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REality
Welcome to the REality podcast--the best podcast for real estate agents. Join us each episode as we talk with industry experts and top producing real estate agents to peel back the curtain and reveal what it takes to make it in today's ultra competitive real estate business. This is real life, in real time, sharing real experiences of industry professionals to help both new and seasoned agents achieve their goals and realize their potential. Are you ready to take your real estate business to the next level? Let's get started now. Sign up for Gary's weekly FOCUS newsletter, delivered right to your inbox each Monday morning: https://mailchi.mp/e3771e6a2516/focus-email
REality
From Door Knocking to Closing Deals: How Lauren Fox Built a Thriving Real Estate Career
Are you ready to elevate your real estate career? In this episode, we dive deep into the wealth of knowledge shared by Lauren Fox, an accomplished real estate agent with nearly a decade of experience in the industry. With her unique transition from a marketing background into real estate, Lauren brings a fresh perspective on how to navigate this competitive field successfully.
We discuss the essential traits that set successful agents apart, such as accountability, organization, and the critical skill of follow-through. Lauren emphasizes the importance of being prepared, especially when it comes to listing presentations. She shares her personal strategies to engage clients, making them an integral part of the process while ensuring clarity and understanding every step of the way.
The conversation also touches on the critical aspect of pricing homes in today’s fluctuating market. Lauren illustrates how data-driven decisions can empower both agents and clients in achieving the best outcomes. We explore the significance of building trustworthy relationships and staying connected with clients, which can lead to a robust referral network, a crucial aspect of any thriving real estate career.
Finally, Lauren encourages listeners to be proactive in community involvement while maintaining their visibility in the market. This holistic approach greatly benefits their professional journey. Tune in to learn valuable insights from Lauren's journey and get inspired to implement these practices in your own career!
Make sure to subscribe, share, and leave a review if you find this episode helpful!
Welcome to Reality Podcast today.
Speaker 2:Thank you so much for having me. I really appreciate it. I'm super excited my first podcast.
Speaker 1:It's your first podcast, lauren Fox. I'm super excited to have her. As we go over, each and every time we have a podcast, I can see Lauren, lauren can see me. I'm going to say happy afternoon to everybody, lauren, even though we don't know when they're listening. So happy afternoon. Yeah, and it is great to have you. Thank you. I really appreciate it, so we're going to start out with some icebreakers. Let's start about how long has Lauren Fox been in the real estate business.
Speaker 2:So I have been in the real estate industry since 2014. That's when I got my license. My youngest was a year old, and I've been with Alan Tate since day one.
Speaker 1:Awesome, so I always like to find out what our guests' experiences prior to real estate. Just share with our listeners a little bit what Lauren did pre-2014.
Speaker 2:Yes, so, like a lot of people who have gotten into real estate, this was not my first career. So I had a full previous career where I did marketing and advertising first for a regional grocery chain in Birmingham, alabama, and then they transferred me up to Greenville, south Carolina. Then, when we moved to the Charlotte area, I did advertising and marketing for an automobile company where they did different promotions and stuff like that. So I would get to travel the country to go to all the different car dealerships and help them run the promotions and get sales and it was super exciting and I just loved being around people. I love the marketing side of things.
Speaker 2:But the travel got to get a little bit old as we wanted to start a family. So I started to look for other options and explore different career possibilities that would kind of fit all the different aspects of my personality wanting to meet new people, loving to look at houses, talking to people and, most importantly, just really understanding what people were looking for. Because it is so much more than just a house. It's a home and that's where memories are made and so many things go into that and I really kind of wanted to be that wealth of knowledge for my own clients. So here I am, almost 11 years later.
Speaker 1:Well, that's awesome, and for our listeners who are not viewers, I'm going to give them a little description of what I see behind you, and her wall is filled with awards, so obviously a tremendous amount of success. So I'm going to ask this question Think about your previous career, by the way, congratulations. Extensive and interesting. What parts of that experience, lauren, best prepared you for the real estate business?
Speaker 2:I would say the organization, the follow-up and the accountability. I would say those are three of the top traits that I feel like make a good agent and those I think really translated well for me when I switched over to the real estate business. And the funny thing about my wall so yes, it's behind me now. So whenever I do Zoom calls or have anything like this, I actually turn my computer and my chair around, because normally I'm sitting on the other side of the desk. So every day I look at this to motivate myself, just to kind of elevate and just kind of figure out what I'm going to do to get those same awards and not just the awards, but just get that same level of sales and just kind of hold myself accountable.
Speaker 2:That's what you need to do In real estate. You really are your own boss. So if you don't kind of put those pressures and just what you want to do on yourself, there's not really anyone else because you can do whatever you want with it, which is the great and bad thing about real estate. You definitely have to be very self-motivated. This helps me be very self-motivated.
Speaker 1:So I think I think we're at a podcast 105, 108. And so you know, so often you know guests share things that feel or sound similar to a previous guest. But I want to. I want to talk about what you just talked about and I think there's so much to think about that. I would ask our listeners the following question yeah, it's for the listener, not you. You just answered it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, what is the one or two things that you do to keep yourself both grounded, motivated and inspired? I loved your three keys to success that you brought from. I'm a. They call it chunking. Yeah, when you put things in threes or fours, and so organization, follow up and accountability. Yes, and so you know, our goal of reality is really simple. It's a real life, real time, real experiences. And what can we give to our listeners that they can turn into a better business practice? What can they do to do another transaction, improve their quality of life? What again I'm now? I'm asking the audience a lot of questions, which is not typically my MO. What are the three things to our listeners that you feel are keys to your success? So Lauren has been without hesitation when I asked her that question organization a strength, follow-up, slash follow-through and accountability. And she looks at the awards every single day that she has won over the last 11 years and in her mind she's saying I can't double negative, I can't not continue.
Speaker 2:I can't not continue, you can never take your foot off the gas. You always need to be in that driver's seat, going to the next deal, going to your next prospect, going to your next interaction, where you're going to be around people and they're going to ask you about real estate, and you need to be prepared. You need to know you. I always call them my scripts. I have a script for everything that I practice, practice, practice.
Speaker 2:As soon as the commission thing came down, I immediately started fine tuning what my script was going to be, how I was going to answer it when people asked me, so I would never be blindsided back. And one of the things that I've really taken from you, Gary no matter what, we need to be positive and we need to be moving forward. No one wants to be with a dreary you know real estate agent. They want to know what the facts are, but they want you to be optimistic, educated and informed, and that's the one thing that I always try to bring to the table, whether they're my clients or not. That's just the kind of experience that I try to bring when people talk to me and interact with me.
Speaker 1:You are just giving me a lot of three takeaways. What did you say? I can't even understand my own writing. Education and informed. What was the first one? You need to be prepared, educated and informed, prepared, educated, and I can't even understand my own writing. I try not to take notes because I ever get caught on camera, but I love your three, so let's talk about a bunch of things today.
Speaker 1:I think, that one of the things that Lauren just said again is I want everybody to listen to this carefully. I have a script for everything. And then I think you said, Lauren, I practice, Practice energy. So let's take that. I practice Let energy. So let's take that Like I practice. Let's talk about that. Anybody who's taking a public speaking course they may do it in front of a mirror, they may do it in front of a spouse, they may do it in front of a pet. Tell us how Lauren Fox practices.
Speaker 2:I do it in my car. I think of every single pushback or just any single challenge that a buyer or client or seller may come to me and I think of what my response would be.
Speaker 2:So I'm never caught off guard, constantly go through that because you're going to be asked a lot of things and you're going to be put on the spot and if you're not prepared, you're not going to be ready. People are always like you're never nervous. No, because you can't be nervous. If you're not prepared, you're not going to be ready. People are always like you're never nervous. No, because you can't be nervous if you're prepared, even for today. I mean, it's my first podcast, but I literally have an entire spreadsheet of things that I want to talk about, things that I can go to, just things that are important to me, that I can go through is. Have I used anything off that yet? No, but did I know that? I had this to the right of me when I went into it? Yes, everything that I do within my professional life is like that.
Speaker 1:I love it, I practice. So, just like I want everybody to think about this, think about the amount of time we're in our car and I practice in my car. So you know it's interesting. The question will be asked of me from time to time like, how do I prepare? You know, you know I, I do a lot of speaking and, uh, you know I'm not a big PowerPoint person, or no? Yeah, I practice working out when I'm on the elliptical, when I'm on an elliptical, I, that's my time. You do it in the car. So the magic is it doesn't matter when or where, it matters that you do. Yeah. So role play, practice, find out what's comfortable. Be prepared.
Speaker 2:The more prepared, the less nervous, right, great, I'm lucky enough that I have a teammate, sarah, and all the time we'll dialogue and we'll work off of things Like I 'll practice my scripts with her, like, okay, this is what I'm thinking about doing now, what do you think? And she'll literally pull it apart and be like, okay, well, what about if they say this? What about if they say that? That is a great way to just kind of build your confidence and really get comfortable with what you're saying and being able to practice it once you kind of have fine-tuned it off.
Speaker 1:Another licensed real estate agent who is also actively buying and selling priceless so if I'm listening and I'm saying to myself, I love what Lauren just said, but I don't have a teammate, find a office mate and make sure that you give what you get. You know, provide that same resource. I love it, I love it, I love it. Yeah, I'm going to go back to the beginning, that we're going to talk about every single thing you have prepared on your spreadsheet, because I know it is special when you first got started. And I love going back to this because our listeners will range Lauren, from thinking about it to three months, to no sales, to 100 sales. Yeah, what was the biggest surprise, biggest surprise, when you got in the business. You're like man. I wish somebody told me that.
Speaker 2:So I went into the business. So my husband has been in sales his entire career and one of his favorite expressions has always been the harder I work, the luckier I get. So I kind of went into the industry with that. So when I started back in 2014, same thing there was another girl in my office shout out to Crystal I miss you, who was also starting at the same time, and both of us kind of didn't know where to start. I mean, we had our spheres and we had our friends, but we were brand new and they knew that. So literally what we would do every single day, monday through Friday and Kim Overman, my former BIC that you were just speaking to earlier, will attest to this we literally went to neighborhoods and knocked on doors and gave our speeches. No one really ever wanted to sell, but a lot of people opened the door and it just gave us time to practice how we were going to talk to people about real estate, how we were going to interact and just really getting more comfortable with what we did. So we weren't really going into it to get any sales or anything like that, but by doing that I had to succeed, because I literally left a job was paying to put both my kids into childcare and had to immediately start making an income. So I really didn't go into it with. I can fail, I can do anything.
Speaker 2:So my first sale was actually a listing, which I know is very unusual. So I would drive by this for sale by owner house every single day on my way to take my son to and from daycare. So one day I was like this is crazy by owner house every single day on my way to take my son to and from daycare. So one day I was like this is crazy, this house should be selling. I can't believe it's just sitting here, I don't understand.
Speaker 2:So because I had all that experience kind of going to people's doors and talking about real estate and knocking, I literally went over there and knocked on the door. Obviously they did not know I was a brand new agent and I wasn't super young, so there was no reason for them to think about that. But I went through, ended up talking to the husband, got the listing presentation. They called me back and I got it and they had said after I got the listing presentation that multiple agents had knocked on their door or called them or actually no one had knocked on their door except for me, but it reached out and touched base. But they just loved my confidence and the fact that I was just going after it and that I had an entire game plan of what I was going to do to get their house sold and we did.
Speaker 1:first sale was a listing and uh, so I love that. When you got started, you had no choice. I had no choice.
Speaker 2:And the funny thing, the listing the day I graduated winner's edge and I. But then I literally didn't know what to do. So I went up to my office and again, that's the great thing about Allen Tate, you have your own office and you have bics that are always doors open. So I literally went up there and I went into my bic. At the time Kim and I was like I got a listing presentation Now. Like I got a listing presentation, now what? And she said, well, we're going to practice it. So, literally right then, and there we sat down and I gave her my entire listing presentation. She kind of like busted holes in it, gave me things to think about.
Speaker 2:So then when I went to do it, I had already done that practice and for every I mean probably by now I meant to count up how many houses, but it's gotta be probably like 500 houses that I've either been the listing agent for the buyer's agent, for every single one before I meet with a listing. I go through my entire listing presentation, every page. Even though I do it all the time I mean I just got three listings this week I still go through it every single time before I sit down with a client. Every single time before I sit down with a buyer's client, same thing. And I do do a buyer's presentation where I go through Alan Tate, I go through a little bit about myself, my knowledge of the industry and what we're going to do and how we're going to differentiate thing and what that Red Penguins service really means within Alan Tate and let them know. So that way they kind of know what I'm all about, I know what they're all about and then off to the races we go.
Speaker 1:And when you do those kinds of things.
Speaker 2:There's no objections or pushback about signing a buyer agency because you very clearly have laid out how you're going to work for them and what you're going to do and what that means and how the buyer agency is incorporated into that. So it's a very easy transition.
Speaker 1:That's awesome. I have two questions. So the buyer, the listing of a buyer which you just described, were you doing that prior to the lawsuit? And so the lawsuit to Lauren Fox was just another day in Club Med. You didn't have to change what you were doing. You were doing what most everybody else now has to do.
Speaker 2:I was doing it from day one.
Speaker 1:Awesome. Then the other question I have, and it's it's one that is so critical. I think you mentioned that over the course of your career 500 transactions, right? Yeah, so you've got a lot of past customers and clients. Uh, now what's interesting is uh, I forget what national speaker, but they said don't call them past customers and clients, the clients, the clientsients. Yeah, so you're 500 clients. What is your method, what is your process to stay in touch with them? Because, with your success, I'm highly confident that that's an integral source of your business. So walk our listeners through how, Lauren.
Speaker 2:So I have never paid for a lead. I don't pay for leads, I don't do anything. I feel like what everyone always says the people who know, like and trust you are going to be your clients. And I always say don't be discouraged if they don't maybe want to use you, because there is sometimes that level that people need to keep a separation of between friendship. But you still want to maintain those relationships, of course, because they're your friends. But those normally end up being some of your best referral networks. I had a girl who ended up becoming a client, who referred me to probably five people before she ever hired me to be her own real estate agent. And you just need to go and again, kind of going back to what my mentor always says Kim, you'd rather be their friend than their realtor, but always let them know that you're a realtor, always let them know about your success and kind of what you do and what makes you successful.
Speaker 2:So as far as follow-up goes, obviously you know, again I'm with Alan Tate, so we have the whole Moxie suite of things we can do. The one where I see that I get the most engagement from is, of course, what your home is worth. So the day that a house closed and obviously we've only been doing Moxie for probably two or three years, so that was a little bit to kind of get people added in there and do all that. But now, since I have my whole database in there, what I do now is the day we close. I set it up to go out the next quarter and then come out quarterly to show what their houses work. So that's the main thing. And the really great thing is we get the notification when they open those and those all go at various times. So once I get those notifications, that's when I send them a little text message, a phone call, write them a letter.
Speaker 2:If there's something that reminds me of them and our experience working together, I'll just get them a little gift card and send them a note and just be like hey, nothing to say except thinking about you If you need anything, you ever want to grab a cup of coffee or do anything, just so. That way I can stay top of mind. I know when I get random notes like that, they mean so much to me. I have a drawer full of them. I keep them and whenever you need a little, pick me up. It's so much fun to read. Well, here's the funny thing you get the same pick me up by sending those messages to people. So it's just kind of a give, a give or take. So, and that's my main thing, I mean I really pride myself on staying close to my clients. I really do consider them like family and friends and you know, even like family and friends and you know, even though they just started off as strangers. So I really try to make that connection.
Speaker 1:So so quarterly market there's four connects. Yeah, you follow up with each one of them. There's eight connects. So, outside of anything else, just in that, I'll call it simple, but it's not simple. In that strategy you connect with your clients eight times. Now there are other things you do and I didn't ask you this in the prep. Do you do an event? Do you do any client appreciation events?
Speaker 2:I have not done any client appreciation events yet, just because I just respect my client's time and I know that they're busy. So that's not something that I've done yet. I'm not saying I'm never going to do it in the future, but I try to do more events and sponsor more events that are going to be for people who maybe aren't clients yet. So they kind of get to see me and are exposed to just kind of my work ethic and what I bring. The other big thing is like volunteering and getting involved at your kid's school, letting people know that you're always there and if you can't physically be there, you're willing to like sponsor or write a check or help out. In that way, you know, send over the public stray when they're doing the teacher appreciation. Let them know that you're involved and you care and you're part of that community.
Speaker 1:Love that. So go back a little bit. You talked about. You've chosen intentionally not to do client appreciation. You will do events to introduce yourself to potential clients, correct? What are some of those events?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I do a lot with the Humane Society. I do a lot with different animal organizations, like and that's the thing Like and again, you need to walk your walk. You can't make yourself be someone that you're not, so you really need to get involved with organizations and community events that mean something to you. I'm in the Steel Creek area. I'm very involved in that community. I try to stay very abreast to what's going on and just be a source of knowledge. Just today I got a text from a former client. He was asking me if I had heard something about a new road coming in, and I've been following it and going to the meeting so I was able to quickly let him know. And he's like God, I Googled that for like 30 minutes I couldn't find anything. I say you would text and you tell me everything. So just staying involved in things that are important and mean something to you and letting other people know that, and then you become the resource for them.
Speaker 1:Awesome, awesome. So, social media, yes, no, love it, don't love it, do it, don't do it. Yeah, I think you have to do it. Yeah, social media.
Speaker 2:That's one of those love to hate things. So obviously, social media is a presence that I think everyone in any industry really needs to have and it needs to be across all the different you know LinkedIn, facebook, instagram, story. I mean you really need to do it across everything. That's not necessarily my favorite thing to do, so, like they always say, if it's not what you can commit to and what you want to do again, I would rather reach out to my clients every day and touch with them individually. So I actually have a social media marketer who does all my social media, so I'll send her the content that I want and then she goes through and posts it. She tracks all the analytics, she makes sure that the messaging is there and it's staying on brand. So that just kind of takes it off my shoulder, but I'm still having the presence without having to actually commit to it day in, day out. It's a very minimal expense and I can equate particular clients and sales that I've gotten specifically from social media and being active in that space. It's awesome.
Speaker 1:So I just read something this morning. It says leverage what you enjoy and what you're good at and delegate everything else.
Speaker 2:A hundred percent agree with that.
Speaker 1:So the other thing that it comes through throughout the entire conversation is you absolutely invest in your business, not just your time and your energy, you invest financially. And so do you have a formula? Do you take a percentage of every commission and say, if I get a $3,000 commission, I take X percent of every commission and put it in a marketing fund? I have a funny feeling. If you are scripted as you are and you have the playbook as you are, you have the awards as you do that, you have a business plan and a budget. Am I just yes, I was going to, was gonna say no, it's not like yeah, so no.
Speaker 2:Every year. And again in my 11th year, I still do a business plan for myself every single year. I still go through. I every time I see helen hannah shout out to helen, I tell her her post that she puts into our, like, interactive sales force are my favorite. I literally have them all printed out in a stack here that I go through and just remind myself of things we need to do all the P's, all everything. So every fourth quarter. So this would be like last, like October of 2024, I went through and I put down what my goals were, what my business plan was, and at that point is when I do all my budgeting for the entire year. Obviously I I have a little bit of a discretionary fund if I want to add something or do something or I'm presented with an opportunity that's going to be like for part of a school or an organization that I believe in. But no, I have everything planned out the year before, so that way I know exactly what I'm doing.
Speaker 1:So one of the questions I get asked is how do we come up with our guests? The questions I get asked is how do we come up with our guests? So I think it's a funny story not a funny story, but I don't always share how we have come for this event. And I went up to Lauren at an awards and I said a birdie whispered in my ear, and what I really found out is a little more detail. So what I found out is you were doing a presentation for a group of agents on listings Listings, yeah. And someone in that audience I'm not going to give her name, denise yeah, that's my good friend, mike Stavers Fun way to came to Ashley Bryant, who is our.
Speaker 1:She puts these together for us and bring some home and said that you would be great. So here's what I would say. Number one Denise is right. Oh, number two Now I'm going to go to that presentation. Tell us, you know, basically, it was your tryout, right? Yeah, tell us what you did for your tryout. Uh, what were you talking about? What were some of the bullet points? What caught denise's eye?
Speaker 2:that said podcast oh, she says so. Yeah, so I was approached by Katrina, who is my new broker in charge and is fabulous about potentially getting in front of a group of agents in my new office, allen Tate, south Charlotte, to talk about kind of what I do to get ready for a listing presentation, what that listing presentation looks like, kind of how I close it, because I am one of those agents where I do a one-step listing presentation. Is it because I am one of those agents where I do a one-step listing presentation? So I go through and I always tell you know when a potential seller calls me like this is going to be a three-part listing presentation. It talks about an hour from start to finish and you know, it could be potentially a little bit longer depending on how that first hour goes. So that way I'm very aware of their time and they can have everything correctly budgeted. So I just kind of went through that entire process.
Speaker 2:What my listing presentation looks like, what those three pieces are, which for me are the initial one, is I go through and I have them tour the home. I bring my notebook, I bring my pen and I write down everything that they say. People love to talk about their houses. People love to show you their houses and I love to listen and look. So I go through and I just kind of started with and I said I want you to tour, give me a tour of your home. You tell me things that you love, things that are special to you, things that you've upgraded and things that we think a buyer's going to love, and I go through and I kind of take notes and I write through everything. I ask questions as we go through. It's very interactive. Then we sit down and I always tell them the first part is going to be a little bit about me and Alan Tate, because I like them to know about Alan Tate. The brand obviously started in 1957 right here in good old Charlotte by Mr Alan Tate. I got to go through the whole thing. I'm very proud of Alan Tate and our local roots, the fact that our corporate office is right over there across from the South Park Mall, and I always love to mention I try to get up there as much as I can so I can hit the South Park Mall and just how we have a full marketing team, how we have a full executive team, how invested Allentate is in us. We don't just have the broke one broker in charge for the entire state. We have individuals who know the areas, who know the market, who have the answers to our questions and I think that's important to let our clients know that, yes, being a real estate agent is a very individual thing, but I have a whole team behind me and I always make sure I stress that I do my own marketing. But I can send anything to the Allentate marketing team and they'll put it on their Facebook page. We'll get additional hits off the website, so I always make sure that they know that.
Speaker 2:So after I'm done going through, alan Tate me what I'm going to do to market their home. I kind of go through. I have like one final sheet that literally says everything, single thing that I'm going to do to market their home, and then I have all the actionable steps that I'm going to do to get their house sold. Because I always say this cause I again with my social media posting, I always say it's so much more than just putting a sign in the front yard. You really need to be strategic, you really need to have a plan and it really does need to be collaborative between you and the seller.
Speaker 2:Then I always go to what I call the nuts and bolts of my presentation, which, of course, is the CMA. I am always very confident in my CMA and I always tell them when we go through and we talk about pricing your house and we do everything. It's not me giving my opinion. Everything that I do is based off the data and I really make sure that they understand that process. Being a full broker, I have access to all the same information that an appraiser does and I use that information to educate them so they know what other homes you know, what the pros and cons are, and I comp the houses against their house so we can kind of see what the pros are, what the cons are, and then by the end they're doing it themselves. They're like well, this one has that and my house does it, so they're really understanding it.
Speaker 2:And actually it was funny because when I was prepping for this and I was talking to Ashley about everything, she's like oh, you must get a lot of pushback on the pricing. I don't, because it's all data driven and we're working on it together. So when they come through and I'm like okay, so now that we've gotten through everything, where do you think the house needs to be priced based on the data that we went through. And usually it's kind of one of those funny things where they have their number and they write it down and then I kind of pull out the number that I wrote and normally it's within, like it's either right on or within a few thousand dollars of each other. So it's not because, again, we're collaboratively working and from there I just kind of don't even give a whole pause.
Speaker 2:I've got all my listing presentation or all my listing paperwork printed out and I still do do all my listing paperwork in front of someone where we hand sign it and I go through every single document, every single section of that contract that they're signing, to make sure that they understand it. I don't think that's something. And to each their own.
Speaker 2:And yes, there have been situations where I've had a repeat client and I have sent it electronically, but you better believe the first time that we ever went through that sat down together with me sitting across their kitchen table making sure they understood every single section. Again, that's another part of the preparedness. Obviously they just have changed the listing present, the listing agreement for us luckily my office they put together an entire meeting going over all those changes. I unfortunately couldn't make it because I was at a closing, but they sent me all the PowerPoint presentations on it. I went through every single one. When I had that first of the three listings that I got this week, I had gone through everything, I knew it and I could easily go through that listing presentation and explain every single section to make sure that they truly understood it. I think that's really important.
Speaker 1:So your presentation and your process is consistent. Yes, so I'm going to come back to data driven and collaborative. I like to grab these nuggets. I think the other thing you said was collaborative the it's not my opinion of the price. Like you take yourself, you kind of take the emotion and the personal side out of it. We are going to do it together and it will be data driven. Like you have set crystal clear expectations. I pulled up your bio on the website and I'm going to. I want to read this. It was, I was going to do it and I didn't know when, but you, you really led beautifully, beautifully. So I'm going to. I want to read this. It was, I was going to do it and I didn't know when, but you, you really led beautifully, beautifully. So I'm going to start in the beginning and I think there's a huge lesson, there's a huge message, there's a huge learning for every single person listening, regardless of where. I am in production and tenure, I am in production and tenure.
Speaker 1:When Lauren Fox was just 10 years old, her mom told her that she should be a journalist because of her love of asking questions. Did you all listen to what she does walking through the house, she asked. And what did she say? I write down everything. Lauren has turned that inquisitive nature into what we've already described as a career. So I'll read the next one and then we'll move on. But I just I think it's so interesting I read these bios. Obviously, lauren. I've known you. I've gotten to see your incredible accomplishments and achievements and the grace in which you do your business. The next one says you may wonder why asking questions in real estate is so important. The answer is by finding out what is important to you. Love it, love it, love it, love it. Wow, you know what gang? We're just getting started, because, while I can't see that spreadsheet next to her, she is prepared.
Speaker 1:She is educated, she is informed, she is organized, she follows up and she holds herself highly accountable. Yes, highly accountable. Yes, let's talk a little bit. I'm going to piggyback on a question you actually asked yourself that somebody said to you what about pricing? Just in today's market, it becomes what it is. What I hear is that there remain sellers who are leaning into prices that maybe weren't 60 days ago, but maybe six months, two years ago. You know, I'm always going to look at my neighbor, help us. Anything in your script. You used that word earlier today in your script, you used that word earlier today. Anything in your script. When Gary Scott wants to list at 520 and you think it should be 490, what do you do to help me get there? I know that it feels like you get there on the initial process, but not everybody is going to go with you. So any tricks of the trade.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So again, because I go through my whole listing presentation and a little bit about like the marketing and stuff. So some of the slides that I bring actually show you how important it is to list at the right price at the beginning, because you know the longer you're on the market, the more clients you're going to move, you're going to lose. So I have all that data and all those statistics in me with my slide. So if I do get pushback I just kind of go back through and I say, listen, I will work with you. And the slide that I use is the first four weeks. If you're not listed correctly, you're only going to lose potentially 1.4% of the buyers. So I just say, listen, I'll work with you and we can start there. But if we don't get the movement that I want after two weeks, then we re-meet, we go through the comps, we re-look at the data and then we settle in on a number and then we just kind of go from there.
Speaker 2:And that just again it needs to be collaborative. If they're set on that price, I'm not going to let, I'm not going to lose the listing because of that. So I'm just going to figure out a way to work with them. So then we both get what we want, which is getting the house sold for the maximum amount of money, and get them to the closing table with a smile on their face.
Speaker 1:So do I think? I think I know the answer to this. Do you set that two week time period, or like do you set that time period that we will visit the price at two weeks, three weeks?
Speaker 2:four weeks. I actually have my own little is it not like a legal addendum or anything like that? But it's just something that I give them that says we will, I will work and do everything that I can to sell the price. It is my contract kind of to myself, so they're not actually signing anything, but what I put together was like I will do everything that I can to market your house and sell your house at this price. If, after two weeks, based on the data that we've reviewed and knowing what the comps are, we can't get to the result that we want, which is obviously being under contract, we both agree to remit, reassess and reprice if needed.
Speaker 1:Awesome and I sign that.
Speaker 2:So I just show them that that's my commitment, Like I'm still going to do everything I can. I recently had a client who we had to sell the house for a certain amount of money and I knew that it was going to be a tougher sale. So what did I do? I leaned into that additional marketing advertising budget that I had and I paid to get that house staged. Sometimes you just need to do creative things that you might not normally do and this was like a mid six price house. A lot of people aren't going to spend $4,000, but I knew how important that price was and I knew there were things that I could do and I could control to help get to that price. And I'm always willing to do those things to get to that. So that's just where you need to be creative and figure out what you can do.
Speaker 2:And you know, look in and see what other people do. I mean everyone knows who knows me in real estate knows that I look at the MLS constantly. That's the way that I wake up. I go through my hot sheet. My big zip codes are 28278, 28273 and whatever zip code I'm prospecting or have a listing in, and literally that's the first thing that comes up on my MLSG every day and I go through I see what houses are active, I see what houses are under contract, I see what's gone closed and I figure out why. So that way I can use that knowledge and that data that I'm collecting to the benefit of my clients. And it's just having that level of preparedness and knowing what other people have done to get houses sold and be able to translate that to your clients that's what makes the difference.
Speaker 1:You know, you, you live by. One of my favorite sayings that I know you've heard many times is that numbers are interesting, but if you know what to do with them, they can become impactful. And you know I love the data driven. I just I think that's such an underutilized strategy in our business.
Speaker 2:It takes so much off of you when you put it onto the data. And one of my favorite things to say during a listing presentation or a buyer presentation is when you're working with a real estate agent, you want a real estate agent that's working, because you know as well as I do doing this, as long as we have. I don't even want to say it changes week to week. It literally can change day to day neighborhoods and neighborhood street to street, and if you're not out there doing it, you're not going to be able to go. I mean I, you know close stuff every single month. I mean there hasn't been a month in my career since I've been doing this where I haven't closed something. So I know what those offers look like. I know what the earnest money is. I know what the due diligence is. I know what the due diligence period is. During COVID, my clients would be against 15 other offers and we would get it why?
Speaker 2:Because I knew what people were putting on offers and I knew how to could tell the agents that were working because they knew what a multiple offer situation needed to look like to be able to get accepted. You only get that with experience and knowledge. And if you don't have that, go and talk to your broker in charge, talking about Denise she does that all the time what the average due diligence fees are, what the average earnest money deposits are that is knowledge that you could not even pay for. It's so useful in your business. Talk to other people. What are you seeing?
Speaker 2:During COVID, there was a whole collective door to Humbler, which obviously everyone knows Melissa Baker, myself, aaron Sumner We'd be going in. We're like hey, what are you all seeing now for due diligence, for this price point, what are you seeing? We would literally mind trust each other to figure out what other people were doing and seeing so our clients would get the houses that made such a difference during that crazy COVID time. And even now we're like what are you guys seeing for this? Is this normal? What you're seeing for the due diligence period? I mean, you need to know what other people are seeing and doing, and that's what I love about LMT. No-transcript.
Speaker 1:I've heard of mastermind groups, mind trust. I love it. Yeah, lauren, I'll tell you this I've learned a lot so far.
Speaker 2:So thank you.
Speaker 1:So a couple of things. You know one of the questions I like to ask, but I'm going to frame it this way. We got on our call. One of the first things you said is I got three listings this week. What you just said is I recently was I was recently involved in a transaction that had 15 offers. So let's just take a minute, just in case this happens, to get its way to the consuming public, yeah, who probably, maybe, perhaps, is paying attention to the news that really never really portrays the truth, right? So I just want us to wrap our head around real estate 2025. I just listed three houses. I just was involved in a transaction with 15 offers. Just tell us about the market. Everybody wants to know about the real estate market.
Speaker 2:Yeah, the biggest thing that I would say and that I would tell my clients or prospective seller or prospective buyer people still want to buy, people still want to move. But these are the two things that I think are critical right now your home has to be moving ready, because the way that I kind of describe it is, people can afford to get the loan. They're just not going to have a whole lot of money afterwards to do, maybe necessarily all the work they want to do. So that's where we need to really step in the one that we got 15 offers. That seller and I worked for a month to get that house moving ready and it was literally room by room. So that's another thing that I do.
Speaker 2:So I am a certified home stager. I don't do any home staging, I just have, like the accreditation through the real estate, the National Association of Realtors. But I will literally go back through them with them room by room, taking notes of everything that I think that we need to do to stage, if we're just going to stage with me, and then I go back to my computer, type it up and I send it to them with checklists and it's literally like bedroom, move, this switch. That do this. I want this kind of pillow. Literally it's that easy, I mean because, again, looking at as many houses as I do, I mean I'm going to tour nine houses tomorrow, so I'm going to get to look at a lot of inventory and I'm going to see what my buyers say and what their comments are and what their feedback is, and then again I'm going to use that data to then go through and talk to my sellers and let them know. So that would be the number one thing them know. So that would be the number one thing have your house move in ready.
Speaker 2:You know you might need to spend a little bit of money to do some repairs, to do some painting. I always say you want the carpets clean and you want it professionally clean. I cannot stress that enough. It makes such a difference.
Speaker 2:And the second thing as far as what I would tell my sellers is just, you know, work together with your realtor to understand the market and understand where we are and understand the pricing. And sometimes, you know, the list price is a marketing price and we are going to kind of do that to see if we can push the market and how far we can get, because then the pendulum kind of switches back to us, and that's what I always kind of let my clients know. There's so many different ways that you can move forward and for the one that we did with 15 offers, we did have, we did list it at a price that we would have been happy to sell it at. But with my knowledge of the market I knew that we were going to get a lot of activity and with that activity, because of my seller situation, she could get some of the concessions that she also needed. So we closed Monday and she has a seller possession through Friday at 5 pm. That's important.
Speaker 1:We can then negotiate and figure out terms because there are some things to sellers that are more important than money. Let me ask you a question On the house that had 15 offers. I'm going to make an assumption that it sold over. Ask.
Speaker 2:It will close on Monday, but, yes, substantially.
Speaker 1:We're not giving any property address or we're not violating any rules. You know, one of the messages that we have tried to be consistent is just the pricing is critical, but you just the conditioning. You shared a perspective as to the why move in. That has not been shared and so I just I'm going to recap it because I think it's significant Is interest rates a little higher than they've been? Buyers want to buy homes. I think you said that. So the difference is that they don't. They may or may not have the amount of money afterwards to do any work. So the move-in ready.
Speaker 1:I used to say that, as I saw this, I call it. This was a trend. It used to be I buy it and then I customize it. I used to say buyers were getting less creative, which is not really true, but time is money and things like that, so interesting. So I'm going to go back to a story you shared early and you were telling me a story. I think that there was some referral source of yours that gave you five referrals before they ever used. Okay, we have 500 clients. You've got a whole bunch of sphere of influence and again, if you haven't done what I'm about to ask, it's okay, but if you have, I want you to expand on it. How many? I'll ask you two questions. How many names are in your database?
Speaker 2:3,800.
Speaker 1:Do you have what I call the five star team? Do you have like a certain number of those 3,800 that are your super duper? Go to.
Speaker 2:Yes, several of them don't even live in the state anymore.
Speaker 1:How many of the 38 are in that group?
Speaker 2:my, it's like 65. They're my all-star. They're the ones who just refer me that I can always count on. If my business is a little bit lacking or lower, I'll reach out to them and just be like hey, just remind them, like if you have anyone who's looking or anyone that you work with or interested in buying or selling, you know, please pass them on and they'll always deliver when you make it like you want their help as much as you really need it, and they'll always deliver when you make it like you want their help as much as you really need it.
Speaker 2:People are always willing, I mean think about it when someone asks you like, you'll do anything you can to try to help them, especially if it's someone that you know like and trust and you want to do well. So yeah, it's a small group and they are my number ones. They get lots of stuff.
Speaker 1:The other thing we remind everybody is remember we are in the sales and referral business, so you can't create this list of 3,800 and not let them know how our business works. So a couple of huge takeaways. Let me ask a question then provide a takeaway Of the 6,500, have any not bought or sold? Yes, Okay. So I want everybody to take out a pen and a paper and I want you to write the following your all-star team does not have to be someone who did a transaction with you. And then you have shared another nugget that I've not heard in a hundred of these your all-star team does not have to live here, Right?
Speaker 2:I still send stuff to people who live in Kansas, washington DC, virginia, because they still know people here and they'll still refer me, or they'll just refer me to give someone in a different state a referral. It's all encompassing. You just need to still be top of mind and stay in touch with them. The other thing that I recently started doing, which I think is really helping too, so I do like that AdWorks advertising, but you actually advertise just to your sphere. So just my group of 3,800 sees ads from me every week.
Speaker 1:Yeah, lauren Fox has given, she has challenged the philosophy and the goals of reality, which is three takeaways you have gotten today, three takeaways every five minutes today from Lauren Fox. So again, lauren, absolutely amazing. Denise Malone, thank you for the interview. I got my note from Ashley Bryant and I'll read it to you. Just she says Lauren is going to be amazing.
Speaker 2:She's so sweet, thank you.
Speaker 1:So, but I'm not done. I'm not done, don't worry, I'm not done. So the beauty of being the host is we're going to be done when I'm ready to be done.
Speaker 2:Right, okay.
Speaker 1:I like it, so I'm not going to go too much longer. But of your total transactions, your percent breakdown historically listings versus buyers.
Speaker 2:So historically it's always been probably about 50, 50, but when I knew that the commission lawsuit was coming, I decided I really, really, really wanted to focus in on listings, because he who controls the transaction controls everything else, and that's actually one of the.
Speaker 2:You can look at everything doom and gloom, or you can look at the good things that have come out of this commission lawsuit. One of the good things is, I feel like really really good realtors are getting the listings, who understand how this real estate world works, who understands how agents need to be compensated to be able to get their sellers the best deals. And, you know, again, getting to the closing table, you know, with a smile on their face, I feel like really really good agents are in this industry. Now I feel like just in the last quarter to quarter and a half, I've worked with some of the best agents that I've worked with in my entire career as far as getting back to you, communication, working together, really all coming together for the buyer and the seller to get everyone's best interests met at that closing table. So I think that's really, really important where kind of everything has come together through that.
Speaker 1:So Lauren talked earlier about the importance of a positive attitude and always looking for the good, and I just I want you to pay close attention to her comment was boy, this is what is good that came from the lawsuit and I'm going to bet a dollar. I'm not a betting man. March 15th lawsuit hits A high, high, high percentage of people in our industry. Were uncertain and perhaps a little fearful. Were uncertain and perhaps a little fearful. I'm going to imagine that in that moment you said to yourself while you may not have known what it was, you probably said you know what. There's an opportunity.
Speaker 2:Yeah, there's an opportunity here.
Speaker 1:And I don't know when I'm going to find it, but I'm going to find it, and you had an advantage in that you were already listing the buyer Right. You had an advantage that you were already listing the buyer Right. You had an advantage that you were data driven. But you made a fundamental strategic decision on March 15th, I believe, based on what I think. I know that I need to move from 50-50 to 60-40 because I want to control the business Yep, and that was super intentional.
Speaker 2:Yeah, because I believe in this industry and I'm not going to let it get destroyed by people who don't understand it, who think we can work for free, who thinks think what we do doesn't bring value and doesn't bring true monetary results to our clients. And I'm just. I just decided then and there that I'm not gonna let that happen.
Speaker 1:Well, here's what I'm going to say. We are coming to a close. There is a timeframe to bring this to a close. However, I don't have many repeat guests. I am making a note that next year and I can assure and ensure our listeners that the conversation will be very different, because we didn't talk about open houses. We didn't talk about what it takes to represent a buyer. We didn't talk about, you know, representing them from a make an offer perspective. We didn't really talk about controlling the trade. Like we have another hour. However, we also know that your time is your money. So, my closing question, one piece of advice for every single person listening for them to improve the chances of incredible success in their business and in their I say personally and professionally in 2025.
Speaker 2:Lauren Fox, take us home. You cannot be an invisible agent. You have to let everyone you know know you do real estate, not in an aggressive way, but when you go someplace you want people being like oh, that's Lauren, she's a real estate agent.
Speaker 2:You want everyone to know, but with that, you also need to make sure you know the data, you know what's going on in the market and you have all your scripts ready to go, because, going with being not an invisible agent, you need to know what's going on in the market. I read Inman every day. I read Rise Media every day. I read allman every day. I read Rise Media every day. I read all the trade publications. I get a subscription to the Charlotte Observer so I know what's going on. I read Axis every day. I get the Charlotte Business Journal, which I have to pay for. You need to know what's going on, not just within the real estate, but within your city, within the areas that you represent, so that way you can truly be the source of knowledge. And, with that being said, you need to have a Rolodex full of people that you trust to help your clients out when they need something.
Speaker 2:I have a client that I sold a house to eight years ago who texted me the other day for a plumber to get the hot water heater. So you know the second. I sent that person to her. I texted my plumber and I said I want you to get there today. I give you a lot of business. It's important to me. She literally texted me. She had been ghosted by two plumbers. That plumber was there in 30 minutes, fixed everything. You need to be able to have that kind of leverage to help your clients in any way.
Speaker 1:That's how you get that trust. It's so interesting. There's a book out there by a gentleman named Harvey McKay called Swim with the Sharks Without being Eaten Alive, and one of his keys to success is a golden Rolodex. Make sure your Rolodex can get you home. Yeah so, number one, I want to thank everybody tuning in, because without that, without the listeners, there's no me and you. Number two, I want to say, lauren Fox, absolutely a treat for me. Thank you so much to take from this and I just want to tell you how much we appreciate it. Congratulations on a great 2024. I know 25 is going to be a special, special year for you and your business, and I just want to tell you how much we appreciate you making and taking time out of a crazy schedule to be with us. Have a great rest of your day and I look forward to seeing you again Super, super soon.
Speaker 2:Thanks, I'll see. You See y'all. Thanks, bye.
