with one of these teams that you were just talking about? Is that something where you want to go, because you like to coach and mentor? Where do you see yourself in that five and 10 year plan?

Speaker 2  1:03:43  
Absolutely. So that is part of my five and 10 year plan, is to build a team where agents around me want to be developed to take that next level. And I know the goal is never to lose anyone off your team. But if I see someone who has spent five to 10 years with me, and they say, Carrie, I think I'm ready to develop my own team. Can you help me? I'll probably cry. I will be so excited to know that I've become that leader for them and that I can help them take that next step. Because as a leader, you always want to be planning for your person to grow. You want them to grow. You want them to hit those target numbers. You want them and in real estate, I can still do that in corporate America, I always wanted to grow the ladder, because I knew I could continue to manage people and grow people and bring this crazy energy, I don't know where I get, but bring my positive, my positivity and my energy to others and help them grow in the next level. And so that ideally is going to tell me that I have become incredibly successful in real estate is when I can take create other leaders, exactly because I don't look at numbers. And I know that sounds funny. But I see it on my P, L, I see it all there. That's great. I focus on families. I focus on new buyers. I focus on what is their need and how can I help them? Because the more people I can help, the more my heart is fulfilled, and so the more that's that's how I I'm trying,

Tracy Hayes  1:05:20  
I'm trying to think of Quicken Loans, as they call it, what we now rock it has. They call it an ism and I forget what the first part is. Basically doing, doing the right things. The money will follow. That's, that's, that's the thing I want to transition over to marketing. Yes, all right, so local girl, you're had the conversation with your daughter, the coffee date, their coffee party. You're now thinking about your real estate business. I'm, you know, you're going and getting your license, prospecting and marketing. Someone made it a point to me the other day, they are different. Marketing being a long term thing, like I put up a billboard, yes, prospecting being more towards, you know, you're picking up the phone and making cold calls or everything, and so you're, which I see, is all under market prospecting in the long term, all under, all under the big umbrella of marketing. What did you initially do? Because you got off to a huge start, and you've continued to get faster and faster. And, you know, like I said, you've already capped out in a month and a half last year, you already capped out. Had a superior year. I don't know where did the Jacksonville Business Journal rank you? You must have been in the top couple percent with nearly $20 million yes, as an individual. So what? What was your plan initially? And I'd like to see how you how you evolve that plan to what you're doing today, because obviously marketing is a lot of trial and error. And then if you could tap a little bit and kind of double down on this question, one of the big things a lot of the agents say is you got to find out. What is it that like? What are you good at? Some people, you know might be good at knocking on doors, and they get a lot of response, are good at the cold calls, so they just 10x that. What is your your go to Marketing, then you see the greatest return on Absolutely.

Commercial  1:07:08  
So first thing I did was reach out to every single person that I knew. I sent text messages, I called, emailed, sent letters out to every single person, I had their address for just to let them know. Hey everybody, I've left corporate America, and now I have moved into real estate. I'm so excited. I can't wait to work with you all, anything you need. I'm here for you, you know, and I'm growing, and I want to learn everything I can. And so just literally, it was Facebook and Instagram. I started showing up on, as they all say, show up on the Instagram, on the gram, and which it's hard for me, because I get so in the moment. So it's hard for me to remind myself show up every day. So I am working Monday through Friday in real estate, and so I need to show all of my sphere and my customers and their sphere that I'm here, right? So I did those three things, text messages, phone calls, sent out letters. Then I started digging deeper. Each person I talked to, I would ask, Who do you know that might be buying or selling in the next year? Oh, you know, I heard my neighbor might be Oh, can I have their name and number I'd love to call them. Or could you create a group text message? I'd love to reach out to them, even if I can just sit down with them. If they're a five year plan, I can get them in my database, and we can stay in touch. And so my communication style and my farming, and I don't like cold leads, I'm not a pick up the phone and dial to somebody I've never met or don't know if they even live at that address. So I would more so like to work with my sphere, or sphere of the sphere, or someone who relates to them, or know your

Tracy Hayes  1:08:52  
friend that you don't know. Yeah, that's still a friend, because they're a friend of a friend.

Speaker 2  1:08:57  
Absolutely, absolutely. So I reached out to any of my friends the new businesses here, or that have businesses here, I reached out asking what they need. Do they need? You know, my twin sister is a teacher, so I would often bring coffees to her and her teachers in the grade, and, you know, just ask, is there anything anybody ever needs, whether it's crayons for their students, and I'd always send in little notes saying thank you so much. Please refer me if you know anyone that's looking to buy or

Tracy Hayes  1:09:26  
sell. Do you think you know? A lot of people say people don't ask for the business. You have to ask for the business or remind them you know you're asking for the referral. You're not asking necessarily them, but you're asking them to refer you to somebody, which is a polite way of asking them for the business, without actually asking them for the business.

Speaker 2  1:09:42  
Everyone laughs at me, but it is so in drained in me because, or instilled in me because, in corporate America, you're constantly having to ask for that business. You have to say before you leave their office. Can Are you going to commit to this contract I'm going to send you this evening. Are. You know, and so what's the difference in real estate? When you ask them, Do you know anyone that's looking to buy or sell in the next year or so? Or do you have a friend or family member interested in moving, whether it's here in Florida or anywhere around the country, I can help them. So I have an agent pool that I work with all around the globe. I've referred someone to Puerto Rico. I've referred someone to Hawaii, which is still us, but we got to travel over water. We have and I really love that Keller Williams has so many offices around the entire globe, because I can connect with someone if I don't know someone personally, that's an agent there.

Tracy Hayes  1:10:42  
So dig deeper into what you were doing. And, you know, I mean, you know, what would you say in these emails when you're, you know, when you're interacting? You know, where do you just I think, to if you were to give the ABCs to a new agent, yes, which would you agree confidence is a big you're very confident. Yes, you have to have confidence. You have to have confidence in Did you have an advantage because of your corporate America experience? These people saw how detailed you were, how professional you were, that when you did ask for business, and now you're doing real estate like, well, she must know what she's doing, because that girl's all over it.

Commercial  1:11:26  
Absolutely you have to have confidence in yourself. And if you're in real estate and you need that boost, this is my past to say, call me. I will help give you that boost, because you've already taken the test. You want to be successful, and there are ways to help you be successful. And I have always loved, like I've said before, helping others and finding ways to do that, and it's just been instilled in me. I have the confidence to ask those questions. I'm not scared. Majority of my business is referrals from my business I've had, and that's why, exponentially you see that turn, because I'm still asking my first customer ever for business. I'm still asking my 10th transaction family for business. And I keep track of that. I keep tables, and I know who are my top 20% that is referring me. And I'm very excited to say that 60% of my business refers me. Would

Tracy Hayes  1:12:24  
you say, because of my part of my initial question was, you know, what is your go to thing? Your go to thing is figuring out more ways to stay top of mind. Yes, you know, consistently at just pouring value about whatever little thing to remind them that, hey, I'm Carrie and I'm in real estate, yes.

Speaker 2  1:12:41  
And so throughout the entire transaction, I let them know from day one that I'm going to be asking them, Do you have anybody else that wants to buy or sell? Do you have any friends that you work with that are looking to possibly buy or sell? And so one time, I had to go pick up a key, and they weren't home, and they had it taped to the door, but then they had a friend's name and number and said, We knew you were gonna ask. We had our friend's name and number on there, and I ended up helping him find a

Speaker 1  1:13:11  
house that is awesome and speaks very loud of what you what everything that you just said, I mean, you are consistently reminding him of the referral. This is what I'm doing. Let me help somebody. Let me help somebody. Let me

Speaker 2  1:13:25  
help Absolutely. And, you know, Keller Williams host the what we call an RE Summit, which is smaller than family reunion, but it's localized to Northeast Florida. And I'm actually going to be speaking on a panel in April on referrals and how you can constantly be loving on your sphere and constantly ask them

Tracy Hayes  1:13:45  
so they in that crowd and they say, Oh, well, Carrie, that's your that's just too much, is

Speaker 2  1:13:52  
it? No, it's not. It's our business, right? You got it?

Tracy Hayes  1:13:56  
Well, if you want to do 20 million a year, that's what you that's what you've got to do, right? I mean, because I think we're all in a meat I know personally, we're, you're the only ones really in our way, exactly, if you start with that mindset that if I keep asking for the referral, they're gonna be if you're doing the right stuff, obviously that customer tape the key and the number the door. They love you. One, they trust you because I taped the key to the door. Yes, but two, they're laughing because and you, I'm sure you laughed, Carrie's gonna be reminding us to remind her friends that she does, our friends at the she does, she does real estate Exactly.

Speaker 2  1:14:33  
And you know, it's, it's so it is the best compliment to your business to get a referral. It is so incredible. I just had an agent refer me from Orlando. I've get I've sent customers down there to her, and she referred me to an agent who is in North Carolina that referred someone to me because she knows our business styles are very similar, and she trusts me and. And those type of referrals are the best. I absolutely love that, because most of the time, when you go in and you have those conversations, sometimes they're not interviewing other agents because they trust that opinion. Oh,

Tracy Hayes  1:15:12  
that's the best. The best thing is you're already, you have credibility already exactly, because someone else has an experience with you,

Speaker 2  1:15:19  
for sure, exactly. And I help other. I help new agents realize a 25% referral fee that you're paying that agent that gives you that lead is the best money ever spent. Right? Why? Because, one, it's almost guaranteed business 75% of a commission that you would have never had. So it wasn't on your radar, wasn't on your plan, so it can just push you above your business plan. And two, now you've got a new connection that has all new people in there

Tracy Hayes  1:15:48  
and moving into your area, because now, now they're in your sphere, and now hopefully you're going to get that referral from them that you may not have ever had because you didn't get that.

Speaker 2  1:15:56  
Yeah, exactly. I'm selling a property right now, and the dad said I'm buying a house from you soon. Carrie, like it's it's convinced me I'm not using anybody else. You've been such a dream come true to help us in this time of selling our daughter's property that I want to use you when we're ready and we're coming down to Florida, I can't wait. Let's go. You know, those are the things that when dad gives you the the green light, you're like, that makes me so happy. All right, I

Tracy Hayes  1:16:25  
want to finish up with these two things, new agents coming in now, which Keller Williams often brings on a lot of new agents, because they do have the, you know, they're known for that, and it's training in the infrastructure. What are two or three things that new agents with this current market need to be doing? And actually, I don't you know, let's just scratch the new agent. What are any agent in this new in this current market need to be doing right now?

Speaker 2  1:16:47  
Focus on your business. Focus on continuing to market market more than you're used to. Getting out there, showing properties, creating that real that you didn't feel like creating and writing that thank you letter that you didn't think you had time to write, but then also not compromising your personal time. I will never post that I'm available. 24/7, I'm just not I love having dinners with my family. I love, you know, going to the park with my daughter. So don't compromise that, but realize that in order to run your business and to get to the next level, you need to have your goals on paper. You need to follow through constantly be lead generating, if you're not lead generating, which means calling your sphere, touching base with people asking for those referrals. Every day, I have a two hour block that does shift throughout the day because of things, but I'm constantly focused on that, where I'm always setting

Tracy Hayes  1:17:48  
dedicated 120, minutes a day. You're dedicated to that, that prospecting

Speaker 2  1:17:52  
absolutely and so stay on top of it like it's a business. Don't let all the clutter out there and all the social media. Number one, I don't spend hours going through social media because that's a time waster. So you've got to focus on your business, growing your business, and thinking about, how can I reach my next goals while the market is shifting? You've got to make those changes with it, and get to the next level

Tracy Hayes  1:18:19  
and reach out just into your because you're willing. You say it right on your website that you like to pour into people that, if they're listening to this and they got questions, or, How do I set my goals? Or, hey, you know, seeing what you're doing that you're willing to have a cup of coffee with them, and decaf, and

Unknown Speaker  1:18:39  
exactly, doing cartwheels.

Tracy Hayes  1:18:41  
Reach out to Carrie. Last question, because of the NAR situation here this last week, I really want to make it a point on the podcast to talk about the value of an agent. And to me, nothing more shows the value of an agent is when a deal blows up and because an agent's already being proactive, pulls it back in. And like you said, those, those the cheers on the other end of the phone, to the tears come out because they thought they lost the deal, but because of your professionalism, experience and knowing where to go to solve the problems, do you have? Can you do you have one on the top of your mind, a little story that you could share with us?

Speaker 2  1:19:18  
Absolutely, absolutely. So I recently had a customer that had to fight to buy a home, and litigation and everything there was. There was a lot that went on and

Tracy Hayes  1:19:31  
litigation between the buyer and seller, correct, oh my goodness,

Speaker 2  1:19:34  
correct. It was probably the most stressful thing anybody could ever go through. And I went on to do my deposition. And the most important thing that I wanted everybody to remember was the buyers love this house, and the reason they're doing this is because they love the house and why the house was special, and what they love so much about the house. And. And, you know, there was no ill intent, and it was just so exciting for everybody, because this buyer is now buying this house.

Tracy Hayes  1:20:09  
So just to give everyone a background, the seller wanted to back out and not sell the house to them, is that kind of what started to happen and break the contract Correct?

Speaker 2  1:20:17  
There's just a lot that went on. And so there were two options, and they ended up going towards the litigation, because they love the home. They just love the home. And it turned out to be a great ending story. So the sellers were able to get what they wanted, the buyers were able to get what they wanted, and it was just, it was wonderful, and that was a very tough time for everyone, because there were a lot of roadblocks that we faced, and there was a lot of different things that we all had to overcome, but staying positive and being able to make sure that everybody knew everyone was trying to make everyone happy was what was important. And that did come to fruition, and it was, it was just, it was wonderful. So to be a part of that was absolutely stressful. But I had the brokerage behind me and the guidance and the number you stepped

Tracy Hayes  1:21:10  
up, you stepped up, and you were involved with the deposition and everything to represent, represent and explain to the parties that be what was going on,

Speaker 2  1:21:18  
absolutely, absolutely. And it helped everyone. I hope you know, I wasn't the only one involved, but I hope that it made an impact, knowing that there was no ill intent, and that they wanted to get to that next level, and they wanted to buy the home, and so it made everybody, you know, just be able to get to that next step. And I can't wait to be at that closing table next week with them, because it's probably gonna make me cry while I'm sitting right with them, because finally be over, to finally be over, but just beginning, because it is just the beginning of their beautiful home to start making memories in this home for them to have kids in this home for them to grow and become a family in this house, and to know that I helped them, you know, they said to me already, they were like, We're telling everybody in our family, and all our family down south and all our family up north, that if anybody ever needs a realtor, it's,

Tracy Hayes  1:22:15  
you well, there's, you know, with everything going on, the importance of top agents and that You have, you know, this is, this is probably new to you, right? I've heard this going on where, you know, seller wants to back out. Now there's a battle over the contract, not about who wants to pay so much or or this that, or repair so much, but actually back out, and these people are committed. You see this, because the people selling it think they can just go buy another home, and I realize there's low inventory, and they don't find them, or maybe they don't get the home they want, but they signed a contract with somebody whose heart's set on moving into this home, absolutely. So there's there's obviously emotions involved there, but it just you had to accent the importance if these two people did not have representation, or there was only representation to the seller, as many people think the buyer's agents are all going away. They're not going away. Oh no, if you weren't representing the buyer and the seller, and have the two agents involved here to get this done in one way, shape or form, or obviously, if the buyer walks up to the selling agent, where would this be that this they probably, they probably would have convinced them to walk away. But because of your representation, you gave them their options. This is what you can do. And obviously they chose the

Speaker 2  1:23:27  
legal option. Absolutely, absolutely so. And everybody is happy in this scenario. You know, it worked out fantastic. They got the sellers what they wanted, it got the buyers what they wanted. So it worked out beautifully. And I hope that there's going to be a lot more moments that don't go that extreme, but that I constantly am getting the opportunity to help clients, because there is so much that goes on in the background. There's so much that listing agents and buyer's agents, you know, we are one in the same. And as a transaction broker, you know, I have worked with the listing and the buyer on the same transaction, and I make it known that our goal is to get both of you to that closing table. It is so imperative that we work together and everybody knows what's going on and that

Tracy Hayes  1:24:15  
someone wants to sell and someone wants to buy. So how can we just make this happen and everyone be happy?

Speaker 2  1:24:21  
So transparent. We make sure we do what the sellers are trying to do. We make sure the buyers get in there in time, or whatever the different there's 1000 different scenarios. So acting on your feet, knowing how to constantly be shifting in one direction or the other, is just so critical, and especially

Tracy Hayes  1:24:41  
now every I've said it numerous times in the every loan right now has extra puzzle pieces. Yes, just as the buying selling is that, you know the what needs to be repaired or not? Does someone need to lease back? There's all these extra puzzle pieces that go on in all these in every transaction that's going on currently right. Now, at the moment, this stuff is going on all the time. It's not as simple as walking into the car dealership say, Yeah, I want to buy that car, right? Let's agree on a price. 15 minutes later, you're in the finance booth and you have your payment. You're driving out an hour later, exactly. It just doesn't happen that

Speaker 2  1:25:16  
exactly like I added up on my cell phone just the other day. I had 67 calls, either going in or out in one day, and that's a lot of time. Yeah, no. Conversation is usually 20 seconds.

Tracy Hayes  1:25:28  
So we could go on for hours go. I always try to these initial ones to get everyone's background, but I'd love to reach out to you, you know, who knows, in six months next year, find out where you're at and come back and actually talk more. Maybe you're, you know, start building that team and that sort of thing and what you're doing there, absolutely but Carrie, I appreciate you coming on today. Thank you so much. This was a really great show, and I hope the energy came right through these mics and into anyone listening or watching.

Speaker 2  1:25:56  
Like I say in all my marketing, Don't wait. Call Carrie. So Don't wait. Call me today if you have any questions, whether you're a real estate agent or you're looking to buy or sell this year, I'm here for you guys.

Speaker 1  1:26:07  
She goes. She's asking for her referral. You have a great day.