Be the Solution with Maria Quattrone

Connection, Character, and Consistency: Jennifer King’s Blueprint for Longevity

• Maria Quattrone • Season 1 • Episode 351

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In this episode of the Be The Solution Podcast, Maria interviews longtime friend and 25-year real estate veteran Jennifer King, one of Lancaster, PA’s most respected leaders. Jennifer has built her business entirely on repeat and referral, navigating market shifts, competing with cash-heavy out-of-town buyers, and mastering the art of relationship-building.

With Lancaster now attracting homeowners from NYC, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and D.C. due to affordability and Amtrak access, Jennifer shares how she’s adapted, elevated her skills, and protected her clients in an increasingly competitive landscape. 

This episode is a masterclass in adaptability, client psychology, professionalism, and long-game strategy.

1. Lancaster’s Surprising Migration Surge

2. Referral-Based Success — No Paid Leads

3. Adaptability Is Everything

4. The Art of Personality Profiling in Real Estate

5. Peer Relationships Matter MORE Than Ever

6. Don’t Burn Bridges — With Clients or Peers

7. Emotional Intelligence Is Required

8. Financial Discipline = Mental Peace

9. Structure + Routine = Sanity

10. 2026 Outlook: Confident & Intentional


BEST QUOTES

Jennifer King:

“When you find your sweet spot of relating to people, the business builds itself.”


Maria Quattrone:

“It’s not what happens to you — it’s how you handle it. We are our own solution.”


GUEST CONTACT

Jennifer King
Lancaster, PA
📍 Website: soldinmadison.com
📞 Phone: 608-445-6204

Connect with Maria Quattrone:
Facebook: Maria Quattrone
Facebook Page: REMAX at Home Facebook
Facebook Page: Rise in Real Estate Facebook
LinkedIn: Maria Quattrone
YouTube: Maria Quattrone
Instagram: @maria_quattrone
TikTok: mariaquattronerealestate
Website: MQrealesate.com
Office number: 215- 607-3535

Maria Quattrone:

I'm excited today. Yes, this is the Be the Solution podcast, and I'm your host, Maria Quatron. And today I have a guest who I've known for many, many years, Jennifer King, who's from Lancaster PA. And Jennifer has been in the real estate industry for oh two and a half decades, 25 years.

Jennifer King:

Yeah, crazy.

Maria Quattrone:

It is crazy. And this is the first time, and hopefully not the last time, that she's on the show. So welcome, Jennifer. Thank you. Thanks for having me. Yeah, my pleasure. My pleasure. So, you know, it's interesting because we were talking behind the scenes about how every market is different and every challenge is different in each market. And it's all about being the solution and how you figure out, you know, and maneuvering through all the challenges that the real estate industry, quite frankly, has we've been dealing with now since the rise in the rates about three and a half years ago. But there's other challenges besides just the rise in the rates. And you had just brought to my attention that I didn't know that a lot of folks are moving from New York City, Philadelphia, Baltimore to Lancaster PA. And the challenges that arise with that. So let's dive in deep.

Jennifer King:

Yeah, so it's been an interesting market because since the whole work from home that came along with COVID, um, you know, people can work and maintain their jobs in metro areas and live in less expensive areas. So my market, we're in southeastern Pennsylvania. A lot of people know us as Amish Country. It's not just Amish people, but yes, we are kind of right in the heart of Amish Amish country here in Lancaster. Um, what people don't realize is we are a real quick Amtrak ride. Um, I've got Amtrak three miles from my house direct to New York City, Philly, and so forth. So from my home, just east of Lancaster City, I've got an hour and 15, hour and 20 to Baltimore and the same distance to Philadelphia. So, really, when I fly, I kind of have the best of both worlds. I can choose whoever has the better agenda and the better pricing for what I'm looking to do. But that also has brought an influx of people who are looking at what they're spending for housing and cost of living in those major metros and the ability to be able to commute, you know, once a week or a couple times a week. It's pretty easy with Amtrak, even if you're driving it, same thing to even DC. So we've just had an awful lot of people who can work from home, maintain those big salaries, and come here for a fraction of the price. Um, so yeah, it's been it's been a different dynamic for us for sure. Um, we've always had plenty of people relocating. We are um reported, US News and World Report um always reports us as one of the number one places to retire in the nation. We've got great healthcare, great proximity to major um hospitals like Johns Hopkins and Children's Hospital of Philly. So we've we've always had a large retirement um sector of people coming here, but now we've also got a whole like working class who has discovered that this is a pretty cool place to be. Lancaster City is about 56,000, 58,000 people, and countywide we're about 550 or 560,000 people. So it's a nice size city, very walkable, tons of arts and culture, and it's just been a big draw for people. So it's different dynamics.

Maria Quattrone:

It is a different dynamic, so it's a challenge for the local people getting outbid from uh the people coming from outside who look at your marketplace as very affordable, and kind of the people that have been there for 20, 30, 40, 50 years just can't afford. Yeah.

Jennifer King:

Yeah, that's been a huge change or shift in my business personally because we do most of our business by repeat and referral. So when your locals can no longer compete with all of the big money coming into the market, the dynamic changes, right? Because you don't know. Um, you know, we were talking behind the scenes prior to the call here, just about how, you know, when business is a little slow, you could pick up the phone, drum up more business, but when your locals can't afford to compete, you know, a lot of our repeat and referral business has become the people that are required to move, whether it's a health change or death or divorce. So it's not all the fun stuff of like, hey, we just want to get a bigger house, we just want to have more room for the kids, we're just thinking about making a move or we're ready to downsize. It's a lot of just moving by necessity because when you're competing with cash from other markets, um, it's it's a different dynamic. So I feel like since COVID, um, you know, we we've been doing fine. We still are selling around 100 houses a year. That's pretty much our norm. But our average sales price has gone from like 225, 250 up to like 325 to 350. So again, you know, even though our economy is good here, when locals get raises and stuff, they're not keeping up at the same pace of somebody who's selling maybe in your market for 800,000. They can come here and buy the same thing for 450 or 500. They find out they're competing and they say, well, just tack another 50,000 on. It's all relative. And um, it's it's just been an interesting, it's been an interesting whirlwind. Um, just a different different dynamic for sure.

Maria Quattrone:

Yeah, I bet. And you're also in very much so a seller's market.

Jennifer King:

Very much still a seller's market. Yeah, we've gone from days of inventory to now a couple weeks of inventory. Um, we've, you know, coming into winter here, we're probably just about at one month of inventory now, but we don't have land to be able to continue to develop. So we can't outbuild the need. And even with that, with all the regulations and stuff that have changed here with building, the time from someone buying a parcel of land and developing and bringing more housing to the market, it's just a really long process. I mean, there's certain builders that I'm aware of that have been working on plots of land for years and still don't have approvals to move forward. So, one, we don't have a ton of land. We have a fair amount that's in ag preserve or farmland preservation, which is great. We want to keep that. We have some of the best soil in the nation as far as farmland goes. Um, but yeah, it's just an interesting dynamic. We are not in a market like some of our peers nationally, that I'm sure you're aware, you know, that people are buying stuff for high dollars and tearing it down and rebuilding. We're not there, but we also are just kind of in this crux of there's not enough housing to go around to meet the demand. So it's an interesting, interesting time for sure. And that's what you were saying too, you know, the longer you're in the business, you learn, you just have to adapt and find the solutions that work for people and get creative in ways that can work. So one of the things that we were talking about prior to coming on today is just the ability to adapt and to flex. And that's one of the things that I've spent a lot of time in my 25 years in the industry doing studies on uh personality and personality profiling. It doesn't mean you have to change or you have to be that person, but there's so much benefit in being able to flex with the people that we're working with, right? So I work from I work with everyone from the very conservative to the ultra-liberal. I'm not just talking politically, I'm talking in all things, whether it's financially conservative to, you know, tons of money to throw into things. It's all spectrums. And so when you learn that everybody kind of has their flow. And if someone is a slow speaker, you're gonna overwhelm them if you just come at them hard and you're talking real fast and whatever. If you have someone like myself, I don't want to sit and chit-chat for 45 minutes to get to the point. I'm a like, let's get to the point. I've got other things I need to do. So it's real important to be able to flex and adapt with not only different personalities, different cultures. You know, I was telling the team not long ago, one of my favorite listing stories is I went to someone's home for an appointment and I knew I was competing for the listing, and I ended up winning the listing. And as we were discussing afterwards, they felt immediately comfortable with me. And that's a huge thing. If you can find those relatable points, the other thing, which is so small, but it's looking for those little things. When you walk in someone's home, if they're not wearing shoes, that's probably your clue. So I'm always prepared and offer to remove my shoes. And that was one of the things that sealed that deal for me. So it is those little things and being aware of what people have on their walls, like what's important to them. What are their photos of? Are they family? Are they travels? Are they memorabilia they've brought back from around the world? Finding those key points where you can connect with people. I think it's so easy in our industry to get caught up on like what's the shiny new thing? Like, how do I buy leads? How do I do this and that? And, you know, when you find your sweet spot of being able to relate with people, the business builds itself. So I'm very blessed in that my phone rings. We don't do lead generation, we don't pay for any leads. We are referral-based and repeat only. And that's been a huge blessing and also a huge cost savings, frankly, of course, over the years.

Maria Quattrone:

Yeah. So you don't do any um out calling, just in-calling?

Jennifer King:

Pretty much inbound. Yeah, pretty much inbound. Now, I will say, again, you've got to be able to shift with the market as things shift. And so one of the changes that we've implemented since COVID in particular is really being proactive in reaching out to agents like yourself who are in neighboring markets. So if we recognize that the trend is that people are coming in from the Philadelphia area, I'm gonna be on the phone and doing notes and doing a gift basket of goodies to your office and whatever I can to promote to you that I'm here. So when you hear somebody say Lancaster, Jennifer King should be the first thing that pops up in your mind. And um, you know, I don't think you can put enough emphasis on the relationships in the business as well. So, right, you and I were talking about your transactions. We're so relieved to see a great agent come across our desk desk on a contract as the co-op agent because we know it's going to go smoothly and the motivation's there to work together and get things done. It's the same with our peers. So, you know, I've been with REMEX for 25 years, whatever your brand, it doesn't even matter. But, you know, take the time to know your peers, know who the players are in your neighboring markets. I've got brokers in the Carolinas who, gosh, I probably met them at a Remex convention 12, 15 years ago. And we do transactions from their office every single year. And it's such a mind shift when you realize like you're not just going to learn and absorb, but really meeting the connections. Because when I can say to somebody, oh my gosh, you want to buy something in Philadelphia, let me tell you, you have to talk to Maria. I know her, I know she's gonna take great care of you. I know she's systematized and, you know, she's not gonna drop the ball. She knows exactly how to navigate this tricky market. That's huge because my clients aren't out shopping for other agents. When I can validate that, not only can I pull up online that Maria does business in Philadelphia, but I know you and I know how you operate and I can validate that process. Um, that's huge. I have a cousin who lives in Michigan. He called me a couple of weeks ago, said, Hey, we're thinking about picking up an investment property for our daughter and son to live in. And do you know anybody in this market? So I jumped right on my phone and pulled up, you know, somebody that I thought was in the market. And I said, Hey, like, are you there, present, like able to be on the ground and help? My cousin's got something they'd like to see, and I want to make sure they're taken really good care of. She's like, I'm not in the market at the moment, but um, my sales partner's there. You know what? They jumped right on, they connected immediately, had a great connection, and they closed on Monday. So, you know, that turnaround and that kind of leverage, I think people don't put enough emphasis on it is worth every penny. People say to me all the time, even at my office, there's not a lot of people relative to the amount of agents that we have that invest in going to these conferences. And I can honestly say, like it has been foundational for my business because I've got these relationships I've formed over the years. And I've got everybody in my phone by market. So if somebody says a town or a zip code, I can put it in my, you know, contacts, my contacts on my phone sync from Google contacts, and I've got everybody's market areas in there. So it's super easy to connect people on the fly.

Maria Quattrone:

Yeah, that's awesome. It it really is all about relationships, whether it's agent relationships, client relationships, vendor relationships. You really just don't know, you know. And a lot of times I think in this game of real estate, that people could be more short-sighted than long-sighted. And it's really important that you think about that how long will you be in this industry? Now it's a long game. It has a long time. It's a long game, and you don't last two decades without doing the right thing and being the solution and being in integrity and developing those relationships. And one of the things you had said earlier about personalities, like it's really important that people understand the other person that they're speaking to as a potential client and how they like to be spoken to. And I don't mean like uh like I asked for permission to be direct with people, you know, even in like some of them, I know I would have permission. I still ask for the permission, but especially it's really important in our market in this current environment that I can be you know, direct. But really, sometimes, you know, I learned this, Jennifer, a long time ago. Um, probably gosh, I don't know, 2018 years ago, maybe that sometimes we talk ourselves right out of an opportunity because we're not giving the other side what they need. And sometimes people need to see things in paper, they need to see things in black and white, they need that validation because that's how their brain works, you know, the analytical thinker and the person that wants to get to the point. I ask people, do you want to know every step I'm gonna do? Or do you just want me to get it done? And that will tell me like what what who they are, you know, and and if if it's a if I assume that they just want me to get it done and I don't we don't tell them, then they don't think we're doing anything. Right. Then you got the busy, busy executive who's just like, you guys know what you're doing, just do it and let me know when it's done. I mean when it's sold, yeah. So yeah, that's really knowing um who your client is and you know who they are, if they are a visual person, they need data, you know, do they just want to like be heard? Um is really important in having that the connection from the beginning so that if you are up with competing, you know, agents in the marketplace, that you could be the one that wins the opportunity to work with them just based on the fact that you listened and you took the cues. You know, it's sales, quite frankly. I mean, that's selling.

Jennifer King:

Yeah, right.

Maria Quattrone:

That's all part of it. It's not where it's not a one-size-fits-all career.

Jennifer King:

Yeah, for sure. And I think you bring up a good point. Um, I met, I think it was last year, I did a transaction with an attorney, and it really kind of put an exclamation point on this whole thing. My favorite book on personality profiles is Dr. Robert Rome, R-O-H-M. I'm sure you can find him on YouTube. His book is real, it's a real easy read, but I've done a lot of um studies and really dug into that in addition to doing my own assessment and whatever, because it makes me aware that if I'm meeting someone who's a different personality profile than me, I can raise and lower, you know, my um wherever we might have conflict naturally, I can step that back and modify to meet them where they need to be met. Because that's my job, right? I want to do the best job that I can for people and be relatable to them. So I went, I had a phone call. And when you do enough reading and studying on this, it's so fascinating to me. Because again, there's not anyone who's one singular personality, but you can tell a lot by a phone call. So I've gotten pretty honed in on my initial phone call. Yes. Um, you know, I like to always have if there's a husband and a wife or or two parties in the relationship, I like to have them both on the phone. And you can pretty quickly identify who's the decision maker, who's the one that is, you know, they're generally opposite personalities from each other. So in this particular instance, I went out and met with this attorney and his wife, and they were relocating out of my market. And I had identified on the phone, number one, he told me he's an attorney. So I know he's got great detail ability, right? And he's gonna want data. And number two, she was kind of the background player, but I was hearing her clearly on what was important to her in the move and keeping it easy and how are they gonna do this, keeping him behind while she moves forward to the new home until this house sells and so forth. So it allowed me to be able to put together this whole personality study, studying and research, has allowed me to identify who those people are and what they need from me and what's gonna simplify the process. So when I went out to meet with them, he's got a legal pad with two or three pages of questions. And I knew going into it after our phone conversation, he's gonna want lots of data. So, what that allowed me to do is to send him my resume, send him a link to my testimonials, send him information on each of the designations I possess. Um, and it was so interesting to me because sometimes you send that stuff out and nobody really brings it up. But as we got to the, as we got through our consultation in their home, I said, What questions do you have for me? Let's start with that. And he said, Well, no, let's go ahead and have you start by telling us about yourself and so forth. And so we chat chatted for a few minutes, maybe 10. And then he's got his legal pad and I'm seeing him flipping the pages, right? And I said, So what other questions do you have? He said, Honestly, the majority of this has already been answered because you took the time to send this to me in advance. So as I left there that day, I thought, you know what, that's such a good um light bulb moment for me, right? Because I could have sat there for two hours going through three pages of stuff. But because I tuned into the fact that he's gonna want to know more, he's gonna want the proof of what I've sold, what my average sales price to list price is, what our average time on the market is in his immediate market. I was able to put all of that together in advance using the tool. That we have and send that out and save a ton of time that day. So my listing appointment that day was, I don't know, 30 to 45 minutes. They signed the paperwork and I was out the door because again, I had sent him all of the paperwork in advance. He had already had a chance to read everything. So their mentality was if we like you, we're listing and where do I sign? And so I think there's so much that it's easy as an agent to do business on the fly and not really be thinking through. We have to remember that houses aren't signing the contracts, it's people signing the contracts. So we've got to have that. I know I keep, I'm beating a dead horse here, but we've got to be relatable and have that relatability with people. And I can also tell you, and I'm sure you've had the same experience, when I am competing for buyers on a home, um that relationship that I have with my peers has absolutely won my clients' homes. And I've had agents say as much to say, you know, we've got five offers, never heard of two or three of these agents. A couple of them didn't even follow the instructions, they didn't submit it properly, the contracts weren't complete. I know, and my clients ask me, have you worked with these agents before? And I'm like, Jennifer's gonna get us to the table, like the commitments there, and she knows how to navigate anything that could possibly come up. So again, this isn't kudos to me. This is just a reminder to all of us. My dad was in the industry for I don't know, 45 years, I think. And one of the things he taught me early on is that clients are super important. They are the foundation of our business. However, our peers are even more important because we're gonna encounter them time after time after time after time. So even though there's a really high turnover in the industry, it is so important. Those peer relationships and going to local networking stuff and making yourself fun and professional to work with and not being a problem at every turn. I'm telling you, that is gold right there.

Maria Quattrone:

That that is gold. It definitely is, especially in an environment where you have such limited inventory, many offers, and the other side wants to know the person, the other agent is gonna get the deal done. And that they know that the work ethic. I mean, it's the same thing. It's we look at the deals, it's like, don't know this person, looked them up, they did three transactions. Right.

Jennifer King:

Right. Or their market is two hours from here. I don't know how much they know about this market. So again, we've got a lot of that because of the influx of people coming in. We've got people coming over from other markets. And while we've always had some of that, now we've got a lot of that. So if I have somebody who's coming from a market that is lower dollar than ours, I know that it may be a challenge for them to believe what the value is in our market. So it's just the education and knowing, you know, for myself, I know there's agents that do a huge radius. I'm pretty much maxed at an hour. Could I get to your market in an hour and a half? I could, but I don't know the builders, I don't know the streets, I don't know the subdivision. So am I really giving my clients the best service, or am I better off to make a connection with you, get a referral fee and say, you know what, Maria is my go-to right there. She knows the market, she knows the builders, she knows exactly what you need in today's market, specific to her. That's a huge deal. Um, so again, not downing anybody who wants to drive two hours one way to show a house, that's up to you. But for myself, I feel like I'm doing the best service to my clients when I refer them to professional in other areas.

Maria Quattrone:

I think if you're selling residential real estate and you're going two hours away to a completely different market that you don't live in, you don't have a uh a summer house there. Right. I think it's a problem. I think it's a disservice to the client and to everybody that's in that transaction because there's a lot of nuances that you just don't know about, and it could derail a whole transaction. So it's I do know some people that do draw to your market, and God bless, I'm not that person. So we I believe there's enough business in the market that we're already in that you know we can refer that business out and let it be handled by a local professional who does it day in, day out for 25 years.

Jennifer King:

Well, and it's the abundance mentality, right? So is there enough business? There's absolutely enough business. Do I have to have and will I ever have every piece of business? No. Is everybody gonna like me? No. Um, I can honestly say though, I rarely get fired. Like people do like me. And again, that comes back to, like I said, being able to be relatable on so many levels, including the personality stuff that we talked about earlier. But I mean, you're exactly right. It's you have to look at where is your time best spent. Um, I was listening to, I don't even remember who somebody was listening to this week, and they were saying, you know, are you better to have, I think how they said it, are you better better to have $20 in a $2,000 purse or $2,000 in a $20 purse? And my point being, I think it's the same with our clients. Like, I don't need $0000 clients. I want my pool smaller, loyal, and committed. You know, we did our client appreciation giveaway we do every year on Tuesday of Thanksgiving week. We order a ton of Amish homemade pies, apple and pumpkin. We have people dropping at our office for snacks. And it's so fun because I always chuckle because I think I don't know that I would drive a half an hour or an hour to see my dentist or whatever. And I'm so honored that people actually take the time out. We usually give out about 100 pies. So the amount of people that come out relative to our entire database that we've done business with is small, but it's so impactful. And it's not just about picking up a pie, but they take it home. And every year people are like, oh, thank God, like I don't have to like pick up another pie and I got to see you, and we get to have meaningful conversation because you're dealing with people through one of their most stressful times in their life and one of their biggest decisions in their life. So to be able to have those little catch-ups, I mean, we get business out of that event every single year. And that's not why we do it. We do it for the connection because our clients are more important to us than any one transaction. And, you know, I tell people that all the time. I've got this a wonderful family that I'm working with right now. And we took the pictures and they were ready to come on the market. And they called me and they said, We're so sorry. We looked at the pictures and fell back in love with our house and we're not gonna move. And I said, It's okay. Like I'm gonna sit on your photos. I'm not gonna trash them. I've already paid for them. I'm just gonna tell you what I'll tell anyone in your shoes. I am happy that you love your house. Stay there, love it, live it, enjoy it. Whenever you need me, I'm gonna be here. I could have burned that bridge, but I also shared with them, I'm just gonna say that in your position, I've had a number of clients before who've come to that same conclusion, but the things that you told me were your reason to move, such as it's an old home, it's not practical for babies, it's got steep stairs, wood floors, brick floors, historic home. Um, there were a lot of things that didn't work for you. If you decide at some point that things don't work for you, I'm here. I'm happy to chat again. And you know what? Within a couple of weeks, they called me back and they're like, yeah, this isn't working. We're we're listing, like, let's move forward and we've we've got them pending now. So again, I think my point in bringing all that up is it's so important to remember like, don't burn bridges. Don't burn bridges with your peers, don't burn bridges with your clients. You know, I had somebody get really angry with me because even though they were told up front by me repeatedly, like, listen, you're selling an estate, and in Pennsylvania, that means there's going to be an inheritance tax. They heard me. We had this in numerous discussions. We've got it in writing. It came down to settlement. We're reviewing the closing sheet, and they got totally strung out, so angry with me, because it's my fault that there's inheritance tax in Pennsylvania. Okay. And, you know, that relationship ended up, they were just really frustrated with me. And, you know, you're not going to win them all. But I hold my head high because I know I did the right thing. I educated them throughout the process. I'm sorry they misunderstood how this was going to be. Um, you know, they got frustrated that I didn't give them the exact number, which again, we discussed in numerous conversations. I don't, I don't calculate that. That's up to your estate attorney and the title company or attorney who's holding the closing. So, like, we don't know what that number is. They're telling us it'll be approximately X percentage, but you're going to have to take that up directly with them. You're not going to please everybody. So learning that sooner than later, and you know, being able to pull yourself up by the bootstraps. I think that's the biggest, one of the biggest and hardest things in this business is getting to the realization that there's no shiny magic pill, there's no um new object, there's no lead generation thing. There's nothing that's going to make you. It's being authentic and true to yourself and being honest and carrying that forward with your clients. If they know they can trust you and rely on you, um, I don't know. It's just that that trust level is huge. And again, that's where we've had to really readjust because instead of working with our people locally, that has always been the core of our business, with locals not moving at the pace that they normally do for the last five years. We've had to readjust and come up with new processes to help people who are coming into our market who don't have a built relationship with us already, and also those leaving our market to get connected well as they exit as well. So always looking at new strategies, always looking at how we can best serve people, and that's what comes around and pays off in huge dividends.

Maria Quattrone:

Yes, it does. And that's part of the industry is that you always have to be uh aware, aware, open-minded, and be willing to, you know, pivot for lack of better words. So when you need to be, because sometimes we say stuck in like the same things that we do, and then we're looking around like, hmm, you know, let's figure out let's go back, let's figure out a solution, let's figure out how we can make this better. Because you know, real estate can be a wonderful industry for a lot of people who are willing to do the work, but it's definitely by no means a part-time business. And it requires, you know, it requires like a high emotional IQ, it requires uh diligence, it requires working in a time-sensitive way, you know, especially today. I think it's really hard for somebody all on their own to really make it because of the way that consumers' behavior is today, and that's based on DoorDash and Amazon and all these other things. For sure. You know, it's not like when we started in the industry, and you have to be able to keep up and have people on your team that can take the ball and run with it, you know, while you're out there meeting with clients, uh listing presentations or negotiating an offer, and they're going, they're, you know, they've got their quarterbacking, like, you know, the marketing and getting all the paperwork and the title and mortgage and all these other things that aren't sexy at all, but are requirements in order to close in the state of Pennsylvania.

Jennifer King:

Yeah. And I think it comes down to being teachable, honestly. I think that, you know, that's kind of a slang that's easy to throw around. But honestly, I think that's one of the biggest changes that I've noticed in the industry, where when I got started, um, I wasn't afraid to ask questions. And if I'm working with you and I know you've got a long history, I would say, like, listen, like, here's the situation we're in. Like, I'm open to your suggestions. Like, let's talk about this as the professionals. What can we do to come up with a solution that is a win for everybody? And I think there's been a big shift away from that, where we've got a lot of people who are maybe big presence on social media. Um, and realistically, you look at their numbers and you go, all right, like I'd rather be flying under the radar. Not that you don't need to do all those things. You have to obviously be out there and marketing yourself. But it's just there's a big difference in I call it the Uber mentality, right? So I think when we got started, and in my early years, I got licensed in 2000, went into sales the end of 2004. Um people were very much learning, and it was about getting your next designation and like relying on your peers who had more knowledge and wisdom and having those conversations, where now I feel like there's a lot of pushback. Like, you know, get a contract that's not even completely filled out, and I'll say to the other agent, like, you know, could you maybe review like this section and this section? And, you know, we're gonna have to have that completed before I can present it. And our deadline is tomorrow. Like, I'm trying to help you along. And the amount of people that don't one call you back or like, oh, I already know, it's just astonishing to me. And I guess that's been a huge shift, right? In the last 25 years, we've got Uber, we've got Uber Eats, we've got all the things. And so where people can give up every night and weekend doing those kinds of things, or they can get the real estate license and sell one or two houses a year and they figure, figure, like, hey, that's a better deal. That's great. And again, not dissing the part-time people, there's I'm sure possibility for that. I couldn't do it because there's so much change constantly. I always want to be top of my game and and learning that. But um, you know, again, just being teachable and being being good to work with, I guess is really what it comes down to. Don't be the reason that there's tension along the way throughout the transactions. Be a good agent to work with, ask the questions, work together. I'm doing a transaction with a newer agent right now, and he's been fantastic. He's just, you know, I don't need kudos. It doesn't matter how long I've been here, it doesn't matter how short he's been here. Where he's just like, you know, honestly, like, here's where this person that I'm representing is at. Like, I don't know, like, what do we do from here? And I'm like, well, let's talk about it. Like, we could do this or this or this. And we came to a conclusion together of like, this feels like a really good solution for our clients. We went back to our clients and, you know, worked through some stuff. And I think, again, you got to keep your sense of humor. This is a business that'll run you if you let it. You know that as well as I do. I mean, 24-7, we could all work 24-7, but it's setting boundaries, making sure you're protecting your family time and you're keeping yourself well. We were talking about you, you know, we both a little under the weather right now. And, you know, um, talking to myself as much as anyone else. But it is important to keep your own cup full and keep perspective, right? So I remember back to the market crash, seven, eight, nine, when all that stuff was going down and people are losing their houses. And I'm going, all right, but they're losing their houses because they've made poor financial decisions. So again, no judgment. But I have to keep perspective. Like as bad as I feel about them losing their house, if they were writing checks on their equity line to buy the boat and the toys and whatever else while I'm over here restricting myself to living well within my means in a very crazy market back then. Um, you know, it's tough times. This is a business that ebbs and flows. And a lot of people that got in the industry in the last few years have never seen, you know, they don't know what it means to market a property for a year. I remember very clearly in my market sitting with sellers saying your time one market in your neighborhood is nine to 12 months. That is what it is. Now, in a market where it's days to weeks, there's a lot of agents and a lot of um homeowners who don't know how to navigate that. So, again, being able to keep yourself educated and understand what each market cycle brings to the table and how as a professional you have to learn and be able to educate people and guide them through that. I think it's a huge deal.

Maria Quattrone:

Critical, critical, come to critical thinking. Critical thinking, being able to see things before they're happening and saying, okay, well, how do we navigate this in front of it instead of behind it? I'm always like, you know, you have to future pace everything. Tell them what to expect so that when it happens, they've already know you build that confidence because you already told them this could happen. I even tell people the transaction may be a big hot mess. Not because not because of anything we do, but because of the other people involved. But know this, we have your back. We got this. It will get to the it will get to the table. We're gonna do our best to make sure that it's not you know yucky. Yeah, we can't control everybody, we only can control ourselves. And the one thing I would say, you know what would be would be awesome, Jennifer, in our industry if everybody was just a little bit kinder and came from a place of love and curiosity instead of judgment.

Jennifer King:

Yes, 100%.

Maria Quattrone:

And the fee the what happened in seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, whatever, those times, like, yeah, people use their houses as piggy banks, like ATM machines. That was their choice. That was their choice, and we can't lose sleep over it. Absolutely, absolutely not, absolutely not. You you get to make a choice. You know, somebody said to me, Well, everybody deserves a house. I said, No, they don't. Some people just don't, not that they don't deserve, they're not financially able to, they're they're not financially responsible, they don't pay their bills on time, they don't, you know, manage their money properly. And you know, that just leads to like a disaster. When you get a house now, you have a whole nother set of problems.

Jennifer King:

So yeah, I would say one more thing too on that note. It is so important in this business. And honestly, my brokerage is one of the only, maybe the only that I have ever heard of doing this, but they make it so easy for us. They've got an affiliation with a financial planner. So we meet with them once a year, and they actually do deductions for us out of our checks. Not like we can't do them ourselves, but it's really helpful, especially for newer agents. I think get yourself in that groove of, you know, we've got a money market account. So out of every single commission check, we have money deduct that goes into one, our savings account, and two into our retirement. Um, so again, not that we can't do that, but they deduct from every single check. And then once a month they cut that check to the financial planner and he allocates that where it needs to go and the the savings amount into our savings account directly. So, with or without that being done for you, make it a habit. One of the best decisions I ever made in this business was to put myself on salary. So just with the way I'm structured, I am incorporated. So I do have a business entity that I'm running everything under. But having that stability of um, you know, my salary is the same every single month. And in this business, it's so easy for agents to get on that cycle of spending. I just had a closing. I'm gonna go buy a car. I'm you know, whatever. Like, take that roller coaster out of it. It's so much better for your mental health if you just know like the money's there. And I think it didn't really hit me until my assistant years ago said to me the one day, she's like, Well, this is a really good day. And I was like, Oh, well, good. Like, what's going on? She's like, You have a closing. And I was like, Yeah, like that is, that's awesome. And she's like, Do you not know what closing this is? And I was like, Yeah. And she's like, This is a really big closing. And I was like, Oh, yeah, I guess so. You know, but like my mood isn't dependent on the size of the transaction I'm doing. And that's what has been such a foundation for my business, too, because it doesn't matter if someone is in a $40,000 mobile home or a $2 million mansion in my market. Like it's their home, right? So I want to treat their home with the respect and care that I would want my home treated with. And that's a whole nother segue I could get into. But agents, please be courteous. When you go in someone's home, leave a card, turn the lights off for crying out loud, lock the doors. Those are all solutions we need to have that are lacking in this business. But anyway, going back to the budgeting, budget, figure out what your expenses are, take that roller coaster out of it, keep the consistency, find your own solution for staying sane in this business because it's so easy to get in the flow of it's a great month, it's a not great month. Like if you can get yourself in the mindset, and this is what coaching did for me. I signed up for coaching the first year in business. I had made $9,300, I think. And I signed up for coaching for $7,200. I must have lost my mind. But you know what? That laid a foundation for me on understanding how to build my business and structure things that gave me peace. And that's the foundation I'm still running off of all these years later. So strategizing, knowing your expenses, being able to put yourself on consistent income, consistent work hours, knowing that when you get up every day and do those disciplines, that's why I'm not tied to the outcome. All I can do is control my actions. So every morning for me, you know, I try to start with exercise, my devotions, and coffee, lots of coffee. Um, and then I get right into my looking at my day, making sure my schedule's in order. Do I have all the documents I need for my appointments that day? And then I get right on the phone. You know, we do our team huddle every morning from 8:45 to 9, and then from 9 to 10 or 11, I'm on the phone and doing whatever needs to happen transactionally or lead follow-up kind of stuff. Um, but then from there, I'm free. So if my day goes to hell in a handbasket, I'm it's okay. I'm dressed, I'm ready to go. I can jump and run. We don't generally run our business that way, but there's times you've got to be able to, you get an agent who can't get in your listing. You've got to be able to run out and give access or get a sign dealt with or whatever. There's there's things that come up. So I think having structure and routine is is huge, and that's a big part of my daily solution and keeping myself seen as well. So I kind of went all over the board in that nutshell.

Maria Quattrone:

Well, you have to have a you have to have a schedule. I mean, I anybody doesn't treat us like a regular job. It's a job. It's a profession. It's a profession. And say, you know plan to fail, fail to plan. Fail to plan, plan to fail. Plan to time lapse. He starts for me, seven thirty. And six thirty, seven. Long days. Monday to Friday. No, Friday's a little early. Six o'clock. That's my hours. Those are my hours. That's it. Saturday, Sunday. Sundays um Saturdays mostly doing things like this. Everything's high blocked. I run it completely off of a calendar. If it's not my calendar, I don't do it. Yeah. Yeah, that's huge. When I I live in my CRM, I follow my calendar, making calls, following up. And in my case, like in like you, like it's a lot of follow-up. Um, I have a lot of people in my database, but most of my calls are people that I talked to at one point in our time. It could be five years ago, but I might be calling them tonight. But having conversations, right? There's no excuse me. How we started, there is no shiny object. It's work. Work works. Progress not perfection. And this one I think is one of the most important. Whether you think you can or think you can't, either way. You're right.

Jennifer King:

So true.

Maria Quattrone:

So true. So before we wrap it up, Jennifer. Scale from one to one to ten, how are you feeling about 2026?

Jennifer King:

Um, honestly, I'm probably at a nine or ten. I'm feeling really good about it. I've made a lot of positive changes in my personal and business life, and just really honed in on how to build my business around the life that I want to lead. Again, this can be all-consuming. So I think it's important to identify, take your calendar, map out your important personal things for yourself next year and build your business around that. It's absolutely achievable. Um, and that comes down to the daily. Honestly, I know when I got started in business, people would say, Hey, can we see this tonight at seven? Sure. And then I realized, you know what, there's not a lot of other people that are working seven days a week or 24-7. And so my conversations learned to become, what days are you off? What's the earliest you could look at a property? Well, you know what, if they get off at three, I'm not doing a 7 p.m. showing, I'm doing a 3:30 showing. So find what works for you. But going into 2026, I feel like I'm more really in tune with the life that I want to lead. I've got some good personal stuff uh in play. We have four children. We've had three weddings in three years, just added our first grandbaby, our youngest one into the army.

Maria Quattrone:

Congratulations.

Jennifer King:

Thank you. It's been a whirlwind. And so I feel like I'm finally gonna be like a little grounded here. We've got all a whole bunch of big life monumental things, all good stuff, but kind of settling a bit now. And so just really putting in some stuff to look forward to on the personal side and business-wise, really honing in on again, what's your thing? What's your thing that you love? Um, you know, I've got a couple niches that I'm really working on and stuff that I pride myself in just being great at, just that I love. And, you know, life's too short. So find your sweet spot and go for it. Like it's, you know, if you love being in your car and you want a three-hour radius around your market, then make that your thing. I would love if all of my business was in a five mile radius because I don't love spending time in my car. There's a time that I did, but um no, I'm I'm kind of maxed out at about an hour. That's where I feel like I know every neighborhood, I know every builder, I know, I know my peers, I know everything about the market, I know the best restaurants, coffee shops, all the things. And so again, coming into 2026, I'm just fine-tuning. I've got, you know, my list that's um partially in progress. I'm not quite done with that yet. I usually try and wrap up my business planning by now, but we've had some other life stuff going on. So I have a business planning retreat. It's a big thing that I do for myself every year. First week of January, I go for go away to the beach for two or three days. Um, and it's just me and a notebook and a couple other girls, honestly, from local brokerages. They are two of my competitors, and we go to go away together and do this business planning. It's really fun. We challenge each other. We'll sometimes watch a little bit of motivational stuff, but more importantly, honing in on what are the things we want to implement this year, what are the things that worked, what are the things that didn't work in the last year that we're gonna ditch, and what does our business and our personal life look like for this year? And is it on the calendar? So by first week of January, every personal thing that I have that I want to make sure I get done is on my calendar, and there's no negotiating on that. It's an appointment like anything else. So I'm I'm feeling pretty good, pretty excited about 2026. Trying to do less transactions, more volume, and yeah, it's good.

Maria Quattrone:

Awesome. It was awesome having you on the show today, Jennifer. And thank you for spending time with us and wish you happy, happy, uh Merry Christmas and happy new year.

Jennifer King:

Same to you, Maria. Wish you continued success. So appreciate you sharing. And I'm so excited to go back now and dig into some more of your podcasts that I haven't listened to. So appreciate the opportunity.

Maria Quattrone:

My pleasure.