Real Estate and Home Buying with Victoria Sechrist and Mindy Roberts
Real Estate and Home Buying with Victoria Sechrist and Mindy Roberts
On this episode of Financially Naked: Stories from The Financial Gym, our host is Victoria Sechrist, Financial Trainer in Boston, and she is joined by Mindy Roberts. They are going to discuss real estate and home buying.
Podcast Notes
Mindy lives in Atlanta and she loves to teach, create, and design solutions for high stress situations, and she is a residential real estate agent. Stress is a great opportunity to find a good middle.
Mindy grew up in a small town and her father was a carpenter. She spent a lot of time with her dad in people’s homes when she was a young child.
Mindy works for Ansley Atlanta, a brokerage firm, and she is part of a team called the Collins Collective. Previously, she worked in commercial real estate with a global firm and she sold office towers throughout the southeast.
She has always been a big believer in conscious commerce and how you operate as a person. As she transitioned from commercial real estate, Mindy noticed an opportunity to consult individual agents to scale up their businesses.
It is hard to leverage what you know and share it, because real estate is so competitive, but she had to let that go, because you can’t do everything yourself.
She helped clients assess current operations and figure out if there were better ways to optimize or delegate, so they could scale their business. It is easy to be in a fear-driven state in real estate and have a scarcity mindset towards sharing.
A client Mindy was consulting with encouraged her to become a realtor. It takes time to build a business, so it can be scary. About 90% of licensed realtors are 100% commission.
Mindy has a lot of patience and she loves to teach her clients, and this allows her to show up for people.
The home buying process right now is very competitive. Try not to get too attached to a house, because it shouldn’t be celebrated until you close. Let down can really take it out of you.
Finding the house is only one part of the process. Make sure you find a good buying agent who will educate you on the process. Not using a buyer’s agent is like being given the funds to hire a lawyer but deciding to go to court on your own.
Agents know all of the vendors for inspections, appraisals, lenders, and they can advocate for a buyer at no cost. The seller pays for the realtor, not the buyer. The buyer’s cost is closing costs.
The first thing a buyer should do is connect with a lender so they can find out their price range. Shop around for the best rate. The realtor will then be able to show the buyer houses within that range.
Realtors have access to systems with real data. They pay to have access to see the real numbers, actual sales, and see what is in inventory. Working with a realtor gives you access to homes before they hit the market.
Typically people stay in their homes for eight to ten years. However, that is trending up right now, which is a reason for the inventory shortage.
Every quarter, Mindy sends her clients a valuation on how much their home is worth. It also includes their equity, so they can see how they are positioned. She wants to be in front of them when they are ready to sell. Referrals are the key to grow your business.
If you are interested in transitioning to a career in real estate, know that it can be a team sport, but it is mostly you and your clients. It is very hands on and it takes your undivided attention. Focus is number one. Number two, reward yourself with the practice of non-attachment.
You can’t always live by the book, there are limitations, but you need to reconfigure the pieces and customize them to the circumstance. No two transactions will ever be the same.
Make sure you have extra in reserves. If you are struggling financially, it can be difficult to perform and be their for your clients. There is so much reward in real estate, but you need to make sure you have created your nest.
The work is unpredictable. Balance and finding a middle is very important.
Connect with Mindy
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