Imagine transforming a 'happy accident' into a thriving career that blends family life with professional success. Our latest Good Neighbor Podcast episode features Sandra Rathe, a former CPA who did just that, navigating her way to the pinnacle of the real estate industry. Sandra's story is not just about her ascent but also about how she leads the Sandra Rathe Team with a dedication that has led to $138 million in closed deals, helping 266 families find their dream homes in sunny South Florida last year alone. Her approach to balancing work with family life resonates with anyone looking to strike that perfect harmony, making this episode a must-listen for aspiring real estate professionals and anyone interested in the art of juggling life's many roles.
With Sandra at the helm, the Sandra Rathe Team's strategy is a masterclass in efficiency, utilizing a 'divide and conquer' method by location and specialty, like 55+ communities, to offer unparalleled service to their clients. Beyond the numbers and tactics, this chat is a heartfelt journey into what it means to empower a team, foster growth, and prioritize clients' needs. Her commitment to coaching and the genuine joy of helping others shines as an example of what makes a business truly successful. Tune in for an inspiring conversation that gives a glimpse behind the curtain of a leading real estate team's operations and the woman who built it from the ground up.
Imagine transforming a 'happy accident' into a thriving career that blends family life with professional success. Our latest Good Neighbor Podcast episode features Sandra Rathe, a former CPA who did just that, navigating her way to the pinnacle of the real estate industry. Sandra's story is not just about her ascent but also about how she leads the Sandra Rathe Team with a dedication that has led to $138 million in closed deals, helping 266 families find their dream homes in sunny South Florida last year alone. Her approach to balancing work with family life resonates with anyone looking to strike that perfect harmony, making this episode a must-listen for aspiring real estate professionals and anyone interested in the art of juggling life's many roles.
With Sandra at the helm, the Sandra Rathe Team's strategy is a masterclass in efficiency, utilizing a 'divide and conquer' method by location and specialty, like 55+ communities, to offer unparalleled service to their clients. Beyond the numbers and tactics, this chat is a heartfelt journey into what it means to empower a team, foster growth, and prioritize clients' needs. Her commitment to coaching and the genuine joy of helping others shines as an example of what makes a business truly successful. Tune in for an inspiring conversation that gives a glimpse behind the curtain of a leading real estate team's operations and the woman who built it from the ground up.
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Jeremy Wolf.
Speaker 2:
Hello everyone and welcome back to another episode of the Good Neighbor Podcast. I'm your host, Jeremy Wolf. Our guest today is Sandra Raffi. Got it right, yes, yes, batting 100 early on. Sandra joins us from the Sandra Raffi team, local realtor, I believe, in Weston. Sandra, thanks for joining us today.
Speaker 3:
Well, thanks so much for having me.
Speaker 2:
It's our pleasure Thanks to our listeners, as always, for tuning in to learn more about our great community and the businesses that serve us. So, sandra, let's start off by having you talk a little bit about the Sandra Raffey team, or Raffey team. Apologies, I do. I do. I'd mess it up at least once and then we'll go from there, okay.
Speaker 3:
Yeah, sure. So I run a team of about 13 top producing agents. We service from Jupiter, broward County down to Homestead, so all three counties we do service. The majority of our business is going to be in Broward County. Last year we closed $138 million in real estate and served 266 families.
Speaker 2:
Wonderful, that's good stuff. 266 happy families here in sunny South Florida. So you have 13 people on the team. Now is I'm assuming the Sandra Raffi team is a team under a larger brokerage? Did I see it was Keller Williams? Did I get that right? Correct, yep, you got it. So you have 13 different agents under you guys. Does each agent have a specific area that they have more of a focus on, or does everybody kind of handle all these different areas? How does that typically work for your team?
Speaker 3:
Yeah, that's a great question. So yes, we definitely divide and conquer by location. So we have experts in each area, and then sometimes we also have people that maybe they specify their more strength. Their strength is in a specific demographic or a specific, you know, like a 55 and over community, things like that. So they definitely specialize in an area, whether it's geographical or some other way that we break it down.
Speaker 2:
OK, yeah, that makes sense. So talk a little bit about your journey in real estate and your backstory. Most realtors out there are, from my experience, solo operators. They're kind of just out there doing their thing, and then you come across folks like yourself that have built large, successful teams. Tell us a little bit about that journey and how you got to a place where you have a team of 13 agents underneath you.
Speaker 3:
Sure. So I got into real estate because I had three small kids. I used to be a CPA and when I started having my children I said this is just a little too much too, because I was working 12 hours a day in the office and when I had my kids I wanted to be at home with them. So I got into real estate really just kind of by accident. To be honest with you, it wasn't something that I was dreaming about for years.
Speaker 2:
A happy accident yeah.
Speaker 3:
Yeah it was. So I got into it and very quickly realized wow, this is actually really a great fit for me. So I started off in the very beginning with an assistant, which is rare in the beginning for most people. But I knew from the beginning I wanted to still be home with my kids. I still wanted to be the one taking them to school, picking them up. I didn't want to miss soccer games. I wanted to be there for the theater performances and everything.
Speaker 3:
So I started from the very beginning having people work for me or with me so that I was available to be with my kids and also to be with the clients. So at that young age of my career, I started having people work with me and I found that I really enjoyed coaching them and training them and watching them grow and flourish. And so I would say, you know, from the beginning I was working towards a team, even though I didn't necessarily know that that's what I was doing. And as I continued to grow and I added more people to the team, I just realized how much I enjoyed that part and I can help more people. This way I can help both the agents and I can help the clients, rather than if I was a single agent on my own, maybe I could service 40 clients by myself or 60. Now we can service 266 and all the agents, so I can have a bigger impact on more people by running a team.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, and it's like you said having a team, a diverse team, gives you the ability to cater to a larger demographic, because you can't be an expert at everything yourself, so you might have a client that might be better suited to serve, be served by one of your other agents. So that's that's really important. Now, I think I did notice you said you had three kids. I had a look at your website. Am I correct in saying that one of them is on your team?
Speaker 3:
One of them is on my team.
Speaker 2:
Jake, I believe right.
Speaker 3:
Spencer.
Speaker 2:
Spencer, okay.
Speaker 3:
Spencer, yeah, yep, he's still finishing up college, but he is helping the team out doing open houses and showings and all sorts of stuff. So his his goal is to join the team, but mom is a little strict that he's got a college degree first. So he's working with us but he's getting his degree at the same time.
Speaker 2:
Very cool. That must be fun working with him. Like you said, one of the most rewarding things is teaching and helping others and giving back. So when you can do that in a professional sense, especially with your child, it's a fantastic situation. So where is he in school right now?
Speaker 3:
He goes to Nova, southeastern, okay, cool.
Speaker 2:
Very, very cool. We'll get back to some of the family stuff in a little bit, so for a moment, I want you to. I always ask this to realtors Everybody, a lot of people, own a house, obviously, but everybody is affected by the real estate market, because if you don't own a house, you're renting and your rent is affected by the market. So pull out your crystal ball for a moment. What does this look like? What's the state of the market six months from now? 12 months from now? Where are we going? I know, on the heels of COVID, things got crazy in South Florida. Everything's ballooned up insane, insane amounts. Things have seemed to kind of stable out, or I don't know if that's just because I'm not paying as much attention as I was post-COVID, but where are we at now and where are we going in the future?
Speaker 3:
I wish I had that crystal ball. Everybody does, but no.
Speaker 2:
I asked that question. I'm going to go back a year from now and I've interviewed so many realtors. I'm going to analyze every response they give. We have a contest.
Speaker 3:
Exactly so. I mean we've seen it's been an incredible run. Obviously, prices went really. They really increased quite a bit, created a lot of wealth, and the prices have held strong despite the fact that interest rates went down. We have enjoyed continuous improvement in pricing. I would say now we're stabilized when it comes to a pricing standpoint. It's interesting because the consumers don't always know that and so they still have expectations of that. We are going to be continuing to go up at the same rate we were back during COVID, which we're not going to see that again, at least not for a long time.
Speaker 3:
I don't think Buyers are coming back out strong. With the interest rates having gone up, we definitely had some slowdown in the market. Now there's different price points that were affected differently. At our lower price points we've still got people that are fighting for the same property because there's a lack of inventory in that bracket. Now, as you go up higher and higher in the price points, it gets less and less competition on the buyer side and more competition on the seller side. So as you get up over the million dollar range, that's where you're seeing things sitting on the market more. They're much slower at that price point. They're much slower at that price point.
Speaker 2:
Okay, that makes a lot of sense for sure. So what do you like to do for fun when you're not working? Sandra, tell us a little more about the family you mentioned. You had three children, and now is that the youngest that's in college now, or the other two already in college or past college?
Speaker 3:
Yep, that's the youngest and the other two, one graduated from Wesleyan University in Connecticut two years ago and one is graduating from NYU this year in May. So we love to visit them two of them in New York and one here in our house and we like to travel quite a bit with them and we bought a property in Colorado during COVID so that we could get out and we enjoy that. We ski over there and hike and do all the outdoorsy things and we love boating. We actually have several boats. That's our favorite thing to do if we're not in Colorado.
Speaker 2:
Very cool. So I have a soon-to-be 12-year-old daughter and a soon-to-be 10-year-old son, so I'm curious what is it like as they go through college and then ultimately leave the nest, if you will, and go to college and then you have one left? I don't know if he's still at home right now, but he's certainly local in the area. What does it feel like to have the kids kind of spread their wings and go out into the world?
Speaker 3:
I'm right behind you there. So I'd like to know yeah, you know, on one hand, you're so happy and proud of them as they find their own way and they graduate college and find their careers, and you're so proud of them, but on the other hand, it's kind of it's very sad, you know the house is much quieter. It's it's. You know we miss them. We miss having them around, but we know that they have to go and do their thing.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, and then you go meet up for ski trips on the holidays. Sounds like a lot of fun, for sure. So what would be the one thing that you'd like to leave our listeners with that you'd like them to know about the Sandra Raffi team?
Speaker 3:
I think I'd like them to know that we are here for every aspect of their journey, even if their journey of selling doesn't actually come to fruition for five to 10 years, we're here for every step of that, whether it be helping them fight their taxes, their property taxes, because they're too high, or if they need help because their copper pipes are leaking. Whatever it is, we're here for them now and after they sell or after they buy. So we're there for them forever, and no question is too small. We're happy to answer and help with anything that they need.
Speaker 2:
How can our listeners learn more? Let us know how we could reach you. Maybe share your phone number, your website and your contact information.
Speaker 3:
Sure. So our phone number is 954-547-4601. And our website is wwwsandrarathicom and our email is sandra at sandrarathicom, and we'd love to answer any questions that they might have.
Speaker 2:
Perfect, and we will, of course, link in the description to all of your contact information. Sandra, thank you so much for joining us today. It was a pleasure having the opportunity to meet you and learn a little bit about what you do in and around our great community. So truly thanks for joining us.
Speaker 3:
Thank you so much.
Speaker 2:
It's our pleasure. Thanks to our listeners for tuning in and we will catch everyone next time. Take care, have a great day.
Speaker 1:
Thanks for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast Cooper City. To nominate your favorite local business to be featured on the show, go to GNPCooperCitycom. That's GNPCooperCitycom, or call 954-231-3170.