RealTea Chicago

Change Your Locks and Your Toilet Seats

• Jamie Book • Episode 4

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Hosts Jamie and Terrence interview Chicago and Western suburb expert agent Ayushi Kukreja. Jamie and Ayushi worked together for several years at Berkshire Hathaway before each going their own directions, Jamie to Compass and Ayushi to @properties. 

Ayushi’s 2 truths and a lie - She walked into the wrong unit and cleaned up a strangers house for an open house while they weren't home. She sat through a 6-hour long meditation session between a divorcing couple to sell their home. She walked into a backyard LITTERED with over 100 dog poops all over the yard at the final walk through on closing day!

Other stories/ topics / questions:

Chicago Fun Fact – What food was invented in Chicago in 1893

Have you ever had a smelly client?

Krav Maga

Changing locks and toilet seats

Ayushi’s family perfume business – Connect with Asta @ur_perfumegirl

Jamie’s bad experience taking photos for a listing

What is the biggest difference between real estate in the suburbs and the city?

Did you ever have a seller remove something from a listing they were not supposed to before closing?

Jamie talks about issues with closing on her personal condo

Terrence tells a story about a buyer with credit card problems

As a lender, how do you get paid?

Jamie tells a story about getting hit by a garbage truck

 

For the next episode Jamie reveals her two truths and a lie – She has walked in on a live stream of the building’s lobby in someone’s unit. She has taken a potential client to their dentist appt, She has had to break into a listing through an open window.

 Find Ayushi Kukreja on Instagram @AyushiKukreja_Realtor

Stay tuned for our upcoming giveaway! Be sure to follow our Instagram @RealTeaChicago to be the first to know about it!

Thank you so much for listening! Please don't forget to like, subscribe, and share this episode with anyone you know that will enjoy it.

Music by @Desert_Disco_Music
Art by Chelsea Leasure

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@JustBookJamie
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MIC1:

By the way, Ayushi, this is a rated R podcast. You can

MIC2:

Yeah. Oh, wow. You don't She doesn't cuss that

MIC3:

not going to be beeped out.

MIC1:

going to be beeped out. No. No. Jamie Book's

MIC2:

It was not the first word, but

MIC3:

word, but. But

MIC2:

It wasn't far off.

MIC3:

esque

MIC1:

This isn't very JV

MIC3:

it's okay. It's only fair that her podcast is true to her real self. so

MIC2:

I want you both to guess what food was invented in Chicago in 1893.

MIC1:

crust pizza.

MIC2:

No.

MIC3:

a hot dog.

MIC2:

I'm wrong. I don't

MIC3:

I don't know. I feel like hot dogs have been around forever.

MIC1:

You Say 1893? 1893. Oh, I was thinking 1892, I'm sorry. Uh, yeah, that's different. Deep dish pizza.

MIC3:

time ago. Deep dish pizza could not have been from 1893.

MIC1:

No idea.

MIC2:

It's a dessert. It's

MIC3:

Oh, it's a dessert.

MIC1:

Twinkies? Ooh.

MIC2:

Twinkies are too processed to be 1893.

MIC3:

that's a good point cannoli.

MIC1:

I'm pretty

MIC2:

Ooh, um,

MIC3:

would have come from Italy, I'm just saying.

MIC2:

not Chicago.

MIC1:

not Chicago. Should I just tell you? What are those things that you eat, um, on Fat Tuesday?

MIC2:

Should I just tell you Yes. Are you ready? The brownie.

MIC3:

What?

MIC2:

Yes.

MIC1:

invented the brownie here.

MIC2:

Yeah by who? Bertha Palmer.

MIC3:

I love Bertha.

MIC1:

Good

MIC2:

Bertha

MIC3:

Mhmm.

MIC2:

My

MIC3:

a good brownie.

MIC2:

Um, so she was the wife of a millionaire hotelier, Potter Palmer.

MIC1:

Wait like the Palmer house hotel

MIC2:

Yes.

MIC3:

Wow!

MIC2:

So, Chicago's Palmer House is where it was made So it says, she cooked up fudgy squares for the first time at Chicago's Palmer House just in time for their debut in 1893

MIC3:

that sounds amazing. Her name was Bertha.

MIC1:

I

MIC3:

I think I have a new appreciation for the

MIC2:

name

MIC3:

Bertha.

MIC2:

right?

MIC1:

Did that.

MIC3:

at that. We live here and don't even, oh my god, Terrence. Jamie's about to like spit her wine out from that.

MIC2:

cannot spill this

MIC1:

It's alliteration for you.

MIC3:

so

MIC2:

Before we, um, get started and you talk a little bit and give us some tea, we just have a quick question for

MIC1:

you.

MIC3:

Okay. I'm nervous already. Hahaha.

MIC2:

Yes, so we're taking a poll Would you rather be invisible or fly? For

MIC3:

Forget being invisible. I would fly. Think about how much you could travel and see the world. For free. For free, I agree.

MIC2:

has a hack on that. I

MIC1:

if I Well, okay, think about this. If you're flying, let's say last, you know, couple of weeks ago

MIC3:

when it was, less

MIC1:

than zero degrees outside. Sure. Are you gonna go fly somewhere? Well, who

MIC3:

Well, who says I have to fly in

MIC1:

negative weather?

MIC3:

weather? Why can't I just wait another week? What does being invisible

MIC1:

to do with Because if I'm invisible, I can,

MIC3:

for free, Sure.

MIC1:

travel to Greece.

MIC3:

But your, is your luggage invisible? That's what I asked. Is it really?

MIC1:

How are you going to carry your luggage?

MIC3:

Um, I will figure that out. I will get muscles. It's okay.

MIC2:

I will work out my flying muscles. It'll be fine.

MIC3:

Getting your luggage around. I'll

MIC1:

figure it. out. JB will help me roll around.

MIC3:

man, he's small talking with us today. Does he, does he really want to be

MIC1:

No. I'm gonna flip the switch. Hold on.

MIC3:

the switch on. That's a

MIC1:

I, can't stop sometimes.

MIC3:

Yeah, sometimes I, have to cut him off a lot. It's It's a good mix. You guys balance each other out. You need

MIC1:

you. We're like, yin and yang. I don't know which one I am though. You're the black one. Nice.

MIC3:

Oh my gosh.

MIC1:

Ladies and gentlemen, I Am the black one. In Let's go.

MIC3:

And Jamie's white. Just to clarify.

MIC2:

Oh my god. Okay, you have Everyone's

MIC3:

everyone's attention. My two

MIC1:

My two truths and

MIC3:

lie.

MIC1:

In

MIC3:

no particular

MIC1:

because we're going to guess.

MIC3:

here are my two truths and a lie in no order. And actually, Jamie, I'm going to hide my phone from you so you can't see. Um, I have walked into the wrong unit stranger's house for an open house while they weren't home. My second one, I sat through a six hour long mediation session between a divorcing couple just so I could sell their home. That's rough. That's commitment. Yeah. And the third, I have walked into a backyard littered with over a hundred dog poops all over the yard at the final walkthrough date on closing.

MIC1:

All right.

MIC3:

Aaron. My guess for the lie is that you cleaned the wrong unit for everyone

MIC1:

Is that you clean

MIC3:

let

MIC1:

for an open I

MIC2:

think, I mean the other

MIC3:

two are

MIC2:

quite plausible.

MIC1:

Okay. weird ways, I think.

MIC3:

think Um, I think the is the mediation. Jamie's correct! Thankfully I did not sit through a six hour mediation between a divorce. and couple. How did you think of that? I thought about other crappy stories I've heard from agents and I just used one of them, to be honest.

MIC1:

it's like things that do happen. True that.

MIC3:

two purchases out of it. True that. True that. Um, no, that was not my, that was not a truth. That was definitely the lie. Yeah. But the other two did happen, you know, so I did, uh, I think I'm going to go into the one with the poop in the backyard because I think honestly, the funniest thing is people that I did not even know I found out followed me on Instagram. Because when they become my clients a year, two, three, four years after this story took place, they bring it up to me during showings or during a final walkthrough and they're like, Oh, I saw this happen to one of your clients. And I was like, You followed me on Instagram from That, long ago and remember this? this was honestly a difficult transaction to begin with. My poor clients were the buyers. So this was in the suburbs. The couple was divorcing. The wife was occupying the space and it sounds like the realtor was constantly in contact with the husband and the wife was cuckoo or

MIC1:

so we thought.

MIC3:

long story short, final walkthrough day comes around. Some other things had come up during this transaction. We get there and we step into the backyard.

MIC1:

yard.

MIC3:

After the house was like, I kid you not, a complete shitshow. So dirty. So much stuff left behind in the garage. So My clients were like, okay, we can live with them coming back during the closing time to pick up all these things from the garage. Just as long or we'll leave him on the driveway. They can come pick it up we walked out into the backyard and I

MIC1:

felt

MIC3:

Well a mix of emotions one. I was pissed for my clients I think as agents we get so invested and like want the best for our clients. I was fuming

MIC2:

But also like if you were buying that house and

MIC3:

embarrassed I was I felt so bad because these guys really had run through it with this These two sellers and yeah, so we essentially told the agent, Hey, we're not closing today. So the deal did not close

MIC1:

that day

MIC3:

Because of the dog poo. and the number of items they left in the house. I think we were there for like 25 minutes for our final walkthrough. We walked out and said that, you know, you need to get this cleaned up. We'll give you two additional business days to get it taken care of. And the agent on the cell side was like, Oh my God, I'm so sorry. I'll get this taken care of. Can you tell me and send me pictures of whatever's left in the house? And lo and behold, they took care of it. The crazy wife came in while we were leaving the house at the final walkthrough. And she seemed very upset and was trying to do the best that she could

MIC2:

to get everything out of the garage. But.

MIC3:

Yeah, we didn't close

MIC1:

that day.

MIC3:

And you didn't

MIC1:

And you

MIC2:

pick

MIC3:

dog poop? I did not pick up the dog poop. First of all, I'm sorry. I love dogs. I'm a dog mom. I own two dogs myself. Love them to

MIC2:

But,

MIC1:

dogs

MIC3:

cleaning somebody else's hundred

MIC1:

but I'm not cleaning somebody else's hundred

MIC3:

I would hire

MIC1:

I have a question. Do you know if they did it themselves? Did they hire

MIC3:

service? The, the seller's agent hired a

MIC1:

a

MIC3:

service. there there a dog Yes. Oh my god, tons of them. In the burbs, there's so many of

MIC1:

many of them. I'm not gonna lie. I'm not judging you because I just found this out They will go in your backyard, like landscapers, and scoop the poop.

MIC2:

Are you checking emails right now?

MIC3:

I'm trying to find the email that had, I just, I don't know how I lost the one where I just sent you my true truth and lie.

MIC2:

I love

MIC3:

learning about

MIC2:

weird jobs that you would never think about.

MIC1:

Mean you think about anything that you'd be willing to pay for somebody will do it.

MIC3:

it. And there's probably a profession for it There's companies that pick up junk for free. For free? There are, yeah, and the burbs. You just post your stuff for free?

MIC1:

what if I have like a whole unit full of stuff? No, you gotta get it out. But also, if you post things, I've done this. Craigslist. Free couch.

MIC3:

dresser. Yeah, and that just takes effort.

MIC1:

have to coordinate.

MIC3:

have to put in the effort. Yeah, I've done that I mean, that's

MIC1:

do

MIC2:

I get it, yeah. That's why You need to learn Krav Maga. There you go.

MIC1:

You don't need to wear

MIC3:

Did you

MIC2:

Okay, the Krav Um, I actually don't have bruises. I am really sore, so my team and I did a Krav Maga class yesterday as like a self defense. And, we learned

MIC3:

to

MIC1:

to kick some ass and

MIC2:

some orbital sockets with our elbows, if we ever needed to. Um. What are some

MIC3:

orbital sockets? It's like around

MIC2:

eyes, like break

MIC3:

their nose, Holy!

MIC2:

this. So his example to us was like, you're real estate agents. What's a situation you might

MIC1:

need this. Um, you're in

MIC2:

elevator going to the

MIC1:

80th

MIC2:

floor of a building.

MIC3:

How long

MIC1:

are you

MIC2:

that elevator

MIC3:

for? Mm hmm.

MIC2:

60 seconds, maybe a minute. So, like, how can you disarm a person quickly a small confined space? So we learned a kick,

MIC3:

a heel palm, like into

MIC2:

nose and then elbow and then a knee. That combo, was that the combo that I saw? That was the combo. It was kick them in the balls, um,

MIC3:

palm their nose,

MIC1:

break

MIC2:

orbital socket with

MIC3:

your elbow, and

MIC1:

then knee

MIC3:

them in the gut. Oh, and then you

MIC2:

And then run the fuck away. Oh, I also learned how to get out of a choke hold. Like if someone's choking you. Which was Honestly, that should be

MIC3:

Honestly, that should be Realtor CE instead of the CE courses we have to take.

MIC1:

the winter when it gets dark

MIC3:

that app?

MIC1:

wait for your client to get there and then go in with them. Forewarning. Like, it's on your phone, your phone's in your pocket, your hand's on the

MIC3:

and like,

MIC1:

if something happens,

MIC3:

you can

MIC2:

Well, you can do that on an iPhone. If you push, If

MIC3:

push, Isn't it triple or five times? Yeah, when you if you continually

MIC2:

push your lock

MIC1:

button,

MIC3:

button, it will sound

MIC1:

an alarm and call the police. Oh, really? Yeah. Does Team Android have that?

MIC3:

have

MIC2:

Sorry,

MIC3:

Sorry, I'm not Team Android. Well, I'm sure ours is better in some kind of way. Let me figure it out and this is

MIC2:

issue with that is it does sound an alarm. So it's obvious

MIC3:

that you're calling for help. But it's also good because I think the alarm

MIC1:

Emergency SOS. So ladies, go Team this is why ours is better. It's um, it's

MIC3:

three times, not five. Three times is not that many times. iPhone wants you to die.

MIC1:

Android wants you to live. Three is not that many. It's not,

MIC3:

exactly and it's a life, the difference between life and death.

MIC2:

Speaking

MIC3:

of which,

MIC2:

Ayushi did, Clean someone else's unit, so

MIC3:

Oh, yes. I did. Oh my gosh, this one's so embarrassing. Good. Do you, do you, you know this one? Okay. So this was when I was on our team. Even now I feel so stupid. So I had offered to host an open house for another agent in our office. Like the true hustler I was. Okay, not my listing. I was like, let me go sit in an open house, get more clients, get more leads. I went and sat at the open house. I got there like 20 minutes early, set up my signs, and I'm at the lockbox, got the keys. I'm going upstairs, and now this was a six unit building, fairly newer construction. So, you know, there's like a unit on each side on the three floors. I knew it was a second floor unit. Okay, but it was labeled like the normal 2S or 2E. My

MIC2:

dumbass was

MIC3:

newer, for whatever reason, didn't think East or South or whatever, North and South, East or West.

MIC2:

wasn't labeled.

MIC3:

And it was not labeled, okay? And I tried the key in what should have been the correct unit. And there were no instructions of like, go upstairs when you get up the stairs, it's a unit on the left. Nothing like that. So I thought, okay, we as agents do this fairly often, especially when there's like a bunch of units labeled E, F, G, H, I, J, K in a building, you just like, you know, do your best and hope to God that you don't disturb anybody inside going at the wrong door sometimes.

MIC2:

Try, you open a door and someone answers and you're like, I'm so sorry, wrong

MIC3:

Yeah, so I tried it on the first door, didn't work, and I mean, I gave it a good wiggle. For whatever reason, the thing didn't budge, so I went to the other unit, and I was like, this can't be the one, but whatever, let me try. The key fit perfectly fine, the key turned, the door

MIC2:

unlocked.

MIC3:

So I presumed I was in the right unit. I get

MIC2:

there and I'm

MIC3:

like, whoa, this place is a pigsty. And I mean like, someone's laundry is thrown across the couch with the laundry basket there that they probably were like obviously clearly trying to fold

MIC2:

at some point.

MIC3:

Their trash and like beer bottles are sitting out on the

MIC2:

island.

MIC3:

And I'm in a panic people are going to start coming in like the next five to seven minutes. I need to get this place fricking clean. Cause I'm like, I can't have people walk in here. I'm representing the listing at least today, it's going to look bad on me. I didn't want To be embarrassed. I was like, I have to clean this up. I was hosting it for like another bigger agent. So I start tidying everything up. And as I'm like tidying it up, then something occurs to me like something about this just doesn't sit right. This has to be off. Let me call the agent. I called the agent. She didn't answer. I called her assistant. She didn't answer. I texted both of them saying urgent, please answer. One of them called

MIC2:

back and said, what's

MIC3:

up? I said, um, your client left like an insane mess. Like the kitchen sink is filled with dishes that are disgusting. There's beer bottles out on the island, like laundry across the couch. And I was like, I can only clean up so quickly. Like what do I do? And the assistant's like, I'm pretty sure our client left the furniture, but I don't think they have any of their belongings

MIC2:

the unit

MIC3:

anymore. I went, like all the blood from my face left my face realizing that I had to be in the wrong unit in someone's house. Which has never happened before. So, I quickly rush out, and she goes, Try the key again, and if anything, it is fidgety. You know, you have to do it a specific way. She's like, it was a copy. For whatever reason, it was a really weird

MIC2:

lock.

MIC3:

So, I'm Trying to get the, trying to get that door open. Finally got that door open and I walk in and it's neat and tidy, the exact unit I was looking for. I was so embarrassed and I was like, wait, so that means that person's door

MIC2:

was just unlocked. no, no, no, it doesn't. So this is for anyone who buys new construction, change your fucking locks because developers, they don't want 18 sets of keys, So they will make the same lock for every unit. So one key will open every unit or they have a master key.

MIC3:

That opens

MIC2:

unit and that ends up in one of the owner's hands just because they don't know what they're not keeping track

MIC3:

wasn't a complete idiot, okay. this is not your fault.

MIC2:

i've Heard of things like this happening

MIC3:

before so change your locks. It gets better. That's a good thing for anyone. Yeah. Yes, always. Change your locks. Change your locks. Yeah. change your locks and change your toilet seat. I tell my clients change your locks because you don't want somebody's aunt to, like, have a random key to your house.

MIC1:

That makes sense, but also, I want to hear the rest of your story, but

MIC3:

I mean, you just bleach the damn thing.

MIC2:

I mean, I, I, don't know. mine was new. That's like a personal thing. I

MIC3:

It is, but I just, like bleach it, I've never thought to change

MIC2:

seats. There's, you know what, there's little things. They're 40 boxes. think about. Yeah, like, let's see.

MIC3:

Yeah, 40 bucks, that actually makes

MIC2:

a lot of sense. Okay, keep going, please, I'm sorry.

MIC3:

Um, yeah, not the full story. So I got into

MIC2:

the correct

MIC3:

one. Had some people come through, great. At some point, when someone was opening the door to enter, I saw the guy coming into his unit in the unit I had just been in and he was out walking his dog So he just came home with his cute little Frenchie. Uh, Mr. Stranger Dude, if you hear this, I'm so sorry again The guy walks in and I immediately was like, um, I told the client I'll be with you in just a moment Feel free to walk around and I'll give you the deets and I step out to speak to this gentleman before he walks into his Unit and finds things that have been moved around

MIC1:

Good.

MIC3:

hey Here's my business card is how I started and I said, Yeah. no, no, I mean, like, I didn't want

MIC1:

claim your unit?

MIC3:

no, I didn't want him to think that I was like some random weirdo with, and not a real estate. Like I just genuinely want him to know I was coming from a good place and I felt bad. I said, Hey, I'm so sorry, but I tried the key on this unit for so long. It's not my listing. And accidentally I went into your unit, like for whatever reason, the key worked and he goes. Oh, sometimes when I walk my Dog, I leave the door unlocked. Like nobody really comes and goes. So it's fine. And I was like, okay, but that's not it. I was like, I, I, because I thought I was hosting an open house. It was like, I kind of tidied up a bit. And I was like, I moved some things around. So your laundry's all in the basket behind the couch in the corner. And then, I was like, there were some empty beer bottles, I hope you don't mind, I threw

MIC1:

them in

MIC3:

trash. And then, there was a bunch of like, paperwork on the, on the side table, so I like, put it all in one pile. And I just, it's, it's, uh, everything's there, it's just in one pile. And at that point, I felt really, something was off, so I called the listing agent and told her, and she, that I knew I was in the wrong unit, so I didn't touch anything else. So I said, here's my card, if you can't find anything, just call me. Or text me, whatever, like, you should be able to find everything. And the guy was, the guy literally laughed, he thought it was so funny, and he said, You will not believe this, but he said, You are not the first person to enter my unit for that listing. He said this happened once before. Buddy, change your locks! Yeah! It's not a fucking door! It's Chicago! And he said it was when he was out walking his dog, and he came back, and

MIC1:

people were confused, and they were in the wrong unit. Wow. He

MIC3:

to tell the listing agent, of course. but so she'd know. So he was not mad at all. He was like, Hey, no big deal. It's happened

MIC1:

before. I mean, at least he was nice about it. Yeah, I I mean, I would've just said, thank you. I'm

MIC3:

I mean, I didn't really do that much, but

MIC1:

yeah.

MIC3:

So I felt so stupid. I literally called my at the time, boyfriend. Now my husband, and I was like, can you, thanks. I was like, I feel so dumb. This is what happened. He was like, he thought it was hilarious, of course. And anybody else that hears this story thinks it's hilarious. I

MIC1:

you know. Get new locks. And change your toilet seat,

MIC3:

apparently.

MIC1:

But, yeah, change your locks.

MIC3:

Like you said, you never

MIC1:

know who has a key, who's

MIC3:

random, you know, baby daddy drama has a key, It's true, or contractors, or, I mean, you do not know who has a key to that house.

MIC1:

Now

MIC3:

question. Uh huh. business related. Okay. did that guy

MIC1:

did that guy

MIC3:

to you No. Send you a referral? No. Nothing. Never heard from him again. I was grateful I never heard from him again. I was so embarrassed to this day.

MIC1:

That would have been the start of a great relationship. Like, you know, I know. Okay. Two years

MIC3:

ago, you

MIC1:

came in and you cleaned my house. Now I'd like to

MIC3:

sell it. I mean, that would be wonderful, but I would still be very embarrassed.

MIC1:

quite

MIC3:

great. I'll take

MIC1:

business. Send'em, you know what you should do with one day just send'em a random, like If I could

MIC3:

the address, I'd have to go look up the agent's past

MIC1:

sales to like, find the the building. You know what, I would try

MIC3:

I'm gonna do it.

MIC1:

Send, I mean, you know what I'm

MIC3:

gonna do it. I'm gonna write the letter. This is the year, yes. I'm gonna write the letter. I'm gonna write the letter and I'm gonna say, Listen to Jamie Book and Terrence's Real Tea Podcast, to understand why this letter

MIC1:

is being

MIC3:

to you.

MIC1:

what if he was nice about it.

MIC3:

know what, if he was nice about

MIC2:

Have you ever had a smelly

MIC1:

client?

MIC3:

had a smelly client? No. But I can, I can say this, and it's still be

MIC2:

this.

MIC3:

my Indians.

MIC1:

only because I love my Indians,

MIC3:

I am Indian so I get to say this, k? I do have a lot of Indian clients. And one of them did particularly smell like what we call Tarka, which is like

MIC2:

mix of onion

MIC3:

and tomato, which is the base of all Indian food. With all the masalas, you know, and all the spices. One of them did smell like that. I will say that. Which isn't necessarily a bad smell, it's a very It's an smell. Correct, yes. But I feel like that can stay very anonymous. I've got a lot of Indian clients. I love you

MIC2:

all.

MIC3:

Yeah, I am one. I'm allowed to say it. I'm sure I've smelled like it someday in my life when I was a kid. But yeah, I think if you're around people socially, I think you should smell good in front of clients. But, I grew up in like fragrance sales. My family's like the second or third largest wholesaler of brand name fragrances in Chicago. Yes, what do you need? I've told you this before. Never. Yes, I have. We just, yes, I have. This was probably like, uh, maybe four or five months ago. We had a random call. And talked about

MIC1:

Yeah, everyone must suck terribly.

MIC3:

Terrence.

MIC1:

now I have

MIC3:

I need a catalog. Oh my god. Okay, now I have questions for you. What's your go to fragrance? So I

MIC1:

Okay.

MIC3:

It's called,

MIC1:

oh God, what is it called?

MIC3:

Jeez, What

MIC1:

is the name of? It's

MIC3:

in a black bottle. Okay, describe what else it looks like. How tall,

MIC1:

is it round, it's it's

MIC3:

she knows based on the description, Okay, it's

MIC1:

it's a, it's a

MIC3:

black bottle. It's tall Mm hmm.

MIC1:

narrow

MIC3:

Mm hmm. Does it get a little bit skinnier and then back to its regular width, like a cylinder? Is it Armani code? I

MIC1:

That's a superpower. That is impressive.

MIC3:

that's like a super common one. So I

MIC1:

I would consider that impressive,

MIC3:

but okay. Wow. Oh my gosh. Okay. No, but I got you. Anytime you need fragrances. And if not me, my sister, like I'm out of the family business, but she's got that thing on lockdown. You need anything, she's got you covered. She'll take care of You Sure. Her, um, Instagram. is your perfume girl. It's spelled you are and then I think it's an underscore perfume girl. I'll double check just to be sure, but that girl fragrances. Oh my gosh. If you think I'm good, she's like on another level. Yep. It's so fragrances. You can reach out to Asta, my sister on Instagram. It's you are underscore perfume

MIC1:

girl. You're Perfume Girl? You're. You're Perfume Girl. Good deal. Yeah. I'm excited. Yeah.

MIC3:

If you don't have a significant other in your life, she will make sure you get one pretty quickly. Let me just say. Sidebar, do we get to know your worst experiences in real estate? Oh yeah. I've shared a couple. You have? I'd like to hear like your worst story or one of the worst,

MIC2:

one maybe that you haven't

MIC1:

haven't given in a previous episode.

MIC2:

Okay, let me think.

MIC3:

The bells are like rooting for you at this

MIC2:

I

MIC1:

Are they? A

MIC3:

that's fine.

MIC2:

of distracting. Are they? A little bit,

MIC1:

Oh. just make it soothing.

MIC3:

I mean, not when they were going off like that. That was like alarming almost in a sense.

MIC1:

maybe

MIC3:

Maybe you have some really crappy stories. If you can

MIC1:

that you

MIC2:

I do have one.

MIC3:

Oh, go ahead, Jamie. Let's hear your worst story or one of the

MIC2:

Well, this, it's probably not the worst, but what you said earlier about cleaning someone else's unit made me think of this. So this was when I was pretty new in the business. so I was still an assistant and like showing agent and was just kind of like I was shown how to do things, right? You go to photos, you clean up, you make sure it looks good. So, I was going to a townhouse, and

MIC3:

I was

MIC2:

like you said, I was a hustler, I'm like, I'm gonna do a good job, I need to make an impression, make sure it's good, and it's noticed,

MIC3:

and we don't have to

MIC2:

these pictures, and blah blah. blah. So I go, and these people have I don't remember, one or two kids, which isn't a big deal, but We send out a list of like things

MIC3:

to do for your photos,

MIC2:

right? That's gonna make your place look the best. So, you know, put your toys away, take everything off your counters, etc, etc. They had done none of

MIC3:

it.

MIC2:

So, I walk in and luckily we had also a new team member at the time,

MIC3:

so she

MIC2:

with me training and I was like, Okay, we just put all of this away. Hide it. There was baby bottles all over the counter. Like, there was stuff. everywhere, which is not a big deal. Like, okay, I'm used to moving things. We're, like, taking, giant kids, kitchenettes and moving it down

MIC3:

the stairs to hide

MIC2:

it. And, like, we are sweating our asses off and she's like, Jamie, is this normal? And I was

MIC3:

was like, not

MIC2:

really. Like, this was excessive, you know? And the worst part about it was the owner was home. Sitting on the couch, she had a friend over.

MIC3:

And they were

MIC2:

sitting there, talking, chatting, watching us rearrange, move things around, hide things, did not offer to help, a single time. And it was just, like, you feel awkward, because they're like, yeah, move whatever you need, do whatever you want. It's like, okay, that's fine. But

MIC3:

this wasn't just like,

MIC2:

a toothbrush, move a

MIC3:

sponge. And like, get the trash out of the

MIC2:

yeah,

MIC3:

this was

MIC2:

like, I was

MIC3:

moving

MIC2:

furniture we were oh my God. cleaning up their house.

MIC3:

and she

MIC1:

and she was she's the

MIC3:

owner. She was the owner And she wanted

MIC1:

to sell this place. Mm-Hmm. Okay.

MIC2:

And she just had a

MIC3:

a friend

MIC1:

over, and they were having their

MIC3:

time. A lot of clients are just clueless as to, like, sometimes what it feels like to be a buyer because they hadn't been a buyer in so long that when they go to sell, they forget what they would have felt like

MIC2:

and imagined

MIC3:

and felt when

MIC2:

walked into a home that's occupied that's dirty or,

MIC3:

like, you know, or they see photos online

MIC2:

aren't the

MIC3:

and they

MIC2:

away from the property. People don't think about that. Yeah, and I go back to this all the time. Like, it's

MIC3:

not her

MIC2:

fault. I don't blame her. I don't think she was doing it maliciously. the same point you see someone there. We've scheduled this. We've, you know, we've given you a list. like we're not

MIC3:

I feel like it

MIC2:

would feel really

MIC3:

belittling to do

MIC2:

a little belittling while they were there having

MIC3:

a good time on the couch. You know,

MIC2:

like, that is part of her job and I'm happy to do it. I do not mind moving people's things to make pictures look good because that's what sells a

MIC3:

house. Correct. So I'm doing my job

MIC2:

and I have no problem with that. But yeah, it was very

MIC3:

to just

MIC1:

her on the couch there not offer to help, It was just weird. Made me feel weird.

MIC3:

Made me feel weird. I would've feel,

MIC1:

felt, I would have felt weird. Did you get the place sold?

MIC2:

Yeah, we did sell it in one

MIC1:

one weekend with multiple offers. See, baby.

MIC3:

baby. Best in the, who cares.

MIC1:

Property is sold. Sold it,

MIC2:

and I'd like to thank the photos that I took, That

MIC1:

got. Nice. All that furniture that

MIC2:

I moved.

MIC3:

I mean, I agree with that. It's clearly from the photos. Photos sell houses. They do. People don't realize that. I mean, like we've taken, Jamie knows this, like when we worked together, we had taken on like expired listings or canceled listings or like listings that sat, we didn't change price.

MIC1:

We would catch

MIC3:

to like things that other agents just did wrong in terms of marketing the property. And it blows my mind. This happens in both

MIC1:

the city and

MIC3:

suburbs. The number of agents that post iPhone photos instead of professional photos, or even worse, at least, you know, at least there's agents that take iPhone photos and then they like put them in the proper order, correct? The worst is when you go through photos. And it's like, first it's, you know, the toilet or the bathroom. Then it's all of a sudden you're in a kitchen. Then all of a sudden you don't know what room you're in. anymore. And then you're in the basement. Or even worse, the first 12 photos are of the kitchen.

MIC2:

you're like, excuse

MIC3:

me. Where's the rest of the house? What if the first

MIC2:

photos are of the exterior.

MIC3:

Oh

MIC1:

yeah,

MIC2:

Drone shots, every single

MIC3:

angle. Nope. Or, you know what my other pet

MIC1:

peeve is,

MIC3:

Is full amenity things.

MIC1:

and they put all the amenities Really? that. bothers you?

MIC3:

Yeah, think about it this way. When you have clients that are touring condo units or condo buildings

MIC1:

in the city,

MIC3:

Do not show them the amenities first. Take them to the unit, save your time, save the client time. Find out if they even like the unit enough to want to see the rest of the building. Same way with photos online. Like, It's the first place they go to look at a house or a condo. And if they're just seeing amenity photos, a lot of people don't care. Sometimes they mistake that, like, one party room as the living room. Yes, and that's,

MIC2:

mean, for buyers, too. I'm, I'm, interested, I wonder if there's a way we can make a poll of, like, do you care? Is this just me as an agent who gets annoyed clicking through all of this stuff

MIC1:

to get there? Or is it also, like,

MIC2:

anyone who's just looking at real estate

MIC1:

in general?

MIC3:

I think it's an actual statistic is that there's like a certain percentage of buyers that if they do not like the property within the first three to four photos. They completely, forego the listing and move on to the next one. So if you're just posting amenity photos and it doesn't have the house or the condo, or they thought that one ugly, outdated party room from, like, 2002 when the building was built was their living room, you think

MIC2:

they're going to continue looking at it? Aww. Yeah.

MIC3:

So PSA, do your photos correctly. Find a professional photographer. If you're new in the biz, ask another agent.

MIC1:

They'll give you their photographer. Or if you're selling a house and your agent wants to take iPhone

MIC3:

to take iphone photos, fire that agent. Fire that agent, And they shouldn't be charging you for those photos either. That agent should be paying for those professional, professional photos. Yes.

MIC2:

100 percent.

MIC3:

I

MIC1:

should have a question. Yeah. What's the biggest difference between selling real estate in the city versus the suburbs?

MIC3:

Um, I started doing business in the suburbs when I would say in like just before pandemics like 2019, some of my clients gradually naturally were moving from the city to the suburbs. And at the time, gosh, how old was I five years ago? Oh, I was 24. I was 24, 25, somewhere around there.

MIC2:

And my clients

MIC3:

were now finally my sphere. I grew up in the suburbs. So, the reason why I started this is because my agent, or my agent in residence was moving or like ready to buy a house. They're like people started to think about it. So, naturally I started to do some business in the suburbs in 2019. I noticed very quickly there are huge differences. Okay. So, There are key differences to working in both markets, and they're kind of mind blowing differences. So, for example, if I have a client in the city, I tell my clients I need 24 hours notice for showings. The reason being not just my schedule, but a lot of property owners would like the 24 hours notice, some even 48 hours, right? Whereas in the suburbs, you can get a showing 000 square feet, within two hours. Same day showings are a very

MIC1:

real thing in the suburbs. I personally would have was the opposite.

MIC3:

No. Same day showings in the suburbs are very real. You would think that they would need more time. They've got more square footage. They've got more house to clean and tidy

MIC1:

up before

MIC3:

comes in. Same day showings are a

MIC1:

a very real thing in

MIC3:

suburbs. Like within two hours notice, it's insane. Um, another key difference is if a listing agent, the one who's got the listing, a seller's agent shows up to a showing that a buyer's agent has scheduled and requested. It is like the weirdest thing in the world. They will look at you like you're crazy or you don't belong, or maybe you're like some other buyer's agent that accidentally scheduled the same time.

MIC1:

just non existent. You're like, no,

MIC2:

like, no, I'm here to

MIC1:

show you the house.

MIC3:

Yeah, whereas in the city, a listing agent or a seller's agent will show up to the property to educate the incoming buyer and the incoming buyer's agent too sometimes about the location, where the closest grocery store is, about the building, you know, about the specific unit, the upgrades that have been made, the HOA, the reserves, the rental restrictions, all this stuff. Suburbs, you got

MIC2:

go digging for all this.

MIC3:

And I love

MIC1:

working the burbs

MIC3:

because I think I just, some agents in the burbs are

MIC2:

are just so lazy Oh my god.

MIC3:

So that's the difference between working the burbs and the city, is like, there's a lot of different practices, I would say, and I would say this, is that city agents, I think, are just curated and taught a little bit more early on, because a lot of them have joined, like, top producing teams and whatnot, or, like, had a mentor, whereas in the suburbs, I feel like it's more often to find somebody hiring, like, their aunt, or, like, someone who's got a license, you know, who's

MIC2:

trying to wing it and figure it out.

MIC1:

in the first, it's like a two hour event. Are you spending more time with buyers in the city versus buyers in the suburbs?

MIC3:

I think it kind of equals out only because if, to your point, there's more inventory in the city just generally because there's more units. We can see

MIC1:

can see them faster. Okay. So you

MIC3:

So no. I don't think there's a difference in the buyer. I think at the end of the day, I mean, I spend the time that my clients need, whether it's three properties and I've had clients look at the first and go under contract and that scares the shit out of me, um, versus some people just need like a solid three, four months and keep looking and that's fine too. At the end of the day, I think it's the buyer's

MIC1:

mindset is all the same.

MIC3:

I tell a lot of my clients before you get a preapproval, if you want showings, go to open houses, do your market research. You could do that without me. I'll give you my business cards, take 20 of them, go look at open houses before we even start looking. For the buyers that are eager, that really want to get in and just like, you know, are type

MIC1:

A and like to

MIC3:

prepared, But I think. Both markets are fun to work in. I don't think I have a favorite I have A

MIC1:

question.

MIC3:

Okay.

MIC1:

Is there anything a seller has

MIC3:

ever done

MIC1:

that

MIC3:

you didn't know about that kind of ruined a showing or that they

MIC1:

weren't supposed to do

MIC3:

that just kind of messed you up? I would

MIC1:

say the

MIC3:

common thing, and I, I really hope that the listeners out there Here this and like it registers, okay? Most common thing is there is something called attached shelving. That's a checkmark that is marked off on the 7. 0 real estate sale contract. It's literally attached shelving and it's checkmark. It could be something as

MIC1:

simple as

MIC3:

shelves. It could be like your cabinets. It could be like these little planters. Correct, to our viewers. These cute little planters attached to the wall. I had a seller Um, this was not my cellar, by the way, I represented the buyer. I had a cellar when we walked in, it had removed every single little hook. I'm talking like hooks for keys, hooks for coats, hooks for every little thing you could imagine. A floating shelf, multiple floating shelves,

MIC2:

which made the place so

MIC3:

cute. Um, these little planter holders, I've had that happen too. And the funniest one was I think she manifested it, and this is why I believe in manifestation. She told me You manifested the self critique? Yes. So this client came from, uh, Minneapolis. She was moving. And she said, oh, she asked me what I thought was the strangest question ever. Like, do the light bulbs come with the house? Like, when I come, there's gonna be light bulbs, right? And I was like That's such a weird question. I obviously the light bulbs stay like it's not really written into a contract Let's let's be honest, but I've never at that point. This was last year in seven years had anybody take a light bulb.

MIC2:

bulb. Well, it's one where it's like, that's how you make sure the electricity's

MIC3:

Right exactly so final walkthrough we came in during the daytime and Almost every single light bulb in that house was missing.

MIC1:

the attached shelves that made the place look super cute. You know, when I'm doing my homebuyer meetings with all the buyers and I'm kind of walking through what happens and I'm like, yeah, you know, okay, Well, have you cleared to close? You'll have your closing schedule. You have your final figures, your check, your CD, everything within you're gonna have a final walkthrough, you know. It's your last opportunity to walk through the property, make sure the seller didn't,

MIC3:

know, stealing anything, you know, doorknobs, light switches. they don't walk away with these things. I joke about it, but clearly it's a thing. I mean, I didn't think it was until it happened, and the thing that blew my mind was it happened to the one client who asked about light bulbs. And I don't know if the seller thought it was a funny

MIC2:

a funny joke that

MIC3:

her ask me. I don't think she even asked me in the property, that's the thing. I think she genuinely asked me like over the phone at some point. was

MIC2:

a, tumultuous, tum, tum, tum, tumultuous tumultuous

MIC3:

transaction? Like, was there It was like a, no, no, no, not at all. Not, and it was like a 400, 000, like, nicer

MIC2:

townhome in Palatine. Huh?

MIC3:

Why? I have no clue. Why would somebody take light bulbs? What was the resolution? Well, nothing. I, I literally called the seller's agent and I said, Hey, what, like, are we being pranked? Like, I don't get it. Did your, did your client do this and you knew about it? And she was like, what? And she's actually an agent in my office if she hears this, I hope she does. Um, and she's like, what? And I said, no, I'm, I'm not even shitting you. Like, I, I took pictures and I sent them to her. She was like, oh my god, go to the closing and I'll, I'll buy some bulbs and I'll get them over there. Cause she lives super close by. She went out and got my client some bulbs. But I was like, this is just like, what? What about the shelves? We never got the shelves.

MIC2:

didn't get a credit or anything?

MIC3:

Uh, we did get a credit for shelves. Yeah, Yeah, But, I mean, like, their floating shelves are super cute. How much of a credit can you ask for for shelves? Some of those floating shelves aren't fucking expensive. Right. Does this happen to a

MIC1:

So,

MIC3:

didn't really care about them as much, to be honest. It was more me that was being petty about the shelves. And I was like, it's about the principal, you know? Cause I fight for my clients, as all my clients know, and to that point, one of my city clients just closed this past year, they bought a single family home, and same thing, the seller had removed these restoration hardware, big bookcase shelves. But they were like open shelves in the sense that they were hooked and nailed into the wall on four different spots, but they weren't like super thick, I don't know how to describe, they were like decorative, kind of in a sense. But beautiful, big, black shelves from, Restoration Hardware. I obviously have been through the shelf game before, during a transaction, learned the shelf game. And I took pictures of every goddamn, and this was like a 1. 6 million dollar li Property took a picture of every piece of attached shelving because this seller had great taste. She was like a designer So I told my clients I said anything that you like we need to take a picture of and make sure it stays So we did that lo and behold they decided and agreed to leave one of them there but yeah, I mean these things can be

MIC1:

super

MIC3:

and As a seller you have to know like you have to read every little line of that contract if you agree to leave something there You had to leave it there. Those cellars, oh my god, they even tried to get away with taking my client's wine fridge, which was in like this big walk in pantry, same house, 1. 6 million listing,

MIC1:

there was a

MIC3:

fridge. It was like a bigger beverage fridge of like maybe eight shelves, but it was still a small thing, right? Sat in the pantry. My clients didn't think anything of it. And I remember at the final walk, they were like, wait a minute, I loved a fridge that was here. Where'd it go? And I wrote in wine fridge into the contract.

MIC2:

Appliances

MIC1:

stay. Nice. You gotta write it in.

MIC3:

Yeah. so correct. And I went back to the contract or real quick before I even brought it up to my client's attention. Cause I don't want to cause any trouble. And we wrote it in. And I

MIC1:

said, guys,

MIC3:

is missing. Uh, we're going to ask for it. And my clients are like, are you sure? Like, it's not the end of the world, and I was like, they've already tried to, uh, nick us left and right. I was like, no, we're getting it. And the wife, I will give her, she's not the type to like, negotiate. I've got the Indian blood in me, okay? I

MIC1:

love a good bargain.

MIC3:

So I was like, don't worry. And the husband was Indian, and I said, uh, I'm Indian enough for all three of us. So, we're gonna, we're gonna get our credit. Like, this is a big, this is a fairly decent expense, we're gonna get it for you. I called the seller's agent. I said, this is missing. And I went back. She said, I don't think there was one there. I went back to my video I had taken of the property and I had it in my video. I literally zoomed in, got the model, the model, like the brand name.

MIC1:

Sir, per my last

MIC3:

so they tried to, she sent me a link and said, okay, this is the, this is the one that it was. It was like brand new, 900 bucks, whatever. She said, we'll credit you 900. And I said, no, I don't, that's not the one. She was giving me like the six shelves instead of like the nine shelf one. The clients originally had, I said, no, no, this is the exact one you had. And I sent a link. It was like, it was like 1300 bucks. Okay. They got that credit.

MIC1:

Did they get the credit for the shelving too?

MIC3:

Yeah, we got the credit for the shelf. Well, the restoration hardware shelves, uh, they agreed to, like, leave behind. So those stayed. Thank God.

MIC2:

I thought they

MIC3:

negotiated to stay. But the two floating shelves went missing. That were also restoration Hardware. But I was like, you are not getting away with a 1300 fridge. You give that right back to my clients.

MIC2:

That, I've had like a shelf issue at a closing or

MIC3:

at a final walkthrough before too. And It's It's such a

MIC2:

like such a small thing, but it is a thing that

MIC3:

like, makes a space

MIC1:

space in a

MIC3:

way

MIC2:

of like a shelving. And they are like, nice ones are

MIC3:

four hundred dollars each or more. Dude, it could be fifty dollar ones for

MIC2:

all I care, but if it

MIC3:

if it makes, like, ugly holes in the wall that my client didn't expect to be there and all of a sudden it's gone, all I expect is you give them brand new ones, or do me better. You don't want to pay for it, Mr. Seller, that's totally fine. You took them to your

MIC2:

new house, bring them

MIC3:

back.

MIC2:

Yeah, that's what happened in my situation. They brought them back. We asked for credit and they brought them back. Yeah.

MIC3:

I'm not, like, I don't need new ones. What we saw is all we want. It's okay. But you're not gonna nickel and dime my client.

MIC2:

not gonna get away with it. Well, and also part of it is like

MIC3:

I

MIC1:

I don't

MIC2:

always blame the

MIC3:

seller, You know, either, right? They

MIC2:

looked at the contract. They should

MIC3:

should have looked at what they were signing. Yes, But their agent should have also educated them.

MIC2:

at the yes, at the end of the

MIC3:

day,

MIC1:

that is

MIC2:

what matters. When I bought my condo,

MIC1:

we walked into the final

MIC2:

walked into the final walkthrough and there was four holes in the wall, like massive holes like this

MIC1:

big in the living room

MIC3:

that had been behind mirrors. That's like a coffee coaster size for people that are

MIC2:

Oh, thank you.

MIC1:

our, for our, listening audience

MIC2:

Yeah,

MIC3:

like four inch holes Okay. And they

MIC2:

all been behind like we went back and looked at pictures and it was behind photos or like mirrors and they were for sconces so they had wiring and

MIC3:

The agent's like, well,

MIC1:

they

MIC2:

there when my clients bought it And I was like, Well, that's not the point The point is, we didn't know about it until now. He's like, well, they're, they're for sconces, so they can't close them up.

MIC3:

can't close them up. So, what are you gonna, what

MIC2:

you gonna do then? Like, there's just holes in the fucking wall. That's not okay. Um, long story short, the fridge was also not working. So we

MIC3:

decided to fight the fridge

MIC2:

battle instead of the hole in the wall battle. Okay. Yeah.

MIC1:

Did you get a new fridge?

MIC2:

No, we put money in escrow if we needed to buy a new fridge, but we got the fridge to work. So really we got nothing. Yeah, they didn't want to.

MIC1:

Well, screw them.

MIC2:

But I blame the agent. I don't think it was the seller's fault. I think this agent was extremely uneducated. He, it was a part time job for him. He did three deals a year and tried to give me this. Well, I've been in the business for seven years and I'm like, well, that's

MIC3:

great. So you've done 21 transactions, Like I did. Twice that last year.

MIC2:

So, I

MIC3:

I don't care. Love that flex. That's like what, 42 units right there?

MIC2:

Let's go.

MIC3:

Yeah, I actually did 42 units last year. Heck yeah, girl. Terrence, I'm waiting to hear

MIC1:

your, like,

MIC3:

horror stories

MIC1:

Oh, I'll tell you one. um, that

MIC3:

just came to

MIC1:

mind right now. So, when someone is buying a house,

MIC3:

I have a list of do's and do not

MIC1:

do's. Okay. You know, one of which is no new lines of credit.

MIC3:

Correct. This is a different one

MIC1:

you're thinking.

MIC3:

Uh, I was

MIC2:

we already heard this story.

MIC1:

Yep, episode one, uh, no new lines of credit Yep. For. For. Anything. No new trade lines, no new credit

MIC3:

No new cards. You've heard about this one.

MIC1:

You know, don't go finance a bedroom set. I had

MIC3:

one woman who Who buys

MIC1:

Do

MIC3:

People not buy bedroom sets. People in the burbs.

MIC1:

I bought a bedroom set. Yin

MIC3:

time.

MIC1:

Yang doesn't.

MIC3:

Ha, ha. People in the burbs and Terrence,

MIC1:

Exactly. Thank you. So, I had this one woman who And

MIC3:

now I say

MIC1:

we monitor your credit

MIC3:

throughout

MIC1:

the transaction. So if there's a new credit inquiry, we're going to say, Hey, what is this for? Letter of explanation,

MIC3:

you know, bill, something new statement.

MIC1:

If you open up a new new trade line,

MIC3:

we have to add it to your debt ratio. I

MIC1:

shit you not, this

MIC3:

opened up to that creditors.

MIC2:

Ten?

MIC1:

10.

MIC3:

Ten. What was her explanation when you had a conversation with her? Oh,

MIC1:

No, this wasn't for me. This was for my business, Mike, but it's under your name. Yeah, but it's for, I'm going to use it for my business.

MIC3:

Oh.

MIC1:

Same thing. Several of them she didn't open. I'll let me go back and clarify. Several

MIC3:

them she didn't open. She just applied for the card, didn't get it, or applied for, you know, a new line of credit, didn't get it. I'm like, stop, please. I'm sorry, but first of all, Red Flag, If you feel, credit cards are not And you got denied? So if you're being denied pen, how She, well, it's the thing, she didn't get, like, some

MIC1:

them she applied for them, I guess, to see how much she could get, but then didn't take out the card, But she had great credit, like everything, it looked,

MIC3:

but her debt ratio was

MIC1:

kinda high. How strange. So, I mean, every single time, I'm like Did she close? Yes, thankfully, we did. But I'm like, please, stop, and then a new one

MIC3:

pop. She's like, oh no, I

MIC1:

that one before you told me not to! Ha Ha Another letter of,

MIC3:

the handwriter was like, Dude, I'm like, I, can't

MIC1:

sorry, I'm trying. And then it was, Oh, my husband did this one, but I'm on it too. It was

MIC3:

like every couple of days and I had to call.

MIC1:

like the underwriter,

MIC3:

Terrence, guess what? I'm like, you're shitting

MIC1:

me. Yeah. Um, here you go. So I call her, what's this one?

MIC3:

And again,

MIC1:

our debt ratio was high, so

MIC3:

I'm like, please stop. Yeah, you don't have the space to make mistakes. Okay. Can I ask you a couple other lender

MIC1:

always

MIC3:

I've always wanted to ask? Do tell. Okay. So, I, genuinely want to know this. And if you don't want to answer this, you

MIC1:

can edit this

MIC3:

Obviously as a lender, how do you guys get paid? How, How, are you, well of course, can you

MIC1:

like go

MIC3:

detail as to

MIC1:

how lenders get compensated I can't hear what you

MIC3:

not?

MIC1:

now. I can. So

MIC3:

truly don't understand it. You

MIC1:

know how,

MIC3:

know how, you are one.

MIC1:

one. So you know how it real estate is. You guys are paid a percentage of

MIC3:

of the purchase

MIC1:

price, correct? We're paid a

MIC3:

percentage of the whole amount.

MIC1:

amount. Okay. So

MIC3:

it's

MIC1:

terrible as this, is, the more the client gets

MIC3:

pushed down, the less we get paid. The more the client puts down for their down payment,

MIC1:

the less money

MIC3:

make. Because the loan amount

MIC1:

amount. Yeah. So, you know, a

MIC3:

misconception

MIC1:

is that we are paid.

MIC3:

on interest rate and oh, somebody gave me

MIC1:

a higher interest rate. they

MIC3:

want to get

MIC1:

paid more. No

MIC3:

We're paid on the loan amount That's another question then. How, like, to what control do you have to provide a lower rate to somebody? And why is it that you guys are able to lower a rate when someone brings you a

MIC1:

quote from someone else? Because we take a

MIC3:

a hit on our commission. So you

MIC1:

do so it does

MIC3:

does impact, or you, you, take a hit on your commission to get them the

MIC1:

get them the lower rate? if so if based on

MIC3:

specific situation,

MIC1:

on the market, based on our product, their rate is X. Okay. Somebody else somehow is able to do

MIC3:

lower than that

MIC1:

for whatever reason. Maybe they already lowered their commission to, you know, drop the rate just to win the client. Whatever the situation is, they have a special promo going on. If I see it in writing, I'll do what I can to match it and beat it. By lowering our company compensation,

MIC3:

my compensation. Because at the end of the

MIC1:

I want to make sure that the client is taken care of. And if I do a good job, they'll of course

MIC3:

me a friend in my name. So

MIC1:

it's not that we're

MIC3:

hiding anything

MIC1:

or holding back.

MIC3:

Right.

MIC1:

But, we don't work for free. Can you find something cheaper?

MIC3:

Probably always you can go

MIC1:

online.com and

MIC3:

get you.

MIC1:

Someone again will not pick up the phone

MIC3:

past 3:00 PM on Correct. On Thursday. They'll call you back next Tuesday right? Correct. You have a good

MIC2:

good experience with them.

MIC1:

them. Are you gonna close on time?

MIC2:

Yeah.

MIC1:

Are they actually gonna review your

MIC3:

So, this is actually what I tell clients all the time and this seems to win them over is I tell them you can use whatever lender in the world that makes you happy. That is not my job to dictate, okay? But I will recommend you somebody that's going to make sure that the job is going to get done. Within a timely manner and that you're gonna have a wonderful experience along with a competitive rate. Is it gonna be the cheapest? I don't know. I'm sure you could always as you said go lower because there's a bunch of online companies that are complete crap Okay But I was like is that person gonna answer a phone call for you? And are you gonna take the guarantee for them? That you're gonna be able to close on time and not have to compensate the seller on the back end By I don't know three four hundred dollars a day if that's their carrying cost for every single day that you delay the closing Because your loan is not financed. And guess what? In those situations, I can't come in and save you. I can't help you because I have no relationship there. And that's when it usually clicks for

MIC1:

people.

MIC3:

So

MIC1:

I mean, we, we live in a day and

MIC3:

to each

MIC1:

information is readily available and the internet will always tell you, you, know what? You can always find something

MIC3:

know what,

MIC1:

But at the end of the day, again,

MIC3:

find something

MIC1:

lot of situations,

MIC3:

enough. 100%. I have another fun question. Actually, this one's really a fun one. Cause I, you know, there's so many

MIC1:

many

MIC3:

shows, like, completely focused on the agent and the properties? What if they made one about

MIC1:

lenders? No one would watch It would

MIC3:

would be so

MIC1:

bunch of us just beating our head against the desk because people are doing

MIC3:

dumb shit.

MIC1:

You think so? Yes. I would watch

MIC3:

it. I would sit there and watch it. You'd like, geek

MIC1:

Oh my god, I would. I'd sit there and be like,

MIC3:

be like, haha, I've

MIC1:

that. I'm sorry. Okay. Yeah.

MIC3:

glamorous. Where it's like, hyped up and not as true. Yeah.

MIC2:

Yeah.

MIC3:

to be some kind of way they can put it productionally, But ours isn't as glamorous We don't get to see cabinets.

MIC2:

Well, you think of selling sunset like

MIC3:

okay we see we're seeing all of these clips in one hour episodes, but It's not like this is one clip from every single day

MIC1:

Ours is more nerdy, like it's, people have to understand, like, numbers and guidelines. Like, the flash of

MIC3:

estate is the

MIC1:

properties. It's, it's

MIC3:

the fancy

MIC1:

car that they get to ride in with their

MIC3:

real estate agent,

MIC1:

going to see the fancy property and drinking the fancy cappuccino while they're in there And, you know, I want to

MIC3:

gonna put

MIC1:

fireplace right here.

MIC3:

but no one wants to know the ins and outs of

MIC1:

putting the fireplace right there. No one wants to know the ins and outs of

MIC3:

condo cabinets. Hmm.

MIC1:

Like, no one's going to

MIC3:

care, unfortunately. Yeah. If we had a, if we had a,

MIC1:

if we had a snippet on one of those shows, like, you know,

MIC3:

Hey, having a

MIC1:

two minute

MIC3:

their lender talking about,

MIC1:

I don't know, don't go fucking buy a Tesla while you're in the middle of the finance process.

MIC3:

That'd be entertaining. Yeah.

MIC1:

But.

MIC3:

Dude. totally off topic. You said Tesla. Freezing rain just happened, right? Like, so when you've got negative temps, it like, even drizzles a bit. It freezes over. This guy, I just saw this video today, which is why it's so fresh. He tried to like tap the door handle of the Tesla, which is not a normal door. It has to come out It was frozen shut. He couldn't even get in his freaking vehicle And then you had those Tesla's that were stranded because the electric charging stations of the Tesla's stopped working in the burbs here So all the yeah Yeah, it was everywhere Correct so your

MIC2:

so they pull up

MIC3:

Your car's stuck and so now you have to leave your car in the parking lot and call your Call yourself an uber or family member to come pick you up, whatever But like I would never buy an EV. I'm so sorry, but I just can't get behind the bandwagon

MIC2:

want an electric But like,

MIC3:

also a Jamie there was also a Tesla look this up. I don't know the whole story I'm sorry, but in California a Tesla got in a car accident to where the vehicle caught on fire And the person, like, could not get out because the battery system electronics were shot. They couldn't open their door. They had to smash it or something. I don't know how accurate this is. I heard it from a friend, so I'll Google it, but that's why I'm genuinely scared of electronic vehicles.

MIC2:

I mean, I'm not in the market for a new car, anytime soon. I really like my car, but I like your car too. I like your car. I like our German vehicles. Yeah. They're the best. But on the note of electric Not working in a car, When my car was The engine turns off, my horn doesn't work. Apparently my

MIC3:

horn is electric. hmm. Really?

MIC2:

Mm hmm. Do you know how I

MIC3:

I found this out? What happened?

MIC2:

I

MIC3:

are you honking at, JB?

MIC2:

I'm about to tell ya.

MIC1:

I

MIC2:

was waiting for a client in Tinley Park sitting there and I pulled up behind a garbage truck and I was just there and my car automatically turns off. And the garbage truck started backing up, and

MIC3:

I'm trying to

MIC2:

honk, and it's not fucking working.

MIC3:

shit.

MIC2:

And I didn't know what to do. The garbage truck hit me, starts pushing me backwards. I literally got out of my car, ran, and started smacking on his window. And he was like, what? Did I hit you? And I was like, I was so pissed. I was like, yeah, you fucking hit me! Like I'm right behind you.

MIC3:

And

MIC2:

the best part, this garbage truck had cameras all over it. It's not like he couldn't see me. I, my car

MIC3:

was very clearly

MIC2:

in a camera on a screen. In the

MIC3:

In the garbage truck

MIC2:

and my client shows up my client's mom watched me like

MIC3:

run out of my car and go like bang on it. flail your arms

MIC2:

Yes, and it was my client who was like I took these pictures of the

MIC3:

inside of the garbage

MIC2:

for you where it

MIC3:

has All the cameras Was your car clearly there? Yes. Oh good. I Keep that client for life. That client's got your back.

MIC2:

He did have my back but yeah

MIC1:

Oh.

MIC2:

That was fucked

MIC3:

I wanna test mine now. But also, I wanted to comment. JB, you said you were in fight or flight, like, you know, mode of like, what do I do, Oh, shit, moment. Clearly, you fight. She fought. You fight, girl. That's why I said, before we even started this podcast, I saw you had your, like, self defense class. I saw the video. It's on JB's Instagram, guys. Go check it out. I would not mess with you.

MIC2:

Mm hmm. I'm going to break your orbital socket. Don't fuck with me.

MIC3:

Jesus Christ. First of all, Yeah, we're not even manifesting that kind of shit. Nope.

MIC2:

anybody, But just knowing that I could, POW, someone's orbital socket, like, makes me feel kind of cool.

MIC3:

That's amazing. I would feel cool if I could. Oh, interesting.

MIC1:

BAM! That's my money maker, please. I know.

MIC2:

Well, I think on that note, unless you have anything else we can wrap up?

MIC3:

Um, Oh yeah, it's 6. 55. Gosh

MIC2:

Thank you so much for joining us on today's episode of RealTea Chicago.

MIC3:

If you have

MIC2:

story you'd like to share as a guest or via write in, please reach out to us on Instagram, on our subreddit,

MIC3:

or via email, all

MIC2:

those RealtyChicago.

MIC3:

And thank you so much, Ayushi,

MIC2:

joining us today. We will. Definitely have you back.

if you have any more questions or would like to connect with Ayushi or Instagram is Ayushi Kukreja underscore realtor, that's A-Y-U-S-H-I. K U K R E J A underscore REALTOR. Ayushi is a absolutely amazing REALTOR, not only in the city of Chicago, but also in the western suburbs. So if you have any questions for her about those areas or just liked what you heard, please connect with her. Additionally, this is your reminder to like, subscribe, and if you can, leave a review. We're absolutely loving the community that we are building and can't wait to see it grow. And the only way we can do that is through amazing listeners like you. So thank you so much for your support. One more little announcement. We are working on a giveaway for upcoming episodes. So keep an eye out on our Instagram page and keep listening for all the goodies to come.

MIC2:

And for our next episode, I have my two truths and a lie ready.

MIC3:

do. you? I need to come up with two more.

MIC2:

Alright, well I'm going to tell you mine really quick.

MIC3:

Alright, you didn't hear anything. let's go. That's not going to get old. I've walked into a live stream of the building lobby in someone's unit. I've taken a potential client to their dentist appointment. Or, I've had to break into a listing through an open window.

MIC1:

Oh, that's gotta be true. That is not, I, I,

MIC3:

I just believe that. I do too. Especially with it being Jamie. Yeah. I believe it. This girl would totally try to get her clients in. I mean, she breaks normal cycles.

MIC1:

I have no

MIC3:

probably one of those

MIC1:

would break into a unit.

MIC3:

This is probably one of those moments where, like, she called the listing agent or whatever, or she was the listing agent and just knew she could get in that window. That's true. Maybe you locked yourself out, and that's why you had to get in through the window. Is that what happened? Um, and I can, I can, I can

MIC1:

also believe

MIC3:

the

MIC1:

I Could believe the first two to

MIC3:

getting a real estate full service,

MIC2:

Well,

MIC3:

next time. Until next time.

MIC2:

guys.

MIC3:

Thank you

MIC2:

much.

MIC3:

Thanks, Ayushi. Thanks guys.

MIC1:

Had a

MIC2:

Have a great time.

People on this episode

Head Shot

Jamie Book

Host
Contributor

Terrence Terrell

Co-host