Real Estate Disruptors

When Agents Need Backup: The Story Behind Agents Butler and How It Saves Deals

• Charles Rutenberg Realty • Season 1 • Episode 6

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Ever dream of taking a vacation without your real estate business grinding to a halt? What if you could be sipping cocktails on a cruise ship while someone handles your $1.5 million listing back home? That's exactly what David Mayhew's Agents Butler service makes possible.

The eternal challenge of work-life balance in real estate takes center stage in this revealing conversation with David Mayhew, founder of Agents Butler and broker trainer at Charles Ruttenberg Realty. A military veteran who entered real estate in 2021, Mayhew identified a critical need during the pandemic market frenzy: agents desperately needed reliable, licensed backup to maintain their business during absences.

Agents Butler functions as your licensed assistant, handling everything from basic property access ($50 per door) to MLS entries ($150) and even full transaction management through reverse referrals. The beauty lies in its simplicity – agents maintain their commission structure while gaining freedom to step away when needed. Mayhew shares powerful success stories, including agents who've maintained thriving businesses during family medical emergencies and personal crises.

The conversation explores how the service works legally (operating as an LLC that invoices agents directly), coverage areas (extending to Orlando, Sarasota, and Ocala), and the range of services available – from video walkthroughs to inspection attendance with detailed reporting. For agents seeking that elusive work-life balance or those facing unexpected life challenges, Agents Butler represents a practical solution that answers the age-old question: who watches your listings while you're away?

Ready to finally take that vacation without sacrificing your business? Reach David at 352-667-4269 and discover how Agents Butler can transform your approach to real estate and personal time.

Speaker 1:

Hey everyone, welcome back to this week's Real Estate Disruptors podcast. I am your host, Amir Habibzadeh, and I have the pleasure of sitting down with the agent's butler, the one and only David Mayhew. As you all know him, he is one of our agents here at Charles Ruttenberg. He is also one of our broker trainers. He does a lot of classes for us, but today we're here to hear about his other company Agents Butler. Well, welcome, Dave.

Speaker 2:

Hey. Well, thank you very much for having me on board today. I just wanted to let you know this is a very special opportunity for me to talk about Agents Butler and what it's all about. Agents Butler came about back in 2021 when, you remember, the market was crazy. It was a little busy then. It sure was, it sure was. But my main focus with Agent Spotler was trying to find that work-life balance for agents. Gotcha and I still have that going on today to make sure that agents are trying to achieve that work-life balance, because we all know there are a lot of couples agents that will work together, but sometimes they need vacations, so both of them will leave together. Yep, and we all know that when you leave the area, that's when your business picks up.

Speaker 1:

Absolutely. You want to sell a house, go on vacation, right?

Speaker 2:

Oh, yeah, definitely.

Speaker 1:

And then you need to have that person to kind of take over for you, and that's the service essentially that you and agents Butler provides Right.

Speaker 2:

So, if you actually think about it, uh, it's almost like if you had pets at home. They have an app you know they hook up with like I don't know what is it Rover, I think so yeah, yeah. So it's just like that. I know that everybody's properties and deals when they're gone are considered their babies, so I'm here to make sure that they're taken care of while they're away.

Speaker 1:

Very nice, very nice. So, speaking of an app, does agents Butler have an app yet?

Speaker 2:

Oh, not yet, but I would like to try to strive for that Nice.

Speaker 1:

Nice. Hey, before we get into kind of all the details, would you mind spending a minute? Tell us a little bit about David Mayhew, how long you've been in the business and you know production and all that good stuff.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, sure, thank you. Um, I was actually didn't get my license until 2021. So when agents Butler started is when I was actually a fresh like fresh licensed agent, uh, but since then, um me doing the hustle, especially in 2021, until now I've covered and had 60 transactions covered, so I've had a lot of experience. And before I got my license in 2021, I did my time in the military and actually retired out of that.

Speaker 1:

Gotcha. Well, that makes you right for the job. I mean, you have the military service behind you, so you know how to put. You know policies, procedures, what do they call it? Standard operating procedures together. Yeah, that's correct, you know. And so, when it comes to the agent's butler, what services do you offer to agents?

Speaker 2:

agents. Well, to tell you the truth, the majority or the criminal crop, sure to say is that if somebody is away and they need somebody to get into a property, I provide property access. Now, obviously I charge for that service, but what I do is I make sure that I'm there and that I attend. So, essentially, an agent is hiring me to be their licensed assistant.

Speaker 2:

So, essentially, an agent is hiring me to be their licensed assistant. So, as you know, the rules and regulations they cover about unlicensed and what they can't do for you, right? But now I'm your assistant, but I can talk about that stuff because I'm licensed.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, so when it comes to agents hiring you, and, as we all know, that agents can only be paid by their broker, so if an agent hires you, how do you charge? How do they get paid? How does it stay legal?

Speaker 2:

Okay, so it stays legal because I'm actually considered an LLC. So I will bill you, I'll send an invoice. So it's almost like if you say, hey, dave, I need you to take, uh, uh, uh, open up access to a property at one, two, three main street. I'll be there at main street at a certain given time, I will open up the door, and but I'll also send you the invoice. Gotcha, that's how it gets settled.

Speaker 1:

Okay, very cool. So it's almost like you know it's a real estate service, but you know, just like if you were to hire, or if an agent were to hire, a, a licensed assistant, and they're paying them a salary or um, or paying them hourly or whatever, they're providing these services and they're not, you know, being paid by the broker because they're, uh, doing um, miniatural acts, if you will. I mean, even though you're doing a little bit more than a miniatural act, you're still, um, you're providing a service.

Speaker 2:

Correct. I mean, if you think about it, it's almost like if you called me to do the lawn Correct, or if you install a post.

Speaker 1:

Install a post, yeah, or get pictures.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, photography.

Speaker 1:

Gotcha no easy enough. And so, other than the showings, I assume you you could stand in if somebody needed you to go and open up for a home inspection or an appraisal, or maybe a final walkthrough too.

Speaker 2:

I do all that and I also provide videos. Okay, Yep, I do video walkthroughs. I can go attend closings I have attended several inspections and then I report back to the agent who has hired me and let them know hey, give them a heads up. Whatever thing is good to go or there might be an issue. Gotcha, Gotcha.

Speaker 1:

And then are there any? Do you do any paperwork or you know writing contracts or addendums or anything. Do you get involved in that or do you kind of just pass it back to the agent?

Speaker 2:

No, actually, if you hire me to do a property access and they want to put an offer on the place, you better have your laptop, because I don't mess with the commission, got it Makes sense? Now there have been scenarios where I will work with an agent on a commission. Okay, let's just first say, if you had several properties and you say, hey, dave, I'm going to be gone for a month because I'm going on a cruise Right, can you watch over this property? I'll touch base with the agent before they leave and I'll say, hey, what capacity do you need me? And I go what if you get an offer? And if they say, hey, can you run with it? I do what is called a reverse referral.

Speaker 1:

Makes sense.

Speaker 2:

Okay so, which means I'll get the 25% and then the agent that has the listing will get the 75%. But I take care of everything. I will do the contract, I'll do the inspection, I will do all of the Rodenberg files Right and make sure everything gets to closing. And it's possible that I might be able to do the closing before you can get back from your cruise, because you're that good, yeah. And then you know what You're going to get 75%, and I just worked your whole deal for just 25.

Speaker 1:

That sounds like a sweet deal for an agent out there who wants to go on vacation and sell their home Right right Very nice. So how does the pricing work?

Speaker 2:

for you know at home access if they just needed you to open up the door or something like that, okay, so it's basically one fee and it's $50 a door, okay, and it doesn't matter if you give me one property or a day, or eight, it's going to be the same price. I think it's fair. Only because of travel time and I do cover a large area I'll go out to Ocala, orlando, sarasota, so obviously, based from Clearwater, that's a haul. Now there's other services that we cover. For instance, I can do MLS entries, because I know there's other agents out there that only do real estate part-time and will work full-time.

Speaker 2:

Well, if they don't have the time to put that stuff in the MLS, I do that for $150. I don't go live with the property. I make sure all that stuff is entered Gotcha. And then the agent will review it and then actually go live with it.

Speaker 1:

Neat. So how does that work? Just to run me through, I assume you know they kind of add you as a team or something like that, or doing um, sorry, the mls verbiage on it. They put you, they add you in there as like a, um, an authorized user of some sort for that person's account they do, and not only that, but sometimes they add me as a second agent.

Speaker 2:

Okay, gotcha, so that I asked them to do that, especially when we're on our vacation. And then when they put it in realtor remarks please contact agent number two. Right, they don't have to deal with any incoming calls or anything like that, they're calling me Nice that is.

Speaker 1:

Hey, sounds like you got a great thing going there. So if you just for clarification purposes, you know, if agents going out of town you know obviously it's their listing, they're with Charles Ruttenberg Realty, Somebody wants to see the property, you can go open it up. You don't need a buyer brokerage agreement because it's Charles Ruttenberg Realty listing. That's correct. Do you do this for other agents outside of Ruttenberg? I do. Do you do this for other agents outside of Rutenberg?

Speaker 2:

I do, and so when you do that, do you have to have a buyer brokerage agreement with that buyer to show them another listing, one I confirm, to see if the agent already has one. Okay, and if they don't, I send one through my e-signing, which is Form Simplicity. Okay, and I send it to both the agent and the buyer. So it's covered.

Speaker 1:

Because at that point.

Speaker 2:

As long as they have the buyer-broker agreement, they're the ones writing the contract.

Speaker 1:

Not me Exactly. You're just there to open the door. That's correct, very cool. I know there's probably other services like yours out there, but I think you guys have that kind of dialed in pretty well for you guys here or for our agents here at Charles Ruttenberg, because you already know Ruttenberg Files. Clearly you have a lot of knowledge behind you because you're one of our training brokers and you know you've done you know a decent amount of deals out there too.

Speaker 2:

Well, and I think that does help because I am one of the instructors here, so understanding what is legal and what's not legal is definitely, you know, something in their bag that you need to keep.

Speaker 2:

Absolutely so, if you ever have if anybody has a question, if anything is legal or not, you know, obviously you can ask an instructor, but if it comes up to a legal advice, that's when the instructor will know. Hey, I need to stay in my lane, you might need to go talk to somebody else, that's you know a lot of our standard replies around here you know, when it comes to that legal stuff, that's right.

Speaker 1:

Have the buyer, seller consult their attorney. That's right. We are not. We don't have that education. That's correct. That's correct. You got it. So with with agents, butler, is there anything in particular you want the agents to know other than what we've, you know, already discussed?

Speaker 2:

Actually, I do like the fact that you guys, if they, if any of the agents, call here, you automatically give them my number. So that number that they give out is my personal cell, so you can call or text. Now, obviously, with me being an instructor, I could be in the middle of a class, texting would be easier and if I don't get back to you right away, I definitely will.

Speaker 1:

Well, I can tell you, anytime I've had to reach out to you, for whatever reason that is, dave has always picked up the phone. So you know, don't be shy, if you want to reach out to Dave he will pick up the phone typically, you know, unless he's not, you know teaching a class or whatnot. But yeah, the agents butler service I think is a great service to have. Especially coming up summertime Agents want to go out of town. They're planning their vacations or anything along those lines. I think you hit a niche. I think you really did.

Speaker 1:

It's really a good service for agents out there.

Speaker 2:

Well, thank you very much. I mean, I think the biggest thing was is that there was an agent. They actually reached out to me on the WhatsApp. They were in the middle of a cruise.

Speaker 1:

Okay.

Speaker 2:

And said, hey, I've got somebody coming in, and it ended up being in. I believe it was in Treasure Island, the property's at $1.5 million and it was a 2% commission. Let's just say that agent came back and was able to buy his next cruise before he left for the last one, and that was all just for a $50 door opening. That's awesome. So yeah, I'm here.

Speaker 1:

No, it's great. I can't tell you how many times Dave has been able to step in for us and we get an agent that calls and hey, I'm out of town, I didn't get anybody to cover for me, I got this listing. Or a buyer wants to see something. How can we help? And I mean, I just give them David's phone number and they reach out and we typically get an email afterwards that says you know, thanks for giving me Dave. He did a phenomenal job.

Speaker 2:

I appreciate that.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, absolutely. We're happy to do it. You know it keeps everybody in compliance and we don't have to worry about any legal issues, so it's a really wonderful thing.

Speaker 2:

I know you just kind of opened doors but has there ever been a situation that you guys got into out there through Agents? Butler, that was just kind of weird. Yeah, actually, I actually have a customer. I have an agent that uses me frequently. Okay, and you know her scenario spouse has a medical condition suddenly, so now she's become a home or a caretaker, now full time, but she's surviving her business on what I do. There's been times where she hasn't even met her buyers Interesting, so I would show up as her assistant. But sometimes she'll turn around and say, hey, look, I can't do this. Is it all right if we just do a referral agreement? And you know what, I'm okay with that, as long as everybody's on the same page, we run forward. Yeah, uh, so, but as in weird um, I don't think I can say um, maybe seeing some or you know, just an interesting situation.

Speaker 2:

Well, obviously going to properties and then knowing and seeing agents that have used me before walking in with a potential buyer and they're like wait, I know that that's probably not your buyer. And it's weird because I don't really work with buyers anymore, being in the position I'm in. So I will, if I need to, you know, obviously to help out the agent, right, but mainly it all falls back onto that agent that hires me gotcha, gotcha, very nice, very nice.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I mean I. I know I've put you in a couple of situations out there where you know there's a um deal falling apart or whatnot and dave has been able to, you know, step in and be instrumental in putting that deal back together or saving it or whatnot. You know things happen in the real estate industry. You know people, they have a medical condition, you know you never know they get into the, you know get admitted to the hospital. They have no communication and their client is reaching out hey, I haven't heard from my agent, or whatnot. So you know there's all sorts of situations that happen in our business that warrant having agents butler on speed dial.

Speaker 2:

And, like I said, I am so glad that I'm able to help. I mean, yes, there's been scenarios where I don't know, an agent has forgotten to complete their CE.

Speaker 1:

Yes, I remember that one Right.

Speaker 2:

Uh-huh Right, and unfortunately not all of the scenarios are just that easy. I mean one of the ones that I've had. There was an agent that last actually lost a family member. Oh right, yeah, yeah, and they just hey, they weren't in the right state of mind, but luckily we were able to get them to close and you know, and that was just a fee yeah, I didn't mess with any commission or anything like that, so they needed the money, right.

Speaker 1:

Right, no, that's a, like I said, the the service is is phenomenal to have and you know, you know, if I was an agent out there, I would definitely have have you on speed dial. So what is that phone number that people can reach you on?

Speaker 2:

So my personal cell three, five, two, six, six, seven, four, two, six, nine.

Speaker 1:

All right, so call or text. Text is usually preferred.

Speaker 2:

Probably yes that'll be preferable, and obviously text me your name and your with CRR Gotcha, gotcha.

Speaker 1:

No, we can definitely take care of that, all right, dave. Well, we really appreciate you coming on telling us about Agents Butler. Like I've said several times during this, I think it's a phenomenal service and we're happy to have you here at Charles Ruttenberg and we're glad we have a good relationship together. So thanks for coming out. Oh, thanks for having me. Absolutely All right, everybody. We will see you next time on the Real Estate Disruptors podcast. Take care.