The Trilingual Agent Closing Deals in Jacksonville's Buyer's Market | Claudia Hernandez, Ep. 328

REE 328 Transcript

[00:00:00] Claudia Hernandez: I absolutely love it, having connection with people. They are from here, they are from our state.

I guess one of the biggest things why I connect really easily with people that come from different places to live in Jacksonville is because, for me, it is very easy to transmit when I believe in something and I fell in love with Jacksonville in so many different ways that when I speak with my buyers from out of town, it is such a knowing. When I tell them how I feel, what I like, what I do, and everything, they're like, “Oh yeah, we want this, we want this.” And I'm like, yeah, living in Jacksonville is like being on vacation.

[00:01:00] Tracy Hayes: Hey, welcome back to the Real Estate Excellence Podcast. Every buyer deserves someone in their corner who truly understands them—not just their finances, but their language, their culture, and their story.

My guest today is a Coldwell Banker Anabasis Realty agent serving Jacksonville, Clay, Duval, and St. John's County here in Florida. She's fluent in Spanish, English, and French, holds a degree in translation and interpretation, and has built her business around the buyers most agents can't fully serve.

Please welcome Claudia Hernandez to the show.

[00:01:44] Claudia Hernandez: Hi. Thank you very much.

[00:01:45] Tracy Hayes: Thank you. Thank you for coming down.

I want to throw out there, too, to Travis, because it was Travis's post that I saw bragging a little bit about you and your numbers. Because you are a young agent, and for most of my audience, obviously, I've had agents on here who've been doing the business for 30 years, but you've only been in the business a couple years and you're doing something right.

And I think one of those things is obviously using Travis as a transaction coordinator—

[00:02:09] Claudia Hernandez: Or his team.

[00:02:10] Tracy Hayes: Or his team.

[00:02:11] Claudia Hernandez: Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. He's amazing. He definitely is on top of everything, and he definitely helps once we go under contract. He just backs me up on all the information that I tell my buyers firsthand.

Like, you are going to receive this, this, this. This is what you should be expecting. These are the next steps.

So the moment he comes into the picture and he sends the email and he sends everything, they have this feeling of comfort where it is like, okay, it's just backing up the information that I already know.

Because at the end of the day, they're coming with what they think is the expert, right?

[00:02:43] Tracy Hayes: Mm-hmm.

[00:02:44] Claudia Hernandez: So I have to prove to them that, yes, I'm an expert, and this is what is going to happen in every single transaction. Maybe some things are going to be a bit different. However, at the end of the day, the steps have to be somehow the same, and we have to follow them. And I'm right there to guide them through every single one of them.

And when Travis comes into the picture, he's like, okay, this is it. This is happening. This is what's next. And it's just perfect. It's just like a perfect—

[00:03:12] Tracy Hayes: Scene.

You bring up actually two great points there. One, the obvious: setting expectations, letting the buyer know, “Hey, this is what's going to happen first. This is what you can expect,” and that kind of thing, which every agent should be doing. We know they're not, but the good agents—and that's why you're having success—you're doing that.

But then to leverage the transaction coordinator who is in sync with you, who now is basically telling the same story.

[00:03:46] Claudia Hernandez: Correct.

[00:03:46] Tracy Hayes: Yes. And they're going, “Oh yeah, Claudia said that. Now Travis is saying the same thing.” Now you've got some ability to lean on each other for credibility.

[00:03:56] Claudia Hernandez: Correct.

[00:03:56] Tracy Hayes: Yes. And that you are a team working together.

[00:03:58] Claudia Hernandez: Absolutely. Absolutely. And that's very important because when they know that it's not just me—because they see, right? I am with them and, of course, my phone is ringing or something, and they understand. And I'm telling them, yes, I have another buyer that this happened with, or I have a seller that this happened with.

They probably, in the back of their head, might be thinking, okay, if she's so busy with all these clients, how is she going to be paying attention to me?

And when I bring up to them the fact that I have a transaction coordinator that is going to be there just to support me and support them every step of the way, but still I'm going to be involved, they feel like, okay, so she has basically an assistant that is right there.

So they're not going, now I have two people on the team that are taking care of me, and I'm going to be fine. You know?

Yeah, like the sense of being okay. Because for some buyers, especially for my first-time homebuyers, it can be something where they get nervous. They're excited, but at the same time, it's so much unknown out there that the whole process can be a little bit overwhelming.

That is my job: do not make it overwhelming for them.

[00:04:56] Tracy Hayes: What led you—you know, because a lot of agents try to do it all themselves. Looking at your production, for a lot of agents, they would be trying to do everything themselves right now.

What led you—when did you start using the transaction coordinator? When did that make sense for you?

[00:05:13] Claudia Hernandez: Well, first of all, it is part of my brokerage, right? Once we have a buyer, we need to have a transaction coordinator because our job is to be on the field. It's to be showing houses, to be explaining things to people, having these buyer consultations and everything.

Our job is not just to fill all the paperwork.

[00:05:32] Tracy Hayes: Mm-hmm.

[00:05:33] Claudia Hernandez: Yes, we need to understand it. We need to know everything about it. But my job is to be out there with the people, with my clients. And if they have a question, just be on the phone.

My job is not to be behind a laptop or behind something, just typing emails or typing everything. Of course, I know how to do it, and it's my job to know how to do it. However, I need to have someone that is going to be full-time behind the screen while I'm right there taking care of my clients.

[00:06:00] Tracy Hayes: So now you changed brokerages from the initial one that you were with. Was one of the incentives—the transaction coordinator—is the transaction coordinator part of the package with Coldwell Banker and Anabasis? How are they structured?

[00:06:16] Claudia Hernandez: Correct. So it's part of the way my broker, the way Bryce, did it. It's because you have to be on the field. You cannot be trying to do absolutely everything. You cannot be a one-man band.

[00:06:28] Tracy Hayes: Correct.

[00:06:29] Claudia Hernandez: You need to have a team behind you that is going to support you.

So yes, of course, we have to pay a fee for a transaction coordinator. However, Coldwell Banker is like, “I will cover this part and you will cover this part.” That way you don't feel like it's you paying for the entire thing.

It's their way of Coldwell Banker saying, “We are here to support you because if you make business, we make business.”

[00:06:53] Tracy Hayes: Right.

Well, I want to put this out there because this is one of the biggest mistakes. In talking with some of the best agents in our area that work for the Christie's, the Compasses, the Sotheby's, and so forth, when you start talking about if you're focused on the split versus the value—

[00:07:13] Claudia Hernandez: Mm-hmm.

[00:07:14] Tracy Hayes: Mm-hmm. Because obviously, I imagine Coldwell probably takes a little bit more from your commission check than your previous brokerage.

[00:07:22] Claudia Hernandez: Correct.

[00:07:23] Tracy Hayes: From that standpoint. But you obviously evaluated, well, yeah, I'm giving a little bit, but I'm getting this much more.

Break down what your thought process was when you made that decision.

[00:07:33] Claudia Hernandez: Okay. And this happens a lot with a lot of agents. They came to me, actually, and they told me, “I don't want to join a brokerage that is going to take basically X amount of money from my job, from my leads, and my buyers.”

And my first question to them—and I hope I never insult anyone—was like, what buyers are you talking about? You don't have any clients. You don't have any buyers.

Because that's what happened to me when I decided to go from one brokerage to Coldwell Banker Anabasis. It was like, “Are you sure? Because the commission is split this way.”

And I was like, I don't have any buyers. I don't have any clients. I don't have any pipeline because I wasn't born here. I didn't go to college here. I don't have a bunch of family here.

And a lot of agents that are moving to Jacksonville, they're going through exactly the same thing. They just moved from a different place. They want to start in this career. And it's like, where do I start?

Because the other agents that I know, they basically have all their family, all their friends from college, or their friends from high school. And of course, you have a bigger pipeline.

But when you are brand new in the city, you know about the city, you educate yourself about the neighborhoods, about everything, but it is like, where am I supposed to get the leads? Who is going to come to me?

Because nobody knows who Claudia Hernandez is.

[00:08:59] Tracy Hayes: Absolutely.

[00:08:59] Claudia Hernandez: Absolutely no one. Not yet. Not yet.

[00:21:12] Claudia Hernandez: She was there, I want to say probably for 10, 15 years.

[00:21:16] Tracy Hayes: Okay. Yes. So very seasoned.

[00:21:19] Claudia Hernandez: Yes.

[00:21:19] Tracy Hayes: Dealing with many different cultures.

[00:21:21] Claudia Hernandez: Correct.

[00:21:22] Tracy Hayes: What have you found? She's European.

[00:21:24] Claudia Hernandez: Yes.

[00:21:24] Tracy Hayes: And then she's in a Hispanic-dominated market.

[00:21:28] Claudia Hernandez: Yes.

[00:21:28] Tracy Hayes: But a lot of Americans and Canadians are buying investment properties or whatever they're doing.

[00:21:33] Claudia Hernandez: Yeah.

[00:21:34] Tracy Hayes: The difference of her directness.

[00:21:39] Claudia Hernandez: Yes.

[00:21:39] Tracy Hayes: Her “this is how we're doing it and you're going to follow me,” without much negotiation. Basically, like, this is the expectation. You're going to follow. I'm the leader. I'm the real estate agent.

[00:21:49] Claudia Hernandez: Yes.

[00:21:49] Tracy Hayes: You're going to follow me. This is what you're going to do. Get up at eight o'clock tomorrow morning and you're going to meet me. I mean, are they more direct? Was she like that?

[00:21:56] Claudia Hernandez: Absolutely. Yeah. A hundred percent. She would be like, “This is the price.”

“No, but you know what? I've seen some other people paying this.”

“This is the price, and I'm telling you this is the price.”

“This is the price.”

Exactly. And she would say that with a smile on her face.

“This is the price, and you can do whatever you want, and you can go with a different agent. That agent is not going to be me, but this is the price.”

[00:22:17] Tracy Hayes: Right. And I believe, just through my experiences in life, there are some people that might ruffle their feathers.

[00:22:27] Claudia Hernandez: Mm-hmm.

[00:22:27] Tracy Hayes: But we talked a little bit about first-time homebuyers and so forth.

[00:22:31] Claudia Hernandez: Yes.

[00:22:31] Tracy Hayes: They're hiring you because they don't know.

[00:22:34] Claudia Hernandez: Mm-hmm.

[00:22:34] Tracy Hayes: They want you to find the answers. Experienced buyers know the value of a real estate agent to, one, handle the transaction.

[00:22:42] Claudia Hernandez: Yes.

[00:22:43] Tracy Hayes: Make things happen so they're just saying, “Tell me when I need to show up. Tell me when I need to write the check.”

[00:22:49] Claudia Hernandez: Correct.

[00:22:50] Tracy Hayes: They want that. And a majority of clients are like that. They want an agent who's going to take control. That's why they hired you.

Would you agree with that?

[00:32:34] Tracy Hayes: So let me clarify what I'm hearing, and for someone who's listening to the show right now. One thing real estate agents—and I'm sure a lot that fail—are spending a lot of time, you know, on education. You have to continue to learn.

[00:32:46] Claudia Hernandez: Correct.

[00:32:46] Tracy Hayes: You should always—your calendar should have education days on there. If you're not taking 30 minutes a day to learn something, or whatever it may be—

[00:32:55] Claudia Hernandez: Correct.

[00:32:56] Tracy Hayes: You have to have that blocked in weekly, monthly, whatever it may be that you like to do.

[00:32:58] Claudia Hernandez: Correct. And that was exactly my problem. I was educating myself, but I was educating myself on the wrong things.

I was trying to understand every single detail of the contract, every single detail of the process, because I wanted to be prepared before I got a client. But at the same time, I wasn't getting any clients. So now I had all this information, all this knowledge, and nobody to apply it to.

And then I realized that there are two sides of this business. One side is the education, the contracts, the compliance, understanding what you're doing. The other side is actually finding clients and learning how to communicate with people.

Because you can be the smartest real estate agent in the room, but if nobody knows who you are, nobody is going to hire you.

So I was trying to find that balance.

[00:33:44] Tracy Hayes: Right.

[00:33:45] Claudia Hernandez: And I wasn't finding it. I felt like I was going to the office, sitting there, attending trainings, listening to people, but nobody was actually telling me, “Okay, now go do this. Now go talk to this person. Now go build your business.”

It was more like, “Well, eventually it will happen.”

And I didn't want eventually. I wanted a plan.

[00:34:08] Tracy Hayes: Mm-hmm.

[00:34:09] Claudia Hernandez: I wanted someone to tell me, “This is step one. This is step two. This is step three.”

Because that's how I learn.

And that's when I realized that maybe that brokerage wasn't the right fit for me. Not because it was bad. It just wasn't what I needed at that moment in my career.

[00:34:27] Tracy Hayes: Right.

[00:34:28] Claudia Hernandez: I needed structure. I needed accountability. I needed someone to tell me, “Okay, Claudia, how many people did you talk to today? How many appointments did you set? What are you doing tomorrow?”

Because if nobody is asking you those questions, especially as a new agent, it's very easy to get distracted.

[00:34:48] Tracy Hayes: Absolutely.

[00:34:49] Claudia Hernandez: And that's when I started looking at other options and trying to understand what I actually needed to succeed in this business.

[00:44:58] Tracy Hayes: You might want to be looking for that. Yes. Obviously that's what happened when you walked in there. The stars aligned for you.

[00:45:05] Claudia Hernandez: Correct.

[00:45:05] Tracy Hayes: And you have the same ideology, mindset that Bryce has.

[00:45:09] Claudia Hernandez: Yes.

[00:45:10] Tracy Hayes: And how to leverage, in this case, technology. And then obviously he's probably using technology because he mentioned feeding you some leads, which as a new agent was like, “Oh, hold on a second, I can get leads too.”

[00:45:23] Claudia Hernandez: Yes.

[00:45:24] Tracy Hayes: You know, how can I get my business started? And that's all it took.

[00:45:29] Claudia Hernandez: Yes.

Absolutely. Because at the end of the day, I didn't need another class. I didn't need another person to tell me how to open a door. I didn't need another person to tell me how to print a contract.

I needed someone to show me how to build a business.

And that's exactly what I found.

Because when you are a new agent, everybody talks about real estate, but very few people talk about business. Very few people talk about systems, lead generation, follow-up, databases, pipelines, conversion rates, and all those things that actually make a career sustainable.

And that's what really caught my attention.

[00:46:04] Tracy Hayes: Mm-hmm.

[00:46:05] Claudia Hernandez: Because I realized very quickly that being a good real estate agent and having a real estate business are two different things.

You can be amazing with contracts. You can be amazing with negotiations. You can know every neighborhood in Jacksonville.

But if you don't have clients, none of that matters.

[00:46:24] Tracy Hayes: Right.

[00:46:25] Claudia Hernandez: So when Bryce started explaining the systems, the CRM, the lead flow, the accountability, the support, the transaction coordination, the AI integrations, all of that, I saw something I hadn't seen before.

I saw a business model.

And I think that's the difference.

[00:46:45] Tracy Hayes: Well, and that's where a lot of agents get stuck.

[00:46:48] Claudia Hernandez: Correct.

[00:46:49] Tracy Hayes: They become students of real estate, but they never become business owners.

[00:46:53] Claudia Hernandez: Exactly.

And real estate is a business.

You are your own business.

You are responsible for your marketing, your communication, your follow-up, your education, your client experience—everything.

And once I understood that, everything changed.

Because now I wasn't asking, “How do I become a real estate agent?”

I was asking, “How do I build a real estate business?”

And that's a completely different question.

[00:57:11] Claudia Hernandez: Yes, yes.

The house is important, but the lifestyle is what is going to make you happy after you buy the house.

Because I can find you a beautiful house, four bedrooms, three bathrooms, completely renovated, and everything is perfect. But if you hate the commute, if your kids don't like the schools, if you don't have the amenities you wanted, if you're far away from the things you enjoy doing, then eventually you're not going to be happy there.

So I always start with lifestyle.

[00:57:42] Tracy Hayes: Right.

[00:57:43] Claudia Hernandez: Because once I understand your lifestyle, then I can match you with the right neighborhood.

And sometimes that's not the neighborhood they originally called me about.

Sometimes they call me about one community because they saw it online, but after talking to them for 20 or 30 minutes, I'm like, “No, that's actually not where you belong. Let me show you this area instead.”

And most of the time they're surprised because they're like, “We never would have found this on our own.”

[00:58:11] Tracy Hayes: Mm-hmm.

[00:58:12] Claudia Hernandez: And that's the value of working with a local agent.

Not because I know the houses.

Because I know the communities.

I know who lives there, what the lifestyle is, what the traffic is like, what the amenities are like, how people spend their weekends, where the grocery stores are, where the golf courses are, where the parks are.

That's what helps me guide people.

[00:58:38] Tracy Hayes: That's a great point.

Because Zillow can tell you square footage.

[00:58:42] Claudia Hernandez: Exactly.

[00:58:43] Tracy Hayes: Zillow can't tell you how you're going to live there.

[00:58:46] Claudia Hernandez: Correct.

And especially for people relocating from another state, they don't know those details.

They don't know that living 10 miles away in Jacksonville can mean a completely different lifestyle.

They don't know that one neighborhood may be perfect for young families while another one is better for retirees, or golf lovers, or people who want to be near the beach.

That's where I come in and help them connect the house to the life they want to have.

[00:59:15] Tracy Hayes: That's really well said.

[01:08:07] Tracy Hayes: Is Cueto Latino? Is that—

[01:08:10] Claudia Hernandez: Cueto Latino?

[01:08:11] Tracy Hayes: Yes. And what does that—is it a community?

[01:08:15] Claudia Hernandez: No, it's actually a radio station. It's one of the Spanish radio stations that we have here in Jacksonville. They do a lot for the Hispanic community, and they have events, interviews, and different things where they try to bring information to Spanish-speaking people.

[01:08:31] Tracy Hayes: Okay.

[01:08:32] Claudia Hernandez: So yes, I've worked with them before. I like what they do because they help connect people with resources and information in Spanish, which is very important.

[01:08:43] Tracy Hayes: One thing I wanted to circle back to. You mentioned that sometimes you'll walk away from a listing if the seller's expectations aren't realistic.

[01:08:51] Claudia Hernandez: Absolutely.

[01:08:52] Tracy Hayes: That's a hard thing for a newer agent to do.

[01:08:55] Claudia Hernandez: It is. Especially when you're new because you want every opportunity. You want every listing. You want every buyer.

But I learned that taking the wrong listing can actually hurt your business more than help it.

Because if I know a house is worth $380,000 and the seller wants to list it at $450,000, I already know what's going to happen.

It's going to sit.

We're going to have showings and no offers.

The seller is going to get frustrated.

Then eventually we're going to reduce the price anyway.

And now we've lost valuable time.

[01:09:29] Tracy Hayes: Right.

[01:09:30] Claudia Hernandez: So I'd rather have an honest conversation from day one.

I always tell them, “I'm not here to tell you what you want to hear. I'm here to tell you what you need to hear.”

And then I show them the data.

Not my opinion.

The data.

The comparable sales, the active competition, the pending properties, the days on market.

Everything.

And then they can make an informed decision.

[01:09:58] Tracy Hayes: That's confidence.

[01:09:59] Claudia Hernandez: Yes. And confidence comes from preparation.

If you know your numbers and you've done your homework, then you can have those conversations.

And if they decide they want to go with another agent who promises them a higher price, that's okay.

Sometimes they come back later.

[01:10:17] Tracy Hayes: That's happened?

[01:10:18] Claudia Hernandez: Yes.

Because eventually the market tells the truth.

And when the market tells the truth, they remember the person who was honest with them from the beginning.

[01:15:26] Claudia Hernandez: It's not going to.

The market is different. Interest rates are different. Inventory is different. Buyer behavior is different.

So I cannot use what happened four years ago to tell you what your house is worth today.

I can use it as information, but I cannot use it as a pricing strategy.

[01:15:42] Tracy Hayes: Right.

[01:15:43] Claudia Hernandez: And that's why I always tell sellers that the market decides the value, not us.

We can have opinions.

We can have emotions.

We can have expectations.

But the market is going to tell us exactly what buyers are willing to pay.

[01:15:59] Tracy Hayes: Mm-hmm.

[01:16:00] Claudia Hernandez: And if the market is telling us that houses like yours are selling at $380,000, then that's the reality we have to work with.

Not what happened in 2022.

Not what happened during COVID.

Not what your neighbor told you.

Not what Zillow says on a random Tuesday.

What the actual market is doing today.

[01:16:22] Tracy Hayes: That's a great distinction.

Because I think a lot of sellers still have that COVID pricing in their head.

[01:16:28] Claudia Hernandez: Absolutely.

And I understand why.

Because they saw homes selling in three days.

They saw multiple offers.

They saw people waiving inspections.

They saw all these crazy things happening.

But that's not the market we're in right now.

And if I don't tell them that, I'm not doing my job.

[01:16:48] Tracy Hayes: Right.

[01:16:49] Claudia Hernandez: My responsibility is to help them sell the house.

Not to make them feel good for thirty minutes during a listing appointment.

Because if I tell them what they want to hear and then the house sits for six months, I didn't help them.

I hurt them.

[01:17:07] Tracy Hayes: Exactly.

[01:17:08] Claudia Hernandez: So I'd rather have the difficult conversation on day one than the painful conversation six months later when they've missed opportunities and are still paying taxes, insurance, utilities, and mortgage payments on a house that should have been sold already.

[01:26:32] Tracy Hayes: Well, I'm going to finish with this last question. Why do you love real estate?

[01:26:35] Claudia Hernandez: I'm so passionate about it.

I absolutely love having a connection with people. Whether they are from here or they are from out of state, I love meeting them and getting to know their story.

I guess one of the biggest reasons why I connect so easily with people that come from different places to live in Jacksonville is because, for me, it is very easy to transmit when I truly believe in something.

And I fell in love with Jacksonville in so many different ways that when I speak with my buyers from out of town, I think they feel it.

When I tell them how I feel, what I like, what I do, and everything about the area, they're like, “Oh yeah, we want this. We want this.”

And I'm like, yeah, living in Jacksonville is like being on vacation.

Every day or every weekend, there's something to do. You can have a pool party somewhere. You can grab a boat and go somewhere. You can grab a jet ski. You can grab a canoe.

If you love being outside, if you love the sun, if you love the beach, you're going to absolutely love it.

I'm so passionate about meeting new people and helping them.

It's amazing when someone tells me, “Thank you so much, Claudia.”

There was one person I will never forget. He told me, “Thanks to you, Claudia, I'm a homeowner here in the United States.”

And I love that.

[01:27:42] Tracy Hayes: Awesome.

[01:27:43] Claudia Hernandez: Yes.

[01:27:43] Tracy Hayes: I appreciate you coming on today.

[01:27:44] Claudia Hernandez: Thank you so much. Thank you. I appreciate it.

[01:27:49] Tracy Hayes: For everybody listening, if you'd like to connect with Claudia, all of her contact information will be in the show notes. Reach out to her directly if you're buying, selling, relocating to Northeast Florida, or if you're an agent looking for guidance on building a business the right way.

Thanks again for tuning in to the Real Estate Excellence Podcast, and we'll see you on the next episode.

[01:28:00] End of Transcript