Miranda Ferreira: The best decision the universe made for me

Hey, welcome back to The Real Estate excellence podcast. I have an amazing agent in the studio today. She works in an area of Florida that is a hidden treasure, the Fernandina Beach, Fernandina and Millie Island area. She has only been an agent for two and a half years. She has done nearly 90 transactions, peaking over 50 transactions in 2022 many agents that she licensed with, statistically, have fallen out of the business. In other words, the class that she was in, or probably you're not in the business anymore. Statistically, they have fallen out as 80% do. She is on an upward trajectory, and I want to know why the listeners want to know how, and that is why she is here today. She has a doctorate in physical therapy and left that for real estate. Let's welcome the amazing agent, Miranda Ferreira to

Speaker 1  1:58  
the show. Thank you so much. I'm excited. Did I

Tracy Hayes  2:01  
pronounce your last name correctly?

Miranda Ferreira  2:02  
Ferreira for Yeah, we get

Miranda Ferreira  2:04  
everything from Ferreira to Ferrari. I wish I was part of the Ferraris, but no, I'm happy to be part of the Ferreras. I was.

Tracy Hayes  2:13  
I thought about that when I was doing the notes, I said, make sure I asked her how to pronounce, you know, her last name like Jordan Faria. That's her name gets butchered as well on on that so, but I am really excited. I went in there, and those numbers might have been, they're close to your transactions, based on the technology that we have that are pulling your transaction. So they might be off for a couple here or there, more or less. But your trajectory just, you know, from just a few low, few deals in 2020 Yeah, and then, you know, 21 and 22 just, I mean, you're on this upward trend and, and I think it's, there's things that you're doing that some agents out there hopefully will want to know, that hopefully are listening, and we're going to be able to share with them and help them, you know, push their lid. Because, like I said on every episode, my goal is, if there's a new agent out there, someone just getting started, or an agent maybe has hit a lid. You're trying to figure out what's their next step. They want to do more, but just can't figure it out that something on this episode is going to do, that they're going to hear from you, is going to inspire, or at least get them to call you and ask you more details about you know, stuff that you're doing awesome.

Miranda Ferreira  3:17  
And I'm super excited. I am. I'm always a student, given my poor parents and my however many college years and however many majors, we'll get into that, that's a funny story.

Tracy Hayes  3:29  
Yes, you do have an extensive college so the young Miranda, you, where are you growing up at? Where I didn't get that from, bios,

Miranda Ferreira  3:36  
nowhere, Podunk, Louisiana, literally is not on Well, that's going to LSU for your undergrad eventually. Yes, I had to tour a few campuses before I settled on LSU. Okay, sure. So, yeah. I grew up on a sugar cane farm out in the middle of nowhere Louisiana. My dad was a third generation farmer steel farms, yeah. So I grew up on like 510 plus acres. Nearest fast food was 30 minutes one way. So I joke my parents don't even have cable, like they only have satellite. They can't have cable because they're too far out

Tracy Hayes  4:09  
and the Moonies. I'm just gonna have you because I know you're you, the natural thing is to look at each other, but yeah, because the way I position that camera to get the best

Speaker 1  4:17  
shot of you, yeah, I'm gonna, I'm gonna, so butcher that all. Yeah, just

Tracy Hayes  4:21  
No, I'm listening to you. Tracy, you don't have to stare at me. It's natural to do it. I totally understand. It's all part of my mystique. So, I mean, like, how big of like, a high school class did you go to?

Miranda Ferreira  4:31  
I graduated with 53 students, 53 students, 53 students. We were single a which I mean, in my whole high school, ninth through 12th, probably under 300 students.

Tracy Hayes  4:45  
So you're really giving the vision of the movie Hoosiers.

Miranda Ferreira  4:49  
It was very much like that. Yeah, no. So we had, like, I come from a super, super small town, everybody knows everybody. And when I go back, like, literally, I can go. Into the Walmart, or the Winn Dixie or whatever, and hey, oh, we didn't know you were back in. Your mama said, and it's yes, I know, I know, and I still get calls from back home. Well, you know, you haven't called your mama in a while. And I was like, Yes, I know.

Tracy Hayes  5:18  
That's good. So as you're as you're finishing up, you know, high school. I mean, you said you looked at a couple different campuses, but obviously, but your major in the I think, was your undergrad was in health or in nutrition, nutrition. I mean, what did you envision yourself doing it?

Miranda Ferreira  5:33  
I didn't know. And that's the funny part. Like, I started out at one college, pre chemistry, pre pharmacy, then I switched colleges again, went into pre radiology, and then I ended up at LSU, and then kind of fell into nutrition. I wanted to cook. I wanted to be a chef, honestly. And my parents said, and this is the first child mentality, if you go to be a chef, there's not enough certainty in that profession. We're not going to pay for your college. I thought, Okay, well then yes, I'll go get a degree, but in true first child people pleaser fashion, so I went. And it's kind of funny, because I am kind of the wayward soul of my family, and I think we're getting a phone call So, but yeah, it's so in any case, six months before I go to leave on my internship, you know, my graduation date is said, I'm getting all the paperwork ready come home one night, mom, dad, I'm gonna go to PT school. I'm not gonna go finish my my nutrition degree and my internship. I think my dad was just, was this just

Tracy Hayes  6:32  
someone that you met that like, introduce you to this? Or what I mean, what kind of did you have any real experience, or know anybody that was giving you information on these careers, I

Miranda Ferreira  6:42  
had some really fun friends, really and truly. So I had a really good college friend that I kind of met. I knew I wanted to do something with food, food prep, cooking, and it just seemed like as I specialized and kind of wanted, I knew I didn't want to go work like in a commercial setting, that I would want to do more in, like, the educational side, which I should have, I guess, picked up on then that, you know, that's kind of where I am,

Tracy Hayes  7:07  
all right, oh, that's called timeout on that. So your child, let's do the reverse. You know where, you know where you're at now you're doing real estate and what you're making money in your in your lifestyle, your child is making the choice than than or talking about, I mean, I think many kids go to college they don't know what they don't have enough experience or what they really like or want, right? So knowing what you know now, would you have guided your child if they were you to to the commercial side of cooking or the educational side?

Miranda Ferreira  7:38  
The educational you think so? Yeah, still to this day, and I think it's because I just love to learn, like I just, I love to know, because I know I don't know that. I love to just keep knowing right, like I always want to guess I'm just weird,

Tracy Hayes  7:54  
okay, now I'm just needed. I asked that question because obviously my vision, and I'm not a cook or anything, but obviously, going to commercial side. I grew up with one gentleman I know who, I don't know if he still worked for Marriott, but for a long time, obviously he became a very top, you know, chef in that in that area. And those guys can make big amount, you know, I won't say big amounts of money. They make a good living if you're really good at your craft. Where the educational side. You know, just like teaching in a school there, it's, it's only restricted to how much people are willing to pay to take your classes, right, right?

Miranda Ferreira  8:28  
And you know, there was a time where I probably would have been frustrated with it, but looking back, I mean, I guess I've kind of just gotten comfortable with with that's who I am. And, you know what, embrace it and just, okay, go forward.

Tracy Hayes  8:42  
So you go into physical therapy that you end up, you end up going this the St Augustine. I think University of St Augustine, University of St Augustine health said, what so you go finish at LSU. What brings you to Florida?

Miranda Ferreira  8:58  
They were doing a program where you could start three different times a year, like they had a January start, a May, Summer Start, and then a Fall Start. And the way my my LSU years had fell and for me to get my pre reqs I was going to have, I wasn't going to be able to get all my pre reqs done until December, and so I didn't want to have to wait. LSU school only was taking one class a year, and they started like that following fall. So I didn't want to have to wait, wait around months to start Sure. So my dad was like, Hey, I heard or we saw a flyer or something about St Augustine. And my parents and I went down to they were speaking out in New Orleans, and so we drove down to New Orleans for the night, went to the seminar, and my dad looked at me. He's like, I think you should do it. I was like, Well, okay, well, let's let's go. My mom, on the other hand, was trying to be very supportive, but at the same time, was not taking the fact that her daughter was going to move 10 plus hours away. Because I was always the kid that cross like i. Or eyed when they let drop me off for sleepovers like I was the kid that up until almost high school, I was crawling, calling my mom to come get me, like I was that kid, right? Not confident at all. So yeah, and then just kind of things started snowballing from there, I guess,

Tracy Hayes  10:16  
so you end up spending good, a reasonable period of time in physical therapy. Yes, with different companies. I didn't write them all down.

Miranda Ferreira  10:25  
It was very bad. Okay,

Tracy Hayes  10:28  
your LinkedIn was abbreviated. Then I did that on purpose, so we zoom forward. You're doing physical therapy. We're now. And I don't know if this is because I'm just looking at the dates you entered real estate, as far as your LinkedIn is concerned, in 2020 as we are into covid, is so, I'm assuming. And then you, you tell me to tell the story is that have a part of the reasons why you get out of physical therapy, or were you already looking for a way out?

Miranda Ferreira  10:57  
So I was already looking for a way out. I was I got my license back in 2018 I had just had Sawyer number three. I had gone on a ski trip like the year before, and it's all Jackie darby's fault and and she laughs to this day because we still joke about this. She like you should go get your real estate license. She because we were talking about how I wasn't happy in physical therapy. And if you look at my background, you can see like I job hopped and trying to find where I fit,

Tracy Hayes  11:25  
and it was the office, or was it what you were doing at that

Miranda Ferreira  11:28  
particular I think it was a combination of all of the above. And I have and my husband Lane can tell you, I have a bad, bad reaction when people tell me what to do. So I don't like to be told I can't do something, and so within, of course, restrictions, but so I think that's part of what it was. And I just got tired of working for somebody else, and I wasn't brave enough to, and I knew what healthcare was becoming, that I was scared for us to kind of go out on our own, with our own PT, right? Clinic. Because, you know, my husband does the same thing. So Jackie was like, You go get it. You can just leave it inactive. All right, fine. So I did it, and sat inactive, sat inactive. And then 2020. Came. Covid came same time I'm working in a nursing home, great, right? Covid starts, and I'm in a nursing home working lose a contract. I was working for a contract that was providing the therapy services in the nursing home, and the contract did not get renewed. Had to go fight for my job, reapply, and everything didn't get the job. So here I am, three kids at home, the two older boys, no Elementary School, Sawyer, no daycare. And I'm like, well, and then lane is hustling, trying to do as best he can with telehealth and keep his clinics going. And so I'm like, well, all right, well, might as well try this real estate gig and get it. And it was so funny, so serendipitous, whatever. Luckily, they had extended the dates to do the renewals, because I had, like, two days, like, I had decided to do this, and then I realized within two days that my license was going to expire. But luckily, they had extended it, so I hurried up and

Speaker 1  13:12  
got all my continuing education, yeah, so I didn't have to go back and take it again.

Miranda Ferreira  13:17  
So I, like, crammed for two and a half three weeks, and got all my Con Ed met with. So I met with Gina. And I was like, hey, Gina. Look, I was like, this is, this is what I want to do. And I had known Gina from previously, from before, and I was like, Look, I was like, I'm gonna try to make a run at this. What do you think? And she was like, I think you're gonna do great. And I was like, Well, okay, then hope you're right.

Tracy Hayes  13:43  
You had you, we mentioned before your your husband's family had been in real estate. Actually had that century 21 franchise for many years, 1919, so obviously, I mean, you were married for over a decade at this point, Aaron, right, 12 years.

Miranda Ferreira  13:59  
12 been married. I'm sorry. I love it 11 years, because it was one year less than my PT. So, yeah, so 11 years, yeah,

Tracy Hayes  14:05  
so you had been kind of seeing what's going on in there. I mean, so when you were kind of battling for, I mean, how many times did you think about getting into real estate before you actually did it?

Miranda Ferreira  14:15  
Oh, gosh, probably every three months after I got my my, you know, I passed my test and went inactive. I can remember being outside the clinic in the morning on the phone with my mom, being like, Mom, maybe, maybe this is the time to jump. Maybe this is the time to jump, but always scared to make jump, right? You know, here we are. We have a young family, three kids, you know, within seven years apart. You know, within seven years we had three kids. So I was always scared, you know, because I always had the mentality of, you have to have a steady income. You have to provide for your family.

Tracy Hayes  14:49  
Well, there is, there's no. I mean, I think everyone goes through what you were going through and and many will retire. Miserable. I mean, there's no, I mean, it's just, it's a fact. I mean, there's nothing that's not new news out there. And just to kind of plug the event that's on Wednesday with Heather Monahan, and I hope if you saw the thing, we'll talk about it at post show. But you know that she's exact, but she actually got forced to make her change. She got fired by by the daughter of the guy who owned the company. He he got ill and kind of retired, so the daughter took over, and he didn't like the other woman in the in the executives or she didn't like the other woman in the executive suite, and fired her. So she was, kind of like forced, thrown out into the into the on the ice, so to speak, to make those changes. But she talks about the fear and the fear, fear. And then we're gonna talk about on Wednesday in this one of the first thing is she, she uses a phrase, it's not hers. She clearly makes that clear, fear is a liar, right? Hey?

Miranda Ferreira  15:48  
Well, it is, it is it is such a, oh gosh, it's, I could go way, way deep into that.

Tracy Hayes  15:54  
So, yeah, we will on Wednesday afternoon. So hopefully you can, you can make it over there at Landmark. We're actually going to do, it's a virtual Podcast. I'm doing the podcast with Heather, but we're going to hopefully save some time where, well, I My goal is to save some time some people in the audience who want to interact with her can but, I mean, I read both, I've listened to both of her books, and re listening to her second one, like a third time, getting prepared for my questions and so forth. But anyway, but that fear that everyone has, that's, that's the that's the thing, and fear is a liar, and you have to make that step out. And, you know, some, one of the things that she talks about, and I've heard, you know, all of us talk about some of our biggest hold backs are some family members. I can't believe you had that, because the family was in the business.

Miranda Ferreira  16:39  
The family was like, over the moon supportive. Everybody was supportive, but me, like, I was the one that was, I was the one that was actually holding me back. I'll take full blame for Bobby and Carol have been nothing but and I could not have done what I have done without. And, you know, all those supporting characters behind me, like, there's just, there's no way I could not have done it without laying support, Bobby's support, Carol's support, and all those other people in that office that have picked me up. I have done some dumb things when I didn't have the confidence. I truly and my mom and dad like they I couldn't have done it without them.

Tracy Hayes  17:20  
You know where you're at now, you're two and a half years in, and the success you've had. Looking back at that fear and at that time, you probably couldn't actually articulate what you were fearing, because you hadn't actually, like, gone through the steps that you you do today. But what was it that actually was your that pushed you out of the comfort zone, that gave you that fear and making that leap? Was it, or was it just simply, I don't know if I may not ever sell a home and we'll have to eat bread and water.

Miranda Ferreira  17:47  
I literally felt like my back was to the wall, and there was a pit in my stomach, the thought of trying to go back into an office job like the fear of being so unhappy and poor lane, we would always laugh. He would laugh at me, because you could tell, like, Sunday evening, like my mood would change because I knew I had to go to work Monday.

Tracy Hayes  18:09  
It's like, going to school Exactly, exactly,

Miranda Ferreira  18:11  
which I don't like. I don't mind school, like, I love school. If I didn't have to take tests and do projects, I would love school. I don't even mind tests. I just don't like Project, which is so funny, but I just finally got tired of and, and I was like, okay, and I really took it as a leap of, you know what? And God is telling me that I need to go do something, you know, like, there's something else in this world that, in this life, that is telling me you've got to do this. This is where you need to go, right.

Tracy Hayes  18:40  
Okay, so you make this leap, uh huh. How many times you know, in according to numbers, you did, like, four deals in 20 so you and it was less somewhere. What is it, May, June, or something, that you made the jump? So your first six months, you do, do? You do? Do a few deals. So not bad, which is more than above average already there. But how many times during that first six months, did you go, maybe I should go back, maybe I should go back,

Miranda Ferreira  19:05  
maybe, I mean, there was maybe two or three times that I got whenever, like, so my first deal was supposed to close, and then I had to do, like, my very first deal had an extension, and I was, what have I done? Like, you know, like, well, the first, the first three months honestly, like I was just so busy trying to get caught up in trying to figure out what I was doing and and then I got covid, so then have put me out. But yeah, I just just maybe, like, less than a handful of times. It wasn't until 2021 that I actually was like, Oh, whatever. Like it. I think I was still just kind of riding the high. And then so I had some, like, some downtime in 21 and that's when it started creeping actually.

Tracy Hayes  19:47  
But overall, the over the course of 21 I didn't, I didn't write down exact numbers for 21 you had a decent 21

Speaker 1  19:54  
I did have a decent 20 month. And I was very surprised at the end of 21 I've,

Tracy Hayes  19:58  
you've talked to. Many people actually been on recently that have one been rookies of the year in their brokerages and literally didn't do anything for the first five or six months before they got their first sale. But it was the last six months that the business came to them and ended up getting rookie of the year because of their production, just in six How? How making that for, you know, obviously, well over a decade working, you know, getting a paycheck every other week, or whatever to now going, Okay, I go months without a paycheck, but then I might have a bunch of paychecks all in a row. How do you How is your mindset in handling that?

Miranda Ferreira  20:35  
Luckily, one of my previous jobs, I only got paid once a month. Got paid at the beginning of the month, and I remember then how you had to just kind of budget it out, budget it out. And so I was very intent and focused in the beginning of having a good idea of where my expenses are, and watching and having an idea of okay, even if I have to side hustle something for a few months, I know that I have to make this order to break so kind of always knowing that, I guess, kind of helped. And you

Tracy Hayes  21:09  
said your husband was in the same business, so he probably got paid. Yeah, similar as well.

Miranda Ferreira  21:13  
And yes, I had the benefit of having a spouse that had a regular check. So, I mean, it did take some of the pressure off. And he was, you know, he was always the the bigger financial support in our relationship anyway, because I was not working maybe all of the 40 hours, because I was the one that was happy to take them to daycare, to sports, to whatever, you know, that was kind of like my, my contribution. All right.

Tracy Hayes  21:40  
So you're, you're, you're at Century 21 What was your grandfather in

Miranda Ferreira  21:45  
law's my father in law was, oh, Lane's great grandma, yes.

Tracy Hayes  21:49  
What was his name? John T, John T Ferrer, okay, so you, you're, you're over there. Now, you're, you're a family member, you're in the business. Now, one of the things I always talk about a lot of the agents, is that first brokerage, right? How you get started? You know? What did you did you grab a mentor? Or did they quickly put you into all right? Hey, Miranda, this is what you need to do, A, B and C in x, q, what was the atmosphere for you? In this case, going and working with family who have been doing it for decades. How was, how was the structure to get you off the ground and get your

Miranda Ferreira  22:22  
business going? They kind of just let me, let me take the lead, really and truly. It was really nice. They kind of just let me do they said, hey, you know, this is, this is kind of where you need to be. They gave me the the onboarding, the education that I need to get myself in trouble. And then, you know, they were always like, you know, we're here as a reference. We're here as a resource, like I said, Jackie has just been just like, she's just been immeasurable, and what I've been able to learn from her and all that she has given me, Gina Dean, I mean, really, truly, Jim and Mary Caserta. I mean, I could name the whole office, right? Like they were just so welcoming.

Tracy Hayes  22:58  
So they took you went in, like, family, right? And didn't really, like, put you to the grindstone, but they were there as resources and mentors and so forth.

Miranda Ferreira  23:09  
Yeah, they kind of just let me they kind of just let me go. They're like, okay, just call us if you need us. Okay, and

Tracy Hayes  23:15  
so they let you go out. They let you kind of take a leap out of the nest and see if you'd fly. Yes, without actually letting you, you know, telling you you have to flap your wings a little

Speaker 1  23:26  
bit, right? They didn't put the bumpers on, like, exactly.

Tracy Hayes  23:29  
So what? What are some things that you did initially, and then, you know, I'm assuming they gave you some feedback or help you molded, and you probably made some, you know, I used the word mistakes, but, you know, in other words, things that didn't bear fruit for you. So tell us about some things that you were, you were doing early, that didn't bear fruit and you don't, you haven't done again. There are any things, especially that I would say six months, you know, six months to a year before you really start getting going. I imagine you did a few things that just didn't, yeah,

Miranda Ferreira  24:01  
so I tried to, the first thing I remember, one of the very first things I did was, oh, I'm going to educate all these for sale by owners at how wrong they are. And that's a terrible idea looking back. And so I made this huge and I made this huge, like, pamphlet handout for them. And so I'm sending it to all these for sale by owners. And I'm like, Okay, well, I'm gonna get a farm. That was the thought. And I was like, Okay, I'm gonna make these really cool books cards and send it to everybody, and they're gonna that was a terrible idea. No direction whatsoever. I spent too much time, too much money, doing something way too wide. That was probably one of my first

Tracy Hayes  24:38  
So, how long? So, okay, so how long does this take before? Because you said wide, so that means you narrowed it down in your mind somehow. How long did it take you before you're like, getting some feedback and saying, How do I need to? Yeah, really put a focus on this?

Miranda Ferreira  24:51  
Probably about three months. You know, two to three months. I was expecting, you know, my phone to just start ringing off the hook and crickets and so I was like. Okay, obviously this is not working, so let's try something else. And I'm very much a throw the spaghetti at the wall.

Tracy Hayes  25:08  
Let's see what happens. Kind of person so you have a lot of experience around you, yes, right? People who you want to hang out with, right? Again, I'm going to go back to Heather Maya, because I've been studying here so much, she says, and we're gonna ask this on Wednesday, don't take advice from people who aren't where you want to be, right, right? And you had all these people where they assume that at least their production was where you would like to be, yes, right? From that same way. So when do you start, like, kind of picking their brains?

Miranda Ferreira  25:39  
So probably the end, starting at the end of 2020, like when I got that first I felt like I had to kind of get that first contract under my belt. I remember they walked in on a floor duty. They were the cutest little couple. I still talk to them to this day. I love them. But I think it was after that that I started talking to everybody and kind of just read. And that's kind of where the student in me kind of came in, is that I started listening to these podcasts and start looking at things, and then I was like, Oh, okay. And so then that's when I started bouncing ideas off of everybody. Started figuring out. So here we are post covid, and I'm trying to figure out exactly, you know, social distancing, all this other stuff, but trying to, you know, do open houses again and stuff like, I was doing open houses in the fall of 2020 trying just to get used to being in front of people, which is so funny, because you would think for 12 years having, you know, done

Tracy Hayes  26:32  
therapy, yeah, I would be fine, up close and personal, basically,

Miranda Ferreira  26:36  
yeah, and, and it took until 2021 where I really figured out, okay, you don't to be what the stereotypical realtor, you know, is, just chill out and relax. And they'll, they'll start coming to you. And I think it was like, I said spring summer 2021 that I just kind of was like, okay, look, this is kind of what I am. Let's just what

Tracy Hayes  26:58  
are some of the actions you're taking now that you're that you're gesturing towards, what are tell us some like I started doing this, started showing up here. What are some things that you were doing?

Miranda Ferreira  27:09  
So really understanding my market, really being super focused on that I was, for a time, being too wide. So really narrowing in my focus, trying to learn all that is in my area, kind of the stay in your lane, kind of deal, calling people, following up, not saying I'm going to do something, or really trying to be consistent that has been kind of like and you'll see my my word for 2023, is connection and focus. I guess that's two words, but really kind of honing in on setting expectations, in trying to know what I can and cannot exceed, and being a little bit more honest,

Tracy Hayes  27:49  
like, give us, give me, give us an example. Where are you so And

Miranda Ferreira  27:52  
for instance, like, right now I'm working on something, and the feedback I got from the sellers was like, hey, you know, we want a little bit of this, this and this. And I was like, Okay. I was like, I'll have it to you. I'll have that to you by Monday. And then I kind of went back to him, and I was like, Look, you know what? In order to do a really good job, I can't have it to you by Monday, like, I can have it to you by Thursday, but I want to be able to do justice to it with everything else I have scheduled. I cannot give it the full attention until I and it will be complete by Thursday. And kind of setting that expectation and being like, okay, you know, setting some boundaries where I picked it up. We're always

Tracy Hayes  28:30  
afraid we're going to disappoint them, right? If we want to tell them, Yes, we're going to get on it right now. We'll have it to you within the hour. We'd love everybody to tell us that whoever we're dealing with, reality, if they're any good, that person's got something scheduled right now that they're gonna you're you're on the list exactly.

Miranda Ferreira  28:47  
And I don't mean it to sound mean or bad or blowing off or whatever, but I don't. I sometimes only get one shot, and I understate that I only have one shot, and I need to go ahead and be truthful up front and be like, hey, look, you know, I'm going to give you my best, but I need time to prepare. I want to give you the best because that is my goal, is to, is to do a good job, where, when we walk away, you're like, Wow, that is, that was good quality service.

Tracy Hayes  29:20  
All right. Now we're, now, we're getting in some good stuff here. All right, not that the other stuff wasn't good. This is getting good now. So you're, so you're really drilling down on what is in. I assume you're doing this because you're, this is what's getting you business, yes, whether it was, it's getting someone to refer you, or past client to come back, whatever the goal of this focus is that you're working on and narrowing it, narrowing it down is because that is the sweet, yes,

Miranda Ferreira  29:53  
you know, I can't tell you how many times I've heard the Wow. The other realtor we had, you know. Oh, didn't do it like this, or, Oh, I didn't know that. You know, no one ever told us this, or, you name, the stereotypical, you know, whatever you hear. I didn't want and I kind of took it really personally, like I live in an area where my husband grew up, my father in law grew up. I don't want to disappoint them, and I know that I have to hold myself to that standard, because, like I said, they have. The ferreros have given me so much and built upon what my mom and dad had already given me that I don't want to disappoint them. And so that's kind of what drives my desire to give quality.

Tracy Hayes  30:38  
So back to what we were talking probably five or what I kind of brought up five or 10 minutes ago, whatever it was the being in that office with your family, they didn't come in and say, okay, Miranda, you need to do this for the first 90 days. You need to do that. No, and I'm not taking that away, because a lot of people do need that 100% her situation, she's different. She's surrounded by family members that have known her for over a decade, and you're looking up to them just the natural progression of your learning you they allows you to see what they were doing, because I imagine you said you didn't want to let them down, and You wanted to keep this level of professionalism, because eventually you started to actually understand why they were doing certain things.

Miranda Ferreira  31:27  
Yes, and and then, you know, I just kind of like, so I close a few deals they, you know, really and truly, I learned in physical therapy, communication, if you're not getting the, you know, we all listen different the right message to the person, and really understanding you've lost that patient, just like you've lost this client, so really focusing and honing in on that and just kind of going from there.

Tracy Hayes  31:56  
So yeah, so make that bridge for us, because I think a lot of people who haven't made major changes in their career, as you have going from, you know, two different, totally different aspects. But the I always like to touch on everyone's, you know, previous careers and what they learned there, and what they brought forward. So kind of, you know, make make it simple for us to understand your attitude and your ideology of how you treated that physical therapy client to now you're how you take that same experience and take it over. And it's not just, you know, I was doing x and so I do x over here, but the your understanding to create the new ideology of how you handle a customer in the real estate route.

Miranda Ferreira  32:42  
So the best way I can, you know, so when in physical therapy, I get patients that are pre op, post op, you know, just general education. But really and truly, anyone that works in physical therapy will tell you chronic pain folks or a very difficult population, because there's so many, you know, like Shrek said, the onion, so many layers. There's my showing that I have kids. So it's that population of figuring out exactly like we know they have a pain. And so for buyers and sellers, it's, you know, a mortgage for a buyer, or, you know, selling that that home that you've lived in for 20 plus years, understanding what their pain is what they're expecting to be able to get out of is, is how you kind of break through their barriers and get on a level where you're able to understand get message across. So I guess that maybe answers the question.

Tracy Hayes  33:40  
Well, okay, it's half, I think you're halfway there your break, because you really want to understand, you know that physical therapy their chronic pain. When it when does it hurt? How does it hurt? Where exactly is it hurting? I assume are some of the things that you want to know well. And also, how do you and then take that to real estate, okay? But, but

Miranda Ferreira  34:01  
they got to understand too, that they're going to always have some of that pain. And so in teaching buyers and sellers, you know, this is just a little moment in time that you're still going to have, like for buyers. Yes, you're going to have this new mortgage, but look at what you're going to have. You're going to have this new source of of equity and wealth. And this is how you like, especially first time homebuyers. This is how you start the process. This is how you learn how to move again after your debilitating injury. This is how you move up to, you know, instead of a three bed two bath, to move up into that four bed three bath. You know, how to build wealth for sellers. It's okay. You're worried about your retirement? Yes. Well, look, you've had this home for 20 years. Look at what the market has done the past two years. You can take this huge nest egg that you have and put it, give it to your financial advisor. You know your your your CPA, your your you know you're those folks, and let them turn this into something that's going to take care of you. As you prepare for the, you know, the next phase of your life, yeah, yeah.

Tracy Hayes  35:06  
Well, you know, to you and I, we're in the business that's common sense, right? We but we kind of put because it's such common sense, we kind of assume that everybody actually thinks that way, right?

Miranda Ferreira  35:17  
But they don't, no, but it actually took me getting into this business to understand that. And I had bought and sold two homes before I started doing this, and I still never had a true understanding of it until I got in here. So that's kind of what I'm that's kind of what my focus is, is to educate, to show them that they can do this. So you

Tracy Hayes  35:38  
bring up a good point right now in this market condition, agents you're listening or just fans that are just listening in to hear. What, what great business people like Miranda doing this current market dish condition is forcing renters out of their homes. They can if the rents are going up some places, it's just because the tax has gone up a little bit. But I don't think that has anything to do with it, the the owners, the landlords, understand they can get that much more for rent because there's such a demand. We are short millions and millions of homes in this country, in this area, here in Northeast Florida, good portion are right here, because we do have good jobs. You know, the business climate is good. There's people want to move here. So there's obviously demand. People want to buy homes. Other people, they're not prepared to buy and they've been renting. Some people are career renters. They were never been pushed out of their out of their rental nest. Well, they're being pushed out of the rental nest now. And we have to understand that in an indigo Miranda says it's kind of my rant today, but that's that's really you want to talk about market conditions. That is the market condition renters are being pushed out. That's the apps that we're taking right now.

Miranda Ferreira  36:47  
And, you know, like I was blessed to live in a home where we didn't rent, you know, like my parents had a mortgage, and I didn't understand that. But, you know, we always had a house. I didn't understand what this renting. Because where I'm from, everybody, or at least, I thought everybody owns their home, pays a mortgage, you know, or it was passed down through generations. Are we educating those people, like, is there? Is there a gap somewhere in our ages where we don't really understand and are we missing those that group of education to be like, Hey, this is, again, how you build your wealth. This is how you you move up. This is how you, you know, you move to the next level you don't want to be.

Tracy Hayes  37:32  
Do you? Do you find people I catch occasioning them while I'm thinking about what your the statements that we're making here right now, they go back and you talk to some of these people, and they're like, Oh, well, 2008

Speaker 1  37:45  
okay. Oh, that's totally different animal.

Tracy Hayes  37:47  
Yeah. So house values, obviously, you know, got over inflated for different reasons, and it's a whole nother subject to talk about. And some people did, you know, lose equity in the time, but the other 99.999999% of the other times that people have owned homes, whenever the first home was ever purchased, have always gained equity over time. You know, one month you can't measure that, but 10 months or 10 years. You can really measure, you know, but we're all taught to invest in that 401 K that we know, on average, is only going to gain 10% Well, a couple of years ago, we're pushing almost 20% returns. Now we're down, possibly even losing some months right now, but the average is 10% and but so we've blindfully, faithfully, you know, put in our 401, KS every month. But we, some people, are missing the gap that actually real estate, which is in every millionaires, billionaires portfolio, real estate, and that's where the wealth is at, and that's what we're talking about and educating people that that you have, now's time to make the move. Now's the time to make every day. If you look back, oh, well, you know, I should have bought 24 months ago. Yeah, so, but you can buy today exactly.

Miranda Ferreira  39:05  
Let's get you a little longer, or you may not make the the quite the number that you were thinking. But work in a positive, work in a positive, yep. And real estate is, you know, that's the, that's the saying. Real estate is always cyclical. You know, that's, that's the big saying.

Tracy Hayes  39:19  
All right, let's step in here and let's dig into some questions. Because we've been just, we've been just talking all good stuff, though, all really good stuff. Actually, tell me a little bit about, you know, how you attack and what you see the future social media. Some people have grasped it and been doing it for a while, and I think they're ahead of a lot of others. But if you haven't even started social media, doesn't mean that you can't be caught up with everybody else within, say, six months of doing the right things in there. What is your attitude? Or do you have a marketing strategy in your social media?

Miranda Ferreira  39:50  
My strategy is just to just be who I am. You know, once you see is what you got no be authentic. I'll be authentic. Authentic is my my big thing. I joke all the time. I'm and I stole this from somewhere. I'm perfectly imperfect. So to let someone else know that, you know, let them connect with you. Like I posted a dish rack Jenga one day, you know, where you were, you drawing the dishes, and you stack them up, and they go higher and higher and higher. You wait for them to fall over, like when you're unloading the dishwasher. Jenga for today, just to show people you know that you're real. Yeah, I'm real and and I understand your problems. And so that's what helps, because, I mean, this is their biggest asset, so to get them to trust me and to know that I understand them is, is one way I do it, is social media. Try to post, try to be authentic, but try to educate, try to keep focused and clarity. You know, we hear a lot of negative, but you never, but that's anything. You always hear the negative before the positive. Let's, let's focus on the positive. Let's see what we hear.

Tracy Hayes  40:56  
I Well, if you're going to get someone to remember to me, you have to, you have to strike some sort of emotion. So obviously, the media uses negativity to attract people. Oh, my God, the whole world's coming to an end. Boom. Everybody's going to watch right where I think, in in our world, we get a lot more with sugar than we do with the spice. From the from the standpoint of, you know, this is an inspirational story. This is a great restaurant. Hey, I'm at fun. I'm at home having fun with the kids. I see a lot of agents do that part, putting out there that they're real and they're out in the in the marketplace, and being authentic. Her Jones had her on the show. She's a keynote speaker. I'm going to botch her statement, and I think she might have stole it from someone, but it's it's not how much it's not about being approved, it's about how much you're improving. That's not perfectly what she said, but we were talking about social media. Get on there and do it. Our friends and family do not want us. They don't expect us to be perfect. They know us. They know we're gonna stutter. They know we're gonna whatever fumble over a wheel. Everyone always has a word that just cannot pronounce correctly,

Speaker 1  42:06  
Louisiana, and do that a lot. Yeah,

Tracy Hayes  42:09  
yo. Be off. Be authentic. Be you. And that's where people bond. Because people, if you're watching this right now, this video, you don't your brain is not differentiating whether Miranda and I are in the same room with you, talking to you live, or you're watching the video. Your brain doesn't differentiate. So be authentic out there, because that's how you build the relationship.

Miranda Ferreira  42:30  
Yes, and it's free advertising. Yeah, it's free advertising, and it's free education about your community. I mean, somebody wants to know, like, if I have a family that's relocating from the northeast. What better way to learn about what's going on than to watch, oh, I'm at my kids flag football game. This is where we are. You can show you how nice our park is, right?

Tracy Hayes  42:51  
These are the activity I mean, because people just assume if they don't see it, you only know what you know, right? Exactly. They don't physically see it. You might just hit on a thing that their child is about the same age and they want to, oh, what kind of sports are going to there going to be any sports for them there? I mean, biggest challenge for me was my parents moved to Cape Cod. They didn't realize there was no football. Isn't that a baseball town? I'm Cape Cod has a great summer college baseball. Yep, yes, baseball in the summertime. But the high school, my high school I went to did not have football. Oh, no, so my brothers were playing. They're seven years older. Then we moved to Cape Cod, they stopped playing football. And obviously, you know, as big as I am, yeah, later on, another story, you know, maybe they didn't know. I don't know. I don't think they knew. I don't think they realized. I think, like most people, like, Well, every school's got football. No, it's not true. They do now, though. However, for those of my classmates that might be listening from high school, there, Hey folks, this episode was produced by streamline media, the number one media company for helping brands generate content that converts I knew I wanted to start a podcast to reach more people and bring value to the world, but I did not have the time or the knowledge. Streamline media became my secret weapon to building my show. They handle all my back end work, production and strategies to keep my show going strong. If you're in the real estate business and looking to make content that generates more leads and brings in more revenue, check out the streamline media link in the show notes and discover how partnering up can supercharge your path to real estate excellence. So I chat GPT, are you using it?

Miranda Ferreira  44:30  
No, I'm not using it. No, I'm not using it yet. All right.

Tracy Hayes  44:33  
So what I did is I've been doing here is I have my kind of generic questions, get the background and get the feel. But then I asked chat GPT to create some interesting, thought provoking questions. So this is what I did. I said I need 10 very interesting, thoughtful and thought provoking questions for a podcast interview with a top producing real estate agent. She's only been in the business for three years, but is producing at a high level. So this is the questions. I'm gonna pick a few questions out

Speaker 1  44:59  
of here. This is like, this is gonna get dangerous. I like this one here.

Tracy Hayes  45:03  
Can you share some of the most innovative and creative marketing strategies you have used to generate leads or and attract new clients? What's the Miranda way? Because I know you have one, because you probably took a little bit and made it your own.

Miranda Ferreira  45:17  
Yeah, I just in trying to get people to kind of just relax around me. I feel like, you know, as soon as I never lead off with I'm a realtor, I always try to just, like, introduce myself as so and so's mom and or, Oh, hey, you know, I see you're limping. I used to be a PT, what's going on? So, like, I connect to people some other way, and they're like, Oh, well, what do you do now? Well, I sell real estate. And then I kind of joke about it. I'm like, I do what everybody else in Florida does. I sell real estate. And so where

Tracy Hayes  45:51  
are some places, just to dig into that a little bit. So where are some places that you create those conversations? It sounds like you obviously do at the ball field, on

Miranda Ferreira  45:59  
the ball field. I mean, I have three boys in five sports this spring. So, I mean, if I'm not on the ball field, a lot of times, it's, you know, just kind of hanging out with past, you know, I still have friends from the PT world that I'll hang out with occasionally, and, you know, oh well, we'll bring so and so along with us. And then you just kind of start that conversation. That is where I get my best referrals. And my best business is just, kind of just hanging out one on one and just, you know, sometimes over a barbecue, a topic that

Tracy Hayes  46:31  
commonly comes up in, you know, your 123 or 24th episode, common question is, the top agents showing up. Now, showing up is a lot is a wide word. It could mean a lot of different things, but for me, the simple thing is you got to get out of your house. You got to go out and you show up places and you create opportunities to have these conversations. You instead of just dropping your son off at practice. You're you're you're probably trying to be there as much as you can, as we want to, as parents, but while you're standing there on the sideline or whatever you're creating, running into situations. Jordan fair, I asked her this kind of question, so what do you do when you're at the ball field? Because she has three sons, and she says, I work. I wear a t shirt that says something about me being a real estate agent. That's how she advertises. Well.

Miranda Ferreira  47:24  
And sometimes, I will admit, sometimes I'm in my car trying to catch up on work too. And then, like, oh, sorry. And then, oh, what were you doing? And then, and then I have to give the whole while I was working, well,

Tracy Hayes  47:35  
you're, you've reached a level the amount of production that you're doing that you have to dedicate some of that time to where, if you're new and you you don't really have anything else to do. You got one, maybe one deal in process. Maybe you got to go out there and be in front of people, create the situations, create the even if it's Saturday night, come over for cocktails and invite all your friends, and maybe the friends you know, maybe you do it once a month. You're bringing over the same but you have to stay and I think that the next question is the word top of mind comes, what do you do to stay top of mind of these people that you do meet, or even your circles of influence that you and your husband have to stay top of mind. Can't remember, hey, I'm in real estate.

Miranda Ferreira  48:23  
What do you do again? I don't make it. I don't make real estate my first, my first touch point. I feel like it like again. It just kind of sets up some barriers. When I'm thinking about you, I'm going to text you. I try to remember that not everybody has the weird sleep schedule that I have, of up at sometimes 1011, o'clock at night, and up at five at eight, 5am so with that, I try to just, and Melissa Ricks gave me a good suggestion too, is just taking care of my people, just stopping in and being like, Hey, I was in the neighborhood. I do pop bys. I had found out that former client was having a baby, so I dropped off some diapers. Because I know every, you know, every newborn is going to go through a bushel of diapers a day. Sometimes it's just something like just, just trying to hear what people are doing in their day to day lives, and how can I make them smile? And part of my my goal this year is just to kind of focus more on positivity, kind of that whole same thing of, you know, you don't see all the red cars on the road till you buy a red car, kind of deal. You know, we only see what we think. And so trying to, I'm so tired of all the negativity that I'm trying to kind of be a little positive and focus on that. That's how I'm kind of connecting

Tracy Hayes  49:32  
the pop by. So you maybe you're in a particular neighborhood, you're showing a house to someone. You leave there and you have sold another house in that neighborhood, you're gonna go by and just knock on the door to say hi, because you're just starting to be three doors down, yeah? Another house in the neighborhood?

Miranda Ferreira  49:48  
Like, yeah? Like, that's what I would do, like, today, like, I came down here to St John's, and then I know I have two closings that I've had in the past couple years on the west side of Jax. I'll just go back on the west and on my way back up, and I'll stop. Stop on and just sometimes it's, sometimes it's a card, sometimes it's flowers, sometimes it's a $5 gift card somewhere, and sometimes it's, I do a lot

Tracy Hayes  50:08  
of food. My gut feeling is a lot of people have fear of that, because they're they, you know, you don't really know. Did that person like me? Did you know was the transaction as great as obviously it seemed to be, or they disappoint? Should I reach out to that past client and and, you know, because obviously you're doing a stop by and, you know, you probably drop in there. Hey, let me know. If you have any friends or family you can help me or help I can help. You know, you throw a line like that to remind them. You know, I live off referrals. You know, that's your gentle way of doing it. But I would bet 99% of the agents out there would not bother to do what you're going to do when you leave here, to go the west side, because it's going to take you a little bit longer. It's not the direct route home and but, but the reality is, you're going to take, you know, probably 30 minutes out of your day today, and stop by a couple people knock on your door. Because, I mean, really, if every person you transacted with gave you one referral, I mean, where would that take your business, right?

Miranda Ferreira  51:10  
I'd be, I'd be said, I'd be set and, you know, eventually that would be, my goal is to totally be a referral based, you know, past customers, clients, fear type of business, because that's when I know I've done a

Tracy Hayes  51:24  
good job. Are you buying leads now or what do you what? What other ways are there any non organic ways of lead generation?

Miranda Ferreira  51:33  
So this so this year, I finally broke down. Got my own website. So I am doing some Google Pay per click. I am doing some social media, advertising. I got so mad last year. I bought leads last year, and I got so mad at them. Like, I just a lot of it was just like, not necessarily, like, I understand that when I buy leads, sometimes they're six month nine month 12 plus month down the line. I understand that. But some of them were just totally out the box. And I was just like, You know what? I'm spending way too much on this. I literally, I literally had

Tracy Hayes  52:07  
a customer through our loan depot's 800 line call in. I took the took that lead, and he wanted, he only owed $27,000 on his home. He wanted to get a loan out so he could pay off the current mortgage and cancels insurance. The insurance has gone up so much. I said, Well, sir, unfortunately, any loan that I could do for you is gonna lean on the house you need insurance. Yeah. All right, let's see what else? What other good ones we have in here or here, this is a good one. What do you think are key traits or qualities that are necessary for success in in real estate kind of relating. Obviously, you've done really well. So you found your niche. You focused in which I think is key, and if you want to make a point on that, is to find out what your sweet spot is in prospecting and so forth. But you know someone's going to get in the real estate agent, being a real estate agent, what are some things they need to understand? And, like I said, that key traits and qualities, not not, not that they're born with, that they can learn this stuff. This is not, you know, there's a lot of different people doing real estate, introvert, extrovert, all this, you know, whatever. What do you think couple those key things that they need to

Miranda Ferreira  53:17  
understand, or traits, haptic skin, you have to not take it all personally. You have to understand why you're doing something. Be honest with yourself and your clients, and have skin like and you've got to understand that this is going to be hard sometimes, that you've got, and you are the only one that you have to answer to. And that's a blessing and a curse. Yes, yes, there. Because there have been days where I've kind of realized I was like, Oh, wait, I'm still in my gym clothes, and it's, you know, 11 o'clock. I should be out doing something else because, and that's the other thing too is that you've got to remember this is not a an immediate return on work business. I mean, I have business now, but I've been working this business for you know, these current clients for six months. So understanding, having patience, having thick skin, being honest, and being able to have honest, hard conversations. So definitely have the community.

Tracy Hayes  54:24  
All right, I've got to dig into that one. All right. Give me an example. Tell us a story of one of those hard conversations you can think of, maybe recently that you've had with a client. What? And oh, because what is our first fear? Right? Fear is a liar. What's the first fear that we have? First fear is that the first fear is they're going to tell you, screw you. I'm not working with you because you just told me the truth, and I don't want to hear that.

Miranda Ferreira  54:55  
Never forget I went, I drove all the way down here. Had a listening. And sellers, consult schedule, went tour, talk to the talk to the homeowners, cute, little, nice couple, and anything. And I told them, I was like, Well, this is what I this is what I think. I think you need to do X, Y and Z, and I think this is where your price point is. Well, you know, that's kind of low of what we were thinking. And, you know,

Tracy Hayes  55:20  
this is so how recent month are we talking this approximately, right

Miranda Ferreira  55:24  
before it slowed down. So this was like, May, June. Ish, okay, so right before, you know, like it was starting, some of us were starting to see the writing on the wall, but still, most consumers had not. And I said, Okay. I was like, you know, I look forward to hearing but they kind of were like, Yeah, we're gonna keep going. Keep going, keep going. And a little while later, I just happened to be perusing on realtor.com and there's the listing. And I was like, Man, I missed that one, but then I looked at what they had it listed at, and I was like, You know what? Maybe I didn't miss that opportunity, because then I watched that property, and it just, you know. So that is one example, and then two. I mean, I've had the conversation where, well, so and so is going to do it for less, okay, but are you going to be happy with said service? Okay, I love this subject, yes. So, you know the ever so, I mean, and I was like, Well, you know, this is what I'm going to do for you. And even though I'm giving you at this, you know, I'm still this is how I do well, so and so said they can do the same thing for less. Are you going to cut your commission? No, I can't cut it. I was like, No, I I have to run this like gig business, and if I cut too much, I don't go out of business. And I forget where I found this somewhere on somebody's podcast, video, something, and they were like, you don't go to your doctor, you don't go to a lawyer, you don't go to all these other professionals. You don't even go to a PT and say, hey, you know what? So and So down the street, I need you to cut your fees by half. You know, it's only in certain businesses that people are like, No, I'm going to try to cut it down. Cut it down. Cut it down. Like, okay, cut it down. But he, are you going to be happy with the discounted price? You know,

Tracy Hayes  57:13  
so, and I don't know, I just kind of, I just, did you win? Did you

Speaker 1  57:19  
get that client that's No, no, no, I didn't. So those are two losses I had, and you could have,

Tracy Hayes  57:25  
easily, I mean, you could have, yeah, said, okay, yeah, I'll match theirs and and not had your pushback. And obviously they're going to have your service, which obviously, with your production, must be good. Obviously, I haven't personally experienced Miranda selling my house or buying a house with are you thinking about buying? Not at the moment, not at the moment. I kind of like my existing home if I try to buy my square footage in a new construction. Yeah, right. Yeah. The so this is an interesting I brought Kurt Stein was on with House scan inspections, and in the agent, the first thing they ask him, he says, a lot of, especially new agents, the first thing they ask him, how much you charge? And obviously, in the lending world, what's the first question we generally, generally get for especially from the an online lead or someone just comes in, not referrald, not you know, if Miranda says you endorse me, and someone works there, they generally don't, you know, start questioning, you know, like, what? But they don't know what else to ask. And I totally understand that. I totally understand it. So it's our job and our profession to actually educate them on their side of what they're actually getting. And I think that's where you and you probably went back and did a, we call, I call it, I think it was, might have been John Maxwell, and some, some personal development plan, do review, and you plan in there. You did your presentation. They asked you to discount. You told them the hard facts. I'm sure you went home, and on your way home, you're going through your mind, how could I have better? You know, positioned myself right. How could you better put your value out, you know? And I think real estate agents, you should not be asked, asking house scan, how much they charge for a home inspection. Are they good? That's all that matters. Are they good? Or when can you do it? Yeah. Well, yeah, sometimes you're in that situation, are you good? And when can you do it? And there is a couple companies that you probably could balance out in the area, like that, you're working with a loan officer. I'm going to tell you right now, loan officers are falling out. Lenders are coming back. We're margin compression. We want to offer low rates, but rates money costs more than it did yesterday, so they're shortening their profits. So when you start trying to make you focus on interest rates, you will live and die by it. Someone's always going to offer a slightly lower interest rate. The question is, what are the service? Are they cutting out

Miranda Ferreira  59:50  
exactly and it, and it's what's sad is that in our end, both of our industries, I feel like it's not until you've had a bad experience that you realize how important, yep. Again, kind of going back to that alluding, I can't tell you, and you probably have heard the same thing, wow, you you do this and, you know, oh, you answer your phone. Well, yeah, that's, that's what this thing is,

Speaker 1  1:00:10  
rings and I'm supposed to answer it, right? Yeah, mind

Tracy Hayes  1:00:13  
boggling me for 17 and a half years in the business, like, okay, the phone is ringing. That means there could be money on the other

Miranda Ferreira  1:00:21  
like, Yes, I should answer that, because nobody wants to be in the dark. I mean, and just put yourself in somebody else's

Tracy Hayes  1:00:26  
place, right? I well, I know of there's probably 5050, there's probably a lot, a lot of loan officers like myself, which we want to obviously put some sort of schedule up. But I know if you're calling me at 730 on a Saturday night, there's a reason. And and I, and if you have a relationship with your support vendors, you know, as a home inspector, a loan officer, whatever, they know you're calling for a certain reason. They know, hey, I need to get that inspection done like tomorrow. Can you pull me in? Because something else has happened to force that timeline, like the sellers have to close, they have to be out by the end of the month because they're getting transferred and their new homes closing. So you're doing a hot rush close. So you want to get the inspection done, done, like right now, and there's reasons for those things, not because you just want to be a pain in someone's tail and force them to get up and go outside their realm instead of scheduling you for three days out to schedule for three hours, you know, that type of thing. And there's a reason for that, and that's why you need to answer the phone. Because we as whether loan officer title companies, the inspection companies, any any of the support services to real estate, every transaction is different. We don't all we're not doing it for 60 days, and have all this time. Sometimes they want to close in 21 days. So we got to do all this other stuff, you know, and do it quickly and make sure that, you know, getting that stuff up front. So stop asking how much, yes, you don't like be asked, How much don't be you provide services. I'm just telling the real estate agents out there that are listening. Stop asking how much

Miranda Ferreira  1:01:59  
to the realtors out there. Make it. Make it apparent. Of what you can offer, tell them why. Make them believe they don't. All know. They don't know.

Tracy Hayes  1:02:11  
Well, I'll get it from you, you know, because I've had different agents. Some express it, some. Maybe we just didn't pull up the subject at the time. But Lindsay Osteen, we were talking last week, her and Jordan were on and we were talking about even during the times when you're getting offers, before you even put the sign in the yard, like it was, you know, a little over a year ago, you still want to go through the motions of doing a proper photos, doing the, you know, doing those things that, because that's your brand. Because now, as it gets better, now you are going out for that listing appointment, they're asking you to cut price as a whole site. Let me show you how I showed these other homes. Look at these photos. This cost as much. Now, if you don't want photos, you want me to just walk around your house with a cell phone. I can cut, you know, whatever dollars out. I don't know what the listing listing edge charges to give a call out there to to those guys, but, but yeah, so you're how important is when to do that full service, put the proper photos out in all the different things that you do as an agent, especially in the listing well.

Miranda Ferreira  1:03:09  
And remember, you know, you and I, I mean, because I can remember the day before the internet and before social media and all that, you know, things don't just go away. Now, you know, if it's on the internet, somebody has seen it come back and haunt you.

Tracy Hayes  1:03:22  
You google that address, it'll show you the listing photos from the last person.

Miranda Ferreira  1:03:26  
So you got to remember that what you do today is gonna hang around now for a while. So you want to make sure that it is a good impression and not a negative.

Tracy Hayes  1:03:37  
And you never know, and it's probably something the new buyers buy it. They might be in there five years. And we know this is a transient area. I mean, people get transferred in, transferred out, especially if you're in the military, that sort of thing, to, you know, trickle on that new buyer, even though you represented the seller, is to trickle on the on that buyer. Say, Hey, look at those great photos I took of the home the last time we're going to update those. Some of those we probably could still use, you know, whatever you know type of thing, but you know to, because you putting out quality. You're putting out, that's you, that's your brand, and you you want to, you'll follow that. It's that's a good point, you know, it's on there forever

Miranda Ferreira  1:04:12  
well, and not only that too, but educate them. You know, how I marketed a home last year is a lot different than how I'm marketing a home this year, you know, and even how I marketed in the first half of 2022 versus how I marketed at the end of 2022 two totally different scenarios.

Tracy Hayes  1:04:27  
That brings up a good point. Who are you? You mentioned Melissa Ricks because she's up in your zone up there. And you know, when these Mark conditions change, do you have a few people you kind of, you know, there's always those people that are probably still in your office, but they're kind of close in proximity. You generally think too much alike. Do you have some people you call outside, you know, you know, you kind of get some feedback. Hey, what do you see?

Miranda Ferreira  1:04:54  
I'm still, I'm starting, I'm starting to, and that's kind of where I'm excited, but I don't talk to just, just to the real. Editors. I'll go and I'll take some of the title folks out to coffee, or I'll see them, you know, and just because we do live in a small town, we'll see them in different circles and in places, and we'll talk about it. I will go out with title, I will go out with lenders. I'll go and talk to other agents. But yes, I'm asking everybody, well,

Tracy Hayes  1:05:19  
I mean, it answers the one of the questions that chat GPT came up with, it generally gives me this one on everyone is, how do you stay abreast of market conditions? Now, there's obviously many industry journals, and we can read a lot of stuff online, but to really get a heartbeat of what's going on in the neighborhoods you're working is to talk to other support services or other real estate agents in there only been in the business two and a half years. Have you noticed? Does it? Does it catch you a little bit how some of the top agents, like a Melissa Ricks, is very collaborative. They don't see you are competition. They want to beat you. They hope they call them, and so forth. But your circle is different than their circle, and you, data, someone in your circle calling you for a listing probably never even, doesn't even know this other agent there. How the top agents are are more supportive and don't see each other as competition, as much they're willing to share. Basically, does that catch you?

Miranda Ferreira  1:06:16  
Yes, it does, and it kind of shows me that they're they're in it for the right reasons. And if I lose to a Jackie Darby, a Melissa Ricks, or some of these other top agents, Fernandina and Amelia Island, it's because they're doing their clients very well, and they are getting their needs met. And so at the end of the day, we are a service industry, and if they are getting their needs met, and they are happy, you know what that's that's great for that person. Be happy for that person. You know you can only so I do coaching. I do Brian Buffini, and so it, one of his big sayings is that, you know, you give to get a loaf, you have to to get a in any case, I'm gonna butcher it just, you know, but any kid you have to give to get back, yes, and that's and that's what, and so at the end of the day, as long as those people are happy and taken care of, you know what? It's going to come? Mine is going to come.

Tracy Hayes  1:07:11  
Well, I mean, those people you just mentioned in your area, they're raising the bar, right? And you're willing to go with the bar. You're not chasing an interest rate, what's the lowest common denominator of at all? You, all, all of you, are raising the bar, and you put you are in a just a very natural capitalist way, by providing a greater service. You you push out those agents who are willing to do it on the cheap, because they're only going to get one swing, they're only going to get one bite of the apple, so to speak. Because we, you and I know if they're doing it on the cheap, they're cutting things experience. You know, the the customer experience is going to be lower, etc, where those other agents that you're collaborating with all of you guys, are raising the bar in that area, and they're not discounting their services,

Miranda Ferreira  1:08:02  
no, and, but like I said, too, at the end of the day, you know, quality follows quality, and at the end of the day, when they continue to raise the bar for me to be competitive, I have to raise my my stuff, and I want to keep doing this. I finally have found a place where I am I am so happy that I wake up in the morning excited, you know, not just because I get to send all three kids to school now, but I mean, trust me, there's a little bit of a happy dance there, yeah. But I mean, I get to have this amazing life, like I get to help people and experience something that is sometimes the most happy and or the most sad at the same, you know, kind of like that bittersweet moment, like that downsize, or that, you know, unfortunately, Oh, Mom and Dad passed now we have to sell their house. Like, that's a moment, but I get to help people through that, like, I get to be the support that people have given me all these years, right? And to show people that, you know, we don't all have to be, you know, what's like, we can, we can just be positive and be happy for each other.

Tracy Hayes  1:09:10  
So how many times do you reflect back, especially, you know, these last roughly 24 months, you've done really well, and you look back and say, Man, why didn't I start this? Like, 10 years earlier?

Miranda Ferreira  1:09:26  
I don't think I was in the right mindset then, yeah, like, I really don't think I think it took me. Like, I'm just so happy of the journey. I've been one like, it has just been an amazing journey, and I'm so glad I'm here, and I would, I maybe have made a few different decisions, probably, but at the end of the day, I hope I would not have changed anything here. Like it has been a blast overall, overall, there were a few moments that were rough. What is

Tracy Hayes  1:09:54  
Miranda's vision? Do you you know right now, or do you have a trans. Action coordinator, or you use one through the brokerage. Or, how is your because, what's your volume? You're you're getting some You must be getting some support somewhere.

Miranda Ferreira  1:10:08  
Yeah, so um, Gina and Dean have done a great job of kind of building a very supportive office for us. You know, we have a, just a front office admin type person. We have another back end person. We have our all our Erica, who runs the office, and then I have a transaction coordinator through the office. Eventually, yes, I would like to expand, to add a second agent. I see that coming, probably, hopefully, in the next two, three years ish, if not before, depending on how things go.

Tracy Hayes  1:10:42  
So I expanded myself by getting some coaching back in 21 and expanded my mind in my in my business. But our businesses are too much different, like for me to now, if I wanted to be a sales manager, and, you know, obviously I'd have, you know, whatever amount of loan officers underneath me. But as a loan officer to like, hey, I want to recruit another loan officer, unless that person really actually, as loan officers, I see as I do it, I'm the point of the spear, right? I'm out prospecting. I actually make the phone ring, which is what you do now, if I had someone who's licensed and wants to sit in the office and help, you know, the input and the follow up on the paperwork, you know, kind of like that transaction coordinator, but just so happens to be licensed, and mortgages too, that really helps, because they can actually lock in a loan. Or I don't have to actually come in the office and do that. They can do it. Hey, we need to lock now, or whatever it is that's a licensed office as another licensed real estate agent. What benefit is it to you? Or you just want that assistance? Because, you know, the number of open houses you got, you want to put a licensed person in there what, what is the financial benefit of hiring someone who's actually going to be a real estate agent, prospecting like you, versus maybe you're someone who's licensed and just working in the office for you and handling, you know, going going to an open house to sit it for you, but they're more on an hourly thing, and maybe a little bonus, or, you know, commission wise,

Miranda Ferreira  1:12:18  
I want. So my thought process is, is that, if they're just doing kind of like those supportive ancillary services, that is a that is someone that I need to have on payroll, but I want somebody to help me grow my payroll and be there when I am not. I mean, because, let's be honest, we all want to go take vacations. We all want to go spend time and do other things. I want to be able to add another professional so I can expand market share, to continue to grow, you know, in number of transactions, revenue, so on and so forth, to have someone that is licensed and capable to handle the problems that may come up. Say, if I have to, because my family is all still in Louisiana, if I have to go back home to Louisiana to see about something, I want to be able to say, okay, hey, you know what? Dig in my files. You got this. I'll be back. You know, just call me if you need me. But they can do it. They can write a contract, and they can, I guess

Tracy Hayes  1:13:19  
I asked the question, because eventually that person grows, grows in the business, right? And, you know, there's some teams that have, you know the you know, if it's Miranda team, Miranda's team, and Sally joins the team. Sally, after a couple years of being under you and and you know, she acquires some of her own leads, and she's learning the business, sees what you're doing. She starts getting her production up. Eventually, she's like, What do I need Miranda for anymore?

Miranda Ferreira  1:13:47  
Well, I mean, that's how I continue to grow. I mean, you don't grow if you're not challenged. So I don't know,

Tracy Hayes  1:13:53  
challenges of retention. It's just a grasp of the team concept that I have. I haven't quite got around to, unless you're fully like a the some of the great teams, like, just Christine, well, Sarah Rocco, CC, where they are generating, but then there's other brokerages, or that, have, you know, these guys have teams and say, Oh, well, we're not producing anymore. Okay, then what are you doing

Miranda Ferreira  1:14:17  
exactly? And, you know, I don't, I want

Miranda Ferreira  1:14:19  
someone that feels and can continue to be independent with the same growth mindset, because I want somebody that's independent, because that is how that makes any sense. So I'm not, I don't know, still married.

Tracy Hayes  1:14:36  
Well, the bottom line of our conversation, I'm just, we're just feeling through our different, different thoughts is this business has done so many different ways. Oh, yes, every, every agent, every team, like the three ladies I just mentioned, all three of them running their teams, totally different, totally different. Yeah, Melissa Ricks, totally different than those three women and and that sort of thing that said to kind of understand what type of team. Are you trying to develop, you know, in getting a grasp of that and understanding how it's actually going to fall through. Because I think the biggest thing then those three ladies that I mentioned, retention is the biggest thing for them. How do you retain? Because you train these people up, you get them up to a level, then they're like, now what do I need you guys for anymore? I'm gonna just go out here and do my own which happens? It does happen. But obviously, the goal of someone who's trying to create it when you can keep that offensive line together for a longer period of time, they play better together,

Speaker 1  1:15:30  
except for the Eagles line.

Tracy Hayes  1:15:32  
They did well. They did well. Everybody, yeah, everybody

Miranda Ferreira  1:15:35  
did well. I need, I need my team to fund my retirement. One day I would like to retire eventually.

Tracy Hayes  1:15:40  
Well, eventually you Miranda is the name your brand, gets your productions up there, and your reputation gets up there. At some point, like I said, you step back. You're, you're more or less taking a referral fee, because you're handing it off to, you know, these, these other people who are under on your team, selectively, anything you do, anything we not cover today that you want to say about the teams, about you?

Miranda Ferreira  1:16:05  
I don't think so. I mean, I think I did a pretty good job of not embarrassing myself. So I think I better stop here while in my head, I'm a very much that person. Yeah, the

Tracy Hayes  1:16:14  
I just felt put out there who's who's listening or guessing, you know, sound bites or whatever that we throw out there is, you know, to reach out to you as you've reached out to others. You're on an upward trajectory at a pretty rapid pace in an area too, like so that's another thing, if you're, if you're brand new right now, and you live, and you live up in the greater Nassau County in those areas, and you know, one of the common themes that we've talked about lately is shadowing, or having that mentor. And I know, you know, we talked about Missy earlier, beestra, and she's got

Speaker 1  1:16:47  
someone with her. She's given me some good tips through the years too, yeah.

Tracy Hayes  1:16:51  
And then I've had some different teens where Elaine Morgan, with an eye from over in Clay County, she's got a young agent who's mentoring under her. If you're that young agent, young, meaning like new in the business, not necessarily age, and you want to connect with someone who's on an upward trajectory, doing all the right things, and you want to get on that path quickly, they should be giving you a ball. Yes.

Miranda Ferreira  1:17:15  
I mean, I love I love teaching. I love sharing. I mean, because even whenever I was a PT, I was still, I was working and teaching like I was helping over at St Augustine again, like in the classroom. So I just, I love,

Tracy Hayes  1:17:27  
if someone's out there right now, are you ready to if someone came to you and you thought they, you know, they have the desire, the work ethic and so forth, because that's obviously the key thing, yeah, bring on anyone. You'll you'll talk to anyone, but who you actually partner with, so to speak, or bring under your brand? Yeah, I definitely ask. Gonna have to men, yeah, to talk to him. Because I think, I think, if you're an agent in this business, and talking to the some of our recent guests, I mean, to get on the coattails, especially we have a lot of agents, I think you're doing really well that are like not even 30 years old. And it's because they've latched on the coattails of some people who are doing it. They studied it, and now they're doing and they're doing very well before the age of 30 well.

Miranda Ferreira  1:18:13  
And my mindset is not of the 30 year old or the late 20 year old. So you know, to have that maybe some different vantage point, different take on it is is definitely some way to grow. I definitely believe more so that where we're going with real estate, you're going to have to have some type of team in place, whether it's a bunch of support personnel or other agents. I definitely more and more see to where, like a, like a just a solo operation is going to really if they're trying to make a consistent livelihood off of it is going to be a lot more difficult just the demands of the client.

Tracy Hayes  1:18:52  
I love the way you describe, you know, the setup there at the Century 21 Miller elite. You have the support staff, you as the agent, just need to plug in one of the biggest attractors, you know, and I try to tell management this, but they, they here in loan world, and it's not just loan depot, it's all places because you we're trying. We're being recruited daily tech, text message, phone calls, LinkedIn, whatever they're pounding us. The reality is, a quality person is not going to come over experienced person, someone who's inexperienced doesn't know any better, right? A quality person, experience isn't going to come over unless you have that support. He's got they've got the in house support that's there. And obviously you raise your production, maybe you'll bring on someone else to handle, help hell and deal your production. That is so key to have that assistant and move your business to another level. Would you agree?

Miranda Ferreira  1:19:45  
I agree, and it for retention. Because, you know, you want to keep top quality. I mean top skill and top, you know, top producers, like, for instance, I have a very good friend who is a huge Kentucky basketball fan, and I used to, I mean being an LSU. Grad. I used to bust his chops all the time. Calipari, you know, has, has done a great job all these years, top four, top it, you know, Elite Eight. And then all of a sudden, what happened to Kentucky this year? Because all their one and dones are done, you know, you've got to retain

Tracy Hayes  1:20:14  
that, that that, yeah, yeah. You have a pipeline of talent, exactly.

Miranda Ferreira  1:20:17  
You know, it's only good for one and dones are only good for so long, right? I'm a huge sportsman, by the way,

Tracy Hayes  1:20:25  
but your island, but that's, that's, that's, that's, is the key is to have that support. You want to track talent over you. They want to because, like, you are narrowing down your focus, and that means you're pushing all those things that are administrative off to the side, because you're 10x ing down on your focus, which is then producing you more production, so that you got to have the support staff. And if you find that talent, that's that's talent, and you help them focus, and take away all those other distractions, those administrative things, they will also produce well as well. And then they don't want to go back. So don't think you're going to take them from where they're getting it and bring it and bring it over you, and you're not going to offer them the support. You got to offer the support. That's why they're going to come over and then, and then the rest is history. All right, be the Chick fil A, anything else you want to add? Yes, beef. Chick fil A, be Chick fil A, no, you good.

Miranda Ferreira  1:21:13  
I'm good. I think I might have time to go get some Chick fil A.

Tracy Hayes  1:21:15  
Final question, is it more important who you know or what you know and why?

Miranda Ferreira  1:21:19  
I think it's more important to know to it's what you know, okay? Because if you know what you know, or if it's what you know, you will find out who you need to know.

Tracy Hayes  1:21:34  
So it's not who you know will tell you what you need to know. You're saying you need to know, to find out. Yes or lack there she is. She is working

Miranda Ferreira  1:21:44  
or lack there of knowing. I actually argue you need to be aware of what you don't know to then find out what you need to know, and then find who you need to know. There you go.

Tracy Hayes  1:21:56  
Okay, all right, we'll accept the answer. Miranda, I appreciate you coming on. Vin, thank you so much, Tracy, it has been a great conversation, and I hope, like I said, we'll, we'll cut, there's a lot of good reels in here, and we putting that out and and I'll be sharing this over to your Facebook page so your your circle. Obviously we'll see it. Those of your friends are listening. Hopefully they'll arrive at least when the audio comes out, which won't be until what's today, probably won't be till next Tuesday. The audio will go out. Obviously, I'll let you know you chair around. But if everyone can go in there and, you know, give a review, I would appreciate it.

Miranda Ferreira  1:22:31  
Go to the podcasts. Follow Tracy, yep.

Tracy Hayes  1:22:33  
Apple Spotify all the spot it'll come out on all those platforms, but it's also going to go up on YouTube as well. So if you want to go into YouTube video, hit that

Miranda Ferreira  1:22:40  
like and subscribe. Gotta subscribe gotta subscribe to the YouTube channel.

Tracy Hayes  1:22:43  
That's the most important thing. I got one. All

Speaker 2  1:22:45  
right. Appreciate you. Thanks, Tracy, thank you