The Alimond Show
Welcome to The Alimond Show --join us as we share our entrepreneurial guests' stories, uncover their secrets to success, and explore the unique paths they've taken to build thriving businesses in our community.
In each episode, our host, Aliyah Dastour, sits down with a diverse group of local business owners, from the corner cafe to the boutique shop, from tech startups to family-run enterprises. We peel back the curtain to reveal the trials, triumphs, and transformational moments that have shaped their entrepreneurial journey.
Discover the passion, perseverance, and innovative thinking that fuels these businesses, as well as the challenges they've overcome along the way. Whether you're a budding entrepreneur seeking inspiration or simply a curious listener interested in the stories behind your favorite local spots, The Alimond Show has something for everyone.
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Join us every week as we celebrate the unsung heroes of our local business community and explore the vibrant tapestry of entrepreneurship in our area. Tune in to The Alimond Show and get ready to be inspired, informed, and motivated to support and nurture the businesses that make our community thrive.
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The Alimond Show
Kathy Henderson - Transforming Real Estate with Passion and Client-Centric Solutions at Power One Realty and Design Group LLC
What if you could transform your passion into a thriving business? Tune in as we sit down with Kathy Henderson, the dynamic force behind Power One Realty and Design Group LLC, who did just that. Kathy's journey from public office to real estate is nothing short of inspiring, driven by her unwavering commitment to helping clients achieve their homeownership dreams. From assisting a naturalized citizen in building credit to resolving complex squatter issues, Kathy's dedication to client satisfaction and her meticulous approach to every transaction shine through. Listen to her heartwarming stories and learn how she's rebranding her business to become the ultimate go-to for real estate solutions.
Ever wondered how home staging can affect a property's selling price? We uncover the critical role of staging in the real estate market, emphasizing its emotional impact on buyers and its ability to boost a home's value by up to 7%. Discover the secrets to enhancing curb appeal and why professional staging can make all the difference. We also delve into the importance of building long-term client relationships and the sheer joy that comes from working in a business you love. Whether you're a seasoned real estate veteran or just starting out, this segment provides invaluable insights into the power of a client-centric approach.
Why risk significant financial loss by working with real estate wholesalers? Learn from Kathy Henderson as she contrasts the roles of real estate agents and wholesalers, sharing real-life examples that highlight the pitfalls of the latter. Kathy's passion for the real estate business extends beyond transactions—it's about helping clients make informed decisions and achieve their dreams. With her upcoming expansion into Virginia and her favorite local spots like Leesburg and Tyson's, Kathy offers sage advice for aspiring homeowners. This episode demystifies the myth that renting is more affordable than owning, empowering listeners to take the first step towards homeownership.
Kathy Henderson, my business is Power One Realty and Design Group LLC. I always have to add the LLC yes, and my business is a full service brokerage. We provide handholding through the buying process, through the selling process, commercial real estate, property management and interior design and landscaping.
Speaker 2:Wow, you guys offer the whole package. How did you get into real estate? Tell me a little bit about your backstory.
Speaker 1:My backstory is that I've run for public office and when you run for a partisan position you have to take a leave of absence from the government, and I found myself a couple of times in that position, having to take a leave of absence. And I always do what I love and as I've progressed, you know that mantra in the back of my mind do what you love. Do what you love, because it's not work. And what do I do that's not work? I'm always watching this open house HGTV. Anything having to do with real estate or design, that's your true passion. It's very passionate for me. I'm always giving people just tips about the whole buying process, the selling process. I'm like why am I not doing this full time? So I became an agent eons ago, mm-hmm.
Speaker 1:So, I became an agent eons ago. That was successful. I enjoyed it. I've been in the business going on now 15 years, so in 2019, I decided I needed to take my business vision to the next logical step and being in business for myself because I want to make sure that I do things the right way. I'm very client centric. I believe that if you have a home, you should be able to attain your dream home, and if your home that you're in is not your dream home, let me find your dream home. Let me help you through that process to level up. It's such a rewarding experience and I serve clients in every price point. I recently sold a property to a naturalized citizen. He's from the Dominican Republic. He retired, but he wanted to own property. He wanted to be a good role model for his son.
Speaker 1:He wanted to leave something to his son, so his price point was a little low. He didn't even have any credit, and when you don't have credit your credit score can be lower, not that you don't pay your bills on time but no credit.
Speaker 1:People don't know that they can trust you. So I worked with him to build up his credit so that opening store cards, and he paid them off very quickly, very easily, and I held his hand throughout the process and he's now a happy homeowner and he calls me every other week inviting me over for the family cookout. And that's my business. I'm actually the family realtor. I work with clients. My sphere of influence when you start out as an agent, you know the first thing the broker tells you is well, look at who your sphere of influence is. You know, sell to the people you know, your friends, your family members, your neighbors. And that has been my business. That's been word of mouth, but I need to take it to the next level. So I need I'm rebranding Okay.
Speaker 2:How are you rebranding?
Speaker 1:I'm making sure that my, my, my company, business name is aligned with the marketing images and I want to make sure I'm including testimonials and there's just so much. I want to make sure that people see me as the go-to person. So if you have a tenant issue and you want to sell I've had squatter issues. I had an elderly couple.
Speaker 2:Those are not fun to do.
Speaker 1:I had a squatter issue An elderly couple. They were selling one of the family properties. They were getting it ready, doing the usual things, improving the curb appeal, and squatters moved in, took the lockbox key and set up house. No, that is a nightmare. Yeah, that is a nightmare. So I was able to successfully navigate through that process. Get them out and get the house sold. Good for you, yeah.
Speaker 1:And there's just anything, and my motto is I want to make sure that every transaction is flawless, and when I get you to the settlement table and up from the settlement table, a lot of people don't know it's not over. Right, that process is not over. You can be sued. Either party can be sued at some point, so I want to make sure that I keep you out of court.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's always a good goal right, and I'm very happy about the transactions that I've had and I yeah, that's always a good goal, right Absolutely and I'm very happy about the transactions that I've had and I look forward to having even more, and it's just such a rewarding experience, so I'm glad I was able to come here today. Thank you so much for having me, of course.
Speaker 2:I can see that you're clearly very passionate about it. I'm very happy. And you just don't do real estate. You have many other services that you offer your clients. Tell me about that.
Speaker 1:Oh, wow. Yes, I recently sold a condominium for one of our first responders. You know these are challenging times and our law enforcement representatives have to work just endless hours. So he wanted a place in the District of Columbia because that's where he is. He's an officer in the District of Columbia, so he already has a house in Virginia and now that I'm the family realtor he says, oh, when we're ready to sell, you're going to sell that property.
Speaker 1:I'm like, thank you. So I sold him this beautiful condominium that was in his price point. It has a huge picture window facing the woods, so it's green. And when I walked into the room the first, it had great light, so it has great light. And when I first saw it I went, wow, this is wonderful. So I asked him what his color schemes are and of course you know blue is his favorite color. I talked to his wife and we had a conversation. I feel like I know him, like he's a member of the family, and I was able to translate what I was able to learn about him throughout that entire transaction into a color scheme that is vibrant, restful, just really modern and fun, and it's him he loves it.
Speaker 2:He loves it yeah.
Speaker 1:And he wants to rent the property out at some point while he's not in it, but he just loves it and I'm happy. So my goal in the rebranding scheme is to make sure that I incorporate all that good work into a portfolio that allows new clients to say, hey, I want Kathy Henderson to handle my transaction and it's just very rewarding and I even do landscaping.
Speaker 2:I was going to say you had mentioned landscaping.
Speaker 1:Yes, I did a landscaping plan for one of my other clients. It's beautiful. I'm a gardener. I become centered when my bare feet touch the earth. Yes, so I like to walk in my.
Speaker 2:Well, that's actually a thing. It's called earth.
Speaker 1:Yes, so I like to walk in my Well, that's actually a thing it's called grounding.
Speaker 2:Yes, right that it's very important for your bare feet to touch the earth.
Speaker 1:Absolutely Right, and that is not an overstatement. It is so relaxing and I have planted such beautiful plants that smell fragrant when I step out. First of all, my garden, and I'll show you some pictures after this is over.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I would love to see them.
Speaker 1:I step down into my garden and it's it's just really fragrant. When I walk up my steps I can smell everything and it's wonderful. I watch the hummingbirds visit every June through July Sometimes I stay until mid-September and all kinds of beautiful butterflies. It's really intoxicating.
Speaker 2:It's just relaxing and zen. You talked a little bit about um, your design services as well. How important is home staging, the home staging, these days in regards to selling a home, oh it's very important.
Speaker 1:I mean, we're talking about leaving money on the table. That's why some people they they balk at hiring a professional. I can do this myself, you could do it yourself and you may get your property sold. But I guarantee if you don't have a professional holding your hand throughout the process, you're leaving money on the table, and the average is starting at 7%.
Speaker 1:Wow, 7% more of what they'll get for their property if they use home staging Absolutely, and a realtor and when you stage the home appropriately I look at. A lot of times people have home buying and home selling. It's really emotional. It's an emotional process. People don't always share with you what their attachments are, but because we are trained, we know the business, I know my clients. I asked my clients I want to know where you are in your life. Are you downsizing? Are you you know? What memories do you have for this home? Are you divorcing? What are you? What's your goal? Yes, do you have a new position? And now you're getting a bigger house.
Speaker 1:All of that comes with emotions and a lot of times people, their homes, reflect that, what they're holding onto. And if you're selling your home, you have to make sure that your home is appealing to the next buyer Right. So that means all the pictures of all the personal stuff yes, fluffy, it has to go. Your pictures and things it has to go. So the furniture has to be placed. I've moved furniture myself. It has to align with the light. You know light and air sell.
Speaker 2:That's a thing. It is On those shows you're referencing. They always say it's so light and airy in here. It's one of the first people.
Speaker 1:first thing people say yeah, and if your house has any type of typical living smells, you know the pets. We get used to our pets. If you smoke, that's a no-no. Anything you know if you're cooking we want to make sure that we remove that.
Speaker 1:We want to remove the personalization, but we want to add some glam touches to focus in on the buyer's perceptions, like wow, this home is really great and I'm getting a great bargain, and that's what we want them to. So there's a lot of research about that what colors to use, what not to use so the client doesn't have to worry about that. Let me figure that out for you with your consultation. I know what you like. You know I always interview my clients. I know what their favorite color schemes are. Now, if your favorite color scheme is black, you have a little bit of a challenge. Yeah, so we have to add pops of color in there, because we have to make the home universally appealing, right and curb appeal. I plant flowers and that's how I started with adding that level to my business. I was doing those things as a realtor.
Speaker 1:And if I went to a home and it needed some curb appeal, oh well, I went to.
Speaker 2:Home Depot. So you're doing all this yourself. You're not contracting it out. Yeah, that's huge.
Speaker 1:So now it's a part of my business. It's a part I offer an a la carte package. So some people they just want to spruce up their home. They're not sure if they want to sell yet, and I don't do hard sell, I'm very soft sell.
Speaker 1:I did retail for many years and people are happiest when you don't put pressure on them, when they do that as an organic process of where they are in life. So I want to take you on that journey. I sold a home. I sold one of my first homes and this is over 10, 12 years ago. That family invites me to the cookouts every year, so on July 15th I'm going to the next one. So they asked me to look at the market. They're ready to sell.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you know they're ready to sell and they're coming back to you, they're coming back to me, and that home is they. They've built up equity and I'm going to get them the value of that home. Yeah.
Speaker 2:How does that feel as a real estate agent?
Speaker 1:It's so wonderful Word of mouth. Most of my business is actually word of mouth.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And I work with the same people over and over again. But to truly be successful you have to broaden Broaden.
Speaker 2:So how do you do that?
Speaker 1:How do you broaden? My policies are in place. I've worked with agents that didn't understand the client-centric nature of our business as well, and I want to make sure that the agents that work for me understand that process, have the same passion that I have for real estate and for clients buying and selling. I mean, it's just it's one, it's not just the money. Yeah, the money is extra, Sure, when you're doing what you love it, it truly is. I mean it's just it doesn't feel like you're working.
Speaker 2:It doesn't feel like working.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it just does not feel like working, because what I do to relax is actually binge watch this open house.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:I feel like Sarah Gore is part of my family.
Speaker 2:You're like can we be besties? Yes, we are besties.
Speaker 1:I've watched her for years and this is just a joyful business to be in, and it's, it's just. This is just a joyful business to be in. Even with the challenges you, you're always better off working with a licensed professional, for sure, and who can guide you through the process. And I feel that I have every. I don't have to say, well, go to this person for a home stager, go to that person for some landscaping upgrades. You know we do it.
Speaker 1:You do it all and I do it myself and I love plants and I know what to plant with other plants to really for it to work.
Speaker 2:Yes, yeah, there's an art form to that, because I've tried it myself and it hasn't turned out very well, so that is definitely a special talent. Now, do you do all of this independently? Are you part of a real estate team? Independent, I'm independent.
Speaker 1:I'm an independent broker and that's one of the things I wanted to do. In order to really grow in your profession as a person, at some point you're going to have to fly alone. Well, if you're not flying, when I say fly alone, that's really sort of misleading. You need to fly, you need to lead, you need to lead the team.
Speaker 1:And I have a vision for what clients need. I have worked with clients who I love working with them and I love good customer service and I'm always, always looking for ways to provide good customer service. So I make myself available. I'm not endlessly available, but and I tell my clients if I'm, if I'm representing someone who wants to buy, I tell them everything that could go wrong, what the process is. Please take my calls. Yes, don't retire. If you go out of town, make sure that you're near a fax machine or you're able to scan and send a document, or you're able to receive my documents or my calls.
Speaker 1:We have to be in constant communication and I tell my clients most importantly, do not buy anything. I tell my clients if you can live off of takeout and even McDonald's until you get through the home buying process, do that. Don't change your lifestyle. Don't buy a TV.
Speaker 2:I've heard that Don't buy a car, don't buy anything.
Speaker 1:It changes your credit score because the underwriters, they get your documents up front. Oh, hey Donna, you look great. You know this is I can get you this mortgage. We're locked in at this rate. And then you get excited and you go out and buy that new chandelier and you furnish your home, anticipating the new home, and now that extra debt has changed your credit score, yeah. So we don't want you to be in that position. So I tell my clients everything that could go wrong, so that nothing goes wrong, so that they're prepared.
Speaker 2:So don't buy anything. What challenges are you seeing in the real estate world these days and how are you overcoming those?
Speaker 1:One of the main challenges is really getting clients to see why they can't do it themselves, because we're also licensed every licensed professional and I'm a member of the Greater Capital Area Association of Realtors and the Maryland Association of Realtors and DC Association of Realtors. We're also competing with wholesalers, people who are not real estate professionals, people who make commercials and they tell you oh, your house is dirty or you have tenants, the house is torn up, don't worry, we'll buy it. But what they're not telling you is that they're not going to get you what your house is truly worth. In order to really maximize the benefit of your real estate and to get that value, you need a real estate agent who's going to advise you, and a lot of people. Unless you're an agent, or unless you're a broker, don't sell your house yourself, please don't. You can't do it yourself.
Speaker 2:Do people really do that? I mean, is there really a market that?
Speaker 1:they do A lot of my older clients who feel, hey, I, you know the, the fixer uppers, I've done this and I can take some good pictures and list it.
Speaker 1:Well, they can't list it. No, they can't list it. You can hire an agent to list for you, but you can't list it because you don't have access to the multiple listing service Right. Only licensed agents and real estate professionals people in that sphere of real estate have access to that. So no, your house is not being marketed. You can put a sign in front of your house, but again, you leave 7% on the table or more. And I recently acquired a new client soon to be client who was entangled with a wholesaler, and the wholesaler quoted one price and I said absolutely not, I can get you much more than that.
Speaker 2:This is what's a wholesaler real estate agent.
Speaker 1:These people. They come, they're not, they're not real estate agents. They they flip properties. They will come, enter into a contract with you, get you to sign it and say, well, I can get you a buyer and they can offer you. Let's say you have a. Let's say you have a two bedroom house in the district, you know, on a quiet street. Say the market says your house is worth five to six. They'll say, ah well, you know the roof is. You have some issues here. See the carpets a little. There. I'll get you 325, 400. So someone who maybe inherited a property, the family home or the house they've been in it for many years and they're not watching the appreciation. $400,000 seems like a lot of money, yeah, until you realize that that wholesaler is then going out and assigning that contract to someone else. Assigning that contract to someone else, they'll fix it up, spruce it up, flip it, and then that same house is put back on the market for $650, $725. And you feel like I've been hoodwinked.
Speaker 2:Yes, like I could have done that with my property.
Speaker 1:So I just say avoid all that work with an agent. Work with me, the family agent, the family agent. I always have my client's interest at heart and it's it's rewarding. I'm an advocate, I'm I'm still elected as an advisory neighborhood commissioner in the district of Columbia and you are working in district of Columbia in Maryland right now.
Speaker 2:Right, what's coming soon? Virginia.
Speaker 1:Virginia is so wonderful. I have clients waiting for me.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:They have properties. I've handled other transactions for them and they're like well, I have a house in Virginia or I want to buy a house in Virginia. Just give me a couple of weeks, so I'm managing my schedule. I wanted to make sure that Alamon Studio was part of my tour, as I'm, you know, rebranding and you get to check out downtown Leesburg. Oh, it's wonderful yeah it's wonderful, we love it here. Yes, oh yes, and Tyson's is my favorite, you know hangout.
Speaker 2:Yes, yeah, great for shopping and restaurants and all sorts of stuff, so I can't wait. Yeah, as we kind of wrap up here, are there any last words of advice you'd like to leave us with, or maybe a mantra that you live your life by? Could be personal or business related.
Speaker 1:Just a home. When we think about the American dream, nothing says the American dream better than a home of your own, and whatever that is. When you're first starting out, my first home was a condo. I knew that I wanted to live in a home. I wanted to have a home for my family and I graduated. I graduated and now I want other people to do the same. So if you're starting out in a condominium, you have to get what you can afford. Let's talk to a real estate professional. In fact, talk to me. If I can get my phone number, I want to provide that. Talk to me about where you are now and where you'd like to be. Maybe you want river views with floor-to-ceiling windows, but your current salary does not allow that yet. Let me help you find your dream home.
Speaker 2:Yeah, let's identify what that is, or at least get started right, get at the ground level and invest right.
Speaker 1:Yes, there's a home for everyone, so if people can afford to pay rent, you can afford a mortgage. Yeah, so that's one of the biggest myths I hear all over and over. Well, you know, I rent, I pay rent. Well, if you're paying your rent, especially on time, you can afford a mortgage Let me show you what you can afford, and you'd be amazed that you can even get new construction that's affordable. Wow, so this is a rewarding business.
Speaker 2:Yeah Well, it sounds like you've definitely found your passion, and it's amazing to see your growth and to see where you're going to go. Kathy, oh thank you.
Speaker 1:Thank you for coming in today. Oh, my pleasure, you made my day.
Speaker 2:Thank you, oh, thank you.