Real Estate, For Real

I celebrate the 30th episode of the podcast by welcoming Todd Musso and his dad, Nick Musso. We talk about Nick's time running a small town real estate company in the late 70s and 80s, before joining the local MLS in the 90s. We go over the changes in the industry when the internet got involved, and how the importance of proper training for new agents is the same now as it was then. We also discuss Todd's decision to join the family business, and the choice to join The Real Estate Group. All throughout the episode Nick shares some really amazing stories about his time and experience in nearly 50 years of real estate.

It's another Realtor Roundtable episode, as I welcome Janet Gogerty, Logan Frazier, and Ketki Arya. We discuss requesting compensation from sellers as buyer agents, whether women are held to different standards than men when it comes to Realtor attire, navigating through dual agency transactions, projecting your success on social media, and persuasive letters from buyers to sellers.

On this episode I welcome Gina Wolter. We discuss her life growing up in Petersburg IL, in a real estate family. Then touch on things like Realtors always being accessible, struggles starting off in a real estate career, and the constant evolution of real estate contracts. We then transition to her work with the New Salem Lincoln League and their efforts to save, preserve, and maintain the New Salem State Historic Site.

This week I welcome Eric Easley and Jamie Murphy from The Easley Team. After learning how they got their start, we discuss the importance of marketing remarks, difficulties with buyer agency agreements, our strangest client request, the importance of being open to change in our industry, and whether or not Real Estate should be taught in high school.

On this Realtor Roundtable edition I welcome Angie Miller, Missy Grady, and Julie Davis. Some of the topics we go over are coming soon listings, open houses, audio and video surveillance in homes during showings, unruly children, what potential changes to the way we do our job may come in the next 5-10 years, and finding the line between diligently keeping in touch and being too "salesy".

In this Realtor Roundtable episode, I welcome Kelly Stotlar and Wade Ebert back to the show. We talk about the importance of online listing presentation, the state of the current market compared to a couple years ago, managing buyer and seller expectations who may have an outdated view of the housing market, and how we approach requesting compensation as a buyer agent. Plus, I try to convince them to give AI a try.

Diane Tinsley has experienced every aspect of real estate. From being a commercial lender, an assistant, solo agent, team member, team lead, trainer, managing broker, to eventually owning a brokerage. This week Diane sits down with me to talk about her unique journey through two decades of real estate. We also touch on the latest news with Zillow and office exclusive listings, and ask AI if it's coming for our job.

I spend this week's episode speaking to anyone who might be thinking of purchasing a home. I give you my thought's on who to call first, lender or Realtor, and the best way to find who to work with when it comes to both. I explain why owning a home may be more of a possibility than you think. From there, I take you through some of the more important steps in the process leading up to finding the right house to buy.

This week I'm joined by Randy Aldrich. We talk about how he got into the business, his time at other brokerages, some of the agents he's learned from along the way, being an educator as opposed to a salesperson, the work Realtors put in that the public doesn't see, and still being class clowns as fully formed professional adults.

This week I'm joined by Garrett Dooley, VP of lending at Rate Mortgage. We talk about his transition from a professional football player into the mortgage industry. And how in just four short years he has built a reputation as someone a real estate agent can trust will do a great job for their clients. We also go over some of the things that make a mortgage company different from a bank, Rate's plans to grow their presence in our community, working his way onto Realtors' short lists, helping people with low credit scores get into position to buy a house, and some of the in-house programs available for buyers.